The Way to Bhakti

BG 3.16 

evam pravartitam cakram

nanuvartayatiha yah

aghayur indriyaramo

mogham partha sa jivati 

                                      

"My dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin.  Living only for the satisfaction of the sense, such a person lives in vain."

Translation from "A comprehensive guide to Bhagavad Gita" - BG 3.16

"A cycle is made to turn.  One who does not keep it turning, a sense enjoyer of errant life,  lives in vain, Partha."

BG 4.31 "O Best of Kurus, one who does not sacrifice [offering] has not this world.  How then the next?"

The Way to Bhakti

evam ...in this way

the night again falls after  day,

the milky stars fall beyond the horizon

on their revolving way,

and ghee falls into the fire,

and the Source-of-All 
with the souls re-unite,

thus the Universe speaks ~

motion is a wheel

as you receive

offer back

do not keep,

just as the tree gives

from the water it receives,

but does not hold nor taste

how its fruit is sweet. (1)

Do not take, neither keep ~

always give back,

and put love in your hands
without holding back,

'cause it was given like that,

whatever we have is a gift,

do not grab for anything

lest envy, lust and greed

 hold your heart

in a dark grip;

from the air we receive our life,

from the earth the plants

to stay alive,

and emotions from a beautiful sky,

from the stars a cuddle to sleep,

even darkness gives us dreams

and we rejoice in the flowers,

the sun rays, the cool breezes,

but do not forget, it is not ours,

it is received,

gratefully reciprocate,

 love means to always give,

and in this way 
with Bhakti 

turn the universal wheel.

Mahabharata  113

पिबन्ति नद्य: स्वयम् एव न अम्भ: स्वयं न खादन्ति फलानि वॄक्षा: |

न अदन्ति सस्यं खलु वारिवाहा परोपकाराय सतां विभूतय: ||

The rivers don't drink their own water. The trees don't eat their own fruits. The clouds don't eat the crops to which they give the water.

KAMSA

 SB 10.42.32 "When he [Kamsa] looked at his reflection he could not see his head; for no reason the moon and stars appeared double; he saw a hole in his shadow; he could not hear the sound of his life air; [..] Seeing these and other such omens both while dreaming and while awake Kamsa was terrified by the prospect of death and out of anxiety he could not sleep." 

Bhagavad-gita 16.11 "The demoniac, taking shelter of insatiable lust, pride and false prestige, and being thus illusioned, are always sworn to unclean work, attracted by the impermanent."

"They (asuras) believe that to gratify the senses unto the end of life is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus there is no end to their anxiety. Being bound by hundreds and thousands of desires, by lust and anger, they secure money [wealth] by illegal means for sense gratification."  

Demoniac nature is clearly exposed in these two verses of the Bhagavad Gita. The demonic principles are mainly two - that there is no Godhead and/or acting in all possible ways as if in the position of God. Blinded by a mentality of "I", "me" and "mine", the demoniac attempt to lord it over others and material nature, exploit people and circumstances and live lives pursuing insatiable desires at any cost. 

So, I have presented the personality and psychology of Kamsa .........

KAMSA

No one dethroned the heavens,

but I!

and the celestial realm

and this planet

became mine,

even the immortals fled

terrified by my might.

Alas! the thunderous sound

of the broken bow

echoed the dreadful prophecy

of thunder-like words,(1)

frightens me just the same(2)

as when the bullock cart broke,

and now causes my shadow

to vanish in a hole.

Now I know,

death personified is here, 

on my threshold,

my eye quivers

heralding that which was foretold,

this boy Krishna

has come to kill me,

but - tomorrow - maybe,

one more chance to get rid

of him, his family, my relatives

and of those cowherds,

of all my foes 
once and for all ...

of this fear 

haunting me,

since before He was born.

The stars are doubled in the sky,

           an awful jackal lurks   (3)   

in the sleeplessness of this night,

awake or dreaming

ill omens are in front of my eyes,

the messenger of my death has arrived,

now is here ...

I was forced by this fear

to enact wicked deeds,

but the power of wind, (*)

the grip of pride,

even untold mystic tricks failed

against this little boy in disguise.

He is Hari!

but born from the womb (4)

of a human being,

how can I not win?

His power must be weak!

I destroyed many chariots (5)

with a kick,

and many horses I killed

with my heel,

I'll defeat destiny

and its sneer

tomorrow in the arena.

...Still, this persistent agitation

broods over me,

no relief from this vexation,

even looking at this mirror

now I fear

at my reflection ~

as I look

 my head has disappeared.

1)  SB 10.1.34 "While Kamsa, controlling the reins of the horses, was driving the chariot along the way, an unembodied voice addressed him, "You foolish rascal, the eighth child of the woman you are carrying will kill you!"

2) Sri Krishna Vijaya "By the kick of His feet, Krishna broke a bullock cart.  The sound of this kicking travelled a long distance and Kamsa became very frightened when he heard it" 

3) Gopala Campu - Ch.5.2 "Night came.  When it came, an auspicious jackal, auspicious for Krsna and inauspicious for Kamsa appeared.  Kamsa passed the fearful night dreaming and waking up."  

4) Sri Krishna Vijaya "(Kamsa tells to his demon friends) [...] As Hari has taken birth as a human being, He must have power like that of a human being, so what can He do with such limited power?" 

5) SGS 4.14.25  "Kicking them with his feet, Kamsa destroyed many chariots.  Kicking them with his heel, Kamsa killed many horses, He beat many elephants and many he overturned, their feet kicking in the air." 

(*) This 4 line stanza refers to the demon friends of Kamsa who were killed by Krishna in Vraja. Trnavarta is the wind demon, who represents pride according Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Most of the demons attacking Krishna represent "pride", but their grip could do nothing against Him. Also mystical tricks were used to fight Krishna by the different demons sent by Kamsa.

LOVE under the TAMARIND TREE

In my search for the pastimes of Krishna in Vraja where He manifests His golden form as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the pastime at Imli Tal is a shining gem.

This is in short :

When Shri Radha disappeared from the midst of the rasa dance, Krishna was searching for Her with intense feelings of separation. This mood of separation increased Their anticipation for meeting, and thus very much increased Their intensity of love.Krishna, in this mood of separation sat down under this Tamarind Tree or Imli Tal and became so completely absorbed in the thoughts of Shrimati Radharani and chanting Her name, that His body assumed the color of Shrimati Radharani.

Nava Vraja Mahima "For a moment Radha and Krshna gazed into each other's faces, and then, in the same way that the moon sinks into the ocean, They submerged Themselves in the waves of each other's ambrosial beauty." pg 363

"God is engaged in enjoying with His eternal consort, Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī. This Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī is enchanting Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is enchanting Rādhārāṇī. [...] In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that when Kṛṣṇa comes before Rādhārāṇī, She becomes so much engladdened by seeing the beauty of Kṛṣṇa that She becomes more beautiful, and as soon as Rādhārāṇī becomes beautiful, Kṛṣṇa becomes engladdened and He becomes more beautiful. So unlimitedly there is competition of becoming more beautiful, duhe lage hurai (?). That is the state. Competition. Because in the spiritual world everything is unlimited. So unlimitedly both of them becoming beautiful and both of them enjoying unlimitedly."Srila Prabhupada - Lecture on SB 1.2.8 -- New Vrindaban

Under the spell of the lunar light

Shyam took a beam

to adorn Radha's face,

but saw it brighter than the Moon!

as Her eyes like Chakora birds

flew on the rays

drinking the moonlight of His face.

Radha slipped a berry in His mouth

with grace

and hesitant fingertips ~

how much redder now were His lips!

'cause Krishna, sipping

the red lotus of Her eyes,

was instantly drowned 

by the sweetness of Her love

and fell spellbound.

Closing His eyes

tuned a note on His flute

to attract Her mind,

but when surprised to find

       Her behind His eyelid    (1)

a shiver ran up His skin,

and enraptured He screamed

Radhe, Radhe,

under that Tamarind tree,

under the stars in the sky,

on the river of Their Love,

He sat and cried,

and drifted into ecstasy

in an unknown shoreless sea,

lost His mind in Her heart,

and became the Moon,

golden glowing

with Her love mood.

1) Gopala Campu 17.3 “Whenever Radha or Krishna fainted in private, they had an internal vision of their lover, equivalent to actual presence, for bringing auspicious results.”

IMLI Tal mentioned in Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya Lila Ch. 18.76-78

"The tamarind tree named Teṅtulī-talā was very old, having been there since the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. Beneath the tree was a very shiny platform.

Since the River Yamunā flowed near Teṅtulī-talā, a very cool breeze blew there. While there, the Lord saw the beauty of Vṛndāvana and the water of the River Yamunā.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to sit beneath the old tamarind tree and chant the holy name of the Lord. At noon He would return to Akrūra-tīrtha to take lunch."

WATERS OF MOONLIGHT

Excerpted from PILI Pokhara pastime story

"And then She [Radha] began to wash her hands and the waters turned golden and the waves spread out in all directions, hitting the banks and rippling back – forming a beautiful pattern of evolving rasa. And as the waters turned – from Her hands – that golden luster begin expanding toward the far shores of the kund.

Her friends were just watching with intent – the different levels of love that appeared to be rising like the ocean tide within their hearts and expressing themselves on Her facial expression; they were just enchanted watching their friend wash Her hands. And She just kept washing." 

This poem is part of the poetry born from my search of the pastimes in Vraja when Krishna manifests His form as Gauranga Mahaprabhu (see also in this blog "Love under the Tamarind Tree").

(PILI POKHARA -Full story link http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16631)

WATERS OF MOONLIGHT

The Princess of swans 

glided from the shore

with grace

and the waters returned

the beauty of Her image,

imperceptibly she paused, 

amazed

and absorbed,

with a lost-in-love gaze,

washed her hands

and her thoughts drifted away,

liquefied - spread out

in circular waves,

her mind so immersed in love,

let an amber intoxicating wake

 ooze from her palms,

tinting with gold the surface

mirroring her amorous heart,

and in this way erased

the blue sky from that lake;

She, with fairy steps, went away

and the waters remained dyed

with molten gold moon rays.

The Blue Swan,

object of that love,

came to the golden pond,

with His fingers grazed

the splendor of the moon,

struck by a quiver

of marvelous love

He stood dazed

peering at His image

in those waters

of golden glaze,

and then He knew

the spell was Her mood

and felt Himself

to be the be-all and the end-all

of that fluid love,

so thrilled by its taste

He immersed His hand

His arm and, more amazed,

went in up to His neck,

then taken by a rapture so intense

felt a longing

to call aloud to Himself;

Emerging from the lake

His blue sapphire luster lost, 
 now golden

He walked away

chanting His own name.

GOLDEN EMBRACE

Golden as Radha's love

CC Adi Lila 6.108  "He tries to taste His own sweetness, but He cannot do so without accepting the emotions of a devotee."


"Vrinda : Alas ! Alas! The pain of separation from Mukunda has unsettled Radha's mind. Sometimes She runs about, and sometimes She stands still like a painted picture. Sometimes She laughs, and sometimes She weeps bitterly. Sometimes She is very talkative, and sometimes She is silent." Lalita Madhava Scene 1- Unmatta-radhika

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recited this verse, He immediately fell to the ground unconscious. He was overwhelmed and had no control over Himself.

Exhibiting ecstatic emotions, the Lord began to run here and there, making resounding noises. Sometimes He laughed, and sometimes He cried, and sometimes He danced and sang.

Trembling, perspiration, jubilant tears, shock, fading of the bodily luster, disappointment, moroseness, loss of memory, pride, joy and humility were all visible in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's body." CC ML 4.198-202

TEMPLE of GRATITUDE

"Every living entity, especially persons in the human race, must feel grateful for the benedictions offered by the grace of the Supreme Lord." Srila Prabhupada -  S B 2.3.21

Tales of Wheels and Devotion

Tales of Wheels and Devotion

The remembrance of Krishna's pastimes often rides on wheels. 

This poem retells a few events that depict Krishna on a chariot while enacting His pastimes with His devotees.

In the first scene is the bullock cart that carried small Gopal, Nanda Pran, from Mahavan to Vrindavan in order to protect Him from the demon's attacks. It ends with the meeting in Kurukshetra because of the desire of the Gopis to move the chariot with Krishna back to Vraja. 

I hope the reader will also cherish the taste of Krishna's names that are mostly associated with Nanda Baba in order to keep Him in our hearts as the cowherd of the gopis and gopas, even though some pastimes are in His royal disguise. 

BRS 1.2.168 Seeing the festivals (verse 87) from Bhavisyottara : 
"The dog-eaters and other low persons who joyfully see Kesava on His chariot all become associates of the Lord."

---

Tales of Wheels and Devotion

 With many wheels clattering

and stirring up clouds of dust,

  the long line of bullock carts
meandered like a river
  in the light of dusk.
Amidst this clamor of

bugles, bells, bellowing
and colored flags flapping,

songs rose up

from the caravan

leaving Mahavan

out of love for Nanda Pran.

On another day
when the light was the same,

a gilded chariot of royal fame,

 clattered,

sinister and cruel
in a flurry of dust,

taking Nanda Gopal away

so that love melted the stones (1)

with tears of despair.

Winged by the whisper

of the heart,

the chariot of Nanda Kumar

flew to a place afar,

committed to His promise

to reciprocate His devotee's love,

He plucked the precious Lotus,

leaving the proud princes

aghast. (2)

The rattle of wheels and swords

again saw Nanda Kishor

on a chariot.

In a din of shouts and blows,

where the red blood dyed

the dust, the sky and all eyes,

 for love this time

He led the ride.

His curls, sticky and ashen

with sweat and dust,

and His skin smeared with blood,

 He hurled the wheel as He rushed (3)

toward a chivalrous heart,

astounded with awe

by the wondrous sight

of his lotus red eyed foe.

When His heart wept,

heavy with a debt of love,

Nanda Dulal unsteadily

boarded His chariot,

pierced the night,

rode at the speed
of light,

and came to the forest grove,

to the petal bed of His Beloved,

 where, out of intense love

    She was on the verge of death. (4)

The royal chariot

has come back,

without that snake of torment,  (5)

instead, Nandu's friend

is walking ahead

of Nanda Suta,

 adorned with gems;

He is no more a cowherd

in this land (6)

where the Moon sets

but no lotuses bloom.

Let's turn these wheels

and move

them towards Vraja,

but, once amongst those kunds

this cruel chariot,

memento of separation

and tears,

will have to leave 
to remove our fear

of seeing Nanda-Lal carried away,

and the Vanadevis languishing

in love and in madness once again.

1) Bhakti Ratnakara p.144 " What can I say? Only those who saw the scene can understand. All the damsels of Vraja came running to see Krishna with tears flowing like rivers from their eyes. Seeing that scene even wood and stone melted.

2) Krishna kidnaps Rukmini

3) Krishna act as Arjuna's charioteer during the battle. In a Chivalrous rasa with His devotee, apparently playing the part of His enemy, Krishna hurled a wheel to Bhismadeva.

4) "Three logs of wood" story retold by Srimad Gour Govinda Maharja as the first Ratha Yatra.  Krishna inebriated by his feelings for Radha, mounts the chariot to fly to Vraja.  In the same way Lord Jagannath in Puri is carried to the chariot by the pujaris who shake Him as if drunk to remember this pastime. (see also in blog "Canticle of Union")

5) Garga Samhita 5.15.10 "At what inauspicious moment did his mother, in order to give pain to the loving devotees, give birth to Akrura? She did it as Kadru, in order to randomly kill people here and there, gave birth to the species of snakes." Purport [...] Vicious humans may also behave like cruel snakes and since he (Akrura) mercilessly took Krsna away from them, the gopis considered Akrura to be among such horrible creatures whose birth must have been timed a the most inauspicious moment.

6) Kurukshetra. -- When Nanda Suta and the gopis met in Kurukshetra they were emaciated so much so that their rings had become bangles around their wrists, their hair were uncombed and their dresses untied, so Krishna understood the intensity of their pains of separation.  He started a sort of long soliloquy in the attempt to justify what happened that He did not returned. He spoke about yoga, about the will of the  Supreme, about providence, but it all sounded very confused.  The gopis will respond with a single sloka in the Bhagavatam which ends the chapter. 

SB 10.82.48 :""O Supreme Lord, O directly manifest Supersoul, O crest jewel of teachers of philosophical knowledge!  Understanding that we have great attachment to house, wealth and family, You previously had Uddhava instruct us and now personally You are purifying our hearts with knowledge to destroy that ignorance.  Thus we understand that Your pure love for us is free from any motivation other than assuring our liberation. But how can we unintelligent cowherd women fix that knowledge in our hearts? ..[..]" translation by Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur. 

This same sloka was chant by Caitanya Mahaprabhu in front of the chariot of Lord Jagannath.

This is the secret of our Ista-deva, the Lord of the Sankirtan Movement, the Lord of the Universe, fully reciprocating His devotees' love, shows the highest ecstasies in a meeting that follows a long separation and He comes to everyone to exchange that love on the wheels of His chariot.