Showing posts with label Vraja. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vraja. Show all posts

Saturday, 21 December 2019

CRUEL WHEELS



krūra krūreti cakrūram

Calling out "Cruel Cruel!" they jeered Akrura.


Sri Lalita Madhava - Distraught Radha: - "Become conscious for a moment and look.  What misfortune! Merciless Akrura urges on the horses."

When you go to Gokula it is possible that someone tells you this story ....

I was there,
with sleepless eyes,
could not hold back the sun
so not to rise,
when the tearful whispers
of the night became cries
but I could hear no sound
since my heart lamented
more loud,
but the cruel voice
amid my numbness, rose
                              in an averse prayer    (1)                  
when it urged the horse
to move on,
I swooned,
my bangles, dress, rings
like petals of a withering flower,
loosened and slipped
I was there,
distraught,
that day at dawn
yet I saw not the horizon
but the hooves, the ground
the rims, the spokes of the wheels,
cruelly ready to leave,
my hand outstretched, desperate
to grasp, to pull back, to halt,
...once more ~ to touch...
for I had not enough
of His fragrant embraces
nor of His dancing hips
or His Tulsi-scented chest
and of His tempting hands,
nor of His camphored breath,
nor my eyes had enough
of the piercing love of His glance,
of the sweat streaks
on His sandal-smeared skin,
nor of the sweetness
of His cherry red lips,
nor of His impudent words and tricks
no, no,  I had not enough
of the hidden groves, the secret trysts
            the nights of moon-glow...       (2)
but suddenly I was there,
calling out behind His wheels,
the stones, the trees, melted 
flowed with my tears in streams
I slumped in the dust
holding  my unfinished wreath,
fated to never adorn Him.

I was there, stunned,
the cruel wheels started,
distance became unbearably true
I saw the flag, His silhouette    (3)
fading in a fog of dust
           "I'll return"           (4)
resounded as the last note 
from His flute
and still echoes
in my heart, in the groves,
in the eyes I meet on the roads,
it's the only rope of hope
for this
I still unashamedly breathe.



1) SLM (Purnamasi) "... before Akrura mounts his chariot and begins chants auspicious prayers for departure.."

2) Laghu B. Txt 508, 511-512 "Though astonishing Gokula, the essence of Mathura, seems like a limited area, it expands and contracts according to the pastimes of Krsna."
"According to the particular pastimes there is a suitable appearance of various places which can be seen by those participating in the particular pastime and not by the unqualified."
"It is astonishing that at one time these forms of the abodes exist factually without mixing with each other at all."
When Krishna leaves, Vrindavana expands into the separation of Navadvip and later into the ecstasy of meeting after long separation of Kshetra Dham, because there is no meaning to separation in love if it is not followed by meeting, union and separation and in this way the waves of love flow to never ebb, and swell again and again thus increasing eternally.
3) SGS 5.4.37 "As long as the chariot, its flag, or the cloud of dust the running horses made could be seen, the stunned gopis stood like painted pictures on the path.  Then, remembering Lord Krsna's words, they became hopeful."

4) SGS 5.4.35 "Girls, don't cry.  At sunset I will return."




Saturday, 4 May 2019

Thief of the Soul

This poem was inspired by the Gopis speaking to Krishna when they met for the Rasa Dance and Krishna disappeared like a thief after stealing their souls. But what really churned the ink were the many slokas in the Bhagavatam and other Bhakti literature that refer to Krishna as a thief. The reader will find few of them after this intro and in the footnotes.
So the conclusion that came to the heart is that the Lord in whatever form He manifests for His devotees, among the sublime qualities He always displays, there is the one of being a thief, since He enters His devotees mind and steals it. " 

SD 10.29.34 Comm. "O king of thieves! We did not come here with any other purpose than to recover the treasure that You stole from us. You have stolen our minds, but unlike other thieves You did not have to make any great endeavor. You did this simply by blowing on Your flute."

Sunday, 3 June 2018

WHERE IS SHYAM ?



Sri Lalita Madhava pg42 ~ "My dear friend, where is Krsna, who is like the moon rising from the ocean of Maharaja Nanda's dynasty? Where is Krsna, His head decorated with a peacock feather?  Where is He?  Where is Krishna whose flute produces such a deep sound? [...] Kindly tell me where to find Krsna the treausre of My life and best of My friends.  Feeling separation from Him, I hereby condemn Providence, the shaper of My destiny."

This poem was inspired by an encounter I had in Vraja many many years ago.  It was in the morning and I was walking down a narrow, dirt path when a man dressed only in a loin cloth, very thin and with his skin darkened by the sun, came towards me.  He looked at me without seeing me and was murmuring "Where is Shyam?".
Then suddenly aware of my presence when I was right in front of him he said very loudly but with a choked voice "Where is Shyam?". I said "I do not know" and he became more agitated and in despair repeated several times with an anxious tone in his voice "Where is Shyam, where is Shyam?" Then I answered "I cannot see, I do not see where is He".
I have never forgotten those eyes, that voice, that forlorn heart, that morning light in Vraja ....



No parrot, bird or cuckoo warbles
to awake this dawn,
this daybreak light in Vraja
feebly kisses
the nocturnal pout of the flowers
reluctant now to bloom,
no feet has trampled over them
no pollen hovers the air
no swarm of excited bees
have buzzed after
the honey of His running feet,
forlorn the heart repeats
where is Shyam?

Is this the same wind
that ruffled the curls,
shivered the skin,
that swayed His feather,
and His earrings ?
Stole the scent of the rainy cloud
from His limbs,
and blew words of love
written on kumkum dusted leaves ?
Is this the same wind?
Carrier now of sighs
and a sole pitiful cry ~
where is Shyam?

Will there still be the moon?
with the stars for limbs
and its nectar-like beams
trickling flickering drops
on Radha's petal-like skin ?
Drops which capture her glow
and turn into moonstones
just as raindrops fall
in seashells
and turn into pearls,
but He has left ~
nothing shines now,
neither the moon nor the gems,
the stars nor the sun,
as a pair of unseeing eyes ask ~
Where is Shyam?

Behind the wheels
fell the dust
with the deafening silence
of His absence.
Now will come no dusk
carrying the notes of flutesongs
in clouds of dust.
The love talks,
the sweet words, the poetry,
the laughs ~ all have sunk
into the stillness of time.
The lanes of Vraja
have no more destinations,
the heart, errant of love, pleads
where is Shyam?

“Ve-ry-soon-I-wi-ll-ret-urn”
the syllables of Shyam's promise
barely reach the Gopis' lips
have become their heartbeats,
their only reason to live.



Saturday, 3 February 2018

Nothing other than LOVE

Sri Sri Prema Samput p. 52    "Only to increase the love of my devotees for me, do I bestow hardship upon them and in so doing incur my own sorrow, yet I welcome that distress."

Sri Sri Prema Samput p.48 "He is not lacking anything. What do the living entities have to give Him other than their love?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=56&v=-h_9ixUreNI

In the imaginary scene of the poem Krishna is speaking confidentially to a friend sometime after Kurukshetra, in a mixture of reminiscences and emotions,  from Dwarka, to the rasa dance, to the meeting in Kurukshetra.  In doing so Krishna reveals the secret depths of his love. Krishna never puts his devotees through something which He does not take also upon Himself.

SD 32.21 "Even when I removed Myself from your sight by suddenly disappearing, I never stopped loving you."

GC 23.39 "O dearest Gopis!  The first separation has been most difficult for me."


My solitude nestled
in the recesses of the night,
and like shadows that come forth
with brighter light,
its agony too appeared,
by moonlit memories
of their love for Me.

With the ardent desire
for a tidal wave
of this ocean of their love and my love,
to flood the hearts and the stars,
I disappeared,
causing their lamentation,
and thirstily I drank from the same                               (1)
chalice of longing emotions
welling up from purest love.

Spying unseen
upon their absorption and tribulation
while they searched for Me,
with breathless glances,
in incessant meditation
unwavering, on Me only,
I also endured separation,                                     (2)
and could wait no more
for their embraces                                        (3)
as the tears of love,
furrowing their faces,
were gushing like ecstatic rivers
of their sweetest love.

And impatient,                   
covetous of the mellows
flourishing in their hearts,
in that innermost hollow I stood,
a restless spectator of their total love,
incapable of repaying
the wealth of devotion
of my most beloveds.

In the most famous and also infamous                          (4)
state of Godhood of being self-satisfied,
no one could fathom why I cried,
why my heart sighed,
breathless from feeling separation,
dragged and dependent on
their selfless adoration.

I smiled anew
to soothe their hearts,
and hiding my anguish,
asked for forgiveness.
They offered their fragrant ghee of love,                          (5)
and the dense honey
of sulkiness,
thus plundering my love,
so that I, delighted, sold myself.                                    (6)


1) GC 23.46 "Bhakti to me produces nectar".

2) Sri Sri Prema Samput pg.50 "He is also filled with sadness as he remains hidden from his devotees, [...] on top of that he then has to tolerate the slander that he is indifferent to those who love him."

3) GB 12.7 Comm. "Not after a long time, but very quickly, since I am not able to bear delay in meeting them, I, putting them on the shoulders of Garuda, bring them to My dhama."

4) SD 82.44 Comm. "But my dear girlfriend - Krishna replied - if this is true, I must be God, but still I am conquered by your love and devotion."

Godhood is also infamous to Krishna because in His qualities as the Absolute (Controller, Self-satisfied etc) which are revered but also commonly misunderstood, His sweetness and eagerness to love as Nanda Kishor is thwarted.

5) AVC Pg.279 (Rasa Dance Begins) "He (Krishna) wanted to create unity among the opposing parties of Radha and Candravali."

6) KS Anu 170 "I have come now.  Please experience me directly at every moment."


Sunday, 9 July 2017

Season of surrender

From Hayasirsa pancaratra quoted in Gopala Campu Ch.1.35 "Description of Goloka" :
The pleasurable nature of material objects like flowers with fragrance and taste exist in the spiritual world as the very essence of pleasure.  Because the objects are devoid of any inferior qualities belonging to material objects they are the very form of pleasure.  Know that the faulty portions of a fruit like skin, seed and tough sections exist in material objects.  Nothing in the spiritual world is made of material elements."

Srila Prabhupada : "whether it is unripe or ripe a mango is a mango"

Wednesday, 7 June 2017

AKRURA CAME



Lalita Madhava - Act Three "Vrnda : (After remaining silent for a few moments, she exhales hot air and speaks in confusion.)
If Akrura takes Krsna to Mathura, why should I prepare new bowers in the forest?
Why should I attractively prepare flower beds? Why should I make the fragrant creepers bloom out of season?"
SBB Vol.III 5.164 "Somehow or other the wise Akrura, desiring to promote the welfare of the Yadus, took Him from Vraja to Madhupuri as if by force."

Monday, 10 April 2017

Morning Love

 "Another gazing in his face,
sits wistfully apart,
searching it with those  
looks of love that leap from   
heart to heart;"
Her eyes afire with shy desire, 
 veiled by their lashes black, 
speak so that Krishna cannot choose 
but send the message back, ..."

                                                 from the Gita Govinda

    This poem narrates the playful exchanges of glances between Radha and Krishna during the morning pastimes. The daily pastimes of Radha and Krishna are occurring in eight sections (asta-kaliya-nitya lila) during the day and the Acharyas have sung repeatedly about them as a confidential meditation. Breakfast is part of the morning pastimes where the situation finds Radha and Krishna exchanging glances to send hidden messages.                    


 Morning Love

The bright morning rays
shone on golden plates and trays,
reflecting the hue of her face,
which he searched for and embraced
with the limbs of his gaze.

Wednesday, 2 November 2016

Captive of Love


SKS Ch 5 Txt 7 "The wives of the ass-like brahmanas represent people who are subordinate to those with undeveloped faith. Being under the control of the sweetness of Krishna, Who is the Supersoul, they went to the forest and offered themselves to Him." Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura


Sri Gaura-ganoddesa dipika Text 191 "She who was the wife of the brahmana
who was attached to performing fire sacrifice in Braja has now appeared as Suklambara Brahmacari.  Sri Gauranga begged for and ate rice from him."




This is one of the poems inspired by the continuity between Krishna Lila and Gaura Lila.  The speaker of this poem is one of the Brahmana's wives who later became Suklambara Brahmacari in Gaura Lila. 

Because they all resided on the outskirts of Vraja towards Mathura, along with the other Brahman wives, she had never met Krishna before but only heard about Him and His wonderful activities. 
Krishna, Who always knows His devotees' hearts, arranged for the Gopas to go and beg for some food from the Brahmanas. But the Brahmanas, full of pride about their rituals, their higher varna and false prestige, refused to give them food and forbade their wives as well, to fulfill Krishna's desire. Together with the other wives, she neglected this restriction, and carrying sweets and other preparations, ran into the forest to meet Krishna. After transgressing her relatives' order, she believed in her heart that she would never have to return home again. But Krishna asked her and the others to go back to what she felt was like a prison. When this Lila continued into Gaura Lila, Lord Gauranga went to beg food from her ~ Suklambara Brahmacari. He was now the captive of her love.

Sound ~ 
soaked in the honey of His name
filled my ears
when the boys came,
and the constraints
surrounding my soul,
imposed as duties and roles
crumbled in that moment 
for which I had craved so long.

Since I was first told
about the King of groves,
 my household chores, the hymns
and the reins of kin
dissolved in a longing,
made me indifferent to everything,
and when my heart, 
ensnared among pillars
 of silent loving desires
became finally free,
 no longer muted,
I grasped the sweets,
breads, cakes and creams
and I ran, 
ran into the forest
of my sweetest dreams,
the jars heavy 
with love delights.

The outrage, the restrictions
of faithless relatives,
lapping like shadows at dusk
against my bare feet 
running down a road of no return,
within yet without my heart,
the ribbon-like path
unfurled endlessly ahead of my eyes
like anxious gazelles,
and time crystallized,
when suddenly 
a fragrance of musk
wafted in the air,
and my senses were stunned,
embracing Krsna
as He entered the door of my eyes,
 leaning on his friend
     while He smiled.   

I stood still, astounded ~
sweet was my load of love
 that I placed on the leaves
at his feet,
where I left also my being,
so sour was the way back
with my emptied pots,
salty and silent the tears
in the bitter bite of separation
when I surrendered my dreams
by going back home,
to please with my love Him.

In time, time took away
that imprisonment,
when the Beauteous Cooling Moon
appeared amongst other groves,
and came to my door
begging for food,
now He has become
the captive of my love.