Sharanagati

“Those, who dedicate themselves to Me do not strive neither for Brahma’s nor Indra’s position, they don’t want to lord over the whole world or the neither worlds, they doesn’t crave for the mystic powers of yoga, neither liberation; they never separate themselves from Me. Neither Brahma, nor Shiva, nor Sankarshana in Vaikuntha, not even Lakshmi Devi, the goddess of fortune, is as dear to Me like you, Uddhava, because I like you even better than Myself.”[1]

So, this is the conclusion of Krishna. These are very high positions in the universal structure – like Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva, Lakshmi Devi – everybody is searching for blessings of these personalities. But Krishna says: “You are dearer to Me, Uddhava, then all these great ones. Why? Because you are strongly connected with Me by dedicated love.”

I would not request, I would not demand that you should have the same dedication as Uddhava, because that’s a different category. But anyway, those who traverse this path, they will achieve certain good standard in spiritual life.

And then Krishna says: “I will follow in the footsteps of such a wise man, who is free from all expectations, who has equal vision, affectionate to all living beings, free from egotism and desires, whose mind is always sober and who is always thinking of Me, because I expect purification from the dust of his lotus feet for the shame that I cannot compensate for his dedication.”

We are students of divine love. And sometimes we think that we follow the right path, then after a long, long journey we understand that it was a trap, it was a misconception. But by the mercy of the Supreme Lord all the mistakes and all the shortcomings will be corrected. God is immaculate. No sin, no shame can touch Him. Still here Krishna prays that “I am following the footsteps of My devotees to be purified.” Although He is the supreme purifier, He wants to achieve purification. Because He cannot pay, He cannot compensate for their dedication. This is the power of dedicated service – that even Krishna will run after such a bhakta: “Please, give Me more, show Me more!” So this is a very glorious position. And if you will have the proper vision, then you cannot escape this behavior of Krishna.

In other places in the “Shrimad-bhagavatam” it is said that who doesn’t bathe his body in the food dust of vaishnavas, pure devotees, his life is wasted. You might think that this is a little exaggeration. But not, this is the truth. Because if God is running after the pure devotees, if you meet a pure devotee, soon you will meet Supreme Lord also.

So, if Krishna is following the example, the footsteps of His pure devotees, why should not we follow this example, why shouldn’t we follow the footsteps of the pure vaishnavas. If you have footsteps in front of you, you can be sure that this is the right path, the correct direction.