Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 06.01.2018 morning, Sofia)

(continues from the previous Friday)

We are searching for the super-charged sentiments and ecstasies in parenthood. Let’s see some examples for that.

“In Shrimad-Bhagavatam, Tenth Canto, eighth chapter, verse 45, it is stated by Shukadeva Gosvami that mother Yashoda accepted Lord Krishna as her son, although He is accepted in the Vedas as the king of heaven, in the Upanishads as the impersonal Brahman, in philosophy as the supreme male, by the yogis as the Supersoul and by the devotees as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”[1]

What happens if you start to explain to mother Yashoda: “Maya, this is the absolute truth. Don’t you see the impersonal brahman in this Krishna?” What she will say?  “No, never!” So you might come with some explanations, but she doesn’t care. “No, no, this is my dear son.” This is called illusion – but a divine one. When ‘I don’t want to pay any attention to His greatness. I want Him on my lap!’ Do you think that the impersonal Brahman can take your breast milk? Never! Impossible.

“Once mother Yashoda addressed one of her friends in this way: “Nanda Maharaja, the leader of the cowherd men, worshiped Lord Vishnu, along with me, and as a result of this worship, Krishna has been saved from the clutches of Putana and other demons.” You see, it’s not that Krishna finished with this demoniac person, but ‘We were praying, so He was saved’.

“The twin arjuna trees were, of course, broken due to a strong wind, and although Krishna appeared to have lifted Govardhana Hill along with Balarama, I think that Nanda Maharaja actually held the mountain. Otherwise how could it have been possible for a little boy to lift such a great hill?”

This is another example of ecstasy in parental love. This kind of parental love is generated in a devotee out of his conviction, in love, that he himself is superior to Krishna and that without being taken care of by such a devotee, Krishna could not possibly live. One devotee therefore prayed to the parents of Lord Krishna as follows: “Let me take shelter of the elderly parental devotees of Lord Krishna. They are always anxious to serve Krishna and to maintain Him, and they are always so kind to Him. Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto them for being so kind to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the parent of the whole universe!

“Let others worship the Vedas and the Upanishads, and let others worship the Mahabharata if they are afraid of material existence and want to become liberated from that condition. But as far as I am concerned, I wish only to worship Maharaja Nanda, because the supreme absolute Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is crawling in his courtyard as his own child.”

This beautiful quotation is guiding us: All right, you can understand the Absolute truth, you can be liberated, but what is the point? The point is to be lovingly connected to Krishna.

“Following is a list of respectable personalities who enjoy parental affection toward Krishna: (1) mother Yashoda, the Queen of Vraja, (2) Maharaja Nanda, the King of Vraja, (3) mother Rohinī, the mother of Balarama, (4) all the elderly gopis whose sons were taken away by Lord Brahma, (5) Devaki, the wife of Vasudeva, (6) the other fifteen wives of Vasudeva, (7) Kunti, the mother of Arjuna, (8) Vasudeva, the real father of Krishna and (9) Sandipani Muni, Krishna’s teacher. All these are considered respectable elderly personalities with parental love for Krishna. This list is in order of superior importance, and thus we can see that mother Yashoda and Maharaja Nanda are considered to be the supermost of all elderly personalities.“

It’s not that we want to project our worldly experience over the spiritual truths. But rather we want to project this Superior truth over our daily activities. Then you can easily sanctify them.

So, my dear fathers and mothers, please go ahead, this is a very glorious job and service that you are doing. As I told you many times, even the sanyasis are born from mothers. So, families are a very strong, important institution. This dharma is supported and practised by you. So don’t let this glorious dharma duty be corrupted, broken down or neglected.

(to be continued)

[1] The Nectar of devotion Ch.43