Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 08.05.2018, Rila)

(continues from the previous Monday) 

Admiration, as the ultimate way to approach the superior reality – isn’t that beautiful? I think our Krishna has also heard this teaching. Therefore He shows Himself sometimes in an extremely beautiful form, so that we can easily admire Him. And sometimes He surprises even Himself. Well, it happens with us as well – sometimes we surprise ourselves. You think that you are a fixed-up devotee and then you start to act like a totally nonsense pessimistic agnostic in depression. So sometimes we surprise ourselves; this happens to Krishna as well, but in a more charming way. I’m sure you all remember: when He is entering His palace, where the columns are of polished precious stones – just like a mirror – and when He observes His own reflection, He is surprised: ‘What is this beauty? Who is that?’ He is mesmerized by the beauty. It’s an incredible feature – the omniscient God is surprised by Himself. His beauty is growing so much that only He can understand Himself. But even His incredibly multiplying beauty is running ahead of Him and He has to follow it. He is surprised. This is such a dynamic concept of the beautiful reality, Reality of the Beautiful, as Shridhara Maharaj says!

So, Krishna can surprise Himself by His own beauty. And therefore we can also admire Him – due to His beauty, due to His incredible qualities, due to His name. And through the proper chanting of the name, all the other features will reveal themselves. What are these features? Nama, rupa, guna, lila – everything will reveal itself due to the name. First the name reveals the name. This is what we admire in Krishna. Actually, there are only two persons who can really appreciate His beauty. One is Himself. And I think you guessed the other person, who has got the eyes to appreciate Krishna’s beauty. Therefore, you need a special eye.

So, we admire. We admire His ever-growing beauty, His ever-growing reality. And what were the other two features? Admire, love and follow. Just the other day I was thinking, sometimes we are lost in the complicated explanations, right? Therefore, Shrila Prabhupada once said, “Simply try to love Krishna”. Because then all your questions will be answered.

And finally, follow. So, these three steps are what we should apply in our practice. We admire this beautiful reality; we simply love the Divine Couple; and we follow the footsteps of the great mahajanas. Very simple. This is why we come together. Lord Jesus, I think, was also a direct follower of Krishna, as he says: “Wherever my people come together in my name, I am there”. It’s the same principle.

This kind of intense beauty we are ready to search desperately for. Once you have a glimpse of that, for this lifetime you cannot do anything else but run after this mesmerizing beauty.

Therefore the holy name, the sankirtan is recommended so much. All other practitioners, even of different schools, agree that the most direct and the most effective method to be connected to your deity, to your divinity, is through meditation through the names. So it’s a very effective method to be connected. And all other activities we should perform in this hope. You know that life is a survival. We need to survive these few years that are ahead of us. And then join a more profound reality.

(to be continued)