Sharanagati

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

(continues from the previous Friday)

 “Learned scholars have described the impetuses for parental love for Krishna, existing in the elderly personalities who are in relation with Him, as follows: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose bodily complexion is just like a bluish, new-grown lotus flower, whose body is very delicate and whose lotus eyes are surrounded by scattered hair as black as bees, was walking on the streets of Vrindavana when mother Yashoda, the beloved wife of Nanda Maharaja, saw Him. Immediately the milk began to flow from her breasts, soaking her body.”[1]

All right, this the father cannot do. I accept that. But what does it mean? Something moves inside, irresistibly. First is the inner feeling, second is the bodily manifestation. You are the fathers and mothers, so you know it better – when you see your child for the first time, something moves inside you. Later all the other symptoms will come, but first is this trembling of the soul. And we love our kids, irrespective of if the kids love us. So we are on the hook. They enjoy their freedom, but as a father, as a mother you have to understand: your freedom was gone a long time ago. Isn’t that sweet? I see some wrinkles on your foreheads, but I think it’s sweet anyway. Why? Because anyway we have to serve someone in this lifetime. This is life – service, dedicate yourself to someone. So why not to your beloved ones?

When you have one child, you think: “Oh, I have everything. And I am so busy.” Then you will have the second child and say: “I am busier.” The third will come and you are lost. But one child is good, two children are better, and three is the minimum. No, really! If two can produce only one – what’s that? It’s not multiplication, it’s a loss. Two will produce two – then all right. But there are some couples, who don’t produce and there are some ascetics. Who will take care of their progress? So, you must have minimum three.

Baladev: You said that on the third child we are lost, what happens on the fourth?

Swami Tirtha: Oh, then your love will multiply. No, really, if you calculate, this is multiplication. Progeny is not simply for substitution, but for multiplication – to bring more souls to accomplish their spiritual journey. And then you will start to have your grandsons and granddaughters. Once we started to count with Isvara the grandsons and the granddaughters. And after 40 I stopped.

“Some specific provocations for parental love of Krishna are listed as His blackish bodily hue, which is very attractive and pleasing to see, His all-auspicious bodily features, His mildness, His sweet words, His simplicity, His shyness, His humility, His constant readiness to offer respect to the elderly and His charity. All of these qualities are considered ecstatic provocations for parental love.”[2]

So, something moves us. The vision, the presence, the hope, the mood, the behaviour. I don’t say that what we perceive here on this planet Earth is equal to the spiritual reality, but it tells the story about it. These daily relationships mean much more than simple actions. Therefore we can say that they are a mystic experience. Because a mystic experience goes beyond the simple direct meaning. It shows something hidden.

So, if you can observe your human relationships from a divine point of view, then all your days will become a mystic experience. And then you are not lost in the disharmony of the relationships, of the experience. But you can observe: “Yes, Rupa Goswami was correct – whenever I see my child, I tremble”. So it is true, whatever he writes here is true! It is true to the last word, to the last character.

(to be continued)

[1] The Nectar of devotion Ch.43

[2] The Nectar of devotion Ch.43