Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 04.01.2018 pm, Sofia)

(continues from the previous Friday)

Devotees under the protection and shelter of the Lord – the second category.
“One resident of Vrindavana once told Lord Krishna, “My dear Krishna, O pleasure of Vrindavana! Being afraid of this material existence, we have taken shelter of You, for You can completely protect us! We are well aware of Your greatness. As such, we have given up our desire for liberation and have taken complete shelter under Your lotus feet. Since we have heard about Your ever-increasing transcendental love, we have voluntarily engaged ourselves in Your transcendental service.” This statement is by a devotee who is under the protection and shelter of Lord Krishna.” [1]
You see, we hardly passed the neutral stage; now we come to the servitude. And here is the key for the next stages. Because “We have heard about the ever-increasing love for You and therefore we have taken shelter. We don’t possess that yet, but we have heard about it.” Did you hear about the ever-growing love and attachment to Krishna? Yes, we have heard something about it. Therefore we are ready to take the shelter of this process, of our achariyas, of this invitation. Because faith is the pleasure that we can derive from the appreciation and glorification of the ever-increasing love between Radha and Govinda.
A very beautiful example of taking shelter under the lotus feet of Lord Krishna is mentioned here – Kaliya, the poisonous snake.
“Upon being chastised by Krishna’s constant kicking on his head, Kaliya, the black snake of the Yamuna, came to his senses and admitted, “My dear Lord, I have been so offensive unto You, but still You are so kind that You have marked my head with the impression of Your lotus feet.” This is also an instance, an example of one’s taking shelter under the lotus feet of Krishna.
You see, this is the group of the devotees who are protected by the Lord.

(to be continued)

1. Nectar of devotion, Ch. 36