Sharanagati

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

(continues from the previous Friday)

Is it possible to overserve Krishna…? You see, sometimes He comes in a deity form to accept our services. And once in a very well established mataji ashram there was a case. You know, in an ashram you have to keep everything under control, because otherwise it will break down. And usually, to keep control over the kitchen is very important. Because if there is no control, one day you will use all the bhoga for the offerings and tomorrow there will be nothing to cook. So you have to be very careful and very proportionate in the kitchen, isn’t that so? When in Gurudev’s ashram the devotees submitted to him the list for what to buy, he said: “Three cauliflowers! No, only one.” It was very sweet and it was very difficult to manage the shopping with him. Because he was very strict and always cutting half the list.

But if we return to the original story: in this ashram everything was fully under control, everything was proportionate and the stock was kept very nicely. But then one day a new lady came and she brought her deities as well – small little Radha-Krishna. And she started to worship her own deities in this ashram. She was very intimately related to her deities and she knew that Krishna loves sweets in the morning. This is the way Krishna starts His day – with some sweets. And she tried to supply it, sneaking into the kitchen, taking all the butter that was proportionately designed for the day, adding some sugar and this and that, and offering all to her Krishna. Because she wanted to serve her beloved Krishna. But then the cook came. She said: ‘All right, now let’s start cooking… and where is the butter?’

This story started to escalate, more and more butter was missing every day. Our dear gopi wanted to overcare so much for her Govinda and He started to become heavier and heavier.  Because she felt that: ‘He loves my sweets so much.’

I know that you very nicely follow all the instructions and everything that you hear in the lectures. But please, be proportionate in the usage of butter.

Vedavid: What if Krishna stole the butter?

Gangamata: It’s a good excuse.

Swami Tirtha: This question you will be able to answer if you were the leader of an ashram and you have to proportionately distribute the butter. Of course, nothing is independent of the divine desire. But we started from overcaring. And actually, the surplus is not the butter and it’s not the sugar that we have to give. The surplus is the affection. And this is never overdosed, this is never a burden. Because pure dedicated love knows all the secrets of love. And this very intelligent service always considers the taste of Krishna. The only question, the only point is whether He likes it this way or not.

Many times I’ve told you when a gopa was massaging the left foot of Krishna. He was nicely giving a massage for half an hour and Krishna was gone in yoga-nidra. And then our gopa thought: ‘All right, I had been massaging the left foot, now I move to the right foot of Krishna. Because I have to distribute my service proportionally.’ So, very softly he gave up massaging the left foot and very softly touched the right foot. Then Krishna just slightly opened His eyes and said: “Go back.” As He likes. Sometimes you might have a suggestion, but we have to obey as He likes. And from this rule only very few devotees are exceptions. When their desire and their willpower overpower Krishna.