Sharanagati

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

(continues from the previous Friday)

We started from the moon, right – that the moon is full of desires. When the moon-god had a major desire, he wanted to join the lilas, the dance of Krishna. But then he was perplexed: What to do? How to come closer to Krishna? He remembered this verse form the Shrimad Bhagavatam: akamah sarva-kamo va moksha-kama udara-dhih – ‘I have only one desire – to come closer to the lilas of Krishna. But what am I to do?’ So he started to consult the saintly devotees: “Please, tell me what can I do? I am in the sky. I am so far from the lilas. What am I to do? Sometimes I have a glimpse of the dance of Krishna and the gopies and it’s so charming that I start to melt, my body is just dissolving and from my full-moon phase I become a crescent moon. So, what am I to do, please instruct me, how can I come closer to the lilas of Krishna?”

Then the saintly devotees said: “Oh, our Krishna is a very expert dancer. A real dancer, a real actor always has a costume. And the most important element of His costume is the peacock feather. As you are a male, you cannot enter into the rasa-dance. Gopeshvar Mahadev will protect all those who want to enter. He himself is a male. But even he had to change his bodily type into a female, so that he can protect the dhama. So even for protection you have to convert yourself, change yourself; what to speak of entering the circle. Transformation, you see. Lord Shiva always has the crescent moon in his hair. And Gopeshvar Mahadev, as a protector of the dhama, although he is in a gopi form, still the crescent moon is there. So maybe you can be satisfied with this.”

“No”, Chandra said: “No, no. It’s not enough for me. I feel excluded from the dance. Give me another piece of advice.” They said: “All right, if you want to come closer, then you should transform yourself into a peacock feather.” Then the moon-god accepted this advice. And the bright full moon turned into a peacock feather. When Krishna saw this beautiful peacock feather, immediately He put it on His head. And then all the gopis that evening were extra charged and charmed by this new peacock feather over the head of Krishna. Then the full moon was even more happy in the sky, because in this way he was introduced into the lilas of Krishna more intimately.

Akamah sarva-kamo va/ moksha-kama udara-dhih/ tivrena bhakti-yogena/ yajeta purusham param[1] – “Whether you have no desire, or all desires, or only one desire, thirstily you have to serve the Supreme with devotion.”

And to accomplish our reading for today: “The devotees of the Lord in servitude are divided into four classes: appointed servants (such as Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva, who are appointed to control the material modes of passion and ignorance), devotees in servitude who are protected by the Lord, devotees who are always associates and devotees who are simply following in the footsteps of the Lord”.[2]

So, what was the definition of servitude? Help me, I forgot.

Krishna Priya: Continuous attraction and attachment to Krishna.

Swami Tirtha: Correct. You are part of a systematic spiritual school.

(to be continued)

[1] Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.3.10

[2] Nectar of devotion, Ch.36