R\u0101dhe R\u0101dhe & da\u1e47\u1e0davat pra\u1e47\u0101\u1e41!<\/p>\n
I had one important point lingering in mind since long. I wish to share my thoughts…<\/p>\n
Out of all the demigods, Krishna is famous for giving fruits of devotion after real long time! But then, what He gives\u00a0 is a large\/enchanting\/satisfying enough to the worshiper! In Bhagavat gita He has defined the happiness in mode of goodness too, as:<\/p>\n
yat tad agre vis\u0323am iva
\nparin\u0323\u0101me ‘mr\u0323topamam
\ntat sukham\u0301 s\u0101ttvikam\u0301 proktam
\n\u0101tma-buddhi-pras\u0101da-jam [BG 18.37]<\/p>\n
[ Happiness in the mode of goodness is that which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization.]<\/p>\n
Often the devotees, when frustrated with their efforts in devotion and service rendered unto Krishna’s lotus feet, having not yet attained any fruit, \u00a0tend to give up their life for Him! Of course, we may think this is due to\u00a0 losing faith and just out of frustration, \u00a0but that’s not generally possible,\u00a0\u00a0since\u00a0 \u00a0after so much service, establishment of nishtha<\/em> in the heart of the devotee <\/em>is just a natural consequence . So they try giving up their vital life force for Him as a last resort, be it one reason or the other!<\/p>\n This has been the\u00a0culmination \u00a0point in even the mightiest of tapasy\u0101s\u2014many great tapasv\u012bs (including the demoniac ones & devotees) have pleased their cherished deities in this manner! The demigods too get pleased \u00a0\u201chow nice is my devotee\u2014ready to give even his\/her life for me!\u201d & fulfill their desires.<\/p>\n When Krishna\u2019s devotees\u00a0 do this thing, then Krishna too doesn\u2019t have a choice! Al\u0101ln\u0101th<\/a> had to comply with the death-threatening child\u2019s desire & show the leela of partaking p\u0101yasam! Krishna had to marry & have 16,108 queens on the ground that they all were ready to give up their lives for Him.<\/p>\n But do we see anything such in Vraja? In m\u0101na-l\u012bl\u0101<\/em>, Krishna lastly resorts to this \u201ctrick\u201d, but does any devotee do so anywhere? Why? Krishna even left Vraja & went out in his sud\u1e5bi\u1e0dha-prav\u0101s<\/em> & yet no gop\u012b ever warned Him that she\u2019d commit suicide if He goes! Imagine, what an anartha<\/em> would have happened if He had to stop\u00a0!\u00a0\u00a0The gopi alone would be held responsible for the destruction of the three worlds by the tejasv\u012b-asuras<\/em> of those times (aside failing curse of \u015ahr\u012bd\u0101ma). A true lover never becomes an obstacle on beloved\u2019s path! Whatever Krishna does by Himself, has its own mary\u0101d\u0101<\/em>-full reasons! If a devotee tries to stop Him by giving warnings like this, then truly,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0what sort of \u201clove\u201d is that? In no way the sev\u0101-bliss s\/he would derive after serving Him in this manner would be \u201ctruly\u00a0\u00a0selfless\u201d! It is selfless as seen with devotee\u2019s POV but selfish as seen from rest of the world, including Krishna!<\/p>\n Gopis too do control Krishna (& indeed Krishna needs to be \u2018controlled\u2019 in order to be served properly)! But not by this sort of force\u2014but by force of (selfless) LOVE! Their internal sweet bh\u0101vs<\/em> of sev\u0101 desires attract Him to such an extent that He flies amongst them like a honey bee.<\/p>\n Devotees have proved that love can go beyond self-sacrifice! During Bharat-vil\u0101p<\/em>, when Bharat Maharaj was ready to even give up his life for (vanav\u0101s\u012b) Ramchandra, if He\u2019d desire so, then Janak-ji (in meeting at Chitrakoot) said him, \u201cTo give up life is easy, but to accept elder brother\u2019s order (& thereby, \u2018die in separation\u2019 is difficult &) glorious much more!\u201d There\u2019s no doubt he suffered\u00a0 a 14-year pain greater than he\u2019d have got by just giving up pr\u0101\u1e47a!<\/p>\n There are two ways of attaining Him: One is by tapasy\u0101\/devotion asking for Him (from Himself) \u00a0& other is directly attracting Him everyday like gopis! Almost any devotee knows the difference of where He\u2019s served more & more sweetly! San\u0101tan-gosv\u0101m\u012b says to attain Nanda-Nandan is easy but to attain a deep \u0101rt\u012b<\/em> for Him like gopIs is rare!<\/p>\n I don\u2019t seem to be so rasik<\/em>-ally eligible to do so but in this context, one can compare the two famous love-letters to Krishna & see where love goes deeper & higher. These are perhaps the highest examples of attempts to control Krishna by both ways:<\/p>\n O beauty of the worlds, having heard of Your qualities, which enter the ears of those who hear and remove their bodily distress, and having also heard of Your beauty, which fulfills all the visual desires of those who see, I have fixed my shameless mind upon You, O Krishna.<\/p>\n O Mukunda, You are equal only to Yourself in lineage, character, beauty, knowledge, youthfulness, wealth and influence. O lion among men, You delight the minds of all mankind. What aristocratic, sober-minded and marriageable girl of a good family would not choose You as her husband when the proper time has come?<\/p>\n Therefore, my dear Lord, I have chosen You as my husband, and I surrender myself to You. Please come swiftly, O almighty one, and make me Your wife. My dear lotus-eyed Lord, let Sh\u2019ish\u2019up\u00e2la never touch the hero\u2019s portion like a jackal stealing the property of a lion.<\/p>\n If I have sufficiently worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead by pious works, sacrifices, charity, rituals and vows, and also by worshiping the demigods, br\u00e2hmanas and gurus, then may Gad\u00e2graja come and take my hand, and not Damaghosha\u2019s son or anyone else.<\/p>\n O unconquerable one, tomorrow when my marriage ceremony is about to begin, You should arrive unseen in Vidarbha and surround Yourself with the leaders of Your army. Then crush the forces of Caidya and Magadhendra and marry me in the R\u00e2kshasa style, winning me with Your valor.<\/p>\n Since I will be staying within the inner chambers of the palace, You may wonder, \u201cHow can I carry you away without killing some of your relatives?\u201d But I shall tell You a way: On the day before the marriage there is a grand procession to honor the royal family\u2019s deity, and in this procession the new bride goes outside the city to visit Goddess Girij\u00e2.<\/p>\n O lotus-eyed one, great souls like Lord Sh\u2019iva hanker to bathe in the dust of Your lotus feet and thereby destroy their ignorance. If I cannot obtain Your mercy, I shall simply give up my vital force, which will has become weak from the severe penances I will perform. Then, after hundreds of lifetimes of endeavor, I may obtain Your mercy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n One can read\u00a0 & compare the difference in nectar, degree of selflessness & attraction by love in both these cases!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" R\u0101dhe R\u0101dhe & da\u1e47\u1e0davat pra\u1e47\u0101\u1e41! I had one important point lingering in mind since long. I wish to share my thoughts… Giving up life in Krishna-Bhakti Out of all the demigods, Krishna is famous for giving fruits of devotion after … Continue reading \n
Letter from Rukmini to Krishna at Dw\u0101raka (from <\/span>\u015ahr\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam 10.52.37-43):<\/span><\/h4>\n
And other is Ha\u1e41sad\u016bta<\/a>!<\/h4>\n