Jai Jai ShriGokulesh

It is not possible to assess the depth of a person's devotion and gauge whether he has attained the maturity to experience Lord Krishna . Divine grace plays an important role in a person's spiritual progress and hence a devotee must repose faith in Krishna and await His grace to be blessed with the experience. Scriptures give a clue to the mystery of the working of divine grace.

According to the Bhagavata Purana even great sages who had realised Him by dint of knowledge (Jnana) revelled in listening to the glory of Krishna in His incarnations, especially the infantile sports of Lord Krishna, which shows that devotion holds the key to accentuating the unique relationship between the Lord and His devotee. The cases of the Gopis, the simple cowherd maidens, and His foster-mother Yashoda, who were singled out for His grace, have become the nucleus of a vibrant spiritual tradition which continues to inspire countless spiritual seekers by reliving the experiences of the Gopis by listening to the exposition of His divine sports.

The cowherd community of Gokul did not have a moment's rest after the Lord came to their midst. Just by beholding His bewitching form the Gopis forgot and forgave Him for all the troubles they had to face because of Him. Those who came to complain to Yashoda about Him were compelled to silence when they confronted the picture of innocence Krishna presented.

The Gopis had legitimate reasons to complain to Yashoda thus, ``Untethering the calves before the cows could be milked, your darling swallows our tasteful curds and milk stolen through thieving devices contrived by Him. He deals them out in order to feed the monkeys ; and if a monkey drinks no more, He smashes the jar. Where the milk is kept hanging beyond the reach of His hands, He contrives plans to get at it.''

``Possessed of insight into the contents of the pots and expert in making holes, He strikes holes into the pots. He does all these at a time when the cowherd women have their minds fully engrossed in their duties. He commits nuisance in our tidy houses and does other such mischievous acts. And having accomplished His work through pilfering devices, He sits by your side as a very innocent boy.''

By denying them a moment's respite Krishna made them forget all their worldly preoccupations by making them engage their minds on Him with undivided attention by His irresistible charm and pranks. This is the ultimate goal of spiritual practices - to develop one-pointedness of mind which can then experience Krishna.

The mystic saints, Azhwars, when they refer to people engrossed in worldly life, bemoan that they concern themselves only with the preoccupations of food, clothing and shelter and hardly about the one who provides all these to mankind. Those who become worthy of divine grace understand that they owe everything they enjoy in life to Lord Krishna.

The different incarnations were undertaken by Krishna with a specific purpose every time but in general it has been to redeem those who were wedded to righteousness and reposed faith in His saving grace. Among them, His manifestations in the human form as Rama and Krishna are very important to human beings from the standpoint of their liberation. For, it was in these incarnations that He taught the path of surrender to Him (Saranagati) as the means to liberation that can be adopted by one and all. come to be hailed as a scripture expounding the nuances of the doctrine of surrender to Krishna as means to liberation. The actual reason for Lord Krishna’s manifestation was to liberate all those who sought refuge in Him and hence it was to teach the esoterics of this method that He assumed the human form and underwent all the trials and tribulations of human life to show them the way. This method to liberation is one of the 32 prescribed in the scriptures.

The conviction that one does not possess any of the requisites for working out one's salvation and surrendering to Krishna beseeching Him to undertake that responsibility forms the basis of adopting self-surrender to Krishna as a means to liberation. The burden of delivering such a person from bondage then vests with the Lord after the performance of surrender, but, what is essential is that there should be absolute faith in Krishna.

The sages knew that the Lord would manifest to deliver them from bondage and this was the reason they awaited Krishna's arrival with great expectation. Moreover, the celestials had also surrendered to Krishna to manifest on the Earth and rid it of the burden of the demons.

( Always absorb your mind in Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer obeisances unto Me. In this way, with mind and body fully surrendered in My service, you will certainly achieve Me. )

Edited by - gopal on January 20 2005 10:13:18

Jai Jai ShriGokulesh Parivaar, Baroda