Bhagavatam-daily 230 – 11.11.36 – Pass higher test to quickly gain higher taste

Krishna bhagavatam 11.11.36 here krishna is saying that speak about my appearance and my activities anumodhanam mamma parava parava refers to festivals anumodhanam delight in those festivals delight in remembering the times when i descended to this world and good for the world and how do you celebrate it gita tandava vaditra by singing by dancing by playing musical instruments goshti bhi and discussing between devotees madgraha utsava madgraha krishna’s home is a temple madgraha utsava refers to the temple in which krishna resides this is a board krishna is progressing now he first talked about hearing sound vibrations and this verse also talks about hearing sound vibrations but it moves further and also states that we can more than hear while we can hear sound vibrations regularly and also hear them especially on those occasions when we have an opportunity to move closer to krishna by the practice of bhakti yoga that means the holy days such as the days when krishna appears the days of say janmashtami madparvana anumodhanam just as the place where krishna descends janmashtami vrindavan becomes a sacred place that becomes a manifestation of the divine in space similarly the day when krishna descends that becomes a manifestation of krishna in time having manifested thus krishna blesses the world through his many activities which he performs when he comes to the world now devotees actually want to remember the lord and relish his remembrance and special occasions such as janmashtami become stronger impetuses for devotees to absorb themselves in the remembrance of krishna so for example when a devotee feels that krishna is my lord and this is the day when he so mercifully descended from the spiritual world to the material world just for the sake of benefiting me the devotees hearts get overwhelmed with thoughts of how merciful krishna is and on those days when there is already the spiritual potency because of the speciality of that day as a manifestation of the divine in time and there is also the softening of the heart because of the special occasion and meditating on the speciality of that occasion and on that time when there is further stimulation offered through our devotion by specific devotional celebration such as as it is said over here by by discussing the pastimes among the devotees by playing instruments, by singing, by dancing then the ecstasy becomes increased manifold and the devotee can relish the higher taste in an extraordinary way so as devotees we as sadhakas we all want the higher taste sometime at least we need to be willing to pass higher tests to get the higher taste so pass higher test means that there are some days which require some above average austerities and when we do those austerities we show Krishna our not just average commitment but our above average commitment to loving and serving him or to learning to love and serve him and when that above average commitment becomes manifest then devotion to him can march onwards in a much more fulfilling and energizing way and inspiring way so as sadhakas all of us need Krishna we cannot live without the higher taste that comes from remembrance of Krishna and the earlier we can get become securely situated in the higher taste the the easier our spiritual progress will be and the safer our spiritual status will become because then we will be less threatened or tempted by the lower taste so now all of us know that we have room to increase our bhakti but often we are lethargic in intensifying our devotional practices but on special days such as janmashtami when Krishna has appeared at least for those days we can decide now i am definitely going to intensify my bhakti and by intensifying our bhakti on those special days we can get a higher taste and as we get the higher taste we will be enlivened to commit ourselves more and more to Krishna and by thus committing ourselves to Krishna more and more we will move onwards rapidly towards Him so yes this verse focuses primarily on the celebratory aspects of the festivals from Krishna and in addition to celebratory aspects there is the austerity aspect also but what we focus on will shape our perception so if we on janmashtami think oh i have to fast then that austerity aspect will dominate our mind and our heart will no longer be open leave alone be tender be tenderly sensitive and receptive to receiving and relishing Krishna’s sweetness that’s why it’s critical that we choose the right focus in our spiritual life if we focus on Krishna on loving Krishna on serving Krishna on progressing towards Krishna through the practice of our bhakti and see the whatever special occasions are there not as situations which demand extra austerity from us but as situations which provide us an opportunity to intensify our devotion and to quickly rise to a higher taste to show Krishna our intense desire to rise towards a higher taste then just like to give a mundane example some days some shops may offer a sale they may say oh on this day 30% off on all our products at that time people can purchase the same product but at a cheaper rate so like that janmashtami and other sacred days connected with the lord’s descent and other special occasions in lord’s life are like a devotional sale day on those days Krishna’s mercy is more readily more profusely more relishably accessible and if we just stay focused on the positive aspect of the greater availability of Krishna’s mercy and don’t get obsessed with the prospect of greater austerity on that day the positive focus will enable us to relish and be enriched by Krishna’s supreme mercy manifesting through the special potency and mercy available on sacred days