Katyayani Vrata – Be desperate to attain the Lord’s mercy

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
On the occasion of Kathiyani Uvrat let us understand the significance of this for us as Vaishnavas The Vrajagopis are the most exalted devotees of Krishna and Krishna describes that he doesn’t want distracted devotional service repeatedly in the Bhagavad Gita he says Ananya Chetasa Ananya Bhakti worship me without any deviation to anyone else and he says that those who worship the Devatas are less intelligent so there is one level of worship where people worship the Devatas and people worship Krishna this is split devotional service and this is considered less intelligent by Krishna higher is pure devotional service where the devotees worship Krishna without any distraction then if among the highest among the highest of the pure devotees if there are Gopis then how can the Gopis worship Kathiyani how can they do demigod worship actually the Gopis never do demigod worship they worship only Krishna but it is in the sweet mood of Raja that actually the devotees are so exalted in Raja that they do not consider Krishna to be God their love for Krishna is so great that the madhurya of the love covers over the ashram just like in the day time stars are there in the sky but they cannot be seen because the sun is so bright similarly the Gopis are also aware of Krishna supremacy but that knowledge of Krishna glory and supremacy is like stars and the bright sun is their madhurya their awareness Krishna is our lovable lord that knowledge is what completely is in the forefront of their consciousness and with this spontaneous undistracted attraction to Krishna as their beloved the Gopis want to do anything and everything to attain Krishna and their performance of kathiyani vrata is not a dushana it is a bhushana dushana means a contamination bhushana means a decoration why is it a decoration because generally for most of us sadhakas we have very little desire to practice devotional service and often we try to find as many excuses as possible to do as less devotional service as possible but the Gopis they want to find all possible ways in which somehow or the other they can attain Krishna so in Vrindavan when the Gopis live the culture over there is such that it is a Vedic culture and in Vrindavan the Vrijivasis don’t worship Krishna as god for them Narayana is the supreme lord but according to the local tradition whenever there are young ladies who want wife who want a husband who want to become wives and have husband good husband they worship the goddess so in Kavikaranapur Vrindavan Champu he describes that actually the Gopis who worshipped kathiyani did not include Radharani because Radharani as we know Padmabandhu Radhika Radhika Ashtakam by Krishna’s Kaviraj Goswami explains that Radharani would worship Surya and her purpose of worshipping sun god was also to attain the supreme sun that is Krishna so here the Gopis who worshipped kathiyani were unmarried Gopis Radharani and other Gopis they had already been married to certain people who were in one sense expansion of Krishna like everyone knew expansion of the shadow of Krishna but these younger unmarried Gopis like Padma Sakhi and others they fervently worshipped kathiyani and Vishnu Acharya Krithakur and the other Acharyas explained that this kathiyani is not from the material world she is a pure devotee she is also a part of the Vraja Leela and just as all the Devi just as all the forms of the supreme lord like Vishnu and others are expansions of Krishna similarly all the Devis are expansions ultimately of Radharani so kathiyani is in Vraja Leela a part of the setting of Vrindavan and she is also a devotee of course the Gopis when they worship kathiyani their move is please let us attain Krishna whatever happens and when they wanted to perform this Vrata at that time their elders their mothers and others told them that you are very young and this Vrata this fasting is very difficult to do your bodies are tender you will not be able to do this fast no need for you to take such serious austerity but the Gopis said no we must do this austerity and they were determined and it was a difficult Vrata they performed it for the full month and just as they were about to complete the Vrata on the last day one of the last days kathiyani Devi herself came and she said that actually you are great devotees and Krishna is your lord and he will surely fulfill your desire so kathiyani didn’t say that I will fulfill your desire she said Krishna will fulfill your desire because Krishna is my lord I cannot give you Krishna but this is the way you are expressing yourself your desire and Krishna is observing that desire and we know that just in the last day of kathiyani Vrata before they completed the Vrata itself Krishna came and he stole their garments and in that way he accepted their prayer that he be their husband and in this way the kathiyani Vrata attained success so what was the success that even by their worship of the demigods their devotion to Krishna increased and they attained Krishna by that so as sadhakas our acharas have not recommended us to literally follow and worship kathiyani but what we can learn the principle is principle of sincere and fervent intensity in the service of the lord that we can pray to the gopis that we can also get a speck of their desire their desperate desire to take up any austerity to attain the mercy of the lord and ultimately to attain his loving association thank you Hare Krishna