Meditation on Kaliya lila – Devotion grants access to a rich panorama of divine emotions

Transcript

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Govinda Damodara Stotra text 33 Chakrur Tantya Pathigopapala Govinda Damodara Madhaveti this is text 33 Sarore Kalyanag Baddham Shishum Yashodatanayam Nishamya So the Vajvasis were completely absorbed in Krishna maddened by their absorption in Krishna and they just couldn’t think of anything other than Krishna being thus absorbed in him and when they heard that Krishna had been bound by the terrible serpent Kaliya their horror and terror became unbounded Sarore Kalyanag Baddham Shishum Yashodatanayam Nishamya they heard like this that time Krishna was just a Shishu, a small boy so Shishum Yashodatanayam Nishamya when they heard this was the fate that had befallen Krishna they were horrified not knowing what to do they desperately ran towards the Kaliya Sarovar Chakrur Lutan Pathigopapala and along that path they ran desperately so for them practically the only thing available for them the only option which made any sense to them was they were ready to give up their own life to somehow save the life of Krishna now Kaliya Krishna was such a formidable demon that even their own efforts to try to save him would be very difficult would not have been enough but in despair they had to do something just couldn’t sit there paralyzed so they all ran desperately Anand Vrindavan Jampu describes how everyone from tiny boys, tiny kids who could barely walk to elderly men who could barely walk they all ran out towards the Sarovar where Kaliya was living in Jamuna and desperate somehow they wanted to do what they could to save Krishna that immense despair was a pointer to their devotion and they longed somehow or the other to help Krishna somehow or the other to do something by which they could save Krishna the mood of devotion of Vrindavan is very sublime and special that mood centers not so much on giving, on taking from God, it centers on giving to God the Brajwasis were ready to give up their life for the sake of protecting Krishna, for the sake of serving Krishna for the sake of loving Krishna such was their sublime devotion to Him and indeed a defining difference between the conception of God of the Brajwasis and everybody else was that people prayed to God, the Brajwasis prayed for God they did not really think of Krishna as God they thought of Krishna as simply a lovable cowherd boy the most lovable member of their family the whole of Vrindavan was like a family within that Krishna was simply the most lovable young boy and they felt that they just couldn’t live without Him and with this mood in their heart they were left with utterly no option except to be overwhelmed by whatever was happening in their hearts and their lives as they thought of Krishna being trapped by Kaliya so often they would pray for Krishna for his well-being, for his auspiciousness and they would pray to the various Devatas Gargacharya had told Nanda Maharaj that your son is just like Vishnu that meant that he thought that he is as strong as Narayan he did not think of him necessarily as Narayan that meant he thought that maybe he is empowered by Narayan in a very special way by which he is as strong as Narayan and the divine distress that the Brajwasis experienced was it was intense it was unbearable it was at one level we could say heartbreaking for them and then as they desperately ran as fast as their legs would take from Vrindavan to the Kaliya Sarovar and there when they saw that Krishna was in the clutches of Kaliya Kaliya Naag they were ready to give up their lives some of the Brajwasis wanted to just dive into the lake to somehow free Krishna and that was their love others realized that by diving in they could do nothing and they were praying, they were hoping somehow Krishna would be saved and when Krishna saw that the Brajwasis were overwhelmed by enormous anxiety then he himself changed his role when he saw that it seemed as if the Brajwasis would almost leave their bodies out of anxiety that he changed his role and he broke free from the clutches of Kaliya and started dancing over there and then the Brajwasis saw Krishna as the supreme lord who danced with his consummate grace on the fangs of Kaliya something an incredible sight to behold which is actually incredibly difficult to perform a snake’s skin itself is slippery, not a very convenient place to dance on and on top of that this snake’s hoods were constantly moving and he had so many hoods so not only was there a skillful dance but it was practically a dance which skillfulness would determine whether one would be able to live or not so if a warrior is dancing, normally the warrior, if somebody is dancing, we basically think of what is skillful and graceful what is graceful? If somebody is fighting for life they just fight whatever way they can one is not thinking so much of grace but when Arju Krishna was dancing, it was a breathtaking combination of skillfulness and gracefulness he just kept dancing dancing, dancing and he captivated the hearts of everyone so Bajawasis were apprehensive what will happen? But as they saw Krishna mastering Kaliya that apprehension changed to astonishment and as they saw how beautifully Krishna was dancing astonishment turned to delight and as they saw Krishna conquering over Kaliya, it changed to jubilation then they saw how Kaliya’s wives came and begged to Krishna to release their husband and it became their emotion changed to wonder and then eventually when Kaliya too offered prayers to Krishna and Kaliya sneaked away after seeking the forgiveness of Krishna the Bajawasis were filled with thrill, amazement and when Krishna came out of the Kaliya lake and Yashoda Mayananda Maharaj embraced him all his friends congratulated him that was a time when they just felt elation, pride and immense, immense relief that their Vrindavan Netwar who had now become Kaliya Netwar who danced on the top of Kaliya that Lord had survived from the clutches of death and come back their jubilation knew no bounds and thus they celebrated so devotion to Krishna involves the entire panorama of emotions we see what the Bajawasis experience on hearing and seeing about Krishna in the clutches of Kaliya so similarly when we go through our life practicing bhakti sometimes we may also feel as if our devotion to Krishna is enveloped in the clutches of Kaliya Kaliya like Anarthas and we may feel dismayed how will we ever be able to break free from this how will we be able to move ahead in our devotion but Krishna has his own plan and Krishna will reveal that plan so bhakti is itself a rich and enriching emotion but it is not one emotion alone bhakti gives us access to a world of richly variegated and deeply fulfilling emotions as the Bajawasis experienced in the Kaliya Mardanila