Mukunda Mala Stotra 19 – Redefining our conceptions of greatness
yat krishna-pranipata-dhuli-dhavalam tad varshma tad vai shiras
” That head is the loftiest which is white with dust from bowing down to Lord Krishna.”
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Sri Harinath Prabhu ki Jai In Tadvarishmi Tadvai Shiras this verse has four parts we will discuss one part each in one of these meditations this verse is talking about how everything connected with Krishna becomes glorious and it is said when Tadvarishmi Tadvai Shiras so that head that shira which bows down to Krishna and which becomes anointed with the dust that is there near the feet of Krishna Bhool Dhavalam Tadvarishma that is the greatest head so when we are practicing Krishna consciousness and chanting Hare Krishna we know that the purpose is to develop our love for Krishna now developing our love for Krishna is not just a matter of redirecting our heart certainly we have to redirect our heart but it is also that redirection of the heart is based on a complete rethinking of our world view a redefinition of our conceptions and that redefinition centers on understanding actually what is great as compared to our previous notions of what is of greatness so this verse gives us the devotional vision of what actually is great so normally speaking we consider greatness in terms of material things and so a person who has a very good looking head with a good looking face or a head that wears a crown will be considered great by ordinary people on the other hand a person the head of a person whose head bows down that would be considered great by most people in fact many people consider it is a matter of their pride that they will never bow down to anyone so people think that that is a matter of their pride they will let their head be cut will not bow it down that is as a matter of Kshatriya honor if a warrior feels like that and refuses to give up in battle that is good for Kshatriya Dharma but even the Kshatriya bows down to the sages and to the Supreme Lord and that is the head that bows down to the Supreme Lord that is the greatest head now why is it greatest because ultimately this body is foreign to us now whatever way the body is dressed, decorated, paraded that really doesn’t benefit the soul in any way Maharaj Mithukunda says that in his prayers to Lord Krishna that actually whatever I do I think that I am a great person riding on elephant but soon I will become a corpse and I will become some lower species and even now when I think I am so great when sensual desires pull me I become like a dog to fulfill those desires I have to utterly humiliate myself begging for enjoyment now at the level of the body trying to parade one’s greatness is cannot be lasting not just lasting because we can’t stay in the body for long but also because the bodily drives themselves to drag us down sooner or later so therefore if we use the bodily parts for serving Krishna glorifying Krishna reconnecting ourselves with Krishna that is the best gain that we can have and that’s why Kulshekar Maharaj is saying over here that that head which bows down to Krishna and becomes decorated by the dust from near Krishna’s lotus feet that is the greatest head so normally we would like to decorate our face with some lotions and powders to make it look better but from a spiritual perspective those things are just superficial they continue our bodily illusion and others bodily illusion but when the head is decorated with the dust feet of Krishna that indicates that we are going towards eternal life lasting ever enriching happiness and that is what is the real standard of greatness