--- In KrishnaBhagavan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Jayamma <jayamma69@xxxx>
wrote:
Pranam to all Vaishnavas, Absolute faith in Krishna, vital for
divine grace
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.
The Bhagavatam had 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.
BHAGAVAD GITA, Chapter 9, Verse 34
man-mana bhava mad-bhakto / mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi yuktvaivam / atmanam mat-parayanah
( 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. )
OM NAMO BHAGAVATE VASUDEVAYA!!!
Krishna's Dasi, Jayamma
(Note : Message generated in KRISSHNABHAGAVAN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
The all-new My Yahoo! ? Get yours free!
--- End forwarded message ---
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers.
At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/hjtSRD/3MnJAA/i1hLAA/VkWolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |