When the Lion Lord comes

"O Lord you took Your adversary and ripped his chest apart.  Victory to You!!!  You are the Deity worshipped by the civilized and You bring fear to the wicked." Sri Krishna Lila Stava by Sanatana Goswami 

 

At dusk,

when You come,

O Lord,

let your scaring laugh

to echo

in the ether 

of evil hearts,

to dismantle the cities of vanity

let each of your step shake

the roads of greed. 

Come Lord, 

as a fiery resplendent Lion

let your roar

out loud, 

to terrify the proud, 

please come,

when is neither day nor night

to the selfish abode of lust,

make this deceitful world to tremble

and palaces of envy to crumble,

tear the plans of the wicked

 apart  

with Your sharp claws,

and also false religiosity

quash it under your paws. 

My Lord,

when You come,

walk down the way of your

uncontrollable love,

with divine anger

break through the threshold

of impiety,

with Your flowing mane in the sky

scatter the dark clouds

of the vicious "I" and "Mine",

roaring loud

smash all that is wicked,

place your glorious ferocious

but punitive limbs

on the throne of victory,

excise the viscera 

of the demoniac ego,

chop fiercely its grip.

TOKEN of LOVE

SD 1.3.34 Comm. "He [Lord Krishna] thinks  'Let this jiva see me'.  If the merciful desire of the Lord arises, then he acts in this way."

I was seen ~

for a minute fraction of time,

in less than an instant

I felt stripped,

the talkative thoughts of my mind

were choked,

for in that single moment,

the blind obscuring my soul

dropped,

and time, as I usually perceive,

was not,

the walls, the shadows,

a labyrinth of beliefs

about "me",

just stopped,

and knots known

to be binding my heart

were dissolved.

I was seen ~

then skies of emotions

distilled in one drop of time,

just like the heart

condenses

the immensity of love

in one tear,

and I felt intensely loved,

I was seen ~

there was light

meant not for the eyes

but for my heart.

When that dot of time had elapsed,

I became greedy,

and I wept,

for one more

token of love.

Nitai is Balaram

The many aspects of the eccentricity of Nityananda defeat the madness of illusory existence without the Lord.  Without Balaram we will believe the uniqueness of Maya. For the mercy of Lord Nityananda we can realize the existence of the Lord in  mantras. Balarama embodies the  quality of omnipresence of the Lord.  For the grace of Lord Nityananda we receive the Mahamantra and for His grace we hear it while we chant it.  By developing infinitesimally one quality of one  mouth of Ananta Sesa, Lord Balaram, we transcend the material energy.  The intent of the creation as enacted by Lord Balaram is spiritual. Lord balarama is in constant expansion through each sound which is uttered to glorify the Lord. Whatever form re-establishes the existence of the Lord is Balaram. Lord Balaram when manifests His lila in the material world is often furious because the refusal of the Lord, present only here, is the  challenge to Him, who is the very existence of the Lord.

"The Sesa who is the adhara-sakti (supporter-power) of the bedstead of Visnu (Wielder of the Sarnga bow), is in the category of God (Visnu-tattva).

The Sesa who bears the globes is an avesa-Avatara (absorption-avatara) of Krsna (or Sankarsana), and therefore He is (also) known as Sankarsana. The bedstead feature of Sesa always considers Himself to be an eternal servitor and friend of the Lord Sarngadhara (wielder of the Sarnga bow)."Bhaktisiddhanta S. Thakur

           Nitai is Baladev         ⁽¹⁾

without chess board

but with a love load

abandoning all rules

has become an avadhut.

Balaram is the throne,

the umbrella, the flute  

Nitai is the servant of Mahaprabhu,

Nitai is Baladev and Ananta Sesa,

with thousands mouths

chants "Hari Hari" in Gaudadesha;

Nitai is Balaram

the sustainer of the worlds

catches Nimai

who in love sways and falls, ⁽²⁾

always by His sides

Nitai holds his crackedling throne. ⁽³⁾

Nitai is Baladev, unarmed

shooting love through His glance

brings the river of prem,

without a plow in His hand;

Balaram constantly, repeatedly

expands in sound

Nitai graces all entities

with the Great Mantra

and the abilitity to hear it

as the Paramatma.

Balaram is Nitai, 

who carries a staff

His clothes are blue

wears one earring

and has become an avadhut.

Balaram has the gait of an elephant

reveals force and power

but Nitai, with the soft feet of a dancer 

intoxicated by sweetness, meanders;

Nitai is Balaram causing an ocean to rise

the heart cannot stop to dance and to cry

leaving the ego and the pride

to drown and die.

Nitai is Balaram the upholder of rules

but now is an avadhut.

1         1)    CC Adi 5.6 "That original Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared in Navadvīpa as Lord                       Caitanya, and Balarāma appeared with Him as Lord Nityānanda."

2)    ”As the powerful Nityananda caught hold of the Lord, Advaita secretly took the dust from the Lord’s feet.”  Caitanya Bhagavata MK 8.143

3)    “He (Caitanya) sat down upon Vishnu’s throne.  The seat crakled under His weight.  Nityananda quickly rushed to hold up.” Caitanya Bhagavata MK 8.283

CRUEL WHEELS

krūra krūreti cakrūram

Calling out "Cruel Cruel!" they jeered Akrura.

Sri Lalita Madhava - Distraught Radha: - "Become conscious for a moment and look.  What misfortune! Merciless Akrura urges on the horses."

When you go to Gokula it is possible that someone tells you this story ....

I was there,

with sleepless eyes,

could not hold back the sun

so not to rise,

when the tearful whispers

of the night became cries

but I could hear no sound

since my heart lamented

more loud,

but the cruel voice

amid my numbness, rose

                              in an averse prayer    ⁽¹⁾                  

when it urged the horse

to move on,

I swooned,

my bangles, dress, rings

like petals of a withering flower,

loosened and slipped

I was there,

distraught,

that day at dawn

yet I saw not the horizon

but the hooves, the ground

the rims, the spokes of the wheels,

cruelly ready to leave,

my hand outstretched, desperate

to grasp, to pull back, to halt,

...once more ~ to touch...

for I had not enough

of His fragrant embraces

nor of His dancing hips

or His Tulsi-scented chest

and of His tempting hands,

nor of His camphored breath,

nor my eyes had enough

of the piercing love of His glance,

of the sweat streaks

on His sandal-smeared skin,

nor of the sweetness

of His cherry red lips,

nor of His impudent words and tricks

no, no,  I had not enough

of the hidden groves, the secret trysts

            the nights of moon-glow...       ⁽²⁾

but suddenly I was there,

calling out behind His wheels,

the stones, the trees, melted 

flowed with my tears in streams

I slumped in the dust

holding  my unfinished wreath,

fated to never adorn Him.

I was there, stunned,

the cruel wheels started,

distance became unbearably true

I saw the flag, His silhouette    ⁽³⁾

fading in a fog of dust

           "I'll return"           ⁽⁴⁾

resounded as the last note 

from His flute

and still echoes

in my heart, in the groves,

in the eyes I meet on the roads,

it's the only rope of hope

for this

I still unashamedly breathe.

1) SLM (Purnamasi) "... before Akrura mounts his chariot and begins chants auspicious prayers for departure.."

2) Laghu B. Txt 508, 511-512 "Though astonishing Gokula, the essence of Mathura, seems like a limited area, it expands and contracts according to the pastimes of Krsna."

"According to the particular pastimes there is a suitable appearance of various places which can be seen by those participating in the particular pastime and not by the unqualified."

"It is astonishing that at one time these forms of the abodes exist factually without mixing with each other at all."

When Krishna leaves, Vrindavana expands into the separation of Navadvip and later into the ecstasy of meeting after long separation of Kshetra Dham, because there is no meaning to separation in love if it is not followed by meeting, union and separation and in this way the waves of love flow to never ebb, and swell again and again thus increasing eternally.

3) SGS 5.4.37 "As long as the chariot, its flag, or the cloud of dust the running horses made could be seen, the stunned gopis stood like painted pictures on the path.  Then, remembering Lord Krsna's words, they became hopeful."

4) SGS 5.4.35 "Girls, don't cry.  At sunset I will return."

IF...

Visnu Purana "One gopi looking at Govinda became extremely joyful and began to repeatedly sing His name "Krsna! Krsna! Krsna!"  She could say nothing else."

This poem was inspired by the power of chanting for transforming the heart, but also to  suggest the need to be active in this process where many micro-results, like the stages of a ripening fruit,have to be achieved in order to steadily adding mature insights to our surrender. 

Caitanya Bhagavata M.L. 28.27 "You all go now, utter the name of Krishna, chant the name of Krishna, do krsna-bhajana.   Don't think of anything else but Krishna."

  

If I do not call out to you

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,

how could I stop listening

the whispers

      of the weaknesses of my heart?   ⁽¹⁾

while my deluded mind

repeats deceitfully

 "you are just fine".

If I do not cry for You

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,

feeling helpless,

how could  I place in your hands

                  my days ?               (2)

       and increase my faith     

perceiving Your benevolence

in events and people

fostering Your aid.

If I, within myself,

do not continue chanting

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,

how could I carry my heart

to the tender of Bhakti?

        while the iron boat of conceit     (3)
sinks into the eerie abyss
of treacherous hedonists ,

where I was again tricked.

If my whole being does not resonate

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,

how could you, in my heart,

awake me to the emotion

so to accept the truths

about my soul, the creation and You?

         I would have no memory of         ⁽⁴⁾

nor could I make of them any use.

But if my tongue calls

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,

without your name

resounding in my soul,

it would not desist

from useless talks, 

the Ego's soliloquy

the invective words,

how then could it dance free

to the sweetness of the songs

about your names and forms?

1) There are four kinds of Anartha (Vani Vaibhava of BVThakur) : 1) identifying the body with the self 2) thirst for material enjoyment 3) offensiveness 4) weakness of the heart.

Anarthas produced from weakness of heart.

1) laziness 2) subordination to insignificant objects; 3) bewilderment of heart due to lamentation; 4) distraction from pure devotional service due to false argument; 5) miserliness in offering all one's energy to the cultivation of Krishna consciousness; 6) rejection of humility due to the pride of caste, wealth, education, followers, beauty, and strength; 7) willingness to be misguided by irreligious propensities and instructions; 8) disinterest in rectifying prejudice; 9) abandonment of compassion due to anger, illusion, envy; 10) intolerance; 11) false identification of the self as a Vaisnava due to the desire for name, fame, and the cheating propensity; 12) and the torture of other living entities that arises from the desire to enjoy women, wealth and other forms of sense gratification.

2) Skanda Purana "If a person rises in the morning and chants 'Krishna, Krishna', I shall bestow all welfare upon him." 

When faith become deep (first tender then firm) transforms into steadiness (nishta), taste (ruci), attachment (rati or asakti) and bhava.

3)  ".....boarding a stone boat, and so too are those who blindly follow them. A stone boat would be unable to float and would sink in the water with its passengers. Similarly, those who mislead people go to hell, and their followers go with them. " - Srimad Bhagavatam, Purport, 6.7.14

4) Prema Bhakti-chandrika "Dhyana is another word for smarana "                                     

Thief of the Soul

This poem was inspired by the Gopis speaking to Krishna when they met for the Rasa Dance and Krishna disappeared like a thief after stealing their souls. But what really churned the ink were the many slokas in the Bhagavatam and other Bhakti literature that refer to Krishna as a thief. The reader will find few of them after this intro and in the footnotes.

So the conclusion that came to the heart is that the Lord in whatever form He manifests for His devotees, among the sublime qualities He always displays, there is the one of being a thief, since He enters His devotees mind and steals it. " 

SD 10.29.34 Comm. "O king of thieves! We did not come here with any other purpose than to recover the treasure that You stole from us. You have stolen our minds, but unlike other thieves You did not have to make any great endeavor. You did this simply by blowing on Your flute."

The Song of Pingala

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_
continue=54&v=NMrRzDJ3Wuc

Uddhava Gita 2.28 "Now please hear from me the song sung by [Pingala] the prostitute ..."

Pingala is a prostitute.  This might rise the query from the reader how one can gain by hearing a poetry describing the greed and miserable life of a prostitute, but 

Pingala's story is told by Lord Krishna to Uddhava and sastra so instruct about this type of narration : Itihasa-samucchaya [SD 3.5.12 Comm.]  "What result can be attained by describing the lust of lusty men and the greed of greedy men, except to sent them into the darkness of a well? In the Mahabharata, lust and greed are described to purify people's hearts, and are moreover condemned by stories with pure meaning.  Otherwise, why would the most merciful and learned Vyasa describe lust and greed, the cause of bondage to terrible material existence?"

Pingala's is just one of the sixteen stories that an avadhuta brahmana told to King Yadu. Every story is a lesson about material life and Krishna retells the whole narration to Uddhava ~ in the section of the Bhagavatam (11th Canto) called "Uddhava Gita" ~ during His final instructions before closing up His pastimes on Earth.  Therefore so auspicious and beneficial is hearing and learning from this story.