Bagawan (Lord) Sri Krishna is a ocean of mercy. His sole motive is just to uplift each and every jeevathma and to bless it with the divine happiness. So as to accomplish this objective Bagawan Krishna has taken various incarnations (Avathar). The 1st among them is Vaikuntham, 2nd is Thirupaarkadal, 3rd is Avatharam, 4th is Aantharyami and the 5th is Archaavatharam.

Vaikuntham: A place where Bagawan resides as Narayanan and people keep singing hymns in His praise. People over here experience neither sunrise nor sunset.  They neither feel hungry nor thirsty. But for us in kaliyuga it is a place which can be reached on attaining salvation. Hence for us it is just like the Vrajaa river which is barely visible to us with our naked eyes.

Then next one is Thirupaarkadal: A place where Bagawan resides calmly, peacefully and cherry fully on His own Aadesheshan (Bed of Snake). According to us this place is meant only for the people in deva loka. But whether samasaris like us can attain this Bagawan is a big question for us all. Hence the Thirupaarkadal is lake the clouds that are holding the rain water i.e. it can be felt but difficult to attain. It can be attained only by Saathaga Pakshi (a bird which drinks water only from the clouds). 

Avatharam: Bagawan came down in the form of Rama and Krishna. But even in those yugas (period) their were people who did not accept Him and were devoid of Bhakthi. In todays world listening or reciting of Ramayanam, Mahabharatham, Bhagawad Geetha, Bhagawatham no doubt gives us immense pleasure and relaxes our mind. But this feeling is just a temporary for us. The fault doesnt exist in these divine scripts or holy epics but it is the limitation of our minds.  Hence this incarnation of Bagawan is just like the rain water which gets stored in the form of lakes or ponds i.e. its benefit can be reaped only by those who were in existence in that yuga of Rama or Krishna. We samsaris lack the capability of experiencing and understanding this divine form of Bagawan. So even this incarnation is inaccessible for us.

But the kind, compassionate, sympathetic Krishna was not satisfied with all this. He was very much determined to make Himself easily approachable to each and every jeevathma (living being) residing on this earth. So He decided to take the Aantharyammi form.

Aantharyammi: Bagawan decided to reside within everyone. But how many of us are conscious about this and recognize His presence within us? So this form was like the water which subsists beneath this earth. This water is favorable only to those who are acquainted with the method of digging it out and making the best possible use of it. Hence this form was beneficial only to limited ones who could understand its significance.

When the samsaris failed to recognize even this Aantharyami form of Bagawan, our loving, caring, down to earth Krishna made up His mind to still come down from His level. See the urge of Krishna in uplifting the jeevathmas and making himself readily accessible to them! Krishna is the supreme, the creator of this universe, the ultimate liberator, the lord of all but in spite of this He never doubted the capability of the jeevathmas but considered it as His own fault in proving Himself to them. Hence he decided to still come down and become easily amicable.

This made Him to take the Archavathaara Murthi form: this means the Idols kept in various temples. This was like the water kept in a vessel or originating in a well i.e. a form which was effortlessly available for quenching the thirst of anyone. But Bagawan was not contented even with this. He found that still many people faced difficulties in having an easy access to Him as many could not visit the temples. They lacked the faith that idols in temple are full of sanctity. They could not understand the importance of such a godly form of Bagawan.
 
We often ignore or are very insincere in visiting the temples. We very easily say that our schedule is very tight, busy and tiresome so we do not fine time to visit temples. But still the sweet, pleasant, delightful, wonderful, generous Bagawan keeps waiting for us each day, each hour, each minute and each second. In our daily life and hectic schedule we have no time to allot for Him though we have enough time for all other activities including our daily routine chores, chit chatting, watching television, and freaking out with our dear ones and so on. We very easily fail to remember Him but He doesnt forget us even unknowingly. But this ocean of mercy has a nature of forgetting and forgiving all the faults and sins of His children which proves to be a boon for us. We cannot even imagine the consequence if Bagawan starts punishing us for our wrong deeds as we know to commit mistakes only. We should really be very grateful, obliged and thankful to such a pardoning and tolerant Bagawan.

As it was not possible for many people to visit the temples Bagawan made up his mind to walk through the streets in the form of Thiruvidhi Ula ( A procession where in Bagawan is placed on a chariot and is carried through the streets). In what way can we express our gratitude to Krishna for what he does for us?  To lift us up from this Samsara Sagaram Bagawan is even ready to arrive on the street. This proved to be beneficial to those who were not in a position to visit temples. But still the people neither recognized the mercy of Bagawan nor did they understand its significance. They just kept chit-chatting or watching television and used to come out only when the chariot was about to pass from the front of their house and used to bow down before it. This was what they were offering to the gracious Bagawan in return of the boundless mercy He was showering on them.  They had no time to wait for the Bagawan who had come on the streets for them. 

But even after doing so much Bagawan was not contented.  He is well aware about the people in this Kaliyuga. He knows that the people in Kaliyuga need everything in a instant form. They want to put in fewer efforts, but the outcome or the result should be very large. So at last He came in the form of Namasankeertanam in this Kaliyuga, the simplest form which is very easy to practice. All that we have to do is to just chant Him Nama continuously irrespective of the time, place or work. All that we need for this is just a pure heart with a small wish to chant His nama. But people failed to practice this also. They needed someone who could preach them the importance of chanting the nama of Bagawan and Bhakthi.

So finally Bagawan decided tosend His Bhakthaas on this earth. It was like Maane katti mane pidikerapole this means if we want a deer to fall in our trap we will have to create the replica of the deer and make it stand before it. This shall attract the attention of the original deer which being fascinated by this deer shall come running and shall fall in our trap. Bagawan also used the same tactics. Look at the efforts which Bagawan has to put in so as to distract our attention from this world, materialist pleasure and deflect it toward Him.

We people believe in Bagawan but our belief is restricted to praying before Him daily in the morning for just a minute or five. Bhakthi is not just lighting up lamp or bowing down before Him or reciting the slokas while our mind and hearts keeps on wandering. But Bhakthi is something related to our hearts. The only thing needed for Bhakthi is a clean heart with a small urge to achieve Krishna. We have no knowledge as to whether we can experience the grace of Bagawan in this Kaliyuga, whether we can also see, touch, converse and have fun with Krishna just as the Gopar did, whether we can also sing and dance with Him just as the ever green Gopis of Vraja bhoomi, whether He shall direct us at times when we are confused and fell distressed just as He guided Arjuna in the battlefield, whether He shall come running to liberate us from our difficulties just as He came for Draupadi. For us all these are the events which took place in the Dwapar yuga when Krishna was present on this earth. But today we are in kaliyuga. Therefore whether Bagawan exist in this Kaliyuga also is a big question for us all. All the divine epics and holy scripts like Ramayanam, Narayaneeyam, Bhagavatham, Bhagavath Geetha, and Vishnu Sahastranamam are just sacred books which shall fetch good for our house if we recite it daily. We fail to notice the presence of Bagawan in such divine scripts. Hence we are totally unaware as to what bhakthi and Namasankeertanam means.

Thus in order to teach, guide and to show the real form of bhakthi to the people in this Kaliyuga Krishna decided to send His Bhakthaas. A feeling that the existence of Bagawan is true comes to our mind only on listening or reading the charitram (life history) of the Bhakthaas. It is only the Bhaktha charitram which provide evidence and demonstrate to us the power, ability and mercy of Bagawan. It motivates us and develops within us a desire to attain Bagawan. All the great Bhakthaas of the past like Meera, Aandal, Sackubai,Janabai, Tukaram, Purandaradasar, Namadevar, Aanamachariyar, Swami Ramanujar, Krishna Chaitnya Maha Prabhu, and many more have lived a life just like a normal human being. They were also a part of some family and had a lot of responsibilities and duties to be fulfilled. However they all attained the Lotus Feet of Krishna. The reason for this is was Krishna resided in their hearts. They lived for Krishna. Krishna Bhakthi was the sole aim and ambition of their life. They never escaped from their duties and responsibilities but sincerely conceded everything considering it as a service to Krishna. Physically they existed in this world but their minds and hearts were with Krishna. All they knew was to chant His nama continuously. 

The people today neither carry out their duties perfectly nor do we have any interest or curiosity in doing Bhakthi. We can very easily provide thousands of reasons for escaping from Bhakthi by saying that the present life is very hectic, tedious, world is moving very fast and Bhakthi is something obsolete or old fashioned. Many a times we are even ashamed of doing Bhakthi or uttering the nama of Bagawan loudly as we fell it is against our status or dignity. This is so because we are not aware about the real power, worth, importance, strength and essence of Bhakthi. No one has ever taught us what the real form of Bhakthi is and how to achieve it. We have no determination to do Bhakthi. When these Bhakthaas who lived just a thousands of years before us can create a history then why cant we? Have we ever thought about this? Why dont we consider them as our role model and try to attain their position? A child is encouraged if it expresses its desire to become a doctor, lawyer, engineer, and a big well known personality. But the same child shall get a furious reaction from the society if it says it wants to do Bhakthi like Meera or Tukaram. Actually we are scared of teaching the importance of Bhakthi to the children.  We feel that this is not the age for them to get occupied in such activities. Some have even a deeply rooted fear in their minds that involvement in Bhakthi since childhood shall make the child Sanyasi. But did Prahalada or Dhruva become sanyasi?  They both got the darshan of Shri Hari at a very tender age but their after they lived the life of a king, they also enjoyed all the pleasures of married life, ruled for number of years and at last attained the Lotus Feet of Krishna. They never faced any hardships, failure or misery either in their personal life or from their subjects. They lived their life and carried out all their activities only for Bagawan Krishna and hence they had leaded an extremely comfortable, joyful and a peaceful life.

Bhakthi and chanting the nama of Bagawan will take us to the peak of happiness and make us victorious in every path of our life. The child which starts doing Bhakthi shall never meet failures, commit mistakes or face hardships in its life. It shall meet with success in every path of its life as it is taken care of, cherished, guided, loved, assisted, and governed by Krishna. Such a child shall never experience any sort of depression, sufferings or misery in its life. In fact it is the duty of each parent to teach their child the importance of Namasankeertanam and Bhakthi. However in todays world parents are so much drowned in materialistic pleasures and luxurious that they themselves are distant from Bhakthi. When they themselves fail to realize the importance of Bhakthi how can they teach their children? For them Bhakthi is something which is essential for our life but according to them it cannot and should not be implemented. All the great Mahatmas of past lived for Bhakthi. Even now if we start doing Bhkathi for leading a calm and peaceful life slowly we shall also develop the attitude of living for Bhkathi rather than doing Bhakthi to live.

Bharatha Bhoomi is rich in Bhakthi. This divine sacred land has witnessed and is witness the birth of numerous great Bhakthaas and Mahatmas. Our histories have proven to us that not a single Indian has gone abroad in search of Bhakthi. But people come here to get drowned in the ocean of Bhakthi. Swami Vivekananda went abroad to preach and spread Bhakthi but Nivedita who was inspired by the teaching of Swami Vivekananda came to India in search of Bhakthi. In fact we Indians only fail to realize the importance of this divine sacred land. We have neither love nor respect for our motherland and our Hindu dharma. We keep running to other places in search of wealth and ignore this treasure which is abundant in our own land.

Bharatha bhoomi is a ocean of premai (divine love for Krishna). But we are among those who feel satified to be at the shore and enjoy the waves that come to us and touch our feet. We lack the interest in getting drowned in such a water and find out the pearls and beads that are waiting for us i.e. premai is flowing throughout our Bharatha bhoomi but whether to get drowned in it in search of beads (boundless happiness) or to remain on the shores depends on us. Once we get drowned we shall never feel like coming out of it.

Bhakthi has got various bhavam( forms) such as Vatsalyam, Dasyam, Sakhyam and Mathuryam. Vatsalyam means a parental feeling i.e. considering Krishna as our own child. Dasyam means to consider Krishna as our master and offer services to Him considering ourselves as His servant or slave. The next is Sakhyam. Sakhyam means sharing a friendly relationship with Krishna i.e. considering Him as our intimate friend. The purest and the greatest among all is the Mathuryam. A form which is a combination of Vatsalyam, Dasyam and Sakyam. Mathuryam means considering Krishna as our beloved. A love which is very true, wholesome, holy, wonderful and celestial. Vatsalyam, Dasyam and Sakyam are like the river, ponds or lake where as Mathuryam is an ocean.

Narada Maharishi says in his Bhakthi Sutharam Aanirvachaniya perma swroopam this means such a godly love for Bagawn cannot be defined, explained, expressed or described in words. It can only be experienced or felt it is a form which is very not easy to understand but once experienced it is impossible to come out of it.

In our coming issues we are going to experience the charitram of Prema Bhakthaa only. Wondering as to who the Bhakthaa is? Keep wondering and wait till our next issue. Till then Radhe Krishna.

 

jay sathguru maharaj ki jay