Hare Krishna!

“As they walked, some children played flutes while some were busy in other games. Some children imitated the humming of the bees that buzzed past them, while some cooed along with the cuckoos that were cooing melodiously”.

These boys who hummed together with the buzzing bees were practising Omkāra and Jhimkāra. Some others cooed along with cuckoos. Some cawed along with the crows. If at all they heard a lion roar, they would, instead of running in fear, happily mimic that roar.

“Some boys ran along with the shadow of the birds that flew above in the skies”.

When a huge bird flies in the sky, its shadow falls on the ground. Some boys would run along with the shadow.

“Some boys imitated the swans and walked like them”.

The children mimicked every bird and animal they spotted in the deep forests and behaved like them.

“Some children stood next to cranes imitating them”.

Cranes stand as if they are in penance. These boys stood motionless like these cranes.

“Some boys danced along with the peacocks that had spread open all their feathers. Some others were, akin to monkeys, jumping atop branches, plucking the fruit, and while grinning like monkeys, jumping from that branch. They were teasing the monkeys which normally tease us. Through these games these boys expressed their freedom and let out their inner independence.

Some boys were swimming in the rivulets they came across. Some entered the waters and played games while some jumped along with the frogs that jumped in the waters. Even as they were playing, the journey of these picnickers continued without any break. Some boys would stand on the banks of the waters and see their reflection in the waters. They would then make funny faces at themselves and laugh heartily seeing their reflection in those waters. Some boys would shout loudly and then scold their echo when it resounded through the forest”.

They would shout loudly such that it would echo. They would then scold that echo, which would again reverberate. They would spend some time scolding their own echoes.

“The Supreme Jnanis experience the Supreme Lord, who is none other than Srikrishna, in the form of ultimate bliss (paramānanda). He is the one who is worshipped as the Supreme God by sincere devotees who have surrendered completely to Him”.

Each child behaving in a particular fashion reflects his inner tendency. To explain this in detail I will need 4 to 5 days. Why did some children choose to imitate frogs while some chose to imitate monkeys? How do we locate such traits in humans? When observed closely we can spot monkey tendencies in some persons, frog tendencies in some others, peacock tendencies in some and so on. We can map their actions to those of particular animals or birds. A few people have the habit of uselessly abusing or arguing with others. In fact, it can be emphatically stated that these boys were showing the animal tendencies that human beings of the future period called Kali-yuga would possess. Perhaps this was the secret behind Krishna’s incarnation. He was showing to the world the qualities of the human beings of the future.

“That Lord who bestows Supreme Knowledge upon the ignorant, that Lord who fills every heart with inexplicable bliss and who grants liberation, walked and played with these ignorant children, appearing like an ordinary, ignorant cowherd boy. To the ignorant, He appeared like an ordinary human boy. Isn’t this astonishing? Due to their accumulated past merit (punya) these cowherd boys were able to wander along with Supreme Lord.”

This was the merit they had earned previously and which they had brought with them. During His incarnation as Rama, the Lord had promised them, ‘Since all you ascetics desire to touch Me, all of you take birth when I incarnate as Krishna. Some of you take birth as women. Some as men. Some as ascetics. Some as calves and some as cowherd children’. All of them who had an opportunity to live along with Krishna during His incarnation, were in reality accomplished noble saints, who in their previous births had obtained the vision of the Almighty. Why else would they desire to touch Krishna as part of their running race? They had deeply sought this in their past birth. However now they were ignorant of their previous desire. Isn’t it wondrous? Even to listen to this fortune of the cowherd boys, we are exceedingly fortunate!

“Even accomplished saints who, through intense penance across innumerable births, have obtained absolute mind control, fail to obtain the dust from the lotus feet of Lord Srikrishna. Such Supreme Lord made himself visible in a human form to the residents of Gokula. They could see Him, touch Him, circumambulate around Him and talk to Him. What more can be said of their fortune?

At this time when these children were busily playing with Srikrishna, the demon Agha suddenly arrived”.

On days when a person suddenly behaves in a hyper, overexcited manner, elders admonish him saying, “Before the end of the day you will end up in tears. Beware. Either you will face some insult or some sad happening will spoil your mood.” Thus, it appears as if being excessively happy is also incorrect. Never mind what elders say- I think you should be happy when happiness comes your way. Fearing some unknown future sorrow, do not hold back your happiness. Similarly, when overcome with grief, cry to your hearts’ content.

Learn to laugh heartily. It is good for your health. On the contrary, weeping is unhealthy. Laughter dispels diseases while crying attracts them. In every situation try to be blissful. Try to laugh at all times. Recollect some past joyful incidents or recollect some jokes narrated by Swamiji and laugh heartily. Laughter increases our oxygen intake. It strengthens the heart. On the other hand, there are many who recollect past sorrowful incidents and lament at all times. They share their grief with others.

Krishna. Krishna.