Krishna Narayana

Akrūra who was travelling to Brindavan was thinking of Lord Krishna.

“Aha! With shining cheeks, beautiful nose, smiling gaze and thick black curly locks this Lord illumines divinely”. In various ways Akrūra was praising the Lord and, through such imagination, He was perceiving the Lord mentally.

“The self-willed Lord Vishnu incarnated as human on earth solely to reduce its burden. If today I am blessed with the vision of that Lord Vishnu, who is a personification of beauty, then the purpose of my eyes will be effortlessly accomplished. If such Supreme Lord makes himself visible to my eyes, then I will consider myself supremely blessed and fortunate”.

My eyes are truly fortunate to be blessed with the chance of seeing the Lord himself. My mind is truly divine and blessed. Thinking in these lines, Akrūra was travelling towards Brindavan while continually recollecting the glory of that infinite Lord.

“The Supreme Lord Srihari is the witness to this world which is a combination of real and unreal (satya-asatya). Feelings of doer-ship do not exist in such Lord. With His Consciousness, this Lord drives way spiritual ignorance and the resultant feelings of duality that arise in the person”.

With the darshan of this Lord, dualities and impurities that exist within the person are destroyed.

“With His own volition, this Supreme Lord illumines the embodied living entities who are comprised of mind, senses and intellect, who are creations of His own illusory energy and who exist within Him alone. He appears to sport in the homes of such embodied living entities in Brindavan.

Speech that glorifies the Supreme Lord, His incarnations, His attributes and His transcendental sports destroys in totality the sins of those who glorify while showering them with ultimate auspiciousness. It showers blessings upon the living entities and purifies them. Elders often state that the speech which does not glorify the Supreme Lord is nothing but a decorated beautiful corpse”.

Those who cannot praise the Supreme Lord nor listen to His divine glories are living corpses. Atheists i.e. those who are intolerant when His name is uttered, reflect a demonic tendency. People could be born with virtuous, pious traits (sattvik), traits of passion (rājasic) or traits of ignorance (tāmasic). In atheists, the traits of ignorance (tamas) predominantly rules. Or a combination of the traits of passion and ignorance rule. Virtuous traits are lacking in them.

Through gradual tests i.e. through repeated punishments and then through imparting right lessons, the Lord blesses those who are predominantly filled with traits of passion coupled with a small degree of ignorance. However, to those who are composed only with ignorance (tamas), punishment is the only treatment as no lessons can be imbibed by them. He simply crushes them.

A teacher does not waste time on that student who scores zero in every exam. Having decided that this student is beyond reformation, the teachers do not even reprimand him for scoring zero. Happy that the student at least makes an attempt to attend school, the teacher remains silent. The same teacher reprimands the child who scores 80 or 90% knowing that with this small rebuke the student will work hard and is likely to score a perfect 100 in the exam.

Likewise, when the person is totally filled with tamasic traits, apart from killing him there is no other recourse available to the Lord. The same Lord goes to any extent to reform the person who has in him at least a little of rajasic traits in addition to tamasic traits. Then, what about those who are totally virtuous in nature? The Lord puts them through many tests and further purifies them so that they merge quickly into Him. The truth is that all three classifications of people are equally loved by the Lord who is an epitome of compassion.

“The Guardian-deities who protect the dharmic laws dictated by Srihari, the Lord of the universe, are actually abiding by His commands. It is Srihari who bestows them with happiness and comforts. Incarnating in the lineage of Yadavas and while expanding their renown, He presently resides in Gokula.

Devatas glorify this Lord who bestows every form of auspiciousness. This Lord, who is the father for the entire universe, is also the ultimate goal. He is the most splendorous being in all three planes of existence. Seeing Him is itself a feast for the eyes. This form as Srikrishna which He has donned is the most-dear to Mother Goddess Lakshmi. Aha! Today I am going to set my eyes on such divine Lord”.

From this, the depth of Akrūra’s feelings can be gauged. He was elated at the prospect of meeting Srikrishna. In great eagerness and excitement, devotees who are proceeding to see their favourite deity think- ‘Wonder in which type of decoration and ornamentation the Lord would be visible to me today? I am going to talk to Him today’.

Even devotees who come to meet Swamiji think in similar lines. ‘Maybe Swamiji will give darshan from the balcony today. Or perhaps He will come down’. ‘Perhaps Swamiji will stand right beside me and talk today’. ‘Perhaps I will get an opportunity to touch Him’. ‘Perhaps He may only look at me today’. ‘Perhaps He may scold me today’. In many varied ways, they will be thinking of their future meeting with Swamiji. ‘Wonder in what roopam Swamiji will give us darshan today?’ ‘Maybe He will come and offer Purnahuti today’. ‘Maybe He will sing bhajans’. – In full excitement and eagerness, they arrive here. If they get the darshan exactly as they had imagined, they are deeply thrilled.

‘Swamiji spoke to me exactly as I desired’. Or ‘Swamiji gave me darshan exactly as I had wanted’ or ‘Swamiji was seated exactly where I thought He would be’ ‘I always knew that Swamiji will give me this prasadam’- they joyfully recollect the moments of their darshan. In a similar manner, Akrūra was eagerly awaiting the Lord’s darshan. He was picturing where He would see Srikrishna, how He looked, and so on.

“As only good omens have been accosting me since morning I am confident that I will surely see Him today. Soon upon seeing Balarama and Krishna I shall dismount from my chariot and prostrate at their feet. As soon as I behold them, I shall rush towards them. Both these brothers are none but the Supreme Lord! They are the most supreme beings. Elevated Yogis meditate upon their lotus feet in order to obtain an understanding of the inner Self. I shall also offer obeisance to all the citizens of Brindavan, who live along with the Lord Himself.

When I bow at His feet, will the Supreme Lord retain His lotus-like hand on my head?”

Krishna Narayana