Narayana Krishna

Uddhava continued, “You both are truly fortunate for you think of the Lord night and day. The rare fortune of begetting the Lord as a son has been obtained by you. Hence, there is nothing more that needs to be done by you both’.”

Yashoda and Nanda had no more necessity to engage in meritorious rituals seeking any fruit.

“Krishna, the Lord of the Yadavas, will shortly return to Gokula to give joy to his parents”.

Hearing this message, Yashoda and Nanda were filled with uncontained joy. There was nothing more that they longed to hear. This was the message conveyed by their dearest Krishna. For so long, Nanda and Yashoda had not given Uddhava even a chance to convey the message- they were endlessly praising Krishna, recollecting His deeds and pining for Him. When at last, Uddhava did manage to get a chance to speak, he applauded their devotion saying, ‘There is nothing more left for you to achieve as you both are liberated souls. Krishna will shortly return to you and will fill you with happiness’.

“Uddhava continued, ‘Having killed Kamsa in the wrestling arena, He had assured you that He will return. He will surely keep up His promise’.”

When the Lord has promised to visit you, why do you continued to remain disturbed? Why do you lack faith in His words? I am here merely to remind you that He remembers His promise. The Lord always fulfills His word.

“O Yashoda, O Nanda, O fortunate ones! Do not grieve. Very shortly you will meet Krishna. Like the fire that lies dormant in wood, He resides secretively in the hearts of all living beings”.

Fire inherently exists in wood. For that reason, as soon as it is ignited, the fire comes to the forefront. Likewise, the Lord, who resides in the heart of every living being, will shortly meet you, Uddhava was thus consoling them.

“Krishna, in whom bodily-identification does not exist, is filled with feelings of equal-mindedness towards one and all”.

The Lord can have no identification with his body. Nevertheless, in order to drill this concept into his devotees, He takes on many bodies and then destroys those bodies at the end of the respective incarnation. He merges those bodies into himself. All of us, on the contrary, are overflowing with bodily-identification. Although we endlessly try to think of the Lord, we complain whenever we come into contact with any pain/ injury.

We should aspire to reach that state wherein we are mentally disconnected with the pain being experienced by the body. As of today, we say, “Aah.. my body..my hand.. this pain is unbearable’. Training the mind to not identify with that pain is itself a great penance!

Many devotees who come to see Swamiji complain to Him, ‘Swamiji from morning I have unbearable headache’. Now see the irony- the person who is complaining is an erudite scholar and he is complaining of a headache that has attacked him only that morning. Headaches come and go- isn’t it natural? Just as children report all their bodily pains and aches to their parents, there are devotees who narrate their pains and woes to Swamiji each time they see Him.

It is very rare to come across a devotee who says, ‘My pain has become an obstacle in my spiritual path; it prevents me from penance and from my focus on God’. When devotees say this, it is truly appreciable. However, in general, on a daily basis, devotees come and complain of their pains and aches ‘Swamiji, please relieve me from this bodily suffering. Please help me. I want this pain to go away’- this is all they seek. They are obsessed with the headache, the joint pains, the backache, the burning sensation in the body and whatnot.

How nice it would be if they would ask, ‘Swamiji please ensure that my mind remains eternally with God’. Sadly they speak of their body; no one is bothered about the Self. I have not come across any such person until now; wonder whether I would meet any such person in the future.

When physical illnesses do not trouble the person, then his family problems trouble him. He/she then comes to Swamiji with a list of problems to be solved. When neither illnesses nor family problems exist, then their devotion towards Swamiji reduces.

Like robots or machines they approach Swamiji, prostrate before Him, put forth their problems and then return home. In every way, they behave like machines. They do not enjoy the inner experience here. They do not relish any bhajan; they do not absorb the Puja procedure; they do not enjoy the initiation being given; they do not take delight in observing the beautiful decorations. When the miracles of the Lord are being narrated, they do not listen with love. As if being submerged in sorrows is not enough, they keep fiddling with the mobile.

In a nutshell, mentally they are not present here in the ashram and are not absorbing the energy floating here. Their mind is focussed on their household matters, on their relatives, their problems and on their bodily pains. Despite frequent reminders from me, they fail to forget their sorrows even for a short while.

Unlike these devotees, the Lord does not have any bodily identification. He has feelings of equal-mindedness towards all beings. In all His incarnations, have we found even a single instance wherein He focussed on His bodily needs or displayed any bodily identification? Never. During the incarnation as a tortoise, He carried the gigantic mountain on His back. Did He complain of any pain? When He incarnated as the dwarf Vāmana, He was subjected to ridicule. Did He complain that He was insulted? During His incarnation as Rama, He suffered enormously. Not even in one Purana, there is any reference to any instance where the Lord displayed feelings of attachments or bodily identification. Having heard His stories repeatedly, we should now strive to put it into practice.

Uddhava continued, “The Lord is filled with feelings of equal-mindedness. To Him there is no friend and no enemy. There is none who is dear and none who is despicable. In His eyes no one is great and no one is lowly. There is none towards whom He has feelings of indifference.

na mātā na pitā tasya na bhāryā na sutādayaḥ

nātmīyo na paraś cāpi na deho janma eva ca

To Him there is no father, mother, wife, son, brother or other relatives. He does not consider any one as related to Him or as unrelated. He remains disconnected with the gross body. This happens because He inherently is birthless.

He is free from the karmic bondages pertaining to this world. Nevertheless, with the intent of protecting the virtuous, He sportily, based on His free will, takes birth in celestial wombs which are pure, animal wombs which are impure or in human womb which is a mixture of good and bad.

This Supreme Lord is devoid of any attribute (guna). Although He is birthless, He accepts the three attributes of Nature (trigunas) and sports in these worlds. Using these trigunas He creates, sustains and then absorbs into Himself these worlds”.

Even when He incarnates in the lower species, He exists as the Self. He thus exists in every insect, bacteria, reptile, in the human being, in the learned scholar and in the celestials. As He exists in every living being, He does not distinguish between one caste and another. How can He who is devoid of body-identification feel ashamed to exist within the body of a lowly being? Can He despise His animal birth? He exists equally in the hearts of both the learned scholar and the ignorant.

Narayana Krishna