In2-MeC

IBSA (ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Sadhana Asrama), Govardhana, India
19 January 2004

Nectar from radhikamadhavabindu@yahoogroups. com, hosted by Sriman Radhakunda Prabhu

Lalita placed her left hand on fawn-eyed Sri Radhika�s head, slightly lifting Her head and holding a cup of musk in her right hand. With a pencil she mixed that musk with aguru and made a circle on Sri Radhika�s forehead with this mixture. In the middle of this circle she drew an eight petalled lotus with sindura and in that circle she swiftly made a sweet picture with spots of sandalwood paste and camphor.

Then Lalita applied eyeliner mixed with camphor around Sri Radhika�s eyes from a cup. (Pretending to speak with Her eyes Lalita jokingly said: O eyes! If you ask me Why are you smearing us, the best of all limbs, with this dirty ink while you adorn all the other limbs of Radhika with gems and pearls?, then I�ll tell you) I know how much you yearn for black substances (you yearn to look at Krsna), therefore I have offered you this black substance.

SRI GARGA-SAMHITA

Canto Three

SRI GIRIRAJA

Chapter Six

Sri Hari-Pariksana
The Test of Sri Krsna

TEXT 1

Sri Narada said: After hearing King Vrsabhanu's words, the surprised people of Vraja became peaceful and free of all doubts.

TEXT 2

The gopas said: O king, you speak the truth. Radha is Lord Hari's beloved. His potencies have made you become opulent and glorious in this world.

TEXT 3 - 5

We see that you have thousands of intoxicated elephants, tens of millions of restless horses, tens of millions of chariots glorious as the demigods airplanes, tens of millions of beautiful palanquins, many millions and millions of cows beautiful with gold and jewels, many wonderful jewel palaces and all possible pleasures. Even Kamsa himself is defeated when he sees your wonderful strength.

TEXT 6

You are the son-in-law of King Bhalandana, the ruler of Kanyakubja. You are as rich as Kuvera.

TEXT 7

Even King Nanda's home does not have wealth and opulence equal to yours. The farmer King Nanda, who is the master of many cows, is poor-hearted in comparison to you.

TEXT 8

O master, if Nanda's son is in truth the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then please put Him to a test that will reveal His divinity as we all watch.

TEXT 9

Sri Narada said: Hearing their words, King Vrsabhanu devised a test to determine the extent of King Nanda's wealth.

TEXT 10 -11

O king of Mithila, as everyone watched, King Vrsabhanu took ten million necklaces of giant pearls, each pearl splendid as ten million glittering crowns, placed them in many jewel caskets and had many handsome men take them to King Nanda with a proposal for his son's marriage.

TEXT 12

Entering King Nanda's assembly, bowing down, and presenting the caskets of pearls, the handsome men bearing the marriage-proposal spoke to Nanda.

TEXT 13 and 14

The men bearing a marriage proposal said: Aware that his daughter Radha, who is splendid as ten million moons and whose eyes are like new lotus flowers, is now old enough to be married, King Vrsabhanu has given some thought to who should be Her husband. He has decided on your son, who is charming as Kamadeva himself and whose powerful arm lifted Govardhana Hill. O master, O king of the vaisyas, seeing us, glorious King Vrsabhanu sent us with this message.

TEXT 15

Please accept these pearls as a wedding gift. Please give a similar gift to this girl. She is very respectable and glorious.

TEXT 16

Sri Narada said: Gazing at the precious gift, Nanda became filled with wonder. Thinking to ask Yasoda if they had anything equal to that gift, he went to the palace's inner rooms.

TEXT 17

Thinking for a long time, King Nanda and glorious Yasoda came to the same conclusion: "In our home there is nothing equal to these pearls. "

TEXT 18

"If we do not give a proper gift we will be embarrassed before everyone. Everyone will laugh at us. What should we do? What can we give on the occasion of Sri Krsna's wedding?

TEXT 19 - 21

Observing that Nanda and Yasoda thought they had nothing suitable to give in return, Lord Krsna, the savior from distress, took one hundred of the pearl necklaces and with His own hand, planted the pearls one by one as if He were a farmer planting grains.

TEXT 22

When he again counted the pearl necklaces and found they were one hundred necklaces less, Nanda became filled with doubt.

TEXT 23

Sri Nanda said: There are fewer necklaces than before. Alas, this is the fault of my own relatives!

TEXT 24

Now I am unhappy at heart. I will ask whether Krsna or Balarama took the necklaces for their playing.

TEXT 25

Sri Narada said: Thinking in this way, Nanda asked Krsna. Lord Krsna, the lifter of Govardhana Hill, smiled and respectfully spoke to King Nanda.

TEXT 26

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: We gopas are farmers. We plant all kinds of seeds. I planted some pearls in the fields.

TEXT 27

Sri Narada said: Hearing his son's words and rebuking Him, Nanda, the King of Vraja, went with Him to the fields to retrieve the pearls.

TEXT 28

There they saw hundreds of beautiful, tall, green-leaved pearl trees.

TEXT 29

O King, in that place millions upon millions of bunches of pearls shone like many stars in the sky.

TEXT 30

Then the delighted Nanda could understand that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These glittering pearls were bigger even than the first ones.

TEXT 31

Placing many millions of bharas of these pearls on many wagons, Nanda, the king of Vraja, gave them to the men carrying the marriage-proposal.

TEXT 32

They took the gift and gave it all to King Vrsabhanu. O king, everyone who saw this pastime praised the great wealth of King Nanda.

TEXT 33

Filled with wonder, free of doubt and now convinced that Nanda's son really was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all the people of Vraja bowed down before King Vrsabhanu.

TEXT 34

O king of Mithila, from that day on everyone in Vraja understood that Radha was Krsna's beloved and Krsna was Radha's beloved.

TEXT 35

O king of Mithila, the place where Nanda's son planted pearls became the lake Mukta-sarovara, the king of holy places.

TEXT 36

A person who at that place gives in charity a single pearl attains the result of giving a hundred thousand pearls. Of this there is no doubt.

TEXT 37

O king in this way I have described to you Govardhana Hill's festival, which brings with it both sense gratification and liberation. What more do you wish to hear?

Chapter Seven

Sri Giriraja-Tirtha
The Holy Places of Sri Giriraja

TEXT 1

Sri Bahulasva said: How many holy places are on noble-hearted Govardhana Hill? O great yogi, you have transcendental vision. Please tell me this.

TEXT 2

Sri Narada said: O king, Vrndavana forest and Govardhana Hill, which is the crown of Goloka, are both worshiped as the best of holy places.

TEXT 3

Noble Govardhana Hill is dear to Lord Krsna. It is the Supreme Personality of Godhead's parasol. It protects the cows, gopas and gopis. What holy place is better than Govardhana Hill?

TEXT 4

Lord Krsna, the master of all the worlds, mocked the indra-yajna.

TEXT 5

Sri Krsna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, greater than the greatest, the master of Goloka, the ruler of countless universes.

TEXT 6

O king of Mithila, even the demigod Brahma cannot properly glorify Govardhana Hill, where Lord Krsna eternally plays with the gopa boys,. . .

Holy Kusum Sarovara, near Govardhana and Radhakunda.

TEXT 7

. . . where are the Manasa-ganga, which destroys a flood of the greatest sins, pure Govinda-kunda, beautiful Candra-sarovara,. . .

TEXT 8

. . . . Radha-kunda, Syama-kunda, Lalita-kunda, Gopala-kunda and Kusuma-sarovara.

TEXT 9

By the touch of Sri Krsna's crown a certain stone was marked with the sign of a crown. Anyone who sees that stone becomes the crown of the Supreme Lord.

TEXT 10

Even today on Govardhana Hill is a sacred stone marked with pictures originally drawn by Lord Krsna and now named Citra-sila (the picture stone).

TEXT 11

When Krsna was intently playing with the boys, He played musical rhythms on a certain stone. That stone, named vadani-sila (the musical stone), destroys the greatest sins.

TEXT 12

The place where Krsnacandra played ball-games with the boys is called kanduka-ksetra (the ballgame-field).

TEXT 13

A person who sees the place Indra-pada on Govardhana Hill, bows down at the place Brahma-pada or rolls about in the dust of these places, attains the abode of Lord Visnu.

TEXT 14

The place on Govardhana Hill where Lord Krsna stole the gopas turbans is called Ausnisa-tirtha. It removes the greatest sins.

TEXT 15

One day, hearing tinkling anklets as the gopis walked nearby on their way to sell yogurt, Krsna, who is more charming than Kamadeva, stopped them on the path.

TEXT 16

Holding a flute and a stick and going ahead of the gopas, Krsna confronted the gopis on the path and demanded, "You must pay a toll to Me. "

TEXT 17

The gopis said: You are crooked. You and Your gopa boys now block our path. You are greedy after yogurt. We will see to it that You, Your mother and Your father are all locked up in Kamsa's prison.

TEXT 18

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: I will kill ferocious Kamsa and all his friends. That is My solemn vow. Every day I will take the cows from Mathura to Govardhana Hill.

TEXT 19

Sri Narada said: After speaking these words, Krsna and the boys took the jars of yogurt and joyfully placed them on the ground.

TEXT 20 and 21

Saying "Krsna is a bold, fearless, ferocious and talkative hero here in the secluded forest, but in the city, surrounded by many men, He is only a weakling. We will certainly tell Nanda and Yasoda what He has done," the smiling gopis went to their homes.

TEXT 22

Then, making cups of nipa and palasa leaves, Krsna and the boys ate the yogurt and picchala.

TEXT 23

O king of kings, that very sacred place, where the trees leaves became cups, is called Drona-tirtha.

TEXT 24

A person who at this place gives yogurt in charity, drinks yogurt from a leaf-cup and then bows down to offer his respectful obeisances, never falls from Goloka.

TEXT 25

A place where Krsna and the boys played games of closing their eyes and hiding is called laukika-tirtha. It destroys all sins.

TEXT 26

Simply by seeing Kadamba-khanda-tirtha, where Krsna enjoyed many pastimes, a person attains a form like that of Lord Narayana Himself.

TEXT 27

O king of Mithila, the place on Govardhana Hill where Radha was decorated during the rasa dance is called Srngara-mandala (the decoration place).

TEXT 28

O king, the form Lord Krsna showed as He lifted Govardhana Hill is still present at Srngara-mandala.

TEXT 29 and 30

O king, 4,108 years after the beginning of Kali-yuga, as everyone watches, Lord Krsna will emerge from a cave on Govardhana Hill and reveal His transcendental form at Srngara-mandala.

Lord Srinatha, Deity of the center of Govardhana Hill.

TEXT 31

O king, the saintly devotees will call this form of the Lord Srinatha. He will always enjoy pastimes on Govardhana Hill.

TEXT 32

O king of Mithila, the people in Kali-yuga who with their eyes see this form of the Lord will attain all spiritual success.

TEXT 33

On the four corners of Govardhana Hill are the forms of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Ranganatha, Lord Dvarakanatha and Lord Badrinatha.

TEXT 34

Srinatha is in the middle of Govardhana Hill. O king, these five forms of the lord are manifested in sacred Bharata-varsa.

TEXT 35

These four Deities are four pillars in the temple of eternal religion. They are determined to protect Their devotees from all troubles. A person who sees Them attains a transcendental form like that of Lord Narayana Himself.

TEXT 36

An intelligent person who visits the places of these Deities but does not see the Lord there does not attain the real result of his visit.

TEXT 37

A person who sees Lord Srinatha attains the result of seeing all four Deities on Govardhana Hill.

TEXT 38

O king of Mithila, a sinner who bows down before the footprints of Airavata and Surabhi on Govardhana Hill goes to Vaikuntha.

TEXT 39

A person who sees the handprint and footprint of Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and bows down to offer respects to them, goes to Lord Krsna's transcendental abode.

TEXT 40

O king, these are the lakes and other holy places that are the limbs of Govardhana Hill. What more do you wish to hear ?

Sketches of a Devotee's Pre-Krsna Conscious Life in India

Back in the late 1980's I tape-recorded a series of interesting stories told me by an Indian devotee, whom I shall not name to protect his privacy. These stories relate his life as a young man from a South Indian smarta brahmin family, and trace how he gradually turned away from material life to Krsna consciousness. What you will read below took place in Puttaparthi, at the asrama of a famous pseudo-incarnation of God.

A day or so later I asked my friend to take me around the village of Puttaparthi. We went to the Chitravati river, but it being the dry season, there was no water, just a channel of sand.

On a rocky mound near the riverbed stood a tamarind tree from which Sai Baba is said to have magically plucked mangos and other fruits during his youth. I clambered up the rocks and sat beneath it. At the time I was not aware of the significance Sai Baba's followers attached to this tree; I only happened to go there because it looked like a suitable spot for meditation. I sat in the lotus pose, and my friend sat next to me. With closed eyes I visualized Lord Rama, God's avatar as the prince who defeated the demon Ravana.

When I opened my eyes my friend was sitting close with his hands folded and a doglike look in his eyes. I supposed he was expecting some teaching or order from me. He looked so utterly helpless that I had to pity him. The best thing I could do, I figured, was to get him out of Puttaparthi, for here his foolish- ness would only increase.

"You should to go to Bangalore, where Baba has his smaller center. There will be no interview for you here. "

He asked despondently, "Swami, what paap (sin) have I done?" "You've done many", I replied. He shivered. "But just do this-- go to Bangalore. And Baba may yet see you there. " In the back of my mind I was thinking, "You fool, can't you see you're neither rich enough nor unusual enough--like me--to get Sai Baba's attention?"

Within a few days he left, after arranging with the shop owner my continued stay in his room.

On another day's stroll, I stopped at an old Satyabhama temple on the outskirts of Puttaparthi. This temple was established by Sai Baba's grandfather, Kondama Raju. It is said that his son Pedda prayed here for a second male child; subsequently, a boy was born who got the name Satya Narayana, known later as Satya Sai Baba.

I found it curious that the temple was in need of repairs as if it was neglected by Sai Baba's followers. By a strange coincidence, I'd arrived at the same time as Sai Baba's older brother, who had come to visit the temple from his home nearby.

I asked him about his famous sibling: "Do you think he is God?" He waved his hand impatiently. "This is sinful", he said with faint disgust. "That's a big mistake he's making, and God will punish him for it. He was stung by a scorpion when he was a boy, and after that time started babbling about Shirdi Sai. " (Sai Baba claims to be the reincarnation of a "Kabirpantha" fakir--a mystic on the path of the Muslim impersonalist Kabir--who hailed the town of Shirdi, near Bombay; this man, who died in 1918, was the original Sai Baba. )

"It may be that when he was stung that baba came into his body," the brother continued, "but no matter what happened, for him to claim he is Rama and Krishna is wrong. In our family we worship Rama and Krishna as God, but he has taken that position for himself. When his time comes, he will be punished for this blasphemy. "

I'd become an overnight junior celebrity at Prashanti Nilayam; in my yellow cloth I stood out in the crowd, and the news that I'd eaten lunch with Sai Baba had spread like wildfire throughout the compound. I often entertained the crowd by singing Sai Baba's songs in the style I'd learned from him. Twice daily, different rich men fed me at the canteen. Yet despite the attention I was enjoying, I was growing restless. I'd declared myself a seeker of God, but the easy life here diverted me from my intended goal.

On the seventh day, an excited Kasturi came up to me in the canteen. "Baba wants to speak to you. "

"Should I go to the darshan place?"

"No, you just go up to his quarters. "

"What, right now? Just walk in?"

"He's there waiting to see you!" Kasturi was almost frantic, so exasperated was he with my quibbling. "Please, you just immediately go to him! Even I'm not getting such chance of close contact to Baba!"

So, very casually, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, I walked up the stairs to the interview room and sat down. He didn't come out. I got up and poked my head into his dining room. But he was not there either. I entered his quarters and looked in his bedroom.

On the bed he faced me, reclining on his side, his head supported under a folded arm. As I entered he smiled broadly and lifted his hand in blessing.

I looked around for a place to sit, but there was no chair in the room. Finally I just sat down on the corner of the bed. "Kasturi said you want to see me", I began.

"Yes", he replied. "I just wanted to ask you if you've found God yet. "

"No, I haven't".

With a hint of knowing irony in his voice, he said, "Under the tamerind tree you meditated on Rama. "

I like to mediate on Rama, the ocean of mercy. He protects those who are weak.

"Yes, I did", I replied evenly. "That's my usual dhyana. I like to meditate on Rama, the ocean of mercy. He protects those who are weak. "

His eyes bored into mine. "But why are you looking for God elsewhere when you sit with him now?"

I let a polite, thoughtful expression register on my face before telling him, "You are a holy man and my elder, and I am very low and sinful. I don't want to say anything improper to you, please understand, but--you are not God. "

He nodded as I spoke, as if expecting my rejection of his divinity. "All right", he said when I finished, "as you see me, so I look. If you want to see me as God, I am God. If not, I'm not. But try to understand--that is what God is. " He spoke a little more along this line, peppering his arguments with the usual Advaitist slogans.

I interupted him. "Excuse me, but I've read all this in your Rama Katha book. Now, one time in there you say everybody is Rama, and another time you say that you are Rama. So what do you actually mean? Look, I know you are not Rama. And to be consistent with Advaita philosophy you ought to tell your followers that the highest truth is impersonal Brahman. Advaitists say that everyone is actually only nameless formless light. You are an Advaitist, aren't you? If you are, then you should know that it is incorrect for you to say 'everyone is Rama' or 'I am Rama', because Rama is a person, and Brahman is impersonal. "

"Yes", he replied in a patient tone of voice, as if indulging a wayward child. "But I have realized Brahman, and they have not. "

I got a bit upset at this point. "Then you should make them realize it. But you deliberately keep them in a position inferior to yourself. You are pushing them down, not lifting them up. At great personal sacrifice they are coming here from many miles distant to wait outside for weeks and months just to catch a glimpse of you, and here you are, happily enjoying it all. Even ordinary politicians show more interest in their followers than you do. You just threw all those letters in the can. At least you could read them. "

"Cool down, cool down", he waved languidly. "As soon as I touch those letters, I know what is in them, and I answer through their karma. "

I stared at him in exasperation, hardly believing what I was hearing. "But karma is always happening to everyone, whether they write you letters or not. If you act through their karma, what do you need this Prashanti Nilayam for? Why do they have to come here to see you? Please don't mind my boldness, but I am very disturbed by all this. When the curtain moves, these poor people are thinking you are there. They are so gullible, and I am sorry to say I think you are exploiting them. "

"But I was there when the curtain moved", he said self-contented- ly. "You sang Chitta Chora very nicely. I was there. "

Now even more disappointed, I told him, "I know you have mystical powers. You see and hear things ordinary men cannot. So why don't you use your powers to remove their sufferings once and for all instead of playing them along like this? Why do you keep those who have surrendered to you in ignorance of their eternal spiritual existence? How will they ever get out of this miserable world of birth and death? Just giving earrings doesn't solve the problems of life. "

"All right", he said, a hint of resignation in his voice, "you will understand later on. " Then, changing the subject he asked, "You need any help here?"

"No, I am fully protected by God. "

"You don't give that credit to me?"

"To some extent I do, because these people who are paying for me are your devotees. But I see it is my karma that is supplying my upkeep in this world. And that is true for all those people out there, and that is also true for you. You have a karma that allows you to sit there, and by my karma I'm sitting here. If I had your karma and you had mine, I'd be the 'God' here, and you would be the frustrated one. "

He didn't hear me. A change had come over him. He sat up, his eyes unfocused and glittering. "I have to go down now", he said in a distant voice. "I will speak with you again. " He quickly exited, leaving me in his room alone.

I decided to have a look around. Opening a closet in his bedroom, I found it filled with orange gowns. I wanted to find his stock of ash, having myself previously experimented with teleporting ash with the aid of a mantra. But the room was bare of anything save the bed and a few standard items.

So I stretched out upon the bed as I'd seen him do and imitated his pose in jest, admiring myself in the bedroom mirror. Then I got up and looked from the balcony as he ran up and down the rows, generating mass hysteria. The police had to restrain people from mobbing him. Then he went onto the Shanti Vedika stage.

I suddenly felt sorry for this little man who would be God. "He's just a puppet," I thought. "All these people think he's Rama, and he believes it himself--but he, and they, are just being guided by some higher force over which he has no control. "

I went down to see what he was up to. Onstage, he had the crowd going in full swing. Arms upraised, he lead them in song, which they responded to in a riotous chorus. As the song ended he collapsed into a chair. He was worshiped with incense, lamp and flowers, like a murti in the temple. Then a group of Sanksrit pandits chanted the Rudram and Chamakam prayers, which are meant for Shiva, to him. This was too much for me. I walked out of the compound to my room.

By the morning of the ninth day the novelty of Prashanti Nilayam had worn off. Thoroughly fed up with the label of 'the swamiji who loves Baba' that everyone had put on me, I decided to go. I went to Kasturi and shook his hand, saying, "Thank you and goodbye. "

He was surprised: "You're going? I thought you would stay here. You sing so sweetly. We had one swamiji from Rishikesh who also sang for Baba, and Baba took very nice care of him. He will take care of you too. "

"God is taking care of me. What can Baba do? Let him take care of himself first," was my quick reply. "You should watch out for his health--when he gets into those running moods, I think it isn't good for him. "

"What?!" Kasturi spluttered. "What is this you are saying?!" "No, never mind, I didn't say anything", I reassured him, smiling brightly. I waved him off and went into the canteen to bid adieu to the manager.

Today there were only about a hundred people gathered at the darshan area. It had been announced that Sai Baba would go to Bangalore; his big foreign-made autombile was ready at his private exit gate.

I went into the Mandir's ground-floor bhajan hall and made obeisances before the altar upon which the forms of Krishna, Satya-Narayana and Shiva were displayed. As I came out, I looked up and saw Sai Baba motioning to me from the balcony.

I strode up the stairs and found him in the interview room sitting in a chair, his hands on the armrests. I entered, offered him my respects and took a chair facing him.

"So?" he smiled. "Going?"

"Yes," I smiled back.

"But you said you'd stay two weeks. "

"Sorry, but I've become too dissatisfied here. I'm tired of all these sentimental people and the suffering and anxiety they are putting themselves through for you. "

"Do you know where you will go next?"

"No, I don't, but I hope to end up in a peaceful place. "

All at once he rose from his seat, his eyes again glittering. He gazed down into my face and intoned meaningfully, "Until you find what you're looking for, you'll have no problem for food. "

He lifted his right palm: "I will maintain you. "

"For whatever you are doing for me," I replied, "I am very thankful. But I don't accept you as God. "

In an odd voice he prophesized, "You yourself will become God. " He moved his hand forward as if to give me vibhuti.

"No", I countered, "don't give me that ash. I don't want to take it from you like this. Just let me take it from the container. "

"But why won't you take it from my hand?" he purred.

"Well", I grinned, "I know it doesn't originate from your hand, so let me take it from where it really comes. "

"You're wrong. It does come from my hand", he insisted.

"Sorry", I grinned again. "I don't believe you. Let me take it from the container. "

Without saying another word, he went into his quarters and brought out a small pot filled with ash. Holding it out to me he said simply, "Very well. If you want, take it from here. " I sprinkled a bit on my head.

"Please go happily and remember my words to you. "

I said, "Namaste," and got up to go. He spoke once more.

"You dislike me, don't you?"

"No, you're a nice man. Why should I dislike you?"

"When you find what you're looking for, you will dislike me," he said softly in that odd prophetic voice. He left me and I went downstairs and out of the compound.

Relieved to be departing Puttaparthi, I walked out of town along the main road until I reached the highway. I turned to have my last sight of the ashram. Just then, Sai Baba's big car glided out of the special gate, drove down the road and turned onto the highway in my direction.

The automobile sidled up next to me, its motor humming. In the back I saw the familiar smiling face ringed by the frizzy hairdo. Next to him was a well-known female singer in an expensive silk sari. As his electric window buzzed down, he told the driver to turn off the engine.

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