Catching the Glance of Krishna

Catching the Glance of Krishna

By Paramahamsa Srila B.R.Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaj

Disciple: Guru Maharaj, when something passes through us, how can we know if it is God or maya?

Srila Sridhar Maharaj: By the help of the absolute you will understand who is absolute. When Gopinath Acarya was questioned by the students of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, “What is the proof that you have got the grace of God, that you are not falsely interpreting the shastra, what guarantee is there?” He replied, “I have a bit of God’s grace in me, because I can understand what is what. I can see and you cannot,” that is the last answer in this world. Not in a conceited fashion but one who has that grace cannot deny it has been given.

So absolute truth is not to be understood by the help of any other knowledge. Scripture, saints and the Lord within the heart, Paramatma, but only God can make Himself known if He wishes.

The sun is known only by its light and not with the help of candlelight or any other light. So the source of all knowledge, real knowledge, real love, that can be seen by the ray of that thing, not by anything else. It is self-evident, not dependent on anything else. This is the characteristic of the absolute. When you naturally come to the sun you will know the sun. From the darkness, you cannot conceive of the sun.

In Kuruksetra, Drtarastra told, “They are seeing you in a very noble figure, but I am blind, I cannot see. Please remove my blindness for the time being, I want to see you, then again you can make me blind.” Krishna states, “No, it isn’t necessary to remove your blindness to see Me, you remain blind. If I say you will see Me, so it will be.” And Drtarastra, a blind man could see Him.

Only by His will, whenever He selects. Or, He may be forced to change His mood by Yogamaya, swarup shakti, that highly powerful potency. As we are told when Krishna wanted to maintain His four- handed figure as the gopis passed by Him, but when Radharani came, He could not maintain His four-handed figure.

The inner force made Himself transform into two-handed Krishna at the sight of Radharani. But this is unique, it should not be taken as law, that all can do this. But in extreme internal cases it is such, otherwise He is free and whatever He likes to do, He can do so with anyone and everyone.

So our only capital is saranagati, surrender, to increase the humble negative side of us. Depending totally, extreme intensified dependence on Him. If we can move His heart, then He will come before us, so no positive attempt may be successful. Actually in reality we are to go to the temple not to see the deity, as Prabhupad would say, just to do eye exercises, rather we are to try and make ourselves seen by the deity.

We have to excite His sweet will, appeal to His sweet will by sacrifice, and surrendering yourself. “I cannot see You but You can make Yourself visible to me.” This is the position. So what am I to do? Increase my sincere negative, humble, appealing side. By increasing that we can attract His heart and when He wills, He will reveal Himself, otherwise not.

I cannot be a subject and make Him the object of my sight. Whatever is recommended by guru and vaishnava, that is necessary for our service, that is most important. Try to understand the real inner meaning of surrender, saranagati, preparedness to do anything to satisfy Him and His devotee. We have to weigh the dictation from on high, so much so, our Guru Maharaj once told, “If the sadhu asks for some flour , then we take flour, but then he changes his mind, ‘No, No, I now want some water.’

One can’t object, ‘Oh, you wanted flour, now take it.’ That would be aparadhe. What order he has given previously, he has his freedom to change. He has the right to cancel that. And from our side whatever comes down to me from above, I am to surrender to that without hesitation. That can promote my position to a higher service, that will be more acceptable to the Supreme Lord.

Otherwise our positive self-confident, independent attitude will always keep us at a distance from Him.

The Deep Ocean of Ramananda Raya Only the sakhis, the girlfriends of Radharani are qualified to give information and impart the knowledge of Radha seva, the divine service of love. That is to be learned from one of the girlfriends of Radharani and to show that Mahaprabhu went to Ramananda Raya and questioned him. One after another, drawing out answers from Ramananda Raya.

Kaviraja Goswami expressed it in this way – “Just as the cloud collects water drops from the ocean and again in the form of rain is pouring water into the ocean, Ramananda Raya is drawing everything from the Lord (Mahaprabhu) and like the cloud again he is returning those things to Mahaprabhu. From the ocean and to the ocean.” In substance everything is there. Mahaprabhu is inspiring Ramananda Raya and again he is showing how the disciple is receiving.

In reality Mahaprabhu is inspiring loving service to the highest degree to Ramananda Raya, but outwardly He is just like a disciple questioning, showing that to understand about the highest loving service it is necessary to have a guru in the line of the gopis. In this way the gradation to the highest degree of loving service was given out by Ramananda Raya, and Mahaprabhu confirmed, “Yes, here it is found.”

Three stages were enacted by Mahaprabhu. The first as a disciple to take general spiritual initiation from guru, then after that, He is prepared to give that to the world, the preaching dress of renunciation was necessary and for that He took sannyas from Kesava Bharati.

And the third stage, is when one gets admission into the higher life of loving service of gopi-bhajan, another advice was necessary and that was Ramananda’s position. He showed those three stages of our life, the highest bhajana being raga-bhajana, and to preach to the world in sannyas garb is also necessary. And also to get admission into the mantram, spiritual life in the beginning which He took from Iswara Puri. He also showed that example.

Both Ramananda Raya and Swarup Damodar are helping Mahaprabhu’s highest realizations. Only those two were the proper persons to attend Him in His antya-lila. One Brahman of dignified position came to Mahaprabhu to learn about bhakti. “I want to have instruction about Krishna from You.” Mahaprabhu stated, “But I don’t know about Krishna-katha, I am hearing from Ramananda, so you please go there.”

So then he went and found Ramananda was engaged with some girls teaching them dancing – how to offer themselves before Jagganath. Returning to Mahaprabhu he complained, “Yes I went there and I found he is engaged in girl training so I came away.”

Mahaprabhu replied, “Yes, Ramananda is doing that and there is only one person in this world at present who can do that. Ramananda has got that right to train young girls how to direct their love towards Jagganath in the proper way. No other person. It can not be imitated. Don’t take it otherwise.”

So again he was sent back to him, and then Ramananda received him and spoke Krishna-katha all day to him. Then Pradyumna Misra was charmed, “How deep this love for Krishna is in Ramananda. The whole day has passed and still he is not feeling tied, going on and on. So mad in Krishna-katha, so full that he doesn’t even take food or water.”

Then Pradyumna Misra came back to Mahaprabhu and reported, “Yes, Ramananda Raya has got deep affection for Krishna, so much so that when he comes to talk about Krishna he forgets himself totally, even the basic necessities of life, hunger and thirst, he forgets all these things. Yes Ramananda is like a vast deep ocean.”

The touch of Her Halo Mahaprabhu never disclosed Himself as Radha-Krishna combined anywhere, but in front of Ramananda on the banks of the Godavari. To give admission to the public Radharani has unified with Krishna to distribute that highest service of the soul. Ramananda expressed “First I saw you as a sannyasi then as that Syama Gopal and now a glorious golden idol of a lady in Brajabasi dress is revealed.

Speak plainly who are you? “Everywhere you see Krishna, you are cent per cent dedicated, so wherever you cast your glance you find Krishna. It is a mockery to conceal My real nature from you, I cannot hide from you. Through the power of your own dedication you know everything.” Then He showed His real form. “My real color is not yellow, but by the touch of the halo of Radharani my blue body has been covered by Her lustre.” And Srimate Radharani is there, she does not have any other partner, but Krishna Himself, Swayam Bhagavan.

No other face but God can stand with her. “So understand who I am, because Radharani does not accept anyone else as Her partner but Krishna – Rajendra Nandana. And it is she who has captured Me and has covered Me with her brilliant Halo. So understand who I am.” This He told to Ramananda Raya.

Ramananda lost his senses and fell in a swoon, then Mahaprabhu touched him again to awaken him, where he saw the sanyas form of Mahaprabhu telling him “now I am satisfied as He got up to leave Ramananda was struck deaf and dumb. This sort of lila Mahaprabhu never expressed anywhere but at Vidyanagam on the bank of the Godavari where Prabhupad sent me to discover that sacred place in South India, and I was successful in that Quest.

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