His Divine grace

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One who knows that Krsna cannot resist pure bhakti can attain it by His Divine

grace.

 

The appeal of pure devotion is so strong for Krsna that He cannot ignore it;

this is why Rupa Gosvami characterizes pure bhakti as “Krsnakarsini,” the only

means to draw Krsna’s attention.

 

A popular verse depicts something that has transpired time and again throughout

history and has often been mentioned in various sastras--the child Krsna

sucking His own toe:

 

karäravindena padäravindaà

mukhäravinde viniveçayantam

vaöasya patrasya puöe çayänaà

bälaà mukundaà manasä smarämi

 

"With His lotus hand, He puts His lotus foot into His lotus mouth while

lying on the bed of a Banyan leaf; in my mind I reflect upon Bäla Mukunda."

 

Why in the world does God do this?

 

According to Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura (in his comments on

Srimad-Bhagavatam, 12.9.25), the Lord eagerly wants to taste the nectar his

devotees relish, as seen the following verse:

 

vihäya péyüña-rasaà munéçvarä

mamäìghrir äjéva-rasaà pibanti

iti sva-pädämbuja-päna-kautuké

sa gopäla-bälaù çriyam ätanotu vaù

 

"'Why do the best of great sages reject (even) nectar and (instead)

drink the water of My lotus feet?' Thinking in this way, He eagerly sucks His

own lotus foot. May that Bäla-gopäla bless you with good fortune."

 

Similarly, Krsna Himself became so awestruck at the powerful appeal of bhakti,

that He decided to become His own devotee, as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, just to

taste it.

 

Two quatrains from the “Matins” of English poet George Herbert (1593-1633)

suggest the wonder of this Divine weakness:

 

“My God, what is a heart,

Silver, or gold, or precious stone,

Or star, or rainbow, or a part

Of all these things, or all of them in one?

 

“My God, what is a heart,

That Thou shouldst it so eye, and woo

Pouring upon it all Thy art,

As if that Thou hadst nothing else to do?”

 

In fact, the Lord indeed has nothing else to do, as we already know from the

Svetasvatara Upanisad (6.8). Hence, His full time is dedicated to sporting

with His devotees in various ways.

 

The process of Krsna consciousness is infinitely more powerful than any

material considerations, which is very encouraging for those us who have fallen

into material existence. We can directly appeal to the omniscient, omnipotent,

all-merciful Personality of Godhead Krsna, through His Divine grace, and

quickly overcome any disadvantages (cf. Gita 18.58). Of course, to do this

requires absolute humility, which is not different from pure love of God.

 

Many, many years ago, His Holiness Tamala Krsna Gosvami had a dream in which

Srila Prabhupada was reporting to higher authorities his unprecedented

preaching activities in the West; speaking about the people of this day and

age, Srila Prabhupada told them, “They have no knowledge, no piety, no

intelligence, no good fortune, no discipline, no austerity, no virtues. Their

only qualification is that they’ve somehow become attached to my feet.” Later

on, Tamala Krsna Gosvami narrated this dream to Srila Prabhupada, who confirmed

this, saying, “Yes, that’s actually the fact.”

 

Even the greatest Vaisnavas feel themselves to be most fallen, what to speak of

those truly are. Hence Srila Rupa Goswami prays (Cc, Madhyalila, 23.29):

 

“‘O my Lord, I do not have any love for You, nor am I qualified for discharging

devotional service by chanting and hearing. Nor do I possess the mystic power

of a Vaisnava, knowledge or pious activities. Nor do I belong to a very

high-caste family. On the whole, I do not possess anything. Still, O beloved

of the gopis, because You bestow Your mercy on the most fallen, I have an

unbreakable hope that is constantly in my heart. That hope is always giving me

pain.’"

 

Similarly again, in his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.11.26, Srila Prabhupada

writes:

 

“Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé, the great devotee äcärya of the

Gauòéya-Vaiñëava-sampradäya, has sung a song about this lotus honey, comparing

himself to the bee: ‘O my Lord Kåñëa, I beg to offer my prayers unto You. My

mind is like the bee, and it is after some honey. Kindly, therefore, give my

bee-mind a place at Your lotus feet, which are the resources for all

transcendental honey. I know that even big demigods like Brahmä do not see the

rays of the nails of Your lotus feet, even though they are engaged in deep

meditation for years together. Still, O infallible one, my ambition is such,

for You are very merciful to your surrendered devotees. O Mädhava, I know also

that I have no genuine devotion for the service of Your lotus feet, but because

Your Lordship is inconceivably powerful, You can do what is impossible to be

done. Your lotus feet can deride even the nectar of the heavenly kingdom, and

therefore

I am very much attracted by them. O supreme eternal, please, therefore, let my

mind be fixed at Your lotus feet so that eternally I may be able to relish the

taste of Your transcendental service.’ The devotees are satisfied with being

placed at the lotus feet of the Lord and have no ambition to see His

all-beautiful face or aspire for the protection of the strong arms of the Lord.

They are humble by nature, and the Lord is always leaning towards such humble

devotees.”

 

Srila Rupa Gosvami calls such an attitude “asa-bandha,” or hope against hope.

Exemplifying his precepts best, he himself prays in full surrender:

 

viracaya mayi daëòaà déna-bandho dayäà vä

gatir iha na bhavattaù käcid anyä mamästi

nipatatu çata-koöir nirmalaà vä navämbhas

tad api kila payodaù stüyate cätakena

 

"O Lord of the poor, do what you like with me, give me either mercy or

punishment, but in this world I have none to look to except Your Lordship. The

cataka bird always prays for the cloud, regardless of whether it showers rains

or throws a thunderbolt."

 

It is well known that even if it is faced with dehydration, still the cataka

bird will never touch anything other than raindrops falling directly from the

raincloud. Similarly, a devotee is only interested in the mercy Krsna

showers upon him through His Divine grace, the bonafide spiritual master, who

distributes whatever mercy-rain he himself draws from the ocean of

auspiciousness, Lord Krsna (karunya-ghanaghanatvam praptasya

kalyana-gunarnavasya). It is not for no reason that Srila Prabhupada asked his

followers to sing every day: guru-mukha-padma-vakya, cittete koriya aikya...

 

Hopefully this provides us a hint of what we might do in our hope against hope

of attracting Krsna.

 

 

Mukunda Datta dasa