[Nectar] Krishna Meditation

[Guest guest]

Sivarama Swami, 24 July 2006

___________

 

It's still early morning, the sun is starting to rise over the

horizon, and it's reddish-it reminds me of Srimati Radharani's

tilak upon Her beautiful broad forehead. And the glowing of the sun,

the rays that it casts everywhere, paints the village nearby and the

field in front of me a golden color.

 

There are flowers everywhere, and those flowers are growing in tall

grass, knee-high grass, which sways to one side and then another.

It's like the way the Brijbasi's sway under the winds of their

prema, their extraordinary love for Krishna-sometimes they let it go

in one direction, sometimes they bend in another direction; sometimes

they display extraordinary affection for Krishna, sometimes they

chastise Him; sometimes the cowherd boys wrestle with Krishna, at other

times they massage His feet; sometimes the gopis throw Krishna smiles,

at other times frowns from their arched eyebrows.

 

Amongst this green swaying grass are different types of flowers. And I

can see bees flying from one flower to another flower collecting honey.

It seems that they never tire-just like Krishna always flies from one

devotee to another, and wherever He can find even just a little

honey-like affection, He immediately collects that. Therefore in the

Gita He says, yo me bhaktya prayacchite...

 

Jayadeva Goswami says dhira samira yamuna tira vanamali...that when

Krishna felt the wonderful breeze blowing along the banks of the

Yamuna, He was very much invigorated and thought about His wonderful

pastimes with the gopis. This breeze is also very nice, cooling. It was

a very hot day yesterday. The night was pleasant, but there was no

wind. But now the wind blows and it brings remembrances of the winds

that sweep across the Vrindavan landscape, bringing with them aromas of

different wonderful flowers-beli, cameli: these are different types

of jasmines-as well as the very small and fragrant drops of spray

carried from the Yamuna river which make an extra cooling effect.

 

And in the meantime, the birds are singing, some making a staccato

sound; I can hear the cooing of some doves not far away. This is like

the sound of Cupid's bowstrings as it twangs, shooting flower

arrows-puñpa-bäëäya dhémahi-either at Krishna or the gopis. I

heard some roosters before, there is one right now crowing in the

distance. Roosters also crow in the early morning in Vrindavan, along

with the singing birds, and even there are some dogs barking in the

background. The sun is now shining through the leaves of the trees just

like it would do in Vrindavan, and with all of these uddipana, Vrinda

Devi tries to convince Radha and Krishna that it is certainly time to

rise, as the villages of Vrindavan are coming back to life. The

Brijbasis are rising early in the morning to go about their particular

duties. They're going to start moving within the courtyards of their

homes. They will start moving along the paths that lead from one home

to another, that lead from one village to another. And if Radha and

Krishna don't rise very quickly from the rest that They have taken

after Their long nocturnal festival of dancing, singing, laughing, and

wonderful pastimes, then certainly They will be seen, and once the

Brijbasis see Them coming back to the village from the dead of night

in the early morning then they will immediately be suspicious: "Oh

ho! Where has Krishna been at night? Where has Radha been, coming back

so red-eyed with Her other gopi friends, who also look equally

disheveled and equally tired?"

 

And when Radha and Krishna hear these wonderful sounds of Vrindavan,

They become immersed in the beauty of that transcendental place. They

feel the wonderful breezes that serve Their bodies by caressing Them,

and the smells of the forest, the aroma of the flowers growing upon the

vines. They hear amongst the cooing of the birds the light giggling of

Their gopi friends who are watching, waiting to see when They are going

to quickly get up and go Their own ways.

 

Our cooks have begun to prepare breakfast, and just like the elderly

gopis who rise early in the morning and begin to cook on their cow-dung

fires and make very wonderful rotis, which are then offered to their

respective deities, I can also smell the cooking in our portable

kitchen.

 

Srila Prabhupada taught us to see this material world as an impetus for

remembering Krishna. Krishna is everywhere, He is within everything. In

fact, every blade of grass, every leaf that rustles is chanting Hare

Krishna, is glorifying Him, and if we utilize the process that Krishna

has given us in the Bhagavad-gita then we will be able to see

Krishna's majesty, Krishna's glory, His sweetness, and His

pastimes in every aspect of this material world. After all, the

material world is only an illusion for those who want to forget Krishna

and therefore it covers them. But for those devotees that want to

remember Krishna, then the material world is simply a bookmark that

helps them continue remembering from one pastime to another, one aspect

of Krishna's beauty or another.

 

Just seeing the green-I am sitting here underneath small trees, with

this meadow stretching out before me-that color green is said to be

soothing to the eyes; it is known to be the best thing for the eyes.

But why is that so? Because if you take the golden complexion of

Srimati Radharani and the bluish complexion of Lord Krishna-what

happens when blue and yellow meet? They become green. So the meeting of

Radha and Krishna is symbolized by this color green, and devotees take

the greatest happiness when they know that the Divine Couple are

enjoying Their pastimes together. Therefore green always gives them

that remembrance: "Oh, now Srimati Radharani and Krishna are meeting,

and that meeting has turned the entire world green." I see green

forests here, trees, everything is colored green, and therefore it is a

reminder of the eternal loving exchange between Krishna and His

devotees.

 

Not only is Srimati Radharani's love golden-that is the color of

maha-bhava-but the color of prema is also like that. So our

attachment to Krishna, our love for Krishna when it is offered to Him,

it will also increase the greenness of all things, and green of course

means that things are growing very nicely. When things become burnt out

they turn brown, or when they die they wilt. So similarly, if our

thoughts are always green with remembrance of Krishna's pastimes,

then that means we have a healthy state of Krishna consciousness. And

it indicates that soon there will be many beautiful leaves of real

attachment to Krishna developing, and from those leaves there will come

very, very beautiful flowers of ecstasy and love for Krishna. And those

flowers are very aromatic. They draw Krishna just like a bumble-bee to

that devotee, and whereas bees usually take from the flower and the

flower becomes bereft, when Krishna comes and He touches-Srila

Prabhupada uses the word "kisses"-the flower-like devotees, then

they begin to bear the fruits of rasa, or real relationship with

Krishna. And once again our eternal relationship, our mellow of

friendship, or parental, or conjugal attraction for Krishna becomes

manifest and we find ourselves in our eternal home, Goloka Vrindavan,

in loving exchanges with Krishna.

 

When rising in the morning, singing mangala-arati, chanting on our

beads, we should follow the train of thought that is inspired by the

words of the prayers, by the sound of the maha-mantra, by the vibration

of Sukadeva Goswami as he speaks Srimad Bhagavatam. All of these things

are meant to lead us back to the pastures of Vrindavan.

 

Thoughts of Krishna...

 

 

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~

You received this message because you are d to the Google Groups

"ISKCON - Hare Krishna - Nectar of devotion group" group.

To post to this group, send email to nectarofdevotion (AT) googl (DOT) com