Rama & Krishna are One !!

[Guest guest]

!! Sri Rama Jayam !!

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There are two kinds of transcendental bhakti: aisvarya-mayi and

madhurya-mayi; bhakti or service mixed with opulence, and bhakti or

service with pure, sweet humanlike relationships.

 

Narayana never descends to this world. He has no father or mother.

Rather, He has associates like Narada and others, and He is full with

great opulence. Any pure devotee of Narayana can offer Him pranama,

but no one can serve as Laksmi devi can. Moreover, even Laksmi devi

also engages only in services mixed with awe and reverence, like

massaging His feet. Narayana's manifestations are also full of

opulence. Sahasra-sirsa, for example, has millions of hands, heads,

eyes, ears, and so on, and He cannot be seen anywhere in this world;

that is opulence. Everyone prays to Him in great awe and reverence,

uttering only the purusa-sukta prayers. Lord Narsimha also has no

father or mother, and He is also full with opulence.

Rama also has opulence, but He also has sweet pastimes. He has a

father, Maharaja Dasaratha, a mother, Kausalya, brothers like

Laksmana, Bharata, and Satrughna, and a wife, Sita devi. He takes

birth from Kausalya and performs many pastimes, but sometimes He

displays great opulence. To cross the Indian Ocean was a very

difficult task, but when Varunadeva, the predominating Deity of the

ocean, refused to give Rama passage, He simply took up His bow and

arrow. Then, upon hearing the sound of Rama's bowstring, Varunadeva

began to tremble, and he thus requested Rama to build a bridge over

him. The killing of Ravana was also not a simple task, and no one

besides Rama could have done so. This was opulence When Rama took

birth from the womb of mother Kausalya, He was four-handed, sixteen

years of age, and He looked like Visnu. An ordinary person would not

have been able to exhibit such features. He performed very sweet

pastimes, such as walking barefoot in the forest with Sita and

Laksmana, obeying his father and mother, and so on, but He also

displayed opulence. Although Rama had friends, those friends were

like His servants, and even his wife Sita was like a servant. She was

obliged to obey him, and He was even able to order her, " You must

leave my house. " Rama sometimes mercifully embraces Hanuman in the

mood of giving blessings: " Mangalam bhavatu, kalyanam bhavatu, " but

Hanuman cannot embrace Rama. Rama can sit under the shade of the

tree, and Hanuman can sit on a branch above Him, but He cannot climb

on the shoulders of Rama. Hanuman cannot give the remnants of his

meal to Rama, nor can Sita, Laksmana, Bharata, Sugriva, or Vibhisena.

 

Hanuman is a premi-bhakta, and Bharata, Satrugna, and the others are

also exalted devotees. Bharata is the embodiment of love and

affection for Rama, but he cannot sit on Rama's bed, nor can he

embrace Him or give Him his food remnants. This is not the case for

the Pandavas and Draupadi, however. Arjuna can give his remnants to

Krsna in the sense that they can sit together and eat from the same

plate. They can sleep on the same bed, with Krsna's head on the same

side of the bed as Arjuna's feet. Krsna's feet lay across Arjuna's

chest, and Arjuna's feet lay across Krsna's chest. Satyabhama and

Rukmini fan them on one side of the bed, and Draupadi and Subhadra

fan on the other side. Krsna is controlled by Arjuna's love, and

therefore He gave to him His sister Subhadra in marriage, making

their relationship still more sweet.

 

Before the Mahabharata Battle, Krsna bewildered both Arjuna and

Hanuman by His Yogamaya potency. Arjuna had the self-conception

that, " I am the very best archer in the whole world, " and actually he

was unparalleled. One day Arjuna met Hanuman and told him, " Your Rama

was not such a good archer, and His strength is not equal to mine. If

I were present with Him, there would have been no need to make a

bridge of boulders on the ocean. With my bow and arrows, I would have

easily made a very strong bridge over the ocean so that the monkeys

and all others could cross. Why did Rama request all the monkeys and

bears to make a bridge? He could have simply asked me. " Hanuman

replied, " You are ignorant. You don't know the real situation. The

weight of the monkeys was so great that your bridge of bow and arrows

would not have been able to tolerate it. " Arjuna replied with great

pride, " You can examine my bridge for yourself; you and your millions

of monkeys can try walking on my bridge. "

 

Then, in a moment, Arjuna made a strong bridge over the nearby wide

river with his bow and arrows. Seeing that Arjuna's bridge was very

strong, Hanuman flew in the air, went to the mountains, and assumed a

gigantic form. He then tied large mountains to the hairs coming from

the pores of his body, returned, and began to cross the bridge. He

was now so heavy that Arjuna thought, " My bridge will not be able to

tolerate his weight. What should I do? " He began to pray, " Krsna, I

have taken Your shelter. I am Your surrendered devotee. Please save

me. Please protect the words I have spoken to Hanuman: 'My bridge is

so strong that even you and millions of monkeys like you will not be

able to break it.' Hanuman also prayed - to Rama, " O Rama, save me.

If the bridge does not break, it will be an insult to Your name and

reputation - not mine but Yours - because I have taken Your shelter. "

Both Arjuna and Hanuman fearfully prayed. Hanuman pressed down one of

his feet on the bridge, which then began to tremble but not break.

Hanuman saw this and thought, " Why doesn't this bridge break? My

weight equals that of the entire world, and still the bridge doesn't

fall. Rama Rama Rama Rama. " Arjuna thought, " This bridge is shaking.

I think it will break at any moment. Krsna, Krsna, Krsna. " After

Hanuman prayed to Rama, he put his second foot and his whole weight

on the bridge, but still the bridge did not break.

 

Hanuman now saw a current of blood coming from the bridge. He at once

jumped and saw that Rama's back was supporting the bridge, and at the

same time Arjuna saw Krsna holding up the bridge. Both saw their own

Istadeva; Hanuman saw Rama and Arjuna saw Krsna, and they both began

to pray. There was one form, and yet both saw their own Istadeva.

Rama told to Hanuman, " Now you can see that Krsna and I are one. I am

Rama, and Rama is Krsna. There is no difference between Us. I want to

take away the burden from the earth, so help Arjuna. I order you to

always save him during the Battle of Kuruksetra. You should remain on

his flag, and you should save him from the very powerful bows of

Bhisma Pitamah, Karna, and Dronacarya. Otherwise in the first day, in

the first battle, he will be killed by the first arrow. I will also

be there on the chariot, as Arjuna's charioteer; so you must save

Arjuna. "

 

Later, during the Mahabharata battle, whenever Karna, Bhisma Pitamah,

and Dronacarya fired their arrows at Arjuna, Hanuman roared louder

than a thunderbolt from the flag of the chariot. This roaring scared

them and, bewildered, they shot their arrows here and there and

missed Arjuna. Karna had an infallible weapon, which was given to him

by the demigods. When he shot that special arrow, it turned into a

great python whose gaping mouth opened wide. Krsna hinted to Hanuman;

He then pressed Arjuna's chariot down below the earth with His foot,

so the python would not be able to strike, and simultaneously Hanuman

roared so loudly that the python became afraid and confused. Hanuman

was always serving Rama, and He made himself the servant of Arjuna

and saved his life many times. Arjuna is more dear to Krsna than

Hanuman. Still, even he sometimes experiences Krsna's opulence. When

he saw the fearsome universal form of Krsna, in whose body Brahma and

other demigods reside, and into whose blazing mouths thousands of

warriors were rushing to their deaths, he forgot their friendship. At

that time he folded his palms and prayed, " O my Prabhu, I have made

many mistakes due to my false conception that I am Your friend, and I

have committed many offenses at Your lotus feet. I promise that I

will never again call you 'Friend'. I will only address You

as 'Prabhu'. "

Hanuman always remembered Rama as his Lord, as his master & hence

never gave Rama any chance to rectify his Love for him, but Arjuna

sometimes treating Krishna as his companion have crossed certain

limits & so got tuning from Krishna as Bhagavattam & Bharatam

unfolds. Both of them loved their beloved Rama & Krishna to the

maximum & both are the most fortunate ones. Showing these characters,

Lord has opened up a way for us to be as Arjuna or Hanuman, & he will

be there to guide us always. The choice is ours .....

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Hare Krishna ...

Hare Rama.......