Search:
Bhakti List Archives

(no subject)

From the Bhakti List Archives

RANGASWAMY • March 12, 1996 


Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya,

I greatly enjoyed reading Sri Sadagopan's commentary on the Mukunda Mala.
The commentary was very eloquent and touching indeed. Sri Sadagopan has 
very nicely captured the mood and thoughts of Sri Kulashekara Azhwar
in his summary. I am looking forward to part 3 of his commentary. 
These posts evoked the memories of the blue-bodied young boy of Brindavan
playing his flute in my mind. 

Lord Krishna is a personal favorite of mine because of the Soulabhyam 
aspect (easy accessibilty) of his Avataram. The Gopis of Brindavan
saw "Para Vasudeva" as their young "tormentor" who stole their butter,
milk and clothes (Gopi Vastra paharakAya Namah is one of the names of 
Krishna used while performing Pushpa Archana to Lord Krishna). The 
cowherds of Brindavan saw him as their companion and always felt
secure in his company. Due to the maya of the Lord they could not 
see him in any other form except for brief glimpses where he performed 
extraordinary feats (killing of Aghasura, Dhenukasura, Putana, holding the 
Govardhana hill on his little finger, subduing of Kaliya etc). To 
Yahsoda he was her darling child. She could experience the love of the Lord
through "Vatsalya" (unmitigated, untainted love like the love of a cow for
its calf) for Krishna. 

To Sudama,  and Arjuna, Krishna was their dear friend.
They were able to see and experience the Vaibhavam of the Lord through 
Sakhya Bhava. To the Pandavas, he was their friend Philosopher and guide.
To Bhishma, he was the one who granted Mukti. One of the names of the Lord
that appears in his Shata Divya Namavali is "Bhishma Mukti Pradayakaya 
Namaha" The sukshmam here is that during the Mahabharata war, Bhishma was 
tired of fighting and at the end of the 8th day of the war, he promised 
Duryodhana that he would fight at his very best the next day (9th day).
The reason Bhishma was upset was because he worshipped Krishna every 
morning bust since he was fighting the war, he could not worship the 
Lord everyday by reciting the Lord's names. Therefore, he promised 
Duryodhana that he will make Krishna break his vow of not taking up 
weapons in the war (by making the Lord appear before him with Chakram in 
hand)

On the 9th day of the war, Bhishma promptly began mowing down the 
Pandava army so that he could confront Arjuna and get a Darshan of the Lord.
Since Bhishma could not offer flowers to the Lord, he resolved to use his
arrows as flowers and chant the name of the Lord while aiming each arrow 
at the Lord. In this manner Bhishma, shot 108 arrows at the Lord while 
uttering the Lord's name before shooting each arrow. Sri Veda Vyasa 
portrays the Lord as being extremely beautiful when each arrow frm 
Bhishma drew his blood. When the last arrow 
had been shot, the Lord Madhava was pleased with his devotion and decided to 
appear before his devotee. Feigning anger on Arjuna (for apparently being 
soft in his methods of fighting against Bhishma), the Lord set out with 
Chakram in hand to appear before Bhishma and bless him.

Thus, just uttering the name of Lord Krishna is sufficient to destroy
one's sins entirely and pave the way for Moksham. A reference from the 
Narayanopanishad says that "Brahmanyo Devaki Putro Brahmanyo MadhusudanOm".
Another reason for my reverence for Lord Krishna is because the saptaswarams
of music originated from his flute (reference, the Kriti Ganamoorthae in the 
Ragam Ganamurthy). The easiest path to practice is

Eka Mantram: OmithyekAksharam
Eka Nama: Devaki PutronAmam
Eka Seva: Devaki Putro Seva

In conclusion, I would like to salute the Lord with the following 
Shlokams:

SarvopaniShado Gavo Doghda Gopalanandanaha I
Partho Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Dugdham Geetamrutamahath II
(In this Shlokam, all the Upanishads are likened to a Cow, Krishna
performs the task of a milk-man milking the cow [Upanishads], Arjuna is 
the calf that is thirsty for the milk from the Upanishads which is denoted 
by Geetamrutam)

Vasudevasudam Devam Kamsa Chanura Mardhanam I
Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum II
(Salutations to Lord Krishna, the son of Vasudeva who killed Kamsa, Chanura,
who brought greatest joy to Devaki and who is the teacher of the three worlds).

Om Namo Narayanaya,

Muralidhar Rangaswamy