Visaya, The Visa

Kalluri Virabadra Sastry has made Ananda well up in every one of you by his clear and moving description of the incidents of the Bhagavata. His words were apt and sweet; his comments revealed the inner significance of the events; he made all partake personally in the life at Brindavan, of the families of the cowherds during the time that Krishna was among them. Some persons feel intoxicated by the emotions or they get near mad, on account of the devotion they have. But such overpowering emotions have to be mastered. One has to transform bhakti into jnana and become stronger thereby.

Man’s life is meaningful only because he can use it to see God. The goal of life is the final merging in the sea, God. You should not fill life with the world; that will make it a vanity fair, an insanity fair. Listen to all such things as will draw you towards the principle of Godhead; then, think it over in the silence; make it part of your consciousness. This process of manana (reflection) makes you a man; that is the test of man.

Sensory Object Is Man’s Most Deadly Poison

Virabhadra Sastry described the scene of Kaliya mardana (Krishna’s dance on the head of the serpent). Well, Kaliya is a very huge serpent, full of poison, rolling in death and destruction. He is the representative of man, rolling in sensory objects, poison so far as its effect on life is concerned. Vishaya (sensory object) is the most deadly Visa (poison). When Krishna danced on the head of Kaliya - incidentally I might add, you should make your hearts as smooth and soft as the hood of the snake, the poison was all vomited! And the serpent was subdued. When God is revered, the world and all its poisonous fumes recede and you are restored to original health. Make the Name and Form of the Lord dance upon the hood of your heart. Krishna had no vishaya-vasana (attachment to sense objects) and so, He could plunge into the pool and call out to Kaliya and jump onto his hood and trample on it and squeeze the poison out. If you are deep in the mire, you cannot pull out another who has fallen into it. Be on the bank; do not get caught. You are now struggling in the mire of samsara (worldly life), the slithery mud of attachment. So, how can you trample on the snake? You can save yourself only by calling on God, who is free from Visaya and who is on the bank. Hold His hand and He will pull you onto hard ground.

Krishna never parted in those days from Balarama; but, that day, He came alone, without him. He was wearing a necklace of green beads; a nose-ring of pearl; and in his right ear, a ring of pearls. He wore no shirt or coat; just yellow silk round his waist and a kerchief would round the head, or rather, thrown carelessly round one end this way and another end that way! That peacock feather which is described by poets and sages, was not always worn. It was stuck up, only off and on. Of course, peacocks abounded in Brindavan then and they are found in plenty even today. On his bare chest, there was a mole which could be clearly seen, an inevitable mark of all Avatars, including the Sais.

Krishna Had No Objective Desires

Krishna saw the carcasses of animals which had died when they inhaled the poisoned air, near the Kaliya pool; birds had fallen dead on the ground. Nothing green could survive in the neighbourhood. As soon as Krishna jumped into the pool to save the region from the serpent’s havoc, his companions ran home to bring the parents so that they could intercede and stop the foolish pranks of their mischievous son. They were in great panic; only Radha was calm and collected. She knew that for Him, it was a minute’s fun, a moment’s Sankalpa (resolve). He had no Visaya (objective desires) and so Visa (poison) could not affect Him.

Even objective desires will be transmuted into higher spheres of purity when one approaches the Lord. Nothing against Dharma can stand the Presence of the Lord. That fire will consume all impurities; and people forget that Krishna was just eleven years old when He finally left Brindavan, towards Mathura and from thence to Dwaraka. The Bhagavata itself explicitly says that. But, it is ignored, because the minds of the people and the poets who want to see sensuality in the Rasalitla are vitiated by Visaya-vasana (attachment to sense objects).

The boy, Dhruva, went to the forest to do tapas and get from the Lord a boon, so that his father might treat him as lovingly as he did his half-brother. But, as he progressed in sadhana, that wish was forgotten and more lofty ones came to occupy its place. The Lord, once He enters the mind will rid it of all evil. Rama (God) and kama (desire) cannot be together. How then could the Gopis have any body-consciousness, when they adored Krishna?

The Lord Never Does Anything Without Purpose

Krishna had already announced His Glory to the cowherd maidens by such divine miracles as the uplifting of the mountain Govardhanagiri. He had proved Himself superior to Indra, Brahma and Varuna. He had manifested the Universe in His mouth and showed that He had come on a Divine Mission to destroy the wicked and save the good. There is no laukikam (worldliness) in their behaviour; it is all alaukikam (other worldly).

The Lord never speaks a word without relevance or significance; never does anything without appropriateness or purpose. Garuda is the symbol of karma with the two wings of sraddha (faith) and bhakti (devotion), the bird on which the Lord will take His seat, the hrdaya vihanga (the heart as the bird). Radha is Prakrti (Nature), known as dhara (Universe), which helps you to think about the adhara (support), in a regular dhara (continuous flow).

Krishna felt that it was time to reveal His Truth and so, just as He showed all Creation in His mouth when His mother asked Him to show her His tongue, when she suspected He had eaten sand. The incident of the rope is another instance. He made even the longest rope too short to bind Him. It became the talk of the place and every one felt he had all the 14 worlds in Him!

Know The Secret Passage To The Heart Of The Lord

Avatars choose the time and the mode of announcement of their advent and their Glory. Even in this Avataram, such miracles had to be done when I decided that the time was opportune for taking to the people about My secret.

Let your mind ever dwell on Krishna of such stature. Sanctify every word and deed by filling it with Prema of Krishna or whatever Name and Form you give to the Lord you love. The gold of which an anklet was made, can become the gold for a crown on the head of a temple image; only it has to be melted in the crucible and beaten into shape. The waters of the river might be dirty; but, the bhakta who sips it with a mantra or a stotra (sacred sound or prayer) on his lips, transmutes it into a sacred tirtham (sanctified water). The body becomes healthy by exercise and work; the mind becomes healthy by Upasana (devout contemplation) and Namasmarana (remembrance of the Divine), by regular, well-planned discipline, joyfully accepted and joyfully carried out.

Ahimsa (non-injury) is the rice; Arpitam (dedication) is the gram; prayaschittam (expiation) the raisins; paschattapam (repentance) is the jaggery. Mix all these well with the ghee, sadgunam (virtue). That is the offering you should make to your Ishtadevata (chosen deity), not the paltry stuff you make out of articles got for a paisa in the shops! The Gopis knew this secret passage to the heart of the Lord and they realised Him quick and fast.

The Lord Has No Hatred In Him

You have heard that Krishna is Murali-Madhava, and what exactly is the murali? You must be the murali (the flute). Let the breath of Krishna pass through you, making delightful music that melts the hearts. Surrender yourself to Him; become hollow, without Vasana, egoless, desireless; then, He will Himself come and pick you up caressingly and apply you, the flute to His Lips and blow His sweet breath through you. Allow Him to play whatever song He likes.

The Lord is all Prema. He has no dvesa (hatred) in Him. Once at Shirdi, a certain Dr. Pillai came with much suffering and he prayed that he might be given ten births with the chance of dividing the pain into ten parts, so that he could suffer a little each time and pay off his karmic debt, without being hard put to pay it all off in one! He was informed through Kaka Saheb that he should fall at the feet of Baba and as he did so, Baba got the pain transferred to himself. For ten minutes, Baba suffered, at the rate of one minute for each janma (birth), and thus he rid Dr. Pillai of his obligation. Baba was quite normal, as soon as the 10 minutes were over.

Prema must be many-stranded in order to be strong and tough. A single strand is too weak. Have it many-stranded, one towards the mother, another towards the father, other strands towards husband, wife, friend, son, daughter, etc. Of course Prema is all-embracing, it cannot be confined to one item and denied to another. It is a current that flows over all. Meditation on the Lord and His Prema will help you to tap it from the depths of your heart.

Prasanthi Nilayam, 6-9-1963