Janmashtami

Thought One

Janmashtami is around the corner, so I thought that it would be a good idea to get re-acquainted with Sri Krishna.

Men love to say with a naughty twinkle in their eye: "Why cant we have as many girlfriends as Krishna had gopis, and get away with it like He did?

I say: "If you can pick up the Govardhan mountain with your little finger, if you change the poison that was offered to Meera and turn it to nectar, if you can dance on a thousand fanged cobra, and above all if you are a young lad of 9, you may dance with as many gopis as you please.

Krishna is considered a 16-kala-Avtaar which means that He is as close to God-head as one can get. That is why He is so difficult to understand. One should not even try. One must just learn to love Him. and how does one do that?  By being close to His Bhaktas (Devotees)

I remember when I first met Ma, she said "To most people, He is made of stone, to me, everyone is made of stone, only He is real!".  She believed that the Lord is more or less a theory, for most people, but for her, He was an intimate reality. Her love and faith for the Lord was contagious. She passed a small measure of it to me. I hope I am able to pass some on to you, through these words.

Thought Two

My mother introduced me to Krishna.

Ever since I can remember I have had a 'Krishna and Radharani' to worship. They were there in my mother's house.

Mummy gave me a Krishna to take with me when I went abroad after my marriage and she brought me a Krishna when I moved into my new home in Bombay. Tomorrow is Janmashtami, the birthday of Krishna and my mother is in the hospital. I shall miss her at the kirtan tomorrow, but she will be with me and Krishna will be with her, and I shall pray that my Blue Lord protect her from pain of any kind.