Day 5: Vrindavan: Surrendering to Krishna
Read Part 1 Here.
There are two Vrindavan Dhams. One that you see as soon as you step in, the other you don’t immediately see.
What is this other Vrindavan,
you ask! Well, this other Vrindavan can’t
really be Objectified and described in words. However, it can be lived in. Curiouser and Curiouser! Like Alice, let us explore.
First of all, the other Vrindavan
I am talking of isn’t some faraway exotic place, it actually shares the Space
and Time dimensions with the Physical Vrindavan! Meaning that Vrindavan is
available to you here and now. It isn’t something you need to go
somewhere to reach nor something that will be available to you at a different
time like after death in case you have lived a pious life. No, it is available immediately for you to
find and reside in it.
However, there is just one
precondition. You need to be able to discern it as it appears in your consciousness
through the infinity variety of in which creation manifests itself. In other words, you need to be able recognize
this Vrindavan underlying reality of the physical Vrindavan, nay the creation itself.
So, what is this Real
Vrindavan?
This real Vrindavan that many
also call Brahman, is the very Existence itself from which everything that we
see as physically existing borrows existence for a little while. It is the One universal Consciousness that shines forth through every apparently
conscious mind, infinite in every sense for there is nothing else. Ever pure, ever unattached it is the real
Self behind every single self that exists.
Satyam, Jnanam, Anantham.
You can tune into that Vrindavan,
as you withdraw from the Physical aspects of Holy Vrindavan. The first impression that you perceive of
this is as inexplicable feeling of bliss or Ananda that envelops you and literally
threatens to overwhelm you. If you have
read my previous posts you will remember how from the very moment that I had stepped
inside Braj, I had confessed to the feeling of entering a bubble of happiness, feeling
all Krishnamay and everything? In
hindsight I feel it was just that in His infinite mercy Sri Krishna had given
this most fallen and unworthy soul, a glimpse of the Real Vrindavan. A taste of
what lay in wait if I could find the pathway to get to the real Vrindavan.
Why should we even want
to find this pathway?
Simple, because we desire, above
everything else, Happiness. But every single worldly happiness we pursue in this physical plain either comes to an end or turns into a source
of utter unhappiness. It is an unending
cycle.
Vrindavan however provides the solution.
Upon
attaining that Vrindavan, it is said one experiences complete cessation of sorrow
(atyantika-dukha-nivritti) and attainment of supreme happiness (paramānanda-prāpti).
One who has reached this Vrindavan never
has to return to the physical plain of existence ever again. Once the state of knowing the Ultimate Truth
about oneself is achieved, it is permanent, unending state of infinite bliss.
I would strongly recommend the
talk by Swami Sarvapriyananda where he describes the Ultimate Truth.
How does one get about go
about reaching this real Vrindavan?
No one can enter the real
Vrindavan without Sri Krishna’s grace.
Inviting thing this grace needs you to have the treasure of Krishna
Bhakti which only Srimati Radharani can bestow upon you. Radhe, Radhe, Shyam Dila De, the heart
of the devotee cries out. Lord Krishna also has unambiguously declared
the supremacy of Bhakti.
But parabhakti is hard, as the
devotee tries to focus his/her adoration toward Lord Krishna, the physical world
of Maya tries to ensnare the devotee with its many traps and enchantments. Sri Krishna has shown the paths of Jnana Yoga,
Raja Yoga and Karma Yoga in Bhagavad Gita as ways to purify one’s mind,
understand who He is, who we are and what our relationship with him. And what he said are not empty sermons, but a
vivid blueprint of creation that the seeker can practically use to navigate one’s
path.
Still not clear. Too complex.
Unless there is a genuine will the
pathway to real Vrindavan is not possible to be found. One who is not able to muster that required will,
perhaps, need a few hundred additional births to get to the point where the futility
of the physical world becomes unbearable.
However, if the will is genuine,
Krishna gives a royal shortcut… Just
take it and forget all else…
sarva-dharman parityajya mam
ekam sharanam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
mokshayishyami ma shuchah (BG 18.66)
Place the complete trust of Sri
Krishna and don’t fall prey to the traps of the mind.
Places like Vrindavan Dham and
here I mean the physical Vrindavan Dham are special. Due to their association with Sri Krishna’s
childhood events, they have the capability to direct the mind constantly to Him
and his Leelas. And that itself purifies the mind and sets you on your way to
the Spiritual Vrindavan.
Back to My Yatra
On the third day of the Yatra, we
had gotten the opportunity to meet someone who has been staying in Vrindavan
for over 25 years and, it seemed to me had, found the real Vrindavan. Rajshekar Prabhu is a senior devotee of
ISKCON who was originally from UK, but has now become a Brajvasi. A researcher, he has used scientific methods
coupled with faith in Krishna to find places associated with Sri Krishna’s life
and has published books on that as well.
Initiated by Srila Prabhupada himself, he was every bit the ideal
yogi. His eyes light up so much when he
recountes the story of discovery of Radha Kunda or his interactions with Prabhupada. Felt blessed to get the association of such a
true devotee of Krishna.
And seeing him, and many like him
during my trip there convinced me that they way to reach the real Vrindavan is
only surrender. Yoga, Dhyana, Jnana are amazing paths and I have no doubts
there are those great souls who would be able to reach enlightenment through
these, but Bhakti that invites His grace triumph’s all else. Chanting is a powerful way to connect to
Krishna and find the real Vrindavan.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
Returning from Vrindvan proved
harder than I thought it would be. Most
of us in the yatra had become so attached to those Lanes, the Kunj Galiyans,
where Srimati Radharani, Sri Krishna and their friends her conducted their divine
pastimes that the thought of leaving this all behind was distressing. However, our Dharma that He had assigned to us
for this life needed us to return. And
did we not carry a tiny bit of the Vrindavan, the physical and the spiritual, in
our minds as well?
With a silent prayer to Srimati Radharani to grant all her devotees, including my loved ones and myself, permission to visit Vrindavan again and again, I boarded the bus to Delhi…
Radhe Radhe
Sri Krishna Sarnam Mamah
Om Namo Bhagavate Vaasudevaya
