स्मृते सकलकल्याणभाजनं यत्र जायते । पुरुषं तं अजं नित्यं व्रजामि शरणं हरिं । । smrite sakala-kalyana, bhajanam yatra jayate | purusham tam ajam nityam, vrajami sharanam harim || "I take shelter of Lord Hari, who is the unborn, eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead. Upon remembering Him, a reservoir of all auspiciousness is produced." :: Gopis and Lord Krishna :: The divine plays of Lord Sri Krishna are known to this world as ‘Rasa’. They were the replica of the truth of that when one soul reaches the bliss of divinity the divine blesses it by merging it within himself. Gopis are known to be the women of Vrindavan who soaked their souls in the ocean of devotion, physically, verbally and through meditation. The whole trinity bows to their feet, for they achieved the selfless love and company of holy divine himself. :: Who are Gopis? :: These Gopis are believe to be the incarnations of the roots of Vedas, the saints and sages who soaked themselves in ‘tapsya’ to achieve divine blessings in his holy feet. People define them as women but it is wrong they just see the gender of their physical appearance; only those who soaks themselves in devotion can see the divinity of the Gopis’ souls which outcast all barriers of existence. If one debates why they incarnated in form of women and not anything else; one can see a hidden bitter truth in this factor too: The divine plays of Lord Sri Krishna are known to this world as ‘Rasa’. They were the replica of the truth of that when one soul reaches the bliss of divinity the divine blesses it by merging it within himself. Gopis are known to be the women of Vrindavan who soaked their souls in the ocean of devotion, physically, verbally and through meditation. The whole trinity bows to their feet, for they achieved the selfless love and company of holy divine himself. These Gopis are believe to be the incarnations of the roots of Vedas, the saints and sages who soaked themselves in ‘tapsya’ to achieve divine blessings in his holy feet. People define them as women but it is wrong they just see the gender of their physical appearance; only those who soaks themselves in devotion can see the divinity of the Gopis’ souls which outcast all barriers of existence. If one debates why they incarnated in form of women and not anything else; one can see a hidden bitter truth in this factor too: If they incarnated as Brahmans it was easy for all to say that they are learned, hence possessed holy powers to achieve the divine. If they incarnated as a man it was easy for the society to accept, as it doesn't bars a man to commit himself to God in such manner. If they incarnated as a child all would apparently say that they are innocent and hence God loves them the most. To show the height of devotion, thus they incarnated in form of women who were not learned; simple villagers, bounded by the norms of society, filled with responsibilities of family and barred from freedom. As a human body, who is so bounded and yet sets its soul free from boundaries of world and entrusts it soul to the divine is the true warrior who wins the battle and shines the brightest. The ‘Rasa’ is exactly the celebration of the moment, when divine merged holy souls within him by performing His divine playful selfless endeavors-‘RaasLeelas’. Hence there can’t be any vulgarity or Kama associated with it, because Lord Sri Krishna was just eight years old- a prodigy of innocence when He performed ‘RaasLeelas’ with the Gopis. :: Lord Krishna and the Four Yugas :: This earth is a boon gifted to humans to live by Sri Krishna, but our selfish emotions and the desire to rule this world destroys the purity of nature. The span of dharma or method of worshiping and achieving oneness with the almighty on this earth is divided in four different parts. The Satyug which means where dharma existed in whole power with truth, generosity, peace and purity, ‘Tapa’ was the path to be followed to purify ones soul. Tretayug which means dharma’s glory reduces a bit and shined with truth, generosity and peace, thus ‘Yajna’ Vedic fire sacrifices were the source to achieve lord. In Dwaparyuga dharma possessed only truth and generosity; hence generous offerings made were a source to achieve Lord. It is in this Yuga that Lord Shri Krishna the avatar of lord Vishnu possessing sixteen kalas blessed this earth and protected it from the horrible devastation. The kings like ‘kansa’ believed to reign world with evil means, thus Shri Krishna destroyed such evil souls and spread the knowledge of pure love, peace ,harmony and revealed the principles that one should follow for one’s purification of soul. Last is the ongoing Kalyuga in which Dharma exists only with the power of truth and one can achieve enlightenment by merely reciting the name of Lord Krishna with love and devotion. :: Lord Krishna and Bhakti yog :: Emotions rule this human heart but if these emotions are devoted to the almighty with pure thoughts and love, one’s soul can easily get one with the supreme power without following the harsh paths of ‘Japa’, ’Tapa’, ’Vrat’. There are various types of emotions of love that accompanies ones bhakti. :: Vatsalya rasa :: The bond of love shared between mother Yashoda and Lord Shri Krishna. Though mother Yashoda hadn’t given birth to Shri Krishna yet she nurtured him with full love and care. Shri Krishna, who holds this trinity, let himself get tied to an okhal as punishment by mother Yashoda for the love that was hidden in her motherhood. To honor selfless motherhood of Shri Krishna named himself as ‘Yashodanandan’. :: Sakhya rasa :: Shri Krishna has defined friendship a sacred bond of life by depicting his friendship with his childhood friend Sudama. During the days of gurukul Shri Krishna and Sudama had become good friends and with time sudamaji went to Mathura and settled their as a Brahman. Sudamaji worshipped Shri Krishna as his deity and his family survived on the charity he got from the villagers; his poverty increased with time thus his wife advised him to go to his friend Shri Krishna and ask for help for he had become the king of Dwarka. Sudamaji didn't agree but seeing his family’s miserable life he agreed to it. His wife gave him a tiny bag of rice she had just begged it from her neighbor. When Sudamaji arrived to Dwarka his state was too bad, for he walked from Mathura to Dwarka his feet got swollen covered with mud pricked with blades of grass, clothes clad and feeble body. On the gates of Dwarka's palace he told the guards to inform Shri Krishna that his childhood friend Sudama had come to meet him, though guards didn’t believe but they still informed Shri Krishna of his arrival. As Krishna heard this message he ran towards the gates of palace bare feet and hugged Sudama. On seeing his friend in that pitiful state Shri Krishna’s tears rolled out. He welcomed Sudama with full respect and requested him to spend some time in Dwarka with him. Shri Krishna gave a special treatment to Sudama and respected him in every manner. Shri Krishna knew that Sudama hid the bag of rice his wife gave as a gesture for Krishna in order to avoid humiliation of being poor. Shri Krishna snatched it from Sudama and accepted it with pleasure. Sudama left for Mathura, but regretted for he couldn't ask Krishna for help. On reaching Mathura he was astonished to know that Shri Krishna had blessed with tons of wealth without even him not asking for it. Shri Krishna depicted it clearly that wealth and status never decides the fate of a relation. Friendship when done should be carried out with love, care and respect. He even proved the proverb; “A friend in need is a friend indeed”. Sudamaji is an example of sakhya rasa because he had entrusted himself to Shri Krishna with full love though his friend was rich he didn't demand for help, but maintained his self respect and showed that friendship is a mutual understanding not a relation of demands.
:: Story behind existence of Goverdhan and the Lila of Sri Krishna :: Lord Sri Krishna has expressed by several lilas that divine protects his devotees. The bond of love a devotee shares with the divine is the flame of faith that all his pain sufferings, deeds and smiles are not hidden from god. In older times everybody use to perform yajnas.The villagers of braj use to perform special prayers and yajnas in the honor of lord Indra, the god of rain. Lord Krishna felt that these prayers were boosting the pride of lord Indra because of which Indra believed that he ruled the trinity. Lord Krishna is too kind he believes vanity is every creature’s worst enemy and cause of its destruction. To save Indra lord Krishna asked the villagers, and Nandbaba his father and mother Yoshada to offer these prayers to Mount Goverdhan rather than lord Indra. He told everyone that lord Indra was just a chief god, whereas the Mount Goverdhan had various assets to heal and protect which would benefit the villagers. Thus we all should pay our gratitude to the holy mount by offering prayers. They agreed to lord Krishna and did accordingly. Special yajnas were performed and Chhappan bhog was offered to lord Goverdhan. 'Lord Goverdhan' is Lord Krishna’s replica and the chappan bhog offered by villagers became famous as ‘Annakoot’; lord Krishna himself accepted all the bhog by his several hands by appearing before them in the form of lord Goverdhan. On seeing the villagers ignorance Indra filled with anger decided to destroy all of braj. He ordered the wind, thunder and rain to use their evil powers to uproot the entire village. Villagers ran here and there crying for help in pain and screams as they began to drown. Sri Krishna advised all the villagers to run to Mount Goverdhan. It was then that Sri Radha blessed Sri Krishna with immense power; to which Sri Krishna lifted the Mount Goverdhan on his only little finger for seven long days. He asked all the villagers to be fearless and come under the shade of the mountain along with their belongings, family and animals. Every single soul was safe and sound under the magical power of Shri Krishna. After seven days when every slave of lord Indra got tired and their powers got perished, his vanity of being powerful perished like dust. Lord Indra went to his guru sage Vashisht for wisdom. Here sage Vashisht explained him that vanity is every creature’s worst enemy and in his pride he challenged the trinity himself. To save you from destruction lord Krishna asked the villagers to pray to Mount Goverdhan in your place. Thus proving that He is the protector of this universe no evil has the power to go against His wishes. :: The bond of innocence and love :: The span of time when lord Krishna held the Goverdhan on his little finger all the Braj villagers tried to help Lord Krishna to lift the Goverdhan with their sticks. This expressed that their strong love for Lord Krishna who was a pal and son to them. On doing this action every villager shouted that not only he was holding the mount, they along with him were holding the mount to help Him. Their innocence and bond of love made Shri Krishna smile and shower His blessings on them. ॐ क्लीं कृष्णाय गोविंदाय गोपीजन वल्लभाय स्वाहा । Om Klim Krishnay Govinday Gopijan Vallabhay Swaha |