Skip to main content

MAY YOU ALWAYS REMAIN IN LOCKDOWN...

There is a wonderful, simple and instructive anecdote from the life of Namacharya Haridas Thakur. Haridas Thakur was staying in a small village called Phuliya in Bengal and chanting the Holy Names of Krishna, throughout the day and night. Chanting the Holy Names was his food, his sustenance, his everything. The local magistrate of that place (Kazi) knowing that Haridas had been born in a Muslim household, and now was showing such a taste for chanting the Holy Names of Krishna, began to fear that he might convert others to Vaishnavism. He took his complaint to the governor (Nawab), suggesting that Haridas be punished as soon as possible. The governor ordered his officers to place Haridas under arrest. The other prisoners already knew Haridas’s glories and thought that the sight and blessings of such a great spiritual personality would surely bring them merit to insure their early release from jail. But, when Haridas saw them, he blessed them saying, "May you always remain like this." In other words, he blessed them with the blessing, "May you always remain in lockdown". The prisoners were naturally unhappy to hear such a statement, but then Haridas explained his strange blessing (paraphrased):

"I don’t mean to say that you should remain prisoners. Very soon, by the mercy of Lord Krishna you all will be freed from this jail but, my worry is that as soon you are free, you may not chant Hare Krishna in a desperate mood like you are chanting now and you may forget to take seek shelter of devotees and beg for their mercy in a desperate and humble mood like you are seeking now. While in jail, you could forget the entanglements of material life and simply concentrate on chanting the Holy Name but once you are out, you may captivated by the temptations of Maya. My blessing is that, the intensity with which you are performing Bhakti now in lockdown may continue always."

During this lockdown phase due to the Corona virus, devotees all over the world have intensified their devotional practices. Those who couldn't chant 16 rounds are now able to chant 16 rounds. Many devotees are chanting 24 or 32 rounds. Many devotees have increased their quota of reading Bhagvat-gita or Srimad-bhagvatam and have taken a vow to complete a fixed number of pages per day. Most importantly, this situation of crisis is making everyone take shelter of Krishna, His devotees and the process of Bhakti with a lot of desperation and helplessness. This situation is making us all humble and realize that we are endlessly lost and hopeless without the grace factor. But the worry is that, once this phase is over, we may once again become relaxed and laxed in our practices of Bhakti; we may once again become arrogant and boastful that we are great and that we are not dependent on the grace of the devotees. That is the worry. That is the reason why Kunti Maharani very intelligently prays to the Lord in the pages of Srimad-bhagvatam for more and more miseries so that, her desperation for Krishna doesn't reduce an inch. 

vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat
tatra tatra jagad-guro
bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād
apunar bhava-darśanam

"I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths." - Srimad-bhagvatam 1.8.25

We may not have the courage to pray like Kunti Maharani but we can do well if we remember that being in this world is being in a lockdown and being encaged in this material body is another lockdown. The lockdown due to the Corona pandemic is a lockdown within a lockdown, within a lockdown. Thus, let this blessing of Haridas Thakur be always upon us and thus let us chant the Holy Names of Krishna and beg for the mercy of His devotees in a desperate mood for, only the mercy of the Lord and His devotees can free us from all our lockdowns, once in for all.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REQUEST TO & FROM A MOTHER

  Today on the occasion of Mother's Day, I went to meet the cow, our mother to wish her for Mother's Day and make a request to her. I requested her to shower her blessings and mercy on her children who are suffering so badly due to the deadly covid virus. The good news for all of us is that, she mercifully agreed to shower her heartfelt blessings, prayers, mercy on all her children. After all, that's the heart of a mother - always wanting and desiring best for her children. I was elated, my mission accomplished - now, the suffering of humanity will reduce. As I was leaving, the cow also had one personal request. She requested me with tears in her eyes to request her children not to abuse, exploit and slaughter her mercilessly. I could literally feel her pain and suffering as she made this request. This was the pain of a mother. Tears swelled up in my eyes. I didn't know what to reply her. I did tell her that I will pass on her request to her other children and I walked ...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE MOTHERLY TOUCH (Dedicated to all mothers)

" It may be possible to gild pure gold but who can make his mother more beautiful " - Mahatma Gandhi We all exist because of our mothers. We owe our entire existence to them. But the scriptures explain that we have not one but a couple of them. Being connected to them is the way we can fill our life with love, nourishment and a sense of security.  MOTHER OF BIRTH A few days ago, while I was traveling in the train from Mathura to Delhi, I saw a young mother with her little baby. I could witness the natural love a mother has for her child. Whenever another train would cross our train, she would jump to close the ears of the sleeping baby, so that he is not disturbed in his sleep. When Sun started to shine on the child's face, she at once closed the shutter of the window. I started to think of all the inconveniences my mother must have taken for me - the sleepless nights she must have spent in taking care of me as a child, the commitment and consistency to cook f...
Post a Comment
Read more

A RADHASHTAMI MEDITATION

Jai Sri Radhe!! Is the chant on everyone's minds and hearts now. Atleast in the minds and hearts of devotees. It's time to celebrate the most auspicious of auspicious festivals; it's time to celebrate Sri Radhashtami - the appearance day of Srimati Radharani. For devotees, Radhashtami is a more important festival than Janmashtami. Why? Because for the world Krishna is God but for devotees, Radha is God because they know that Krishna is subservient to the love of Radha. In our ISKCON circle, it is said that - Janmashtami is a public event but Radhashtami is a private event for only devotees who understand the supreme position of Srimati Radharani. On the most auspicious occasion of Radhashtami, I would like to bring to your attention a beautiful meditation that His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami wrote many years back on this occasion called "An offering for the Divine Mother". The best prayer is to repeat the prayer of previous realized, great souls. Keeping thi...
Post a Comment
Read more