Skip to main content

THE UNSUNG HERO

A few days ago, I was traveling from Mumbai to Govardhan Eco Village (GEV), our farm at the outskirts of Mumbai. While on the way I somehow remembered about a unique spiritual personality, Punchari ka Lota Baba. I don't know how I remembered about him, but sometimes Krishna gives sudden remembrances. This was of course a pleasant one. Just by remembering him, I felt elated. There is a fascinating story of this great soul from Govardhan Hill at Vrindavan. I had gone to his temple at least 14 years back. 

Something more interesting was that as I was walking in GEV, I came near the replica of Govardhan Hill which the devotees have made at GEV, and to my amazement, I was right in front of the replica shrine of Lota Baba. How Krishna fulfills spiritual desires is just amazing. This was nothing short of a miracle for me. I just thought of him a day back and now I am in front of his shrine having his darshan. I was in ecstasy seeing Lota Baba and remembering his life and example.

I would like to share with you, the story of this special devotee. It's a simple and sweet story, I am sure you will love it.

STORY OF FAITH
There was a cowherd boy named Lota. When Akrura was taking Krishna and Balaram on a chariot to Mathura, Lota ran out to Krishna and said "Where are you going? I have prepared Prasad for you". Krishna said "I am going to Mathura"  Lota insisted saying "No, no. I have already prepared Prasad for you. Please come and take that Prasad." And Krishna said "I am going to Mathura. I will return the day after tomorrow." Lota Baba said "Okay. Then I will not eat, drink or sleep. I will just sit in this place with this food, waiting for you to return." He waited and waited and waited.... and Krishna didn't come. But Lota Baba has not given up, it is said that he is still waiting for Krishna to come. He has full faith in Krishna’s promise. He is sure Krishna will come.

Just as Krishna has promised Lota Baba, He also promises us in the Bhagvat-Gita 18.65, by saying-

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māḿ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi satyaḿ te
pratijāne priyo ‘si me

“Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail.”

The question is "Do we have faith in Krishna's words?" If not, Lota Baba can be your inspiration in life.

Another interesting aspect about Lota Baba is that even though he has not taken a drop of water or eaten any food himself, he is quite healthy looking. He looks very well fed. If you see his deity in Govardhan, you will see a fat deity. How is that possible? Because of his faith and constant remembrance of Krishna. Can you imagine. Thousands of years of waiting only because Krishna promised. He is nourished by his faith. And therefore he is always strong.

IT'S ALL ABOUT ATTITUDE
To execute Krishna Consciousness we must follow in the footsteps of Punchari ka Lota Baba. We must have patience and enthusiasm - no matter how many years, no matter how many life times it takes, we will keep serving Krishna and keep waiting for His mercy by constantly remembering Him.

Also, a unique feature of his deity is that - you will see him always blissfully smiling. Even though he has been waiting so long, he is not morose but happy. He is teaching us that we need not become happy only when we achieve Krishna, we can be happy even in the journey to achieve Krishna.

Ultimately it's all about our attitude while we practice Krishna consciousness. It is these attitudes and mindsets in which we practice Bhakti that can win the heart of Krishna. And personalities like Lota Baba set the example for all of us. By studying and meditating on such great souls, some of their qualities will rub off on us. Personally, Lota Baba has become one of my heroes, my role model.

Let us all pray to Punchari ka Lota baba that he will bless us with faith, patience, determination and satisfaction in the path of Bhakti.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FAULT OF FINDING FAULT

" When faults in others misguide and delude you – have patience, introspect, find faults in yourself. Know that others cannot harm you unless you harm yourself. " - Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur One time when Jesus was in Jerusalem, he saw some people chasing a prostitute and trying to stone her to death. When Jesus stopped them and asked them why they were doing so. They replied that it is mentioned in the laws of the scriptures that one who commits adultery must be stoned to death. They said that they had caught her red handed and were just following the law. When they asked Jesus his opinion he replied, "Yes, you can very much stone this lady to death but one who hasn't sinned in his life can cast the stone on her." One by one, everyone put down the stone in their hands and quietly walked away. This lady fell at the feet of Jesus and surrendered to him. Jesus told this lady to not commit sin again and walked away.  The compassion of Jesus ...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE BREATHING BELLOWS

Every morning when I wake up and notice my breathing and observe my chest swelling up and down being pumped with air, I invariably remember a verse from the Srimad-bhagvatam which states that our breathing is like the breathing of the bellows of a blacksmith. Both the bellow and our body is made of leather. The bellow may feel that it is breathing on it's own and is fully independent but, it does not know that as soon as the blacksmith stops pumping air in it, it will stop breathing and lay lifeless. Similarly, we may be proud of our breathing and our life and may feel fully independent but, we don't realise that as soon as God decides to stop pumping air into our system, our body will stop breathing and lay lifeless.  What is there to be proud of when we don't even have control over our breath?  We should be grateful to God for giving us the wonderful opportunity and gift to breathe and live. And, the way we express that gratitude is by using ...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE POWER OF OBEISANCES

Offering obeisances to the Supreme Lord in His deity form may superficially look like a very small and a simple activity. But, it is one one of the very important and significant aspect of Bhakti. Therefore Lord Krishna stresses the importance of offering obeisances to Him in one of the most important verse of the Bhagvat-gita in chapter 9, verse 34. "man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ" "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me." - Bhagvat-gita 9.34 This verse comes exactly in the middle of Bhagvat-gita making it all the more important. Not only that, this is the only verse that appears almost as it is, again towards the end of the eighteenth chapter of Bhagvat-gita as follows - "man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo ...
Post a Comment
Read more