TRANSFORMING CURSES TO BLESSINGS - A tale of two trees

"Perhaps someday I'll crawl back home, beaten, defeated. But not as long as I can make stories out of my heartbreak, beauty out of sorrow." - Sylvia Plath, American poet and writer.

Who doesn't like stories. Stories have always been loved by human civilization for eons probably because in the story of others, humans find semblance of their own stories. Some stories are entertaining, some inspiring, some touching and some enlightening. Here is one such story from the Srimad-Bhagvatam which contains all these aspects. This is a story of two trees - a story of the journey from bondage to freedom. This is a story of hope - a story of transformation. Even though this story happened 5000 years back, the lessons from it are still relevant and fresh. As you read this story, you may find clues to write or rewrite your personal story of transformation, hope, bliss and freedom. 

THE TURNING POINT

This is the story of the deliverance of the twin Yamala Arjuna trees by Lord Krishna. The story unfolds with the two sons of Kuvera - Nalakuvara and Manigriva partying hard in the waters of the heavenly Ganga, completely intoxicated with heavenly liquor, bathing naked in company of beautiful heavenly damsels. Being the sons of the treasurer of demigods they were already highly intoxicated because of thier wealth, now wine and women made them all the more intoxicated. Their triple intoxication (wealth, wine and women) made them so shameless that even when the great sage Narada muni passed thier way, they didn't even bother to cover thier naked bodies forget about offering respects to him. So much for the intoxications of this world - it makes us loose our sense of discrimination. People bathe in the holy waters of Ganga to get purified but these two young demigods instead of getting purified, they were getting putrified. Why? Because they were not bathing in the Ganga with the right intention. That's why it is important to always keep in mind that, the intention behind the action is more important than the action itself - especially in spiritual matters.

Narada muni was pained to see the children of the most responsible demigod behaving in the most irresponsible way. He decided to give them a lesson on responsibility - a lesson which they didn't learn from their father. This would be a lesson they would never forget. What Kuvera - the great demigod couldn't do, what Ganga - the great river couldn't do, Narada - the great devotee was going to accomplish. This is the greatness of the pure devotees of the Lord. They are in a superior position than demigods and Ganga herself. 

Narada cursed them to become twin Arjuna trees in the courtyard of Nanda Maharaj in the sacred land of Vrindavan till the day Lord Krishna would deliver them. Was this a curse or a blessing? In this world everything is relative - what is a curse today becomes a blessing tomorrow and what is a blessing today may become a curse tomorrow but when a devotee enters one's life, whether he curses or blesses, either way it is only a blessing. Because the only function of a devotee is to bless others with Krishna - he knows nothing else and he does nothing else. In fact, the name "Narada" means "one who gives Narayan to others". That's the reason all scriptures hint us that the greatest turning point in one's life is when a devotee enters it because the life of such a fortunate person is no longer going to remain the same - it's going to be transformed for good. We too like these two personalities keep on "so called" enjoying a life of illusion till a devotee like Narada enters our life to change our course towards a life of true enjoyment and bliss by connecting us back to the Absolute Truth. The journey of transformation of Nalakuvara and Manigriva's hearts had begun and very soon it would reach it's perfection in they getting to see the Supreme Lord eye to eye. Till then, they had to wait.

THE MAGICAL INGREDIENT

So by the intervention of Narada muni these two powerful controllers of the universe became helpless trees in Vrindavan. What a change, that too in a flash of a moment! But that's how life is, isn't it - the unexpected in the least expected moment. It might have taken quite a while for them to mentally adjust and make peace with their new reality. From a life of control to a life of helplessness, from a life of freedom and movability to a life of bondage and immovability, from a life of constant attention to a life of constant neglect, from a life of opulence to a life of simplicity - the shift was definitely not easy. Who said that achieving Krishna and moving on the journey of transformation is going to be easy! If achieving a simple degree of this world is not a cake walk, how can we expect that achieving God - the highest achievement be easy. It's definitely not easy but it's definitely worth it.

With the passing of each day they became more and more humble. They understood that they were neither controllers nor enjoyers - in their illusion they thought they were. Their helpless cry for mercy and their sincere repentance purified their hearts and brought about deep realisations. Imagine they writing their story and their realisations in a book - "The tale of two trees". It would not only be a bestseller but a lifesaver as well. Don't they say that the lessons we need to learn are present in the situations we go through. Nalakuvera and Manigriva were not only learning their lessons but mastering them. Soon their lives was going to be an inspiration and hope for all spiritualists for millennia to come.

Hidden within the darkest nights is the brightest light. This was definitely true to Nalakuvara and Manigriva. Their life as trees was excruciatingly painful for their egos but supremely blissful for their souls. They were witnessing not the brightest light but the brightest of brightest light - they were witnessing the most enchanting pastimes of the most enchanting Lord Krishna. Isn't this the experience of devotees too - simultaneously painful and blissful. Painful because of the conditioning (pulling and pushing) of the body and mind and blissful because of their spiritual connection with Krishna consciousness. These are two parallel realities of a spiritual practitioner. Which of these two predominantly dominates our consciousness depends on which we choose to focus on. If we focus on the negative, we strengthen it by giving it our energy and if we focus on the positive, we strengthen that by giving it our energy. Thus the best way to deal with the painful side of life is by focusing on and being grateful for the blissful side of life.

Gratitude is a magical ingredient that can at once transform our experience of life to one of joy and happiness. The attitude of gratitude can help us reach higher altitudes in our consciousness. Nalakuvara and Manigriva were filled with gratitude for the kindness Narada muni bestowed on them - to be able to witness the pastimes of Krishna without any qualification of thiers. In fact, they slowly started to feel grateful to not only for their blissful experiences but their painful experiences too. After all, it was their painful experiences that was making them truly humble and genuinely wise. With gratitude they could convert their painful experience to a blissful one - with gratitude they could convert their curse into a blessing. This is called spiritual alchemy.

 
THE POWER OF A DEVOTEE

Lord Krishna as a small child would play so many of His pastimes around these two trees. Every day when Lord Krishna would approach them, the twin Arjuna trees would be excited, hoping that this would be their day of deliverance as foretold by Narada muni. But Lord Krishna never delivered them. This was their everyday story. Their day would start with great hope and anticipation but would end with disappointment. But next day, they would gather themselves back and start with renewed enthusiasm and hope. This is exactly the life of a devotee - hoping after hope. As long as there is life, there is hope. If hope is lost, everything is lost. The hearts of Nalakuvara and Manigriva was churned with mixed emotions - pain, repentance, gratitude, joy and hope. This is not just their story, it is our story as well. This churning of seemingly opposing emotions brings out the true nectar in life in the form of maturity and a deep sense of surrender to God.

One fine day - on the day of Diwali, Lord Krishna tried to steal butter and create nuisance in His own house. Generally He would smartly get away after such instances feigning innocence. This day was different. Yashoda decided to teach Him a lesson that He would never forget. After all, she was His mother and it was her duty to discipline Him even if He is God. With much difficulty she tied Him to a grinding mortar as a punishment for His mischief. As Lord Krishna was standing all alone tied to this wooden mortar, He glanced at these two Arjuna trees and first time connected to their suffering. The Acharyas explain that because Krishna was Himself punished by Yashoda, He could empathize with the suffering of these two demigods who were also punished by Narada. Both were bound - Krishna to the wooden mortar and these demigods to the body of two woods. In English there is this saying - it takes one to know one. Only when we go through suffering can we understand the suffering of others. He decided to liberate them.

Lord Krishna looking at these trees thought to Himself, "My dear devotee, Narada has promised these two trees that I will deliver them. Even though I don't have any personal connection with these trees but because of their connection to Narada I am obliged to deliver them." Engrossed in these thoughts He slowly crawled in the direction of the trees dragging the wooden mortar behind Him. As He crawled in the space between the two trees the wooden mortar got stuck across the trees. He tagged the mortar with a little more force and lo and behold, the two massive Yamala Arjuna trees came crashing down with a tumultuous noise that was heard all over Vrindavan. Finally the day for which Nalakuvara and Manigriva had been anxiously waiting and praying for had finally arrived. Their joy knew no bounds. 

For sincere devotees, God's mercy comes at the right time - not according to their timetable but according to His timetable. For these two demigods more than God's grace on them, it was devotees grace on them that changed their life. Today they learnt their biggest lesson that the power of a devotee is greater than the power of God. The devotees have the power to control the movements and plans of God. The grace of one devotee, Narada intiated them in their spiritual journey and the grace of another devotee, Yashoda helped them reach the perfection of seeing the Supreme Lord face to face. Devotees are needed to start our spiritual journey, they are needed to help us continue on this journey and they will be needed even at the time of culmination of this journey. Our spiritual life is completely depended on them.

THE GREATEST NEED

Nalakuvara and Manigriva would never forget this day - this particular Diwali. The date was etched permanently in their hearts. This was their best Diwali festival. In fact this was for the first time they understood what Diwali actually meant, till then it was another occasion to enjoy. On this Diwali, their hearts were completely freed from darkness of ignorance with the light of God's grace.

The great teachers of Srimad-Bhagvatam explain a few more interesting insights of this section. They explain that even though Lord Krishna was Himself bound, He nevertheless delivered these trees. It shows that Lord Krishna is always liberated. How can He liberate others if He Himself is in bondage? His bondage is only an exhibition of the love of His devotees. He was bound yet free and we are free yet bound. In His bondage also there is freedom and in our freedom also there is bondage. This shows that Lord Krishna cannot be in anyway compared to all of us, tiny living entities. Another practical lesson that Lord Krishna is teaching all of us is that we should help others even though we may ourselves not be free from problems.

Another interesting insight is that Krishna used the grinding mortar to deliver the two trees even though personally the mortar had no qualifications and power of it's own. It's only qualification was that it just followed Krishna and kept itself tied to Him. Similarly if we follow Krishna's instructions and keep ourselves tied to His lotus feet then Lord Krishna will use us to deliver others. What a wonderful life - to be an instrument of God's compassion. This is the greatest need in the world, today. Another point is that Krishna used the wooden mortar to liberate the two woods. Krishna used wood to liberate wood to indicate to us that we need to use our body to liberate ourselves from this body. That means that we need this human body to pursue self-realization so that we can be freed from the cycle of getting more material bodies. 

THE VRINDAVAN MOOD

After being liberated from the bodies of trees, Nalakuvara and Manigriva attained thier previous heavenly bodies but not with the previous heavenly mentality but with the new, transformed Vrindavan mentality. Who would not be surcharged by the devotional mood of Vrindavan after staying there and associating with Krishna and His loving devotees! They offered their heartfelt prayers of gratitude and love to Lord Krishna. In essence they prayed to Lord Krishna that they may never forget Him and keep living a life of service to Him and His devotees. Indeed, the Vrindavan mood had entered deeply in their hearts. All the struggle and pain was worth it. They were now, transformed individuals. 

Lord Krishna congratulated them for thier great fortune of having received the grace of Narada muni in the form of a curse. Extolling the glories of His devotees He tells them, "When one is face to face with the sun, there is no longer darkness for one’s eyes. Similarly, when one is face to face with a sadhu, a devotee, who is surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one will no longer be subject to material bondage." - Srimad-Bhagvatam 10.10.41. Taking permission and blessings from Lord Krishna these two transformed demigods returned to the heavenly realms to carry on their responsibilities with their new fold realisations. 

In summary, the story of the deliverance of these two trees is the story of the journey from tree to free, from curse to blessing, from bondage to liberation. It is the story of the journey from a painful life to a blissful one through being resentful, grateful, hopeful and prayerful. If we follow in the footsteps of these two personalities we too can be freed from our bondage and achieve the supreme bliss. And probably your story of transformation will be an inspiration for the future generations. Who knows! With the Magical blue boy in your life anything is possible!!

- Achyut Gopal Das