A SMALL MEMBER IN A HUGE FAMILY

"God is unlimited, so are the number of His devotees."

Every morning after the morning program in ISKCON temples and every time devotees offer their respects to the devotees of Lord Krishna, it is a custom to chant the phrase - "ananta koti vaishnava vrinda ki jai". It means - "all glories to the unlimited, countless devotees of the Lord". I got to witness a glimpse of this phrase in the recent annual Vrindavan Yatra. The Yatra itself had 7000 registered pilgrim devotees along side lakhs of other devotees who flock to Vrindavan to be in the holiest of holy months, the Karthik month. It was a crazy crowd filled with devotees crazy for Krishna, not minding inconvenience of any sort. In fact, one starts to realise that being surrounded by devotees on all sides is a bliss of a different sort. Vrindavan was filled to the brim. This is only the number of countless devotees in Vrindavan. Add to it the unlimited devotees in other holy places, Tirupati, Sri Rangam, Jagannath Puri, Pandharpura and hundreds of other holy places. Add to it further, all the devotees of Krishna all over the world. And you will get a glimpse of "the unlimited devotee" concept.

But the scriptures tell us that the number of devotees in the material world is very, very less compared to the number of devotees in the spiritual world. And mind you, there are countless planets in the spiritual world. We can't even imagine, the number of devotees that are present there. The only thing we can do is offer our humble obeisances to the countless devotees - those in this world and those beyond this world by chanting - "ananta koti vaishnava vrinda ki jai". Who said that the devotees are outnumbered by materialistic people! No one can outnumber the devotees of the Lord. The family of devotees is the biggest because it is the family of God. Let us feel happy, grateful and protected to a small member of such a huge family - God's family.
- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

LET THE CHANTING NEVER STOP

" Make the worship of the Holynames, the most important aspect of your life " - Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati, foremost reformer of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. We all know that what is a reality today may not be a reality tomorrow. This world is in a constant flux, a constant change. Only God and His Holynames are a reality - today, tomorrow and forever. As one great soul sings in his song "Kevalashtakam" - abrahma stamba paryantam sarvam maya-mayam jagat satyam stayam punah satyam harer nama eva kevalam "The entire universe right from Brahma to an insignificant clump of grass are products of illusory energy of the Lord. The only reality, reality again I say reality - the Holyname of Lord Hari alone is everything." Therefore, real intelligence is to take shelter of the Holynames and not stop chanting at any cost. Good times - bad times, high times - low times, let every time be chanting time. In life or in death, let the chanting not stop. Th...

ENROUTE TO THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

It is explained in the scriptures that on the route to the spiritual world, one will have to pass through the irresistibly attractive heavenly planets. Only very rare and fixed up souls are able to get ahead of these tests and boldly march ahead to the spiritual world. Most decide to take a break and engage in their rendezvous at the highly-eulogized heavenly pleasure gardens. Thinking about making my journey through these heavenly realms without getting stranded in these heavenly realms is a scary thought. My only hope is, if I meet some devotee in those realms who helps me stay inspired and focused on the path to the spiritual world with an unwavering mind by reminding me as to how close I am to see the Supreme Lord face to face. At every step in our journey to the spiritual world, we are fully dependent on the association of the devotees of the Lord. Without their ...

THE RIGHT SIGHT

There is an elderly and a blind devotee named Bilwa Mangal Das, who stays in our temple at ISKCON Belgavi, Karnataka. It's been many years since I have seen him but the memories and impression about him are still fresh and new. Some people with their character and nature tend to make a deep impression in your heart. He is surely one of them. I remember seeing him for one of our annual pilgrimage to Vrindavan, the holy land of Lord Krishna. He was very old but very enthusiastic like a little boy. He would literally run with excitement as we went to see one holy site after another. I was wondering what this person was so excited about. He couldn't see anything. For him everything and everyplace is the same - all dark. But still he was very excited. I was thinking for myself, "Even though I had the eyes to see and was less than half his age still I didn't have the enthusiasm and excitement that he had." I was convinced that I may have materially eyes but I defi...

The Wisdom Park

Search This Blog