Bhagavatha Vahini, Chapter 42 - He cures Curses

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Chapter 42He cures Curses

 

The King, who was listening to the thrilling narrative of the gratitude of

Krishna towards His Guru, suddenly opened his eyes, and seeing the Sage before

him, he said, "Ah, the Leelas of Krishna! His wonder-filled acts exceed each

other in miracle and mystery. God is prepared to assume any burden, in order to

correct and improve the World; by this means, He proclaims His genuine Majesty

and Might. But, the dark smoke of Maya settles hard on the eye of Man and

renders him incapable of recognizing Divinity. Therefore, he misses the inner

significance of these

"Leelas."

Suka understood the working of the King's mind. He replied, "King! The confusing

influence of Maya is the consequence of the accumulated activities in previous

lives. One can escape Maya through good consequence; one succumbs to it if the

consequence is deleterious. If good activity has marked previous lives, any

sinful tendency will be overwhelmed by virtuous tendencies in this life and one

will have faith in Divinity; one will attach himself to the Divine and spend his

life, on the basis of the Divine.

On the other hand, those who have committed horrible crimes in past lives have

the dreadful darkened vision, which prevents one from seeing the Divine. Such a

one never reminds himself of God and His handiwork, never yearns for his own

'good' and the good of others; he sees things in false perspective; he revels

in wickedness, and engages in vicious acts. Faith in God is the harvest of the

seeds planted in previous lives. It cannot be grown and harvested, on the spur

of the moment."

Hearing these words, the King grew anxious to know more about the Punya (merit

acquired by means of good activity), and Papa (demerit acquired by means of

evil activity) and their impact on the lives of men; so, he prayed the Sage

Suka to tell him one more incident from the career of Krishna, which deals with

a curse and its cure, illustrating the principle of destiny.

Suka laughed at this request! "King! Countless are the cures which Krishna

effected on those affected by curses! The Rakshasas whom He killed while He was

yet a child, and later, as a boy, as I have told you, were all cursed to be born

so, as a punishment for some evil deed and when they met with death at His

hands, they were liberated from the curse. The King put in a suggestion, at

this stage. "I have heard that the 'uprooting of the tree' was an amazing

incident of outstanding importance; if you elaborate on that, I can derive deep

joy there from." On this, Suka who was ever ready to oblige him, began the

story:

"King! Though there was no paucity of servants, it was Yasoda the mistress of

the house who, according to traditional custom, did all the chores of the

household. Boiling the milk, curdling it, churning it and preparing butter -

all these activities were personally done by her. One day, she woke up as

usual, at the beginning of the Brahmamuhurtham (4.30 A.M.); she took her bath

and went through the early morning duties, and later, placing the milk pot

before her she started churning the contents, vigorously pulling the ropes

which kept the churn-rod steady in the liquid - all the while singing sweet

hymns on God.

 

Meanwhile, Gopala (Krishna) came forward with slow but steady steps to the place

where the mother was churning and singing and gave a sudden sharp pull at the

end of her sari; Yasoda was startled at this unexpected pull; she turned round

and was most pleasantly surprised, when she found it was the mischievous child,

Krishna! (See also the "Krsnabook", Chapter 9: Mother Yasoda Binds Lord Krsna)

Putting stop to the churning, she took Krishna into her arms and fondled Him,

"Dear Son!" 'It is not dawn yet! Why have you got up from bed so soon? Go, my

darling! Sleep again for a few minutes!" But, the Divine Child lisped most

entrancingly that It was hungry, and began sobbing pathetically, to confirm its

yearning for being fed. The mother's heart melted; she placed the churning rod

on one side and covered the pot with a lid; then, she took Krishna on her lap,

sitting just where she was; while she was feeding Him at her breast, she

stroked His head, gently and softly. Just then, she heard the noise of a pot

rolling down from the oven in the kitchen inside; she suspected it was the

mischief of the cat; she lifted the Child from her lap and placed it on the

floor, for, she had to run in, to examine what had happened! When Yasoda

disappeared into the next room, Krishna was incensed at her behaviour, dropping

Him in the middle of His Feed.

He saw the pot, before His eyes, and turned all His anger towards it. He gave it

a hard blow with the churning rod, and when the curds flowed along the floor, He

collected the butter and stuffed it into His Mouth, and hastened out of the

room, lest He be admonished. When Yasoda came into the room, she saw the pot

broken, the curds on the floor, the butter gone! And, Krishna had made Himself

scarce! Knowing this to be the handiwork of Gopala, she searched for Him, in

every nook and

corner.

She could not find Him anywhere. She went into the neighbouring houses and

inquired whether He was found by anyone there. Everyone declared that they had

not come across the Child; they did not know where He was. Yasoda was really

frightened. "He must have run away dreading punishment for having broken the

pot and let flow its contents! Poor Child! It has run out into the darkness!",

she thought. She searched house after house, in the street. At last, she caught

Him in the act of taking down a pot of butter, from a sling, where the mistress

of the house had kept a series of pots full of milk, curds and butter. Krishna

was standing on an upturned mortar so

that He could lift the butter pot and bring it down safe, to be shared with His

comrades! Seeing Him, Yasoda shouted, "You thief! Are you behaving like this,

in every house? When the poor Gopis complained to me about your thefts, I used

to blame them without verifying their charge, and send them away. I have now

seen it with my own eyes! Yet, I can scarce believe my eyes! 0, how mistaken I

was all these days! I cannot let you escape hereafter. No. If I let you off, on

the plea that you are a child, later,

it will lead you on to calamitous crime. I must punish you effectively now, and

not pardon you at all. When the child of a great family turns thief, it is a

disgrace to the entire clan. The ill-fame cannot easily be wiped off. The

reputation of our family will suffer." Her agony was beyond expression. She had

not suffered so much humiliation before. She yielded to a great rush of anger.

She brought a long thick rope, and went near Him with intent to tie Him fast to

the heavy mortar.

Gopala, knowing her intention slipped in and out of every door, and dodged her

attempts to catch Him. The Mother ran behind Him, through every lane and

street. She was well on the side of the fat; she had never before run so fast.

So, she was soon exhausted; Her gait was slowed down soon; she started gasping

for breath. Men, women, and children began laughing at her vain pursuit of the

little child. They enjoyed the fun, and derived all the more merriment from the

prank of Krishna, and the foiled attempt of His mother to bind Him.

Gopala is omniscient, nothing is hidden from Him. So, he realized that the

mother was too tired to move forward, and He allowed Himself to be caught.

Yasoda could not lift her hand to beat Him! She caught Him firmly by the hand

and saying, "Come home, you thief! It won't be nice, if I beat you in the

bazar. I shall teach you a lesson, at home," she drew Him home. There, she

dragged Him to the side of a huge stone mortar, so that He could be bound to

it, by means of a strong rope.

The rope she brought was found too short; so, she went in and brought another,

for being knotted onto the first. She had to do this, again and again, for,

however long the rope, Krishna seemed to grow so big that it would not reach

round Him. Just a bit more length was always wanted to admit His being tied!

The mother wondered at this amazing development. To what was this miracle to be

ascribed? She did not know. At last, she could somehow tie a knot, leaving Him

bound to the mortar; Yasoda went

into the house and engaged herself in regular household duties.

Meanwhile, He drew the mortar along, went into the garden, with the mortar

rolling behind him. There, a tree grew with twin trunks side by side, very near

each other. The mortar was caught between the twin trunks, and when the Divine

Child gave a slight pull to overcome the obstacle, the tree was uprooted! It

fell with a great resounding noise. The noise attracted every one to the house

of Yasoda where the tree fell, though there was no rain or storm! Yasoda

hurried to see what had happened; she was astounded at what she saw! She saw

Gopala in the midst of the fallen foliage, between the enmeshed branches. She

groaned aloud and went near the Child.

Unloosening the rope, she carried away the Child and felt quite relieved that He

had escaped another terrible calamity.

"My child! Did you get a fright? 0, how wicked I was!", the mother wailed aloud.

But, while she was lamenting thus, two Divine Forms, both male, emerged from the

tree! They fell at the Feet of Gopala. They stood with folded palms, and said,

"0 Lord! We are the sons of Kubera, we are twin brothers, Nalakubura and

Manigriva. Through the curse of Sage Narada, we were turned into this tree and

existed as such. This day has seen the end of that curse, through your Grace.

If you permit us, we shall go back to our own place." Thus saying, the two

Divine Forms disappeared. At the sight of those strange Divine Forms, the

people of Gokul were taken aback; they were filled with great

joy.

 

(See also SB, Canto 10, Chapter 10: Deliverance of the sons of Kuvera

(Nalakuvara and Manigriva))

Though they listened to the glorification of Gopala as God, though they had

concrete evidence of His Divinity, they relapsed into Maya (Delusion) and

resumed their conversation about Gopala being the son of Nanda and Yasoda and

felt He was their cowherd friend. They were caught up in the coils of

illusion."

When Suka said thus, the King interposed with the question, "Master! How did

this Maya acquire such overwhelming Power? Who endowed Maya with the capacity

to hide the Glory of Madhava (God) Himself? What exactly is the real nature of

Maya? Please tell me." Then, Suka explained, "King! This Maya is not anything

separate, with its own Form. God is discernible only with the sheath of Maya;

He is evident, because He has worn the accoutrement of Maya. It is His Upadhi.

That is to say, Maya obstructs the Reality. Its nature is to hide the reality

and make it appear as the unreal. Only he who removes It, destroys It, beats It

off,

cuts across It, he alone can have a vision of God; he alone can attain God. Maya

makes you feel that the non-existent exists. It shows water in the mirage; it

makes you see what is imagined and desired, as Truth. Delusion cannot affect a

man, if he is able to give up desire or imagining and planning.

Or else, how could Yasoda who has seen with her own eyes, on many occasions, the

Divinity of Krishna, slide back into the belief that He was her son? The

imagining, the desire, that was the cause of this delusion. The body is of the

son, and of the mother; but, the real core the dehi, the Embodied - that has

neither son nor mother! The mother-body is related to the son-body but, there

is no mother-dehi, no son-dehi! If one gets this faith firm in himself there

can be no more desire for external pleasures. Inquire - and investigate; you

will know this Truth. Without that Inquiry, delusion will grow and intellect

will be slowly subdued."

Ah! The role that Divinity takes upon Itself brings about results that are

really momentous! The Vedanta teaches that one should penetrate behind the role

into the Reality; this is its inner meaning. Deluded by the role, man pursues

Desire! Believing the body that is assumed, to be real and true, man falls into

Maya. For those whose attention is concentrated on the Body, the Person within

will not be visible, isn't it? When ashes cover, the red cinders will not be

visible. When clouds gather thick, the sun and the moon cannot be seen! Moss

floating thick upon the waters of a lake give the illusion that it is hard

ground, over

which there is vegetation. When the eye has cataract over the pupil, one cannot

see anything at all. So too, when the notion of the body being the Reality is

predominant, the Resident in the Body is not noticed at all. "Master! This day,

in truth, the veil has fallen off, from my mind. Your teaching has, like a gust

of wind, shaken off the ash over the live cinders. The illusion that this

composite of five elements, namely, this Body, is the Reality has been totally

exploded, and exterminated. I am blessed, I am indeed blessed." With these

words, Maharaja Parikshith fell at the feet of the Guru, Suka.

Meanwhile, the gathering of Rishis, sages, and common citizens fell into

animated conversation. When time clicks fast towards the end, the body too has

to get ready to drop, isn't it? The body drops when the vital airs stop flowing

in it; but, the mind will not leave off. For this reason, newer and newer bodies

have to be assumed until the mind is rendered empty, devoid of content, vacant

of wants. "This Day our Maharaja has differentiated the mind from the body!

Now, he is in such bliss that even vital airs can't make any impact. When the

mind is merged ever in Madhava (God), the body will be all Divinity; its

humanness cannot be identified."

The teaching conferred by Suka today is not directed to Parikshith alone; it is

for all of us, they said; it is for all who are afflicted by the delusion that

they are the Body in which they are encased. This type of delusion is the cause

of bondage; but, the other type, the belief that we are the Atma, that is the

means of Liberation. This is what the Vedas and the Sastras declare. The mind

which welcomes the delusion or which entertains the idea of the Reality is

therefore the instrument, for both bondage and liberation. 'Mana eva manushyanam

karanam bandha mokshayoh'. This statement of the Sruthi is the Truth. Ruminating

thus for some time, the people sat with eyes closed, lost in prayer. When the

sun was about to set, the sages walked towards the bank of the sacred Ganga,

holding the water pot (kamandalu) and stick (danda) in their hands, so that

they could perform the evening rites.

Bhajan 17: Bhava Bhaya Harana Vandita Charana

Contents of this Vahini

Source: http://www.vahini.org/bhagavata/chapter42.htmlVahini.org: 'Vahini' Books

written by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

 

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