#235 What happens when the devotee prays to Bhagavan Krishna for bhakti and he appears?
The devotee is ardently praying for more bhakti and not mukti, freedom. When Bhagavan Krishna appears before her, we hear the dialogue that follows.
Shree Krishna sharanam mama..(singing)
Tears were streaming down her face as her heart swelled with devotion. She had just completed doing puja to her beloved Krishna. She visualised Bhagavan Krishna with a mischievous smile on his lips as he looked at her with such deep love. She wanted to take it all in and never forget this moment and she opened her eyes.
Bhagavan Krishna was standing right in front of her. She got confused. Is this a dream? She closed her eyes. He was still in front of her. She opened her eyes. He was still there luminous, as beautiful and handsome as ever.
Bhagavan Krishna said – You have been praying for so long. I have come to see you.
Devotee had goosebumps and a wave of exhilaration passed through her entire body – I can’t believe this is happening. Krishna..Thank you..I am so speechless.
Bhagavan Krishna – Yes, I am pleased with your devotion. I am reminding you of what I said to Arjuna in the Gita – Aham Atma. I am the Atma.
In truth, I am you, and you are me. We have always been one.
Devotee: Hari Om, Bhagavan Krishna! I am humbled by what you say. How can I be you? You possess the six bhagas – aishvarya, veerya, yashas, jnaanam, vairagya, shri in full measure. I have all these qualities in very little measure.
It has just started raining outside. And I can’t stop it.
Bhagavan Krishna: You are right about that. From the functional standpoint, our powers are different and as a jiva you are a part of this Bhagavat Srishti.
Devotee: All I want is to serve you, my beloved Krishna. I don’t want mukti, freedom. I only want bhakti, love
Bhagavan Krishna: I like your humility. Your seva will really help as you learn to give and give up your ahankara, limited self-concept.
Devotee – I am so happy that you are pleased with my seva. My only desire is to serve you with love and devotion. Please bless me.
Bhagavan Krishna – You say you want to serve me. Who is this you?
Devotee – I am your servant, daasa, Krishna.
Bhagavan Krishna – Yes, that is what I am asking. What you call I? This body-mind-sense-complex – did you create it, my daasa?
Devotee – No, no Bhagavan. I did not create it, You created it.
Bhagavan Krishna – Your iccha shakti to serve me, your jnana shakti to perform your duties and learn stotrams and chants related to me, your kriya shakti to offer me worship through your karma – did you create this shakti?
Devotee – No, no Bhagavan. Whatever shakti I have is given by you. Nothing is mine.
Bhagavan – If you say your body-mind is given to you by me, the shakti’s you have are given by me, then what is it that is you?
Devotee – Hare Krishna. I am a divine spark of you. I am an amsha of you – a part of you.
Bhagavan Krishna – From the stand point of form, of course you are a part of me.
You say Hare Krishna but you don’t want me to take away your ahankara. Hmm…You are still clinging to I as separate from me.
Devotee – But, Lord, I feel unworthy of being one with you. I have all these negative emotions and so many imperfections. How can I accept this profound connection with you?
Bhagavan Krishna – I as Bhagavan pervade your emotions and all your qualities. Perfection is not a prerequisite for oneness with me. I completely pervade you. The material of the panchamahabhutas that your body-mind is made up of, is me. The intelligence with which you function and the entire world functions is me. Since I pervade you completely, if you are rejecting yourself, guess who you are rejecting.
Devotee – Hare Krishna. How can you say this, Bhagavan? How can I reject you? I am just your daasa, your servant, an instrument in your divine hands. I long to surrender my actions to your will.
Bhagavan Krishna: (smiling) My dear devotee, before you surrender your actions, surrender your doubts and insecurities to me. I accept you totally as you are.
Devotee – After this lifetime, in all other lifetimes, I only want to serve you in svarga. Will you please bless me with this?
Bhagavan Krishna – If that is what you really want, I can bless you with this. For a moment, just think about who needs your seva? You or me.
Devotee – Well, you don’t need my seva. You are Bhagavan after all. Maybe I need to do seva and purify my mind.
Bhagavan Krishna –I fully support you doing seva. When you serve others with love, compassion, and selflessness, you are, in fact, serving me. By serving all living beings, you serve the entire creation, which is a manifestation of me. If you see that the jagat, world is me, that is a wonderful realisation.
Devotee – Your words bring solace to my troubled heart, Lord Krishna.
In svarga, I want to have an eternal form.
Bhagavan Krishna – You insist on being separate from me. The form that you are, whether you are referring to this form on earth or even in svarga, it is made up of panachamahabhutas – space, water, air, fire, earth, the form has qualities and hence it is constantly changing. The form is subject to coming and going.
What you are is eternal. You don’t need an eternal form.
Hmmm you amaze me with your ahankara. I cannot give you an eternal form, because no form including mine is eternal. Remember, I had to come as an avataara, a divine incarnation to re-establish Dharma on earth.
Devotee – How will I purify my mind then?
Bhagavan Krishna –What will you do with a purified mind?
Devotee tentatively says – Become more loving..
Bhagavan Krishna – And then..?
Devotee – I don’t know.
Bhagavan Krishna – Seek to know me.
You know who my greatest bhakta is. The jnani, the wise person. Remember what I said in the seventh chapter. I have four types of devotees – the one who prays to me when in trouble, the other who prays to me for what they want, the one who wants to know me and the one who is a jnani.
Devotee – How can a jnani be a devotee? They want mukti, freedom not bhakti, devotion.
Bhagavan Krishna – The jignasu wants to know me because the jignasu loves me dearly. Don’t we want to know more of the people we love? The more the jignasu knows, the more the jignasu loves. The more the jignasu loves the more the jignasa, the desire to know me continues until it fulfils itself in complete understanding of oneness.
Devotee – But I don’t want jnanam. I want bhakti.
Bhagavan Krishna – The jnani was a devotee and continues to be a devotee. Only she loved me so much that she tried to understand me completely.
Our forms and functions are incidental but not intrinsic to us. As Bhagavan, my work includes srshti-sthiti-samhaara.
In your human form your duty is your svadharma including your moksha pursuit. The jnani was able to see that her and my svarupa, intrinsic nature was one.
The jnani continues to serve society but there is no ahankara that is separate from me. The ahankara is understood as the Atma.
You know, what you love is purnatvam, fullness. In my presence you see the fullness that you are. This fullness is not a feeling but the consciousness that you are which is limitless.
Bhagavan Krishna – Remember what I said in the Gita 3.42
इन्द्रियाणि पराण्याहुरिन्द्रियेभ्यः परं मनः।
मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्यो बुद्धेः परतस्तु सः।।3.42।।
They say that the sense organs are superior to the body, the mind is superior to the sense organs, the intellect is superior to the mind. Whereas the one who is superior to the intellect is he, the Atma.
Aham Atma. I am you.
Devotee with folded hands. Hare Krishna. I am sorry that I made this rigid distinction between jnanam and bhakti.
I see that I can continue to serve you from the standpoint of the form and also know that you and I are one.
The form is not opposed to the reality. In the name of bhakti, I was insisting on perpetuating the avidya of being separate from you. So much of I…I …as I speak to you.
With a compassionate smile, Bhagavan Krishna just scooped up and embraced his devotee. In that melting embrace, there was no boundary, no division, no separation. All that remained was one in and through the forms.
