Monday 30 July 2012

The Childhood of the Lord

Beginning with His birth in a jail and the immediate rush to whisk Him away to a new family, across the river, in Gokul, the Lord was not given an “easy” childhood.
On the sixth day of the Lord’s life, Putna (the demoness) made Him drink poison from her breast. In His third month of life a bullock cart fell on Him. Then, when He was four, huge trees fell on Him.
At seven, He was in Govardhan. The people of Govardhan worshipped Lord Indra, singing his praises and making daily offerings to him. However, Lord Krishna admonished them and said that they should worship Lord Govardhan instead, since it was Govardhan who gave them land, water, grass for their cows. Yet, the people were afraid. Lord Indra threatened to wreak havoc upon their lives if they ceased his worship. As Lord Indra pummeled the beautiful land of Govardhan with rain, hail, thunder and lightening, the Lord – at the age of seven – had to hold up the mountain of Govardhan over the heads of the people, protecting them from the violent storm. However, as He held up this mountain on the tip of His finger, for days and days as Lord Indra grew more and more furious, we never see Him angry, nor frustrated, nor disheartened. No. He is always smiling, even in the midst of the torrential storm.
A few short years later, He is forced to kill His uncle, and before the age of twenty, He had to flee His home in Mathura, barefoot to Junagar, with nothing but a small pitambar. For years, then, this King of all Kings lived in a simple ashram, doing seva for the saints, with no facilities, no amenities. He had no coat for winter, no umbrella for the rains…
Yet, wherever He went, wherever He was, He was always blissful, always joyful, always shining His divine light upon others.
We, on the other hand, get stuck in one traffic jam and our days are ruined. We have one business failure and we feel dejected and broken. We become afflicted with disease and we lose our faith in God.

Mantra

Mantra