HARE KRISHNA!

 

HARE KRISHNA!

N.K.Narasimhan

Shri Krishna Janmashtami is here this weekeend. Followers of Lord Krishna would celebrate and cherish this great day. And why not? If ever you pause for a second and think of any incident that might have got you guessing for a solution or to find a way forward all you got to do is to remember that every possible situation's complex understanding of it were clearly defined by the Lord himself through the eternal Bhagwad Gita. Not yesterday. Not last year. Ages and ages ago!

Every human being is drawn towards some quest. Be it work, name, fame or other worldly pleasures. And when he finally gets to where or what he wished for all his life little does he realise that everything that he was doing through spirit and body was all ordained even before he even took the first step. That's the Divine will. Then what about the free will? Free will is akin to a dog on a leash which is the Divine will.. Often a dog tends to forget that he is on a leash and tries to get adventurous stretching till the time the leash holds him back. 

What happens when you break away from the leash? Yes, that's like the dog who at times break away and runs some distance and looks lost only to return to his Master. Now, one may argue that it is the conditioning of the mind or else why would a dog go back?

The conditioning is part of one's Karma. Good or bad. Every action is triggered by a thought. The thought manifests in mind much before an action replays the thought. When you own up the thought as exclusively yours which eventually leads to an action, the results of such action is purely based on your thought. That is Free will. And it has it's limits.

The Divine will will be missing till the time the results or the situation reminds you that one could have still done much better than that.

Because the human mind has the power and the potential to explore without any barriers or boundaries, the mind often finds itself in a vast world of vacuum. But when the mind tunes towards the Divine, like tuning to your FM channel, the frequencies are in sync to receive the right signals.

And this weekend the whole country or even people from other parts of the world would be in sync to immerse with joy in Divinity.

I have had some of the greatest and memorable moments of Shri Krishna Janmashtami during my younger days. Be it as a school going or a school bunking kid, Krishna evoked a lot of interest in me through various ways, be it books, calendar pictures, temple carvings, short stories narrated by class teachers or at times listening to some of the greatest discourses in temples. Those days one would get to see plenty of beautifully crafted Little Krishna in bronze in street markets in Kanchipuram, my native place in Tamil Nadu. Not just Krishna, one would get to see every God and Goddess made in tiny bronze sculptures. 

As a kid I remember walking to such street vendors shops laid on the market floor and sit with them on the pavement feeling every little idol in my hands observing every bit of their craftsmanship till my mother or grand mother return after their shopping and spot meetings with known faces to pick me up. And I will leave the shop with one idol in my hand as a gift from my grand mother which were sold at way less than half a Rupee those days.And my Grandma would still bargain to get the best deal.

Back home Janmashtami for kids were full of goodies. The kitchen at home will be filled with a variety of sweets and snacks. And all of them were made only during Janmashtami and will not be available during any other season or festivals.

By evening the hall from the entrance of the house will be filled with tiny steps in rangoli ( a hand drawn design of two feet of Lord Krishna using wet rice flour ) symbolizing His entry in to your home. Often the kids or at times even the elders step on them by accident before it dries up making the floors a bit messy.

And the sweets and the snacks are distributed in the family once the Puja gets over and are also shared with the neighbors.

Till the time the snacks run out of stock in the kitchen all the kids would be busy filling their pockets everyday munching their hearts out.

Often, the temple deity is carried out on a procession with pomp and show to visit the neighboring villages for all the people to offer their prayers and seek the Lord's blessings.The kids would enjoy the fireworks which would signal the beginning of the procession.

And when the night falls after the festivities are over one would hear divine songs sung by groups from some distance.

The magic spell of the Lord would linger on throughout the night!

Hare Krishna!