Quarterly Magazine (March 2011) - Shrinathji Temple, Nathdwara

eferring to Shri Krishna’s lila in the forest when the Blessed Lord told the Gopis of
Braja to return home when they first met Him under the full moon in the forest of
Vrindavan.
“But they came and that is why they are thin,” refers to the Gopi’s divine
condition. After Shri Krishna told them to go, they refused His worldly advice and
then enjoyed His divine company and dance. Later, after the divine union with Shri
Krishna, they returned home and experienced Shri Krishna’s separation. This is
what made them thin. Shri Krishna Chaitanya truly took Shri Vallabhacharya’s words
to heart.
The Path of Grace embraces contradictions. It is where fire can burn on water,
where union is found in separation, where there is intensity with humility and the
Path is never dependant on a particular practice. Dependancy is only on Shri Krishna.
Master Vallabh was also a very practical man and understood the pitfalls of spiritual
life. The only means whereby a practitioner can attain the Blessed State is through
humility laced with an overwhelming desire to come face to face. Pride of practice,
anxiety and false expectations are all obstructions to attainment.
One day while wandering around Braja he passed through the Gahvara forest
near Barsana, Shri Radha’s town. There the master’s attention was drawn to a
large boa constrictor in an adjacent field that was covered with ants. He was deeply
moved by the sight and explained to his disciples, “In its previous birth, this snake
was a false guru, a man who posed as an enlightened being. These ants were his
disciples that he failed to uplift. Bhaktas always relinquish all sense of false pride
and come humbly before the Blessed One. They adore Him with every sentiment
and if any anxiety creeps into their lives for some reason, they realize it as His play
and quickly stop being concerned. The Lord of all, Shri Krishna, will never enter the
heart of the one who is filled with wordly hankerings. Krishna comes before us when
we sing his praises full of devotion. That unmatched divine pleasure surpasses liberation
and that is why Shri Krishna brought His bhaktas to this special land of
Vrindavan. It is to free them from the abode of liberation. He came to Vrindavan to
play and award them the pleasure of His divine being. The life of the divine soul is to
enter His love plays and serve.”
Padmanabhdas, a great pandit, became Shri Vallabhacharya’s disciple and
joined him on his pilgrimage to Braja. He was very intellectual and said he would
only be convinced of Shri Krishna’s personal divine reality if he could see the Blessed
Lord. Shri Vallabhacharya who provides all rewards, understood the desire of his
heart and one day while they were walking near Gokul, a part of the Yamuna river’s
bank broke off into the river and from the sandy crevice a one hundred foot tall
image of four-armed Shri Krishna appeared.
“Look!” Shri Vallabhacharya exclaimed, “Padmanabha, your Krishna has
arrived. Now go and serve Him.”
“Master, how is it possible to serve Him? He is too tall.”
( To be Continued................)
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