Prem Sudha Dhara: Vijayji

(Page 313)

Shri Hari

Shri Vrindavan Dhaam

2nd July 1970

Dear Vijay,

With love, Jai Shri Hari.

Lord Krishna's sensuality reminds me of a pada woven around an ardent escapade which pleased Shri Radha. Yugal Rasikvar (Shri Radha-Krishna, the passionately divine couple) are resplendent in the dense forest. Beneath a tree and at times under a canopy of creepers, the duo are busy in spirited antics, and passionate dalliances as they stroll around.

As a matter of chance no sakhi dropped by today. Guess what! It began to drizzle. Dense clouds had already overcast the blue sky and now the dark-hued assemblage drenched the forest with a trickle of enthused exudation, further inflaming the delicious anguish of Shri Radha-Krishna.

Self conscious Shri Radha's aroused eyes and enraptured state, may reveal the ardent longing of her heart but generally speaking she is not very articulate. The scenario is different in case of Lord Krishna, the supreme lover. He says and does precisely what he pleases; expressing his opinion on the pretext of a song or conversation. Occasionally his spirited antics acquire love's serious notes and gush forth, making Shri Radha reach the heights of elation and ecstasy.

And soon after Krishna with his mischief and spontaneity, tenderness and teasing does exactly what delights him. When Preetam sings it pleases Priyaji, as he reveals the mazes and mysteries of love. While Shri Radha feels that her love for Krishna can always expand to greater heights in this joyous abandon. And the sensuous romantic dalliance of Shri Krishna plus Shri Radha's helplessness in stopping the rush of love is adorable!

How idyllic is this domain! Hearing the black cuckoo's sweet-voiced song, Lord Krishna exalts, 'The shrill cry of the cuckoo arouses the forest, awakening intense passion in the heart and not merely this my beloved! I do not have the slightest inkling why all the birds, winding creepers caressing tree trunks...the whole lot of them tug at my heart strings. Cranes and swans fly towards the call of my flute. The same fusions of delight and desire cast off all social constraints so what should I do? Priya, tell me the antidote for the exquisite desire engulfing me, stirred by the exhilarating breeze?'

Vrindavana becomes the perfect landscape where madhurya or sweet love of Lord Krishna unfolds. The 'Bhagavata' endorses the concept of the in-dwelling Vishnu who resides not only in the minds and hearts of the gopis but also in the sap that animates the birds and bees, trees and creepers. Vishnu is not to be expressed through ascetic rites and religious rituals but by evocative expressions of love that affirms one's own sensuality, and that of everything around.

Krishna tells Radha,' And look at the inconstant black bee which alights upon flower after flower to savour its sweetness, making me capricious. And Radha my darling! Who is there besides you to give solace?' Krishna clearly establishes himself as a symbol of divinity but equally a mortal full of sweet love. Not mere love-talk it endorses the firm connection that Vishnu becomes a part of the human condition not just to establish dharma but to spread his joy and love.

Tiny drops of drizzle, make the sensuous tale of the supreme lover reach its zenith. And in such a situation the speedy downpour rises; escalating the terrifying rush of love. The elements of nature applaud the heights of elation and ecstasy thus attained. Shri Radha-Krishna dally romantically in the grove of joyous abandon as love gushes forth in the rainy season when the skies are laden with heavy black clouds.

Seen as transcendental love of the highest order, Shri Radha is considered the divine mediatrix, without whom access to Narayana is not possible. Lord Krishna looted the precious moments of passionate dalliances and amorous frolics with Shri Radha, for it is said that she controls Krishna with her love and that perfect spiritual life is unattainable without her grace.and...that was enough...!

With love,

Yours Bobo.

Prem Sudha Dhara: Vijayji

(Page 311)

Shri Hari

Shri Vrindavana

6th November 1968

Dear Vijay,

With love, Jai Shri Hari.

You must not waste time as of now. Why go through the irony of closing your eyes after an awakening? Wide-eyed, glimpse the handsome god fluting in the blossoming pastures, busy with spirited antics in earthly Vrindavana. There is no need for the figment of one's imagination to see him. He is nearby...absolutely close...clearly perceptible...we just need to open our eyes and sight him. Lord Krishna inconceivable without his grace, truly exists in our imagination as well.

But in reality when he is intent on granting us an all-consuming intimacy; hungry for uniting with us (The very foundation of a religion of union is that the individual partial and manifest self must ultimately be joined with the universal, whole and un-manifest Self) then why be content with the mazes and mysteries of love?

Come and have a look! The dark-hued youthful Krishna stands in the tribhanga mudra (an angular posture of Krishna depicted playing the flute with bent legs, hips and neck) enchanting the cowherds. The nikunja (bower, a particular meeting-place of Radha and Krishna in Vrindavana) is resplendent with his moonlit smile. Steeped in love, his beloveds drawn together by devotion to the dark god...dishevelled at times...bedecking themselves sometimes, imply the pathos of longing within by their side-long glances.

This interpersonal romantic exchange, laying the ground of some romantic dalliance, has Krishna enflaming the desire of the individuated soul for union with god. Just think over Vijay, leaving this idyllic community where did you disappear? Why are you straying around, having lost the way? Just recollect the same terrain...the glorious season of Krishna's manifestation as human lover and divine incarnate and you will remember the entire scenario. And soon after irresistibly absorbed in the joy of belonging, attain the terrifying rush of a divine and transcendental love.

Come let us seek this immortal connection, its spontaneity, a certain closeness adorning this spontaneity...a delicious anguish in this intimacy...and the same desire becoming a paradigm of the seeker for ultimate reality. Where can you possibly find such loving tenderness in this mundane world and its enthused exultation? Just snuggle in the deeper ecstasies of devotion and watch! You complain you can't, unless the handsome god forcefully binds you in his love-noose, making it impossible to break free.

I endorse your viewpoint but be focused on this objective. Counting each moment with dedicated devotion exquisitely wait for that joyous moment of union with the divine. Then the handsome god can't be resolutely calm. Celebrated as the quintessential romantic hero or nayaka, Krishna is moved soon enough by the adulation of his bhaktas... eagerly desirous for his beloveds. With mischief and spontaneity, tenderness and teasing, and the beauty of his dark body, Krishna enflames the desire of the individuated soul for union with god. He is hungry too for the fulfillment of love, so why would he delay!

Okay then!

With love,

Yours Bobo.

Prem Sudha Dhara: Vijayji

(Page 309)

Shri Vrindavan

26th December1961

Dear Vijay,

With love, Jai Shri Hari.

Now listen to a pleasant revelation, for which one must have a normal mindset to delight in.

Vinyast venumadhre vivrastdeeyan

Vyagragra manglibhirantrayan viramya.

Gayan kalan shikhi-shikhand-kritavatanso

Madhye gavan vijayte vichran Mukund.

Look at the coincidence that when I write to you, the shloka of flute-play props up instinctively. Shri Bilav Mangal Maharaj says,' The one whose flute drinks the nectar from his lips and whose playful fingers flit across the flute, modulating his voice in eternal melodies; the very same Vrindavan Vihari Mukund is triumphant, wearing a diadem adorned with a peacock tail's feather resplendent on his handsome forehead as he splendidly stands amidst cows. You must be thrilled now because what more can you ask for? (Vijay stands for triumph)

There is no equivalent to this celebration of Krishna's love. Even Brahma ananda (union of the individual soul with the divine) is pale in comparison and the rasas (emotions) stand no chance. May the virtuous Shyam Sundar frolicking in the verdant groves make you the recipient of his love, giving a clear conception of his loving tenderness. No greater joy can delight Bobo as it turns you rapturous in any case.

Now coming back to the flute-play. What will you gift me for moving in a delicious anguish to Lord Krishna's side as you read on? So with the envied instrument in his hands, surrounded by cows, NandNandan roams. A majestic site; probably he is venturing to graze them. The cows eagerly desirous for the mellifluous flute break open their ropes at night drawn by its notes. Whereas at this moment the melody is easily obtainable for them. But the cows are completely unaware that appeasing their loving fondness with this raga, Rasik Shekhar (title of Krishna) actually returns the message of ardent longing to his beloved maidens.

I remember a certain divine play, celebrating Krishna as the quintessential romantic hero. Once Krishna played the flute on some festival; all the gopas and gopis had gathered at the banks of the Yamuna. Wandering around for a short while, NandNandan breathed music into the bamboo flute-and it resonated. But strangely enough the herd of gopas were absorbed in the same fusions of delight and desire today, contrary to the gopis who remained in their senses. The cowherdesses merely smiled but all cowherds...children...youths...elders...were enchanted by the rhapsody.

The group was contemplating upon Narayana-and the myth exploded. They could acquire such great love only imagining themselves as women, which the fortunate beauties are constantly steeped in. But the lot certainly did not have the right to enter the paradise of Vishnu for a beatific vision of him since the preferred gender in religious experience in the Hindu tradition is invariably the female. Just a longing arose and this was enough.

After some time when Nandnandan brought them back to their senses, the herd awoke but the rasa or heights of elation had passed into oblivion. However the semblance of a particular madhurta or sweetness was enrapturing them even now.

Hence brother Vijay, miraculous is this flute and strikingly fascinating is Lord Krishna, the flute-player.

With love,

Yours Bobo.