Ecstasy of the Universe

Bhakti

The day was bright and the clouds had almost disappeared from the sky; except for the occasionally showing fat clouds. There was not a sign of a bird flying; only the white sky and the disc of the sun. People slowly emerged from the gate. Some wore simple dresses; being a silk shawl wrapped with a dhoti and the spatik mala dancing on their chests with every step. Rest of the half wore designed silk dresses with heavy jewelry on them. Women walked flaunting the beauty they reflected and all the pujaris gave a smile to both the types of population. All had to bow their heads when Vishnu stood front.

Inside the temple OM looks at the Vigraha of Shriman. He smiles thinking about the sculptor who had so perfectly carved his Lord; as if a living being who would anytime move and call for him. He looks at the bright eyes and the sharp nose. He looks at the thin chin and the plump hands. He looks at the tilak of Rama and the bindi of Sita. He looks at Lord Hanumana who enjoyed his position on the lord's feet.

O! Kanha.... Again and again I come here with my hands spread in front of you. What should I offer you? I have tulsi leaves.... What should I offer you? I have dhoop and incense sticks.... What should I offer you? I have the oil lamp I light on your name every day... What else should I offer you to praise you? Why do you come to me after such long times? I am missing you, Krsna.... Narayana......

People look at OM who was unconscious of his actions. He sat on his knees with his joint hands still on his chest murmuring the Gayatri Mantra. He paused. An anonymous sensation invites OM to take refuge under it. As if it said, "I will take you to Narayana... Just come to me." A pleasant energy spread in the temple and OM felt every bit of his body expanding. His body was vibrating and his heart as if sweating with heat.

He unknowingly kept his legs front and his hands back with his body inclined to the ground. He walks in the same way - two steps forth and three steps back. He laughs but then turns round as if the ghagra doing rounds in ecstasy. But the sudden movement caused him awakening. He rose to the situation with teary eyes and looked around at everyone looking at him. He frowned on each person who saw him as 'the greatest devotee'. But he never lost his gratitude. He looks up to Narayana and as the music starts he breathes in the air that chants "Hari!" singing to his Lord....

Hari Om Namo Narayana,
Om Namo Narayana....
Come fast, O! Madhusudhana, O! Narayana,
Give my eyes peace who is mad behind seeing you,
Come fast, O! Narayana....

***

The poojas of the temple had resumed and the kirtans were on; doing rounds of the temple. He had developed the attitude of Radharani completely for Krishna and now he wouldn't leave. Every step he took, he calculated Krishna. Every grain he ate, he thanked Krishna. Every night he slept, he remembered Krishna. Every morning he woke up, he missed Krishna. Every time he bathed, he called for Krishna. Every time he prayed, he asked for Krishna. What is left in his life where he did not remember Krishna? "Om Namo Narayana" his lips murmured.

"You didn't do my work" he heard a squeaky voice screaming from the behind. But what attracted him was the South-Indian slang it contained. "How could you not do my work?!" At this OM got up and turned with his head upright and his position very lady-like.
"What do you need, Shriman? Why are you shouting?" OM gets up and walks to him. The boy looks at him in awe. He sees him walk like a sophisticated lady and every bit of him seem auspicious and gracious. He comes to him and the boy feels happy and contended only by seeing OM. Though he saw OM as if carrying an aura of purity, he didn't want to look at him once more. He turned his head elsewhere till he felt OM too wanted to speak to him.
"I asked him that-" he paused as if hiding a secret in him, "I asked for - er - something. But he didn't do my work!"
OM smiles at him and keeps his hand on his shoulder, "Where will Narayana go without doing your work? Whatever it was, if you need it, the Supreme will definitely provide you."
"....but I need it badly" said he sounding more desperate in his interruption.
"Have you yourself decided that you need it? Think about it once more. Do you really need it? Is it to satisfy your needs or will it satisfy your greed?" OM's worked made him think once more but she shrugged and refused OM's polite correction.
"I do not need anything from you. Now I think I have started questioning religion. I shall support atheism. That seems practical and true."

At this OM was about to stop him from going more into destructive thoughts. He thought he knew the boy being the one who regularly came to the temple to keep money in the hundi and who looked at Narayana as if already in a state of trance. He didn't want him to get blinded with ignorance. But again others would say that he never believed in the concept of God. Was it OM's perspective how he saw the boy?

The boy stormed out of the temple and OM only looked at him with his hands stretched to stop him but not a word comes out. He waits for a time if he would turn and come back but the boy walks without a turn. OM was disturbed. Was he attached to the boy? But he had just met him. Why was he sad? What made him feel vulnerable at this time? He returned to his position but his thoughts were taken over.

***

A distinguished silence spread after OM narrated the whole story about the boy to Prabhu. In that silence OM childishly looked around seeming restless. It happened every time, he thought, whenever he asked Prabhuji a question, he took time to be in silence but that makes OM even more restless than the previous times. "Bhakti, OM" said Prabhu whose rough manly voice pleased OM as if sweet nectar.
"You very well know, OM, that our goal is to go back home - to Krsna. But will that happen only through knowledge of the Supreme and developing purity? What is important is that we cultivate love for the Supreme. That love which is beyond lust. It is unconditional and eternal. We all anyways love the Supreme - Shree Krishna - but due to ignorance and getting too involved in the bonds of Samsara, we are not able to realise the love we actually have and involve in lust. Atheism is also such stage where you question the reality. There you be logical or sentimental. The boy must be a sentimental atheist.

"But you need not worry about the boy nor about any other person in this world. How long you spend time outside the house, there will be a time when you really want to get home back to your parents. Similarly, even we souls come through that stage when we start seeking the truth rather than questioning the truth. And this is how the Action in Krsna Consciousness starts. There is no hurry even for the boy nor for anyone else. Every person in this earth has come for a cause - either to learn or to teach - and we have to take lessons from them and search them in us. The boy will learn slowly about the truth. Such a life is definitely difficult to achieve but not next to impossible.

"All we have to do is develop the love for the Supreme. You were feeling sad only because you got influenced by his sadness. Yet you were strong enough to bring yourself up. But never get influenced by others. You should know your potential and keep acting in the love of the Supreme. No man is perfect and sometimes a devotee too commits a wrong action. But through devotional service, they once again can reach the stage of purity. Krishna takes care of all.... Chant Krishna's names and glories.... Develop love for him and practise Bhakti Yoga... This how one can be freed from the bonds of Samsara."

OM peeped on the table where the Radha-Krishna vigraha stood with the tulsi leaves on his lotus feet and the dhoop whose fragrance spread boldness and purity in the air. He smiled and his body once again started vibrating.

"Jay Shree Krishna!"