Dwarakanatha -5

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Dwarakanatha -5
     Can anyone buy Bhagavan with gold? Only bhakthi can buy Bhagavan. Ramadasa looked  at his wife meaningfully. She gave him a consoling look and took out the only gold ornament she was wearing - her mangalsuthra, the icon of a married woman which is her most precious jewel. Ramadasa completely surrendered to Bhagavan. He prayed to Bhagavan that he was not a good devotee as Rukmini who with a leaf of Tulsi could equal the weight of Bhagavan where Sathyabhama failed with all her gold ornaments. But he requested Bhagavan to consider him too as His child and save him from this situation. Bhagavan looks only for the pure heart and not the riches we offer. He accepted the handful of rice flakes brought by Kuchela with great love.
     Now Bhagavan was kept on one side of the balance against the woman's mangalsuthra. Bhagavan became lighter than thelight jewel and his side of the balance went up to everyone's bewilderment. "Pathudai atiyavarkku elliyavan"!! Nobody could believe their eyes. Were they dreaming they wondered. The devas from the heaven too were watching all this. The pujaris tried to lift Dwarakanatha and check the weight. He weighed heavy. When they took the jewel it was light. But Bhagavan's side of balance remained up only.  They checked the balance again and again for any problem. But the balance was correct. Slowly the truth began to dawn on them.  All of them could now understand the poor couple's devotion and surrendered to them.  They told Dwaraka Ramdas that he had every right for the deity, so could take it with him. They decided to make another deity for their temple.  Dwarakanatha is an ocean of mercy indeed! Just for the sake of the poor couple he denounced everything including His temple, wealth, people and country and came with them. 
      Antal has sung in praise of Dwaraka in her Nachiyar thirumozhi. Antal brought up a parrot in her home. She taught the bird to call out Govinda! Govinda! She was in krishna viraham. Viraham is a feeling which hurts and pleases the heart at the same time. It cant be explained. Unless one has guru kripa one cannot experience it. It happens in a higher state of devotion. When Antal was suffering in Viraham the parrot sings in loud voice - Govoinda! Govinda! which only highterns her pangs of seperation. She feigns anger and tells the bird to shut up and not to repeat the name. Actually one side of heart ached to hear her lover's name repeated, but at the same time the name triggered the viraham in her. Just like the gopis who are very happy to see a messenger from their Krishna. But they pretend they are angry with Krishna and say that they don't want to hear anything about Him. But at the same time their hearts were singing His nama only.  Likewise Antal also is angry with the bird for singing Krishna's nama and reminding her of Him.  She closes her ear and scolds the bird not to utter the name of Krishna whom she hates. She warns the bird that she would not give it food since she was starving for Krishna. The bird now understood that Antal does not want it to repeat the nama Govinda. Then it started to cry out Ulakalanthaan Ulakalanthaan loudly. Antal became exaspirated. What spell Krishna has done to this parrot she wonders. She complains to her relatives that she has lost her heart to a truant who rant away from Mathura  to Gokulam when He was born, from Gokulam to Brindavan, from Brindavan to Mathura again and from Mathura to Dwaraka.  'So please leave me at Dwaraka which is full of sky scraping palaces and beautiful gardens. I hope Dwarakanatha will hear my cries then. I will be Krishna's Dasi along with the 16,108 consorts' says Antal. So deep was her devotion to Bhagavan that she imagined Bhagavan was still living there with his consorts!
     Once sage Durvasa visited Dwaraka. When Bhagavan heard the quick tempered sage was coming he called Rukmini and entrusted her the responsibility of entertaining him without evoking his wrath in anyway. Rukmini agreed  and made all arrangements. The sage was seated and honoured, then food was served to Him. Krishna was supervising the services and telling Rukmini to offer this and that to the sage. Rukmini obeyed Bhagavan in everyway and in that
hurrying she felt thirsty. As she took sometime to come out Krishna went inside and enquired. Rukmini complained to Bhagavan that He was pressurising her too much and that the sage was quite comfortable but for Krishna's pampering. She requested Him to stand aside for some time and just watch her do. Krishna agreed to that but asked Rukmini to take some water if she felt thirsty.  But Rukmini hurriedly refused saying that it was not dharma to take even water before the sage finished his meals. Krishna convinced her that there was nothing wrong in it and that Durvasa would not mind. At sKrishna's repeated telling Rukmini agreed to drink water. Just as she had a mouth Durvasa noticed that and instantly got angry. He blamed her of having insulted a sage like him. Krishna now turned sides and blamed Rukmini for doing so and pleaded with the sage to pardon her. Rukmini understood that Bhagavan had some plans and so this leelaDurvasa cursed Rukmini to remain seperated from Bhagavan. Rukmini could not  hear that and cried for  mercy. Bhagavan also interfered and the sage agreed that after doing penance for some time Rukmini can come back to live with Krishna. Till then she will be living in a corner of Dwaraka and do penance. So Rukmini had to stay from Krishna for some time. We can see the temple of Rukmini which is situated away from Krishna's temple. After some time she came back to live with Krishna.  We will be back with more of Dwarakanatha's stories! Radhekrsihna! Radhekrishna!

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