om ajnana timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri gurave namah
“O Gurudeva, you are so merciful. I offer my humble pranama unto you and am praying from the core of my heart that, with the torchlight of divine knowledge, you open my eyes which have been blinded by the darkness of ignorance.”
Dear friends, here I am again, writing on this blog. I surprise myself! Right now it is tough for me to upkeep this blog and another one I update daily, my writing and reading blog, plus life, work, etc. But, I would like to update this one on a more regular basis, too. For now, perhaps once a month. Soon, hopefully more often! It is all a question of balance and regulation, and how I can achieve that.
Today I am again sharing from the Sri Siksastakam, which I introduced in the previous post. These verses are the mood of the Lord Himself, Lord Krsna when He takes the mood and complexion of Srimati Radhika, His consort, our mistress and beloved Goddess. They are the only 8 instructions He gave during His manifest pastimes a mere 500+ years ago, on this very earth we walk on today.
Before we dive into the verse I’m studying this week, due Monday, what are the reasons Krsna took the form and complexion of Radha and appeared as Lord Caitanya?
There are both confidential and external reasons He appeared as Lord Caitanya, also known as Gauranga, Sacinandana, etc. Today I’ll share the external reasons, and next post I’ll share the confidential ones. That way, we have a bit of a fun cliffhanger!
Here are those external reasons for His appearance:
To propagate the yuga-dharma, or the religious practice for the age. This is the congregational chanting of the holy names (shri-nama-sankirtana).
To distribute what had never been given before – unnatojjvala-prema, transcendental love in the elevated amorous mellow.
To respond to the entreaty of Shri Advaita Acharya, who was perturbed by the extremely irreligious state of the world at that time. Shri Advaita Acharya had wor-shipped Shri Krishna with Ganga water and tulasi leaves, and thus induced the Lord to appear.
from Sri Navadwip-Dham Parikrama, Chapter 1
And, here is verse 8, which I am studying this week:
āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām
adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā
yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo
mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥI do not know anyone except Krishna as my Lord, and He shall always remain as such, even if He handles me roughly by His embrace; or He may make me broken-hearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, but He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally.
Sri Siksastakam, Verse 8, translated by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Let me know your thoughts on it.
Aspiring to serve,
C.S.
Flower of Devotion 