By BB Govinda Swami
I had a pleasant call from Niranjana Swami Maharaja, he told me he is in Mayapur and he was trying to express how happy he is actually feeling in being there. How happy he is being in a place where he can be regulated. He is just having an excellent time in Mayapur. For us people who are always traveling, this arrangement of not traveling is a miracle. We have regulation. We have the proper time for sleeping. We eat at regulated times. We have regulated time for sadhana and regulated time for exercise, this is very different for us. So much of the time we are running to an airport, going through security, getting on the plane, coming down and doing it over and over again, and Krishna arranged the situation so that we would slow down very much and so we could appreciate what is going on around us.
I know that it’s not the same for everybody. I know there are many people out there who may be filled with fear or apprehension of what this new time has in store for us. But we should just take shelter of Krishna, He gave us more time for doing that in a concentrated way. Leave the rest for Him. Just take shelter of Krishna, chant His name and glories and leave the rest for Him.
Just like Srila Prabhupada commented on that verse that “Life after life I wish to be with vaishnavas, whether Krishna wants me to go to Goloka Vrindavana or not that’s Krishna’s business, but I wish to be with vaishnavas, love the vaishnavas, remain with vaishnavas, serve the vaishnavas and spread the message of Krishna Consciousness to all others.”
So now it’s the time for self-reflection and acceptance of this situation with gratitude. I asked Niranjana Swami how Radhanatha Swami is, and Maharaja said he is very-very happy. He had finished his ayurvedic treatment in Govardhan Eco Village, then police came and told all the foreigners to leave. So he got on one of the last flights to America and he went to an apartment or home somebody arranged for him and now he is there by himself. And he is so happy, he is cooking for himself, cleaning for himself, just relishing life in Krishna consciousness.
This is a sincere prayer of a devotee, that “My Lord, please bless me to serve You. My lord, on my own I am devoid of any good qualities. My heart is devoid of truthfulness or compassion. I’m envious. My heart doesn’t have the power to forgive other people. Lust is like the leader of the gang of thieves that has tightened my heart. On my own, dear Lord, I don’t have any good qualities. Therefore, my Lord, I am dependent on Your mercy. Please cast Your merciful glance on me so that I could worship you day and night.”
Truly sincere prayer of a devotee.
Makes me recall about 6-7 years ago when Sacinandana Swami Maharaja, Madhava, Srutakirti Prabhu, Myself and a few other devotees did Govardhan dandavat parikrama. It was a big challenge, but the biggest challenge was to keep the mind fixed. Physically it was not so impossible, but if our mind would not focus on pleasing Giriraja with this service and receive Him mercy, then immediately I felt hopeless.
One devotee asked me what it was like. I said it was like the experience of the sacred and the profane. To have the power to keep going your mind really had to be in a sacred space, constantly praying for mercy, if it would deviate it would concentrate on most horrible things.
Everyday we had 4 hour dandavats around Girigovardhan and then we would stop wherever we could come to and we would roll over and look into the sky together. I remember so many times we would share realizations. Everytime when I asked Sacinandana Maharaja, “What are your realizations?” Then in a very sweet way he would reply, “Oh, I understood that without the sweet mercy of Sri Radha and Krishna and Giriraja nothing is possible.”
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