“My dear gopis, what auspicious activities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Krishna’s lips independently and leave only a taste for the gopis for whom that nectar is actually meant. The forefathers of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. His mother, the river, on whose bank the bamboo was born, feels jubilation, and therefore her blooming lotus flowers are standing like hair on her body.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.21.9)

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गोप्यः किम् आचरद् अयं कुशलं स्म वेणुर्
दामोदराधर-सुधाम् अपि गोपिकानाम्
भुङ्क्ते स्वयं यद् अवशिष्ट-रसं ह्रदिन्यो
हृष्यत्-त्वचो ’श्रु मुमुचुस् तरवो यथार्यः

gopyaḥ kim ācarad ayaṁ kuśalaṁ sma veṇur
dāmodarādhara-sudhām api gopikānām
bhuṅkte svayaṁ yad avaśiṣṭa-rasaṁ hradinyo
hṛṣyat-tvaco ’śru mumucus taravo yathāryaḥ

“There is this sort of push within the science of self-realization to remove distinctions. Two Sanskrit words come to mind: vishesha and dvandva. Vishesha refers to the distinctions themselves. Someone who is visheshajna is like an expert. They notice the distinctions. One of the ways they teach young children about objects and shapes is to look at an image of four items and spot which one does not belong. The visheshajna can apply a similar vision, but across multiple fields. Shri Hanuman describes the husband of Sita Devi as visheshajna. It is a compliment.”

तस्य पुत्रः प्रियो ज्येष्ठस्ताराधिपनिभाननः
रामो नाम विशेषज्ञः श्रेष्ठ स्सर्वधनुष्मताम्

tasya putraḥ priyo jyeṣṭhastārādhipanibhānanaḥ
rāmo nāma viśeṣajñaḥ śreṣṭha ssarvadhanuṣmatām

“The eldest son to that king was named Rama. He was very dear, had a face resembling the moon, was a knower of distinctions, and was the best among all wielders of the bow.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 31.6)

“Dvandva refers to duality. This is also something they teach children, but absent the vocabulary. They teach duality through recognizing opposites. If one bird is on top of the tree, the person on the floor is at the bottom. The duck in the pond is wet, while the dog on the grass is dry. Hot and cold. Young and old. Male and female. Attraction and aversion. Like and dislike, which then lead to friend and enemy. I like this person because their association is agreeable. I dislike this other person because they annoy me; they won’t stop talking.

“Bhagavad-gita explains that this dvandva is deluding, moha. The wise person rises above. The first step is noticing the duality. We have to recognize it in order to be immune from the effects. In steps the spiritual guide. Known as the guru, they are heavy in their association, because of the weight of the knowledge they carry. If they are kind enough, if they recognize sincerity in our humble approach, they might be willing to share that wisdom.”

“The Vedic scriptures and the acharyas, or saintly teachers, are compared to expert boatmen, and the facilities of the human body are compared to favorable breezes that help the boat ply smoothly to its desired destination.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shri Ishopanishad, 3 Purport)

“This all ties back to my original premise: removing dualities. That is fine and good, but isn’t that like wiping a slate clean? You are taking away the coverings and noticing only the spiritual essence. While that might be the reality, what if I have strong feelings for my experiences? Good or bad, they shaped who I am today. They made me the person I am, and I am grateful for having had those experiences. Why should I try to relegate everything to a giant, abstract collective? How is that helpful? Does that not remove meaning to the different stages of life, the highs and lows, the ups and the downs, the triumphs and the tragedies?”

बिगरी जनम अनेक की सुधरै अबहीं आजु
होहि राम को नाम जपु तुलसी तजि कुसमाजु

bigarī janama aneka kī sudharai abahīṃ āju
hohi rāma ko nāma japu tulasī taji kusamāju

“The many past births you spoiled can be rectified right now, today, if you start chanting Shri Rama’s holy name and renounce bad association, says Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 22)

While the immediate remedy appears to show a negation, upon reaching the final stage there is a kind of purification. Goswami Tulsidas uses the words “bigari” and “aneka.” Bigari refers to ruining or spoiling something. Aneka is a negation of the word eka, which refers to one. Aneka is “not one”, which means “many.” We have spoiled many lifetimes, though we have a difficult time believing. This is because only Supersoul retains perfect knowledge of past experiences, spanning multiple lifetimes.

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि
जन्मानि तव चार्जुन
तान्य् अहं वेद सर्वाणि
न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
bahūni me vyatītāni
janmāni tava cārjuna
tāny ahaṁ veda sarvāṇi
na tvaṁ vettha parantapa

“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bhagavad-gita, 4.5)

As an exercise, we can consider experiences from this lifetime as past lives themselves. Has everything been great? Has everything been worthwhile? Did we not waste certain days away? Perhaps many years, in a row, are now regretted. We might appreciate that they occurred, only to have learned the lesson of what not to do. Once we figured that out, we moved on to something better. We experienced a higher taste.

विषया विनिवर्तन्ते
निराहारस्य देहिनः
रस-वर्जं रसो ऽप्य् अस्य
परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते

viṣayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ‘py asya
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

“The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.59)

The past lives which were spoiled can be purified if we find the shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then, it is not like wiping a slate clean. It is more like appreciating the learning experience. Those moments are gone. Whether we look back fondly on them or have lingering trauma from the negative impact, we are in the moment right now. We have the chance to reach for something better. Shri Krishna explains that only when a person has exhausted their indulgence in sin, in pāpa, from past lifetimes and right now, can they approach the higher way of living, which is bhakti-yoga.

येषां त्व् अन्त-गतं पापं
जनानां पुण्य-कर्मणाम्
ते द्वन्द्व-मोह-निर्मुक्ता
भजन्ते मां दृढ-व्रताः

yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ
janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām
te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā
bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ

“Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.28)

In the higher way of living, the individual appreciates anything and everything because of the connection to the Supreme Lord. We have the example of the gopis of Vrindavana. They love Krishna so much that they have appreciation for the flute that Krishna holds in His lotus-like hands. That flute is produced from the tree. That tree is honored by the ornaments of grass and a nearby river. The gopis appreciate the entire picture, and this way of viewing the world is known as the transcendental vision.

In Closing:

Not as single object to reduce,
That flute magic to produce.

But originally from the tree,
Underneath grass to see.

And rushing river near,
Painting picture clear.

That through Krishna connected,
Entire past corrected.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, reincarnation