“Our dear Lord, we are offering our loving service unto You because we are all eternal servitors of Your Lordship. You can order us and ask us to do whatever You please. Every living being can be relieved from all kinds of despair if he agrees to abide by Your orders.” (Nagapatnis offering prayers to Krishna, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 1, Chapter 16)

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You are in a foreign country. It is actually the land of your birth, but you were whisked away so soon that you have no memories of the area. Rather, you grew up somewhere else. You now return, on occasion. Usually that occasion is a wedding or important event for a relative. A grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, or cousin. When you were younger, the visits were more shocking. You immediately missed home. Things you took for granted you now appreciated. A steady flow of electricity. Television programming. An internet connection that rarely went out. Indeed, when you visited as a child, the place of your grandparents did not have electricity, what to speak of a television. They would watch movies, sometimes, by renting audio-visual equipment and running a generator. No joke. Part of you misses those times.

As you are much older now, it is easier to get acclimated. You look forward to the food. For some reason, all of your health problems vanish over a simple two-week visit. The food suits you. Perhaps it is because they do not add these horrible ingredients that cannot be pronounced. In your home country, the large conglomerates have so captured the legislators that anything and everything can be added to the food supply, with impunity. Why does wheat have to be enriched, for instance? Why do oils need to be hydrogenated? You visit these other countries and bread does not give you any negative reactions. The milk tastes different.

Anyway, one thing you really love about your country of origin is the culture of spirituality. Whether it is genuine or at an advanced level is for others to decide. You are happy that there is actually a choice. You can visit a restaurant whose entire menu is free of onion and garlic. You cannot believe it, in fact. That restaurant happens to be attached to a house of worship. People visit in droves. It is like their nighttime outing. Instead of visiting a club, a dance hall, a theater, or a pub, they dress up nicely to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His merciful incarnation of the archa-vigraha. You only wish they had the same back where you live. You would visit all the time. You never tire of the worship, the katha in dedication to Hari, and the beautiful chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

“The Deities of Radha and Krishna, Lakshmi and Narayana, and Rama and Sita are very attractive to devotees, so much so that when they see the statue decorated in the temple of the Lord they become fully absorbed in thought of the Lord. That is the state of liberation.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.25.36 Purport)

During one of these visits, at the point of exit there is a nice lady who volunteers to apply markings. She carefully draws the symbol of the footprint of the Supreme Lord. It is perfectly centered on your forehead, with the line running down the bridge of your nose. Again, something new for you. Not that you are unfamiliar with tilaka, but based on your known lack of coordination you have never even tried to apply it on yourself. Rather than make a fool of yourself, you are content with the simpler tika that your parents have previously applied, at the conclusion to rituals conducted at home.

When you return back to your family members after having visited this house of worship in this foreign country, they are all smiles. They love that you are wearing a tilaka. They exude a casual but harmless envy. They wish they could have gone. They insist on accompanying you the next day. This trip will not last forever, after all. Better to take advantage of the facilities available. That marking on your head shows that you are aligned with Hari. People say that your face tends to glow. You are much happier. It appears as if you have been truly blessed.

In the above story, the sequence of cause-and-effect takes place in peace. After all, worship involves some kind of supplication. The worshiper prays. The worshiper acknowledges. The worshiper offers kind words. They might say things like, God is great. They might say that God is beautiful. To receive the tilaka mark is a small reward for their allegiance. They sacrificed some time in hearing, in chanting, and in praying. The immediate reward for their sacrifice is prasadam in the form of food and sacred markings. The long-term reward is hopefully a purified consciousness.

Now, just imagine the same occurring, but as a result of conflict. Rather than humbly prostrating before the deity incarnation of Hari, you are fighting Him. You wish to do harm. You are the classic villain in a plot that leans towards victory. In other words, you are on the verge of success. Your fight with Hari is not restricted to words or an inimical sentiment. You are fighting Him directly. It looks like you are about to win.

This is exactly what took place one time in the sacred land of Vrindavana. The villain was a serpent named Kaliya. He was not necessarily intent on causing harm. He was like a refugee in the area, having fled his previous location out of fear. There were battles with the eagle-carrier named Garuda, who is known to be a menace to snakes. The problem was that Kaliya emitted poison. His very presence in arriving at the Yamuna River caused its sacred waters to be poisoned.

Shri Krishna, who is the very same Hari, happened to notice the change. He saw the effect of the waters on His friends. Krishna decided to deal with the issue directly. He climbed a tree and used it as a launchpad to enter the water. Krishna then wrestled directly with Kaliya. Krishna was a young boy. Kaliya had many hoods. At one point, Krishna was wrapped up in the coils. It looked like Kaliya was winning. The well-wishers, parents, friends, and sacred animals were watching from afar. They were horrified.

As He is known to do, Krishna then swiftly turned the tables. Krishna was now dancing on the hoods of the serpent. The situation became so dire that the wives of Kaliya decided to offer prayers. It was like they were visiting a temple. Instead of making vows in front of a statue depiction, their object of worship was moving. Their object of worship was subduing their husband. Still, there was devotion. Their prayers were so well received that Krishna relented. The struggle ended peacefully. Krishna told Kaliya to leave the area. There was no more reason to fear Garuda. The tilaka markings were now on the head of Kaliya. Garuda would thus know not to attack.

“The Lord also assured Kaliya: ‘You came here out of fear of Garuda, who wanted to eat you in the beautiful land by the ocean. Now, after seeing the marks where I have touched your head with My lotus feet, Garuda will not disturb you.’” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 1, Chapter 16)

In Closing:

Previous area to clear,
Since Garuda to fear.

Kaliya poison with him brought,
So Krishna with him fought.

Not typical worship resembling,
Where offerings at temple assembling.

But after prayers of wives to shine,
Left with tilaka’s protective sign.

Categories: krishna pastimes

Tags: dailyprompt, krishna lila, krishna pastimes, poem, poems, poetry