“It is not proper to remain in this place. Let us go to another great forest, as here we have seen numerous calamities which are causes of ruin. The destruction of Putana and the reversal of the cart, and similarly the falling of the trees without the intervention of the wind. Therefore, let us without delay depart from Gokula to Vrindavana, where the earthly calamities will not overpower us.” (Vishnu Purana, 5.6.22-24)

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स्थानेनेह न नः कार्यं व्रजामो ऽन्यन् महावनम्
उत्पाता बहवो ह्य् अत्र दृश्यन्ते नाशहेतवः

पूतनाया विनाशश् च शकटस्य विपर्ययः
विना वातादिदोषेण द्रुमयोः पतनं तथा

वृन्दावनम् इतः स्थानात् तस्माद् गच्छाम मा चिरम्
यावद् भौममहोत्पातदोषो नाभिभवेद् व्रजम्

sthāneneha na naḥ kāryaṃ vrajāmo ‘nyan mahāvanam
utpātā bahavo hy atra dṛśyante nāśahetavaḥ

pūtanāyā vināśaś ca śakaṭasya viparyayaḥ
vinā vātādidoṣeṇa drumayoḥ patanaṃ tathā

vṛndāvanam itaḥ sthānāt tasmād gacchāma mā ciram
yāvad bhaumamahotpātadoṣo nābhibhaved vrajam

“Listen, I think we have contradictory principles here, in what I am about to present. This is not one of your Venn diagrams, where it is a good thing to have overlapping groups or divisions. I think there is one truth or principle. There is another truth, and the two do not mix. Except that the two supposedly exist in unison, based on the promises made.

“Before you think I am off my rocker, the subject matter is the promise in the discipline of bhakti-yoga. What makes this specific carveout of sanatana-dharma special is that you are rising above duality. Think in higher terms. Rise above good and bad. As Goswami Tulsidas explains, that duality is created by the illusion of Hari, which is one name for God. Only the same Hari can remove that illusion.”

हरि माया कृत दोष गुन बिनु हरि भजन न जाहिं
भजिअ राम सब काम तजि अस बिचारि मन माहिं

hari māyā kṛta doṣa guna binu hari bhajana na jāhiṃ
bhajia rāma saba kāma taji asa bicāri mana māhiṃ

“Good and bad, which are part of the illusion created by Hari, cannot be removed without worshiping Hari. Keeping this in mind, worship Rama and renounce all desires.” (Dohavali, 127)

“This means that in bhakti-yoga, we want more than just our daily bread. We will not settle for elevation to a higher realm, like heaven. We actually do not mind to where we will go, as long as we can continue with our devotion. This mood is pure bhakti. This is liberation because we are no longer bound by conditions. It does not matter if I am living in beautiful, sunny South Florida or in the arctic frost of some Canadian town no one has ever heard of. As long as I am within bhakti, I am okay. I am liberated.

“That is the first principle. The second one relates to our eternal nature. The Sanskrit is sach-chid-ananda. We are eternal, blissful, and knowledgeable. The same properties are there in God, but with a notable distinction. His features never get covered up. He is never vulnerable to illusion. We are jiva precisely because we can toggle between enlightenment and ignorance. We can fall into the cycle of birth and death. Liberation is our return to the natural order. This is the reason His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada describes the goal of bhakti-yoga as going ‘back to Godhead.’

“Alright, so shouldn’t that mean people in the liberated state are knowledgeable? Shouldn’t that mean they know things as they are? How, then, do you explain the decision of the elderly cowherd men in Gokula, during the time of Krishna-lila? They could not understand the recent falls. They would not accept the explanation of the children that baby Krishna had knocked down a handcart using His tiny feet. They would not believe that Damodara, who is Krishna tied to a mortar, was able to bring down two tall trees.

“This is ignorance, right? And these people are in the liberated state, right? They are directly associating with Krishna, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna chose to live with them. It is not the other way around. It is not like Nanda and the other leaders travelled to Vaikuntha and brought Vishnu down with them. These people were blessed. How come they were ignorant as to the truth, then? They were so worried that they used the danger as a pretext for moving to Vrindavana.”

This is an opportunity to pivot into the timeless controversy between the Vaishnavas and the Mayavadis. Both groups reference similar works of the Vedic tradition, such as Vedanta-sutra and Bhagavad-gita. Both groups understand the advaita principle, which is nonduality. The difference is the Mayavadis conclude that everything is maya, that there is essentially no distinct God. Everyone is Brahman. They simply have to realize it. That is the purpose of spiritual life, to elevate to the Brahman platform.

इहैव तैर्जित: सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मन:
निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद्‍ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिता:

ihaiva tair jitaḥ sargo
yeṣāṁ sāmye sthitaṁ manaḥ
nirdoṣaṁ hi samaṁ brahma
tasmād brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ

“Those whose minds are established in sameness and equanimity have already conquered the conditions of birth and death. They are flawless like Brahman, and thus they are already situated in Brahman.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.19)

The Vaishnava says that advaita and dvaita exist simultaneously, without overlapping or contradicting each other. Since this is practically impossible to conceive, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu refers to the final conclusion as achintya-bhedabheda-tattva. There is oneness and distinction. The distinction is that even if the individual returns to their identity as Brahman, they will never become all-knowing, all-powerful, or even the origin of everything. These properties belong exclusively to Parabrahman, or the highest truth.

The elderly cowherd men were indeed liberated to have the benediction of Krishna living in their community as their most beloved son. At the same time, there was an illusion at work. It was the auspicious kind, going by the name “yogamaya.” This is what kept Yashoda from realizing that her son was the most powerful individual. If she knew that Krishna was God, how could she offer loving service? There was urgency. There was pressure. There was concern. The love was so pure that Krishna Himself chose to live in that place, under her protection. Who can be more fortunate than Yashoda, as she subtly received the sanction of binding the Lord of the universe, Jagannatha, through the external cause of punishment for naughty behavior?

यदि शक्नोषि गच्छ त्वम् अतिचञ्चलचेष्टित
इत्य् उक्त्वा च निजं कर्म सा चकार कुटुम्बिनी

yadi śaknoṣi gaccha tvam aticañcalaceṣṭita
ity uktvā ca nijaṃ karma sā cakāra kuṭumbinī

“’O naughty child, now try going from here, if you can.’ Having spoken thus, she returned to her household duties.” (Vishnu Purana, 5.6.15)

The leaders of the community could not believe what they were seeing. They only saw danger. They only saw Krishna at the center. They thought to move to Vrindavana, to alleviate the risk of the fault, dosha, of earthly calamities. Their care and concern was appreciated. We might think they were being fooled by the external events, but their knowledge of Krishna was enough to maintain His association. That is the true boon of liberation.

ऊचुरव्यवसितमतीन् गोपान्गोपीश्च बालका:
रुदतानेन पादेन क्षिप्तमेतन्न संशय:

ūcur avyavasita-matīn
gopān gopīś ca bālakāḥ
rudatānena pādena
kṣiptam etan na saṁśayaḥ

“The assembled cowherd men and ladies began to contemplate how this thing had happened. ‘Is it the work of some demon or evil planet?’ they asked. At that time, the small children present asserted that the cart had been kicked apart by the baby Krishna. As soon as the crying baby had kicked the cart’s wheel, the cart had collapsed. There was no doubt about it.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.7.9)

In Closing:

When in liberation set,
Boon of association get.

Not that everything to know,
Like when Vrindavana to go.

Despite report from children received,
Version of events not believed.

Because of yogamaya at play,
Better in other place to stay.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, liberation, poem, poems, poetry, vrindavana