Dear Karunanidhi Krishna prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Prabhu hope you are doing well. I really like this inspiring article and if you wish kindly forward it to our group.
Haribol
Your Servant,
Krishna Prasad
Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.
There is a beautiful narration I read from our spiritual master, H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj's diary. This narration is about an incident that happened when Lord Rama returned from exile back to Ayodhya. On His return, before He was enthroned, the Lord desired to give gifts to the younger ones as is the tradition and with the permission of the mothers all the family got together.
Bharat and his wife Mandavi, Lakshman and his wife Urmila, Shatrughna and his wife Shrutikirti asked for the gifts of their choice.
1. Bharat: Bharat's demand was well-known. He was such a staunch lover of Lord Rama that he perfectly exhibited his love in separation from Lord Rama for 14 years. He demanded from the Lord, janam janam rati raama paada - Life after life I should have attachment only for the lotus feet of Lord Rama.
2. Mandavi: Bharat's wife Mandavi asked for something very beautiful. She requested, "My Lord, give me one thing. Everyone is aware that You went to forest and so many catastrophical incidents did take place here. King Dasaratha also died. But inspite of the same, by Your mercy we could maintain our mental equilibrium and our will power. My only desire and only demand is that You grant us the same will power, the same firm resolve and the resultant peaceful attitude."
3. Lakshman: Lakshman's demand was very obvious. He demanded the boon of never to be separated from Lord Rama.
4. Urmila: Lakshman's wife Urmila said very beautifully, "There is nothing left to be asked since I happened to have the good fortune to become a daughter-in-law of Raghukula, so what more can one ask for?"
5. Shatrughna: Shatrughna was always dear to Bharata because he always took the humble position of being the servant of the servant (dasa anu dasa) of Lord Rama. Since Bharata is one of the most exemplary devotee of Lord Rama, Shatrughna asked the Lord, "Please give me the nearness to the feet of my elder brother Bharata."
6. Shrutikirti: Shatrughna's wife Shrutikirti asked for the most wonderful gift. She asked for the Lord to gift her the valkal (dress made out of the bark of the tree) He wore during His exile. Why did she ask for valkal? Vedic tradition is that kings, when they become old, they retire and go to the forest. But Raghukula reeti proved to be different. At the prime of His youth, the Lord had to leave His kingdom and go to the forest. This is the symbol of sacrifice and surrender. This is the exception of Raghukula. To cherish this remembrance, she wanted to preserve Valkal of the Lord as His precious gift.
We have heard Maharaj explain this nicely in a few of his lectures. Maharaj would emphasize on the gift requested by Shrutikirti very much and her transcendental intelligence in demanding for this special gift. In the midst of the various astonishing activities of Lord Rama, these two important qualities of sacrifice and surrender do not get much importance. However these two qualities are the main underlying principles on which our spiritual life runs. The Lord showed it by His own personal example. He sacrificed all kingly opulences, wealth, luxuries etc and simply obeyed and surrendered to the instructions of His father. Our spiritual life also runs on these two most important tracks - sacrifice and surrender. Sacrifice our desire for enjoyment and surrender to the instructions of our spiritual master and superiors.
I humbly pray to the Supreme Lord Sri Rama to give us as His benediction, the two transcendental matchless gifts of sacrifice and surrender in inexhaustible quantity.
Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Kalacakra Krsna das
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