Krishna- worship performed.
Krishna- worship performed.
Suvrat continued:-
O king, on the eleventh day of bright fortnight in the month of Phalgun, Shri Hari, having finished His rites of the day, performed a grand worship for Krishna. 1.
He organized an assembly in the courtyard of king Abhay in the night. Present there were Vaishnavs. 2.
Seated on a high seat in that assembly, the Lord shone brilliantly like an autumn moon in the galaxy of stars in the sky. 3.
Worshipping Him in turns, the ascetics and commoners remained awake the whole night singing the glory and names of Shri Krishna. 4.
There was this great Brahmin of good intellect named Shivaram, virtuous by nature and a poet as well, seeking liberation, hailing from Shiryani town. 5.
This Brahmin was sent by the king of Sauvir province, Harisinh by name, who was curious to know the lineage of the Lord and His religious tradition. 6.
The Brahmin saluted Him and His disciples were regarded with respect. When asked about the reason for his presence there, he said to Him. 7.
Queries of Brahmin Shivaram.
O Lord, the king having heard of you being extolled by many people and depreciated by some, desires to know the truth about you, the promoter of new path. Hence he directed me serving him, towards you. 8 - 9.
Having just seen you and your people and all the sages, I have got myself rid of the doubt, of speculating your path to be not genuine. Hence O lord of the virtuous, I want to put some questions to you as directed by the king. 10.
Who are you and which is your place of birth? Who are your relatives? Who is your father? What is the Veda you follow and in which branch do you belong and what is your Gotra (family) and what line of ancestors do you belong in? 11.
What is your tradition and who is your Guru that gave you Vaishnav initiation? Which is your favourite scripture (subject) of study? What kind of devotion is agreeable to you? 12.
Many gods are seen worshipped and installed by your followers? Whom do you mainly adore? What is the significance of it? And what is the reason for worshipping other gods also? 13.
Is there any female deity (goddess) worshipped in your tradition? What is that garland you have around your neck and the vertical mark on the forehead? 14.
These who are your sages are different from the traditional sages. How is it they are still labeled ‘Paramahans (men of highest enlightenment)’ by your followers? 15.
O Lord, the King seeks clarification in these matters. Kindly be gracious and pleased to answer these queries. 16.
Shri Hari narrating His early life.
Suvrat spoke:-
Thus queried, the great sage answered them all in accordance with truth. While doing this He also cleared the doubts of His devotees. 17.
Shri Narayan Muni said:-
‘O Brahmin, to the north of Kosal province there is a city Ayo- dhya. About two Yojanas northwards of that is a town Chappaya. 18.
That is my birth place, and a renowned eminent Brahmin by name Hariprasad is my father belonging to Sarav sect (of Brahmin caste), whose lotus feet were adored by the family of king named Suranetru. He was sagacious, learned, wise and renowned for his virtues. I belong to Savarni Gotr and our three ancestors (Pravara) are known to be Bhargav, Vaitahavya and Savetas. 19-21
I belong to Samaveda’s Kauthumi branch. My parents christened me ‘Nilakanth’. 22.
I met many saints during my childhood for days together. I was not interested in bad company as well as child-plays. 23.
O Brahmin, my father adorned me with the sacred thread in my eighth year. Since then I follow celibacy strictly. 24.
Owing to meritorious deeds of the past and the grace of the greats, pure devotion to Krishna dawned in my heart naturally. 25.
By listening to Bhagavat Puran and the like perpetually, there rose in me a strong desire to see Shri Krishna in person, and dispassion to familial life as well. 26.
Being an intense dispassionate that I was, one day I abandoned my home and relatives and roamed about forests with a wish to see the real Krishna. 27.
I traveled lonely about many a holy ford and to places like Muktanath, searching a Guru that could lead me to have Krishnadarshan. Having gone to those who were renowned and accomplished, I took shelter under them and spilled by doubts before them. 28 - 29
‘By which way will Krishna-Darshan occur at the earliest? If you could know the way, be gracious to tell it to me,’ I would thus plead. 30. Having heard this question of mine, some had become quiet, and some got angry and they badly ridiculed me. 31.
I never obtained an answer for that question from anybody. But I got only ridiculous replies, sometimes beatings (also) along with that, which I endured and left. 32.
Like Bharat, the son of Rushabhadev who endured the tor- ments of the ignorant mass in the past, I tolerated all the abuses. 33.
Reflecting Krishna alone in mind I wandered about holy fords and eventually reached the revered Raivatak mount in Saurashtra. There I found the Vaishnav-supreme Ramanand swami by name in Pippala town at the foothills of the mountain. 34 -35
This was in the year 1858 (Indu-1, Kari-guardian elephants of quarters-8, Aksha-senses-5, Guhasya, faces of Kartikeya-8) of Vikramsak on the twelfth day of the bright fortnight of the month of Jyesht. 36.
Prostrating at his feet, I in all humility asked the same question I asked of others elsewhere, O Brahmin. Then he was exceedingly pleased and addressed me sweetly. 37.
From today you sit here firmly and meditate on Shri RadhikaKrishna chanting that eight syllable mantra. In your Samadhi you will be able to visualize immediately your Lord.’ Thus told by him, I happily followed his instructions. 38 - 39
Thereafter by the grace of that lord of the virtuous, Ramanand, I saw the unearthly brilliance that transcended the three states of consciousness. 40.
There in that brilliance I saw Shri Krishna roaming in Vrinda- van, worshipped by Radha and engrossed in playing the flute. 41.
Having saluted Him with folded hands. I pleaded to Him to be gracious to me. The god being pleased, delighting me with His word, told thus. 42.
That man by name Ramanand, the head of Vaisnavs, is my intent devotee and you know that he is himself Uddhav. 43.
By that virtue, my real Darshan was revealed to you, and He is manifested here to bless this world by my will. 44
By serving him, your desire will be fulfilled, no doubt, and those others who will be taking his shelter will also be relieved from this worldly current. 45
Those that own up undivided thought and repose their firm faith in me as well as in Him would visualize me in this life. 46
Even ignorant of my magnanimity, men as well as women and sinners, if they seek to tread his path, I will take all of them to my abode at the end of their lives, having given them my Darshan as well as destroyed their blemishes. 47- 48
‘Hence you should take his shelter with love and be happy’. Having drunk these nectarine words of Shri Hari, I obtained bliss that beggared description. 49
Thereafter, having got up, I took to his discipleship. O good Brahmin, He having named me Sahajanand, told thus. 50
Life and teachings of guru Ramanand.
The nature of the individual self (Jiva), Maya (cosmic illusion) and the highest self should be learnt by you from the works of Ramanujacharya. 51
Regarding all the vows and festivals that are to be observed in the name of Krishna, you should take directions from the works of Srivitthalesh Goswami, which ascertain on that. 52
Even the methods of serving lord Krishna are to be taken from there. No other master has issued forth this way of rendering the loving service unto the lord. 53
If any act is done by great people which, at times, may be against the ordinance of the sacred text, such act should not be considered as their fault. 54
I was blessed and asked by my guru to grasp only good qualities from both great and mean men alike, as well as the good essence from the scriptures, as did Dattatreya Muni. 55
He was also from Kosal province and belonged in Saravs. Ram Sharma by name, he was a Brahmin, an abode of virtues, and pursued the Rgveda. 56
Due to his past merits, he was devoted to Krishna naturally from his childhood, O Brahmin, with an intense detachment
towards other things. 57
Having consecrated by the threading ceremony, he left his home under the rise of pursuing the Veda, the pure and desire- less soul went to the forest alone. 58
Reflecting on Krishna - the conquerer of the senses - alone in his heart, that purifier of the world, wandered about holy fords & places, and finally came to Saurashtra. 59
There he happened to see a great ascetic by name Atmanand, who was following strict celibacy, and was an intense dispassionate. He was a good disciple of an avowed celibate Gopalanand who lived in Gopanath, a place of Shiva. 60 - 61
Ramsharma, having his discipleship under the tutelage of Atmanand, remaining an avowed celibate, became renowned as Ramanand, learnt Yoga with all its ancillaries. 62
Having visualized a formless glow of Brahman in Samadhi, Ramsharma said to his master thus: ‘I desire to see a mega figure of Shri Krishna in my meditation (Dhyan).’ 63
The master insisted that the formless glow itself was real and true; there was no other Krishna. Having heard thus, he became despondent, and renouncing him, left that place. 64
In the quest of a Vaishnav preceptor who would prove to him of ‘Shri Krishna’s Supreme Brahman status and his manifestation in person to many’, he came to a holy place called SriRangam. 65
There in Srirangam, he having worshipped and propitiated Shri Ramanujacharya (Idol) received the Vaishnav initiation with five necessary consecrations. 66
Following the traditional tenets of Bhagavat-Dharma as told by Ramanujacharya, and reflecting in Krishna while meditating, he saw Him in person while worshipping Him. 67
Thus all his desires were fulfilled. Thenceforth according to his master’s instructions he travelled about the world and taught devotion towards Krishna to the seekers of salvation. 68
Those who had become His disciples also experienced realization of the highest order by His grace and with this, they also became virtuous followers. 69
Taking shelter under Him, some men as well as women saw Krishna in their Samadhi, and from then on they abandoned partaking of meat and wine. 70
He became renowned all over with His undeceiving devotion, knowledge, restraints & restrictions, self-religion, dis- interestedness and self-realization. 71
People worshipped Him and bequeath him clothes, ornaments and money (wealth). He utilized them for righteous deeds without using anything for himself. 72
That noble master gave away clothes, ornaments and other articles, mostly to the Bramhins and he caused to build many asylums (food distribution centers), O Brahmin. 73
People thought of him very highly, as one who conquered the senses and was desire-less, greedless, a destitute of possession, one without anger and having no ego. 74
Other wicked Vaishnav hypocrites who were desirous only of women and sensual objects could not tolerate his eminence. 75
Those crooked minded men wishing to insult him imposed false charges on him though he was flawless, and denounced him by blaming Him as well. 76
They used to raise disputes with him on philosophical issues, but all of them were defeated. None could be triumphant (against him), O Brahmin. 77
Thus defeated, they becoming more violent and began to tor- ment that benign being, denouncing him with vilifying remarks. 78
Some miscreants taking him aside washed off his forehead mark. Some sundered his garland and cut the hair on the crown of his head. 79
Some intoxicated men broke the seat of the lord, and some stole his raiment and the Krishna idols. 80
Some wicked Vaishnavs possessing arms demolished the asylums, having evacuated the sages taking shelter there. 81
Enduring all the afflictions rendered by the wicked often, he soon moved to Vrindavan and lived there in a secluded place. 82
Meditating on Krishna single-mindedly, he, the noble minded sage began to live there. By His will, he got inspired to promote a new path. 83
Having abandoned all outward ostentations of Vaishnav acharya causing trouble, he formed his new path in conformity with scriptures. 84
He studied the works of Ramanujacharya for spiritual gaining knowledge, and in consonance with the same he promulgated a new path of Bhagavat Dharma. 85
Reviving devotion with self-religion in his path, he the benefactor of seekers of liberation roamed about holy fords on the earth. 86
With the grace of the master and Shri Krishna, all those that he blessed were immediately able to visualize Krishna in their Samadhi. 87
Traveling to Dwarika he came to Raivatak Mountain where he, the benefactor of men stayed back at the spot where Krishna had once played as a child. 88
‘O great Brahmin, He is my Guru who indeed is an incarnate of Uddhav. He was the promoter of devotion in Krishna, and was no lesser even by an atom than Shri Krishna Himself. 89
Thereafter I proclaimed to the Vaishnavs under his shelter and others who were present there that ‘He is our meritorious master (preceptor), who is truly Uddhav himself. 90
‘Hence our tradition with the acceptance of all Vaishnavs is called ‘Ouddhav tradition’. Hearing this, the all affirmed and endorsed it by saying ‘so be it’. 91
Our such preceptor entrusted me with the responsibility of his sect and disappeared. With his providence I am acting as a chief of this tradition. 92
Tenets of Uddhav tradition.
Having known about our new tradition, men of other religious bigots began to trouble our sages excessively in every town. 93
In their hours of calamity they lived accordingly with the time. In their happy times they lived in tune with time, by my support. 94
By the influence of the meritorious preceptor and the king’s protection of religion, we are doing well now. Hence we continue to act the same way we did in the past. 95
This way I have told you about my tradition. Shri Krishna is our favourite deity. He is the supreme soul, Supreme Brahman and the cause of all causes. 96
He is called Radhakrishna with Radhika, he is Lakshmi- Narayan with Lakshmi or Rukmini. 97
O Brahmin, with Arjun he becomes NarNarayan (epithet) and with Balabhadra and others he is called with those names. 98
Shri Vasudev and others are his four prominent manifestations and his main epithets are twenty-four beginning with Keshav and others. 90
Though Padmanabh, Varah and others are his earlier forms, by virtue of their being incarnations of Krishna, all the manifestations of Him are adorable to us. 100
Shankar being the foremost Vaishnav, who preached and guided the sons of Prachet in devotion to Vishnu, is most venerable to us with Parvati. 101
Shri Ganesh being an incarnation of Krishna is adorable to us as also Hanuman-Maruti, he being our family deity. 102
The Sun god with Gayatri hymn is the tutelary deity of ours, and hence worshipped. Now I will tell about authoritative scriptures, on spiritual knowledge agreeable to me. 103
The Vedas, Upanishads and Aphorisms (Shariraksutras or Brahma Sutras) of Vyas are the scriptures we follow, O great Brahmin. 104.
The Bhagavat Puran of ten characteristics and the Bhagvad Gita featuring in Bhismaparva of Mahabharat. 105
Vishnusahasranam (one thousand epithets of Vishnu) appearing in Mahabharat uttered and glorified by Bhishm and the moral science as laid down by Vidur in Udyogparv. 106
Vasudeva-mahatmya in VaishnavKand of Skand Puran and the YajnavalkyaSmrti (A text on Dharma by sage Yajnavalkya) are the scriptures that are authoritative to me. 107
Among all these, I regard two philosophical works as prominent – Brahma Sutra and Bhagavad Gita as expounded by Shri Ramanujacharya (according to Srivaisnavism). 108
The text on Dharma by Yajnavalkya called Yajnavalkyasmriti with its commentary named Mitakshar is accepted by me for right understanding of custom or social relations and also for expiation of the sins. 109
To particularly gain knowledge on the divine excellence of Shri Krishna, according to me the fifth and the tenth cantos of Srimad Bhagavat Puran have to be studied. 110
The other scriptures that follow the ways of the Vedas are considered authentic in our tradition since these repose faith in the Supreme Being. 111
We worship Goddess Lakshmi, the Lord’s primal prowess (Shakti) as the foremost goddess. A garland of Tulasi sacred wood should be worn by the Brahmins, around their necks. 112.
‘O Brahmin! Sudras should wear the garland made of sandal or other woods of fine beads after getting it purified by placing it on the holy feet of Krishna idol. 113.
A worshipper of Shri krishna should mark his forehead with upward lines with a moonlike dot in between using Gopichandan (a kind of white slime) or by the Sandal paste. 114.
The remnant of the vermilion offered in worship to Radhalakshmi to be used to mark the dot in the middle of those upward lines, O Brahmin, according to Uddhav tradition. 115.
These sages who are here, have renounced the pleasures of the common; their devotion as well as mine could be likened to the devotion of Bharat, the son of Rshabhadev. 116.
These sages are without ego or attachment of any sort. They have abandoned their sense of ‘me and mine’ as well as violence, and are dedicated to their selves like him (Bharat). All these qualities are representative of them. 117.
Despite being an ascetic devoted to Krishna, he that has not merited these virtues will be barred from our Uddhav path. 118.
O Brahmin, those who are here, the devoted commoners who observe their religious duties are akin to king Ambarish. 119.
Thus two ways of devotion are told in our tradition, which are to be followed according to one’s ability and status - as a commoner or an ascetic, O good Brahmin. 120.
Our sages are comparable to likes of Bharat. They tread the path of Paramahamsas of Bhagavat. 121
Hence they are called ‘Paramahamsas’ by our followers. Thus all of your queries have been answered. 122.
King Harisinh taking refuge in Shri Hari.
Suvrat said:-
Thus hearing the words of the master, the Brahmin, seeker of salvation, thinking of Shri Hari as the revered guru, took shelter under Him firmly without an iota of doubt. 123.
By Guru’s grace, the Brahmin visualized Shri Krishna with Radha in Samadhi, and was very contented. 124.
Thereafter the Brahmin told whatever he saw and heard to king Harisinh. 125.
O king, Then the noble-minded king being delighted, surrendered himself unto Shri Hari. He experienced bliss in the process as well as his attendants there. 126.
On hearing from the Lord about the enlightenment proffered by their tradition, the sages became happy. There they celebrated the ‘festival of swing’ and went on to roam about the earth, without the fear of enemies. 127.
Thus ends the Thirty-seventh chapter entitled ‘Enlightening on Uddhav tradition’ in the second Prakarana of Satsangijivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as ‘Dharmashastra’ (the rules of the code of conduct). 37
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