I was in the rickshaw car with a pujari friend, driving to the local Vrindavan shops to buy different items for Radha Gokulananda.
Those who have experienced life in India would know how intense it can be to search for a rickshaw, drive on one and reach the destination safely. It is funny, at times stressful and definitely not good for your back! It is an adventure.
As we were driving on rickshaw, I shared with my friend a pastime of Advaita Acarya and a sadhu who came to his house to ask about the relationship between Lord Gouranga and Keshava Bharati.
Advaita Acarya first explained to him about the material relationship between the two, namely how Keshava Bharati is a sannyasa guru to Lord Caitanya.
He was about to explain the spiritual relationship when his 5-year-old son came in and interrupted the conversation;
“I know that Kali Yuga has started because my father is saying that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has a guru!”
“How can God himself have a guru?”
“Father, what you are speaking?”
The boy looked at his father with all seriousness.
Advaita Acarya became ecstatic and spoke, “A great Vaisnava has taken birth in my family. How fortunate am I!”
“From this day on, you are my father, and I am your son.”
As I was narrating this pastime the rickshaw driver stopped and announced to us in Hindi that we had reached the destination.
With a big smile, he said to my friend, “I didn’t plan to drive you so far, but because I could hear that you were speaking Gouranga lila, I felt inspired to take you much further than I initially planned.”
He offered us respect and left.
I reflected on this experience.
The Rickshaw driver didn’t understand English. All he could understand were the names of the devotees from Caitanya Bhagavat that he could hear. Simply hearing the names of Gouranga, Advaita Acarya, and Acyutananda was enough for the driver to be inspired to “take care of us”.
Krishna’s names, forms and pastimes are all equally powerful and non-different from Krishna himself.
If we have faith in that and seriously practice the process, we will soon start experiencing how the Lord is present whenever we remember Him, speak about His glories or chant His names.
Try it, experiment, and have your own experiences with the Lord. It works.
Once you experience it, you will want more.
And this is when real spiritual life begins!
Ananta Gopal Das
13.12.2023
Bhakti Wisdom 