A world of colours full of tall green mountains, lush green fields, dense forests of fir & aspen, thunderous white waterfalls, beautiful blue lakes and rivers and flowers of all shapes, sizes & colors dotted the landscape.
GAULOK – The Realm of Cows. The Eternal Abode of Radha -Krishna and all their friends and devotees.
Dhama couldn’t take his eyes off from the beautiful world in front of him. As the vessel landed, Narad Muni led Dhama through the different landscapes to the beautiful palace of Radha-Krishna.
As they neared the palace, they could hear the sound of music and the singing of hymns in the praise of the Lord, Sri Narad understood it was time for the daily Aarti. He guided them in the direction of the singing and they soon reached the courtyard. However, when Dhama listened to the hymns closely, he heard they were being sung in praise of Radhe-Krishna. Again, Dhama’s senses were enraged. Unseeing the beauty in front of his eyes, Dhama was filled with rage thinking how people could take anyone else’s name before his Lord’s. He kept fuming and complaining about it to Narad Muni, who simply smiled at him, but refused to explain anything saying it was not his place to do so. The courtyard was filled with happy gops & gopis praying to their Lords Radha-Krishna, who sat in a beautifully decorated swing in the centre of the courtyard. Made with the beautiful white wood of the deodar, the swing was decorated with beguiling flowers and peacock shaped arches at its sides, while alluring kaleidoscopic peacock feathers adorned the backside of the swing. Radha-Krishna, sat in the midst of the swing, swaying to the rhythm of love and devotion.
As soon as Dhama saw his Lord Shri Krishna, all his misgivings gave way. Dhama was experiencing what could only be described as pure bliss. Dhama’s eyes gave way to tears of joy once again. He was crying and laughing at the same time. Looking at the smiling face of his Lord, Dhama was extremely happy, eyes full of the joy of devotion. Just then, Lord Krishna saw his devotee Shri Dhama and smiled on seeing the joy in his face. Dhama’s devotion for his Lord increased manifold and he experienced euphoric bliss unlike anything else.
Soon the hymns stopped, and it was time for the MahaBhog – the offering of food to the Gods. Lord Krishna’s favorite food – Maakhan (White Butter) was brought in an earthen pot & offered to Radha. Dhama’s rage knew no bounds when he saw that Radha took some maakhan in her hands, ate some of it and offered the rest to Shri Krishna.
HOW DARE SHE? HOW DARE SHE CONTAMINATE THE FOOD THAT’S SUPPOSED TO BE OFFERED TO THE LORD? HOW CAN SHE EAT BEFORE THE LORD?
However, he controlled his rage till the time he got to talk with his Lord by himself. He decided to help his Lord come out of this Maya by himself. Radha & her followers must have misled Krishna into all this. Surely there was some trickery involved.
Once the Aarti was over, Dhama walked over some distance lost in his thoughts. As he looked around himself, he was again awestruck by the beauty of his Lord’s realm. On one side, he saw a huge, glistening lake, beautiful and calm as his Lord. On the other side was a cliff, at the edge of which roared the largest and biggest waterfalls he had ever seen. He was looking closely at the waterfalls, there was something odd about them, when there was a sound from behind him…
“Dhaama…” someone called lovingly.
Dhama couldn’t believe his eyes when he turned behind. He could see his Lord’s image in the water of the lake near him. He bent down crying with joy, touching his Lord’s image in the water, wishing if only he had brought some container with him that he could take some of that water back with him…
“Strange, isn’t it? A devotee always prays to God to be by his side, but gets lost in his signs, marks, symbols and other such tokens. Didn’t you worship for years for this moment? Now I’m standing in front of you and you’re still looking for me in reflections.” Said Lord Krishna spreading his arms in a gesture of welcome.
Dhama fell down & touched the feet of his Lord lovingly, forgetting all his pain, all his fears and everything else. The Lord blessed him affectionately and lifted him to his feet, hugging him dearly.
“So, what is it that you wish to tell me Dhama?”
“Umm… Lord Brahma has given this message…”
“Not that, you can tell me that later. I know there’s something else you wished to talk to me about. Speak freely.”
“My Lord, you are pure, chaste and innocent of mind. In all of creation, no devotee of yours can bear to take your name after anyone else’s. I feel you have been misled by some people into giving someone else a status above you. I cannot bear to think that Radha’s name is taken before you. How can people disrespect you like this? How can you let them do this to you, My Lord?”
Lord smiled calmly, “My dear Dhama, you are yet to understand fully the truth of Radha. Krishna is incomplete without Radha & Radha without Krishna. Can you see this waterfall? Look closely, do you see anything different?
Dhama looked at the falls again and now he saw it clearly. The water was flowing in the reverse direction. It was flowing from the bottom to the top!
“How is this possible, my Lord? This is a miracle!!”
“The one who falls down because of the earth’s attraction is Dhara.
The one who rises above all attractions is Radha.
The one who loses its identity by merging into the sea is Dhara.
The one who’s identity emerges after merging is Radha
If every breath that comes out is Krishna,
Then every breath that goes in is Radha.
If Krishna is the Essence of Life,
Then Radha is its Foundation.
Now tell me my friend, can the Essence be ever bigger than the Foundation?”
Lord Krishna looked inquiringly at Dhama. A brief silence prevailed before Dhama spoke up again.
“I don’t know about all that my Lord. But how can Love be greater than Devotion? Doesn’t our Shastra teach us that pure Devotion is the highest form of virtue?
How can any other emotion be above it?
How can a river be bigger than the sea?
How can water flow from down to up?
This is all Maya, an Illusion.
Love itself is an Illusion, my Lord.” Dhama argued back, hoping he could make his Lord see the truth he could see.
“Hmm… it could be. Maybe you’re right, maybe I am right. A devotee might have his Lord to rely upon to solve his problems and his doubts, but whom can God turn to when he needs help?” Lord Krishna said with a sad smile on his face.
“I will help you God. I will take care of your problems. Please, let me prove it. Let me prove my words to you. Give me one opportunity to show you the truth.”
“Tathaastu. Give your best”, saying so the Lord left Dhama behind lost in contemplation, pondering how best to help his Lord get out of this Maya.
Few hours later, it was time for the evening Aarti. Everyone was proceeding towards the courtyard along-with their offerings & minds full of love & devotion. Dhama had decided what he had to do though his mind was anxious. However, it was his duty to help his Lord out of this deception. He steeled himself and walked towards the courtyard.
Soon everyone had gathered in the courtyard, including Radhe- Krishna. As soon as everyone started singing bhajans & hymns in praise of them, Dhama interrupted everyone & walked to the centre of the courtyard, stopping in front of the seated Radhe- Krishna.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL? HAS EVERYONE BEEN SO ENGULFED IN THIS DECEPTION THAT NONE OF YOU CAN SEE THE TRUTH?
OUR LORD IS LORD SHRI KRISHNA.
How can you give this woman who’s a mere lover of our Lord an equal status as Him? How can you take his name before our Lord’s? Have you any idea what a big Sin is being committed here?
Nonetheless, all of this will end today. With my knowledge, my research & my devotion, today I will prove to you the depth of your folly, the grave Sin all of you have been committing.
He looked towards his Lord, asking for permission, who in turn looked towards Radha for the same. Unbeknownst to others, a silent communication happened between the two bringing a smile on their faces & Shri Krishna nodded his approval to Dhama.
Dhama, though shocked at his Lord asking permission from someone else, gulped his anger and proceeded towards proving his words, hoping his greatest experiment could come to fruit and demonstrate the truth to everyone else.
My fellow brothers & sisters, with permission of my Lord, I request all of you to join me in Prayer. I want all of you to focus solely on our revered Lord Shri Krishna and chant his name with me loudly. Ok? All together in a loud voice, come on…
JAI SHREE KRISHNA!!!
While everybody else chanted loudly, Dhama focused the entire energy onto a small sapling at the edge of the courtyard. As soon as everybody chanted his Lord’s name, the sapling transformed into a majestic tree, a splitting image of Kalpavriksha itself, infused with a divine golden light, shining brightly and laden with luscious and ripe fruits.
Looking at everybody’s awestruck reaction, Dhama was pleased with himself. His experiment had worked. He himself was surprised at the results. He had achieved some minor results in the past, but nothing of this level. He had never imagined something this grand, this impressive, this beautiful could ever exist, let alone be created by the power of a thought. But surely, the power of his Lord’s name was infinite and this was just a small glimpse of that. He had to now move towards proving the other half of his argument.
“Did everyone see that? That’s the Power of the True Lord. That’s the power of my Shri Krishna. The power to transform a small sapling into this beautiful, colossal tree. Now I will demonstrate the sin that you are committing by comparing my Lord with his lover. Now, I request all of you to focus and look at this small snail moving in the grass by the fountains. Can everyone see it? This time we’re going to chant this deceiver Radha’s name only – I want you all to chant Radhe- Radhe with me. All together…
RADHE- RADHE!!!
The courtyard rang with the power of the words chanted and the snail thrummed with energy for a moment, thrown into the air, as if struck by lightning. The crowd looked on with bated breath, expecting another miracle, before the snail burst into smithereens in front of everyone. A murmur arose in the crowd as people started expressing their disbelief at the spectacle in front of them.
“Did you see that, everyone? DID YOU? How a trickster’s name can cause destruction and annihilation? The poor creature was completely obliterated in front of everyone’s eyes. And you wanted to take this person’s name before my Lord’s?
He took a moment to let his words sink into everyone. However, all he could see were heads shaking in disagreement.
You still don’t believe me, do you? No problem, let’s try it once again, shall we? Can you all see that beautiful large butterfly by the flowers near the pool? Look at the beauty of our Lord’s creation and see what this deceiver’s name does to that beauty. FOCUS on this butterfly and chant again with me –
RADHE- RADHE!!!
Everybody held their breaths, hoping that the result would be different this time, but again, a strong surge of energy held the butterfly in place and within seconds, it was zapped to smithereens. A suppressing stillness caught hold of the crowd, every person was stunned to silence. There was a sadness lingering in the air, an air of anxiety on everyone’s faces as people wondered what was going to happen now.
Dhama was trying to look everyone in the eye, challenging anyone to prove him wrong. As he looked from left to right searching for any dissident voices, daring anyone to refute him, his eyes fell on a small girl of five or six, looking at him shyly while hiding behind a gopi.
Dhama plundered on as he smelt victory. He called the little girl towards him. “Are you people still in doubt as to the Truth? Haven’t you seen enough? Do you want more proof?”
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