Coming or going - the Dhama gives so much mercy
Its so easy to take for granted living in Mayapur – to take for granted the spiritually surcharged atmosphere, the beauty of the cultivation fields with pairs of bullocks yoked together to wooden ploughs in the ancient yet thouroughly practical tradition, the locals threshing grains by the side of the road (and sometimes, as in the case of coriander seeds, putting the fresh plants heaped in the middle of the road so the cars driving over them will separate the seed pods from the plants), the beautiful cows grazing here and there, the simple village life of Mayapur.
But leaving Mayapur one always appreciates the mercy and gravity of life in the Dhama; it’s not long until one is in the hubbub of Kolkata, and soon the Dhama’s shelter is far behind, and once again one is back in the kali yuga, with all kinds of allurements meant to bewilder the mind of everyone.
By the time you reach the airport you are half way back to the Western world and its culture: there is cricket playing on every television, shops stocked high with the latest liquor, and advertising promoting happiness through consumerism in every free space.
Mayapur is different at festival time: so many devotees coming from overseas. You can see their faces drinking the nectar of their first entrance into the Dhama. Lord Caitanya is so merciful to open His storehouse of love in the form of Navadvip Dhama to all of us. I think back to 1996, when I first came to the Dhama and wanted to stay. I wasn’t qualified then, and I still aren’t, but some 15 odd years of chanting has had an effect. Things that I found intolerable back then don’t trouble me: the heat, smoke, dust, horn-blaring bus juggernauts packed with hundreds of sweaty bodies, rubbish, eternal lines for government functions; all these just seem like a pretty insignificant backdrop to the real activities of the Dhama – the mercy of the Lord and his devotees flowing freely everywhere, every day. Krishna gives so many lessons living in the Dhama how we are not these bodies and minds.
One of my Godbrothers now stays in Vrindavan. He says that he likes the “slap factor” of Vrindavan. He said Mayapur is so merciful that he can get into maya here (I am sure his maya is probably my standard of serious Krishna consciousness), but in Vrindavan the Lord gives you a slap as soon as you get off the path.
For me I love the mercy of Mayapur Dhama, it is a cushion against this world and my anistha bhakti and fumbling attempts at anartha nivritti, and at my stage I feel that Mayapur has a pretty good “slap factor” compared to living in the West, where there are so many crutches available to let one forget the realities of life, both spiritual and even material.
Today, while four different parikramas are going out to circumambulate the Dhama, I am in a new Scorpio heading to Kolkata ariport. I have to go back West for a couple of months to maintain the ashram, a solo venture, the Dhama will take of the family while I am away. I had made a solemn vow to do regular puja while West to maintain spiritual focus this time, and Krishna reciprocated amazingly: I saw one of my siksha gurus for the first time in several years just the day before leaving to go West. By his mercy, and that of his servant, the Lord decided to personally accompany me to the pascatya desa. How merciful He is. Here He is, the most recent addition to our little Krishna conscious family, the most merciful Gopala-candra. May we always remain His humble servitors.
Jaya Govinda, Jaya Gopala, Keshava Madhava, dina doyala!
sitala-kirana-kara kalpa-taru-guna-dhara
taru-lata sada rtu-soba
purna-candra-sama jyoti cidananda-maya murti
mahalila-darsana-lobha
“The groves of Vrndavana are charming with soothing moonbeams. The six seasons beautify the
forests wherein the trees fulfill all desires. The blissful personality of Krsna is more effulgent than the
full moon, and one should be eager to have a glimpse of His wonderful pastimes.”
- from Prema Bhakti Candrika by Srila Narottama Das Thakura
