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Pinnacle of devotion

CHENNAI: The manifestation of God in human form as Krishna is especially inspiring to the devotional fraternity as His childhood sports in Gokul made Him accessible yet proclaimed His divinity. The Narayaneeyam of Bhattatiri highlights Krishna’s glory closely following the Bhagavata Purana. While all those who witnessed His superhuman deeds were devotees of the highest order, there were some who possessed extraordinary devotion and they were favoured by the Lord for His singular grace. The cowherd women (Gopis) were a case in point.

In their discourse, Damal Sri Ramakrishnan and Srimathi Perundevi Seshadri said the Rasakrida (dance sport) of Lord Krishna with the Gopis was the pinnacle of ecstatic devotion described in this Purana. The esoteric significance of this special grace showered on the Gopis can be understood only by a mind purified by devotion. This was clarified by Sage Suka when Pareekshit questioned him about the propriety of these women seeking the Lord at night. Bhattatiri, who was witness to this rare sport when he composed this devotional work, attests that even the celestials rushed to behold this wonder: “Vasudeva! Hearing from afar the great beauty of Thy resplendent Rasa dance which was described to them by Sage Narada, all the gods, full of eagerness to see, rushed to the sky all together from heaven…” He observes that such infinite indescribable bliss experienced by the Gopis in the Lord’s company, which is attainable only by great Yogis, earned for them the respect of even the gods.

Akrura is another devotee who was blessed with the insight that Krishna was the Lord incarnate and his devotion found its consummation when he was chosen by Kamsa to bring Krishna to Mathura. He who had no hopes of meeting the Lord for he had lived in abject fear of Kamsa all his life, now felt so overwhelmed that he felt that he had attained the objective of his birth. Krishna did not stop with according a loving welcome when Akrura reached Nandagopa’s house but also blessed him with the vision of His all-pervading divine form in the waters of the Yamuna when they halted on the way to perform the evening ablution.

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