Krishna's Love as a shelter
Masses of tourists – around three million every year - travel from Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Right in between is a region which most of them miss. Braj is considered as «the eternal land of love», located very close to India’s symbol of Love – and nobody takes notice of it.
The chanting is something that captures you immediately. Entering Vrindavan at night, you can hear the Hare-Krishna-Mantra through the calmness of the night. «The chanting here happens 24 hours non-stop», explains a young English Krishna devotee from London at the Krishna Balaram temple the next day. He has wrapped a dhoti around his waist and a tilak is shining from his forehead. Early evening is the perfect time to visit this huge temple made of white marble. The sunlight dives the scenery in a warming atmosphere. In one corner, a group of woman in colourful saris is making garlands for the morning arati, other people are just gathering in the temple area, enjoying the music. The singing to the Lord in the hours of early evenings is called «Mangla». It happens every day one hour before sunrise because this is considered as the most auspicious time. In a way, the atmosphere is alike to an open-air-concert. People enter the temple and prostrate in front of the deity of Lord Krishna, some of them lie flat on the ground to praise their lord.
A young western woman is entering the temple wearing a very colourful dress. She is not walking towards the altar, she is actually running, her arms outstretched in the air. It’s a very joyful gesture, as if welcoming a friend who just reached home from very far. One young western is dancing, completely absorbed in his own world. Obviously, Krishna has the ability to initiate very strong feelings in his followers. But what exactly makes them feel this eternal bliss?
Home of Indian culture
According to the mythology, Lord Krishna came to earth around 5000 years ago. He could have chosen any other place, but he decided to come to Braj. The place is therefore culturally very well demarcated, but has never been a clearly defined political region in India. What even not many Indians know: Braj is not only Mathura and Vrindavan, it spans over 1500 villages and 5000 sq. kms.
Born in Mathura, Krishna later on moved to Vrindavan where he spent his childhood. On the riverbanks of Yamuna, he played pranks with his friends, the gopis, and stole butter from his mother. A small boy who is god at the same time – this is probably unique throughout all religions in the world. The very fact that Krishna lived and touched the earth makes it for Believers a holy place. The young English devotee says: «For me, this is very touching. Krishna could just run by, right in this moment». Twice a year he comes here to recharge his batteries. «This place is stuck in my heart forever».
Krishna is in the soil of Vrindavan. Braj is about how it all began. Thereby only few Hindus bother to question the historicity of Krishna, because there is no reason to believe that the events did not take place precisely in the way they are narrated in the scriptures. For the young London guy, the most beautiful thing of Vrindavan is the deities of the Krishna Balaram Temple: «If I look in their eyes, I see an ocean of mercy».
Fanning the deity
A deity is a form of the Lord, every temple has its own and unique deity. Vaishanvas – Hindus who follow God Vishnu and his atavars - are extremely attentive to the deities dress and overall appearance. Every day, they dress him up differently and give him food. The style and thickness of the garments vary according to the season. In some Ashrams, the caring doesn’t stop at the point of feeding and clothing him, it goes even beyond: Krishna feels hot in the summer heat, so the devotees work in shifts and fan the deity - from April to October, from morning till night. This is one thing that one must understand: The deities are not an image of God, they literally ARE God.
Alouk is a young Indian who lives in Jodphur and came for a day trip to Vrindavan. He’s not a Krishna follower per se, «but all Indians adore Krishna». Vaishnavas make up approximately 70% of the total of all followers of Hinduism. Pointing to a man playing the Harmonium he says: «I appreciate the way the singer is involved in his singing. You can easily make out he’s a foreigner, but the impression on his face shows he’s obviously feeling something about Krishna – maybe even more than me».
The most successful propagator of Vaishnavism in the West was A.C Baktivedant Swami, among devotees called Prabhupad. He founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISCKON), in the west known as «The Hare Krishnas». Prabhupad stressed ritual practices like the Mangla rather than emotionalism because he believed the latter to be too advanced for western people. He himself lived in Vrindavan and built the Krishna Balaram temple 1975.
A relationship with God
Prabhupads story of success continuous: 23-year-old Eccaradha joined ISCKON three years ago. Since one year, she is initiated, means her Guru gave her a devotional name. Wrapped in a blue sari, it’s obvious that she already slightly drifted away from the world she used to belong to. She’s Italian but comes to India as much as possible. Krishna has also left traces on her face: She’s smiling and one could think she just fell in love. From all the expressions you could think of, «boyfriend» is probably the most convenient to describe the status she has given to Krishna. Kidding with a young Brajwasi, she turns down his invitation for dinner because she doesn’t want to neglect Gokul (Krishna). Her belief that people of Vindavan are happier than elsewhere is strong: «If you have a relationship with God, you can’t be sad».
Kishore Das Baba is born in Vrindavan and will die here. «I burnt my life with this earth like a fire». Together with around 150 rishis he lives in an Ashram with lush green trees, yellow windows and doors, the main material to walk on is sand. Rishis devote their lives to Krishna without any conditions. They are Hindu Saints, originally divinely inspired singers or poets. They don’t have a family or left it earlier in their lives. Kishore Das only wears dhoti, his upper part of the body is naked. Around his neck he wears a necklace out of Tulsi beads. In a poetic language, he declares: «Braj is the ocean; Mathura the Lotus flower and Vrindavan «makrant», the smelling part just below the Lotus flower. And Krishna is the honeybee who sucks the flowers». His speaking and gestures are theatrically; his eyes are almost rolling out of the eyehole. A child most likely would start crying by looking at him. His words stress the love he feels for this place and the playfulness of Lord Krishna. Krishna doesn’t want to dwell on one flower, he want to try different ones. Kishore Das adds: «Braj is god’s playground».
Krishna as father figure
Govinda sits in the corner of the ISCKON temple and helps making the garlands with her swift fingers. She loves flowers. Her first few months in Vrindavan are deep fixed in her memory. She used to pick the tulsi leaves from the trees as a service to the Lord and deep inside, she could feel something is changing. «It was a feeling of having found something very meaningful to my life». Since the tulsi service, 16 years passed and she still has not left Vrindavan. Making the garlands is her service to worship Krishna nowadays, and this would give her so much energy. The 46-years old considers Krishna as a divine father and his associate Radha as the sweet mother who is always very kind to her children. She mentions that she has a 14 year old son who goes to the Gurukul school just next to the temple. «Sometimes, he’s playing soccer with Krishna».
Among the locals, the ISCKON temple is only known as the «angrayz mandir», the temple of the white people. In the lives of the Brajwasis and Brajbonitas, Krishna plays a slightly different role. Praveen Bagag is 19 years old. His family is settled in Vrindavan since the 8th generation. All Praveen knows about Krishna he learnt from his parents. He lives a spiritual life, is a pure vegetarian, but still he has to work to earn his living. «The foreigners who come here have more time to do the chanting. That makes our environment more pure». The relation between the foreigners and the Brajwasis has always been good, because there is a common ground. Brajwasis are generally very proud of belonging to this place, and the awareness of Vaishnava culture is very deep. Praveen: «If the children here learn how to speak, the first thing they get taught is not how to address their parents. The first words they learn are Radhe, Radhe to address God».
In Vrindavan, everything seems to revolve around the same epicentre. Like the earth revolves around the sun and the flowers turn towards the sunlight, everyone is spiritually focused on Lord Krishna. By chanting God’s name, the people are constantly reminded of the importance of Lord Krishna. It is the centralisation of their energies towards something superior, and they all share it, they are all a part of it. As kids we used to ask our best friends to write something in friendship books and stick in a photo. This practise was all about reassuring each other that we were part of a group, that we belonged, that we weren’t alone. In Krishna’s home city, the devotees are among themselves and live their lives under the shelter of Krishna’s love. And if they talk about this love, they may also talk about the strength of togetherness which the Vaishnava community gives them. According to the circle of life, Krishna adjusts in different roles: A Rishi uses Lord Krishna as his source of inspiration, a young woman wishes to have a boyfriend with whom she can experience adventures, a woman in her 40ies looks for some solace of a father figure and a 14-year old more than anything else wants to have a soccer mate. Krishna has the ability to serve all these needs because he’s a many-sided, opalescent personality. «Love is very wide», as one rishi puts it in word. Maybe Krishna is nothing else than the energy on the very short way between the two of us.
published in: Consecration N° 4 (volume 3) Jul/Aug 2007
The chanting is something that captures you immediately. Entering Vrindavan at night, you can hear the Hare-Krishna-Mantra through the calmness of the night. «The chanting here happens 24 hours non-stop», explains a young English Krishna devotee from London at the Krishna Balaram temple the next day. He has wrapped a dhoti around his waist and a tilak is shining from his forehead. Early evening is the perfect time to visit this huge temple made of white marble. The sunlight dives the scenery in a warming atmosphere. In one corner, a group of woman in colourful saris is making garlands for the morning arati, other people are just gathering in the temple area, enjoying the music. The singing to the Lord in the hours of early evenings is called «Mangla». It happens every day one hour before sunrise because this is considered as the most auspicious time. In a way, the atmosphere is alike to an open-air-concert. People enter the temple and prostrate in front of the deity of Lord Krishna, some of them lie flat on the ground to praise their lord.
A young western woman is entering the temple wearing a very colourful dress. She is not walking towards the altar, she is actually running, her arms outstretched in the air. It’s a very joyful gesture, as if welcoming a friend who just reached home from very far. One young western is dancing, completely absorbed in his own world. Obviously, Krishna has the ability to initiate very strong feelings in his followers. But what exactly makes them feel this eternal bliss?
Home of Indian culture
According to the mythology, Lord Krishna came to earth around 5000 years ago. He could have chosen any other place, but he decided to come to Braj. The place is therefore culturally very well demarcated, but has never been a clearly defined political region in India. What even not many Indians know: Braj is not only Mathura and Vrindavan, it spans over 1500 villages and 5000 sq. kms.
Born in Mathura, Krishna later on moved to Vrindavan where he spent his childhood. On the riverbanks of Yamuna, he played pranks with his friends, the gopis, and stole butter from his mother. A small boy who is god at the same time – this is probably unique throughout all religions in the world. The very fact that Krishna lived and touched the earth makes it for Believers a holy place. The young English devotee says: «For me, this is very touching. Krishna could just run by, right in this moment». Twice a year he comes here to recharge his batteries. «This place is stuck in my heart forever».
Krishna is in the soil of Vrindavan. Braj is about how it all began. Thereby only few Hindus bother to question the historicity of Krishna, because there is no reason to believe that the events did not take place precisely in the way they are narrated in the scriptures. For the young London guy, the most beautiful thing of Vrindavan is the deities of the Krishna Balaram Temple: «If I look in their eyes, I see an ocean of mercy».
Fanning the deity
A deity is a form of the Lord, every temple has its own and unique deity. Vaishanvas – Hindus who follow God Vishnu and his atavars - are extremely attentive to the deities dress and overall appearance. Every day, they dress him up differently and give him food. The style and thickness of the garments vary according to the season. In some Ashrams, the caring doesn’t stop at the point of feeding and clothing him, it goes even beyond: Krishna feels hot in the summer heat, so the devotees work in shifts and fan the deity - from April to October, from morning till night. This is one thing that one must understand: The deities are not an image of God, they literally ARE God.
Alouk is a young Indian who lives in Jodphur and came for a day trip to Vrindavan. He’s not a Krishna follower per se, «but all Indians adore Krishna». Vaishnavas make up approximately 70% of the total of all followers of Hinduism. Pointing to a man playing the Harmonium he says: «I appreciate the way the singer is involved in his singing. You can easily make out he’s a foreigner, but the impression on his face shows he’s obviously feeling something about Krishna – maybe even more than me».
The most successful propagator of Vaishnavism in the West was A.C Baktivedant Swami, among devotees called Prabhupad. He founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISCKON), in the west known as «The Hare Krishnas». Prabhupad stressed ritual practices like the Mangla rather than emotionalism because he believed the latter to be too advanced for western people. He himself lived in Vrindavan and built the Krishna Balaram temple 1975.
A relationship with God
Prabhupads story of success continuous: 23-year-old Eccaradha joined ISCKON three years ago. Since one year, she is initiated, means her Guru gave her a devotional name. Wrapped in a blue sari, it’s obvious that she already slightly drifted away from the world she used to belong to. She’s Italian but comes to India as much as possible. Krishna has also left traces on her face: She’s smiling and one could think she just fell in love. From all the expressions you could think of, «boyfriend» is probably the most convenient to describe the status she has given to Krishna. Kidding with a young Brajwasi, she turns down his invitation for dinner because she doesn’t want to neglect Gokul (Krishna). Her belief that people of Vindavan are happier than elsewhere is strong: «If you have a relationship with God, you can’t be sad».
Kishore Das Baba is born in Vrindavan and will die here. «I burnt my life with this earth like a fire». Together with around 150 rishis he lives in an Ashram with lush green trees, yellow windows and doors, the main material to walk on is sand. Rishis devote their lives to Krishna without any conditions. They are Hindu Saints, originally divinely inspired singers or poets. They don’t have a family or left it earlier in their lives. Kishore Das only wears dhoti, his upper part of the body is naked. Around his neck he wears a necklace out of Tulsi beads. In a poetic language, he declares: «Braj is the ocean; Mathura the Lotus flower and Vrindavan «makrant», the smelling part just below the Lotus flower. And Krishna is the honeybee who sucks the flowers». His speaking and gestures are theatrically; his eyes are almost rolling out of the eyehole. A child most likely would start crying by looking at him. His words stress the love he feels for this place and the playfulness of Lord Krishna. Krishna doesn’t want to dwell on one flower, he want to try different ones. Kishore Das adds: «Braj is god’s playground».
Krishna as father figure
Govinda sits in the corner of the ISCKON temple and helps making the garlands with her swift fingers. She loves flowers. Her first few months in Vrindavan are deep fixed in her memory. She used to pick the tulsi leaves from the trees as a service to the Lord and deep inside, she could feel something is changing. «It was a feeling of having found something very meaningful to my life». Since the tulsi service, 16 years passed and she still has not left Vrindavan. Making the garlands is her service to worship Krishna nowadays, and this would give her so much energy. The 46-years old considers Krishna as a divine father and his associate Radha as the sweet mother who is always very kind to her children. She mentions that she has a 14 year old son who goes to the Gurukul school just next to the temple. «Sometimes, he’s playing soccer with Krishna».
Among the locals, the ISCKON temple is only known as the «angrayz mandir», the temple of the white people. In the lives of the Brajwasis and Brajbonitas, Krishna plays a slightly different role. Praveen Bagag is 19 years old. His family is settled in Vrindavan since the 8th generation. All Praveen knows about Krishna he learnt from his parents. He lives a spiritual life, is a pure vegetarian, but still he has to work to earn his living. «The foreigners who come here have more time to do the chanting. That makes our environment more pure». The relation between the foreigners and the Brajwasis has always been good, because there is a common ground. Brajwasis are generally very proud of belonging to this place, and the awareness of Vaishnava culture is very deep. Praveen: «If the children here learn how to speak, the first thing they get taught is not how to address their parents. The first words they learn are Radhe, Radhe to address God».
In Vrindavan, everything seems to revolve around the same epicentre. Like the earth revolves around the sun and the flowers turn towards the sunlight, everyone is spiritually focused on Lord Krishna. By chanting God’s name, the people are constantly reminded of the importance of Lord Krishna. It is the centralisation of their energies towards something superior, and they all share it, they are all a part of it. As kids we used to ask our best friends to write something in friendship books and stick in a photo. This practise was all about reassuring each other that we were part of a group, that we belonged, that we weren’t alone. In Krishna’s home city, the devotees are among themselves and live their lives under the shelter of Krishna’s love. And if they talk about this love, they may also talk about the strength of togetherness which the Vaishnava community gives them. According to the circle of life, Krishna adjusts in different roles: A Rishi uses Lord Krishna as his source of inspiration, a young woman wishes to have a boyfriend with whom she can experience adventures, a woman in her 40ies looks for some solace of a father figure and a 14-year old more than anything else wants to have a soccer mate. Krishna has the ability to serve all these needs because he’s a many-sided, opalescent personality. «Love is very wide», as one rishi puts it in word. Maybe Krishna is nothing else than the energy on the very short way between the two of us.
published in: Consecration N° 4 (volume 3) Jul/Aug 2007
Eduschka - 23. Sep, 20:16
