Krishna, The Pot-breaking Butter Thief
As astonishing! A mischievous boy breaks pots and steals butter and ogurt in Gokula.Today, even after 0 years; those memories are so id in the minds of people. Whyis craze for breaking pots so deeply bedded in the Indian psyche on shna's birthday? An inquisitive child was in the ple. She asked her grandmother, ny do people break coconuts in ples?" Her grandma said, "Don't !West follow what our ancestors "The little girl was shocked and ected. She grew up to be an agnostic. orance must pay a heavy pricе! I, too, became obsessed with that ie question, "Why do people break onuts in temples?" No answer! I in Jakarta in 1992. An Indian tleman gave me a book of Quesis and Answers. I found the answer! e hard outer shell of the coconut ifies thefalseego When thefalsel ego is destroyed; only then can one relish a loving relationship with God, through devotional service, which is as tender and sweet as the kernel and coconut water. Every spiritualemotion is generally offset by an appropriate physical gesture. That external gesture is termed ritual. Just blind ritual, without any concept of its devotional significance, makes the heart run dry. This is very much the scene on Gokulashtami-breaking pots for big money! Little Krishna's pot breaking has a deep significance. The concept of 'i' and 'mine' is a characteristic symptom of the false ego. 'I' have butter in 'my' beautiful pot! The delicious butter is my devotion to God; but the decorative pot is covering my devotion just as the false ego covers the soul. Krishna is eagertotastethe hutter butthepot is blocking Him. Therefore, He smashes that pot (false ego) because He is hungry for devotion (butter). Why so much ado about the false ego? When the seed of ignorance sprouts within the heart, it ultimately grows into an enormous tree of illusion with the formidablemind as its trunk and the dissipated intelligence as its many branches. The countless leaves are incessant desires that haunt us, day and night, and the fragrant colourful flowers are the endless varieties of sense objects that mesmerise the five senses. The fruits of this tree are irresistible. Anyone who tries to pluck one of thosejuicy fruits is pricked by the thorns of lust, anger, envy, greed, delusion and madness. Despite the pain, if someone manages to taste that treacherous fruit, he is engulfed in a nightmare wherein he finds himself drowning in & yy an ocean of suffering, helplessly tossed about by the endless waves of birth, disease, old age and death. The monstrous roots are the false ego. They are spread in all directionsand are so deeply entrenched within every nook and corner of the heart that it requires superhuman powers to uproot this tree of illusion. It is thisfalse ego which binds the Atman or soulto the illusion of 'i' and 'mine'. Inthis deluded state, the eternal soul mistakenly identifies itself with the decorative pot forgettingall about thedelicious butter. However, naughty Krishna comesalong and destroys the soul's delusion, by breaking the pot (false ego), sthat the soul can refocus its attentionon the soft, pure butter, that is, unalloyed devotion to God
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Damodara Pandita Dasa kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy : Damodara Pandita Dasa Speaking Tree,Times of India
Krishna, The Pot-breaking Butter Thief
As astonishing! A mischievous boy breaks pots and steals butter and ogurt in Gokula.Today, even after 0 years; those memories are so id in the minds of people. Whyis craze for breaking pots so deeply bedded in the Indian psyche on shna's birthday? An inquisitive child was in the ple. She asked her grandmother, ny do people break coconuts in ples?" Her grandma said, "Don't !West follow what our ancestors "The little girl was shocked and ected. She grew up to be an agnostic. orance must pay a heavy pricе! I, too, became obsessed with that ie question, "Why do people break onuts in temples?" No answer! I in Jakarta in 1992. An Indian tleman gave me a book of Quesis and Answers. I found the answer! e hard outer shell of the coconut ifies thefalseego When thefalsel ego is destroyed; only then can one relish a loving relationship with God, through devotional service, which is as tender and sweet as the kernel and coconut water. Every spiritualemotion is generally offset by an appropriate physical gesture. That external gesture is termed ritual. Just blind ritual, without any concept of its devotional significance, makes the heart run dry. This is very much the scene on Gokulashtami-breaking pots for big money! Little Krishna's pot breaking has a deep significance. The concept of 'i' and 'mine' is a characteristic symptom of the false ego. 'I' have butter in 'my' beautiful pot! The delicious butter is my devotion to God; but the decorative pot is covering my devotion just as the false ego covers the soul. Krishna is eagertotastethe hutter butthepot is blocking Him. Therefore, He smashes that pot (false ego) because He is hungry for devotion (butter). Why so much ado about the false ego? When the seed of ignorance sprouts within the heart, it ultimately grows into an enormous tree of illusion with the formidablemind as its trunk and the dissipated intelligence as its many branches. The countless leaves are incessant desires that haunt us, day and night, and the fragrant colourful flowers are the endless varieties of sense objects that mesmerise the five senses. The fruits of this tree are irresistible. Anyone who tries to pluck one of thosejuicy fruits is pricked by the thorns of lust, anger, envy, greed, delusion and madness. Despite the pain, if someone manages to taste that treacherous fruit, he is engulfed in a nightmare wherein he finds himself drowning in & yy an ocean of suffering, helplessly tossed about by the endless waves of birth, disease, old age and death. The monstrous roots are the false ego. They are spread in all directionsand are so deeply entrenched within every nook and corner of the heart that it requires superhuman powers to uproot this tree of illusion. It is thisfalse ego which binds the Atman or soulto the illusion of 'i' and 'mine'. Inthis deluded state, the eternal soul mistakenly identifies itself with the decorative pot forgettingall about thedelicious butter. However, naughty Krishna comesalong and destroys the soul's delusion, by breaking the pot (false ego), sthat the soul can refocus its attentionon the soft, pure butter, that is, unalloyed devotion to God
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Damodara Pandita Dasa kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy : Damodara Pandita Dasa Speaking Tree,Times of India