Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, a revered spiritual teacher and devotee of Shree Krishn, devoted his life to guiding seekers on the path of Divine love. Through his profound insights and loving narration of Krishn leelas (Divine play), he brought alive the essence of Bhakti and surrender. We have chosen an excerpt from one of his Janmashtmi speeches that illustrates the charming way he describes Krishn leelas.
Swamiji Message…
Krishn Janmashtmi is a very auspicious night for those who really desire for God realization. It is the day when the supreme Divine power appeared on this earth.
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It seems unbelievable that the creator of Almighty God appeared in a province, in a village in India. If you try to intellectualize this, your mind will fail. It will never be able to comprehend it. He has great compassion for all souls, so He appeared to help the souls. He appeared among us. And what did He do? He did everything to help us.
In Divine love, the Gopis loved Krishn any way they liked. Mother Yashoda loved baby Krishn. His playmates played with Him in the way they liked. Krishn never showed He was superior to them. He showed equality. Always He was thinking, “How can I give more and more love?” In this way, Krishn revealed the beauty, charm, and intensity of Divine love on this earth, as long as Krishn lived in Braj. There are a few instances…
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Once Krishn was playing outside. He came running and rushed to His mother because He was hungry. But Mother Yashoda was going to do some housework. Krishn said, “Mum, Mum, I want curd, butter.” Mother said, “No, I’m working. Go out and play. Come after half an hour.” This was the scene. Young Krishn is pulling His mother’s sari and trying to see into her eyes. Children know if they look into their mother’s eyes, mother will do what they want. They know her weakness. Mother also knows her weak part. Krishn is trying to look in His mother’s eyes, and Yashoda is trying to avoid looking in Krishn’s eyes. With one hand, Yashoda is trying to keep Krishn away from her sari, and says while looking the other way, “Go and play! I’ll give you curd afterwards.”
There were some Gopis there. The Gopis couldn’t say anything because after all, the mother of Krishn has more authority, and she was liked as the queen of Braj. But the Gopis were thinking, “If mother could do her work afterwards and take Krishn in her lap now, it would be better.” But Mother Yashoda didn’t want it that way.
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At this time, Sage Narad arrived. When he saw this scene, he couldn’t believe his eyes or ears. “What am I seeing? O, Yashoda, the Vedas state that God is supreme, and a devotee is humble. A devotee always wants to reach God, but here I am seeing the reverse! Who is greater? Who is smaller? I can’t decide. I know Krishn is the supreme form of God, and Yashoda is a Divine personality, yet the supreme God is trying to go into the lap of Mother Yashoda, a Saint. Things have become reversed! I never heard of such a meditation or devotion or worship in the Vedas which can make the supreme form of God as humble, as loving, as devoted as I am seeing now in Braj.” He said a few prayers, kept on looking at that beautiful scene of surrender where the supreme form of God surrenders to a Divine personality.
There are hundreds and thousands of Krishn leelas. All the actions of Krishn are done out of His Grace, done with only one ambition- to help the living beings. Such actions are called “leelas”. In all the leelas of Krishn, from His appearance to His disappearance, He only showed His love. How humble, loving, and devoted He was to all the Brajwasis, to a Gwalbal or friend, or His mother, or to a Gopi. Whoever was in Braj, He tried to give maximum love. He was trying to serve the Brajwasis.
What did the Brajwasis do? Nothing. They just loved Krishn wholeheartedly, nothing else. Neither Gopis, nor Gwalbals, nor Mother Yashoda, nor Nandbaba, not a person in Braj did any kind of meditation, austerity, devotional rituals, nothing. They only did one thing, surrendered their heart, soul, and mind for Krishn. They accepted Krishn as their Divine beloved, that’s all.
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Conclusion:
From this speech excerpt you can see how Swami Prakashanand Saraswati reveals that true devotion lies in wholehearted surrender. Not in rituals or austerity, but in fully offering one’s heart to God. On this Janmashtmi, may we embrace the path of pure love, as shown by the Brajwasis, and feel the Divine closeness of Shree Krishn in our lives.
✳️ Buy Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s book online