Why do we fear death and Krishna Janma Celebrations – Day 5 Manchester Katha

Radha is devotion, Krishna is knowledge. Krish in the word Krishna means Truth. Aṇa in the word Krishna means bliss. Bliss is the absence of the dualities of happiness and sorrow. This is true happiness. Hence we call God the Supreme Truth.

The world exists because we exist. We are not here because of this physical gross body. It is explained is Gitaji, the soul changes body like a person changes clothes. There are six things a body undergoes that the soul does not: birth, it lives with a life span, it grows, changes in the body, deterioration and death.

We fear death because we think we are the body. Once we understand this, fear will not go away completely. Self-realisation is required and for this refuge in a Sadguru and regular satsang is required.

Your hands are tirtha (holy places). Gods reside in your hands.

• At the tip of your hand is deva tirtha through which we satisfy the demi-gods. The demi-gods provide us with rain, sun, wind and so on hence we must reciprocate.
• At the side-end of the palms is rishi tirtha through which we satisfy Rishis who have made the effort to provide all this knowledge to us. In practice, this means walking on the path guided to us by them.
• On the thumb is pitru tirtha used to satisfy our ancestors.
• At the bottom end of your hands is brahma tirtha through which we satisfy oneself

Pujya Bhaishri showed us the hand postures to use for rituals when satisfying any one of these four.

Shaunak and other Rishis asked questions on the creation of Bhagavat. Ved Vyasji did not attain peace despite spreading the Vedas and creating the Puranas. Naradji inspired him to write Shrimad Bhagavat by singing the glory of God with devotion. Vyasji then spread the four ślokas of Bhagavat into 18,000 ślokas, 335 chapters and 12 cantos and prepared Shrimad Bhagavat. Vyasji was satisfied.

To spread this to everyone, Vyasji taught this to his son Shukdevji. Shukdevji did not have anything left to do yet he learnt Bhagavat for his love for God. Love is not just satisfaction, but also continuous thirst. Nothing binds God except love. Love never gets old.

Shukdevji then narrated Bhagavat to Parikshit at the banks of Maa Ganga. Sutji narrates the story of Parikshitji’s birth here on how he was saved from the Bhramāstra weapon released by Ashwathama in his mother, Uttara’s womb who took refuge in Lord Krishna. Ashwathama had done this out of revenge despite Draupadi and the Pandavas forgiving him for killing their sons. When you hate someone, they live in your brain without giving you rent. Why let such a person live within you if you do not like them? Hence forgive before it affects you. Forgiveness is a quality of a devotee.

At this time, Kunta Maa sings the glory of God and asks for trouble in life because she had noticed that whenever they had trouble in life, God was always present with them. We lose faith during problems and complain, why me? Devotion means acceptance and no complaints.

After advising Yudhishthir who was depressed from the war, Bhishmaji sang Lord Krishna’s glory. His soul united with Lord Krishna. Pray to God that my death be successful and my life be divine. Let my life be a divine offering to the sorrowful and those who need me. Let my death become a celebration to meet God.

Parikshitji was then born. When the Bhramins arrived and told his future, they mentioned all the great qualities he will have, one of them being, generous like his fathers and forefathers. This teaches us to get rid of the blind faith that our ancestors can be a hindrance to us after death. They were not a hindrance when they were alive so how can they desire our bad after death? Our parents have expectations from us. Serve your parents and satisfy them. Give them your time. Do not give more importance to wealth than your parents. When not there, you will feel a lack of shelter from them and miss them. They may cry and tolerate when dissatisfied but they will not complain. Meet their expectations.

Lord Krishna returned to his abode, Pandavas retired to the Himalayas then went to heaven and Parikshit became a universal ruler. Once, he saw a cow (symbolises the earth) and bull (symbolises Dharma) being tortured by Kali. The bull was standing on three legs. The four legs of the bull are Truth, penance, compassion and purity. Since Kali took refuge in Parikshit and could not go anywhere else, Parikshit gave Kali five places to live in. These five places automatically gave Kali another five places as follows that devotees must refrain from:

Once, Parikshit found a gold crown in the Pandavas treasure which belonged to Jarasandha who had earned this immorally. Being unaware of this, Parikshit wore this crown and went to hunt where he killed innocent animals. This was the start of the effect of Kali. Hungry and thirsty, Parikshit entered Shamik Rishi’s hermitage. He was not welcomed there as the Rishi was meditating and unaware. Parikshit became angry and put a dead snake around the Rishi’s neck. On knowing this, the Rishi’s son cursed Parikshit that he will be bitten by the Takshak snake and die on the seventh day from today.

The king realised the crime he had committed when he returned home and removed the crown. He decided to punish himself. He left the kingdom, observed a fast and went to the banks of Ganga. Shukdevji came and narrated the Bhagavat to him to make his death successful. Sadguru is our God. To consider Guru as a normal individual is a crime.

Pujya Bhaishri then briefly mentioned what each of the canto in Shrimad Bhagavat entails from canto 2 to 9.

Next, Pujya Bhaishri entered Canto 10 where Parikshit requested Shukdevji to narrate Lord Krishna’s birth and pastimes. When Kansa decided to be the charioteer after the marriage of Vasudev and Devaki, a divine utterance warned Kansa that Devaki’s eighth child will kill him. Vasudevji protected Devaki from being killed and handed over to Kansa every child as per his promise. Kansa killed all 6 children. The 7th child came into Maa Devaki’s womb but left and manifested in the womb of Rohini Maa (Vasudevji’s first wife).

The divine time came and Lord Krishna was born. Vasudevji, took the child from the jail in Mathura as all the bondages broke, to Gokul and exchanged him for the little girl born, who is God’s illusion, at Maa Yashoda. Kansa received the news and tried to kill the girl who presented as Maa Jagdamba and warned him that his killer was in a safe place.

At Gokul, Lord Krishna cries, Yashodaji wakes up and Sunanda (Nandji’s sister) spreads the joyous news to Nandji and the entire Gokul. We all joined in these celebrations with: Nand gher ānand bhayo, Jai Kanhaiyā lāl ki!