God’s love is so wonderful
Recently while
speaking to my eight year old cousin, I asked her what prayers do they recite
in their morning assembly. She told many prayers, one I found very amusing. It
said:
God’s love is so
wonderful,
So high, you can’t
get over it.
So deep you can’t
get under it.
So wide you can’t
get around it.
O! wonderful love.
I tried to contemplate how love
of God is high, deep and wide.
So high, you can’t
get above it: Our existence is
a mystery that philosophers and scientists have been trying to resolve for
centuries. The more we have delved into this subject the more the true
understanding has receded from us. Our physical reality with its complex
components like the brain, our psychological reality and our metaphysical
reality have all intrigued us. How did we fit in a universe and are existing.
So many parameters have to synchronize for life to be possible. Amazingly they
are all synchronized. It is certainly mercy of Krsna who has expertly designed
our habitat.
Krsna is like the loving parent
who provides for the facilities of a wayward son. For factually all the living
entities in the material world are wayward sons of God. Although we rebelled
against Him, Krsna has made a complete arrangement for our existence in this
material world. Srila Prabhupada narrates in the Ksna book, ‘Prayers by the Personified
Vedas’: “Cosmic manifestation has been made possible by the entrance of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead as Maha-Vishnu within the material world. The
total material energy is agitated by the glance of Maha-Vishnu, and only then
does the interaction of three material qualities begin.Therefore it should be
concluded that whatever material facilities that we are trying to enjoy are
available only due to the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So many
mechanisms are in place to ensure that we are conveniently in place. The CO2 symbiosis between the plants and animals, the
rain that are showered in regions away from the coast, the sunlight, the ozone
layers and other critical and amazing mechanisms. We certainly cannot make such
arrangements on our own. We are blessed by the Lord, in all respects. So,
literally we can’t get above the love of God, as we have to take help of the
Lord at every step. We are fortunate that God indeed loves us.
So deep you can’t
get under it: It is not that
God is just like a father who takes pleasure in maintaining its off springs, or
a king who likes to maintain his subjects. But God’s love goes much deeper than
that. God takes pleasure in becoming subordinate to His devotees. This is
illustrated in many incidences given in the vedic literatures. During the war
of Mahabharat, Krsna accepted the menial position of the chariot driver of
Arjuna because of Arjuna’s immense devotion towards Him. He agreed to be bound
up by the ropes of mother Yasoda, as revealed in the damodarastaka that Krsna
is bhaktair jittatvam, he is conquered by the devotees alone. Krsna gets
defeated in fights with his cowherd boyfriends. Krsna often makes His devotees
feel awkward when Krsna expresses His love towards them. When Sudama brahmana
visited Krsna on pretext for asking help from Him: “Even from a considerable
distance He (Krsna) could see the brahmana coming to His home, and He could
recognize him as His friend. Lord Krsna immediately left His seat and came
forward to receive His brahmana friend and, upon reaching him, embraced the brahmana
with His two arms. Lord Krsna is the reservoir of all transcendental pleasure,
yet He Himself felt great pleasure upon embracing the poor brahmana because He
was meeting His very dear friend. Lord Krsna had him seated on His own bedstead
and personally brought all kinds of fruits and drinks to offer him, as is
proper in receiving a worshipable guest. Lord Śrī Krsna is the supreme pure,
but because He was playing the role of an ordinary human being, He immediately
washed the brahmana’s feet and, for His own purification, sprinkled the water
onto His head. After this the Lord smeared the body of the brahmana with
different kinds of scented pulp, such as sandalwood, aguru and saffron. He
immediately burned several kinds of scented incense and, as is usual, offered
him ārati with burning lamps. After thus offering him an adequate welcome and
after the brahmana had taken food and
drink, Lord Krsna said, “My dear friend, it is a great fortune that you have
come here.”
All the humility and service
attitude that the devotees have are a part and parcel of Krsna’s humility and
service attitude.
So wide you can’t get around it: Krsna’s love and His concern that we should go back to Him for
exchanging loving pastimes is unfathomable. For this purpose he expands himself
as the Supersoul in the heart of every living entity, eagerly waiting for the
living entities to take steps towards Him. He manifests himself in multifarious
and easily accessible forms: the deities, devotees, bhagavatam and the holy
name. Krsna has expertly designed the material nature such that our experience
in the material world goads us to take shelter of the Lord. Krsna also
mercifully sends his empowered representatives who radiate the deep compassion
of Krsna in untiringly redeeming the lost souls. One graphic example of such an
empowered servant of God is Narada muni. His disciples occur across a wide
spectrum. From hunters to kings, from demigods to sages, he has guided innumerable
souls in their journey Back to Godhead. Following in the footsteps His Divine
Grace A. C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada spread the message of God in the
most atheistic and hedonistic parts of the world. SrilaPrabhupada introduced
RathaYatra festivals wherein the Lord comes out to distribute His mercy to all
and sundry. Krsna tells very easy methods how to remember Him. Krsna tells that
He is the taste of water. None of us can do without drinking. We should
remember that the satisfying taste of water is Krsna. So multifariously has
Lord exhibited His mercy that it is factually impossible to ignore, go around
it!
