God's Love is so wonderful

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!