The Lucky Pot

 The little boy ran for His life, afraid of the wrath of His mother Yashoda.

There was no place to hide from her.

Suddenly, He noticed the milkman Dadhipandyan resting under a tree after having completed his day’s sales.

He rushed to him and begged,

“Please save me from my mother. Can I hide inside your pot?”

Dadhipandyan agreed and the little boy climbed into the pot and crouched inside. The milkman covered the pot with the cloth of his turban, and rested his head on it.

Yashoda reached there a few moments later, questioned Dadhipandyan, and went away wondering where her kid had disappeared in just a few seconds.

The danger had passed.

Baby Krishna knocked on the pot from inside, and shouted,

“Let me out, Dadhipandya.”

The man refused to do so.

The Master of the Universe pleaded with the lowly milkman.

“I’ll give you whatever you ask for, please let me out!”

“Ok, I’ll let you go, but in return, grant me moksha!”

Krishna was shocked. Never in history had anyone ever made such a ludicrous demand!

But the man wouldn’t relent.

Desperate for a release from the smelly pot, Krishna agreed.

Still, Dadhipandyan made no move to release Him.

“What more do you want?”

“You are the friend, protector and refuge for the entire world and all things in it. Once I’m gone, what will my poor pot do alone? You must grant moksha to my pot, also!”

This was more ridiculous than the previous demand! When did any non-sentient object ever get liberated?

But then, wasn’t He known as Achyuta? The One who is infallible, and who will never desert His bhaktas? How then could He not agree to Dadhipandyan’s demand?

And so it was that not just the illiterate milkseller devotee, but his inanimate pot also got liberated from this world!

Many aeons later, He got reminded of this incident in the most unlikely of situations. 

 

Lord Ranganathar of Srirangam lay serenely on His serpent bed. One of His devotees sat in front of Him, making flower garlands as he did every day. Suddenly, the bhakta felt overwhelmed with the thought of how nice it would be to be with the Lord in Srivaikuntham, with no interruption in his seva.

Moved by this feeling, he said to the Lord,

“I’ve had enough of this samsara! I need moksha right now! When are you going to grant me the fortune of doing eternal kainkaryam to You?”

The sleeping Lord sat up in surprise.

“Pillai Perumal Iyengar, do you think it is so easy to get moksha? There are so many great rishis and yogis and saints who dedicate many births, undertake penance of the highest order, attain knowledge, and still struggle for moksha. How can an ordinary human like you assume you will get what those great souls cannot?

What penance have you done?

Have you performed yagnas?

Have you perfected the study of the Vedas?

Have you fasted in My name?

Have you cried out with deep longing for Me, and Me alone?”

Unfazed by the Lord’s tirade, His bhakta gazed calmly at Ranganathar, choosing his words carefully.

“Do you really consider all these things before granting moksha? I don’t think so!”

The Lord thundered,

“How dare you doubt My words?”

Pat came the reply.

“If you really considered these qualifications, then how is it that when you came as Krishna, You liberated the pot of Dadhipandyan?”

“What dhyana yoga or jnana yoga or bhakti yoga did that pot do?

What penance or yagnas did it perform?

What Vedas did the pot study?

What upavasa did it perform?

Did that black and dirty pot pray to You with longing for You and You alone?

Am I less qualified than that pot?”

Stumped for an answer, all that Lord Ranganatha could do, was to fall back on His serpent bed, marvelling at the irrefutable logic of His bhakta!

On today’s auspicious occasion of Krishna Jayanti, let us pray for His grace to uplift us just as it did Dadhipandyan and his pot. 

May Achyuta bless us with eternal devotion towards His lotus feet, which are the both the means and the end!

 

Why the Lord Wears Urdhva Pundram on His Forehead?

Baby Krishna lay asleep on the floor where Yashoda had left Him, as she went to attend to her household duties.

Nanda had to go outside for some work, but he was wary of leaving the baby alone. Some gopa kids were running around the place, but they could not be relied upon to protect his precious baby.

So, he followed what was a common gopa custom – he placed the wheel of an old cart near the baby, to ward off any danger from evil sources. He left home, reassured that no harm would come to little Krishna.

Source: https://godivinity.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG-20190613-WA0020-231x300.jpg

Unknown to him, the demon Shakataasura sent by Kamsa, had entered that very same wheel. The plan was to fall on the baby and crush him, making the entire event appear like an accident.

Rakshasa proposes, God disposes!

Baby Krishna woke up, and like children all over the world do, He began to wail for His mother, flailing his tiny arms and legs about.

The next instant, one baby leg extended, and kicked the wheel with the hidden demon!

There was a loud crashing sound, and hearing that, Yashoda raced to her little one, scared for His safety.

As she clutched Him to her, and smothered Him with kisses while simultaneously examining Him for injuries, one of the gopa boys who had been playing nearby came to her.

Wide-eyed with wonder, he said to Yashoda, “Baby Krishna kicked the cart wheel and it shattered into pieces!”

Yashoda refused to believe him. “What nonsense! See my baby’s feet – so tiny and delicate! Do you think they can do what you say?”

Baby Krishna’s face split into a huge grin and the gopa boy could swear the baby actually winked at him!

All Srivaishnavas wear the Urdhva Pundra on their forehead (and the men, on 11 other spots on their body). This is called as the Tirumann Kaapu – literally translating into “The Sacred Clay that Protects.” The two vertical white lines of the Urdhva Pundra denote the Lord’s lotus feet, and the central red / yellow line denotes Mahalakshmi Devi.

Example for Tirumann😊

When devotees apply the Tirumann Kaapu on their forehead, they signal their eternal servitude (daasatva) to the Divya Dampati, and show that they only depend on Srimannarayana for their protection. (The word “Kaapu” means “protection”)

You must have seen pictures of Lord Venkateshwara of Tirumala. What do you first notice about His face? Of course, the same Tirumann Kaapu!

Source: https://indianfolkart.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/TNJ-PAINT-7-1.jpeg.webp

We wear that mark so that we get His protection. But then, why does He wear that mark on His own forehead?

Azhwar beautifully explains the reason using the Shakataasura episode we described before. He says, “I always knew that Your holy feet protect me. But now I realized that Your holy feet protect You also! With those tiny Feet only You protected Yourself from the evil asura!”

When Putana’s life had been sucked out by baby Krishna, she had reverted to her hideous rakshasa form.

But in case of Shakatasura, there is no mention of his form even being discovered. Why was that so?

The Acharyas explain that the divine feet of the Lord only purify and grant liberation; They never destroy. When He kicked Shakataasura with His foot, the demon’s body disintegrated, and he got moksha instantly, and therefore, there was no trace of his body.

Another explanation for why the Lord sports the Urdhva Pundra comes from the incident when the Lord once got Swami Ramanujacharya to apply the Tirumann on His forehead, and became his disciple! (Read this old post if you haven’t already)

But perhaps, can it be possible that just as the devotees declares his servitude to the Lord by wearing the Tirumann Kaapu, the Lord is proclaiming His servitude to His devotees by wearing the same Tirumann on His forehead ?

For, it was this very Lord Srimannarayana, who told Rishi Durvasa during the Ambarisha episode, 

Source: https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/9/4/63/ 

“I am completely under the control of My devotees. Indeed, I am not at all independent. Because My devotees are completely devoid of material desires, I sit only within the cores of their hearts. What to speak of My devotee, even those who are devotees of My devotee are very dear to Me.”

The Eternal Friend

Mount Govardhan had been worshipped.

He had accepted all the prasad.

Indra had flown into a rage.

Torrential rain had flooded Vrindavan.

Instinctively, all had turned to Him for solace.

And that delicate son of Nanda had done the unimaginable.

He had lifted up Govardhan on the tip of His little finger.

Effortlessly.

And held it like that for 7 days and nights.

Sheltered from the storm, the brajavasis had been in ecstasy.

For they had been able to gaze, uninterrupted by mundane activities, on that radiant, smiling face.

No one had felt hungry or thirsty or tired or worried.

After 7 days, the clouds had been exhausted.

The sun had come out shining bright.

He had forced everyone to return home, and gently set down Govardhan.

As they turned to leave, one of the gopa boys had a sudden moment of realization.

He asked in wonder:

“How did You have the strength to hold up this great mountain for all this time? 

Who are You? Are You a God, or a Gandharva, or a Yaksha or a Danava?”

The smile vanished from Krishna’s face.

yadi vo’sti mayi prItih SlAghyo’ham bhavatAm yadi    |

            tad-Atam-buddhi sadRSI buddhir-vah kriyatAma mayi    || 

nAham devo na gandharvo na yaksho na ca dAnavah    |

            aham vo bAndhavo jAtah na vaS-cintyam ato’nyatA   ||   

-- (VishNu purANam 5.13.11 & 12)

“If you have real love for me and think that I am worthy of praise from you, then you must think of me as you think of yourselves (i.e., you must think of me as a gopa, as you all are).  I am neither a god, nor a gandharva, neither a yaksha (a demi-god), nor a dAnava (demon).  I am a born relative to you all.  You must not think of me any other way”!

He flashed that beautiful smile at the gopa boy.

And the veil fell firmly back in place.

The gopa boys ran home, and laughing aloud, He rushed along with them.

Those innocent boys that day composed a song that is still sung in Brajabhumi.

He wants us to think of Him as one amongst us.

He’s seated within, waiting silently, through all the births we have taken.

All we need to do is turn to Him, and He will lift the mountain of this samsara, sheltering us from all storms, and drown us in the ecstasy of His charming smile!