The fruit of austerity.

"Therefore Rukmini Devi knew very well that obtaining the favor of Krishna was not easy. Since even Lord Siva must purify himself for this purpose, surely it would be difficult for Rukmini who was only the daughter of a Kshatriya King. Thus she desired to dedicate her life to observing severe austerities and going without bodily comforts. if it were not possible in this lifetime to gain Krishna's favor by these activities, she was prepared to die from such austerities and to undergo similar difficulties lifetime after lifetime. In the Bhagavad Gita it is said that pure devotees of the Lord execute devotional service with great determination. Such determination as exhibited by Rukmini Devi, is only the price for purchasing Krishna's favor. One should be strongly determined in Krishna Consciousness and that is the way to ultimate success."

-Krishna Book, Chapter 52

The past Sunday the Oriya devotees at the temple observed the marriage of Goddess Rukmini and Jagannath at the temple. Of course Jagannath did not get down from the altar, but He always fulfills the desires of His devotees and so, Gokulananda came down to marry Rukmini and as HH Janananda Maharaj mentioned, "Jagannath doesn't marry Rukmini, but Krishna does and becomes Rukmini Dwarakadeesh, another of His wonderful pastimes." This pastime extols the virtues of Rukmini who was none other than the Goddess of fortune and brings out the sweet reciprocation of the Lord with his sincere devotee. The story is like a thriller for one who is not accustomed to Krishna or His pastimes. What will happen to princess Rukmini, will she marry the man of her dreams? I remember reading this one from the Amar Chitra Katha series with great excitement. Anything that the Lord does is cool and in this instance on the request of his devotee He kidnaps the princess right in front of the valiant soldiers trying to protect Rukmini. It is so hard for me to understand that Rukmini was only a small girl and yet undergoing so many austerities to gain the favor of the Lord and all by just hearing about Him.

Here we are given the biggest favor by Nityananda Rama who is begging everyone to take up the holy names at the the market place of the holy names, no need for earth moving austerities, yet I disregard His advertisement and think nothing of wanting to gain the Lord's favor, considering the most pleasing activity of chanting the holy names itself as the biggest austerity and pushing it to the fag end of the day.. We too are hearing about the Lord, but am I developing an attachment, a desire to see Him, Nope I am only attached to my material relationships and consider them my biggest asset.

It was hard for me to take the bride's side or the groom side, with Radharani watching from the altar; for Rukmini is none other than Chandravali, the daughter of Chandrabhanu and the cousin of Srimati Radharani in the Vrindavana pastimes. Chandravali adds the extra sweetness to the pastimes of Radha and Krishna by heading the Vipaksha/opposing team of sakhis who are antagonistic to Srimati Radhika.

All is well that ends well since everything is fair in love and war, so with the grace of HH Janananda Maharaj, we enjoyed his humorous katha, there was blockbuster sales of the Krishna Book and a roaring Kirtan to celebrate the pastime of the marriage of Krishna and Rukmini and to just celebrate the joy of being in Krishna Consciousness.

Guru Maharaj was once mentioning in his class that performance of austerities increases the determination and brings about prosperity. I did not understand how it brings about prosperity, but now I do because what is more auspicious than gaining the Lord's favor.