Different strokes for Different Folks

Just before they went to bed one night a mother told her daughter barely 6, "When the time comes to leave my body i want to do so in midst of kirtan." The daughter spontaneously hugged the mother and replied, "I will be the first to sing for you Amma." That mother is me and that daughter is my little girl. I do not know if she even understood the import of leaving the body, losing your mother, but the point is she is eager to do kirtan and i am proud of my little spiritual warrior.

The very next day i chanced upon this news clip in an Indian newspaper :
"I don't have any complaint against anyone but my only desire is that I should breathe my last while singing before my admirers who love me," she said before a packed audience. This is from a popular singer, called Asha Bhonsle in India who sings pop styled Hindi songs for the Hindi movie industry. Ironically she sang the song Dum Maro Dum..Hare Krishna Hare Ram, for the movie by the name Hare Krishna Hare Rama. Being a movie about socially misfit hippies of the then India, the song became so very popular and even today us devotees are referred to as the Hare Krishna Hare Rama.Will this ajnata sukriti of knowingly or unknowingly uttering Krishna's names take her towards Krishna?

Looking at the futility of human birth i was reminded of the verse from the Bhagvad Gita, 8.6: yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram tam tam evaiti kaunteya sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.

I have come a long way from my earlier disposition of thinking "You have one life, enjoy it!" I thought once again how wonderful it is to be connected to Krishna. How exciting it is to know you have a wonderful future awaiting you in the spiritual realm should you make it back. In the meantime will i even know when i will leave so that i can prepare myself. Our Acharyas have provided us a safety net, not to fret. King Kulashekhara has sung in his Mukunda Mala Stotra-

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-pańkaja-pañjarāntam
adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haḿsaḥ
prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ
kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaḿ kutas te

O Lord Kṛṣṇa, at this moment let the royal swan of my mind enter the tangled stems of the lotus of Your feet. How will it be possible for me to remember You at the time of death, when my throat will be choked up with mucus, bile, and air?

It is a lifetime of preparation and chanting Krishna's names is the means and the end. I remember one of the Prabhus in Gitanagari and the punchline of his comedy show. "The Holy Name of Sri Hari is Surely All can be!"

Surely, isn't that all we have?

The tongue is a stage.

vāco vegaḿ manasaḥ krodha-vegaḿ
jihvā-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ
sarvām apīmāḿ pṛthivīḿ sa śiṣyāt

A sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind's demands, the actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world. (Nectar Of Instruction Verse-1)

Yesterday, when i working on a write-up for our local newsletter, i was contemplating on how the holy names should eventually dance on our tongue. I was reminded of that divine Radha Natabhara who enjoys dancing with the gopis the most but out of compassion also danced on the hoods of the evil Kaliya. Kaliya is said to represent brutality and treachery. I was comparing our tongues to the hoods of Kaliya who want to speak ill of others,lie, cheat,want to eat unoffered and sometimes abominable foodstuffs. It took a long time for Krishna to subdue Kaliya. In the fight that ensued it appeared that Krishna was dancing on the hoods of Kaliya. Similarly our senses put up a fight against Krishna and our tongues raise their vile hoods time and again. However, Krishna is so merciful, that He has manifested as His holy names and is willing to dance on our tongues if only we set the stage, by nourishing our tongue and give up being the masters, wanting to enjoy everything for ourselves. Will Krishna then not dance on our tongues?