This festive season, let’s invoke wisdom & compassion

As we celebrate the Ganeshotsav, we all have our own cherished memories of family traditions, celebrating these with our near and dear ones, from the time we were little. As we observed Janmashtami last week at Dwarka, amidst joyous cries of ‘Nanda gher ananda bhayo’, it was time to recall the pithy teachings from the amazing life of the Lord of Love, Shri Krishna. His various forms, ranging from Bal Krishna, Lal Krishna, Gopal Krishna, Dwarkadheesh and Yogeshwar Krishna, all compete to dazzle with the great qualities of the lord. But, one value that shines bright through all these stages of his life is his compassion for his devotees. 

The young Krishna, also known as Lal Krishna was very fond of enjoying the company of his young cowherd friends. Playing in the open meadows and fields, their days would be full of fun and frolic, as they chased each other, playing various sports in their favourite Brindavan. Carrying choicest of delicacies, they would later sit near Goverdhan in a circle, pool all their food and share it with each other. On one such occasion, while all the friends of Krishna were vying with each other to get his attention and offer their tasty food to Him, Krishna’s eyes went past all the clamour and saw Madhumangal. ‘Hey Madhumangal, what have you brought for me?’, asked Krishna. Hearing this, Madhumangal was overjoyed at his chance to offer food to his best friend. Having nothing in his hand, he ran home to ask his mother to give him something to offer to his dearest friend, Krishna. Madhumangal’s parents were the scholarly Sandipani Rishi and Sumukhi devi. They had together taken a vow of austerity and poverty, to always be in remembrance, devoted and united to the Lord. 

On hearing her son’s request, Madhumangal’s mother searched the kitchen. She only found a little bowl of curd, and asked her son to offer this to Krishna. Her son ran back to give the curd to his best friend, but as he approached Krishna, he wondered- ‘Is this humble curd alright and befitting my Krishna?’ Feeling ashamed to offer something as ordinary as curd, Madhu emptied the bowl in his mouth. Just as he did that, the omniscient Krishna’s eyes fell on him, and realised all that was going on in his friend’s mind. Krishna runs upto Madhumangal, and seeing a dollop of curd stuck on his cheek, very endearingly licks the curd with great relish and joy. Madhumangal is teary-eyed and overwhelmed, seeing the joy on his Friend’s face. 

Krishna taught everyone how he happily accepts any offering made to him with pure love and devotion.  His compassion, kindness and love for his devotees teaches us to adopt and emulate this quality in our own lives. Just as Krishna, the Lord of Love can be easily pleased by his devotees, Lord Shiva had this attribute, too.  ‘Asutosh’ is a word that is used for Lord Shiva. The word means ‘very easy to please’. Compassion and love for humanity are core values that we find in most gods, across time, cultures and geographies. 

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi, celebrated across the country in honour of Lord Ganesha. He is described as the remover of obstacles, one who bestows various boons and who also helps us succeed in any new beginning or endeavour. As I taught my students a song on Ganesha in our Sunday morning music class, we enjoyed the expression of the savant composer, Muthuswami Dikshitar. He says, Sri Ganesha can be seen and known by those whose beautiful hearts are devoid of the weeds of ‘Raaga and Dvesha’, which can be translated as ‘obsessive attachment or hatred’. 

As we sang the song as a prayer and celebration of lord Ganesha, we   understood the words and their meaning. The real significance of the celebration is to invoke these qualities of our favourite Heroes and Gods within us, I realised. 

The author is a Harvard-educated civil servant & writer, and has worked in the education sector 
jayanti.ravi.dna@gmail.com