HariOm Parents
Greetings and namaste. A Very Happy New Year and Happy Makara Sankranti, Pongal and Bihu. It was exciting to see the kids after a couple of weeks. We started chatting and one thing led to another and we were suddenly talking about Coronavirus. We went around the class and asked what they were all learning from Corona. We received some very interesting answers from several kids which were very deep. A majority gave the usual answers of being safe, maintaining cleanliness, washing hands etc. a few gave a few deep and profound answers for their age. These include like the entire world is one as every nation is suffering, we should all be respectful to nature and use resources as required, how familes are relearning to live together and enjoy each other's company. These answers only reveal how keen these young minds are and how closely they follow the world and events around them. During this whole exercise, inadvertently we covered a part of "my 24 teachers'' - only that Coronavirus was the 25 th guru. Lessons learned from the new teacher, the 25th teacher in addition to the 24 teachers of Avdhoota Gita. As Suka muni said in avadhoota Gita there are life lessons to be learned from things, people all around us including Coronavirus.
After these discussions on the 25th guru, we started playing Kahoot to recap last session's stories. After the kahoot game we delved into Bala Bhagavatham again from where we left off. After the slaying of Aghasura, the gopas and Krishna refreshed themselves with cool waters of the nearby lriver. After that each gopa took their lunch packets packed by their mothers with love and started enjoying the lunch. In the meantime all the cows and calves strayed far far away. Krishna asked his gopa friends not to get disturbed and continue with their lunch and instead he ran towards the cows to herd them back closer. While all this was happening, Brahmaji who was passing by in the sky saw the whole environment below so tranquil and the gopas all filled with joy and happiness. He had heard about the tricks of Krishna and his supernatural powers and wanted to play a trick on Krishna.
After running for a while Krishna reached the spot where the cows had strayed, only to find to his bewilderment that all the cows and calves had vanished. He panicked and ran back towards gopas to inform them and seek their assistance in search of the cows, only to find that all the gopas had vanished too. Krishna took a deep breath and thought deeply and soon realized that it was a trick played by Brahmaji. Krishna wanted to please Brahmaji and wanted to play along with him and in the process teach him a lesson too. Krishna replicated himself as the cows, calves and the gopas and they all went home as if nothing had happened. The return to their home was later than usual and the mother of the gopas were very anxious. However as soon as they saw the gopas they felt immense love for their kids and hugged them and similarly the calves were also overjoyed to see their mothers. From that day onwards, mothers of gopas felt more love and affection to their kids, the calves felt the same and the cows started giving extra milk to their calves. The whole village was overflowing with love and joy. Days rolled by quickly and almost a year passed by... Brahmaji was curious and wanted to see what was happening, he decided to pay a visit.
What Brahmaji saw upon his arrival astonished him. All the gopas and cows were all there intact. The cows were grazing the pastures and gops were having the time of their lives as if nothing happened. When Brahmaji came close and took a deeper look - what he saw amazed him - he saw four handed lord vishnu in each of the gopa and cow. Having realized that Krishna was none other than lord Vishnu, he descended to the earth and prostrated and saluted Krishna and asked for his forgiveness. Krishna duly acknowledged and Brahmaji told where all the gopas and cows were. Krishna goes to the cave where all the gopas and cows were hidden and saw them all in some deep sleep. He wakes all of them and all of them merrily go back to their homes as if nothing happened.
This episode is called "Brahmaji's Mohabhangam" and teaches us the oneness of lord with everyone in the world and when the lord is with all of us , how every one of us is over joyed with love, joy and affection.
With this popcorn reading, we were already running late so we skipped the aarati and performed the shanti mantra and bid goodbyes to the kids!
until we meet next
Shivram & Meena
