Songs of Ramprasad

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Fri, 27 Dec 2002, Sanjay Verma wrote:

> I can't help but to wonder why the "mother power" of the
> universe is different than the "father power"? I would maintain that in
> this particular type of "maternal" compassion, there is no difference
> (i.e., both the masculine deities and the feminine deities exhibit
> protective compassion).

And you would be correct.  There is no difference as we show in our
iconography by Bhagawan Ardhanarishwara.  But we are Human so we look for
God in the shapes that are familiar to us.  Such bhaktas as Markandeya and
Agastya and Ramprasad saw the divine in feminine form and thus they have
spoken of Her in feminine form.

It is the genius of a poet like Rampasad that they can show how Brahman
pervades even the mundane aspects of our existence.  This I think is the
meaning of the episode in the Bhagavata where the villagers of Vrndavana
are preparing to worship Indra and Krshna Bhagavan instructs them to
worship Mt. Govardhana instead.  A commentator on this passage notes it is
easy to worship the mighty.  The thundering, demon-slaying King of the
Gods instantly commands respect by His very nature.  But isn't the
mountain which just stands silently also worthy of respect, especially
when it is the cause of the cowherds prosperity? (Go-vardhana = increaser
of cows.)

Similiarly a mothers' love may be taken for granted by an ignorant child
but how much love did our mothers give us to make us what we are today?
Much more than that even is the love that Jagadamba (Mother of the
universe) gives us.

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/