The Srimad Bhagavatam is told in 18,000 verses. However, there is a very popular story which is the essence of the book told in 1,036 verses by the famous poet of Kerala, Narayana Bhattathiri. The story begins with the description of the true form of the lord and his glory. The form reminds us of our own true self, which is eternal bliss. It is unparalleled and beyond the scope of any definition in space and time. The scriptures have tried to describe the lord, but people are unable to grasp. However, all that needs to be said is told by the divine eyes of the deity of Guruvayur Temple—Krishna.
While the grace of the lord is easily reachable as if it is in one’s own hands, people are always in search of tinsels that promise small pleasures. We seek the feet of the lord as our sole refuge and our prayer is for removal of illness everywhere in the world. The sage Veda Vyasa has described the form of the lord as an expression of ‘Shuddha Sattva Guna’ with no expression whatsoever of restlessness, dullness, disturbance of the senses and the five elements of nature. Contemplating on this form only makes our mind pure.
You are the great ocean called Brahman. The pure expression of Sattva manifests as the waves in the ocean. The ocean is steady without any movement. It is ever present. It does not have any boundaries. It is a form of the supreme joy anyone can experience and be ever immortal. The innumerable beings who are liberated while living on this earth are like a string of pearls adorning this ocean divine. Why then should we not call you the formless truth? To hail you as one with form may be appropriate for your other manifestations, but not as the beloved Krishna.
You have no transactions in this world. You are the causeless cause of everything being unborn too. Yet, by just a small action of your gaze, nature manifests and dissolves at the beginning and end of time. Yet that maya cannot hide your true magnificence. That great unmanifest presence alone is now seen with our very eyes in this form at Guruvayur.
Your beautiful form which is like a thick gathering of dark blue rain-bearing clouds is a beautiful divine sight to those who have done great meritorious actions in their lifetimes now and before. Indeed, the vision of your presence is the reward they get for all good deeds. I meditate on your form in which Goddess Lakshmi munificently abounds. People who see you drink that nectar of immortality with their eyes and ears. I meditate on that divine form which is delightful in its taste of divine nectar as if it were an ocean.
The author is Sevak, Chinmaya Mission, Tiruchi; brni.sharanyachaitanya@gmail.com; www.chinmayamission.com