Mohan was riding the long greyhound bus ride, from the midwest to the eastern seaboard. Watching the scenery go by, he marveled at the wonders of Krishna�s creation. The many hills and beautiful landscapes were a artistic flow, everything harmonius to his sight. His mind kept going back to this skill he had. If you want to call it that. He had this certain predilection. It was a propensity that haunted. Perhaps a little infamous to some, but he had finally come into his own, in a certain vindication of this lifelong habit. Justification was a sweet tune, that it was. Coming to Krishna Consciousness was not only the perfection of life, but the perfection of this particular flaw. A character flaw some might say, although wrapped in transcendental veneer.
But was it really a flaw? Now these kinds of thoughts only confirmed his ultimate failings. He was a rascal of a sort, and these kinds of rationalizing thoughts only cemented it for good. But we are all rascals, when we come to this material world, he thought. Yes, but not after devotional emancipation, he was told. At least not the same kind of rascal. And not that he was bad, no, he did his service, some Sankirtan, some Hari-nama, some Diety service, some kitchen service. But this rascal residue was lingering, but then again, it was transcendental in its own rite as well.
Well, Mohan was a temple hopper from way back. Not a conscious choice so much, but it just seemed to happen that way. He was a servant of Krishna to be sure, but he was secretly known for a certain skill in his possesion. Unspoken skill, that is, not spoken in official airways, but underground, as you will. Not officially, not a skill commanding pride, as in a public announcement or the such, but duly admired in the background none-the-less, by devotees, big or small.
You see, Mohan was pastmaster of an age-old profession, called borrowing things, or sometimes called thievery. This skill found its consummate summit in Krishna Consciousness, as the unauthorized taking of the Lord�s remnants hold no karmic reaction, nor infamy or shame. As they say, it is wholly bona- fide, and transcendental. Unlike its mundane counterpart of the abominable theivery of goods of this material world. In fact it is good, it is admirable, it is desirable by all who savour its transcendental rasa. There is no sin accrued. It is service to the supreme.
Yet, not exactly sanctioned. No, not by official count. But here is where the transcendental sport comes into being. For without resistance, without obstruction, then transcendental rascaldom would have no meaing. This he thought. Reading the Nectar of Devotion, he observed this principal in the Lila sports of Krishna and his Vrindavan rasa. Jatila, the old woman, was a valuable player in that rasa, for her service was to place obstructions on the path of Krishna�s pastimes with Radha and the Gopis. Without a spiritual condemnation by her and certain elders, then the thrill of parakiya rasa would lose its transcendental flavor.
Mohan thought back in his life, of this peculiar predilection of his. He recounted how he and his friends would sneak into farmer John�s watermelon patch, in the dead of night. After befriending the dog and soothing its ireful nature, they would feast on watermelon, while the moon shone bright, until their stomachs almost burst. Farmer John would at times, become cognizant of the villiany, and waving shotgun in hand, hollering dire threats, come bounding out the back door, as teenage boys scattered in all directions, as buckshot whizzed about.
Almost as fun as the deed itself, was the telling and retelling of the adventure amongst themselves and to other schoolmates. Everybody listened with satisfaction of the watermelon hyst adventures. Everybody loves a rascal. Why is that? Everybody especially admires the class clown, who cuts up and disrupts the class, even under the tight surveliance of the teacher. There is something about a rascal who rebels against the system and mocks it, that illicits great admiration from all. Maybe its perhaps, thought Mohan, that everybody knows that the whole world is all about cheating and fraud. Its all about the cheaters and the cheated. And the so-called rascal who challenges the system is showing that he�s a better rascal and cheater than they. He does it boldly and openly. They do it sneakingly. People in general, actually really admire this upfront honest kind of rascaldom that flaunts in the face of the bigger insidious rascals.
History and literature has shown the popularity of rascals. There�s Robin Hood, the great hero of the poor who stole from the rich, who had more than their prescribed quota. And there was Mark Twain�s Tom Sawyer, the most beloved rascal of all time. And there was the famous Bilbo, who burglared the den of gollum. And don�t forget the little rascals, everybody�s favorites. And there�s the greatest of all, Lord Sri Krishna, who in his tender youth, displayed his sublime pastime as the butter thief. Poets and sages will forever praise his transcendental rascaldom.
There are many pastimes of how Krishna tricked the demons with seemingly dishonest ploys, and how he did rascally things to the gopis. And then there was Srimati Radharani, how she stole Krishna�s flute. Mohan had also heard of how Jayananda had stole some pants, because he did not like to spend Krishna�s laxmi. There was the history of the raising of funds by thieves to build the Ranga temple in days of antiquity, in India. Transgressions of the standards of morals was always there in the transcendence. Why should it change now? Everybody in creation, has their particular skill, and it goes along with that, a certain yoga of how to use your skill in Krishna�s service.
Mohan recounted how, way back there in the past, how he began his young career of stealing things here and there. One day he was stealing a record album, just a normal day it was. But that day was to change his life forever. As he walked through the store with the album concealed under his coat, suddenly a hand grasped his shoulder from behind. This is the moment feared most by all kleptomaniacs. Its that fear that always lurks in the mind � of the sudden long arm of the law that grabs from behind. He froze in tripidation of the sudden karma of the sudden hand. Surely the store manager was behind, ready to yell at �em or bust �em to a jail cell or something. But as he turned around, he gasped in relief to see a neighborhood boy, and not the manager.
Well, he got off that time, but learned a big lesson. That was the big warning, for him to stop when he could, and not enter into a life of crime. And he also realized that stealing was hurting other people. He did not want to hurt anyone. But now things were different, in this transcendental borrowing, it hurts nobody at all. It is service to the Lord�s prasad. It is borrowing, not taking Krishna�s energy, but honoring his energy. He was rascal by nature, and he knew it, and yet, only the sublime philosophy of Krishna Consciousness could engage his rascal propensity, properly, and be transcendental, and serve God, and not hurt anybody in the process! What a philosophy!
Well, his reputation preceded him. No advertisement needed. Reputation was largely unspoken, yet secretly admired by those who admires a good rascal.
to be continued...
© 1997 [email protected]
Get your own Free Home Page