Love transcends all the barriers that we put up.....

Do you know the meaning of the song Choti Choti Gaya? It’s like: Little, little cows, little, little boys. Around Krishna there were always little gopas, you know? The cow-boys. He was a cowherd. Choti Choti Gaya means: little, little cows. (Singing) Little, little cows, little, little boys. Little is my sweet Krishna. Little is my sweet Krishna. In front, in front is the cow. At the back is the boy. In the middle is my Krishna. In the middle is my Krishna. Cows are eating grass, boys are eating milk and Krishna is eating makhan, (Swamiji explains) buttermilk. (Singing) Black, black cows, white, white boys. (Swamiji explains) And Krishna, who is in the middle of them, is like dark, blue-sky colour. He’s like a dark-coloured cloud. (Singing) Little, little anklets and little, little garlands. And Krishna is playing the flute. Little, little girls and little, little boys are playing in the Madhuvan (Guruji explains) the forest of Vrindavan. (Singing) And Krishna is dancing the Ras. (Sri Swami Vishwananda starts to sing with his devotees another bhajan: “Sabse oonchi, Prema sagai”) I will say Sabse oonchi and you will say Prema sagai. Sabse oonchi means: What is the most greatest form of worship? And then you say: Love is the greatest form of worship. Prem means: Love. Sagai means: worship. You know, this bhajan is one of my favorite bhajans. It’s all about Love. It describes the Love that Krishna had, that God has for humans. That’s why He said “What is the greatest form of worship?” And then you say: “Prema sagai.” Love is the greatest form of worship. Love transcends all the barriers that we put up. Even the mind can’t comprehend Love, so it transcends all. And then you say: Duryodhana ko mevā tyāgo. In that form, Tyago means: Duryodhana invited Krishna. Duryodhana was alive in Krishna’s time. There were the good ones, who were Arjun and the Pandavas and there were the bad ones always fighting with them, who were the Kauravas. Duryodhana was their chief. Duryodhana invited Krishna to eat. Duryodhana was a king, so of course he would give the most delicious food, but Krishna refused it. Instead He went to Vidura. Vidura was Krishna’s uncle, but he was very poor. And there, in his house, Krishna ate the most simple food: just rice and such simple food. And He was very happy about it. Why was He? It was because of the Love of Vidura. Duryodhana had everything, had all the luxury, but he didn’t have Love. It was just for pride to show off. Whereas Vidura, in his simplicity, his humbleness, he was full of love. And Krishna went there, because of that Love, not because of the food, you know. Swami starts to sing: Jūṭhe phala sabarī ke khāye. Sabari was a great devotee of Rama. In the time of Rama, Sabari everyday would collect fruits from the jungle and she would wait for Rama, since her youth. Rama is one aspect of the Divine. She would wait till Rama came to eat the fruit. So every day, she would bring fresh flowers and she would bring fresh fruit and wait for Rama. And she would chant all day: Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram. Eventually she grew old; she became a very old lady. All her teeth fell out, you know. She became so old that Rama finally came. When Rama and Lakshman were on the way to Lanka, they came and they passed by the cottage of Sabari and there this old lady without teeth, just two teeth in her mouth, was waiting for Rama. When Rama came, she was really joyfully welcoming Him. She put Rama on the seat there, because every day she would write with fresh flowers the name of Rama. So when Rama was there, she opened up her heart so much. Her heart was so full with Love. Of course Rama was with Lakshman, who is His brother, His small brother. Jūṭhe phala sabarī–jūṭhe is jujube, a fruit. I don’t know whether you have it here. So, she would first taste the fruit, whether it’s sour or sweet. She gave Rama only the sweet ones to eat and then Lakshman said “Oh, my goodness, how can you eat this?” And Ram said to Lakshman “You would not understand that. This is between the bhakta and the Beloved, the Lover and the Beloved one.” It’s the Love, you know, that the soul has, the soul connection and this is the Love that Sabari had for Rama. So Rama would eat it, because of that Love. That’s why we say: Jūṭhe phala sabarī ke khāye | bahu vidhi prema lagāī. That means: But he would feel great joy by eating that fruit. Rājasuya yajna yudhiṣṭhira kīno | tāmai jūṭha uṭhāī There was a great fire ceremony, where all the kings and everybody, all the sages were sitting, but there was nobody to serve them, nobody to really serve. Krishna, what did He do? He went when they finished eating and He helped to clean, to pick up the rubbish. Why was this? It was because of the Love for Yudhistira – the leader of Pandavas. Then, during the war of Mahabharata, Arjuna didn’t have anything to offer to Krishna, apart from his Love. But out of this Love that Arjun had for Krishna, He accepted to be the charioteer and ride the chariot for Arjuna and that’s the greatest Love that binds the soul to the Divine. In Vrindavan, He showed by doing the Ras, doing the dance. When He was dancing with all the girls from Vrindavan, He was the only one. That shows that in the Love for God we are all passive. He is the only One active. We all crave for that Love, whether you are man or woman. It’s beyond that concept, the Love that you are. You crave for the Universal Love, which is the Love that is seated inside your heart. Sūra krūra is lāyaka nāhī Sura Das is writing here, saying “Lord, I am unworthy of that Love.” He’s saying: “I am unworthy. I don’t deserve that, but yet you have shown Your mercy on me.” Sūra krūra is lāyaka nāhī | kaha lag karau baḍā. So He is the merciful one. Surdas was a great poet, actually. He was blind and he would sing the Name of Krishna and he would sing the Name of God, dancing around everywhere. Actually his story is like that: he was small and, because he was blind, nobody wanted to play with him. One day he heard some people singing the name of Krishna, so he started following them and started singing. And then he would sing, but of course, the group of people didn’t want him. So they cast him aside and then he would sing by himself. So Krishna, God, revealed Himself not in the outside, but inside of him, in his heart. Then he would see Krishna inside of him, constantly. One day he went to a temple and there, every day, although he was blind, he would describe how the Deity was dressed. In the Hindu tradition it is like that: every day, when they bathe their statue, they dress their statue nicely with new clothes. Now, everybody and even the priest were thinking “Oh, my goodness, probably he is just pretending to be blind.” So one day they didn’t dress the statue at all. They left the statue naked and then he sang “Oh my Lord in your nakedness, You are even more beautiful than with clothes.” And such was his Love for Krishna that Surdas was one with Him. One day Krishna appeared to him and gave him his sight back. He could see Krishna. Then Krishna said “Now you can go; you can see.” Then he said “No, my Lord, I don’t want anything. No, what I would like you to do is take back the sight. I have seen You, I don’t want anything. I don’t want to see this world. I have seen You. I don’t want to see anything else.” Well, this is what the song is about. It’s about the Love that we have for God. Worship is not about the prayer, you know, it’s not about what we utter as words. It’s what we express with our heart that is the Love and Love is not quantity, it’s quality.