Riding over a bridge of the Jumna
River, we enjoyed a magnificent view of the skyline of Brindaban
just as the sun set fire to the sky-a veritable furnace of Vulcan
in color, reflected below us in the still waters.
The Jumna beach is hallowed by memories of the child Sri Krishna.
Here he engaged with innocent sweetness in his LILAS (plays)
with the GOPIS (maids), exemplifying the supernal love which ever
exists between a divine incarnation and his devotees. The life of
Lord Krishna has been misunderstood by many Western commentators.
Scriptural allegory is baffling to literal minds. A hilarious blunder
by a translator will illustrate this point. The story concerns an
inspired medieval saint, the cobbler Ravidas, who sang in the simple
terms of his own trade of the spiritual glory hidden in all mankind:
Under the vast vault of blue
Lives the divinity clothed in hide.
One turns aside to hide a smile on hearing the pedestrian interpretation
given to Ravidas' poem by a Western writer:
"He afterwards built a hut, set up in it an idol which he made from
a hide, and applied himself to its worship."
Ravidas was a brother disciple of the great Kabir. One of Ravidas'
exalted chelas was the Rani of Chitor. She invited a large number
of Brahmins to a feast in honor of her teacher, but they refused to
eat with a lowly cobbler. As they sat down in dignified aloofness
to eat their own uncontaminated meal, lo! each Brahmin found at his
side the form of Ravidas.
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