Sep 3
A Gopi Story – II
Then one after the other, the gopis tell the Sage the story of how they got to Him. Of what Krishna had told them and how the waters had parted to let them through. They obviously couldn’t tell the River that they had to go and feed a hungry Sage. Could He please help them? Tell them how to get home? They had babies and husbands and cows and homes to take care of. (Besides they were already missing Krishna)
Sage Durvasa says, Just go to the river and tell her, all of you need to get back home to your babies and husbands and cows and homes. So please help us. O Jamuna Maaiya, If Sage Durvasa has never eaten anything in His entire life, never consumed a single morsel of food, then let us pass.
So saying, he turns on His side and falls asleep. Soon he is softly snoring. The gopis look at each other disbelievingly. This man had just eaten food that could have fed a small army! But, there was no other way…
So they very reluctantly go to the banks of the River and repeat all that the Sage had told them. And miraculously, the waters part once again giving them safe passage to the other side…
This is a pretty strange story, and I am pretty sure the gopis, being gopis didn’t question it much, just attributed it like we would all do to “What a strange world we all live in” … and got on with life 
Was Jamuna Maaiya extremely naïve, gullible? Or not in touch with what was happening? Or is there some miraculous secret hidden here?
The great Sages, Lord Krishna were such perfect Yogis, that whatever action they did, was done out of sheer dispassion and so there was absolutely no Karma attached. They were only apparently acting, doing things. They were in this world, but not of it. So even though Lord Krishna had already had many, many crazy escapades and left a trail of broken hearts, none of the Karma touched Him, and so He didn’t really do! So also, Sage Durvasa eats without eating !
The wise old River Jamuna maaiya knows this great Truth. And so listens and complies with the gopi’s seemingly impossible request.
What a wonderful little tale to illustrate something so beautiful and deep of our Spiritual Lore…
(10 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Utterly beautiful
Is it possible to achieve such levels of dispassion, while at the same time giving 100% to make sure the task happens?
Superb story, bau!! I have a question, Sage Durvasa was known for his anger. He used to curse people at the drop of a hat. And you are saying that he was dispasionate, isnt it contradictory?
If you check out every single story where He cirsed anyone, it always turned out to be the best thing that happened to the person on the receiving end of the curse!
Guruji has often told us that even the anger of the Enlightened is a Blessing!
So yes, though He was known for going around cursing people, He was utterly dispassionate
Jai Gurudeva!
love
bawa
Dear Bau,
I the way you put it that even the anger of enlightened once is beneficial to the person at receiving end and you also said to check the stories. I have hardly read any stories from this great sage so I googled it. The wiki link gives one such story of Durvasa’s meeting with Ambarish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durvasa
Conflicting part is one purana say this great sage’s ego was busted and other puts him at highest position. Now question is which purana is wrong?
Given the context, and time it happened, both are right
Dear Bau,
Please explain. It beats me as from the wiki, here I am copy pasting. In the Shrimad Bhagvatam its written:
‘Lord Narayan’s Sudarshana intervened, destroyed the demon and started chasing Durvasa himself. Durvasa went to Brahma and Shiva for protection. Both pleaded their inability to save him’.
and in Shiv Puran:
‘To protect Ambarish Sudarshana came but on seeing that Durvasa is supreme being GOD shiv himself, it stopped’.
Now One purana says Shiva was unable to protect and other says Durvasa was Shiva himself. The where’s the context?
Besides this what was the lesson for King Ambarisha? The poor chap took the Tulsi and some water on advise of another Great Sage Vashistha. Please shade some light.
JGD,
Onkar
This is the reason you need a Guru in life … there are some answers even google and wikipedia dont have
These stories always have some deeper secrets, some deeper meanings … on the face of it they sound contradictory and almost trashy
to interpret these, Guruji steps in … on an Adv course sometime, please ask Guruji about it, and i am pretty sure you will get some utterly mind blowing answer from Him … then write it to me, so i can post it on the blog
Jai Gurudeva!
love
bawa
Dear Bau,
Sure I’ll ask Guruji. I totally agree about what you say we need guru in our life and also that anger of an enlighten one only helps the receiver. I have experienced it. I was just not sure of what to make of this story/ excerpts from shiva and shrimad bhagvatam puran.
JGD,
Onkar
It was amazing fact to know about our Lords & sage…keep posting this type of lovely stories…..
Jaigurudeva..
Aho !!
Dear Bawa,
It would very nice if these r told to this and next generation instead of spider man, power rangers and great stuff which are nothing but sheer violence and hatredism.
Indian Spirituality can live for generations to come in
Our hero is Krishna Rama, and all other devas who protected and are still protecting this earth
Hail Indian Spirituality
Proud to be an Indian
GO INDIA GO TO THE WORLD OF SPIRITUALITY
There needs to be both
i like spidey v much
Jai Gurudeva!
love
bawa
Wo sab toh theek hai, but Spider Man rocks!!
oh wow!what an end!!
WOWWW!! dis is simply just WOW!!..brilliant…
pls bau more such posts pls…..
thanks for D beautiful story…
But Bau how do we achieve such dispassion and work without getting attached to karma ?
Dear Bau,
I know that it is possible for us to achieve such dispassion. Sadhna Seva Satsang gets us there. But then we are attached to sadhna seva n satsnag. So when we dont do our sadhna dont do seva n dont do satsang we are not in dispassion. So the dispassion achieved through sadhna seva satsang is real?? or its just a matter of time that it happens to us? or is it pure grace of master that will make it possible? And if it has to happen some time its supposed to then where does the grace come in picture even the grace which is showered is just another event which is bound to happen.
I hope its not too confusing
Love,
Anant
To start with Sadhana Seva Satsang … when you need to move further, then Guruji will tell you … meanwhile continue with the magic formula
Jai Gurudeva!
love
bawa
Bau,
This is also the hidden meaning behind verse 3.1.1 in the Mundaka Upanishad which says “Two birds sat on a tree; one ate the fruit and the other looks on without eating”.
The one who eats is the individual self.
The other is the transcendental self.
The tree is the tree of life.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe15/sbe15020.htm
Jai Gurudev!!
You are tooooo Goooood!!!!:)
With Love,
Siddharth
Beautiful … Reminds me of another similar story where a king used to treat himself as an object of divine and then do justice and ultimately escape from karma.
or it was on HIS blog.. 
Maybe I read it on ur blog only
Jai Gurudev!!
wondeful!!!!!!
JGD:-)
WONDERFULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THESE HIDDEN FACTS IN THE STORIES ARE VERY IMPORTANT AND VERY ENTERTAINING.
PLS POST SOME MORE STORIES:-)
@Sudha…
I like spidey too!! and he is stylish as well..
If you carefully watch the trilogy, it is nothing but pure knowledge… ‘The blacksuit’ in the 3rd part is like ‘veil of ignorance over pure self(Vashisht).. It takes over the reality.. and magnifies egosense’ and ‘then it multiplies the characteristics of its host species(Parkers Guide)’… Until the spirit enquiry one day tears it apart..
and btw war was part of Mahabharat and Ramayan too.. Infact I have heard stories of Mahabharat from my Grandpa and he said that battle of Kurukshetra was so terrible that both world wars combined are like tiny speck in its comparison..
Listen to Gurujis commentary “why is there war?” and you ll get a fresh insight of war, free from extremes..
Bau I like spidey too!!!
What we see,is exactly not the way it is…. Sounds Funnny but Strange!!!!!!
So did these guys enjoyed what they did? Krsna made pranks and fun but still was not part of it so why he did it? Sage ate food of half army …still he did not had a single morsel so why he ate it? I mean y these Karmas when u r already out of it.
Karmas without Karmas
Did they enjoyed what they did… coz they knew they never did it…? OR was it just a happening of things coz they were Godly n knew all past present n future?
Aaarrghhhhh…..need devavati now..:)
i would recommend 2 tablets for 3 days
That is actually so beautiful
Thanks for sharing that Bau !
So would this type of dispassion be somewhat-sort of-like when my best friend does something not-so-right, and I don’t get mad at her but rather pretend to be mad with a stern tone so that she realizes her mistake and can learn from it? I’m not really mad but just acting so that I’m not just nicey nice and passive about things? If so, is that the way to respond when you’re not angry at someone just rather compassionate towards them so that they can learn? Is that dispassion in one’s actions?
Very curious….
You are still attached that the other person should learn and improve at some level, so its not complete dispassion … this is a pretty deicate and complicated matter and will become clearer only thru personal Sadhana on an extremely regular basis
Jai Gurudeva!
bawa
bauuuu.. lemme say my understanding…
when the little child is going to the fire, we shout aloud. or when he is doing some thing not so hygienic and is not at an age to understand hygiene …. we express anger..
and i love to remind myself of anger bau… it is so beautifull..
anger is an expression of unhappiness towards the child’s act. the child understands the frown and the change in voice ..
unable to bear the change in the beautifull smiling face of the mother and the fear of loosing the love of mother, that he relishes day in and day out … for the sake of love, he listens to mommaaa…
this fear works in managing with the child …
similarly, it is imp for us to be in trust with each other ..
if anger is expressed for the sake of the others welbeing … i feel it dispassionate ..
if it is for my comfort .. then it is selfishness..
any thing for a higher cause is dispassion
imp to give a higher direction for every thing in life
that higher direction is God …
seeing him in every thing and moving towards him in every way , every action
is dispassion
could we call it a greater passion .. umm…. could be….
Hmmmm… yes, I had been thinking the same as Saran that if you are expressing an emotion, ie anger, with selfless intentions and you’re doing so for the benefit of the other person and not b/c you can’t control your anger, then you are indeed showing a glimpse of being dispassionate, particularly if you are not affected by the outcome. Afterward whether the other person receives your intention or not, it doesn’t affect you and you move on…
However, from your reply Bawu, I’m a little puzzled. If I’m still attached that the other person should learn/improve, then it makes me wonder how not doing that would be different from being passive. Can’t we have a selfless intention for other’s benefit while remaining free from it?
From your other response that this is delicate matter and will become clearer through personal sadhna… well I shall certainly continue that but can you shed some more light in the time being?
as soon as you are attached to the other person learning … karma hits you
Good karma or bad?
Doesn’t really matter … you need to get rid of ALL Karma for Moksha
This post reminded me of these words from the Ashtavakra Gita:
” The SELF is like crystal – NIRANJANA – CLEAR and PURE , untouched , unstained by anything… ”
A lo …………….ng way to go,on my spiritual journey, Bawa! Feel like Tennyson’s Ulysses… ‘Yet all experience is an arch where through / Gleams that untravelled world , whose margin fades / Forever and forever when I move.’
Anyway, I remember Guruji, inviting us at a satsang,to sit in the passenger seat beside HIM as he sits at the wheel , driving us to our destined place…
)(metaphorically speaking!) What more can I ask? 
)
A most thought-provoking post! Thanks. And… wishing Dinesh and you, and all our Art of Living teachers “A HAPPY TEACHER’S DAY” for tomorrow.
) Have fun. Jgd.
Love,
Sudha
Sage Durvasa eats so much! That sure adds weight to him and also to the story! (Assuming that eating dispassionately also increses weight).
Wonderful story!!
I wonder what would we be doing without Guruji explaining us everything to us! He’s “The” Best
How did you get the two dots over ‘i’ in ‘naive’? Isn’t a blog editor supposed to be very naive in handling such things?
i was pleasantly surprised myself when that happened
Jai Gurudev… Loved this one n looking forward to more of them…Bau n Dinesh Bhaiya…A Very Happy Teacher’s Day to you both and to all the wonderful Teacher’s of our Family…and… another nth “Thanks” to our beloved GURUJI for making Himself so easily accessible
through these wonderful instruments.. 
awesome story!!!
happy teacher’s day!
what a beautiful interpretation of the story. The other day i couldn’t grasp anything out of it but now i find so much depth in it.
Love
Jai Gurudeva:)
Very Good Story !!! I cannot express what I felt after listening to it.Was it peace or inner satisfaction that I felt?Cant express!!! I am a first time reader of your blog.Loved it.
Thank You
Jai Gurudev !!!
Dearest Bau,
If I may make a suggestion: Could you please tag it as “History” instead of “Mythology”?
There are already many a disbelieving people who indulge in vain arguments such as “Christ was real, Krishna was only a mythical character”. Or some oxford-learned-gentlemen start a government-funded “study” on ‘whether or Krishna really existed’. These folk would never DARE to carry out a study on whether “Prophet Muhammad ever really existed or was he a part of someone’s imagination”-kind of study. On top of that children in our school are taught “Indian Mythology” and not Indian ‘history’ which is also one of the reasons that the issue of “ram setu” went to such lengths where our government was ready to demolish it citing reasons that there is no evidence that Lord Ram ever walked the planet. Somehow, having the word ‘myth’ associated with our ancient philosophies doesn’t seem great.
What do you think?
Love,
Krish
Jai Guru Dev!
It is marked as both History and Mythology
Wonderful post Bau
Amazing!
Thanks a lot
JaiGurudev
” The SELF is like crystal – NIRANJANA – CLEAR and PURE , untouched , unstained by anything… ”
If self is pure and untouched then no karma can be attached to self. The only karmas are attached are to the body, so when u die even the karma should die with u..what do u say Mr. Batliwala?
We will all find that out when we die no?