Talking About A Slow News Day

“Descriptions of Krishna’s eternal pastimes are in all revealed scriptures. But one cannot understand how they are continuing eternally.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 20.385)

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nitya-līlā' kṛṣṇera sarva-śāstre kaya

bujhite nā pāre līlā kemane 'nitya' haya

Friend1: What’s going on?

Friend2: Nothing new here. How about you?

Friend1: It’s been a pretty slow news day, both on the home front and in the world.

Friend2: Pretty much every day is the same for me. Get up, do the routine, go to work, come home, eat, and then slowly get ready for going to bed.

Friend1: These newspapers must have a hard time finding things to write, especially when the Congress is out of session.

Friend2: August is particularly tough. I think that’s why we see so much celebrity news now. Someone was spotted eating at a restaurant. That is a news story. Someone has lost a few pounds or someone has packed on a few. Let’s write about it.

Friend1: And those stories are so trivial. They have no value whatsoever.

Friend2: It makes you appreciate someone like His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada all the more. He could give you news every day, even if you thought nothing had happened.

Friend1: That seems to be the way all the people who follow bhakti-yoga are, no?

Friend2: Yeah, there’s different reasons given. Obviously there is plenty of source material. The Bhagavad-gita has so many verses, and you can pick any one and talk about it for hours.

Friend1: I like that the verses have significance in any time period. It doesn’t matter what is going on around you, you can pick up the book and find a way to apply it to your life.

Friend2: That makes sense, if you think about it. It comes from Shri Krishna, who we’re told is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If He wasn’t God, then His words would have limited meaning. They wouldn’t be able to make an impact on all.

Friend1: Since His words are unique, we know that there’s something different about Him. At least His words stand the test of time. They penetrate all social and language barriers. Therefore He must be Divine.

Friend2: And if you consider His spiritual home of Vrindavana, the news there is pretty boring by our accounts.

Friend1: Right, in that nothing really happens there. At least when He appears on earth in this Vrindavana, you get fights with the demons from Mathura. You get Krishna surviving the attack on the cart while He’s an infant. You get Putana losing her life while trying to feed Yashoda’s son poison. You get the prayers of the Nagapatnis after Krishna dances on the head of their husband, the Kaliya serpent.

Friend2: Yup. The spiritual Vrindavana doesn’t have any conflict. If there was ever a hint of it, the instigating party would leave for our realm and only return once their desire to compete went away. There is only love in Vrindavana, and it makes sense that you can write endlessly about love.

Friend1: Do you think the gopis would ever complain about a slow news day? I don’t think so.

Friend2: Yeah, not a chance. Simply the sound from Krishna’s flute would give them something to talk about. They would discuss how beautiful that sound is, how it makes them forget where they are and what they are doing. They then would break into appreciation of the tree that supplied the wood to make the flute that Krishna played to steal their hearts. They would then extend the praise to the neighboring grass, which got to have the association of that amazing tree. Then the river would get credit too.

Friend1: The gopis are pretty amazing. I am very impressed by them.

Friend2: Their love for Krishna is beyond measure. They are true yogis, but they don’t even know it. They don’t think that they are practicing anything. Once your mind starts thinking of practice, there is a benefit that you’re looking for. The gopis don’t want any personal benefit. They simply love Krishna.

Friend1: And then there are Krishna’s friends. They play with Him every day in the beautiful forests.

Friend2: Don’t forget mother Yashoda and Nanda Maharaja.

Friend1: Balarama too. Krishna and Balarama make for the best brothers.

Friend2: See, and we thought it was a slow news day.

Friend1: That’s a good point.

Friend2: Prabhupada would be able to speak about Krishna consciousness like this every single moment of the day. He wouldn’t have to prepare much beforehand, either.

Friend1: Brilliant in extemporaneous speech. If he were speaking of anything besides genuine spiritual life, you know that the news media and biography writers would study his life so much more.

Friend2: There’s no doubt about it. How many people are there in the world who can do what he did? Outside of the realm of bhakti it is impossible, since you rely on the news of the mundane world to provide your content.

Friend1: Yeah, there’s no such thing as a slow news day in the world of devotional service.

Friend2: There can’t be. If you’re always thinking of the all-attractive Krishna, you’re not missing anything. You can make your own news by remembering the beautiful Shyamasundara and His eternal consort Radhika and then discussing your thoughts.

Friend1: Sort of like what we’re doing now. I like it.

In Closing:

Nothing for me to say,

Slow is the news today.

 

On other happenings to rely,

Dependent on them am I.

 

Krishna’s pastimes happening all the time,

Can discuss flute’s sound, earring’s shine.

 

In bhakti something always there,

Never slow when of Krishna aware.