Bamboo Bower

12 August 1963, Krishna Jayanthi, Prasanthi Nilayam

Professor Kasturi's English.

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Here was an occasion when laid His flute aside and declared that He would not play it again. It is a long story, not found in books. I alone must tell you about it, for only the Person who has experienced it can describe it. A bride called came to as the daughter-in-law of a family. Her husband and parents-in-law warned her against and His pranks and threatened her, on pain of dire punishment, to keep away from Him and to avoid Him by every possible means.

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It was Worship day, and all the cowherd boys and maidens ( and ) had to go beyond the village limits to circumambulate and worship the Hill, a festival they celebrated every year. went with the others, and in spite of the severest warning, she peeped into a crowd of enthusiastic watching the dance of with in a flower bower near the hill. She was so captivated by the divine Presence that she was no longer the same person.

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Another day, while on the river bank, she saw fashioning a flute from a reed taken out of bamboo bower, and she heard Him play! Oh, it was overwhelmingly ecstatic! It was a call to transcend the material bonds to free oneself from the trammels of earthly endeavours. did not care for anyone now. She became God-mad. In fact, she was the first to hold the reins of ’s chariot when he was taking to away from and try to push the vehicle back!

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responds to the call of yearning Years passed. , , and left the world. was now 52 years old. One day, she prayed desperately to , “I can no longer bear this forlorn life. My eyes have gone dry, they have no more tears to keep this love green. My heart is fast turning into a wasteland. Come, O Lord, come and save me, take me unto yourself.”

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heard the prayer. He responded to her yearning and called her by name so sweetly that His very voice filled her with new life. The bamboo bower was fragrant with divine glory. came near and took ’s palm In His Hand. “What do you desire?” He asked.

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smiled and gave the excuse that He had not brought His flute. But seeing ’s yearning, He plucked a reed from the bamboo bower and broke it right and in a trice converted it into a flute. With on his lap, played so melodiously on the flute that the entire and even the whole world was bathed in ecstatic joy. When He stopped, had attained final beatitude and was no longer a limited individual gopi separate from Him.

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laid aside His flute and said He would not play on it again. That is the story of one gopi. The story of every gopi will be interesting, each in its own way, for they were all so transmuted by the devotion they bore toward the Lord. The were declared by in the (aphorisms on devotion) to be the greatest among the devotees.