Fools Rush In

Where Hanuman fears to tread

In the Brihad Bhagavatamrita by Srila Sanatan Goswami, Hanuman, carried away by his glorification of the Pandavas, almost decides to accompany Narada Muni to visit the Pandavas in Dwaraka, because "never in Ayodhya did the Lord disclose what He now reveals in the district of Mathura known as Dwaraka."

But Hanuman is an exclusive devotee of Lord Rama. Even though he concedes that the pastimes of Lord Krishna in Dwaraka are superior, he reconsiders, and decides not to accompany Narada Muni to see the Pandavas: Hanuman prefers to serve as a servant of Rama in Ayodhya (dasyaya te mama raso 'stu) rather than as a friend of Krishna in Dwaraka (sakhyaya te mama namo 'stu).

Indeed, the mighty hero who achieved perfection as the servant of Lord Rama (kapi-patir dasye) confesses that he is afraid of committing offenses in the more informal environment of intimate friendly relationships (sakhya rasa) between Lord Krishna and His devotees in Dwaraka.

Hanuman knows that Krishna's wonderful playful pastimes (vicitra-lila-bhangi) in Dwaraka and Vrindavan are so bewildering (parama-mohini) that even Lord Brahma (when he kidnaps the cowherd boys and calves) and Narada Muni himself (when he visits Krishna in His 16,108 palaces) become confused, "so what can be said about foolish forest monkeys like me?"

And when the mighty Hanuman — the scourge of Lanka! — is apprehensive about going to Dwaraka, you can imagine how afraid I am to go blithely traipsing around in the heart of Vrindavan.

So I stay close to the lotus feet of Srila Gurudeva, and don't venture out of the Math on my own (except for a quick trip to the internet shop down the road to post my daily blog).