"The Sacred Necklace"

[Vijaya Baladeva das]

Diary of a Traveling Monk

Volume 11, Chapter 11

November 21, 2010

By Indradyumna Swami


"The Sacred Necklace"


One morning in Vrindavana, I was sitting in my house chanting my
rounds when
my disciple Narottam Das Thakur Das came to see me. He offered his
respectful obeisances and then spoke. "Guru Maharaja," he said, "it's
been a
long time since I have visited Govardhana Hill. If you don't have any
service for me today, I would like your blessings to go on Govardhana
parikrama."

"You're free to go," I said. "Just be back in time for the program
tonight.
I would go with you, but I have some important things to do."

As he was leaving I had another thought. "Keep your eyes open," I
said. "You
never know what special mercy might come your way during parikrama in
Vrindavana."

Early the next morning he burst into my room as I was chanting my
rounds.
"Guru Maharaja," he said excitedly, "the most amazing thing happened
to me
yesterday."

It seems that Narottam had taken a taxi to Govardhana Hill and begun
his
parikrama at Kusum Sarovara. He set a quick pace and reached the
southern
tip of the hill in a few hours. He felt tired, so he wandered into a
forested area to take a short break.

Suddenly he saw a sadhu sitting and chanting on japa beads. The sadhu
was
thin and lean, with matted locks tied neatly on top of his head,
dressed
only in a loin cloth with a chadar around his shoulders. His eyes were
closed, and he seemed peaceful and equipoised, absorbed in his
meditation on
the holy names.

Narottam went up to him. "My dear sir," he said, "may I ask who you
are?"
The sadhu opened his eyes. "I am the servant of Giriraja," he said.
Narottam was attracted by the sadhu's saintly bearing, so he sat by
him and
began chanting. After thirty minutes the sadhu rose and turned to
Narottam.
"I am on Govardhana parikrama," he said. "Would you like to join me?"

"Yes, of course," Narottam replied.

They soon came to Apsara Kunda, a sacred lake at the foot of
Govardhana and
stopped for a moment to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

"Where do you live, sir?" Narottam asked.

"I live around Govardhana,"the sadhu said. "And each night I stay in a
different asrama."

"And how do you get food?"

The sadhu smiled. "It's never a problem," he said. "No one goes hungry
in
Vrindavana. I beg from the villagers, and they always give more than I
can
eat. Usually I end up sharing my meals with the cows or the monkeys."

At that moment they passed a group of pilgrims on a picnic. "Jai ho
Babaji!"
a man called out. "Please come take prasada with us."

The sadhu smiled again. "You see?" he said. "Giriraja provides
everything
for His devotees."

After having lunch with the other pilgrims, Narottam and the sadhu
washed
their hands in a nearby pond and continued walking. As they passed
into an
area of thick foliage, the sadhu gazed affectionately at Govardhana.

"This hill, Giri-Govardhana," he said, "is the best devotee of Krsna.
Radharani, Krsna's beloved, once said to Her friends: 'Of all the
devotees,
this Govardhana Hill is the best. O my friends, this hill supplies
Krsna and
Balarama, as well as Their calves, cows and cowherd friends, with all
kinds
of necessities - water for drinking, very soft grass, caves, fruits,
flowers, and vegetables. In this way, the hill offers respect to the
Lord.
Being touched by the lotus feet of Krsna and Balarama, Govardhana Hill
appears very jubilant.'"

They walked only another fifty meters when the sadhu stopped. "Let me
show
you a special place where I sometimes go to chant," he said.

They turned left off the parikrama path and made their way into the
forest,
then stopped just behind an asrama. The sadhu pointed to an opening in
a
rise on the ground. "Just over there is Raghava Pandit's cave," he
said.
"Raghava Pandit was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya and would do his
bhajana in this cave whenever he visited Vrindavana. It is a very
sacred
place. Let us go there and chant at the entrance."

While they were sitting near the cave chanting on their beads,
Narottam
turned to the sadhu. "Baba," he said, "how old are you? You're
obviously not
young, but you do have a youthful bearing."

The sadhu chuckled. "I'm ninety years old," he said.

"And do you spend much time here?" Narottam asked.

"I've lived here my entire life," he said. "And I've done Govardhana
parikrama every day since I was ten years old."

Narottam was amazed. "That's every day for eighty years," he said.
"How many
Govardhana parikramas is that?"

"The number is not important," the sadhu said. "When one
circumambulates
Govardhana Hill, the heart is purified and gradually one's devotion
for
Krsna is awakened."

Narottam thought about the sadhu's words. Then he spoke. "My spiritual
master," he said, "is a disciple of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,
who
left Vrindavana at an advanced age to spread love of Krsna all over
the
world."

"I know of Swami Bhaktivedanta," the sadhu said.

"My spiritual master is helping to advance his guru's mission,"
Narottam
continued. "He tells people about the glories of Vrindavana in places
like
Eastern Europe and Russia. Every year during the month of Kartika he
takes
groups of devotees on parikrama around Vraja."

The sadhu's eyes opened wide. "Oh that is very nice," he said.

"And he carries a Govardhana-sila with him wherever he travels," said
Narottam.

The sadhu's eyes opened even wider. "That really is very nice," he
said.

As they continued chanting japa, Narottam studied the sadhu and
noticed he
was wearing two strings of large Tulasi beads around his neck. One
consisted
of dark-colored beads that appeared polished through years of being
worn,
and there was a large silver kavaca on it. The second set of beads was
smaller and newer.

Narottam suddenly had an idea. He took a deep breath. "Babaji
Maharaja," he
said, "I've noticed you are wearing two sets of large Tulasi beads
around
your chest."

He paused for a moment. "Do you think I could have one to give to my
guru as
a present?"

The sadhu stopped chanting and thought for several minutes. "Yes," he
said,
"I can give."

Narottam was stunned. He hadn't expected the sadhu to give the beads.

The sadhu put his chadar on the ground and then carefully placed his
japa
beads on it. He then removed the newer set of beads. "I carved them
myself,"
he said as he dropped them into Narottam's hands.

Narottam couldn't believe his good fortune as he looked at the beads,
but
when he looked up, he noticed the older beads now hanging in plain
view on
the sadhu's chest. The finely carved beads were made from knotted wood
and
appeared as if from another era. There was something mystical about
them.

"Babaji," Narottam said, almost pleading, "my spiritual master would
be most
appreciative of the older set."

The sadhu's eyes opened wide. He fingered the beads. "I received this
set
from another sadhu forty years ago," he said. "He got them from his
guru
when he was a small boy, and his guru had received them from his own
guru
many years before that. They are more than a hundred years old."

Narottam lost all hope.

"They have circumambulated Govardhana Hill thousands of times, bathed
in
Radha Kunda every day I have lived here, and are imbued with the
spiritual
potency of all the prayers and mantras I have chanted in my appeals to
Giriraja," said the sadhu.

Narottam nodded and returned to his chanting. Then the sadhu spoke
again.
"But I will be happy to give them to your guru," he said. "Tell him to
continue spreading the glories of Vrindavana wherever he goes."

Then he took off the old Tulasi beads with the silver kavaca and
carefully
placed them into Narottam's trembling hands. Narottam sat staring at
the
beautiful necklace, a transcendental work of art permeated with the
devotion
of a saintly person.

"But you must give me back the other necklace," the sadhu said with a
chuckle. "What's a baba without beads?"

Narottam handed back the newer set and placed the older one in his
bag.

"All right," the sadhu said with a smile, "let us continue our
parikrama.
Giriraja-Govardhana, ki jaya!"

He stood up and began walking so quickly Narottam could hardly keep up
with
him. "This sadhu has so much energy," he thought. The sadhu's japa got
louder as his pace increased, and after a while Narottam fell behind.
Gradually the saintly person, intent on his daily ritual of
circumambulating
Govardhana, disappeared.

Narottam stopped and checked in his bag to see if the sacred beads had
really been more than a dream. "Gurudeva will be so happy," he
thought.

I sat in my room spellbound, listening to Narottam's story. He
stopped
talking and finally took out the beads and placed them in my hands. As
I
looked at them, I realized I had received a gift of unlimited mercy.

I slowly placed them around my neck and turned to Narottam. "How do
they
look?" I asked.

"Well, they're quite big, Guru Maharaja," he said. "Not what the
general
devotee wears."

"Nevertheless, I must wear them," I said. "They are a gift from a
saintly
person. Besides, they're saturated with spiritual potency. I'm leaving
for
Brazil in a few days for a seven-week festival program. These beads
will be
my inspiration as I leave this holy abode of Vrindavana. I'll be
carrying
Vrindavana with me."

"Yes," said Narottam. "The benediction was timely."

As I studied the beads I asked Narottam what was in the kavaca. A look
of
embarrassment came over his face, and he blushed. "I forgot to ask,"
he
said.

"Huh?" I said. "You didn't ask the sadhu what was inside the kavaca?"

"No, Guru Maharaja," he said. "I was overwhelmed by the moment."

"That's all right," I said. "It adds to the mystery of the pastime.
For
sure, whatever is in the kavaca is spiritually potent and precious."

I pressed the necklace close to my chest and then went back to
chanting my
rounds.

"I will wear this sacred necklace for the rest of my life," I thought,
"and
one day, like the sadhu, I will pass it on to another devotee who will
benefit from its charm."

My mind went back to 1972, when Srila Prabhupada kindly handed me a
dhoti
from his suitcase. "A gift from a Vaisnava is a very special thing,"
he
said. "It should be treated with all respect."

Indradyu...@pamho.net
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