KANAKA'S WINDOW
Pic.: Anima D'Cunha
Last night, while watching the children’s programme in our Society’s Ganesh pandal, two of my dear friends (brother and sister) just joined us. They had come directly after visiting the famous
I have been to Mother Mary’s shrine several
times, before. But, in all my 34-year living in this city, I haven’t been there,
even once, during the popular Fair-season! Honestly, the shrine has something magnetic
about it… I have been alone there sometimes, and sometimes with my family… I
have spent quite moments in solitude… and seen tears just rolling down my
cheeks… But, then, during the most-awaited time of the year, I haven’t, at all,
felt the calling in my heart… When others share their moving experiences at the
Fair time, I feel glad… and, when they express their surprise on learning my
status, I smile and share with them how moving had been my own experiences
whenever I had spent my quite moments there.
And, at 11 this morning two of my other
friends will be visiting Lal Baug ka Raja. They were trying hard, for many days,
for a special dharshan through
someone influential. Last night, my friends asked me if I was keen to join
them. I was very pleased with the dharshan
at our own place… and told my friends to go ahead and feel blessed. I am sure,
they will come back, in deed, feeling blessed.
The famed 13th-century Krishna Temple
Kanaka Dasa ( 15th-century ), the
well-known writer, poet, singer and composure was a passionate devotee of Lord
Krishna. However, when he went to visit the famed shrine, the castist priests
of the temple refused to let him in as he was born into a low-caste family. Not
at all discouraged or angry, Kanaka settled himself behind the temple, in one
corner, and spent hours and hours singing bhajans
in praise of his beloved Icon… so much so that he was completely lost in his
devotion. The legend has it that Lord Krishna was so pleased with the love and
devotion of Kanaka, that He miraculously caused an opening on the Westside
wall, turned His idol to offer His deserving devotee a special dharshan.
Today, a small window stands erected at the
exact spot… and, every devotee who visits the Krishna
temple in Udupi, desires to seek Lord’s blessings with a peep through this
window… Yes, the folklore’s ‘Kanaka’s Window’. “Kanakana Kindi’.
I haven’t been for a dharshan at this famous shrine, either… although it shone barely an
hour-away from my own birthplace.
There is religion and there is spirituality… I do feel strongly
the presence of God in our day-to-day simple wayside-episodes. What moves our
hearts, stirs our souls… causes goose bumps over our bodies, makes our eyes
well in silent joy and gratitude… what makes us look small before the vast
skies and the oceans… and what melts our ego at someone’s deathbed… or, what
makes us soar high like falcons when a baby smiles…
Oh yes, yes… I strongly feel these are the
spiritual moments… the moments Lord offers us His dharshan… Yes, I think, they
are the Kanaka’s Windows He opens for us, when we go about our lives with our
hearts full of love and devotion…
Sushil Shankar, a friend of mine, sent me, in my FB
message-box, one of his wayside episodes. I am sharing it with you with his permission.
Years ago, when I lived in Sanpada , an incident I saw
left an impression on my mind.
I was returning from work and got off the
bus at Sanpada bus stop and was crossing the road towards the station.
On the road side, I saw a beggar, a car
came and stopped in front of him and somebody threw a packet at him. It was a
food packet, leftovers from their meal.
The man grabbed the packet and opened it, a
dog which was nearby, smelled the food and came near to the man. Without
hesitating the man took a handful and dropped the handful on the road side for
the dog to eat.
I was amazed by the incident. This man
didn’t know when his next meal would be; and, still, he graciously gave the
food to the dog!
It was an incident which I still remember,
because, we still can’t be like him…
He could give away from what he had…
I replied immediately:
Now, Sushil, it is such an ordinary -
roadside incident - that it is hardly noticed by most of us... And, if you have
'paused to see it'... appreciate it, value it... that is what I call being
spiritual in life. If that is not, nothing else is!
Allow me to write on this subject in my
next post... Hope, you will not mind sharing your story, tomorrow.
Thanks…
LOVE.
Sushil responded:
Yes
Sir, please go ahead and put it in better words, thank you.
In ‘better words’?
No Sushil, I have found none. Your wayside
story brought alive in my heart the story I had read as a little kid – ‘Kanakana
Kindi’… Yes, ‘Kanaka’s Window’…
If Lord Himself opens such windows for us, what else can be a better dharshan?
Yes, if that’s not being spiritual, nothing
else is!
GERALD D’CUNHA
Comments
-- Usha
--- Ashok Mehra