The Transcendental Boatman - Part 7

Date: 2019-08-18 Author: Narahari Krishna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

This is in continuation of the previous offering titled, "The Transcendental Boatman" wherein we have been meditating on the loving relation between Lord Rama and Guha (the hunter and boatman). We will see further on this topic.

7. Lord Rama runs towards Guha: When Guha heard that Lord Rama has come to his place Sringiverapuram, he came to welcome Lord Rama. Lord Rama, though being a prince and superior to Guha in many respects, did not wait for Guha to come to Him. Rather the Lord, dragging Lakshmana also, started running towards Guha in great affection. Guha walked towards Lord Rama but Lord Rama came running towards Guha. Also the Lord felt bad that He made Guha to walk and come to Him. The Lord felt that He should have gone to Guha to meet him and not give him the trouble of walking towards Him. This is stated in the Valmiki Ramayana 2.44.11 as follows.

tato nishaadaadhipatim drishtvaa duraad avasthitam saha saumitrinaa raamah samaagacchad guhena sah

Seeing from a distance the king of Nishadas (hunters) Guha coming, Lord Rama along with Lakshmana (son of Sumitra) thereupon ran forth to meet Guha.

As Srila Prabhupada stated in one of his lectures,"As soon as one takes to Krishna consciousness, Krishna helps him. If he takes forward one step, Krishna comes ten steps". We can see in the Bhagavatam when Sudhama went to meet Lord Krishna, at the first sight of His friend, Lord Krishna started running towards him. This point is demonstrated by Lord Rama also practically here. Though banished to the forest, Lord Rama was prince of Ayodhya and it is very suited for Him to sit and expect Guha to approach Him. In our life we see that, when some exalted person is coming, everyone goes to receive him. But that exalted person may not come running towards people who are inferior to him. But Lord Rama broke all such protocols since He always considered Guha equal to Himself and even better. The Lord was overwhelmed by seeing Guha and told him that He was pleased just by the fact that Guha came walking to see Him (Valmiki Ramayana- 2.50.40,41).

guham eva bruvaanam tam raaghavah pratyuvaaca ha arcitaas caiva hrishtaas ca bhavataa sarvathaa vayam padbhyaam abhigamaac caiva sneha sandarshanena ca

To Guha who was speaking as aforesaid, Rama replied thus: "We stand honoured by you, by your very visit to us on foot, as well as your show of affection and are pleased with you"

Also Lord Rama could have reached the forest without meeting Guha as He wanted to reach the forest as quickly as possible to avoid the citizens of Ayodhya who might follow Him. But the Lord made it a point to meet Guha because He will not be able to meet Guha for 14 years and Lord Rama cannot tolerate this separation. Similarly after the completion of exile, the Lord paid a short visit to Guha’s place before reaching Ayodhya. This shows how much the Lord is anxious to commune with His devotees.

We will continue to meditate on the relation between Guha and Lord Rama in the subsequent offerings, Krishna willing.

Thank you very much. Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada and Gurudeva, Narahari Krishna das Chennai.