In this temple of Sri Rana Chod Rai, doors are having silver plates carved with Sri Krishna Avatar's incidents, like Vasudeva carryng child Sri Krishna on his head, lifting Govardana as umbrella, etc. On both sides of the doors, artistic windows can be seen. Behind these windows, the Lord Sri Rana Chod Rai is gracing. In the morning at 6:30 AM, mangala harati is performed. In South, the First dharshan is called Viswaroopam; but here it is Mangala harati. The Lord appears with the same dress and ornaments, He was decorated previous night. Bala Bhog or Dwal, is like breakfast, and is offered to the Lord at about 9:30 AM. Then there would be a harati. Doors are closed and the Lord is offered Raj Bhog at 11:30 AM. In this, all types of eatables are offered. When, after this, the doors are opened, devotees shout 'jai sri ran chod rai'. One speciality is that only ladies can go near the Lord, through a special entrance. Afterwards the doors are closed and at 4:30 PM, Utthapan is performed. Here, the Lord is woken up after a fiesta! There will be Shringar seva, when the Lord is decorated to play and dance with Thousands of Gopikas! Finally, at bed time, it is Sayana harati. All incidents of Sri Krishna avatar, are pictured here. Here the Lord is standing with one hand lifting Govardana as umbrella and the other hand on His waist.
From Chapter 7, the Lord talks of Bhakti only. Bhakti yoga is reached by Karma yoga and Gyana yoga. Bhakti yoga is needed to realize the Lord truly and reach Him. It is not mere understanding God, but realizing that Sriman Narayana is the Most Supreme God and Paramatma. We have to understand that from that most superior position, He descends on this earth as an ordinary cowherd. This Bhakti yoga is explained in the madyama shadka or middle six Chapters. We may recall that some of the slokas of Chapter 7, were seen while on visit to Sri Rajagopala Swamy temple at Mannargudi. The same Lord Sri Krishna is here in Dwaraka. Summary of Chapter 7:
svay¯ath¯atmyam.prakr. ty¯asya tirodhi´s´saran.¯agatih. |
bhaktabhedah.prabuddhasya ´srais.t.hyam.saptama ucyate || (11)
Sri Krishna explains here, real state of His being. But the prakruti, shields Him from being realized by us. Remedy is saranagati or surrender. Of those surrendered, there are Four categories of devotees. Of them, the one who wants only Him, is the best. These are the points explained by the Lord, says Swami Alavandar. The Lord explains Who He was. In slokas 7.4 and 7.5, the Lord says that He possessed Two properties - chit or all jeevatman and achit or inert matter, like organs, mind, etc. These matter are 24 but classified into Eight. There is none equal or superior to Him. His auspicious qualities are infinite. None possessed these qualities except the Lord. This way He established His nature. Why we are not able to know all these? In 7.15, He explains that all people go away from Him and did not realize His superiority. All think that He was also another man like them, as He also slept, ate, etc. Reason being Prakruti, which blinds people. The solution is to surrender to the Lord alone. In 7.16, He mentions the Four categories of Bhaktas. One prays for Kaivalyam; another for recovery of lost property; yet another prays for new property; all these are inferior Bhakti. The Lord says He considers that devotee as Gyani, who wants nothing else, but only Him and Moksham. He is the dearest to the Lord [7.19]. He attains this Bhakti after numerous births. He attains the Lord after expending all past Karma effects. His devotion to the Lord is so great that the Lord felt that He could not reciprocate even a fraction! Actually, it is the reverse! That is His magnanimity. We will now take leave of this place.
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