Lord Balarama bestows upon us three different mercies which helps us to get the shelter of Krishna.
Lord Balarama is Adi Guru, the first guru. A guru is one who shows the right path to his disciples for his ultimate benefit. Our ultimate benefit is to get connected to Krishna and return back to the kingdom of Krishna.
Sincere devotees who want to return back to the kingdom of Krishna face different challenges in their spiritual journey. But if we take shelter of Lord Balarama then he mercifully removes obstacles which is preventing us to attain Krishna.
Let us reflect upon the three mercies of Lord Balarama.
Three mercies of Lord Balarama
He removes ignorance from our heart
In ignorance, we think that we can be happy away from Krishna. And unfortunately, we think that we can be happy in this world with tons of material desires in our heart. These material desires rarely get fulfilled. And even if it gets fulfilled it never satisfies our heart.
So, Lord Balarama as guru enlightens us with spiritual knowledge making us understand that our attachment to material desires is the greatest cause of our suffering. And so, we should give it up immediately and start cultivating spiritual desire in our heart. Once we start doing so, we start seeing that our miseries slowly start disappearing.
He makes our heart fertile making it suitable for the seed of bhakti to fructify
Have we ever thought that why Lord Balarama carries plough with him? We never see him tilling the land. But still, he carries a plough. What could be the reason behind this?
Acharyas explain that Lord Balaram carries plough to make our heart fertile which is a barren field now. He not just makes our heart fertile, but he also sows the seed of bhakti in our heart. In our fertile heart devoid of material desires the seed of bhakti fructifies quickly giving us great bliss.
He removes anarthas which prevents us from practicing devotion to Krishna sincerely
In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says that lust, anger and greed are the gateway to hell. These 3 anarthas are the greatest stumbling block in our spiritual journey. And Krishna says that we should get rid of this as soon as possible.
tri-vidhaṁ narakasyedaṁ
dvāraṁ nāśanam ātmanaḥ
kāmaḥ krodhas tathā lobhas
tasmād etat trayaṁ tyajet
“There are three gates leading to this hell – lust, anger and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul.” Bhagavad Gita 16.21
We have been in this material creation of the Lord since time immemorial gratifying our senses. And because of this these 3 anarthas are deep rooted in our heart. And to uproot it we need Lord Balarama, who is the first expansion of Krishna.
He has the capability to free us from these anathas. Once our heart is free from lust, anger and greed, we can then start practicing devotion to Krishna with great enthusiasm.
Begging for Lord Balaram’s shelter
So, let us pray to Lord Balarama and seek his mercy so that he removes our ignorance and grants us freedom from anarthas (vices) so that we can sincerely, seriously and enthusiastically practice devotion to Krishna and ultimately attain the lotus feet of Krishna.
