“The soul does not leave the world behind by its own strength. It is gently led by the Lord until even the memory of separation disappears.”
Yesterday…
I bowed before four-faced Brahmā.
The Creator himself folded his hands and blessed my onward journey.
Then he pointed beyond the farthest limit of his own universe.
Today…
I stand where creation itself comes to an end.
Ahead flowed a river unlike anything words could describe.
It was not made of water.
Nor of light.
Nor of crystal.
Yet it possessed the purity of all three.
Every wave shimmered with an indescribable brilliance.
No sun illuminated it.
No moon reflected upon it.
It shone by its own eternal nature.
This was Virajā.
The sacred boundary between everything that changes….
and everything that never changes.
I stood silently.
For the first time since beginning this journey…
I felt no desire to move.
The river itself seemed alive.
Not flowing…
but inviting.
Then I remembered…..
Every morning during my humble Thiruvārādhana, while offering arghya and worshipping the Lord, I had invoked this very river.
How many thousands of times had I softly prayed…
“May the sanctity of Virajā purify this worship.”
Then came memories like gentle waves.
The sacred Kṛṣṇa River at Mattapalli, flowing before Lord Lakṣmī Narasiṁha.
The majestic Kāverī embracing Śrī Raṅganātha.
The tranquil Sarayū and the sacred Gupta Ghāṭ at Ayodhyā.
The sweet waters of the Yamunā in Vṛndāvana.
The holy Gomatī at Dvārakā.
The Triveṇī Saṅgam near Veraval, where Hiraṇ, Kapilā and Sarasvatī meet near the place sanctified by the Lord’s final earthly pastimes.
The countless Pushkariṇīs of the Divya Deśams.
Every Chakrasnānam during Brahmotsavams.
Every Kalaśa Pūjā during homams, when I invoked all the sacred rivers into a single vessel before the Lord.
I had thought I was remembering rivers.
Today…….
I realised they had been quietly preparing me for this river.
As I gazed into Virajā…
I did not see my reflection.
Instead…
I saw every burden I had ever carried.
Pride…
Ego…
The desire to be praised.
The pain of criticism.
Possessiveness.
Anger.
Jealousy.
Fear.
Attachment.
Even the subtle satisfaction of thinking,
“I have practised devotion.”
One by one…
they appeared…
only to dissolve without struggle into the brilliance of Virajā.
Then I understood.
The river was not taking something away from me…
It was returning to the universe everything that had never truly belonged to the soul.
The jīva carries nothing into eternity…
except loving surrender.
Then a profound silence embraced me.
No questions remained.
No ambitions remained.
No comparisons remained.
Only one prayer survived.
“O Lord… Let me never again forget that I belong only to You.” And you only
Suddenly…
the luminous attendants who had accompanied me thus far smiled.
Without a word…
they gently led me across.
There was no effort.
No swimming.
No crossing.
The Lord Himself carried what could never cross by its own strength.
The far shore was unlike anything I had imagined.
The very air radiated bliss.
The fragrance could not be compared to any flower of Earth.
Time… had vanished.
For the first time…
I no longer felt like a traveller.
I felt… expected……
Welcomed.
Known.
Then I heard distant voices.
Not singing…
Not speaking…
Yet every sound carried one Name
Narayana Narayana Narayana
Narayana Narayana Narayana
Narayana Narayana Narayana
Narayana Narayana Narayana
Narayana Narayana Narayana
Every particle of that eternal realm seemed to breathe His Name…….
Tomorrow…
We shall behold the sacred Viraja river and explore it’s glories
Srimathey Ramanujaya namah
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pictures Courtesy Google images
