September 29 2008

Here’s a bit of nectar from the forthcoming Volume 6 of Transcendental Diary:

January 7, 1977 – Bombay

 As Prabhupada took his massage, Kuladri prabhu, the president of the Buffalo temple, arrived. He is on a shopping and business trip for New Vrindaban. Prabhupada was very happy to see him and when Kuladri gave him a large batch of milk sweets from the New Vrindaban kitchens, he was delighted. “These sweets mean that our mission is successful,” he declared with alacrity.

  
He immediately began to glorify the pleasantries of farm life and as Kuladri sat down to relish the opportunity to be once more in his spiritual master’s presence, Srila Prabhupada spoke for some time how even all the animals become happy and peaceful if treated well.

He told us that even tigers and lions in the jungle become the pets of great saintly persons. He said he personally knew a sadhu who was living in the jungle. Everyday the saint would put some milk at a distance and call a she-tiger to come and eat. He would ask her, “Please take this milk and kindly do not eat any men.” The tigress would sometimes come and leave her cubs with him while she went off hunting into the jungle for the day.

On her return in the evening she would bring some fruit, deposit it there and take her cubs back again. To our smiles of amazement Prabhupada said the farms are our future hope for living. [end quote]

It reminded me of the story in the Caitanya Caritamrta describing the great devotee Murari Caitanya:

CC Adi 11.20

“There were many extraordinary activities performed by Murari, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sometimes in his ecstasy he would slap the cheek of a tiger, and sometimes he would play with a venomous snake.”

PURPORT
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura writes in his Anubhasya, “Murari Caitanya dasa was born in the village of Sar-vrndavana-pura, which is situated about two miles from the Galasi station on the Burdwan line. When Murari Caitanya dasa came to Navadvipa, he settled in the village of Modadruma, or Mamagachi-grama. At that time he became known as Sarnga or Saranga Murari Caitanya dasa. The descendants of his family still reside in Sarer Pada. In the Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanda, Chapter Five, there is the following statement: ‘Murari Caitanya dasa had no material bodily features, for he was completely spiritual. Thus he would sometimes chase after tigers in the jungle and treat them just like cats and dogs. He would slap the cheek of a tiger and take a venomous snake on his lap. He had no fear for his external body, of which he was completely forgetful. He could spend all twenty-four hours of the day chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra or speaking about Lord Caitanya and Nityananda. Sometimes he would remain submerged in water for two or three days, but he would feel no bodily inconvenience. Thus he behaved almost like stone or wood, but he always used his energy in chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. No one can describe his specific characteristics, but it is understood that wherever Murari Caitanya dasa passed, whoever was present would be enlightened in Krsna consciousness simply by the atmosphere he created.'” 
Such is the power of a spiritually advanced person.  Of course we see animals in zoos that become domesticated due to their complete reliance on their human wardens

whoops! Sorry, wrong tiger… 

but to hear about wild tigers behaving in such a way was quite surprising. 

If you are interested to see a modern example of a lion that was brought up as a pet and later released into the wild but remained friendly to its human mentors go to this link:

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=btuxO-C2IzE&feature=related

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