Jagat

The first calls to blow up the Yamuna "Half-Moon" Bridge have already come out. It made me realize that the picture used on that poster was a total mistake. The language of "aparadha" that was used there and in the current discourse is not really the right way to approach publicizing this issue. Most people do not understand what offenses are, and they have little or no idea of the sacred or why Vrindavan and the Yamuna are sacred. We do not really want to associate the preservation of Vrindavan's sacred heritage with militant Hindu nationalism and the kinds of things that happened in the Babri Masjid fiasco. To characterize the people involved in making the bridge as demons is also wrongheaded. That makes it into a demons-demigods fight, which is not what it is. Always attribute the best motivations to your enemy: they are thinking of the development of this bridge as a way of improving the lives of the Brajavasis by increasing the flow of tourist traffic...

On my walk yesterday, I caught up with a Gurukula student on the road, a young man who knows enough Sanskrit to hold a conversation. He was pushing his bicycle to the repair shop and we started talking about his dvi-cakrikA . Anyway, at some point we were talking about what the proper Sanskrit words were for "second," and "minute," and it reminded me of this verse, which is a great favorite of mine: यदा यातो दैवान् मधुरिपुरसौ लोचनपथं तदास्माकं चेतो मदनहतकेनाहृतम् अभूत् पुनर्यस्मिन्नेष क्षणमपि दृशोरेति पदवीं विधास्यामस्तस्मिन्नखिलघटिका रत्नखचिताः The time that Krishna crossed by chance our path of sight, that vile and miserable god of love came and stole our soul. If ever such a moment should again come to our eyes, its every instant we will drape with jewels and gold.(2.2.36) I explained as best I could in Sanskrit the concept of "sacred space" and "sacred time." The gopis had discovered a moment of sacred time and they naturally wanted to worshi...