Vrindavan Diary 2012 Part 2 - Greetings from Vrindavan - Where even the crows chant

Dear devotees and friends,

Today while circumambulating the sacred Govardhana mountain I saw a group of people wailing. They had brought a dead man – probably their relative – to the burning ghat near Jatipur. While some experienced persons prepared the funeral pyre with wood and cow dung, all of a sudden the scene changed when one of them started to sing, Sri rama nama satya he: only the name of Rama is truth. Others joined in, and soon the solacing sound of kirtan overtook the desperation.

I felt inspired, thought about my life, and decided to sit nearby to write a poem. Sitting next to me was a crow.

WHY CHANT

I went to the river
and asked, "Why do you flow?"
And the river spoke:
"It´s my nature – if I stop I´ll die."

Then I went to the wind
and asked, "Why do you blow?"
And the wind repeated the river’s words:
"It´s my nature – if I stop I´ll die."

Then I came to a cremation place
and asked a crow,
"Why do you caw so loudly?"
Sadly, it pointed to a dead man.

"Once, when I was human, I did not follow my nature
and did not chant the names of our Lord.
Then they burned my tongue and heart and
all I can do now is lament and caw."

"All is not lost," I objected.
"You still have some type of tongue and heart.
You can caw in the kirtan
and come fully alive!"

P.S. It is so inspiring here in the valley next to Giriraja. All we can hear are the pilgrims singing in the distance and chirping parrots. Even a black crow like me is encouraged to caw in this atmosphere...