The Blind and the Lame

~by Rukmini Walker

"Glory to the all-merciful Radha and Madana-mohana! I am lame and ill advised, yet They are my directors, and Their lotus feet are everything to me."

Caitanya Caritamrita Adi Lila 1.15

This verse, stunning in its humility, was spoken by Srila Krsnadas Kaviraj Goswami as one of the prayers of invocation at the beginning of Caitanya Caritamrita. He was aged when he began, but the devotees of Vrndavan implored him to compile his great work from the notes of Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, who had been eyewitness to the pastimes of Sri Caitanya at Jagannath Puri.

I’ve been traveling in India since the middle of November and had been under a doctor’s orders to be walking on crutches for six weeks, trying to avoid a hip surgery. So was, physically, a bit lame, but trying to access the kind of humility exhibited by the great Kaviraj Goswami, who is quoted above.

I often consider that I am blind also. That Krsna, God, is everywhere - in every atom, between every atom, in the hearts of every living being - and yet I see Him nowhere. This is the blindness of those of us in this material world, who have turned away, turned our backs on the One Who loves us the most.

We’ve chosen to leave Goloka, His eternal place where He enjoys playful loving pastimes with His devotees, to come here to try to play out our own mini God projects. ‘Can I pretend to be the center of all existence?’ And how is that working out for you, dear soul who has turned away?

Srila Prabhupada used to use this analogy of the blind and the lame to illustrate the tension between East and West. Years ago, India had no technology like the West, so India could not function - or walk - the way the West could do.  And the West could function well, but had no vision of the purpose of life. What is the purpose of technology anyway?

So he would say that if the lame one can get up on the shoulders of the blind one, then the two of them can help each other to both walk and see well.

These days, the tables are turned. The West is turning to India for technology, and the East is turning to the West for its culture. The internet is everywhere, addictive behaviors are being touted everywhere… and without wisdom, both the blind ones and the lame ones - the world over - are falling into a ditch.

But in the holy books of Bhakti, in the words of great sadhus, like Kaviraj Goswami, we can begin to see, to regain our vision. By the grace of Sri Radha and Madan-mohana, we can regain the strength to walk, and break open the treasure trove of wisdom that’s been gifted to us by those who have traversed the path before us.

All the best,

Rukmini Walker