From a satsang with Paramacharya of SWAHA, Pt. Hardeo Persad
Shree Krishna created many miracles in the lives of His devotees during his earthly manifestation, which remain both relevant and applicable in modern life. When Bhagavan Shree Krishna went to the city of Mathura, he met a woman with a very beautiful face but a deformed body. She was applying sandalwood paste to King Kansa. Shree Krishna asked, “O beautiful one, will you give me some of that sandalwood paste?” She was so enamoured of Shree Krishna, from whom Divine Love permeated, that without hesitation she offered it to Him. Shree Krishna was pleased with her offering and her attitude of devotion. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita (chapter 9, verse 26) states, “If one offers to me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even water, I delightfully partake of that article offered with love by My devotee in pure consciousness.” Shree Krishna knew she was carrying that burden of deformity but also of the love in her heart. He placed one foot on the ground and the other upon her feet, and placed His middle and index finger under her chin. Pressing down with his feet, He pulled up her chin and her body was transformed. Her deformity vanished.
This katha is deeply meaningful to our present human condition. The ‘s’ shape of her spine represents the kundalini shakti, coiled dormant at the base of the spine in each body. Muladhaara chakra, the energy centre at the base of the spine represents prithvi tattva, the earth element. When Shree Krishna placed one foot on the ground, he stabilised that energy vortex. Each finger is also representative of a principle: the thumb represents Brahma; the index finger, jeevatma, the individual soul and the middle finger, sattvic prakriti, the mode of piety and purity. Through his action He shows us the technique to awaken that divine power within. When the kundalini shakti is awakened and begins to rise, there are no defects or deformities in the body, and it perfects the character so that the individual soul can attain the state of nonduality.
Our personal spiritual journey is the integration of the jeevatma with sattvic prakriti through dhriti (firm perseverance). The kundalini shakti goes up the sushumna nadi (main channel of bioenergy along the spine). This energy should only be awakened through sattvic prakriti to avoid possible negative consequences. From the perspective of bhakti, the path of devotion, there is no deformity or defect that Shree Krishna cannot heal if we surrender with love to his divinity. If we choose to follow Him through devotion, that internal energy is automatically awakened along with the infinite powers that reside within us, such as the ashtha siddhi, the eight major yogic powers, as well as the 27 minor ones. More significantly, when these energies are activated, we experience the positive divine qualities and the self-effulgent divine light within us and advance towards the ultimate state of nonduality
