giridhari ii

The Giridhari Gopal Murti is the Murti that originally belonged to Mirabai.
During a satsang that took place in October 2014 in Viseu (Portugal) Sri Swami Vishwananda said:


"This Giridhari Gopal belonged to a saint named Mirabai. She lived in the 16th century and was in ecstatic love all the time. When she was five years old, a wedding took place and she saw the bride riding past a horse. At that moment, she asked her mother, 'Where is my bridegroom?' The mother pointed to the Murti and said, 'He is your husband.' And so she began to love him like a husband. Mirabai was a princess. She had everything, but she was madly in love with Krishna. The only thing she could think of was to serve Him and sing for Him.

Then she got married. The husband understood nothing. Every day he heard his wife talking to someone, and there was a male voice in the room. So he began to doubt his wife. One day he got so angry that he opened the door, but he found only Mira and Giridhari in it.

Giridhari Gopal spoke to her. For her, this Murti was not just a statue. It was Krishna Himself and she talked to Him. Because of her devotion, she danced like a madman through the streets of Vrindavan and people said: "Look at this woman, she's a princess! See how crazy she is!" But no one dared to stop her. Because she was so engrossed in love, that her body radiated that love. And whoever came into contact with this love, was also infused with it.

Then one day, she was accused by her family in law of many things. "As a punishment," they said, "you must drink poison." Everyone had gathered. Mirabai held her Murti in her hand and silently said: "This is not poison. This is Amrit, holy nectar." She first offered it to Giridhari. The poison turned into Amrit.

Mirabai was so filled with love for Giridhari, that she merged with a Krishna statue at the age of 83 at the end of her life. It was not this statue here, but another one. This little statue was her life-long companion. This year, He decided to come to me... And today He choses to see you!

So devotion creates this Bhav (state), this connection to God which is beyond the mind, beyond the body, and even beyond the mind. Therefore, this state is called Maha Bhav, where the Supreme Himself comes..."


~bron~