(3) Mahadev Meets Mohini

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Lord Siva's Temple inauguration,
5 March 2019, morning, part 3
Translated from Bengali

There is one beautiful incident related to Lord Siva that took place in Nabadwip.

When demons and gods were churning the ocean and there appeared poison and nectar, they asked Lord Siva to drink the poison. Many things happened at that time. You can find the description of this pastime in Srimad Bhagavatam. So, one day, Lord Siva asked Lord Krishna, 'Prabhu, You have shown me many of Your divine forms, but You have never shown me Your Mohini form. Can You show it to me?' Krishna replied, 'If I show it to you and you see it, will you able to control yourself?' Lord Siva possesses incredible power of self-control. You worship Lord Siva, but you do not even know about it. Mostly Lord Siva is worshipped by women because they come to him and ask, 'Please give my husband strength. May he always remain in good health.' Although Lord Siva possesses so much power, even he could not resist Mohini. So, when he asked Lord Krishna to show him His Mohini form, Lord Krishna asked him, 'Will you be able to handle it?' Many misinterpret this pastime; it is a great offence. People say that Krishna and Siva are one and the same. It is not so. At the same time, they are also not different from one another. Remember this.

একলা ঈশ্বে কৃষ্ণ, আর সব ভৃত্য ।
যারে যৈছে নাচায়, সে তৈছে করে নৃত্য ॥

ekala isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya
yare yaichhe nachaya, se taichhe kare nrtya

‘Lord Krishna is the only supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.5.142)

In this world, Krishna is the only supreme controller, and all the gods (Siva, Parvati and everybody else) are empowered by Him. So, like all other gods, Lord Siva is part and parcel of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna is the only master, and everybody else is His servants (they live as He makes them live).

So, when Lord Siva asked Lord Krishna to show him His Mohini form, and when Lord Krishna asked him if he would be able to handle it, Lord Siva replied, 'Yes, I will. Show it and You will see.' Krishna agreed, and then suddenly He assumed the form of a very young, beautiful woman. She was so beautiful – you will not find anybody who could compare to Her in the whole world! She was wearing thin clothes, and there was a wind blowing from the south (suggestive of an amorous mood). She came playing with a small ball in Her hands ('ping-pong, ping-pong'). When Lord Siva saw Her, he lost his head. He stepped towards Her, She stepped back; He pressed more forward, She stepped back farther. He tried to catch Her, and as he approached She suddenly began to run away very fast. Lord Siva dashed after Her. When people around saw it, they were perplexed, 'Why is this sadhu with long dreadlocks running behind a girl?! Has he gone mad?!' Parvati Devi was also there, and she was also disturbed, 'What is this? I am your wife! How can you leave me and run behind a girl?!' What wife? He forgot all about his wife and only ran behind Mohini. Finally, Lord Siva managed to embrace Her. As soon as he embraced Her, Mohini turned back into Krishna.

When we do Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, we go to the temple of Hari-Hara every year. It is a very old temple. Hari is Krishna, and Hara is Mahadev, and at that temple They exist as one Deity. One part of the Deity is white (Siva), and the other half is black (Krishna). The Deity has been there since ancient times, and we always come to take His darshan.

One time, this Deity was stolen. The police looked for Him everywhere, but, no matter how much they looked, they could not find Him. When we went for the parikrama that year, we told them, 'Do not worry, Hari-Hara will certainly come back.' About six months later, they suddenly discovered that the Deity was back at the temple! The temple was closed, with a big lock on the door, but when the pujari opened the temple one day, he saw that the Deity was back. Somebody stole the Deity, but could not keep Him. It is a priceless Deity, worth millions of rupees, but even when they tried to steal Him, they could not keep Him. We come and receive the darshan of this Deity every year during the parikrama of Sri Nabadwip Dham.

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