WASHINGTON, August 26, 2012 – We all want our share of everything. Right from birth, the need to ask for our share is inherent in us. And if we don’t get it at once, we learn to adopt different means to obtain what we want. A child cries his heart out, forcing the mother to feed him. A lover goes to any extreme to pursue his love. A worker puts his best foot forward to get the position, the salary he desires.

And we want our share of all of this from God. But do we want a share of God himself too? A piece of God? A slice of Him? A bit of his divine self in this large, magnificent universe?

There was a time when this was true in its purest form. When the level of devotion had reached its ultimate position. When the desperation to have a piece of God was so high that devotees were willing to forgo all their physical, emotional, material possessions, just to be with the Lord.

That time was the Maha Rasa.

Lord Krishna was the beloved of many. Women folk in the holy cities of Mathura and Vrindavan, where Krishna spent his childhood and youth, wanted him all the time. Their sole desire, or to put it in a better way, their soul’s only desire was to be loved by Krishna. Their love for him had attained the height of devotion. They passed through all stages of desperation, envy, jealousy, anger, remorse.

All they wanted was ‘Krishna‘.

Krishna played the flute in such mesmerizing ways that it attracted not only human beings, but animals, birds, nature and the whole of universe towards it. Although he just played for his lady love, Radha, everyone who heard the tune of his flute thought that it was being played just for them.

In those magical moments, he became one with many. And many found their oneness with him.

But everyone wanted more of him. All wanted to be one with the one in bigger, better ways. They wanted this connection to be immortal.

On one night, Krishna fulfilled their desire. The night of the Maha Rasa.

As Krishna played the eternal flute for his worshippers, his women devotees, or Gopikas, ran out of their homes, leaving their families, kids, chores behind, just to be with him. To have their share of him.

Krishna, with his divine powers, multiplied his physical self into millions of bodies, so that each Gopika would think that he was playing just for her: and that she was the only one dancing with him.

It is also believed that Krishna used his divine powers to stretch this night into one Brahma-night. Each Brahma-night lasts millions of years!

Whenever I think of this story, I am amazed at how beautiful the sight must have been. As a human being, I can’t imagine being with the Lord for a night that lasts millions of years. A night when I could think that he is just mine. That he belongs to me and I belong to him.

But I am too busy worrying about my share of property, money, salary, clothes, jewelry. I am too busy envying those Gopikas who finally got their piece of God the way they wanted. I can only hope that I was one of them.

Perhaps it’s time I change my demands. All I want is my piece of God!

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