“Laughing, the muni said, ‘O Janaka, this form is so beautiful that by remembering it one gets so many good merits that all bad elements caused by illusion get removed.’” (Janaki Mangala, 96)

muni hansi kaheu janaka yaha mūrati sohai |
sumirata sakṛta moha mala sakala bichohai ||

Knowledge is power. A knowledgeable person immediately is able to fight off illusion in the form of ignorance. If you’re lacking the requisite knowledge, it will be more difficult to tell that you’re being fooled. An outsider can inform you that you are wrong in your assessment, that you’re not looking at things clearly, but it is better if you actually know what is going on yourself. Rather than close your eyes to the deception, if you can shine a bright light to see through the thick illusion, you will be better situated. A similar point was made by the venerable Vishvamitra Muni a long time ago.

The illusion in question related to a king’s worries over the outcome to a contest. It was his contest, so it would make sense that he would have concern over the result. A bow lay in the middle of an arena. Anyone who could lift it up with their arms would be the winner of the contest. Frantic jostling over who would get first in line wasn’t necessary. It wasn’t like fighting over some money that fell on the ground. This bow originally belonged to Lord Shiva, and it took hundreds of men just to move into the sacrificial arena. Therefore only one prince, if that, in the entire world could lift it. Each person would get their chance, but their chances of success were low.

Janaka fell prey to illusion when he suddenly had a favorite. The winner of the contest would marry Janaka’s daughter Sita, so the king wasn’t too concerned with the exact nature of the victor. As long as someone would win that would be good enough for Janaka. But when he saw this handsome youth arrive accompanied by His younger brother and spiritual guide, the king suddenly had a vested interest. He wanted this youth, named Rama, to win the contest and marry his daughter. After the many other princes at the assembly failed to even move the bow, the spiritual guide asked Janaka if Rama could take a shot at it.

Janaka replied with doubt. It’s not that the sage Vishvamitra was wrong to make the request. Janaka certainly would allow Rama to try to lift the bow, but he was worried about the outcome. He didn’t want Rama to lose and then get embarrassed. How was such a beautiful youth going to move something as hard as steel?

In the above referenced verse from the Janaki Mangala, we see Vishvamitra’s reply. The sage playfully chuckles at Janaka’s words and then offers some sound advice. Rama’s vision is so beautiful that one need only think of it in order to have the bad elements caused by illusion disappear. The illusion in this case caused Janaka to hesitate in allowing Rama to try to lift the bow. Vishvamitra could have told Janaka that he was wrong and that one shouldn’t be deceived by an external vision, but when you’re so invested in an outcome it’s hard to overcome opposing elements that feed your fear.

Vishvamitra offered the easier approach: remember Rama. “Just look at Him,” the sage said. By doing that, the worry would disappear. Rama is God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead actually, as mentioned in the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India. The point to take away here is rather obvious: think of God to overcome illusion. You just have to remember Him when you’re feeling doubtful, and that remembrance essentially acts like a torchlight of knowledge. It helps you see in the dark.

“He [King Muchukunda] could see also that the dense darkness within the mountain cave had already been dissipated due to the Lord’s presence; therefore He could not be other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He knew very well that wherever the Lord is personally present by His transcendental name, quality, form, etc., there cannot be any darkness of ignorance. He is like a lamp placed in the darkness; He immediately illuminates a dark place.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 50)

Rama is also Krishna, which is the original form of the Supreme Lord. Krishna’s name means all-attractive, and that attraction inherently speaks of a form. That form itself is self-illuminating, a fact shown one time in an encounter with King Muchukunda. The king had been sleeping in a cave for a long time, but when Krishna entered suddenly there was a glowing light. The king could see Krishna without a problem, and so the self-effulgent Krishna acted to dissipate the illusion caused by darkness.

Rama is considered a personal expansion of Krishna, and so His transcendental body is also all-attractive. Looking at it alone can remove doubts, and the more qualified you are to look at that wonderful vision, the more benefits you will receive. Sukriti, or meritorious credits, can come through good work, that which is in line with virtue. In assessing merits, one would have to rank those which bring a greater reward to be superior. There is no better reward than thinking of God, as the soul’s business is to be a lover of God. Therefore the sukriti that comes from remembering Rama is automatically the best. And the best merits always overcome demerits, which in the case of Janaka related to his fear that Rama would lose the contest. While Rama’s vision originally caused the worry in Janaka, the same vision, repeatedly glanced at, would dissipate the bad elements. This was the point stressed by Vishvamitra.

In the material world we are daily a victim to the influence of the illusion known as maya. Know that remembrance of God is the easiest and most effective way to dissipate the illusion. Being able to see clearly, the devotee gets an unobstructed view of the most wonderful vision. Janaka and the rest of the pious souls assembled there that famous day would get to see the heartwarming image of a victorious Rama reuniting with His eternal consort Sita. Illusion cannot survive in that scene, and so anyone who makes it the home for their eyes will not be troubled by the dark elements of this world.

In Closing:

Fog of illusion in front to stay,

How to get it out of my way?

Someone else can tell me to see clear,

Thus send away illusion’s fear.

Better if I have my own light,

In darkness to bring gift of sight.

With beautiful Shri Rama such is the case,

Transcendental light beams from toe to face.

Listen to muni, image of Rama think,

And to abyss watch all maladies sink.

“Every part of that vision puts to shame the beauty of Kamadeva. O muni, please don’t do anything that will sully that form.” (Janaki Mangala, 95)

roma roma chabi nindati sobha manojani |
dekhiya mūrati malina kariya muni so jani ||

The beautiful trophy should go on the mantel in the home. This way it will be on display for others to see. That setting is appropriate given the importance of the trophy; it is befitting its value. If you put the same trophy somewhere else, it won’t be appreciated as much. You wouldn’t want to place it next to the garbage can in the kitchen. You wouldn’t want to place it on the floor. The object wouldn’t lose anything in value, but appreciation of it would diminish. To the person who appreciates it, that loss in appreciation will not be good. The same sentiment exists with devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and so they do whatever they can to protect their beloved.

Why would you need to protect God? If He is God, He must be supreme. If He is supreme, He must not require any person’s protection.

To understand the behavior of the devotees, we can again think of the trophy. That statue indicates a personal accomplishment, and so respect of the trophy is a kind of respect of the accomplishment. The Supreme Lord, who has an image that can rest internally within the heart and externally in front of the eyes of the devotee, is the embodiment of all good qualities. In fact, all qualities emanate from Him, and the good qualities are those which more closely represent Him.

“I am the strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire. I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principles, O Lord of the Bharatas [Arjuna].” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.11)

In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna explains that He is the strength of the strong, the ability in man, the penance of the ascetic, and a host of other things. The references show that God is the life of everything. Strength is what makes the strong, and ability is what distinguishes the man from the animal. In the same way, the Supreme Lord is the life of an existence. That we have a consciousness shows that there is a God. In the purified consciousness, when all dirty things are removed, the life of the individual is understood to be driven directly by God, and He is appreciated as such.

If you disrespect God, you are essentially disrespecting yourself. Not that you are God, but He is the source of your identity. Your real identity is Brahman, which is pure spirit. Brahman emanates from God, who is known as Parabrahman. There is a relationship between the two that goes beyond which came first. Parabrahman is superior and Brahman is inferior. There is a relationship of oneness only when the inferior voluntarily acts to serve the superior. The superior party in this case elevates the inferior due to the love they show.

Because of the respect held for the Lord by the devotees, sometimes it is not easy to reveal divine love outwardly. Think about it for a second. As soon as you tell someone that you like something, they have an advantage over you. Let’s say that you like a particular song by a particular band. If someone else finds out about it, they can criticize that song and the band who plays it. Anytime something happens to that band, they can bring it up to you. “Oh, did you see what your favorite band did? I can’t believe they did that. Why would you like them? Did you hear how bad their last album was? They’ve lost it. They’re just sellouts now.”

This criticism will bother you since you like that band so much. If you had never said anything, the criticism from others wouldn’t be so forthcoming. After all, they would have no idea that you’re interested in that particular band. The same vulnerability exists with any preference declared openly, including politics and movies.

For the bhaktas, or devotees, the preference is at the highest level. Loving God is the most important commodity any person can possess. Driven by envy, someone else could criticize God in front of you and thus make you angry. Therefore devotees very carefully worship the Supreme Lord in the proper setting. This is with respect to external worship, as no one sees your internal worship. External worship takes place typically in a temple, where a deity representation of the Supreme Lord is honored with offerings of beautiful flowers and sumptuous food preparations. The place is kept clean, and the deities aren’t visible all the time. Only during the proper times will others get a chance to see and worship the deity, automatically making the deity, the Supreme Lord, the chief resident of the establishment.

Sometimes the same Supreme Lord descends to earth and gives a more animate deity to worship. There is actually no difference between the Supreme Lord and His incarnations. The bodies of the incarnations, deities, and original Lord Himself are all spiritual. If they weren’t, they would never be worshiped. Moreover, there wouldn’t be any benefits derived from worshiping them. You can try to worship an ordinary tree as God, but it won’t get you anywhere because the worship of the tree is not authorized. And neither is the tree ever declared to be equivalent to the Supreme Lord.

A long time ago King Janaka saw God in His incarnation of Lord Rama. Janaka immediately held affection for Rama, who came to his kingdom while He was still a youth. In worship in bhakti-yoga, there are offenses to be avoided. The offenses are listed out for the devotee’s protection. There is no way to offend God, as He is self-satisfied. The devotees can be offended, though, especially when the deity is not properly respected. Janaka, as an ideal devotee, was worried on this occasion that Rama would be disrespected if He were asked to participate in the contest.

The contest was to see who could lift an extremely heavy bow belonging to Lord Shiva. The winner would get to marry the king’s daughter Sita. Vishvamitra Muni, the spiritual master of both Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana, asked Janaka if Rama could have a try at the bow. Other princes had tried, but none of them could even move the bow. In the above referenced verse from the Janaki Mangala, we see Janaka comparing Rama’s vision to Kamadeva, who is the equivalent of a cupid. It is said that every part of Rama’s vision puts to shame the beauty of cupid. Janaka doesn’t want to do anything that will sully that image. A defeated Rama would certainly tarnish the image, and so Janaka wanted to spare his eyes of that vision.

It was very nice for Janaka to think this way, as he was only trying to make sure that God wasn’t disrespected. There was no reason to fear, however, as Rama would lift the bow without a problem. That feat created a new image to worship, one of a victorious Supreme Lord reuniting with His eternal consort, Sita Devi. The devotees continue to honor the Supreme Lord in the same way as Janaka did by carefully keeping discussions of Him limited to assemblies of open-minded, non-envious spiritualists, those who are sincerely interested in serving the source of Brahman. And since the devotees are harder to find in the present age of Kali, to spread the divine influence the same devotees now risk being offended by others by remaining humbler than the grass and more tolerant than the tree in their congregational chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

In Closing:

Vision of the Supreme Lord pure to remain,

So devotees avoid anything to bring stain.

God possesses all goodness imaginable,

Thus to offend Him not possible.

Devotees to worship in all brilliance,

Know that God stands in magnificence.

That Rama’s image tarnished Janaka feared,

The muni away from idea he tried to steer.

Not to worry, Rama image only to enhance,

When given lifting of bow chance.

“You’re asking for the young prince to look at the bow, but can a piece of a shirisha flower pierce through hard steel?” (Janaki Mangala, 94)

so dhanu kahiya bilokana bhūpa kisorahi |
bheda ki sirisa sumana kana kulisa kaṭhorahiṃ ||

Let’s say that you’re out at a restaurant. The food dish you order requires a knife and fork to eat. You could also use your hands and take advantage of your teeth, but then that would make a mess. You’d rather use utensils to make the eating experience more pleasant. But there is a problem at this restaurant. They only have plastic utensils. You’re forced to use a plastic knife and a plastic fork to eat. This causes a problem because the plastic utensils aren’t strong enough to cut through the food you’ve ordered. Every time you go to make a cut, the knife gets duller and duller. Also, just by placing the fork into the food, the fork starts to melt. It cannot handle the temperature of the food, so you’re left with a deformed fork.

You’d rather have the steel utensils, which are strong enough to cut through the food. The firmer utensils are meant to cut through the less firm food. Now try to imagine it the other way around. What if you needed to cut through steel? You’d need something harder, no? Or perhaps you’d need an instrument that can reach a level of heat intense enough to break through the steel. A long time ago, a bow was compared to steel, and during a particular contest that bow need only be lifted. No one had to cut through anything. The king hosting the contest saw one prince in particular and was astonished that He would try to lift the bow. The king compared the prince to a piece of a soft flower, which has no chance of cutting through steel.

The shirisha flower is very soft. It is often invoked in Vedic literature to describe the softness of the skin of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Though there are many gods in the Vedic tradition, there is still only one Supreme Lord. He is known by such names as Hari, Vishnu, Krishna and Rama, and there are endless ways to describe His transcendental features. His skin is of a bluish hue, and His smile is intoxicating. Everything about Him is attractive, and so Krishna becomes the best name to use in addressing Him.

Rama is also a great name, as it refers to the full pleasure that the Supreme Lord holds. Rama also describes His incarnation as a warrior prince who once roamed this earth many thousands of years ago. Lord Rama, the eldest son of King Dasharatha, also has extremely soft skin. He is very beautiful and not everyone knows that He is God. They don’t need to anyway, as having affection for Him is enough to attain the goal of life.

And wouldn’t you rather receive attention based on your qualities than your stature? You could say that your qualities make your stature, but it is better if someone appreciates your qualities first. The stature can bring respect even if you don’t possess all of the qualities, but through your qualities someone can respect you for who you really are, even if they never know of your stature. With Shri Rama, His stature is set in the Vedic texts, which describe His endless glories.

And the qualities described are evident to the people who connect with Rama in a mood of love. Sometimes those qualities appear to contradict one another, as they did in the kingdom of Janakpur a long time ago. King Janaka was hosting a contest to determine the future husband for his daughter Sita. The king decided to make the contest one based on strength; this way the winner would be best equipped to protect Sita for the rest of her life.

Many princes came to the contest, but they all failed to even move the bow, let alone lift it. Then the respected Vishvamitra Muni asked Janaka if Rama could try lifting the bow. Rama was not there specifically to participate in the contest. In youthful forms, Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana were defending Vishvamitra and other sages from the attacks of vile creatures in the forest. The brothers came upon the contest through following Vishvamitra.

From the above referenced verse from the Janaki Mangala, which is a poem by Goswami Tulsidas that describes this sacred event, we see that Janaka obviously has appreciation for Rama. He compares the Lord to the shirisha flower, which is a very high compliment. To say that someone has skin as soft as a flower is to say something nice. Soft skin is a more attractive quality than hard skin.

Janaka then compares the bow to something very hard, like steel. As mentioned before, the harder object can easily cut through the softer object; hence the common use of silver utensils when eating. How then is the softer object going to do anything against the harder object? Janaka didn’t think it possible for a youth like Rama to lift the bow, and he was especially worried about embarrassing Him. Many other princes had tried but Janaka didn’t give them any warning. On this rare occasion, Janaka actually expressed doubts to a venerable brahmana, a member of the priestly class. Typically, the kings in those times listened to whatever advice the priests gave. Janaka’s hesitancy only further confirms his love for Rama, who is God.

And that love never goes in vain. Janaka’s affection for Rama shown through his doubt would be rewarded with Rama’s victory in the contest. Today Janaka is one of the twelve highest authorities on devotional service, which is the best occupation for man. Loving God is the soul’s constitutional occupation, and so it can be taken up at any time and at any place. The easiest method is the chanting of the holy names. Just as the soft-skinned Rama easily lifted the steel-like bow, know that the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,” can melt the hardest of hearts, making a lover of God out of anyone.

In Closing:

How as a youth with skin so soft,

Going to hold heavy bow aloft?

Failed did many kings mighty and fierce,

How then was shirisha flower the steel to pierce?

Though Rama of features contradictory,

In contest certain was his victory.

From pious king’s concern,

God as son-in-law earned.

“O Rama, You should know that just as fish cannot survive when taken out of water, neither Sita nor I can live without You for even a moment.” (Lakshmana speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 53.31)

How to describe something that is so a part of you that you wouldn’t exist without it? Is there any way to accurately convey your level of attachment to something that you can’t live without? The magnitude of this dilemma increases for the saints who follow bhakti-yoga as a way of life. As Lord Chaitanya says, the living entity is eternally a servant of Krishna, or God. The living entity’s real form is servant, Krishna-dasa. When one rejuvenates their eternal and real form, which previously lay dormant, how can the resulting feeling be properly explained to someone else?

If I say that I am a devotee of such and such personality, others will infer that there is a choice in the matter. Otherwise why even make the statement? If I say that I like pizza, it means that there is the option of not liking pizza. Maybe I like eggrolls, dumplings, burritos, or what not. It is absolutely possible that I won’t like pizza. Therefore when I tell someone that I do like it, they know that I have made the voluntary choice to eat pizza, and from that choice I have decided that I enjoy the taste.

Taste is important in bhakti-yoga as well. Bhakti-yoga is also known as bhakti-rasa, or the taste of devotion. A famous saint authored a book titled Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, which can be translated to mean “the nectar of devotion” or “the ocean made up of the nectar of the taste of devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” There are different tastes in bhakti, but in general any taste that is part of devotion to God gets classified as bhakti-rasa.

Again, if we enjoy a taste, it means that there is some choice made to enjoy it. Yet this is contradictory to what the person immersed in bhakti-rasa actually feels. One may chant the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,” a few times and then move on to other things. They experience the taste for a few brief moments, but then try something else.

There is devotion in this chanting because the words in the mantra address God and His energy. Chanting this mantra is better than just repeating the word “God” over and over again. God is more of an abstract term, which means it is more prone to interpretation. In many respects it is an impersonal way of addressing the Lord, wherein one appreciates the grand nature of the Supreme Controller but still doesn’t really know anything about Him.

In his Dohavali, which is a collection of poetic couplets describing the heart of devotional service and how man should conduct himself in life, Goswami Tulsidas addresses the deficiency in only addressing the impersonal aspect of God. The impersonal aspect of the Almighty is compared to the numeral version of a number written on a financial transaction. The personal aspect is compared to the same number in its written out, word form. We write out the number on the second line of the check to make sure there is no funny business. The person receiving the check could easily add a few small marks here and there to change the intended value on the digits in the numeral version. A number one can turn into a seven, a five into eight, and so on. If you write out the same number, the chance of malfeasance is greatly diminished.

When you address God as Krishna, you know that He is a personality who is all-attractive. He has a bluish/blackish bodily complexion. It is compared to the dark raincloud about to pour down water. This is also the bodily complexion of Lord Rama, who is the same Krishna but in a different visible manifestation. Lord Vishnu also has the same bodily complexion. There are many different personal forms of the Almighty, and a wise person does not differentiate between them other than for personal preference in worship. This doesn’t mean that all beings are God or that all divine figures are the same as Krishna. Along with Krishna comes His energy, who is devoted to Him in thought, word and deed. The energy is addressed in the maha-mantra through the word “Hare.”

Famous poets such as Tulsidas are so immersed in bhakti-rasa that they can’t live without it. It is pointless to refer to themselves as a devotee of Rama or Krishna because there is no longer a choice in the matter. It’s like telling someone over and over again that I’m the son of such and such person. There is no way I can ever be the son of anyone else. It is part of my identity within this current lifetime. I can’t choose other parents. I may live with others or I may not speak with my parents, but they are still always my parents.

The parent-child analogy is helpful here, but it is still not perfect in describing bhakti-rasa, as the child is not always obedient to the parents. The child is also expected to one day live without the guidance of the parents, who will ideally pass from this world before the child does. The Vaishnava saints, the devotees of a personal aspect of God, use other analogies to describe their devotion. In the same Dohavali, Tulsidas makes reference to the Chatak bird. This bird only drinks rainwater; nothing else. As a result, its eyes remain fixed on the dark raincloud, the one that is about to pour down rain.

This comparison is so deep that one can spend a whole lifetime studying it and still find new ways to appreciate it. As mentioned before, the dark raincloud has a color that is a direct match for Shri Rama’s complexion. Thus the Chatak, who is in this case Tulsidas, always looks at the cloud, who is Rama. It only accepts whatever the raincloud offers. If nothing comes its way, it won’t eat. If the raincloud sends something to someone else, the bird won’t take it. It only accepts whatever the raincloud offers its way. The Chatak in this sense is a pure devotee; it asks for nothing in return. Whether it rains or not, the bird will always be devoted to the raincloud.

The fish out of water analogy is used quite often today, and it is so old that it can be found in the ancient Vedic text known as the Ramayana. The reference there is made by Lakshmana, Shri Rama’s younger brother. He says that neither Sita nor himself can live without Rama, just like the fish can’t survive when taken out of the water. The fish’s love for the water is so great that it will die soon after it is separated. The love for the water is what defines the fish’s existence. The devotee feels something similar, for without God in their life they can’t survive. Regardless of the situation, they try to chant the holy names as much as possible, as this is like being thrown back into the water for the fish after it has been taken out. The holy name brings God’s direct company, so one who always chants it never has to live without the Lord.

Tulsidas and other famous Vaishnava poets make other similar analogies, like to the kairava flower, which opens up at the sight of the moon. Without the moon, the kairava will not open. It refuses to do anything without its loveable object. Similarly, the devotee cannot do anything except serve God. They will not accept anyone’s mercy unless they feel it is coming from God or that it will help them in serving Him.

Such a high position is actually every person’s constitutional position. In no other relationship can the love be so strong. Love for another person can never define us because we can actually live without the other person. Love for a particular food item also doesn’t apply, as we can survive on pretty much any type of food. When we choose love of God and practice it under the authority of someone who can’t live without Him, that relationship will soon cease to be a choice.

In Closing:

“Does eating this food your religion allow?

Will doing this break your lifelong vow?

If you like pizza you say,

To not like must also be a way.”

Not the same is to the Lord pure devotion.

No desire for gain in highest emotion.

Love for water defines fish’s existence,

Needed for survival, no question of resistance.

Tulsidas and poets of bhakti the same way live,

Defined by love for God, full attention to Him they give.

“One can change his habit by good or bad association, and one has to become intelligent enough to discriminate between good and bad. The best association is the service of the devotees of the Lord, and by that association one can become the highest qualified man by the grace of the Lord’s pure devotees.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.10.41 Purport)

Regardless of the specific Vaishnava tradition you follow, you will certainly hear recommendations for avoiding the company of those who are inimical towards God. If such people are hostile towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead, if they speak ill of Him, if they are openly defiant of His will, or worse, if they say that He doesn’t exist, you should stay away from them, even if they are a close friend or family member. While the recommendation may seem harsh, if you delve a little further into the issue, you will see its purpose and its validity.

To be a Vaishnava means to believe in Vishnu, who is the personal form of the Lord. Personal relates to a person, which implies individuality. Just as my son is different from me as a person, so the Supreme Personality of Godhead is unique. He is distinguished by His features, though they are incomparable to anything we’ve ever experienced. Only with a personal God is there a relationship established. Impersonal Brahman gains no benefit from our association. The idea of merging into an all-encompassing energy also carries no interaction. As interaction is at the heart of all kinds of enjoyment, there must be a corresponding, distinct personality if religious life is meant to be our true calling.

A Vaishnava particularly believes in and serves a personal God, but for the purposes of explanation we can look at any situation where there is a belief to see the need for selectivity in association. Let’s say that you believe that your parents are great. You love your mom and dad. That is your opinion. They are nevertheless distinct people who have their own experiences in life. They thus create friends and enemies through their actions. Not everyone will like them. There is no such thing as universal appeal, as even during the divine descents there are enemies of the Supreme Lord, who is by definition all-good.

Now let’s say that one of your close friends hates your parents. Whenever you are in their company, they speak ill of your mother and father. You make friends through sharing common experiences and interests. If you like to play tennis, you can make new friends by playing with or against other people. If you like to go to the nightclub, you can make friends by meeting people there. If you like sports, you can make friends with others who are fans of the team you like.

Friends look at each other as equals. That is what defines the relationship. When the equality changes, so too does the friendship. This notable truth is presented in the Bhagavad-gita as well. Prior to the scene in question at the outset of the work, Arjuna and Krishna were cousins and friends. At the battlefield of Kurukshetra, on the precipice of a great war, Krishna, who is the original form of the Supreme Lord and thus worshipable by all Vaishnavas, was actually acting as Arjuna’s chariot driver. He voluntarily accepted this position. One was the warrior and the other was the servant of the warrior, but in general respects they were both friends.

“I have in the past addressed You as ‘O Krishna,’ ‘O Yadava,’ ‘O my friend,’ without knowing Your glories. Please forgive whatever I may have done in madness or in love. I have dishonored You many times while relaxing or while lying on the same bed or eating together, sometimes alone and sometimes in front of many friends. Please excuse me for all my offenses.” (Arjuna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.41-42)

When Arjuna found trouble, however, the relationship immediately changed. Arjuna was confused about how to proceed. As a warrior you have to fight in order to win. Think of it like punching someone when you’re in a boxing match. If you don’t feel like punching, how are you going to defeat the opponent? Arjuna didn’t feel like hurling his arrows with the expert marksmanship that he was known for. Since friends and family were fighting for the opposing side, he wasn’t so eager for victory. Yet he knew that the war was beginning for a reason, that all other avenues for peace had failed. Not knowing what to do, he approached Krishna for help.

The relationship then changed. Krishna became the acknowledged superior and Arjuna the student. Krishna was the spiritual master and Arjuna the disciple. As friends they couldn’t have this relationship. Even if one of your acknowledged friends starts to lecture you on something, if you are to really learn anything, you must put them in the superior position, which automatically changes the nature of the relationship. After the Bhagavad-gita was delivered and Arjuna fully accepted the instructions through his own acknowledgement, the two returned to being friends.

As a friend is our equal, we must take their views and opinions as legitimate. For instance, if I like to eat at certain restaurants, my friend will want to go there with me from time to time. I must extend the same courtesy to them if I am to be considered a friend. I may detest the restaurant that they like, but if they go to my restaurant from time to time for my sake, I must do the same for them. This is how friendship works. There is automatic compromise. The other person is to be respected as an equal.

Now, in this hypothetical scenario, there is no room for compromise on the belief that my parents are great. Why on earth would I want to be around someone who holds such contempt for people that I love so much? If I remain friends with them, in the sense that I spend much time with them and compromise in all areas, I’m essentially giving legitimacy to their viewpoint. And really that should never happen; in my view there is no reason for anyone to hate my parents.

If we apply the same principle towards worship of God, we see that it is never acceptable to legitimize anyone’s hatred for the Supreme Lord. Whether they are a close friend or family member, their association should immediately be given up. Goswami Tulsidas says that one should never be around someone who is an enemy of Lord Rama, who is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord as a warrior prince. Someone may not know who Rama is, and so they may be informed, but if they are a sworn enemy of the Lord, if they speak ill of Him, why should we ever entertain their opinion?

“The many past births you spoiled can be rectified right now, today, if you start chanting Shri Rama’s holy name and renounce bad association, says Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 22)

To be an enemy of Rama is to be an enemy of God, who is the original proprietor of everything, the supreme enjoyer, and the best friend of every living entity. There is no reason to hate Him. It is the hostility towards Him which keeps one bound to the cycle of birth and death in a miserable and temporary land. You can only go through reincarnation over and over again if you are averse to divine love, which is the soul’s constitutional occupation.

Prahlada Maharaja was a loving son, but he didn’t listen to his father when he spoke ill of Lord Vishnu. The gopis of Vrindavana abandoned their family members during the middle of the night so that they could serve Krishna in the forest. Vibhishana gave up the company of his evil brother Ravana when the fiend had taken Rama’s wife Sita in secret. All of them were better off for having forsaken situations not conducive to divine love. Sometimes they may have ended up with no friends at all as a result of their decisions, but they still stayed with their worship of God. Such are the ways of the material world; friends come and go, but Shri Rama is there to stay.

In Closing:

I love my parents so very much,

Don’t have any sin, not even a touch.

If ill of them my friend will speak,

Their company I’ll never again keep.

If they are inimical in important belief,

Why to stay with them and invite so much grief?

Should be around enemy of Rama never,

In their company surely to be doomed forever.

Friend an equal, a person with whom to compromise,

Belief in God not for negotiation, never the thought should arise.

“Since everything is in full opulence in the Personality of Godhead and is existing in full truth, there is no duty for the Supreme Personality of Godhead to perform. One who must receive the results of work has some designated duty, but one who has nothing to achieve within the three planetary systems certainly has no duty.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 3.22 Purport)

“I’m so independent. No one tells me what to do. I can go wherever I want, whenever I want. I can eat at any restaurant, and I can sleep late into the night after watching television for hours. You can’t put a price on this freedom. I have the best gift in the world, and I won’t let anyone take it away from me.”

Picture the ideal scenario where a person has seemingly complete freedom. No one can get in the way of their fun. Once you have that person and situation in mind, know that even then there is strict dependency on outside forces. Though that person thinks they are not beholden to anyone, they are still a servant to so many things. This fact is applicable to every single person but one. As He is the exception, His behavior can’t be judged in the conventional method.

The quickest way to nullify the claim that one is completely independent is to point to the laws of nature. Try as hard as you may, you will feel cold when you touch ice. You will feel warm when in contact with the scorching rays of the sun. These are nature’s laws that cannot be altered. You can try not to let the weather affect you, but that is a different matter. You can try to remain inside of a climate controlled area, but this still means that you are dependent on the temperature of the surrounding environment to avoid discomfort.

Then there is sleep. You want to party all night, but you can’t. You want to get up early in the morning to go for a run, but the invisible magnet that is the bed just won’t let you get up. It is actually the influence of nature on your body acting. Despite your desires, you have to live by the rules of the nature around you. You have to sleep because of fatigue, and nothing can be done to stop the fatigue. You have to drink water to quench your thirst and eat food to curb your hunger.

In this way every single person is a servant. The wealthy business mogul has so many assistants doing their work, but they are still not independent. They must serve someone. They must also obey the laws of society. They are not to tell a lie, lest they risk public ridicule. If they take illegal drugs, they will be punished. If they fail to pay taxes, the IRS will come after them. If their wife doesn’t like them, she can call for a divorce and get half of the estate in a settlement. Thus the person who is the role model for the ambitious fruitive workers is also a servant.

The Supreme Lord, however, is not beholden to anyone. He is the origin of matter and spirit and also the controller of both. Through a simple exhalation He can generate universes containing millions of planets and living creatures. And then through an inhalation the same can merge back into Him. He can go without sleep for an endless amount of time and He can survive without any material objects feeding Him. He is also the origin and object of dharma, or religiosity. He does not need to follow any system to reach a particular goal.

“The great sage Narada heard that Lord Krishna had married 16,000 wives after He had killed the demon Narakasura, sometimes called Bhaumasura. Narada became astonished that Lord Krishna had expanded Himself into 16,000 forms and married these wives simultaneously in different palaces.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 2, Ch 14)

Theoretically this all makes sense, but the Supreme Lord doesn’t leave any room for doubt. He appears on earth from time to time to show just how He is not beholden to the rules of society. He does amazing things and then doesn’t suffer the consequences. He indeed flaunts the laws of society and only betters the condition of others. Such was the case when He married 16,108 wives while on this earth some five thousand years ago.

“Why marry so many women? Doesn’t that show that He is lusty? Doesn’t that prove that He is dependent on women to satisfy Him? If He is, doesn’t it mean that He cannot be God?”

The more appropriate question should be, “Why can’t God marry one million women?” After all, if He is the origin of matter and spirit, the person holding up all of the planets of massive weight in space, shouldn’t He be able to maintain an unlimited number of dependents? The wife is the protected and the husband the protector. The average husband has a difficult time keeping one wife safe and protected, so what to speak of sixteen thousand? Yet God as Shri Krishna can deliver an unlimited number of dependents from the greatest danger.

“In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.40)

To become a dependent of His is not difficult; one simply has to show a little sincerity in the endeavor known as devotional service, or bhakti-yoga. During Shri Krishna’s time, there were sixteen thousand women in particular who practiced this devotion with their minds. They couldn’t go to a temple, chant on beads, or read from scripture. This is because they were held prisoner by a king named Bhaumasura. As the beautiful youth with a blackish complexion named Krishna, God rid the world of this vile king.

The issue remained of what to do with the captured queens. They couldn’t go home because they had been in the custody of another man. No one would marry them. They wanted Krishna as a husband, so what was the Lord to do? He is not a slave to the mundane laws of society, which frown upon polygamy. He is not beholden to the dictates of others, though sometimes He voluntarily abides by them to set a good example or to please His devotees. In this instance, Krishna immediately accepted the women as His wives. They each got their own palace and thought that Krishna was only spending time with them. Only God can do this; no one else.

As He is the origin of all rules, know for certain that anyone who accepts His protection available through devotional service will not be hamstrung by rules either. There are so many examples throughout history that attest to this. Sugriva regained a kingdom although his more powerful brother had driven him out. Vibhishana was rewarded with a kingdom though he did the sinful act of leaving his brother’s side and joining the opposition. Ajamila received the protection of the Vishnuduttas, the direct servants of the personal Supreme Lord, although he deserved punishment in the afterlife because of his acts in karma. The residents of Vrindavana were saved from a torrential rainstorm though they had no protection available. Krishna used a massive hill as an umbrella, something which is unthinkable.

We see that the surrendered souls who have managed to keep their practice steady through sincerity in devotion are free from the vices of gambling, intoxication, illicit sex and meat eating. Their routine of chanting the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,” cannot be broken by any bribe or offer for a better life. While the rules of society continue to apply so much pressure in the opposite direction, persuading us to become a servant of this force and that, the devotee is content with finding any situation that allows their worship to continue. In this way they are protected by the greatest protector, who proves His existence through the steadiness of His servants.

In Closing:

Can have as many wives as He chooses,

No pious credits from this He loses.

Only this way because Krishna is supreme,

In His amazing acts on this earth it’s seen.

Nature’s laws all others must obey,

No one fully independent can say.

With Krishna, greatest fear can be gone,

With steadiness Him devotees rely upon.

“Revealed knowledge may in the beginning be unbelievable because of our paradoxical desire to verify everything with our tiny brains, but the speculative means of attaining knowledge is always imperfect. The perfect knowledge propounded in the revealed scriptures is confirmed by the great acharyas, who have left ample commentations upon them; none of these acharyas has disbelieved in the shastras.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi 5.14 Purport)

When you worship a personal God, there are identifiable attributes that are subject to question, review, and critical analysis. The same is not true when there is no form ascribed to the Supreme Absolute Truth. When we study those features, as they are delineated in the purportedly authorized sacred texts, we may have trouble believing that they can exist in someone. The unbelievable is easily made believable, however, when we study the attributes of the people who are devoted to such a God.

“O Lakshmana, do you rule this earth with Me. You are like My second self, so this glorious opportunity has been presented to you as well. O Saumitra, do you enjoy all the pleasures you desire and the fruits of the regal life. My life and this kingdom I covet for your sake alone.” (Lord Rama speaking to Lakshmana, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda, 4.43-44)

“Okay, so I’ve heard that Lord Rama was the ideal man. He was respectful to His parents throughout His life. He took care of His three younger brothers, and all three of His mothers loved Him so much. The birth mother, Kausalya, was particularly fond of Him, but this didn’t mean that Rama treated Kaikeyi or Sumitra, His father’s other queens, any differently. When Rama was older, He was magnanimous when the throne was to be passed down to Him, declaring that the honor had been presented to Lakshmana as well.

“Afterwards, the same throne was snatched away from Him at the last moment by a suddenly envious Kaikeyi. Rama took it all in stride, though. He accepted the punishment of exile without batting an eye. He even asked His wife Sita to stay home, where she would be safe. He asked Lakshmana to stay at home to take care of their father. He thus did the right thing, though neither Sita nor Lakshmana would listen to Him.

“While in exile, His wife Sita was kidnapped, and to find her He aligned with monkeys who called the wild jungle their home. He was so honored by their bravery and dedication in service to Him that He took the principal monkeys and their wives back home with Him when the exile period expired. Rama also accepted Vibhishana into His camp. Vibhishana was the brother of the fiend who kidnapped Sita. Rama easily could have told him to get lost, but such is not the nature of the Lord. He accepts anyone who surrenders to Him in earnest.

“It is My vow that if one only once seriously surrenders unto Me, saying, ‘My dear Lord, from this day I am Yours,’ and prays to Me for courage, I shall immediately award courage to that person, and he will always remain safe from that time on.” (Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kand, 18.33)

“After Ravana was defeated and killed in a fair fight, Rama’s enmity with him ended. He told Vibhishana to perform the funeral rites without hesitation. Rama also reserved a special place in His heart for Hanuman, the chief of the monkeys who helped Him find Sita. Many years later, after a citizen in His kingdom complained, Rama abandoned His faultless wife. As a king He did this to remove all hints of suspicion, even though Sita had done nothing wrong. In every way Rama was pious. He set the best example anyone could.

“We hear similar good things about the same Rama in His original form of Krishna. He lifted the mighty Govardhana Hill while in the body of a young child. He did this to protect the innocent residents of Vrajabhumi from a torrential rainstorm. He defeated wicked creature after wicked creature who came to Vrindavana to try to kill Him. Later on, He delivered the famous Bhagavad-gita on the battlefield of Kurukshetra to a troubled Arjuna, His cousin.

“We hear that Krishna is the best of everything, the source of all that is material and spiritual. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which means that all forms of the divine emanate from Him. He never falls down, so He is known as Achyuta. He is the husband of the goddess of fortune, so He is known as Madhava. Since He possesses the opulences of beauty, wealth, strength, fame, renunciation, and wisdom to the fullest degree and simultaneously, He is known as Bhagavan. The uncontaminated spiritual energy that is the sum collection of the individual living entities is known as Brahman, and Krishna is Parabrahman, or the superior spiritual energy.

“Hearing all of this, doesn’t it seem a little too good to be true? Wouldn’t the sober mind question some of these descriptions? How can one person be so great? Isn’t it more plausible that personalities from the past put into God whatever they wanted. They liked chivalry and bravery, so they made God a heroic bow warrior named Rama. They liked beauty, so they made God Shri Krishna. They liked high philosophy and wisdom, so they made Krishna the author of the Bhagavad-gita, which automatically incorporates Vedanta philosophy, which is known as the summit of knowledge.

“Being unhappy with their existence in this world, they created a parallel universe where everything looks the same but has a different nature. In that realm Shri Krishna lives, and everyone is eternally happy. The residents engage in His service in a variety of ways, and they never lose their transcendental bodies. Doesn’t this seem a little far out? People write fictional tales all the time, so who is to say that the Vedic seers of the past didn’t just make up all of this stuff as a way of coping with the harsh realities of birth, old age, disease and death?”

These are certainly understandable points of curiosity. People do make things up all the time, and that is a reason to be skeptical of claims others make relating to the afterlife and how one should live their life today. With science, we have observation and experiment, and in a bona fide religion you can have the same thing. Religion should be scientifically based, wherein you can test some of the hypotheses and see for yourself if they are valid.

If we take this approach with the teachings of the Vedas, many claims are validated fairly quickly. For instance, the claim that the spirit soul is not the body is easily confirmed by looking back on our own life. We are different in size today than we were when we first emerged from the womb, and yet our identity has not changed. The complete exterior covering is different, but we don’t go by a different name now. We don’t identify as someone else just because some time has passed. In this way we can see that the concept of reincarnation, which is the fancier term for describing the changing of bodies, has merits.

The Vedic assertion is that the individual spirit souls fell to this temporary and miserable world when they desired to be God. As long as that desire remains, reincarnation continues. Once the desire ceases, residence in the original, constitutional realm is granted. The more one studies human behavior, the more their eyes open to this reality that the Vedas gave us so long ago. Think of how many people you know who talk about God, think about Him, or desire to serve Him. Think of how many people would be willing to attend a gathering with you where the aim is only to love God. There is no other purpose to this hypothetical event. There is no promise of money, a beautiful spouse, a big house, or residence in a heavenly realm in the afterlife. Those things may or may not come, but the real purpose is to simply have fun in singing the glories of the Lord, whose aforementioned attributes are limitless in their brilliance. As you can obviously get more people to go to the movies with you than you can to attend this gathering, you can deduce that the desire to compete with God is very strong in the material world.

You can continue conducting experiments like these for the rest of your life and keep on increasing your faith in the words of the oldest scriptures in existence, but a much easier way to tell that Krishna is real is to study His devotees. Perhaps you don’t believe that Rama existed or that He is divine, but you can still look to Hanuman. He is Rama’s greatest servant. It is said that he has mastery over all mystic perfections. This means that he can pretty much do anything any expert yogi can do. The difference with him is that he only uses his abilities to please Rama. It’s like having a bank account reserved only for emergencies. The account can have millions of dollars in it, but you don’t care since it is only to be used when absolutely necessary. Hanuman has this fund in his mystic abilities, and he has no desire to use it for any other reason except serving Rama. Hanuman is unlike any other person who has ever walked this earth. He is unbelievable in himself, and from his existence we can confirm that Rama is real and that He is the Supreme Lord.

Hanuman is a divine figure in the body of a monkey-like human, so perhaps you’ll be tempted to discount him as a mythological character also. Not to worry, though, as we can look to Hanuman’s devotees to see the same amazing feature set. In recent times, Goswami Tulsidas was one of the more famous devotees of Hanuman. His song in praise of Hanuman is uttered daily by millions. While the motives of the reciters may not be completely pure, the purpose of the song, which is known as the Hanuman Chalisa, is not ambiguous. What better way to ensure that Hanuman gets honored by as many people as possible than to write a Sanskrit poem about him that can be sung? Tulsidas had nothing in his life starting from childhood. All he had was devotion to Rama, and through Hanuman that devotion was strengthened. Therefore, ever the grateful and respectful soul, Tulsidas made sure to properly honor Shri Hanuman with his God-given poetic ability.

Tulsidas was on this planet during the medieval period in India, so perhaps you want to discount the many legends associated with his life. Not to fear, though, for we can also rely on the example of Vaishnavas of more recent times. A Vaishnava is a devotee of Krishna, Rama, Vishnu, or any other non-different personal form of Godhead. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada made Krishna famous throughout the world. Prior to that Krishna was known primarily just in India, but following in the line of instruction started by Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Krishna Himself in the external guise of a spiritual master, Shrila Prabhupada introduced Krishna to people around the world, making countless devotees in the process. In a short amount of time, starting very late in life, Prabhupada authored books, delivered lectures, and opened temples at such an alarming rate that nobody would believe it. Yet we have the documented evidence that attests to his accomplishments.

We don’t even need to rely on the example of a famous Vaishnava to see an unbelievable set of qualities in an individual. Meet any genuine devotee of the Lord and you will find someone who is kind, humble, generous, perseverant, intelligent, non-envious, dedicated, and, most of all, firmly devoted to serving God. The presence of the devotees confirms that God is real and that His association can be enjoyed within this lifetime. As the devotees serve as evidence in this regard, they are just as worshipable as the Supreme Lord. Krishna is worshiped with Radha, Rama with Sita, and Lakshmi with Narayana. Hanuman is worshiped as well, and so are countless other devoted souls who possess every virtuous quality imaginable.

In Closing:

“Supreme Lord possesses so many qualities good,

That He is the best of everything understood.

But doesn’t all seem too good to be true,

Perhaps we created Him, me and you?

This good quality and that we take,

And ideal person thus we make.”

If you want real proof the devotees see,

And know that of vice and envy one can be free.

Like Hanuman who can accomplish the amazing,

The devotional path for others trailblazing.

Prabhupada who so many books authored,

By such daunting tasks not troubled.

Evidence from visual experiment receive,

And in truth of the Vedas firmly believe.

“Devotees of the Supreme Lord are twenty-four hours daily engaged in glorifying the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. Their hearts and souls are constantly submerged in Krishna, and they take pleasure in discussing Him with other devotees.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 10.9 Purport)

“Hey man, how’s it going? I’m calling to let you know that we’re having a special puja at our house this Saturday. It’s an auspicious occasion, something that only comes around once a year. If you do this puja then you’re promised good health, good fortune, and safety for the upcoming year. Such and such is the beneficiary of the worship, and when they are pleased they liberally give out benedictions.

“Why don’t we hold this puja every day, you ask? Well, I mean it’s not required that it be done every day. You only have to do it once on the day prescribed for it. That’s why you should attend. We’re having a lot of people over that day, and we’ll have nice food afterwards. This is a good way to stay in touch with spiritual life, to keep yourself grounded. If we did it every day, it would lose its meaning. I don’t think you’re even allowed to hold this puja every day.”

It’s only common sense to wonder why the worship in this hypothetical scenario doesn’t take place every day. You bathe every day; at least that is the hygienic thing to do. You eat every day. You watch television every day. You go on the internet every day. Why, then, should you only worship on special occasions? Perhaps there are other ceremonies that occur more frequently, but then again, we should ask why they don’t occur all the time.

The day is simply a demarcation of time. It’s like taking a large pizza pie and dividing it up into eight slices. The division does nothing to change the constitution of the pizza. The slices are there to make the pie easier to eat when with others. It’s easier for the establishment to sell the pizza to individuals that way too.

Time is a much larger continuum that is impossible to fully grasp. What to speak of the full existence of the universe, we can’t even get a hold of our own time on earth. That is why we take note of the days, weeks, months and years. We celebrate our birthday as a way to recognize that a certain amount of time has passed. As time really makes no difference on who we are, why should we base our religious activities on it? Why shouldn’t we worship all the time?

The function in the above referenced scenario is known as demigod worship in the Vedas. The puja can also be likened to a yajna, or sacrifice, but in general such kinds of worship are reserved for a particular divine figure who can grant material benedictions. This last point is what automatically prevents the worship from taking place more regularly. The worship of the demigods can be compared to walking up to a vending machine, putting in coins, selecting your item of choice, and then walking away with the dispensed item. Once you have gotten what you want, what is the purpose to going back to the machine to put in more money? You don’t need another item, so the money will go to waste if you offer it to the machine, no?

If I worship a divine figure with the intent of getting good fortune in return, once that fortune arrives, I need to do something with it. I asked for it for a reason. If I want a home gym for my birthday and my parents buy it for me, will I not want to start exercising on it? During that time of exercise, what would be the point in asking the parents for another home gym? Rather, I won’t ask for anything again until I need it.

But should religious life be like this? Should it involve business transactions? I can get stuff without worshiping anyone. Indeed, this is a contributing factor to the widespread lack of God consciousness in the modern day society. With so much material opulence available, what need is there for worshiping God? If I have my tablet computer, high definition television, and fancy automobile, why do I need to waste my time with religion?

The Vedas give us demigod worship and many pujas for acquiring material opulence, so there is a legitimate purpose to them. It is better to worship for things to get them than to think that things appear on their own. If I worship someone to get material opulence, at least I have an understanding that there is a higher power. That is one step closer to the complete realization that I am not the supreme controller. I am a spirit soul, part and parcel of God, but I am not equal to Him. I am always inferior and He is always superior.

“Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.20)

If I remain stuck on demigod worship, I have not made the most out of my existence. As mentioned before, there is no purpose to going back to the vending machine once you have gotten what you want. Similarly, there is no reason to repeat the puja once you have asked for and received your specific reward. If you do want to continue worshiping, you have to change the beneficiary. Ironically enough, we can look to those who are worshiped for material opulence to understand to where we should turn.

Lord Shiva is one of the famous divine figures of the Vedic tradition. He is known as Ashutosha because he is easily pleased. As Goswami Tulsidas mentions in his Vinai Patrika, just by a simple offering made to Shiva people have turned from paupers into wealthy kings instantly. There is practically no limit to the material opulence that Lord Shiva will give you if he is pleased by your worship.

The wise person takes a step back and reflects for a second. “Wait, I’m getting all of this material opulence, but what about Lord Shiva? I heard that he lives on a cold mountain wearing the garb of an ascetic. He has the most beautiful and chaste wife in Parvati Devi, but he spends all his time muttering the name of Rama. He has the power to destroy the entire creation, and yet he is not interested in any kind of material activity. He gives away opulence, but he obviously doesn’t think that the opulence is very important. He must have something more valuable.”

A devotee of Lord Shiva once had a similar epiphany. It came to him after interacting with a famous Vaishnava saint. Sanatana Gosvami was living in Vrindavana. Previously he was a government minister and very wealthy. He also had a touchstone that could turn iron into gold. Yet he gave all that up in order to live a renounced life in Vrindavana. There he spent all his time worshiping Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna expands into Vishnu and also Rama, who is Lord Shiva’s worshipable figure of choice.

This Shiva devotee heard that Sanatana Gosvami had previously owned the touchstone, so he went to find out where it was. Sanatana Gosvami told the devotee where to find it. He did not hesitate to give away the location. While feverishly pursuing this touchstone, the devotee began to wonder why Sanatana Gosvami didn’t want it. He eventually realized that Sanatana Gosvami had something much more valuable. He had devotion to God, which could be practiced every day. Indeed, this is the same valuable gem that Lord Shiva and other famous Vaishnavas possess.

“There is a nice story about Shrila Sanatana Gosvami. He had a touchstone with him, and this stone was left in a pile of refuse. A needy man took it, but later on wondered why the valuable stone was kept in such a neglected place. He therefore asked Sanatana Gosvami for the most valuable thing, and then he was given the holy name of the Lord.” (Teachings of Queen Kunti, 10 Purport)

When you worship God every day, not desiring any material benedictions, you are practicing bhakti-yoga. In this age Lord Chaitanya, the spiritual master of Sanatana Gosvami, has made the practice of bhakti-yoga available to everyone. One doesn’t have to attend a specific puja held only once a year. They don’t have to pay money to get this most valuable gift. They simply have to have the good fortune of meeting a Krishna devotee and hearing from them the most powerful mantra of “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

Now, imagine if you were to call up your friend and say, “Hey, man, I’m having a bhakti-yoga program at my home this Saturday. For what reason, you ask? Just because; it’s fun. It’s a way to show our love for God. The worship is itself the reward. We don’t have to hold it this particular Saturday, for we worship every day by chanting the holy names, but we figure the more of a routine we can make, the better off we’ll be. If we’re supposed to love to make our lives truly worthwhile, why not love God, who is superior to the temporary manifestations effected by time and space? Isn’t it common sense to want to be happy all the time through service?”

Demigod worship, ritualistic worship to attain benedictions, cleansing rituals to remove evil spirits, and other such events will always have more patrons than bhakti-yoga programs. This is the reality, as the material world is the home for those who are averse to divine love. Nevertheless, if one just hears the holy name and then gets the itching to repeat it, even with a little discomfort in the beginning stages they can reach the point where they understand that life is meant for worshiping God without motivation and without interruption. And through the holy name that worship can go on and on, carrying forward into the next life as well.

In Closing:

“Come over to my house at end of the week,

For puja, material benedictions to seek.

Why not do the worship daily you inquire?

What is use after coveted gift acquired?

After candy from vending machine you have got,

Why again money into it will you drop?”

Real worship meant to be available to all,

Not only to specific item in hopes to call.

Sanatana Gosvami threw away his touchstone,

Higher taste in worshiping Supreme Lord alone.

“By tapasya only can one get the profit of human life, and not by a polished civilization of animal life. The animal does not know anything except sense gratification in the jurisdiction of eat, drink, be merry and enjoy. But the human being is made to undergo tapasya for going back to Godhead, back home.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.6 Purport)

“My generation, commonly known as the Baby Boomers, had it so easy that they had to invent their own traumas. In the two previous generations there were world wars. There was also the Great Depression. People didn’t have it easy at all. They had to grow up very quickly. They had to risk their lives to save their family and their nation. They had to struggle through poverty, not knowing where their next meal would come from.

“My generation, on the other hand, had it easy. We had the Vietnam War, but other than that there has been tremendous prosperity in the country. The hippy movement and the counterculture of the 1960s came about because of tremendous opulence. Children of parents that were financially secure didn’t know about struggles in life, so they invented their own. They came up with disorder after disorder just to make themselves feel like victims. In reality, they never had any real problems, as they inherited a safe, secure and prosperous nation from their parents.”

While this only represents a single viewpoint, it is very common to hear the World War I and World War II generations lauded for their character, while at the same time hearing the generations subsequent to them criticized for their low moral standards. There is actually a reason for the difference, as the forced austerity of the previous generations left little time for self-reflection and hankering for more and more material wealth. Survival itself was at stake, and so a minimalist lifestyle, though albeit one not specifically preferred, was sufficient for continuing on.

From studying the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, we see how it is completely understandable why the more recent generations would have to find their own dilemmas and issues. The many calls for social change today are due in large part to the economic situation, which is still considered very good despite recent downturns. “I need to matter, and since we’re not at war or struggling to put food on the table, I will matter in some other way. I will invent a disorder that I suffer from, and from there I will try to stamp out that disorder in society, raising awareness for it. I will take my identity from my sexual preference, my diet, or my ethnicity. In this way I will make myself stand out and give more attention to the work that I do.”

In previous generations, where times dictated a stricter focus on responsibility, such activism wasn’t as common. In essence, there was forced austerity. In the Vedas, there is a call for voluntarily imposed austerity. This austerity, known as tapasya, is to be practiced from the time of birth all the way up until the time of death. All of the fasts recommended in the many religions of the world are based on this concept of tapasya. The regulations to pray a certain number of times a day, to perform such and such rituals, and to recite such and such formulas are all forms of austerity.

“Why the need for self-imposed restriction? Why don’t the religious books call for endlessly searching after sense gratification? What is wrong with trying to make a lot of money? What is the harm in buying a large television to sit in the even larger living room?”

Tapasya’s potency can be understood through knowing the influence of the senses. The spirit soul is our identifying agent. When we say “I”, we are really referring to the soul. The hands, legs, ears, nose, and other body parts can be removed and we still can say “I.” Once the soul exits the body, however, the “I” goes somewhere else. What remains is what was, not what is.

That which surrounds the soul in the manifest world, the place we currently inhabit, is not the soul; it is not spirit. That which is not is known as maya in Sanskrit. Maya has various elements that are so powerful that they delude the real “I” into thinking in terms of “Mine.” My house, my wife, my car, my child, my arm, my leg, etc. These objects are really just temporary manifestations of the material energy that do not have any bearing on the soul.

When the “Mine” mentality is not checked, you get a situation of unending desires. If you have desires that never cease to grow, like a raging fire that you can’t put out, how will you find any peace? Real peace in this sense is not getting whatever you want, whenever you want. Rather, peace is the lack of desire, or at least a control on it.

In the Vedic system, the first austerity measure is celibacy, which is placed upon students. This principle is known as brahmacharya, and it is followed by the student until they get married, should they choose to. Even then, there is the austerity of only having sexual relations when there is the desire for progeny. In old age, the austerity is to retire from work and live very renounced. Finally, in the last stage, known as sannyasa, there is complete renunciation. There is no association with the spouse in sannyasa.

Aside from controlling desires, and thereby making one a better person in general, tapasya allows one to better focus on God. The soul represents us, and the soul’s core property is to serve. This is its dharma. There is an ideal recipient of this service as well. He is known by many names around the world, but the most common one is God. It is God who gave us the system of tapasya, which is coupled with yajna, or sacrifice, to benefit mankind. Tapasya is the restriction and yajna is the specific action, the service if you will.

As in the present age, especially in the current post-World War II period, there are unlimited desires borne of attachment to material opulence, tapasya is difficult to practice. Any mention of restriction will get you mocked and made fun of. This doesn’t mean that there is no chance at peace. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has given us the sankirtana-yajna for this age. This is the sacrifice of chanting the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.” This sacrifice is so powerful that one who constantly performs it will gradually have all of their material desires removed. Whereas world wars and economic depressions were needed just to keep previous generations more grounded, through simply reciting the holy names of the Lord in a regulated fashion one can re-assume their eternal identity, servant of God. The servant of the Supreme Lord is perpetually in so much ecstasy that they have no need to invent traumas and ailments; their only affliction is love for God, which they are more than happy to suffer from.

In Closing:

World War II generation had it tough,

Growing up young in depression was rough.

Generation after inherited robust state,

Traumas and ailments left to create.

To forced austerity difference due,

Who knew that less is better for you?

Tapasya throughout life practice,

Clearer focus for God to notice.

In renunciation all good qualities to come,

With intense hankering over the trivial be done.

“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.16)

Missing in the worship of an abstract God or an impersonal energy is activity to feed the soul. The soul is the essence of identity; it is the integral animating force. Without the soul, there is no existence. This is true in both large and small creatures, as well as in the universe as a whole. Eternal activity, which subsequently provides endless happiness, is available only to those who worship a personal God. And of all the personal forms of the Lord, one is considered the best due to the nature of the playing field of its original home.

“In the Koran there are descriptions of fruitive activity, speculative knowledge, mystic power and union with the Supreme, but ultimately everything is refuted as the Lord’s personal feature and His devotional service is established.” (Lord Chaitanya, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 18.196)

A Vaishnava is a worshiper of a personal God. Not that there are different original supreme controllers; there is still only one God. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, during His preaching across India some five hundred years ago, showed that even the Koran espouses a belief in devotional service, which is worship of a personal God. The other famous religious texts of the world also have the same ultimate conclusion, though in the way they are presented today the prevailing belief may say otherwise. According to time and circumstance, not all details of the features of the Personality of Godhead are revealed. Nevertheless, irrespective of what information is withheld or revealed, the truths pertaining to the original person do not change.

A Vaishnava knows that there is an original Personality of Godhead and that from Him come many non-different personalities who are identical in potency. From the original also come many fragments, some more potent than others, but all of which are inferior to some degree to the original source. A Vaishnava worships either the original or one of the non-different expansions. These personalities all have identifiable features, and so one can bask in the glories of those features. Those features also lead to activities, and those activities are not of the variety of a “one-man show.” The many different plays the original person puts on have actors and actresses, which include human beings and animals alike. They play a key role in the original person’s enjoyment, and since the original person is eternal, His plays are endless.

On the other side, when worshiping an impersonal force, one is locked out of these blissful pastimes. The impersonal force can be known as Brahman, or the Absolute Truth. It can also be referred to by the more general term of “God.” We should worship God because He is everything. The material nature is not everything because it is temporary. Since the material nature has an illusory effect, it is known as maya, or “that which is not.” God is not maya; He is the source of it. He is that which is. He is the definition of an existence. He is the original “I.”

“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 10.8)

Worship of the material nature does not classify as genuine religiosity. The animal doesn’t know anything about God, so it is solely concerned with eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The human being following the animal is thus unintelligent. Fortunately, in the auspicious human form one has the ability to turn unintelligence into intelligence. The stupid can become wise in an instant. Once one realizes the supremacy of God and the reason for existence they immediately become wise.

When the turn is made away from maya it is still very difficult to stay true to religiosity. This is because of the itching for activity. For instance, if you tell me to worship God and I agree, what do I do next? How do I worship? What am I supposed to do with my time? Should I attend a gathering once a week and then spend the rest of the week engaged in fruitive activity? So, basically act like an animal for six days and be devoted for one? Will not the six overcome the one? But if I’m supposed to worship every day, what will that entail? How am I supposed to maintain my family if I have to worship daily?

Worshiping every day is actually quite easy, provided one takes to the path of personal worship. In impersonal worship, if it is to be legitimate, one needs to renounce material life altogether and stay dedicated in meditation and study of the difference between matter and spirit. A basic profession of faith is not enough. If it were, we could all say that we believe in God and then go our merry ways. Actually, this already occurs. There is an acknowledged belief in God and then what follows is the killing of innocent animals and children in the womb. That is not true religiosity.

In bona fide impersonal worship, one must be very renounced. They should live a simple life and focus all of their time on thinking of Brahman. A problem here is that so many are excluded based on lack of qualifications. In the Vedas it is said that women, laborers, and merchants have less intelligence. This may be off-putting to hear, but it is the factual generalization based on the assessment of whether one can understand Brahman, or the impersonal energy. The less intelligent have a lesser chance of understanding the difference between matter and spirit, and thus they are shut out from Brahman realization.

“O son of Pritha, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth – women, vaishyas [merchants], as well as shudras [workers] – can approach the supreme destination.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.32)

If religion is really supposed to connect us with God, then it should be available to everyone, no? The path of personal worship is not restricted to anyone. Whether one is materially intelligent or unintelligent, a man or a woman, a laborer or a priest, they can think of God at any time. Indeed, on the highest platform of worship, not even God can stop the worship. This is seen with the gopis of Vrindavana. They worship Krishna sometimes against His wishes. Their love for Him is so strong that He cannot stop it.

Unsatisfied with their method of worship, the impersonalist will sometimes delve into the scriptures of personal worship. Works like the Bhagavad-gita, Shrimad Bhagavatam and Ramayana are reserved for the personalists, the Vaishnavas. The cheating impersonalist will try to offer their own interpretations of these works, saying that they too espouse the belief that worship of Brahman is the highest. Yet nowhere in these works is such a conclusion mentioned.

With personal worship there is endless play. In his Ramacharitamanasa, Goswami Tulsidas allows the mind to swim in the lake of the deeds of Shri Rama, the Personality of Godhead in His avatara as a warrior prince. This lake is especially dear to Lord Shiva. The entire work is bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, and yet the impersonalists will try to present this book as a work on impersonalism, as will those who are envious of the famed poet. All of the Vaishnava literatures represent acts of bhakti, and they show that the mind can find endless enjoyment through worshiping a personal God. The Vaishnavas have no desire to touch the works on impersonalism because they have already found a higher taste.

In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna says that all the planets of the material world have birth and death but not His. His home is thus not material. The spiritual world is known as Vaikuntha, and it consists of many planets. The highest is known as Krishnaloka, and it is where Shri Krishna plays with His best friends. No one has to leave there. If you go to the material heaven, you will eventually have to come back down to earth, sort of like visiting a resort destination and then returning home when your vacation is over. Krishnaloka offers an endless stay, where each day is filled with fun.

One can travel there with the mind right now by hearing of Krishna’s activities as they are presented in the sacred Vedic texts. One can associate with Lord Rama and Lord Vishnu in the same way, but the impersonal path allows no such interaction. Therefore the path of personal worship is always superior; it lacks nothing.

In Closing:

With God impersonalists cannot play,

Only syllable of om they can say.

Their path requires meditation strict,

Less intelligent and women they restrict.

Personal worship not so exclusive,

Than Supreme Lord none more inclusive.

In Vrindavana land with gopis He plays,

No return for soul who with Krishna stays.

“In the cycle of evolution, the living entity changes bodies one after another. When the world was full of water, the living entity took an aquatic form. Then he passed to vegetable life, from vegetable life to worm life, from worm life to bird life, from bird life to animal life, and from animal life to the human form. The highest developed form is this human form when it is possessed of a full sense of spiritual knowledge.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shri Ishopanishad, 17 Purport)

“Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. Men and women are different. We’ve reached this conclusion after extensive research. The equality angle we’ve been pushing on you for so long has been bogus. There are inherent differences between the two sexes that go beyond just the physical. There are differences in emotional reactions, behavior, and mechanisms for logical thought as well. You should read more about what we’ve discovered, as this could help not only you but the whole society. We think that this evolution in research of human behavior will finally solve the problems like divorce, unrequited love, and discrimination in the workplace.”

Such stories are found in the news all the time, as media organizations need stories to fill their periodicals. If a newspaper is printed daily, it means that so many stories are required to get the attention of the readers. There is typically a “Science and Health” section, and things such as the difference or equality between the genders will be discussed there. Research is done into more than just the genders. All aspects of material life are focused on, and the idea is that with the stamp of approval of scientists, one should take the conclusions as authoritative; i.e. they should believe what they hear. A certain group of practical scientists, however, who accept the authority of ancient texts, already came up with the same conclusions, sometimes millions of years before. As such, their authority should be considered much more valuable.

Discussing the different viewpoints is important because each side has a corresponding angle of vision with respect to the ultimate aim of life. Though it may not be immediately obvious, the scientific researcher is essentially telling us to worship matter. The worship in this case involves manipulation for personal enjoyment. Think of the Lego blocks that are sold to children. The box purchased from the store is a collection of differently shaped individual pieces. You can do with these pieces what you wish, but ultimately the aim is the same: create something enjoyable. The studies into the differences between the genders and species is done for the same purpose:

“Evolve to the point that you can live a long life, with plenty of material enjoyment. Learn how to manipulate all the elements around you to find the position of utmost comfort. People of the past were primitive in thought; they didn’t have this research available to them. Lacking evolved knowledge, they took to a simpler way of life. We don’t have to follow them. We can rely on advancements in science to find a better way of life.”

There are actually many valuable lessons one can take away from times past, especially from a certain set of information passed on since time immemorial. This information, which is representative of a school of thought, says that the material elements exist to bewilder the otherwise sober individual. The elements are sort of an illusion in this sense; like the bottle of whiskey obstructing our view. If we have other things to get done during the day, drinking the whiskey will not help us. But the alcoholic has grown so attached to the intoxication afforded by the whiskey that they can’t think of anything else. In this way they fall into despair, sinking in quicksand without any rescuing hand around.

This particular school of thought from ancient times says that material enjoyment is not everything. If you had everything in the world you could think of, you actually wouldn’t be satisfied. Think about it for a minute. Imagine if you won the lottery, married the person of your dreams, and had beautiful children and a sufficient number of friends. What would you do then? You’d still need to act. You’d still need to eat. You’d still need to sleep. You would have to find something to do to make your life fulfilling. And once you start acting, you would realize that the person who doesn’t win the lottery is pretty much in the same boat as you. Though they aren’t super wealthy, they have enough food to eat through the honest labor they apply. They have a spouse and children as well, so where did immense wealth really get you?

This school of thought says that the material elements should be used as little as possible with respect to personal enjoyment. The elements do exist for a purpose, though, a reformatory one at that. Instead of refining your way of manipulation, refine your way of thinking. Attach your consciousness to the origin of all life. This is the true definition of love. Offer unadulterated and unending affection to the one person who can accept it.

In evaluating the two schools of thought, the one from ancient times seems to be based on faith. It’s essentially religion, which we can’t really assess. It speaks of an original controller, or God, but we can’t see this person. The material elements are visible in front of us, so why not just take the route of material manipulation instead?

This mentality is defective because of the illusion of the material elements. A better way to assess the two schools of thought is to see how they derive their conclusions and whether those conclusions are valid. The difference between the genders mentioned previously was actually discovered by the ancient school of thought centuries ago. And it wasn’t even discovered; the information was passed on since the beginning of time, by the original person. He put forth a system of activity that would ideally bring everyone to the position of God consciousness, where they would love the Supreme Lord without end. In that discipline, the truths of the creation are accounted for, including the difference in tendencies between the species.

Since the aim of the spiritual school is different, the relevant facts are ignored by the materialists today. Yet the ultimate aim should have no bearing on the assessment. If someone tells us something that is groundbreaking today, but we know that someone else presented the same truth millions of years ago, the person making the discovery today isn’t so wise. They could have consulted the same truths and thus avoided all that research.

The ancient school of thought mentioned here comes from the Vedas, the original scriptural tradition of India. They delve into a lot more than just study of the genders. They give insight into all human behavior. They say that all human beings are born with four defects. Everyone has the propensity to cheat, to commit mistakes and to become illusioned. And everyone also has imperfect senses, which means that what you see isn’t always what you get. All living entities also eat, sleep, mate and defend. The material body is just a temporary covering that is completely discarded at the time of death. When the subsequent birth starts, a new body is provided.

The force that remains the same throughout, the essence of identity, is the soul. The soul is the same in both the man and the woman. The soul is ignored by the material scientist, as for them what is the fun in describing something that is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, and the same in everyone, including the animals? Yet to ignore the soul is to ignore the essence of life, and thereby miss the mark with your conclusions. The Vedas don’t make this mistake, and therefore works like the Bhagavad-gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam, which were put to written word many thousands of years ago, are still as valuable today as they were in times past.

In Closing:

Men and women different to conclusion you’ve come,

Known to ancient Vedas, to party finally welcome.

Bhagavad-gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam say,

Material world a field full of illusory play.

Difference in tendencies you might now uncover,

But from Krishna’s works no need for truths to discover.

The spirit soul is what really counts know,

To learn of it to Vedic literature go.

“Indeed, for a woman, the supreme ornament, above all others, is the husband. Therefore, this lady, though worthy of decoration, does not look beautiful, as she is bereft of her husband.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 16.26)

bhartā nāma param nāryā bhūṣaṇam bhūṣaṇād api |
eṣā hi rahitā tena śobhana arhā na śobhate ||

When does a person look their best? Is there a correct answer that can apply to all? Actually, there is, but it takes a discerning eye to notice a pattern first. Once you see it, you’ll realize that it is also the core ingredient to any beautiful interaction between two people. Shri Hanuman noticed it right away many thousands of years ago, and in the above referenced verse he presents it to us through the description of a wife and a husband and their relationship.

A mother holding her child. A cow feeding its calf. A child hugging its sibling. Brothers joining together to overcome obstacles. Neighbors helping their fellow neighbors dig out of the wreckage left by a hurricane. A person donating blood so that a stranger can continue to live. Paramours together in a romantic setting, tending to each other’s needs, arguing over who is more affectionate.

In all of the above scenarios there is beauty. The third party observer notices the beauty, and yet we haven’t made mention of any ornaments. The mother here may or may not be elegantly dressed. Perhaps she is wearing an evening gown, but she could even be in her pajamas. The garment of choice is not the issue; it is the relationship to her dependent. The same goes for the cow and the calf. The cow isn’t particularly beautiful on its own; it is just an animal after all. It doesn’t wear clothes. We put on clothes in the morning so that we don’t walk around naked. We obviously like to put on clothing that will make us look nice, for we know the body itself isn’t all that beautiful.

Shri Hanuman tells us that the supreme ornament for a woman is her husband. This is a significant declaration because women, more so than men, are known for wearing ornaments. Walk into a bachelor’s apartment and you’ll likely not find much furniture. The refrigerator is probably stocked with only beer and soda, and the rooms are more or less empty. What do they need so much stuff for anyway? If there are any hints of decoration, they are probably there to attract females, to catch their eye.

Women, on the other hand, are known for shopping. This is the stereotype, but it is rooted in truth. Prior to getting married a man may feel comfortable walking around the house in ragged clothing, but after he gets married suddenly he wears designer shirts. The change is due to the influence of the wife, who has a keener fashion sense. She takes the effort to look good herself and she wants her husband to also look good.

Hanuman says that the best ornament for a woman is a husband. If you make this declaration in public today you will surely be labeled a sexist, but discrimination between sexes is not the intent here. The husband is not merely a decoration, but rather it is the relationship to the husband that acts as the beautifying ornament. In the Vedic tradition especially, the relationship between the husband and the wife has real and lasting significance. The wife is to serve the husband, and the husband is to accept that service and offer protection. In return, they both share in the spiritual merits accumulated by the husband in his practice of dharma, or religiosity.

If the traditional wife, especially one from the time period in question, has a husband for an ornament, it means that she has someone to love. She looks most beautiful when she is offering her love to another person. This holds true for all of us actually. There is nothing more beautiful than pure love shared between two parties. The ideal husband-wife relationship is one indication of that, and since Hanuman was looking at a woman who was bereft of the company of her husband, he realized that she wasn’t as beautiful.

Hanuman says that Sita, the princess he found in the Ashoka grove in Lanka, was worthy of decoration. Her chastity alone made her worthy of all good things. She had never done anything wrong in her life. She accepted a husband from a contest of strength drawn up by her father, and she never had any reservations. She had three mothers-in-law in Ayodhya, and she treated all of them as if they were her own mother. Even when her husband was unkindly banished from His kingdom for fourteen years, Sita felt that the punishment extended to her as well. She accompanied her husband Rama into the forest, though she was neither asked nor expected to.

From this verse we can also understand that Hanuman saw Sita as she really is. She was in this predicament because a fiendish character had forcibly taken her away from Rama’s side when He wasn’t around. This fiend, the king of Lanka named Ravana, thought that Sita was beautiful enough to have as a wife, though she was already religiously wedded to someone else. Sita refused to give in to him, and so Ravana kept her in this secluded garden in his kingdom.

Hanuman hadn’t met Sita before, but he recognized her based on her auspicious features. The ornaments she was wearing matched those which previously fell in Kishkindha, where Hanuman was from. She also showed signs of intense grief, which meant that she was suffering from something. All of this combined to tell Hanuman that the woman in the grove was Sita. Though she was beautiful, she wasn’t as beautiful as she should have been, and this was all due to the husband being missing from the picture.

Hanuman’s eyes weren’t tainted by lust, which is what afflicted Ravana. Hanuman wanted to see Sita and Rama together, where they could act as husband and wife and enjoy each other’s company. Sita’s husband is also the best ornament because He is the most beautiful. In His original form He is known as Krishna, which as a word means “all-attractive.” Rama is the Supreme Lord, the God that we all turn to in times of trouble. He is the detail behind the abstract conception, and Sita is the definition of His pleasure potency, the energy which always acts to please Him.

Just as the best ornament for a woman is her husband, a person to whom she can offer love, for all living entities the best item of beautification is the all-attractive God. He is so benevolent that He allows us to interact with Him in different transcendental mellows, or rasas. In Sita’s case the mellow is madhurya, or sweetness in conjugal relations. For Hanuman it is dasya, or acting as a servant. Whatever the preferred interaction, if we’re not established in the relationship, we aren’t looking as beautiful as we should.

The price for the ornament known as Rama’s association is sincerity. This can be paid by any person, regardless of their situation in life. We saw sincerity in both Sita and Hanuman, and so they would quickly reunite with Rama. Wherever they are, they keep Him in mind, and so the relationship never breaks. The easiest way to offer our sincerity is to chant the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,” taking ourselves to be humbler than the grass, knowing that these names are non-different from the Lord Himself.

In Closing:

In external beauty to reside,

When husband by her side.

With woman deserving beautification,

There is no better ornamentation.

Can serve another in that state,

Chance to be with soul-mate.

For us all to serve God is the best,

Inferior are ornaments all the rest.

To be with Rama Sita Devi was meant,

In loving devotion to her Hanuman went.

“She sees neither the female Rakshasas nor these trees with flowers and fruits. With her heart fixed on one thing, she undoubtedly only sees Rama.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 16.25)

na eṣā paśyati rākṣasyo na imān puṣpa phala drumān |
ekastha hṛdayā nūnam rāmam eva anupaśyati ||

“Wouldn’t it be great to block out all the distractions, to see clearly that one thing that you want to see? I like to look at flowers, so wouldn’t it be great if I saw only flowers? Wouldn’t I be so happy if I didn’t see the tragedies reported on the news and the effects of aging on my face that are prominently displayed in the mirror each morning? Wouldn’t it be great to focus on my beloved all the time, the one person whose association pleases me the most?”

From the testimony of a famous Vanara warrior, we know that one person was able to maintain such a wonderful focus even during a time of great distress. Ironically enough, the benefits of the focus were not intentionally sought out. She was not purposefully trying to block other things out. Rather, the glorious qualities belonging to the person she contemplated on automatically created the focus. And since it was her occupational duty to serve that person with every thought, word and deed, she had no reservations in continuing in her meditation.

“Think about air. Block everything else out. Don’t worry about the package that you have to drop off at the post office tomorrow. Don’t worry about getting up early in the morning to take your car in for servicing. Suppress your anxiety over having to travel to an airport far away to pick up your relative this weekend. Don’t worry about having to make food for that gathering you’re going to in a few days. Also, pay no attention to the mountain of chores at home. Don’t worry that you haven’t cleaned your room in a while, and pretend like the packages you’ve received in the mail recently have all been opened. Block all of this out and just focus on air, which is akin to nothingness. That will give you peace of mind.”

To block out worries over distractions is good, but not to the point that the distracting elements are completely cast aside as being unimportant. For instance, if I have a chore looming in the next few days, when the time comes I need to take care of it. But prior to that, I shouldn’t let it consume me. I should stay steady in mind, as if there are no pressing engagements. No use worrying about something until it actually happens.

How to go about maintaining that steadiness is the tricky part. In the Vedic tradition there is the practice of dhyana, which belongs to the discipline of yoga. Dhyana is meditation, which is beneficial for obvious reasons. But on what or whom should you meditate? You don’t need to consult a yoga teacher to understand that certain things aren’t worth contemplating. For instance, I can’t just stare at a painting I like and block out all other thoughts. I may try this once or twice, but since the explicit purpose is to block out other thoughts, I will not succeed unless the image is divine.

Ah, so where do we go to find a divine image? Obviously the image would have to be of something glorious. If that something has limitless glories, which could be discussed endlessly, then that something could be contemplated on endlessly as well. We don’t think that something like this exists because we have yet to find it. If we had, there would be no use in worrying about meditation, as we would meditate on that object all the time.

“There [In the Padma Purana] it is said that one should always remember Lord Vishnu. This is called dhyana, or meditation-always remembering Krishna. It is said that one has to meditate with his mind fixed upon Vishnu. Padma Purana recommends that one always fix his mind on the form of Vishnu by meditation and not forget Him at any moment.” (Shrila Prabhupada, The Nectar of Devotion, 2)

The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, say that the best object of meditation is the transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is an original form, which is all-attractive, but there are also many non-different expansion forms. The above referenced verse from the Ramayana speaks of one of those non-different forms and how meditation on it removes the influence of the most unwanted elements of the surrounding nature.

The non-different form addressed is of Lord Rama, the Supreme Lord in His incarnation as a warrior prince. He has distinguishable features. His arms are long like a banyan tree, and He has other auspicious marks on His body. He is the eldest son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya, a man who never shrinks from battle and who follows dharma, or religiosity, to the letter. Rama is unbelievably beautiful, and He is grateful for any service offered to Him. He is the nicest person in the world, so why wouldn’t someone want to think of Him all the time.

In Sita’s case, she knew Rama intimately. She was married to Him for many years, so she could meditate on Rama by remembering past time spent with Him. She relied on that remembrance to keep her sanity, to keep her life force intact. This was evident to Shri Hanuman just from looking at her. He was nestled inside of leaves and flowers on a tree inside of the Ashoka grove in Lanka, sent to search for Sita after she had gone missing. The evil king of Lanka, Ravana, took Sita away in secret and tried to win her over. She refused him, and so the Rakshasa resorted to threats. He ordered his female attendants, ghoulish creatures, to harass her day and night until she capitulated.

For Sita in the Ashoka grove there were many distractions. Both the beautiful and the hideous were there. The grove had many golden trees which were full of fruits and flowers. There were also the female attendants of Ravana who tried to scare her into thinking that she would die if she didn’t give in to Ravana. Hanuman noticed all of this just as a newly arrived observer, and yet he was amazed at how Sita didn’t see any of it. Though she was in the thick of things, her heart was only fixed on one thing: Rama. Because of that focus, she indeed saw Rama all the time.

And what was the benefit to seeing Rama? Imagine if you’re never alone, if the person you cherish the most is always with you. God is the best friend to everyone, as He resides within every creature as the Supersoul. Whether we know this fact or not makes no difference to the Supreme Lord; He stays with us regardless. He will never leave our side, even if we ignore Him for millions of lifetimes. Though He is always with us, we don’t get the full benefit of His association unless we choose to look at Him.

The incarnation, or avatara, is the external manifestation of the same Supersoul. Rama is the more complete realization of God, as the Supersoul doesn’t intervene with action. To the individual, the Supersoul is a kind of impersonal representation of the personal God. Focusing on only the Supersoul is more difficult, and therefore it is part of the discipline of meditational yoga. Yet dhyana itself isn’t reserved exclusively for the yogis who make the remote woods their residence. Anyone, in any circumstance, and at any time, can focus the mind on God in the same manner that Sita did. As the personal aspect can be remembered more easily and in more situations, it is superior to the localized aspect, which is perceived to be formless.

The benefit of that remembrance for Sita was so great that it automatically blocked other things out. The enchanting grove had no influence; it did not tempt Sita into thinking that residence in Lanka with Ravana would be worthwhile. The female Rakshasas also had no influence; they couldn’t scare her into forgetting Rama and focusing on her perilous condition. Hanuman, who had practiced a similar style of meditation to help him reach Lanka, was amazed at Sita’s focus. His observations prove that one who keeps their mind set on God can overcome all obstacles thrown their way.

In Closing:

Miscreant went on wild killing spree,

Bombs from terrorist in market set free.

Stock prices wildly fluctuate,

Our minds with bad news media inundate.

How then our focus can we keep?

Over misfortune will we not weep?

From Sita, the greatest lesson away take,

How supreme focus with one person make.

Golden trees around, and ogres at her hissed,

Didn’t see them because of husband whom she missed.

As if she were living in a safe bubble,

Enemies could cause her no trouble.

To the features of Shri Rama this was due,

Hanuman saw and practiced the same too.

“Like a thirsty man desiring to find a well, Rama desires to see her, who is endowed with character and has been harassed by Ravana.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 16.22)

imām tu śīla sampannām draṣṭum iccati rāghavaḥ |
rāvaṇena pramathitām prapām iva pipāsitaḥ ||

If I am thirsty and you give me a drink, it will satisfy my thirst a little bit. Eventually, though, I will need another drink. If I say to you that my thirst will only be satisfied by finding a well, it means that I am really thirsty. It also means that I’m looking for something to eliminate thirst altogether. Such was the case with Shri Rama, who adores the association of His devotees so much that it seems like He can’t live without them.

God is self-sufficient. This is part of being God. If we concoct an idea of a supreme being, one of the features we’d assign to him is the ability to live without requiring anything. We already know of such objects in nature. The sun stays in its place without requiring any external fuel source. No gas tankers drive to the sun and no electricity is pumped into it. Instead, it is the diffuser of heat and light. The diffusion takes place without cessation. The energy we get from the sun is so strong that we don’t like the nighttime, when the sun is absent from our vision. We also don’t like the cold winters, when the sun’s target rays are not as directly available to us.

The theoretical conception of a God includes the feature of self-sustainability and so does the practical truth of a God presented by the Vedas. In that scriptural tradition the original supreme being is addressed through thousands of names and features. Rama is one of His names and it means that He is the source of all transcendental pleasure. That source also gives pleasure to others through His association. From the word Rama we also get “atmarama”, which means one who is self-satisfied. The atma is the self; it is the identifying force within each living creature. A creature is considered dead when it is devoid of an atma, or soul.

Rama is also a historical personality, and in the above referenced verse from the Ramayana it is said that Rama seeks out the association of Sita Devi, His wife, like a thirsty man looking for a well. Isn’t this contradictory? Hanuman’s statement doesn’t say that Rama somewhat likes Sita’s company. It doesn’t say, “Oh, if Rama happens to run into Sita, He wouldn’t mind hanging out with her for a while. He’ll spend time with pretty much anyone, so Sita is no different in this regard.”

The statement made by Hanuman is much stronger. And there is a reason provided as well. Hanuman says that Sita is endowed with high character. Also, at the moment she is being harassed by Ravana, a vile creature of cruel deeds. That combination made Rama all the more eager to find His beloved wife. If we know that our child is in school, we may not think about them so much. We understand that they are in a place of learning and that more likely than not they will eventually come home after the day is over.

If they are in trouble, however, we won’t be able to stop thinking about them. We’ll do whatever we can to find them again, and until they are found our anxiety will not rest. And if the children are dear to us, if they are kind and obedient, we will be even more worried about them. We won’t be able to think of anything else.

Shri Rama feels this way towards His most beloved devotees, and in the case of Sita the trouble was life-threatening. Therefore Shri Rama was very thirsty, and His thirst wouldn’t be satisfied until He found the well of virtuous qualities that was His dear wife. He sent His most trusted servant, Shri Hanuman, to find this life-saving well and report the location to Him. Hanuman didn’t have it easy in the search; several times he thought there was no hope. In the scene referenced above, Hanuman has finally found Sita, so automatically he remembers Rama at the same time and how desirous the Lord is of reuniting with His wife, who was taken away from His side through a backhanded plot executed by Ravana.

An important thing to remember is that Sita wanted rescue; i.e. she wanted to be with Rama again. All of us conditioned living entities are currently separated from God in terms of consciousness, but if we don’t want to reunite with Him, why will He seek us out? Why would He force us to be with Him, especially if He is self-satisfied?

We should know that if we fix ourselves up to the point that we are endowed with a wonderful character, Shri Rama will do whatever it takes to rescue us. He knows that we’re in the precarious condition where we mistakenly identify with our temporary body and think that sense pleasure is the summit of living. He already rests within our heart as the Supersoul, so He can guide us from within if we like. To reform us from without He sends His trusted messengers, who act in the same way as Hanuman. The combination of the representative and the original personality makes the rescue quite easy. The beginning step is making our desire known, and there is no easier way to do that than chanting the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

In Closing:

If I’m only a little thirsty you think,

Perhaps only offer me a single drink.

If thirst much stronger you can tell,

Perhaps only satisfied from finding a well.

With Shri Rama such was the case,

Wanted to again see Sita’s lovely face.

Hanuman sent for that well of virtue to find,

When seeing Sita in grove, Rama came to mind.

As atmarama, our association Lord doesn’t need,

But turning His way His desire to rescue to feed.

“Satisfied with fruits and roots, faithfully serving her husband, she feels the same supreme happiness in the forest as in a palace.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 16.20)

samtuṣṭā phala mūlena bhartṛ śuśrūṣaṇā parā |
yā parām bhajate prītim vane api bhavane yathā ||

A new child is born. They have entered this crazy world that you have grown accustomed to but still haven’t figured out completely. You think about their future and what their journey through life will be like. If you could only give them one piece of advice, a truth or saying to keep throughout their journey, what would it be? The Vedas give this to every living entity, advice which is perfect in every way. The advice forms the foundation for finding satisfaction in every condition subsequent to its acceptance.

What is that singular advice? “Aham brahmasmi” is the aphorism, and it means that I am a spirit soul, part and parcel of the spiritual energy known as Brahman. Seems pretty plain, no? What is this information going to do for me? Why is remembering this so important? Shouldn’t the advice be more along the lines of “always keep your chin up” or “if life hands you lemons, make lemonade?”

Actually, the root cause of every unpleasant situation in life is a misidentification. What do we mean by this? Think of trying to kick a soccer ball into the goal defended by your own team. Think of giving information that will help your opponent win an election. Think of entering a classroom in school geared to teach young children, when you are on the cusp of graduation. These conditions are incongruent due to the temporary identifications you hold.

If not knowing your temporary identity is not good, imagine then what ignorance of your permanent identity will lead to. On the other side, if you know who you really are, you will be able to cope with pretty much any situation. For instance, if there is a death in the family, using your knowledge of your identity, you can apply the same principle to the departed. “I am sad that they are gone, but I know that they are really spirit soul. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, the soul is immutable, unchanging, and non-decaying. It cannot be made wet, burned, or destroyed. What we see now is the destruction of the material body, which is a temporary covering. My covering too will one day be destroyed, but the soul will carry on to another body. Therefore the wise do not overly lament another’s death.”

"It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, immutable, and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body." (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.25)

Knowledge of Brahman ideally culminates in devotional service, or bhakti-yoga. This is the most confidential truth revealed only to the sober human being who has exhausted all attempts at happiness through material acquisition, philosophical speculation, and mystic practice. Bhakti-yoga taken up in earnest allows one to both cope with any situation and also find pleasure in them. An example of how this works was seen with Sita Devi, a famous princess who once had to abruptly leave her home.

Her husband was the prince of the Raghu dynasty. Named Rama, He was loved and adored by all, but when His step-mother succumbed to the influence of envy, He was exiled from His kingdom for fourteen years. Rama told His beloved and devoted wife Sita to stay home, but she refused to listen to Him. She went with Him to the forest and subsisted on whatever fruits and roots were available. In the forest she was as happy as she was at home.

There was a reason for this, of course, and it is provided in the above referenced verse, which is a thought from Shri Hanuman found in the Ramayana. Sita was faithfully engaged in her husband’s service in the forest. And because of this she could survive on meager food without a problem. She wasn’t on a diet or anything. She wasn’t forcefully trying to punish herself. Indeed, she didn’t feel like this was a punishment at all, as she was invigorated through pleasing her husband.

Does this mean that the secret to life is to get married and thus have someone to serve? Actually, the secret to Sita’s formula was not necessarily in the marriage arrangement but more so in the real identity of her husband. Rama is the Supreme Lord, an avatara of the original Personality of Godhead. The Sanskrit word avatara means “one who descends”, so Rama did not have an ordinary birth. His body is spiritual, so it does not go through the same changes that ours go through, and neither does it ever decay.

Service to Rama, or God, is every soul’s original occupational duty. In Sita’s case, she gets to serve God through the covenant of marriage. Indeed, she uses the duties of a wife in the Vedic tradition to her advantage. If I tell you that you are duty-bound to serve someone you love, the command will only make you happier. “So you’re telling me that I have to serve this person? Sounds good to me.” Sita used her duties as a wife as a way to persuade Rama to allow her to come to the forest with Him. She essentially exploited her position, and since it was related to serving God, the exploitation was not impious.

Shri Hanuman similarly serves Rama by accepting His orders. The above referenced thought came to him while looking at Sita in the Ashoka grove in Lanka. She was separated from Rama at the time, and it was Hanuman’s duty to find her. Lanka was a foreign territory to him. There wasn’t an immigration department there, but if there were they most certainly wouldn’t have allowed him in. Lanka was ruled over by the Rakshasa king Ravana, and the people and its leader were all very sinful. They feasted off human flesh and had no regard for innocent life. Sita was another man’s wife, but Ravana thought that she could be won over by force. He thought wrong.

For that child new to this earth, the secret to their success will be the holy name. By chanting it as a means of serving God, they can endure any troublesome situation and also keep the mind active. If you boil life down to its essence, it is all about having something to do. If we are financially well-off but don’t have anything to do with our time, we will be miserable. If we are not very wealthy but have a constant engagement that keeps us satisfied, we can survive on fruits and roots and still be happy. This was the case with Sita. Hanuman stayed happy even while in a hostile territory. For us, we can simply chant the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,” and thus require very little to maintain our blissful life.

In Closing:

What advice to new child will you give,

So that life to the fullest they will live?

Proper identity is required,

For in service spirit to be inspired.

For God our sacrifice is meant,

Efforts in His service well spent.

Like Sita in any situation can survive,

By chanting holy names stay alive.

“Satisfied with fruits and roots, faithfully serving her husband, she feels the same supreme happiness in the forest as in a palace.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 16.20)

samtuṣṭā phala mūlena bhartṛ śuśrūṣaṇā parā |
yā parām bhajate prītim vane api bhavane yathā ||

This single verse from the Ramayana quoting Shri Hanuman exposes a means of measurement unknown to material science. It provides a barometer to gauge true happiness, and if we break down the components, we see that material opulence, exploitation of resources, victory over competing forces, and even long life are not the primary factors for determining superiority. “Survival of the fittest” is the key concept in the theory of evolution, but if the very definition of fitness is invalid, how can the rest of the theory hold water? True fitness is exhibited by saintly characters like Sita Devi, the beloved wife of Lord Rama.

“The whole universe was in a very hot, dense state. Then suddenly chemicals collided and we got the planets, the stars, and the many varieties of life forms. Evolution thus began, eventually leading to the current state, where the human being is the most intelligent species.” This is the basic theory, and one is not supposed to question it. They are not supposed to ask, “Who created the hot, dense state? What made the chemicals collide? If that collision created life, why can’t the whole thing be replicated? Why can’t we create even a miniature replica of the sun? Your theory doesn’t touch on the infiniteness of time and space, so how can your assertions be considered beyond fault?”

If these issues are brought up, the common response is that visible evidence exists to show the evolution of the species. But in actuality, this is more or less describing what occurs externally, after the fact. It is akin to watching a football game, analyzing what happened, and then making predictions based on that information. The predictions are not always correct. If they were, the world would be full of wealthy gamblers. The predictions are just guesses based on information that was gathered and then studied. You can make educated guesses going forward, but you don’t really know why certain things happen. You don’t know why such and such player made such and such mistake at a critical time in the game. You don’t know what went into the player’s psychological makeup and you don’t know what the many independent participants in the game were thinking. Do we even know exactly what we were thinking prior to every past decision we made?

The atheist theory is very appealing. If a bunch of chemicals collided to create the universe, should someone somehow figure out how to manipulate those chemicals in the right way, they could essentially become God. The more intelligent, i.e. those who have this valuable knowledge of exploitation, could thus become the dominant species. Again, there are several factors overlooked here. First, longevity doesn’t automatically mean fitness. A tree can live for thousands of years. Does that make it superior to the human being? And what about old age and disease? Is the pinnacle of achievement the ability to transcend disease, live without food and water, and remain generally safe for one hundred years?

In the Vedas not much importance is given to visual evidence gathered after the fact. Perfect information is provided at the outset of the creation, which goes through cycles of manifestation and dissolution. The real business, that of knowing the Supreme Absolute Truth, is undertaken by the wise souls. In this endeavor material opulence is not important, and neither is full knowledge of the history of the creation. We know that today there are millions of organisms on the earth doing a variety of things. In one hundred years’ time, the same situation will exist. One hundred years ago the situation was also the same. In any time period, there are people being born, people living, and people dying.

Fitness of a species comes down to its overall level of happiness. And if that happiness is not dependent on external conditions, if it can be experienced in any situation, then the living entity has really achieved the fittest condition. Therefore the common benchmarks of a long life and material opulence have no bearing here. The measurement for real fitness is based on the way one lives with respect to consciousness.

Shri Hanuman touches upon the secret to success in life in this verse describing the history of Sita Devi. Hanuman is a historical personality and also a divine figure of the Vedic tradition. The same goes for Sita. Hanuman’s review took place many thousands of years ago in a grove of Ashoka trees, where he was perched on one of the trees looking at Sita from a distance. He had been searching for her for quite a long time, so he was pleased to have finally found her. He noticed that she was in distress, however, held captive here against her will. He remembered some of the hardships she previously endured and how they didn’t really have an effect on her.

It’s sort of like saying that a person has a disease, but they are not feeling the effects of it. Think of it like having a cold but not feeling any of the symptoms. Here it is said that Sita was satisfied with fruits and roots and was as happy in the forest as she was in a palace. She was in a royal family since birth, and in adulthood she married into royalty as well. So her whole life was spent living in palaces. She lived in the forest when her husband Rama was exiled from the kingdom of Ayodhya. He wasn’t allowed back for fourteen years, so it wasn’t like a weekend camping trip. She had to rough it fulltime, and based on Hanuman’s accounts, she managed to survive just fine.

“I shall happily reside in the forest, considering it to be just like my paternal home, paying no attention to the three worlds and only thinking of my husband’s vow.”  (Sita Devi speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 27.12)

Sita had predicted how she would feel. Prior to leaving, Rama told Sita to stay at home, but she argued with Him, saying that she would be happier by His side. The source of her happiness is also given by Hanuman. She was faithfully engaged in the service of her husband. This is what enabled her to turn hardships into auspiciousness. This isn’t common. If we’re forced to go on a diet for a week, we have trouble. Imagine if your diet every day for fourteen years consisted of fruits and roots. Would you not be unhappy?

In Sita’s case, the pleasure of serving her husband minimized any and all pains. The universal relevance of this verse comes from the fact that her husband is the origin of the creation. He is the Supreme Lord, a non-different expansion of the original Personality of Godhead who roamed the earth to provide sacred pastimes to be cherished by devotees like Hanuman in the subsequent years.

The living entity can also please Rama and thereby feel pleasure whether living in opulence or squalor. The famous saints of the past have proved this with their behavior. Vaishnavas like Ramanuja, Chaitanya, Tulsidas, Rupa Gosvami and others were very renounced according to material estimation. They lived on practically nothing, and they didn’t feel discomfort because they were one hundred percent engaged in service to Rama, who is also addressed by other names such as Krishna and Vishnu.

The best way that service takes place in the current age is through chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.” The person who chants this mantra in full humility and dependence is the fittest person, because they survive in practically any condition. Hanuman noticed this feature in Sita, and to this day he follows in the same line by always chanting the glories of the divine couple. He doesn’t need much to survive, and in that survival he shows what the good life is really like.

In Closing:

“One thing my husband you should know,

Happy I will be if to forest we go.

Just as if I were in a palace at my home,

To be in full comfort from serving You alone.”

Hanuman remembered Sita’s commitment,

His analysis for society’s betterment.

From her behavior to witness,

He gave real assessment on fitness.

“Giving up all enjoyable things, forced by affection for her husband she entered into the desolate forest, not concerned with the hardships.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 16.19)

sarvān bhogān parityajya bhartṛ sneha balāt kṛtā |
acintayitvā duhkhāni praviṣṭā nirjanam vanam ||

“God, I’ve done everything right. Though I didn’t always like the virtuous path, I followed it out of obligation. I went to school when I was younger. I did my homework as soon as I got home every day. I missed out on playing with the other kids because of this focus on responsibility. I did my chores as they were assigned to me by my parents. I got very good grades and then gained admission into the college of my choosing.

“There, also, I paid attention to my studies, despite all the distractions around me. I graduated on time, while many of my friends required one or two extra years to do the same. I worked right after college and I was never a slacker. I showed up at the job on time and always put in a good effort. Despite the political games at the office, I never used someone else’s laziness as an excuse to shirk my responsibilities.

“I took care of my parents and my siblings, and I even got married at the right time. I never did anything wrong and yet now I’m in so much pain. I don’t know why You brought all this hardship upon me when I’ve only done everything right my whole life. If You’re the loving God that everyone says, why does it feel like You don’t love me at all?”

This is a hypothetical scenario wherein the individual follows the book on virtue starting from childhood. They seemingly do everything right and yet they fall upon hardship at the end. The same sequence existed with a beautiful princess a long time ago, though her voluntarily accepted hardships were much greater. She didn’t even follow the virtuous path strictly out of obligation; her allegiance to dharma was due more to love for someone else. And isn’t love the essence of living? How can love, which in this case fell in line with virtue, cause so much trouble? Shri Hanuman noticed this strange pairing when seeing the princess in her later distressed condition. From his review we can get a better understanding of the nature of this world.

The princess in question is Sita Devi. Arising from the ground as a baby while her father was ploughing it for a sacrifice, she was named Sita. Her father was Janaka of Mithila, a very famous king known throughout the world for his dedication to piety. It was no surprise, then, that he got such a daughter, and when she reached an age suitable for marriage she was given over to Lord Rama, the eldest son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya.

In the above referenced verse from the Ramayana, Shri Hanuman begins a brief review of some of the sacrifices Sita made while married to Rama. He says that she gave up all enjoyable things. Bhogan can also refer to a standard of living. Imagine having to become homeless overnight. You’re accustomed to the modern amenities like hot water, electricity, television, cellular telephones and the like. If you have to go without these for a day or two it might not be that bad, but imagine if you’re shut out for fourteen years. Imagine renouncing all of that for love of someone else.

This is exactly what Sita did. Though a chaste wife of the Vedic tradition, she did not follow her husband Rama into the forest because He ordered her to. On the contrary, when Rama was handed an exile punishment He insisted that Sita remain in the kingdom, where she would be safe. As an independent woman in the truest sense, Sita would not listen to her husband on this occasion, as she would not allow Him to suffer fourteen years in the forest alone. She exploited the Vedic tenets pertaining to the dedication a wife should show her husband, using it to her benefit, in essence compelling Rama to take her with Him.

The forest was desolate; no friends or relatives there. It was full of hardships, so it would be understandable if she had lamented her plight. “O woe is me. I love my husband so much that I had to follow Him to the forest, but I really hate it out here. I can’t believe how awful life is. What did I do to deserve this?” Sita actually didn’t complain at all. Material opulence was meaningless to her if it had no connection to her husband. What she did in renouncing the regal lifestyle was not ordinary. That she didn’t complain, either, made it more remarkable.

Shri Hanuman remembered all of this when he finally spotted Sita in the Ashoka grove inside of Lanka. While serving the fourteen year exile in the woods, she was kidnapped by the King of Lanka, Ravana. Hanuman was living in the forest at the time, acting as the chief minister to the Vanara king Sugriva. Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana met Hanuman and formed an alliance with Sugriva. Hanuman alone made it to Lanka to find Sita, and at this moment his search ended successfully.

He couldn’t help but feel for Sita. She was now in a much worse condition. Female Rakshasas, man-eating ogres essentially, were harassing her day and night. Ravana gave her an ultimatum: either become his wife or be killed. She didn’t mind death, but she was waiting for Rama to come. His fame would increase through her rescue, and if she were to quit her body the chance for acquiring that glory would vanish.

Shri Rama, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, isn’t a glory hog. He extended an opportunity for glory to Shri Hanuman. Based on Hanuman’s status today amongst followers of the Vedic tradition, we’d have to say that Rama’s plan worked perfectly. Despite being in a position to celebrate, namely due to victory in the mission, Hanuman felt compassion for Rama’s wife. In reviewing her previous hardships, he’s essentially saying, “She did nothing wrong. She doesn’t deserve this. She’s not even attached to material opulence, so why should she have had to suffer more? Wasn’t life in the forest bad enough?”

It’s quite natural to ask these questions, as shouldn’t amassing virtuous credits be to our benefit? The issue, of course, is in assessing what is beneficial and what isn’t. The spirit soul is the identifying force within every living being. It’s in the soul’s constitution to serve, and in the ideal state that service is directed at God. One of the best ways to serve Him is to think of Him. Sometimes material opulence is an impediment to this kind of service. Through hardship the frequency of the thoughts can increase rapidly, thereby leading to a more auspicious condition.

In this sense living in a time where material opulence is abundant makes us unfortunate. The standard of living is as high as its ever been, and we see that people are still unhappy. This means that they are lacking something. Vaishnavas like Hanuman know what that is:  the connection to God. Through consulting the thoughts of Shri Hanuman on occasions such as these, we get to automatically think of God and figure out ways to think of Him more in the future. This further increases the glory of the greatest servant of Sita and Rama.

In Closing:

“My whole life I did everything right,

And now in pain I’m filled with fright.

Why not peace of mind to me give?

So that in fear no longer I’ll live.”

Real auspiciousness based on thought,

Not just material opulence brought.

Sita thought of Rama when in distress,

Devotion showed through toughest test.

Noticed by Shri Hanuman the wise,

Has compassionate heart of biggest size.

“In the cycle of evolution, the living entity changes bodies one after another. When the world was full of water, the living entity took an aquatic form. Then he passed to vegetable life, from vegetable life to worm life, from worm life to bird life, from bird life to animal life, and from animal life to the human form. The highest developed form is this human form when it is possessed of a full sense of spiritual knowledge.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shri Ishopanishad, 17 Purport)

It is said in the Vedas that one is not a true philosopher unless they disagree with another philosopher. The unique viewpoint makes the philosopher stand out, and since being a philosopher garners attention, it is not surprising to see so many different viewpoints available in the modern age, which is known as the time period of quarrel and hypocrisy. Many of the new theories focus on man itself, and how he has evolved since his primitive days. No longer is he so foolish; now he behaves in a more refined manner. But in actuality, man hasn’t changed; his nature is still the same. The truly wise are those who describe things as they always are. If there are any discoveries along the way, they are in the new avenues for describing only.

Think of the law of gravity. When it was discovered by scientists, it was a radical concept. “Wow, math can explain how all things can fall? Gravity is what keeps our feet attached to the ground? It’s what causes objects to fall when you release them? The same force that causes an apple to fall makes the moon orbit the earth? Far out.” If you think about it, though, gravity had already existed at the time of its discovery, whenever you believe that time to be. It existed long before the famed scientists ever graced the earth. It will also continue to exist well into the future. The discovery in this case was merely a way to describe something that already existed. A more noteworthy discovery would have been into gravity’s origin. Who created gravity? Why does it exist? Why do I think it is important to study?

The theories relating to the “evolved man” aren’t so important for the very reason that man’s tendencies have not changed since the beginning of time. There is no evolution in behavior or makeup. A man today is the same as a man from ten thousand years ago. The external conditions with respect to lifestyle and society may have changed, but the pain of separation from a paramour is equal in both instances. So is the pain of disease. Old age applies all the same, though it may be effected more quickly in the modern age. Physiologically man hasn’t changed at all, so what are we really describing when we think of the evolved man?

If you know the true purpose to an existence and the cause for birth in the material world, our current home, you understand that the so-called evolved man is actually more animal-like. An animal eats, sleeps, mates and defends. It does not ponder philosophy. It does not hanker over the release of a new smartphone. It does not get sad when its music player stops working. It doesn’t worry about mortgage payments and it doesn’t spend hours preparing its food in an oven. Rather, it eats whatever nature provides. It sleeps wherever it can find a decent temperature, and it mates with whoever is around.

The human being has a higher potential for intelligence. If that potential is used for finding new ways to eat, sleep, mate and defend, then the human being is actually inferior to the animal. Why is this? If you could satisfy your desire to eat with the meal placed in front of you or you could travel hundreds of miles away for the same meal, which option is wiser? The extra travel has a price attached to it. There are fuel costs, the wear and tear on the mode of transport, and the loss of valuable time to consider. The wise person would choose the meal that is right in front of them.

All the effort expended by the “evolved” man just to maintain a family and home is like choosing the meal that is hundreds of miles away. The animal doesn’t have to work so hard. All that intelligence in the human being is thus used for naught. Discovering gravity is wonderful, but the animal doesn’t know what gravity is and yet it gets along just fine. We do have intelligence for a reason, however. The Vedic seers know why and they kindly pass on the secret to anyone who is willing to listen with sincerity.

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.20)

The Vedas are the ancient scriptures of India. More than just books of faith, they present spirituality as a science. Just as the law of gravity is scientific and thus applicable to all time periods, the science that describes the difference between the body and soul is not limited to a particular section of citizens. It is also not reserved exclusively for members of an ancient time period. The soul is the soul. It can reside within any kind of body. Killing the living entity is destroying the body only. Yet the body is the vehicle for the conditioned soul to gain liberation from the cycle of birth and death, wherein birth in the material land is no longer necessary. To kill the body of any living entity with a soul in it is unwise. This applies to all persons from all countries.

The “evolved man” who gives so much attention to the body is like someone worrying over how to dress a dead body. The body will be discarded eventually, so its appearance is not that important. And neither is its satisfaction in the areas of eating, sleeping, mating and defending so vital. To develop new theories about man’s ideal behavior is to ignore the presence of spirit. The new theories are based on manipulation of matter, something which already takes place in the lower species. Longevity is not a mark of superiority either, as the tree can live for thousands of years. Yet no one would consider the tree to be superior to the human being.

The Vedas come from the Supreme Absolute Truth, who presents just enough information as is required for attaining the proper objective in life. The tendencies of the human being, including his four defects, are presented. Man commits mistakes, becomes easily illusioned, cheats, and has imperfect senses. This was true ten thousand years ago and will be true ten thousand years from today. Man struggles over the nonpermanent appearance and disappearance of happiness and sadness, just as the seasons cause discomfort to the body.

“O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.14)

In fact, all of the human tendencies, including the affinity towards loving relations, are described in the Vedas. The people who hold on to this information and pass it down don’t make groundbreaking discoveries in human behavior, because there is nothing new that happens. Someone gets happy over the birth of a child and someone goes into despair over the severing of a relationship. This has all happened before. The new theories on how to manipulate matter don’t offer any solutions; otherwise why would new theories constantly be created?

The Vedic teachers do find new ways to distribute the message of divine love so nicely presented in the Vedas. In fact, divine love, or bhakti-yoga, is synonymous with the Vedas. They are one and the same. Depending on time and circumstance, there are certain ways to appeal to the people. In the modern age, the preferred method of transcendental instruction is the congregational chanting of the holy names, a method inaugurated by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu some five hundred years ago.

He was an expert scholar, someone who could describe one verse from scripture in eighty different ways. He could argue with Himself better than anyone could argue with Him. And yet His ultimate conclusion was always that God is everything and that everything should be used to serve Him in a loving way. He was the wisest person on earth, and He chose to spread the wisdom through the holy names, which are non-different from God. Since His time others have carried the torch, and they write new books describing the glories of God and sankirtana, or congregational chanting.

The human birth already represents an evolution. The soul gets the chance to learn about God, understand the purpose to life, and then use their abilities to serve God. The tendency to serve is what defines us; it is our dharma. The manipulation of matter for the pleasure of the senses is the perverted utilization of the service propensity. The correction occurs when one consults the Vedic teachings through someone who follows them faithfully. With the proper consciousness, the full evolution fructifies at the end of life with a return trip to the spiritual land, where everyone is blissful and full of knowledge for all of eternity.

In Closing:

Objects fall because of law of gravity,

Marvel at brand new discovery.

Yet existing always has been that force,

Will continue well into future’s course.

New theories describe man’s behavior,

Evolution in thinking to be his savior.

Yet man has felt emotions always the same,

Sadness in separation and pleasure in gain.

Vedas tell us all that we need to know,

How man acts, and where He should go.

Spiritual land is the ideal destination,

Chant holy names and complete evolution.

“Whenever there is chetana, or knowledge, the personal feature comes in. In the spiritual world everything is full of knowledge, and therefore everything in the transcendental world, the land, the water, the tree, the mountain, the river, the man, the animal, the bird – everything – is of the same quality, namely chetana, and therefore everything there is individual and personal.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.38 Purport)

As soon as you speak of the Almighty as being knowledgeable, you admit the presence of a personality. A personality has an accompanying form. You may call that form subtle, invisible, unimaginably gigantic, existing behind a curtain of bright light, or what have you, but there is still a form. The personality is also distinct from other personalities, as this is how we distinguish one person from another right now. So if the Almighty is supreme, knowledgeable, and a personality, why not worship Him as such?

If you have a curiosity to learn more about the philosophy that is commonly referred to as Hinduism, the majority of the reading material you will find will focus on the Supreme Absolute Truth as a formless force known as Brahman. The philosophy can be summarized as such: “We are all Brahman, part of the singular energy. I am Brahman and so are you. The ancient sages of the past have passed on information on how to become Brahman realized, which means merging into this light of truth. There are different paths available, but they are all more or less the same. Some choose to meditate, some choose to study, and some choose to worship. If you want to worship, a process generally reserved for the less intelligent, you can pick any of five different forms: Durga, Shiva, Ganesha, Surya or Narayana. Worship them with full faith and attention and eventually you’ll get the qualities necessary for Brahman realization. Mainly, you’ll become immune to the effects of heat and cold, happiness and sadness, and birth and death. You’ll be happy in spiritual realization. This pleasure is known as Brahmananda or Brahmasukha. Then you will merge into transcendence and be forever blissful.”

Mind you, much of this is correct. Brahman is indeed real. We are all Brahman, a fact very difficult to realize. Those who know Brahman operate in the material mode of nature known as goodness, or sattva-guna. The name implies something good. We wouldn’t want to be bad, would we? Maybe if we’re trying to attract an available female being a “bad boy” would get us somewhere, but in spiritual life, where knowledge is power, it would make sense to try to be good. Indeed, the initial push towards spiritual life probably takes place to get away from bad behavior.

In the mode of passion I see the material nature as a collection of things for my personal enjoyment, which is tied to my temporary body. I still operate under some guidelines, and so I work hard to get the enjoyment that I want. In the mode of ignorance I don’t care about anything except my immediate gratification, even if what I do doesn’t actually benefit me. I sleep the day away, drink myself into oblivion, and steal from people if I have to.

“O sinless one, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode develop knowledge, but they become conditioned by the concept of happiness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 14.6)

In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that while the mode of goodness is better than passion and ignorance, one becomes conditioned by the happiness they receive. Think of it like getting rewards for doing good things. You’re still getting rewards tied to a temporary body, so you haven’t really transcended anything. In the Vedas, the scriptural works that are the origins of that which is commonly referred to as Hinduism, it is said that one in the mode of goodness goes to the heavenly planets after death. They get to enjoy there for a long time, but the enjoyment is similar to what a king experiences. They eat nice food, drink intoxicating beverages, and enjoy nicely with members of the opposite sex.

Yet we see this kind of enjoyment on earth already, and people get sick of it. There has to be more to life. There is a step beyond the Brahman realization in the mode of goodness. One should proceed further, but if their teacher only knows Brahman, they are out of luck. The Vaishnavas are devotees of the personal aspect of the Absolute Truth. The personal is the source of the impersonal. Acknowledgement of the personal’s existence is vital if one wants to tackle the root cause of the descent into the ocean of material suffering. That root cause is envy.

“Really? I was jealous of God? That is so sad. I don’t want to believe it. Why would I be jealous of Him? He’s everything and I’m nothing, so I can’t believe that I ever envied Him.”

While it may be hard to believe, just look at the situation today and assess for yourself whether or not the claim is true. If someone asks you what you’re doing on a Friday night and you tell them that you’re going to a movie or a nightclub, they won’t give you much opposition. They might ask more details about what you’re going to do there. However, if you tell them that you’re going to a religious program, some place where people will gather together to worship the Supreme Lord, the conversation will likely end. Who wants to hear about that? And the latter reaction is not due entirely to cynicism caused by fanaticism or the general negative viewpoint towards organized religion. There is envy that exists, wherein one tries to compete with the Supreme Lord for enjoyment. Think of trying to best your friend in a video game. Expand that out to the largest scale, incorporating the largest number of players, and you get the material world.

God is very kind to us. He will not take us away from the play area if we don’t want release. If our envy remains, He will keep us away from Him. Why would He want to associate with someone who doesn’t love Him? Do we purposefully seek out enemies and combatants? Perhaps a military man does so to practice their skills, but in ordinary dealings we try to be with loved ones, people who have our interests at heart.

To know God’s interests, one must know more about Him. The Vaishnavas seek to educate everyone on what God looks like, what He prefers, what His features are, where He lives, and most importantly, how one can connect with Him right now, today. As soon as there is a sincere desire to make that connection, all past mistakes are eradicated. This is nicely pointed out by the Vaishnava saint named Tulsidas.

“The many past births you spoiled can be rectified right now, today, if you start chanting Shri Rama’s holy name and renounce bad association, says Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 22)

The Vaishnavas in the present age descend from one of four disciplic successions. The word Vaishnava refers to a devotee of Vishnu, who is the Supreme Lord in His beautiful, four-handed form. The Vaishnava sampradayas all worship some form of Vishnu, with one line descending from Brahma worshiping Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Some of the lines worship Rama, who is the deity of choice for Goswami Tulsidas. There is the original Lord and then personal expansions, but they are all the same. We living entities are separated expansions, so we are not the same as God. In addition, the demigods, even up to the most elevated personalities, are also different from God. Therefore the previously mentioned worship of the five deities, known as the panchopasana, is not valid. The Narayana mentioned there is also not the same; He is an impersonal version reserved for the seekers of Brahmasukha.

The real Narayana is four-handed and has a body full of bliss and knowledge. Knowledge cannot belong to a stone. The deity of Narayana worshiped with the goal of merging into Brahman does not have knowledge to give to anyone. Yet the same deity worshiped with love and devotion can directly bring God’s association. This is an example of the duality present in this material world. If we are without God consciousness, everything is maya, or illusion. If we are fully immersed in God consciousness, everything can be used to keep our connection to God.

The two best names for God are Krishna and Rama, and when one worships God, they should also worship His energy. Lord Chaitanya has made the process simple for everyone. He also made worship of God accessible to everyone. Simplicity and accessibility are accounted for in His recommendation for chanting the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,” which is the call to arms for our generation and all ones yet to come. In this chanting, which is part of bhakti-yoga, the foremost occupation for the soul, the personal aspect of the Almighty is revealed, and one soon basks in His association.

In Closing:

If worship of stone you take privilege,

Know that it alone cannot have knowledge.

A personality only has chetana property,

Must know for doing worship properly.

Otherwise impersonal association only to get,

Despite however firm your devotion set.

Vaishnavas give information of God complete,

Chant His names and no longer with Him compete.

“Oh, isn’t that cute? They must have learned that while they were in school. Or perhaps they were taught this by their elders. Their hearing is good, so they must have picked it up while listening to adults speaking about the meaning of life. This precocious child will likely grow up to be a scholar, someone very wise. His parents must be so proud of him.”

Mind you, the people observing the child who surprisingly speaks wisely won’t give much attention to his message. The child can speak the harshest language, condemning a society for ignorantly pursuing material enjoyment that has yet to provide them any happiness, but the elders won’t really listen. They won’t get angry with the child, either, as the child doesn’t know any better, right? When the same instruction is given by an adult, however, others will be offended. “How dare they speak to us that way? Who are they anyway? They should learn to be nicer. We are not all horrible people who need to be scolded in this way.” The truly wise man, who is known as a sadhu, delivers an uncompromising message in a swift way. They are honest; they will not lie to someone else’s detriment. We are indebted to them for this candidness.

Would a child ever offer the same instruction as a sadhu?

Many eons ago this is precisely what occurred. A five-year old boy, the son of a powerful king, would lecture to his classmates during recess. He wouldn’t repeat what was just heard in class from the teachers. That information was limited to ruling over a kingdom. The boys learned the four techniques of diplomacy, namely pacification, gift-giving, dividing and conquering, and using force. They learned what it takes to keep subjects happy and how to maintain your control as a leader.

The young Prahlada was taught something more valuable before he ever entered school. While he was still in the womb, his mother received instruction from Narada Muni, a wise man of the caliber mentioned previously. Narada did not sugarcoat his message. He has never done that in fact. Since time immemorial he has travelled the worlds to give the message of truth and light. That message can be summarized as follows: the meaning of life is to be devoted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is full of a form that is knowledgeable, eternal and blissful. Any other use of the material body, whether in a human form or not, is a waste of time.

Prahlada remembered these divine instructions upon taking birth, and so when he heard materialism taught to him in school, he didn’t assign it much value. During recess he would teach his friends about the real meaning of life. It is extraordinary for this kind of information to come from the mouth of a child. The Christmas Holiday is especially important to children today, and there is a reason for this. The children get gifts during Christmas. So many movies are made to this effect, wherein Christmas for a specific child is saved when they are able to get a material gift that they particularly desired. A child has a limited vision, so they can’t foresee that they will get sick of their gifts very quickly. They don’t realize that in adulthood no material reward can provide everlasting happiness.

What to speak of children, even adults have a difficult time realizing this fact. Therefore adults take to gambling and intoxication, ways of forgetting the influence of time. Forgetfulness does nothing to change the reality, however. Only the truth will set you free, and as a young child Prahlada spoke the truth. The father, the king of the land, had a problem with Prahlada. Who would ever purposefully harm a child anyway? What can they do to implement their principles? They are powerless; they are dependent upon others for protection.

Prahlada’s honesty, especially when he was questioned about what he learned in school and what he thought was the most important thing in life, drove his father crazy. Unable to convince the boy otherwise, Hiranyakashipu, the father, tried to kill Prahlada in so many different ways. All the attempts failed. Finally, the person of whom Prahlada spoke arrived on the scene in a ferocious and strange form and killed Hiranyakashipu. The boy never wanted material rewards; just the ability to keep loving God, which included speaking of Him to others. The Supreme Lord granted the boy’s wish. This gift would be valuable not only to Prahlada but to countless future generations as well.

Indeed, the sadhus of modern times take the baton passed on by sadhus of the past like Prahlada. Sadhus are typically adults, though, so the general population may not take so kindly to their critical words. What are some examples of teachings that don’t sit well with others? If you think about it, since the sadhu is honest, pretty much all of their teachings will fly in the face of what is generally taught. The beginning truth is that the living entity in the material world is not their body. All of us are spirit on the inside, and so our body is not that important. It is like a temporary covering. Focusing on what to eat, where to travel, and what to wear is not very wise. Eating, sleeping, and dressing properly are important to remain functional, but they are not the all in all. I can eat the best food in the world and still not find happiness. Food is just food; it is only there to give me strength to maintain my life. Whether I eat broccoli or pizza shouldn’t matter at the end of the day.

The sadhu says that all living entities, not just me, are spirit souls, part of the impersonal force known as Brahman. I am Brahman and so are you. Your dog is Brahman and so is the cow. Ah, so this is where things get interesting. If the cow is Brahman, they are equal to the human beings in quality. Therefore it is not right to kill them en masse for food. The vegetables are also Brahman, and it is also true that all living entities survive off of other living entities. Nevertheless, killing a vegetable and killing a cow are not the same; otherwise meat-eaters would have no problem killing human beings for food. There is always discrimination. The vegetables are provided for the wiser human beings, who refrain from unnecessary violence. The vegetables, grains and milk are also food in the mode of goodness, which is what increases knowledge.

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water, I will accept it.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.26)

Knowledge in the mode of goodness does not relate to how to solve a mathematical equation or translate a language. Real knowledge is the ability to see the essential quality of all life forms and realize the changing of bodies that continues even into the afterlife through what is known as reincarnation. Real knowledge is what sadhus like Prahlada Maharaja speak of, and so it is very difficult for us to accept at the outset. Just hearing such knowledge offends us, for if we are not in the mode of goodness we will automatically not be as wise as those who are.

The uncompromising message of a sadhu, whose only excuse is honesty, is delivered not to ruffle feathers or to gain notoriety. If I care about someone I will instruct them. With a stranger I might not be so keen on providing them instruction, for I don’t know them very well. Since I don’t know them, I naturally don’t care for them as much as I do for my family members. Though it is only natural to feel this way, when in knowledge one realizes that all living entities are tied together through their link to the spiritual world. God is the Supreme Father, and all creatures are His children. We are all brothers and sisters. This extends also to the animals, who can be considered the younger siblings.

“Certainly all these words were spoken by you due to your kind-heartedness and affection for Me. I am very pleased with you, O Sita, for indeed one does not offer instructions and advice to another without caring for them.” (Lord Rama speaking to Sita Devi, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 10.20)

Lord Rama, an incarnation of the Supreme Lord, once remarked to His wife Sita that only someone who really has affection for someone else will offer them counsel. If our child does poorly in school, we will scold them and emphatically remind them why it’s important to do better. So many other children do poorly in school, but we’re not going around and telling them that they should improve. The sadhu is like the teacher of the classroom, and so they are interested in the welfare of all the students. Whether the students like them or not, the sadhu will give it to them straight, and for this they are to be commended.

In the modern age, the true sadhu is not one who simply accepts the garb of a mendicant and begs from door to door for food. The genuine sadhu is a devotee of the Supreme Lord, and so they will use whatever means are available to get the right message out. As religiousness has declined greatly, to the point that the mere mention of God invites scowls and frowns, the simplest and most effective method for reawakening the dormant God consciousness within all of us is the chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.” The honest devotee of the Lord practices this chanting themselves and teaches us how to make our chanting effective. Just like Prahlada Maharaja, they enthusiastically speak to us as their friend, wishing only the best for us.

In Closing:

Try to tell them other message is no use,

For the sadhu honesty their only excuse.

They will give it to us straight,

So that we’ll find enlightened state.

Like Prahlada who to his classmates spoke,

Despite ire of teachers and father provoked.

Due to their message delivery candid,

We can attain wisdom so splendid.

As their friend all others sadhus treat,

Their association thus never can be beat.

“He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anxiety, who is steady in happiness and distress, is very dear to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 12.15)

When we say that someone is following their conscience, it is implied that they are using a vision that is stronger, one that sees further out. If we see that it is dark outside and think that it will never be light out again we’re not very wise. Someone with an expanded vision, one which sees the bigger picture, knows that the sun will rise again and that the darkness will eventually dissipate. The logical conclusion from this is that activities that will expand our overall vision will benefit us, and conversely anything that will keep our vision limited to the immediate vicinity, both in terms of space and time, will slowly wither away our conscience.

What do we mean by immediate vicinity?

Think of a child who follows their father on a trip to the ATM. The father steps up to the automated teller machine, takes out his card, and then places it inside of one of the slots. He next enters a series of numbers and voila, cash comes out of the machine. The child may think that this is a magical machine that gives money. “Get me some money too, dad. I want twenty dollars to go play video games. I need money to buy that new toy. What’s the big deal? Just go to the machine and take some more money out.”

This thinking comes from the visual of cause and effect within the immediate vicinity. The child sees a simple action of placing a card into a machine and then watches the result of dispensed cash. Naturally, they think this will work for anyone, interminably. The father has the expanded vision; he knows that the machine only dispenses money that was previously deposited into an account. That account also only belongs to the father. He can’t legally take money out of someone else’s account. Though he’s walking up to a machine and showing a card, it is merely another way of going up to a physical pile of cash and taking some of the cash off of it. If the child had seen that act instead, their viewpoint would be totally different.

As our consciousness develops, our conscience does as well, which means that our vision expands. When we see heinous crimes committed in society, deeds which are seemingly unthinkable for a human being to do, it is to be understood that the conscience is lacking. You can pass all the laws you want, but if someone doesn’t think beyond the immediate term, they will not hesitate to break moral codes. The teeth of legislation is in the resulting punishment for violating it. If my conscience is so blurred that I can’t see past the next five seconds, how is a threat of some future punishment going to stop me?

The question thus remains: how do we develop consciousness? Moreover, how do we prevent the conscience from withering away? Actually, we can use these questions to assess whether or not any recommended system of life is truly beneficial. If we tell someone to play sports or work hard for some personal gain, we should determine what the effect on the conscience is. It is not guaranteed that one will learn to play by the rules in such competition. The goal is to win, and if I can cheat a little bit to gain the coveted victory, what is the harm?

Knowledge is our true savior. The expanded vision is tied directly to knowledge, which gives us foresight, which is stronger than the physical sight provided by the eyes. As an example, with knowledge of the spiritual science, I know not to cause undue harm to any other creature. The obvious reason is that I will have to suffer the same harm in the future. This is only fair after all. In addition, the other creatures are just like me. They are spirit at the core, part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit. If they are not doing anything wrong, why should I bother them? There is plenty of food around for me to eat, so why should I rely on violence to satisfy my tongue and stomach?

With knowledge of the origin of the creation, I know that all property is on loan from the Creator. Each person is given their temporary allotment, and so I have no need to steal anything from anyone else. I also have no need to take credit when I don’t deserve it. If someone else does something good, shouldn’t they be praised? If I falsely take the credit, am I not a fraud? This attention may help me today, but if in the future I’m called to do the work I was praised for, I won’t be able to, which will be to my detriment.

“This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.2)

The highest knowledge doesn’t arrive through an accumulation of sense perceptions. It must be accepted from the authority that is the Vedas. The glorious work known as the Bhagavad-gita perfectly summarizes Vedic philosophy. It has the aforementioned knowledge pertaining to the origin of matter and spirit and the laws relating to the transmigration of the soul, or what is more commonly known as reincarnation. The action and reaction affecting the material bodies is known as karma. But more importantly, works like the Bhagavad-gita describe God, who is related to the individual. The individual is the self and God is the Superself. Realization of God automatically means realization of the self.

Self-realization offers the most expanded vision. The conscience of a self-realized person keeps them away from activities that will cause harm. Such a person refrains from meat eating, gambling, intoxication and illicit sex, which are known as the four pillars of sinful life. These four activities work best at killing the conscience, which in turn leads to so many tragedies in society that are otherwise avoidable.

Rather than impose restraint on the individual through requiring conscious avoidance of these activities, if one simply tries to understand God by hearing from the Bhagavad-gita and chanting the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,” then the proper consciousness, known as Krishna consciousness, will quickly develop. A truly God conscious person follows the best conscience, which keeps them attune to their connection to the Supreme Lord, which in turn steers them clear of unwanted behavior.

In Closing:

His father at ATM child sees,

Intrigued by cash that it frees.

“Dad, why not more money take?

I can buy toys, do it for my sake.”

Father sees with vision more expanded,

Knows that previously cash in account landed.

In life the conscience is our way to see,

Past the immediate, what the future will be.

With superior knowledge can see out the longest,

From Bhagavad-gita develop conscience the strongest.

“Everyone under the spell of the mode of ignorance becomes mad, and a madman cannot understand what is what. Instead of making advancement, one becomes degraded.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 14.8 Purport)

“I can’t believe all that is happening in our society today. It seems that every week a new mass murderer goes on a rampage, killing the innocent. To make matters worse, before we can find out what his motives are, before we can question him so that we can prevent others from doing the same thing in the future, he kills himself as well. This is just terrible. We obviously need more laws on the books. We need stronger restrictions on purchasing weapons and we also need to increase the punishment associated with such crimes. Otherwise nothing will change.”

It is the natural reaction to look for increased legislation to prevent tragedies which just occurred. But if one is more honest in their assessment, they’ll realize that it is the conscience of the individual which is more of a factor when it comes to preventing violent outbursts. We can make all the laws that we want, but ultimately it is someone’s own sense of decency which prevents them from doing something harmful to someone else. Fortunately, in the ultimate discipline to guide all the decision-making in life, the conscience is protected, nurtured, and strengthened rather than slowly killed.

What do we mean by this?

First, let’s look at an example of where the conscience helps us to avoid doing something bad. Someone has dropped some money on the ground. They were just walking in front of us, so we saw the cash fall out of their pocket. When we are sober, when we have our wits about us, we know that the money doesn’t belong to us. After all, we just saw it fall from another person’s pocket. This means that just a few seconds before, the money was in their possession.

The right thing to do, which we don’t need explained to us, is to return the money to the owner. Just pick up the cash, go up to them and say, “Excuse me, you dropped this.” Our conscience speaks to us when we do something like this, but in any other course of action, we ignore the conscience. If we pick up the money and use it to purchase a gift for someone else, any gratitude we receive in return is tainted. “Oh, thank you so much. You are such a sweetheart. You bought me this gift for no reason at all. You are so thoughtful. If there were only more kind people like you in this world, we wouldn’t have as many problems as we do.”

If our conscience were still active, these words of praise would stab at us like a knife. “I don’t deserve any of this. I used someone else’s money to buy those gifts, so I’m not worthy of any praise. In fact, I should be called out for my cowardly act. I hate myself for doing this.” As they say, “a guilty conscience needs no accuser,” in this case if my conscience were active I’d eventually fess up and try to make things right. I would somehow get the money back to the person who lost it. No laws would have to be in play here. No legislation or guidance from a higher authority is required. Just my own conscience and its influence would do the trick.

The same conscience guides us in so many other areas, but what if we kill the conscience? Is this even possible? Think of intoxication. Think of drinking so much alcohol that you can’t think straight anymore. With your beer muscles, you think that you can take on that bully in the bar or smash that can of beer on your forehead. Having lost your inhibitions, you say things to people that you normally wouldn’t. You also do things that you normally wouldn’t, and your conscience is muzzled in the process. The internal voice isn’t as loud, so you don’t feel as much guilt.

“O son of Bharata, the mode of ignorance causes the delusion of all living entities. The result of this mode is madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 14.8)

Intoxication isn’t the only thing that will kill the conscience. Repeated behavior in what is known as the mode of ignorance will relieve you of the burden of a guilty conscience. Murders and the like can only happen when one is fully under the sway of the mode of ignorance. In the past nefarious characters have killed and eaten innocent emissaries, stolen wives of married men, and even harassed innocent sages in the peaceful forests. We know that animals in the jungle often behave in this way, but the civilized human being is supposed to be wiser and more compassionate. There is supposed to be a developed consciousness, which is the source of the conscience.

In bhakti-yoga, a principal aim is to purify consciousness. Through a direct approach that keeps one actively engaged in loving activities throughout the day, not only are harmful activities in ignorance avoided, but one also develops an affection for all creatures, including the animals. The quintessential act of bhakti-yoga is the glorification of the Supreme Lord, and the easiest way to practice this is to chant the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

Bhakti-yoga is considered above even the mode of goodness. Ignorance is the behavior we commonly refer to as stupid, passion is that which leads to a temporary result like a victory in sports or income from working, and goodness is that which brings real knowledge. In goodness I know that all creatures are spirit souls, parts and parcel of the non-differentiated energy known as Brahman. They have different external appearances due to the influence of the material nature, but constitutionally they are all equal. Activities in goodness involve reading the scriptures, teaching scriptural wisdom to others, performing religious sacrifices, teaching others how to perform sacrifices, and accepting charity to keep the activities going without a hitch.

In the mode of goodness one’s conscience is pure. You can think of it like having a brain that figures out right and wrong in all situations. This sharp conscience then guides one along the proper path. You won’t have to worry about being guilty over something because you instinctively know what to do and what not to do. Indeed, the law codes found in the Vedas are there more to strengthen the consciousness, which includes the conscience, than to prevent “bad” things from happening. In a world where God is easily forgotten and people have the freedom to do whatever they choose, good and bad will occur all the time. The laws of government won’t prevent much, as someone can just go back to doing bad things after serving out their punishment. Not until their conscience is active will they know not to harm others.

“So are you basically saying that the way to solve society’s problems is to worship God more? Isn’t that too simple a solution? Don’t people kill in the name of God also?”

Bhakti-yoga is universally applicable. It is more than just a system of worship geared towards a generic God. The Supreme Lord is identified by His features, which are inexhaustible and endless. You can spend your whole life glorifying God and still not reach the end of His glories. This is a good thing, as you’ll get to continue in future lifetimes, bringing you good work to complete going forward. Since God is all-attractive, He is known as Krishna. And one who worships such a God properly has all good qualities. If someone claims to worship but then still commits heinous acts of violence, it is to be known that their worship is not legitimate; it is conducted under the modes of material nature, which means that it can’t qualify as pure bhakti. Real devotional service is without motivation and without interruption; it is pure love. And with that love the conscience stays alive and strong, preventing us from doing that which is most harmful.

In Closing:

After result of heinous crime they saw,

Pushed on for tougher preventative law.

But how legislation will the criminals scare,

When for decency they have no care?

Conscience is the real preventative force,

One lacking it takes a much different course.

Through bhakti-yoga the conscience make stronger,

Worry over impious behavior you won’t any longer.

“God does not interfere with the little independence of the living entity. In Bhagavad-gita, the Lord has explained in all respects how one can elevate his living condition.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 18.63 Purport)

“I hate it when people are mean to me. Why can’t everyone be nice? I try to be nice to others. I bear no malice towards anyone. I don’t hold grudges. In fact, after a few days, I forget about most things. Whether something good happened or something bad, I move on fairly quickly. Why can’t others do the same? Also, why does everyone have to drive so poorly? They don’t signal when changing lanes, don’t slow down when they’re behind me, and don’t maintain their speed when they see flashing lights on the other side of the road. It would also be nice if others didn’t chew with their mouths open. I hate that! That sound makes me cringe. It would be nice if everyone behaved the way I wanted them to.”

Naturally, the reaction to frustration is the desire to get others to behave the way that you wish. Why would you want to live in danger or discomfort? We get angry at our children precisely to get them to alter their behavior. The same naughtiness in other young children puts a smile on our face, but when we see our child we think, “Why can’t you do things right?” We also worry that they won’t learn proper values if they continue along this path.

But what if you could control everyone’s behavior? Not just the odd person who wronged you or the child who is under your care, what if you could dictate how every single person in this world acts? This means that people would be nice to you, they would give you what you want, whenever you want, and you’d never be frustrated in your efforts.

While it may be nice to ponder this idea, the reality is that the world full of robots would be terribly frightening. You wouldn’t have anyone real to go to. If you have a problem with something personal, if you wanted to share your experiences from the day, or if you just wanted someone to be by your side, the robot, the person trained to act only according to your wishes voiced at a specific time, isn’t going to provide the proper companionship. If such a thing were possible then you’d be happy just going up to a tree and talking to it.

The human being’s association is enjoyable precisely because there is some independence. Actually, that independence is tied to life. That which has the ability to act freely to some degree or another, sometimes relying on intelligence at the local level, is a life force. The lower species are considered inferior because their freedom is severely limited. The same life force is there, but the ability to act is hindered either by the lack of bodily features or the stunted growth in intelligence. The hog will jump around in stool and the tree can’t move or communicate.

The human being also has independence, and the real potential within an existence can be exhibited by them. We enjoy the company of our children because they don’t have the same inhibitions that we have. They aren’t as shy, and they haven’t lost their innocence. We don’t behave like them because we care what others think about us a lot more. The child likes to have fun in a free spirit, and it is nice for the adults to see this.

The paramour is also an independent person who voluntarily chooses to be with us. They have made the choice that we are important to them. We have made the same choice regarding their association. Since they are the same as us constitutionally, they feel the same happiness knowing that someone else loves them. If either party were forced into the relationship, brought in against their will, the feelings wouldn’t be the same.

This review helps to explain the relationship we have with God and why He would ever allow us to separate from Him. According to the Vedas, all life forms are originally with God. They are spirit souls at the core, and the origin of spirit is God, who is also known as the Supreme Spirit. One of the properties of spirit is independence, though in the expansions that are the individual spirit souls the ability to act on independence is limited. In simpler terms, the Supreme Lord, who is the most independent, makes concessions to allow for the individual spiritual fragments to act on their independence, depending on which choice they make.

This brings us to residence in the material world, the place where we witness such horrible things as death, old age and disease. These come at unexpected times too and sometimes for the people who seem to least deserve it. This is all bewildering to someone who doesn’t see with the spiritual vision. If one thinks that life begins at birth and ends at death, they will be greatly troubled by what they see in this world. Through the eyes of shastra, or scripture, however, one can see that life has its origin in life and that the origin of all life is God.

As soon as any fragment of spirit desires to separate from God, they are allowed to do so. They fall to the material world, where the Lord’s presence is hidden. This is on purpose, as the initial desire was to separate. As soon as the desire changes, as soon as it flips back in the other direction, the same Creator manipulates events in such a way that the masked presence suddenly becomes clearer. He keeps the secrets about Him and how to return to His land safely within the Vedas and other authentic spiritual traditions emanating from them. Those who know these secrets and act upon them are thus the ones who can reveal them to us.

The common complaint lodged against the Lord, who in His original form is known as Krishna because He is all-attractive, is that it was wrong for Him to allow anyone to descend to the temporary and miserable material world. “If He really loved us, He wouldn’t let us go somewhere that isn’t good for us.” But if you think about it, His consent makes sense. If we would hate living in a world full of robots who do whatever we want, all the time, why wouldn’t God dislike the same thing? And on the flip side, if we feel pleasure when someone voluntarily accepts our companionship, why wouldn’t Krishna feel the same way?

Indeed, the most exalted servants are those who voluntarily interact with Krishna in a mood of love. In the spiritual world’s topmost planet there is every variety we see in our present land, except the influence of the nature is different. The effects of time are nonexistent, and so one can stay there forever if they like. Clever people like Vrinda Devi and Paurnamasi scheme every day on how they can arrange events so that Krishna and His friends will have the most fun. And thus sometimes through unexpected interactions, where it looks like nothing is controlled by anyone, the relevant parties meet and feel much joy.

The robot idea also doesn’t hold because what we want is not always what is best for us. Sometimes not getting what we want turns out to change our life for the better. It may seem that following real religion, which is known as bhakti-yoga, is a waste of time, but if we offer a little sincerity at first, even begrudgingly, then we can slowly realize that we are indeed full of life and its accompanying potential for action. And we can use that potential for serving God, which will give us the most pleasure at the same time.

In Closing:

To make all obey me if I had the choice,

Others to do as a say, speak with one voice.

World full of robots seems appealing,

But pleasure of association won’t be feeling.

Independence is what friendship makes,

Prefer one who choice to associate takes.

The Supreme Lord similar the Vedas say,

Of our tiny independence never He’ll get in the way.

When we choose Him to have as our friend,

All our troubles He promises to mend.

Finally a return trip to His land we’ll get,

In choosing eternal ecstasy never a regret.

“The process of devotional service-beginning with chanting and hearing-is called sadhana-bhakti. This includes the regulative principles that are intended to awaken one to devotional service.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 19.117 Purport)

“I certainly love Krishna consciousness, but I’m worried that I’m not progressing. When I chant the holy names, my mind keeps drifting elsewhere. I have trouble holding on to the sound within my mind. If I tell myself to focus while chanting, again that reminder is preventing me from hearing, which is what I’m told is most beneficial for me.

“One who is not disturbed in spite of the threefold miseries, who is not elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.56)

“Also, throughout the day sometimes I get angry. In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna says that one who is neither attached to work nor repulsed by it is situated in knowledge. Someone who is equally disposed in mind, who doesn’t get too high or too low, is dear to Him. And since Krishna is all-attractive, being dear to Him is the best gift one could ask for.

“If you are dear to Him, He will always be with you. And what does that mean exactly? Krishna will be with you when you are really lonely. After you read that novel that leaves you feeling alone and sad that the association of the characters is gone until you read the same book again, Krishna will be there. When you have left the safe confines of your home to travel abroad for work or pleasure, Krishna will be there. When you are in distress and don’t know what the immediate future will bring, Krishna will be there.

“Even while falling asleep, Krishna will be there for you if you are dear to Him. If He likes you, He will take residence in your consciousness. One can think of His beautiful smile, which enchants even Cupid; hence one of Krishna’s names is Madana-mohana. One can think of the flute held in His hands, which calls to attention the cows of Vrindavana when they have gone astray. The same flute invites the sweet damsels of Vrajabhumi to rendezvous in the forest in the middle of the night to enjoy singing and dancing with Krishna. That flute makes a sound that is non-different from Krishna.

“The holy names, which are of principal focus in bhakti-yoga, are meant to bring Krishna’s association. Chanting the holy names with utmost humility, keeping oneself more tolerant than the tree, is supposed to keep one dear to Krishna. But I’m having trouble staying humble. I’m having trouble remaining tolerant when others criticize me. I especially don’t like hearing anything bad about my friends or family. If I were really Krishna conscious, none of these things would affect me, because Krishna would be with me and take away my impurities. What am I to do? I can’t stop thinking about how my progress isn’t what it should be.

“I do notice some interesting behavior in others who excel in their particular fields. The batter in a baseball game seems to do the exact same thing every time they come up to bat. They dig a small area next to the plate with one foot. They open up and close the straps on their batting gloves. They wiggle the bat a certain number of times, and then they finally get into their stance when the pitch arrives. They follow the exact same routine before every pitch.

“I’ve heard that this is done to enhance performance. If you follow routines like that, you’re less likely to think of the pressure of the moment. The time spent in practice sharpens your skills. Yet the tools are just tools; they don’t mean anything unless an intelligent force properly employs them. On the biggest stage, even sometimes the best players, who have the sharpest tools to use, don’t succeed. This is all due to the mind, and so the routine helps to control the mind, eliminating negative thoughts.

“In my bhakti-yoga practice, maybe I will employ the same technique. I should make my chanting of the holy names, ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,’ a routine that I try to complete at the same time every day. Maybe I can maintain the same setting too. This way I won’t be as distracted with other things. And then the rest of the day I can do other things relating to bhakti. I can read a book by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. I can ponder life’s most difficult questions and think of how to answer them by relying on shastra, which is the ultimate authority. God is one after all. I wouldn’t follow this discipline if I thought it to be mere sentiment. The scientific basis for Krishna consciousness makes it valid to me. Reincarnation, the difference between matter and spirit, the need for universal brotherhood, the love that everyone wants to offer, and the unimaginable level of affection that God holds for His sons and daughters all make sense to me.

“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.5)

“I should gauge my progress, checking to see whether my service to the guru is bearing fruit, whether I’m eating less instead of more, and whether I’m becoming more enthusiastic in my practice. But more importantly, regardless of the external conditions, I will continue on, because I know that if I give up I will be disconnected from Krishna in consciousness, which takes away the benefit of being dear to Him. If I keep up the routine, trying to block out even the distraction of trying to be perfect, perhaps only then will I come close to achieving perfection, which in my case will be thinking of Krishna at the time of death.”

In Closing:

Batter steps up to the plate,

Hopes to keep mind in steady state.

Odd behavior from them seen,

Each has intricate pre-pitch routine.

Not to think too much is what they try,

Rather on their sharpened skills to rely.

In bhakti gauging progress certainly good,

From study assessment of effort understood.

But chanting and hearing should stop in no way.

Concentrated or not, with Krishna I must stay.

“Like an arrow Banasura and Ravana came to the bow and then went. Who on this earth is as heroic as them?” (Janaki Mangala, 92)

bānu bānu jimi gayau gavahiṃ dasakandharū |
ko avanī tala ina sama bīra dhurandharū ||

It’s easy to believe something if we’ve seen it happen before. Also, if what is to be seen is a derivative of other things in nature that we have witnessed, then we can also believe it. Doubt settles in when we can’t conceive of something, when something is purported to happen that is beyond our range of perception. Yet just because we are limited in this way doesn’t mean that the thing in question is impossible. This truth especially holds true with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose every personal feature is inconceivable. During a famous incident witnessed by King Janaka, the Lord showed that His strength is beyond understanding.

Perhaps you’ve seen the strong man competitions that air late at night on the cable television sports networks. These aren’t your typical games. Rather than compete in a sport with a ball and a time clock, these competitors participate in strange events that uniquely challenge their strength. In one event they may have to lift a very large sack and carry it across a field. In another event they may have to pull an automobile using only their arms. In another event they may have to pick up a large weight and hold it above their head for a certain number of seconds.

If we didn’t see these competitors successfully complete these challenges, we maybe wouldn’t believe that it was possible. What’s more, once we do see their abilities, we use them as a benchmark. If the strongest man in these competitions can pull a large truck for one hundred yards, to say that a single man could pull a truck one thousand yards would seem ridiculous. “No way any human being could do that. The world’s strongest man can only pull the car for one hundred yards, and such a person is a freak of nature. A thousand yards increases the difficulty by a factor of ten, so there’s no way such a thing is possible.”

A long time ago, the strongest man competition related to a bow. During this time, the Treta Yuga, military combat took place using primarily bows and arrows. If the fighters were removed from their chariot, they would fight with clubs and daggers, and in the absence of any physical weapons they would fight by hand. As fighting with bows and arrows was commonplace, it wasn’t all that difficult to lift up a bow and draw its string back with an arrow.

Ah, but this bow in King Janaka’s court was not ordinary. It took hundreds of men just to move into the arena. It originally belonged to Lord Shiva, a principal deity of the Vedic tradition. He is known as the destroyer. With a discharge of a large fiery weapon he destroys the entire creation when the time calls for it. That weapon is akin to the sun becoming ten times hotter. It is no wonder then that his weapon effects the destruction of the creation.

Though Lord Shiva is the destroyer and also a worshipable deity for those in the material mode of ignorance, as a person he is fully devoted to the Supreme Lord, Vishnu. Vishnu is also Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vishnu is also Rama, an incarnation of the Supreme Lord who roamed the earth during the Treta Yuga. Shiva’s bow was destined to be lifted by Lord Rama. The winner would get the hand of Janaka’s daughter Sita in marriage.

In the above referenced verse from the Janaki Mangala, King Janaka expresses his doubt over Rama’s ability to lift the bow. Vishvamitra Muni led the two brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, bow warriors themselves, to the contest area. After many princes had tried and failed to lift the bow, Vishvamitra asked that Rama be allowed to give it a try.

To Janaka, the ceiling of strength was seen in two powerful fighters of the time: Banasura and Ravana. Interestingly enough, both were devotees of Lord Shiva. Banasura had a thousand arms and Ravana ten heads. They were extremely powerful due to benedictions offered by Shiva. Mahadeva is only interested in devotion to Vishnu, so he quickly gives his devotees whatever they want. This way they will leave him alone. Material benedictions are limited anyway; they are not absolute in their ability to deliver desired outcomes.

Janaka saw that Banasura and Ravana came towards the bow, tried to lift it, and then went away in a flash. Their arrival and subsequent defeat was as swift as the flight of an arrow. To Janaka, there was no one on earth as heroic as those two. Ravana was feared throughout the world, and Banasura had Lord Shiva’s favor. Many years later, Banasura would fight directly with the same Rama during His time on earth as Krishna. In that fight, which is described in the Shrimad Bhagavatam, Lord Shiva would help Banasura, but to no avail. Krishna would counteract both of them, and in the end it was Shiva’s kind plea towards Krishna that saved Banasura’s life. Krishna spared the demon by deciding only to reduce his number of arms from one thousand to four.

“My dear Lord Shiva, I accept your statements, and I also accept your desire for Banasura. I know that this Banasura is the son of Bali Maharaja, and as such I cannot kill him, for that is My promise. I gave a benediction to King Prahlada that the demons who would appear in his family would never be killed by Me. Therefore, without killing this Banasura, I have simply cut off his arms to deprive him of his false prestige.” (Lord Krishna, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 2, Ch 8)

That incident gave further evidence that nothing can happen without the Supreme Lord’s sanction. Even if we see tremendous ability, we should know that it is only a partial indication of the supreme strength that exists in full in God. Material affairs are of no concern to Him, as dualities pervade a life devoid of devotion to God. If there is duality, there is no universally beneficial condition. What we think to be opulence today can turn out to be a curse tomorrow, and vice versa.

On that famed day in Janakpur, Vishvamitra was right in his insistence, and Janaka and the rest of the world would see that for God lifting an extremely heavy bow is a piece of cake. He can lift thousands of bows if He needs to. Since this contest dealt with reuniting with the goddess of fortune, Sita Devi, Rama kindly showed off His supreme strength.

As the sanction of the Supreme Lord is required to receive any benediction, the wise choice would be to follow activities that spark His interest. In devotional service, bhakti-yoga, the Supreme Lord takes a direct interest, and because of this He can make something as simple as the chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,” deliver even the poorest and weakest person in the world. If there is sincerity and full reliance on the Supreme Lord, His strong helping hand will be too much for the material energy to overcome.

In Closing:

Limit of strength in that which we can see,

Stronger than the visibly strong there cannot be.

Banasura thousand arms and Ravana ten heads got,

Came and left bow as failures, like a swift arrow shot.

Host King Janaka saw both of them defeated,

How then strength in Rama could be seated?

God’s sanction required for having true strength,

In bhakti to save the devotee He’ll go to any length.