It is because you
are given a great opportunity in the form of this human body to get out from
the cycle of birth and death. [Forms like animals, birds etc., are also
engaged in eating, sleeping, defending and mating just like human beings, but
this form of human body is unique because it has the fully developed form of
consciousness with the help of which the jivatma (conditioned soul) can gain freedom from Maya (material world) through bhajan
(Chanting, penances, austerity etc.)]
When Yamraj (the
demigod of death) will come to take you out of your material body, you might
pray to God, “O Lord, I always knew about the transience of this human birth
and that one must do bhajan to overcome Maya, but what can I do? I was so
entangled in various worldly matters, obligations, desires, etc that I was not
able to do bhajan in parallel, despite being aware of its importance”.
God will just
give you a big zero and ask Yamraj to take you away. If you ask, “Lord, why do
you give me zero? I was captivated and entangled by Your Maya only. What
is my fault?” Lord will say, “See, dear, whoever got out from this cycle of
birth and death, and achieved My Bhakti, had to deal with this same Maya. There
was no difference in Maya for them. One who is lazy to endeavour to free
himself from Maya remains stuck in samsaar.”
In fact, Maya
chases the sadhak aspiring to get rid of her. She comes to the sadhak in different
forms:
Ek milave Ram se ek narak le jaye”
(Kabir Dasji's Dohe)
Meaning: Maya has
different forms. One form of Maya causes creation/birth, while another form of
Maya causes destruction/death. One form of Maya (Yogmaya) helps sadhak to meet
God, while another form of Maya (Mahamaya) drags the sadhak to hell.
In Bengal, we can see different scenarios of suffering of fish which get caught in the net of the fishermen. It could also be correlated with the condition of jivatmas for better understanding. When fishermen catch fish in big nets, one can see various behaviours of the fish as discussed below:
- Some fish just lay there as if they are dead;
- Some fish keep flicking their tails;
- Some fish jump up and down in the same place within the net;
- Some fish jump quite high as if they are about to get out of the net, but fall back into the same place;
- Some fish jumps so high that they are able to get out from the net and return to water;
However, there
are also Some fish who don’t get caught in the net at all.
Similarly, the jivatamas also behaves like fish as explained below:
1. Some jivatmas are so captivated by Maya that they are totally ignorant of spirituality and don’t know as how important it is for them to do bhajan. Their spiritual consciousness is dead just like those fish which just lay in the net as if they are dead.2. Some jivatmas listen to satsang and think, “Yes, one must do bhajan, it is very important. One must free himself from samsaar.” But then they get entangled in worldly matters, take pleasure in eating, sleeping, pleasing their family members and are complacent with their condition just like those fish which keep flicking their tails.
3. Some jivatmas go to various sacred places like Braj, Kashi, Kedarnath, etc to fuel their spiritual awakening, but when they come back home, they get entangled in Maya again. They try to progress in bhajan. But after a few days, they fall back to the same materialistic condition as before just like those fish who jump up and down in the same place within the net.
4. Some jivatmas get really serious about bhajan, they leave home, family, everything for the sake of bhajan and become a renunciate. But later, they also get entangled in those same pleasures in the form of wealth, ashram and disciples etc., and fall back in their spiritual progress just like those fish who jumps quite high as if they are about to get out of the net, but fall back to the same place.
5. Some jivatmas are able to devote their mind completely to the lotus feet of Radha Krishna and free themselves from the cycle of birth and death just like those fish which jump so high that they were able to got out from the net and comes back into the water.
And above all,
there are some rare enlightened souls who have come to this Earth only for
showering their mercy on suffering jivatmas, but never get entangled in Maya
just like those fish who don’t get caught in the net at all.
“Daivi
hyesha guna-mayi
mama maya duratyaya,
mam eva ye prapadyante
mayam etam taranti te”
Meaning: My divine energy Maya, consisting of the three modes of nature,
is very difficult to overcome. But those who surrender unto me cross over it
easily.
This Maya is a part of God's transcendental power and it is
impossible for a jivatma to overcome her influence. But, by surrendering our
ego, thoughts, desires, everything to Radha Krishna's lotus feet, one can got out from the clutches of Maya.
The jivatma has many materialistic Samskaras
(impressions of various actions performed in innumerable previous lives) that
become obstacles in the path of Bhakti. A person addicted to wine might give up
drinking wine but whenever he is offered wine, his urge to taste it re-emerges.
Even after 20 years of not drinking wine, if his friends offer him wine, deep
in his mind he might reawaken the urge to drink wine. This is Samskar.
Krishna does not see whether the sadhak has materialistic
Samskaras or not. He does not care if the sadhak has many faults born from
ignorance. He only looks for the yearning to attain the lotus feet of Krishna
in the heart of sadhak. If the sadhak has this kind of yearning, then Krishna purifies
his heart by his own mercy.
If you nicely wash the box of hing (asafoetida) with soap
and warm water, you will still get the smell of hing in the box. There is no
hing and the box is cleaned properly, how come the smell persists? This is the
nature of hing (its smell gets infused in the box). Similarly, the sadhak
does not desire worldly pleasures anymore since he has decidedly plunged
towards Bhakti and actively tries to free himself of worldly attractions. But
the materialistic Samskaras attract his mind again and again. In Srimad
Bhagvat Geeta (3.36), Arjun asks Krishna,
“Atha kena prayukto ’yaṁ pāpaṁ charati pūruṣhaḥ
Anichchhann api vārṣhṇeya balād iva niyojitaḥ.”
Meaning: O descendant of Vrishni,
by what is one compelled to do sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by
force?
The
sadhak sincerely does not want worldly pleasures. But the Samskaras compel him
to commit mistakes, fall for attractions and afterwards, he repents and begs
for pardon to Krishna, “O Lord, please forgive me!” In reality, Krishna doesn’t
see his mistakes at all. Krishna knows that he cannot overcome all his
materialistic Samskaras on his own.
Krishna taare shuddha kare, na karaye prayaschitta.”
(Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.22.143)
Meaning:
If the devotee commits sins due to ignorance, Krishna
purifies him (through repentance) instead of him experiencing the results of
such sins.
Q: If
Krishna does not see our materialistic Samskaras, then why did Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu give such a big punishment (expulsion) to Chhota (Junior) Haridas?
A: Chhota
Haridas only went to exchange old rice for new rice from Madhavi Dasi, that too
for the service of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. But He punished him by expulsion only
to teach the devotees that such minimal association with women should not be
allowed for renunciates. This was important to warn devotees that they must not
take the Vedic rules of renunciation lightly and commit sinful deviations from
Vedic laws in the name of Raganuga Bhakti.
But it
must be noted that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not expel Krishna Das (who
accompanied Him in His tour of the South India). He merely said, “This Krishna
Das abandoned me and went to Bhattatharis (who lured him with women). I rescued
him from them and brought him here. I ask him to leave now as I am no more
responsible for him.” But he did not expel him as he was not a renunciate.
In
Bhagvat Geeta, Krishna says:
“Api
chet su-durāchāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk
Sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ.” (BG 9.30)
Meaning: Even if the vilest sinners worship Me with
exclusive devotion, they are to be considered My devotees because they have
made the proper resolution.
“Kṣhipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā
śhaśhvach-chhāntiṁ nigachchhati
Kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśhyati.” (BG 9.31)
Meaning:
Quickly
they become virtuous, and attain lasting peace. O son of Kunti, declare it
boldly that no devotee of Mine is ever lost.
“Suduracharo”
means the most sinful person in the world. Krishna is not saying “My
devotees are never lost” only for virtuous devotees. He is saying this
for the vilest people in the world who have resolved to undertake the path of
Bhakti.
We
devotees of Krishna have done many sinful activities in the past. We will also
commit many more mistakes in future also due to our adamant and materialistic
Samskaras. But Krishna does not see this at all. If a dog stays near the door
of our house, regardless of whether he barks at various people, kills smaller
animals for prey or always rolls around in the dirt, we give him two pieces of
bread every day due to kindness. If lowly people like us can be kind towards a
dog, what to say about Radharani?! She is the epitome of compassion. Will She
not accept us despite our faults? She does not care whether there are
sinful, materialistic or delusional inclinations in the sadhak. She accepts any
devotee who surrenders himself with an open heart.
(An
illustrative instance) Once there was a puppy. He used to live near the
gate of the king's palace. The guards of the palace used to like him and never
chased him away. The palace servants used to throw away sumptuous amount of
food nearby every day and the puppy grew eating the leftover food of the
palace. Therefore, he became a big, healthy and sturdy dog soon. The villagers
thought he was the king's dog.
One day,
he wandered into the village nearby. As usual, the village dogs gathered at
once and started barking and attacking him. The villagers got worried that the
king's dog is being harassed by the village’s dogs and they tried to chase away
the village dogs but to no avail. Eventually, the villagers gathered and
started shouting, “The village's dogs are biting the king's dog! Such a shame!
Someone do something!”
The king
heard this uproar. He was confused since he had never kept pet dogs. He asked
his minister what was it all about, who quickly investigated and reported that
a dog which lived near the palace's gate wandered into the village and the
villagers thought they would be punished for letting the king's dog get bitten
by village dogs. Hence, the uproar.
The
minister laughed after reporting this. The king said, “Minister, you are
laughing? Even though I did not take care of the dog, the villagers think it is
mine. If we don’t intervene, they will think how would I protect a kingdom if I
could not protect my dog?! Fetch some soldiers and protect the dog immediately!
Bring the dog here!”
In this same manner, we are sinful people, full of faults. But since we took shelter at the lotus feet of Radharani, She will have to accept and protect us from Maya. How can She not free us from the cycle of birth and death? How can She not give us Her Prem Bhakti? This is impossible! She will get defamed if She does not protect us! Her name Karunamayi (= the compassionate one) will be disproven if She does not accept us!
Radharani
will definitely accept and protect us from Maya. The Atma (pure
soul) is free from any faults. It is Maya that difffuses with Atma, resulting
in the Jivatma, who is full of faults. But Radharani does not care about these
faults born from Maya. The sadhak only needs to completely surrender himself
at Her lotus feet. He should pray, “O Radharani, I have no power to attain
your Bhakti. I am ineligible in every way. Please save me from this material
world with your causeless mercy. O Karunamayi, please give me shelter at your
lotus feet!” In this way, the sadhak will be able to break free from the cycle of
birth and death very quickly.
(This satsang
was translated from two satsang videos of our official youtube channel whose links are given
as below:
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