Srimad Bhagavatam – day 688
Never blame God for your miseries
Krishna Jagannatha.
Maharishi Śuka continued,
“The knowledgeable person is able to understand his depleting longevity while the ignorant whiles away his time lamenting about home-sickness. The person who believes his home to be his only goal in life, also believes his body to be everything in life. The person who considers his body to be everything, also believes his words to be the irrefutable law and thereby expects everyone to abide by them. Thus, all of them are inter-connected. Gradually his arrogance increases and his spiritual ignorance too increases causing him to slowly tilt towards demonic traits eventually getting totally filled with them”.
Here inference is drawn to the pond that has shallow waters. The fish and the frog that live there swim happily in the pond oblivious to the fact that the water in that pond is likely to dry up shortly. Ignorant of this truth, they continue to live happily in those waters. If the fish had any idea of the depleting water table, the thought of how to obtain pure water for its survival will enter its mind.
Akin to those creatures, we choose to remain ignorant of our depleting lifespan and choose not to use our time wisely. We do not seek to accumulate spiritual knowledge during this limited lifespan. Instead of remaining vigilant in these aspects, people waste their time chasing useless subjects. They grieve thinking about wasteful matters. ‘Unless this problem is solved, I cannot move ahead’- they lament. When that problem gets solved, another crops us. ‘If this problem is solved, I will never beg anything from the Lord. I will remain content’- every time a problem arises in their life, they say the same prayer. ‘Swamiji, once this problem is resolved, I will remain eternally meditating upon You. I will never seek anything again’- all these are sheer lies.
A few days/months after the problem is solved, they are back with a newer problem. Their prayer remains the same, ‘‘Swamiji, once this problem is resolved, I will remain eternally meditating upon You. I will never seek anything again.’
Do you know that in trying to resolve these problems, your longevity is depleting? Are you putting in any efforts towards gaining spiritual knowledge? Are you performing japa? Have you ever given any thought to it? Do you know that after leaving this body, you will still be alive and that you would have travelled to a newer destination? Your body will be gone but you never die. The bonded soul needs to undergo experiences in this body. Have you accumulated those thoughts necessary for your future journey?
‘Swami, daily I listen to good subjects. I visit the temple without fail everyday. I am seeing the deity daily in the temple’- but is your mind absorbing it completely? Has your mind attained completeness? More important than your physical efforts at going to temple is the mental absorption of the same. ‘Swamiji, I have completed this japa a lakh times’- is your mind chanting it? Is your mind connecting with it? Have you accumulated this japa in your mind? No. You have accumulated useless thoughts in your mind.
When you close or open your eyes, only worldly subjects come to memory. You are so preoccupied with these thoughts that you fail to think of the Lord. ‘If only this loan could be repaid’- they worry about the loan at all times. in fact, they chant the loan-mantra endlessly. Is it so easy to repay a loan? As you are spending time worrying about that loan, your longevity is simultaneously reducing. Become bold. Instead of fearing the wrath of the money-lender, boldly decide that you will face whatever circumstances may land on your head. Remove your fear and place trust in God.
If you focus your mind completely upon the Lord, then these worldly bondages will not be troublesome. You will not lose your fortitude. Even occasionally you should not worry about the loan. ‘Taking loan was my mistake. The money lender will punish me. I will face the punishment’- with this attitude face the situation. Or if possible, make attempts to repay the loan.
I had to explain this in the context of those who consider their home as only goal in life. The water creatures do not anticipate that the water will deplete in that pond. They go on laying eggs and giving birth to newer ones. Not once do they think, ‘why should my children face the problem that will arise due to inadequate water in this pond? Let me stop laying eggs’. Unable to control their lusty desires, they go on reproducing endlessly. When a human being has no control over his emotions and desires, how can such level thinking be expected from animals?
“Just as the helpless house-holder who lacks sense-control undergoes many mental agitations and suffers their consequences, the water creatures that live in the shallow waters of the pond are afflicted due to the heat from the autumn Sun”.
In a deep pond, the creatures can go to the centre of the pond and get respite from the heat. How can they obtain it in shallow waters? Likewise, if a person has in him deep devotion, these afflictions cease to pain him. ‘I have sought shelter in that Lord. Whatever may happen I don’t care. He is everything to me’- if a person has in him such deep faith and devotion, he remains unshaken despite many hardships. The fish in the pond does not die. It somehow sustains its life in the murky waters. It can neither die nor live peacefully. It suffers enormously. Likewise, people who lack deep devotion, who do not care for the Supreme Essence suffer in this world. Their devotion is shallow. The pujas and the worship they perform are only the external actions. Their devotion has not yet gone to the deep levels.
Devotees of the Lord whose devotion is deep can be identified by their glowing and peaceful face. Such persons have both external and internal deep devotion. Talking to them is a joyful experience. They ensure that their words do not hurt anyone. They speak sweetly and their mind is pure and pleasant. Just by their presence our afflictions are destroyed. We should seek to have such friends. We should seek to associate with such people.
Do we not know that evaporation also happens in the sea waters? Yet, the creatures living therein are not tormented. They swim into the deeper parts of the ocean and live peacefully there.
Never blame God for throwing you in deep trouble. Never state that He has cheated us. Remember that you brought it upon yourself. You were the cause for your problem. Even when the water in the pond is adequate, you should jump into a pond that is filled with water. If you choose to continue living in shallow waters, without seeking to go into the depths of the pond, then what can be done? Just because it sounded fancy, was it right on your part to take heavy loans? If you truly had touched the depths, you would have refrained from taking loans. If the Supreme Essence is deeply filled in your mind, then the Lord will not allow you to take loans. He is supremely compassionate. Moreover, He will create unexplainable bliss in the mind.
Don’t the poor suffer due to their poverty? But when the penniless pauper turns into a devotee of the Lord, his poverty no longer troubles him. Likewise, the helpless person is not affected by his circumstances when his mind is filled with the Lord’s essence. He will not lose his mental fortitude. His speech will reflect his contentment despite his helpless, poor condition. Learn to reach that state of contentment. Else, your condition will be exactly like the aquatic creatures that suffer due to living in shallow waters.
“The wise spiritual aspirant gradually distances himself from attachments and arrogance’.
Srihari Krishna