Srimad Bhagavatam – day 709
Uplift yourself to that state wherein mind remains eternally connected to the Lord
Krishna Krishna
‘With great love you have brought food for me knowing that I was hungry. Having taken on a human body, I too experience hunger. You are truly fortunate. Accepting your food implies you have been eternally devoted towards Me. Even when preparing the food, your hearts were overflowing with devotion towards Me’- implied Krishna.
The ladies could get this fortune solely because they were eternally devoted towards the Lord. Food that is prepared when mind is focussed upon God is absolutely pure food. The purity in the food alone bestowed these ladies with this unique and greatest chance to see the Lord. Had the food lacked purity, they would never obtain the chance to offer Him food. If the women had focussed upon their husbands, entertained a desire to acquire merit (punya) or to reach higher planes known as heavens, they would never obtain the chance of meeting Krishna. Setting aside all desires, they had fixed their minds exclusively on Krishna. This enabled them to obtain Krishna.
“Krishna said, ‘In this universe, happiness derived due to bodily contact is ephemeral and can neither bestow permanent happiness nor permanent love. Hence, fix your mind totally upon Me”.
Abandon the idea that you will live right beside Me here while offering services to Me. Such activities do not grant liberation. More importantly is the grave danger that you could slip to lowest levels! It is the nature of mind to not remain at a point for even a second.
Let’s assume a devotee possesses remarkable devotion. If Swamiji says, ‘Aha! You are an exalted devotee who has meditated extensively upon Swamiji. Hence you are permitted to remain in ashram’. When some old memories, that come on account of the earlier actions, come back into the mind, the risk of him/her slipping into bad and sinful thoughts arises. She may begin to gossip, criticize etc. She will leave Swamiji and deviate from the purpose for which she had initially approached Swamiji. Those who desire to serve Swamiji personally are always at such risk.
First of all, we should raise ourselves to those levels wherein we remain undisturbed by any happenings. Sadly it does not happen. Due to living in a body, due to our past actions and due to the presence of our inner enemies we take every happening to heart. Gossips and unwanted news fall in our ears causing our mind to waver. The moment the mind loses its stability, we move one step backwards. We would have slipped.
Say for instance, someone speaks ill about Swamiji. You lose your temper. With this, you have slipped by one step in your spiritual progress. Alternatively, instead of being annoyed, some curiosity or doubt would have crept into your mind- ‘could there be any truth in the statements he makes about Swamiji? What would have actually gone wrong?’ Thus, in no time you slip 20 or 100 steps.
Without taking into account any external happenings, you should be immersed in listening to the divine glories of the Lord, recapitulating them time and again and thus remain in state of bliss. We should aspire to reach this state. Towards this, firm determination and practice are crucial.
Hence, while staying away from the Lord and while exhausting the destiny that you have brought with you, if you keep periodically visiting the Lord and then returning home, you obtain entitlement for liberation. Contrary to this, if you decide to remain permanently by his side, then think for yourself- what would be the level of Yoga you should have accomplished? What should be the state of sanyasam (detachment) that you should have developed?
Lessons on detachment are meant to be practiced on a daily basis. Gatherings are occasions wherein you mingle with people who are complete in all aspects and also with those who are incomplete. Interactions with incomplete people renders the mind impure and causes turbulence. We do not have in us the mental stability by which we can remain firm unaffected by turbulence. For our mind to remain stable like rocks, we should have cultivated unflinching devotion across many births. A person or two in entire ashram or entire gathering may be blessed with such stable mind.
Those in ashram generally tend to relax, as a result of which they slacken in their spiritual efforts while getting more entangled in gossips, spinning rumours etc. Although they had initially approached Swamiji for obtaining liberation, they are slipping to the worst of hells. There is a grave danger. Only when the person focuses on the Lord night and day, when he perceives every action of his Guru as a divine sport and when he pays no heed to all the rumour mills that are rampant in his surroundings, he begins to take the baby steps towards liberation! When these conditions are met, in this birth he will begin to take the first steps towards liberation. He may not obtain liberation in this birth.
On the contrary, the person who walks gradually on the spiritual path may not have this risk of slipping to hells. But if the person is desperate to be with Swamiji, the risk is more. This is what Krishna too says to those ladies.
Krishna implies, ‘it is not touching me, offering me services or being in my vicinity that gives permanent happiness. Physically being present and physical presence will not give permanent happiness. Meditate upon me and thus fill your mind with bliss. If you are in my presence always you cannot mentally meditate upon me. Since you are watching me in person, you will discard meditation. You will give up your daily worship.
On the other hand when you visit occasionally, you will, with full devotion, regularly chant the Ashtottara. You will abide by the daily rituals. You will sing Kakada harati daily. You will chant Hanuman Chalisa, participate in Annadanam and other charitable deeds. Periodically you come, have darshan and then return back to your activities. This is a good path that takes towards liberation.
There is no use of giving up all such activities and simply sitting idle in the ashrama. Completing your assigned tasks routinely like robots while focussing your mind exclusively upon the Lord is the best approach. The duties should be completed with the understanding that they are the results of our past actions and that they need to be exhausted compulsorily. They cannot be set off nor carried forward. The mind should be placed totally upon Him. This is true seva.
If you desire to live only in ashram and offer seva, then the risk of mistakes is high. You will get entangled in newer type of mistakes for which you will have to pay in future births. If you fret that after living in ashram you have slipped to lower levels, then clearly understand that your mind alone was responsible for it. You allowed your mind to get involved in all activities here. You allowed your mind to waver due to getting unnecessarily involved in non-spiritual subjects. What did you achieve by being in Swami’s presence. You lost instead of gaining. Then what is to be done now to rectify it? Now get back to your duties. This was my initial order to you. In reality, it is not my order. It is your own destiny that you have brought on account of your past actions. Complete these duties perfectly. It is then equivalent of discarding all dharmas. If you reach me without completing your duties and dharmas, then it cannot be said that you have given up all dharmas.
The duties of a house-holder should be completed in there. I ask some devotees to set up their homes in close vicinity to ashram and then, while completing their household duties, remember me eternally. Krishna did not instruct the ladies to set up homes near Gokula. Their husbands would not have followed them to Gokula, would they?
“Krishna said, ‘Please return to your homes. That you have listened to my commands will be auspiciousness for me. Fix your minds totally upon me. Very shortly you will attain me’.”
Do not be attached to the action. The action should not bind you. ‘I am bound only to the Lord, I am bound only to His words, I am serving the Lord through these actions’ -with this attitude, placing your mind upon Me, cook for your husband and children, attend to the needs of the children and routinely complete all household chores. When this is done, very quickly you will attain Me.
This statement of the Lord remains valid even to-date. We should put this into practice. To avoid the risk of slipping down, those residing in ashram should intensify their spiritual efforts. There are a few such devotees here in the ashram. Without paying heed to other activities, they focus only upon the Lord and engage in their work. They are Mahatmas.