“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bhagavad-gita, 4.5)

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श्री-भगवान् उवाच
बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि
जन्मानि तव चार्जुन
तान्य् अहं वेद सर्वाणि
न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
bahūni me vyatītāni
janmāni tava cārjuna
tāny ahaṁ veda sarvāṇi
na tvaṁ vettha parantapa

1. Backups of the database

“They call it disaster recovery for a reason. I was in charge of everything. I thought we had the process nailed down. Rock solid. Airtight. No gaps. The whole sequence was tested several times over. We were prepared, to say the least.

“But then, we weren’t. Someone was supposed to monitor something and they forgot. Another server was supposed to keep the intermediary files, but that went down. Anyway, we lost the backups of the database.

“The database we use currently is in a corrupted state. There is a miniscule chance of repair, but no guarantee. Needless to say, I could lose my job over this. What’s worse is that the entire company could also sink.”

2. A wrapped teddy bear

“I saw this on an episode of a television sitcom, but I’m sure there is some reality to the story. The scene is a wrapping section of a department store. It is during the holiday season, which is known to have increased consumer traffic.

“A police officer shows up and wants a specific teddy bear wrapped. You see, there is an engagement ring attached to the bear. It will be a surprise gift for the fiancé. The officer drops off the gift and anticipates returning in a few hours.

“When he does return, the teddy bear is nowhere to be found. It has accidentally been placed in the bin of gifts for needy children. The owners of the store now must scramble to find this one wrapped gift, amongst many others, to fetch out the valuable item.”

3. Passport during international travel

“This is a difficult one to visualize, but it is certainly possible. The agents at the gate of departure vigorously check all the documents. Do you have your passport? Do you have a valid visa? They check these documents several different times.

“Sure enough, while landing the passport gets misplaced. There are only a few places it could have fallen, but since you are now at an airport, any person could have picked it up and gone to the races. Forget entering the new country, how will your home country allow you back in without proper identification?”

4. Car keys

“We were having some fun late one night. We were running outside in the parking lot. Since it had snowed recently, at one point I slipped and fell. I am guessing that is the moment the car keys fell out of my pocket.

“I did not notice until the next day. It will be difficult to remember everything. I thought all hope was lost. I was ready to give in, to go through the rigorous process of replacing everything. Then, at the last moment, I quickly glanced again, and in the distance I saw something glistening. The sunlight reflecting back off the object, it was indeed my keychain, right where I thought I had dropped it.”

5. Smartphone

“Misplace this now sacred object for a few moments and panic can ensue. How will the people at the front-gate know to allow entry for the visitor delivering food? How will I check my mail? How will I log in remotely to my place of business? Everything important is on that phone, or so it seems.”

…

When seated on an airplane, during takeoff and landing there is the picture available of the larger landscape. While looking out the window, you see the place from which you are leaving. It might be your home town.

You think you know the place inside and out. The many streets. The important shopping centers. The fields of play. But from this larger vision it is difficult to make everything out. The scene is different. You have a new perspective.

A similar vision on the way down, when landing in the new city. The skyline is beautiful. You never thought the place carried any aesthetic charm. You previously wondered why any person would ever choose to visit there.

Such visions show that there is intricacy and nuance underneath the detail. There is both a zoomed in and a zoomed out view. We might be able to keep inventory of what is around us, but who maintains the larger picture?

Who is in charge of the proper mechanisms for maintaining life? How does nature know to drop sufficient rainfall in an area, just when it needs it? How do the seasons eventually change, on a schedule, so that the snow will melt away? The sun seems to hit every corner at some point, even the hidden ones.

Step back a bit and there is the entire nation. Zoom out further and you have the continent. From outer space there is the vision of the planet itself. Who is in charge? Who is keeping track? There is no way a single individual could accept every point of data, process the information, and then deliver proper maintenance.

Yet, that is the precise teaching from the Vedic tradition. There is the image of Vishnu lying down to rest. His breathing causes different universes to emerge. The same Vishnu further expands to take control of each of those realms, which are like tiny bubbles compared to Him.

The same Vishnu further expands several times over, to the point that not a blade of grass moves without His sanction. He is everywhere. No place is lacking His presence. Though He has no eyes in the physical sense, His eyes are everywhere.

सर्वतः पाणि-पादं तत्
सर्वतो ऽक्षि-शिरो-मुखम्
सर्वतः श्रुतिमल् लोके
सर्वम् आवृत्य तिष्ठति

sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat
sarvato ‘kṣi-śiro-mukham
sarvataḥ śrutimal loke
sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati

“Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes and faces, and He hears everything. In this way the Supersoul exists.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 13.14)

This means that the inventory is never lost to Him. We can set aside our concerns. The prayers we offer to Him always reach the intended destination. He is the ideal object of worship. This is because there is no guarantee of delivery.

Just because I desperately want to land that job doesn’t mean that Vishnu will agree. My wife and child might be giving me so much trouble lately, to the point that I consider taking my own life as a way to escape, but if the situation is beneficial in my relationship to Vishnu, then the hardship might continue for a while.

This is a special favor, reserved for those who are devoted to Him. As explained in Bhagavad-gita, the Supreme Personality of Godhead can remember my past lives. He knows the future, as well. This means that even if our personal book of accounts goes missing, gets damaged, or is fraudulently manipulated, Vishnu always maintains the original copy.

There can be both an appreciation of the larger field of play and a direct relationship with the person responsible for it. This is the meaning behind greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest. When it comes to friends, there is no one like Arjuna’s charioteer, who will never abandon me.

In Closing:

When assessing friendship in mind,
None like Krishna to find.

Who for Arjuna there,
Of past failures aware.

And every life iteration,
Never allowed separation.

Despite for so long forgetting,
That friend close by setting.

Categories: the five

Tags: bhagavad-gita, god, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, remembering