“O son of Pritha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.13)

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महात्मानस् तु मां पार्थ
दैवीं प्रकृतिम् आश्रिताः
भजन्त्य् अनन्य-मनसो
ज्ञात्वा भूतादिम् अव्ययम्

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha
daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

The claim is that you will be living karma-free. It may not appear that way on the outside. To the casual observer, you are following along with everyone else. Cooking. Cleaning. Reading. Singing. Talking. Possibly even working.

The difference is that you are not furthering the development of a material body. You are supposedly sacrificing the results of everything to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna. You are accepting the recommendation made to Arjuna and following through on it. You are acting out on the playing field, kshetra, in order to gain practical realization of the principles.

यत् करोषि यद् अश्नासि
यज् जुहोषि ददासि यत्
यत् तपस्यसि कौन्तेय
तत् कुरुष्व मद्-अर्पणम्

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

“O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.27)

The thing is, anyone can say anything. I can claim that you will lose weight following such and such routine. I can lay out your history, your past lives, and there is no one around to accurately dispute the claim. How do we validate this idea of karma-free living?

How do we know that devotees are actually under the protection of a different energy? If the only validation is available in the afterlife, post passing away, then there is really no difference from the religions that are based on dogmatic insistence. You might as well be telling people they are doomed to the hellish region if they fail to surrender right away or make an official proclamation in front of a gathered assembly that is part of an institution.

As His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada translates bhakti-yoga as “Krishna consciousness”, there are immediate impacts. Everything is not based on a hope and a prayer. A person can feel liberated even prior to leaving this world. While the effects of past activities might continue, like the electric fan spinning for a short while after the power has been turned off, there are tangible and noticeable differences from following devotional service under proper authority.

1. Does the devotion continue?

This is likely the most noticeable difference. Activity in karma tends to be exhausting and boring. As an example, a person spends their entire life playing a certain sport. From childhood, before they could even remember, the game was the only thing on their mind.

They make it to the professional ranks, achieve unmatched success and enjoy the accompanying fame and glory. At some point, however, they give up the game. They officially retire. Afterwards, they want nothing to do with the game. If they cannot play with other professionals, they have no interest.

At the more advanced levels of bhakti-yoga, there is no expectation of reciprocation. Everything is in the devotion itself. Otherwise, I am always looking for something. I either get it and forget about the original process or I don’t get it and curse everyone who fooled me into believing life would improve.

2. Is there bliss and joy in serving the Almighty?

Prahlada Maharaja compares material existence to chewing the chewed. There can only be something like a midlife crisis if the ordinary living experience lacks taste. You follow one activity. You extract as much benefit from it as you can. You then return to it later, but there is no taste left.

श्रीप्रह्राद उवाच
मतिर्न कृष्णे परत: स्वतो वा
मिथोऽभिपद्येत गृहव्रतानाम् ।
अदान्तगोभिर्विशतां तमिस्रं
पुन: पुनश्चर्वितचर्वणानाम् ॥

śrī-prahrāda uvāca
matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho ’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām
adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ
punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām

“Prahlada Maharaja replied: Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Krishna are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.30)

Bhakti-yoga is like being flooded. The playing field of devotion is like an ocean that has rivers constantly rushing in. The difference is that there is no actual overflow. Though the rivers keep coming, the area remains intact. The bliss and joy actually increase, because the object of worship is unlimited.

त्रिभिर्गुणमयैर्भावैरेभि: सर्वमिदं जगत् ।
मोहितं नाभिजानाति मामेभ्य: परमव्ययम् ॥

tribhir guṇa-mayair bhāvair
ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti
mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam

“Deluded by the three modes [goodness, passion and ignorance], the whole world does not know Me who am above the modes and inexhaustible.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.13)

3. Is there constant thought in His direction?

My family. My children. My friends. My job. My car. My vacation destination. My quality of sleep. With life in karma, the interests shift in every which direction. There are desires abound, and as soon as one of those desires goes unmet, there is the potential for anger, wrath, delusion, and loss of intelligence.

If I am living without karma, my thoughts are focused in one place. I am always thinking of the one who mercifully instructed the hesitant warrior named Arjuna. I remember the one who stole butter from the homes of the neighbors in Vrindavana. I smile at the thought of Him graciously welcoming the brahmana named Bhrigu, who was conducting a strange test in Vaikuntha that involved kicking an unsuspecting Vishnu in the chest.

4. Does it feel as if He is never far away?

Since my thoughts are all over the place in karma, I think that God is far away. I might speculate that He does not exist, that there is no purpose to this existence, that everything finishes at the time of death.

In bhakti-yoga, I feel as if the Almighty is right next to me. He is not only within me, but He is everywhere else, as well. He is within the heart of both the saint and the sinner. Not a blade of grass moves without His sanction.

5. Is there allegiance to the level of an immovable boulder, wherein the servant knows that nothing will take them away from their new, eternal life of dedicated work?

Ask a saintly person to stop their devotion to the Supreme Lord and they will chuckle at the idea. No amount of money can change their mind. They cannot be bribed. They cannot be tempted to give up the allegiance. There may be falls from grace, temporary episodes of illusion, horrible mistakes committed, but the devotion will never break.

In Closing:

A sober assessment to make,
Whether the allegiance to break.

On outcomes to depend,
Or infinitely to extend.

With anger and wrath setting,
Or the small stuff forgetting.

Only on Shri Krishna relying where,
Seen with butter standing there.

Categories: the five

Tags: god, hare krishna, hinduism, karma, poem, poems, poetry, religion