“Tulsi knows, has heard, and has understood that Shri Rama is an ocean of mercy because He made jewels and gold expensive, while keeping the most important things like water and grains inexpensive.”  (Dohavali, 149)

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तुलसी जाने सुनि समुझि कृपासिंधु रघुराज।
महँगे मनि कंचन किए सौंधे जग जल नाज ॥

tulasī jāne suni samujhi kṛpāsiṃdhu raghurāja।
maha~ge mani kaṃcana kie sauṃdhe jaga jala nāja ॥

1. The marginal position

To summarize Vedanta philosophy, there are essentially three positions or standings with respect to an existence. This applies to all sparks of life, the life force inside, the entity responsible for animation, or whatever the preferred term or concept to describe the living as opposed to the nonliving. The study of the properties begins from the stage of seeing someone as alive, when we know they are with us.

The three positions are the spiritual consciousness, in illusion, and somewhere in between. There are energies which correspond to the positions. The spiritual energy, the potency known as maya, and the conditioned living entities.

The first two positions are not difficult to comprehend. The spiritual energy is that which transcends the second energy. The spiritual has endurance, whereas the material does not. As the bodies continue to change, as there are the paired events of birth and death, so the spiritual spark inside is always the same. It is never created, hurt, harmed, or destroyed.

नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः ।
उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः ॥

nāsato vidyate bhāvo
nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ
ubhayor api dṛṣṭo ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darśibhiḥ

“Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent there is no endurance, and of the existent there is no cessation. This seers have concluded by studying the nature of both.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.16)

Spiritual life, dharma, genuine religion, is the way of living associated with the spiritual energy. The life in illusion is known as maya. Maya is the state of reflection, in a perverted way. Like pretending to be something. Like seeing something from a distance and not really understanding what it is. Only hoping to be the real thing, as if in a dream.

We living entities are actually in the third position. We are the marginal energy. The condition is marginal because we have a choice. We can be either in the spiritual consciousness or in the maya consciousness.

हम लखि लखहि हमार लखि हम हमार के बीच।
तुलसी अलखहि का लखहि राम नाम जप नीच ॥

hama lakhi lakhahi hamāra lakhi hama hamāra ke bīca।
tulasī alakhahi kā lakhahi rāma nāma japa nīca ॥

“[O mystic] First know yourself, then realize the Supreme Absolute Truth, and then see the material nature standing in between. O wretch, without seeing these how can you understand what the unmanifested [invisible] feature of the Absolute Truth [alakh] actually is? Chant Shri Rama’s holy name instead, says Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 19)

This is the basic choice for the living beings, and especially those within the human form of body. They can continue to remain in illusion, for lifetime after lifetime, and deal with the associated consequences. The most devastating of those consequences is total disassociation from everything and everyone during a particular temporary stay, i.e. a lifetime.

2. Arjuna’s decision

We see this choice manifest in the dilemma faced by the bow-warrior named Arjuna. Both an incident from history and a central point of interest for providing instruction of eternal relevance, Arjuna has the choice to either proceed in a military conflict aligning with dharma or drop his weapons and leave everyone behind.

Arjuna is not sure what to do. He has an inclination for proceeding, since he arrived at the battlefield, ready to go. He also had some affection for members of the opposing party. He considered that perhaps abandoning the battlefield would spare their lives, and Arjuna valued their temporary happiness over anything to be gained through victory in battle.

3. Deliberate fully

Since it was a choice, Arjuna presented the dilemma to his trusted friend. Shri Krishna happened to be nearby, serving as the charioteer. Krishna did not mince words. When He first heard Arjuna’s rationalization for quitting, Krishna described the mentality as anarya. This indicates a lack of knowledge of higher principles.

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
कुतस् त्वा कश्मलम् इदं
विषमे समुपस्थितम्
अनार्य-जुष्टम् अस्वर्ग्यम्
अकीर्ति-करम् अर्जुन

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ
viṣame samupasthitam
anārya-juṣṭam asvargyam
akīrti-karam arjuna

“The Supreme Person [Bhagavan] said: My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the progressive values of life. They do not lead to higher planets, but to infamy.” (Bhagavad-gita, 2.2)

The sacred conversation known as Bhagavad-gita basically begins from here. It is Krishna giving counsel to Arjuna. It is the Supreme Brahman teaching how to remove the influence of maya. It is the origin of religion showing how to implement the best strategy in that particular moment. It is the trusted spiritual master offering general guidelines for how to stay out of the illusion of maya moving forward.

इति ते ज्ञानम् आख्यातं
गुह्याद् गुह्यतरं मया
विमृश्यैतद् अशेषेण
यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु

iti te jñānam ākhyātaṁ
guhyād guhyataraṁ mayā
vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa
yathecchasi tathā kuru

“Thus I have explained to you the most confidential of all knowledge. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad­-gita, 18.63)

Nevertheless, it is still up to Arjuna. He must decide what to do. Krishna will not force him in any direction. Arjuna should deliberate fully on everything he has heard thus far.

4. Needs against wants

Goswami Tulsidas makes the wonderful comparison between gold and grains. Jewels and water. Those things which we actually need and those which we might be enamored by. There is a stark difference both in price and relative availability.

The grains and water are inexpensive. They are in greater supply, as compared to the gold and jewels, which happen to be more expensive. This difference is not an accident; it is the mercy of Shri Rama.

At the same time, the gold and jewels are there. This means that there is a choice. People can choose to acquire the expensive items, even if they don’t really need them. They can also choose to go the easier route, to try for some level of renunciation.

5. Asking from the king

Tulsidas also gives the example of begging from the king of an area. As Shri Rama is the king of Ayodhya, there is a day where any citizen can approach the king and ask for something. This is the very embodiment of choice. The king has the most at His disposal; He can make any wish come true.

A devoted soul like Tulsidas asks only for continued devotion, bhakti. They want to stay always with the ocean of mercy, kripasindhu. They do not want anything else. This is the choice they have made, after weighing the different options and carefully considering what they have been taught, in the system of parampara.

In Closing:

What a blessed day,
That no offense to say.

When asking anything from the king,
Gold, jewels, large or small a thing.

And that Rama assured to agree,
What then most to benefit me?

Bhakti so far my best interests serving,
To continue if considered deserving.

Categories: dohavali 121-160, the five

Tags: god, hare krishna, life, poem, poems, poetry, religion