You Already Have Four Rewards

By krishnasmercy on December 17, 2023 • ( 0 )

“Man desires the four rewards, which are difficult to attain, and what they end up getting is four grains of chana. It is better to renounce desires for the four rewards and instead see the giver of these four by use of the four eyes.” (Dohavali, 151)

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चारि चहत मानस अगम चनक चारि को लाहु।
चारि परिहरें चारि को दानि चारि चख चाहु ॥

cāri cahata mānasa agama canaka cāri ko lāhu।
cāri parihareṃ cāri ko dāni cāri cakha cāhu ॥

A person feels down on their luck. They are dissatisfied with recent outcomes to endeavors. The result was failure, as they define it. Worse than that, they feel as if they are left with nothing. What did they gain from the sacrifice? What did the time spent yield? From a single couplet written by Goswami Tulsidas, we see that there are four gifts that we likely already have, and these gifts can tie into the highest achievement in life.

With respect to following culture, to keeping with the basic principles of religion, there are four general categories of corresponding rewards. The foundation of religion is compassion, honesty, cleanliness, and austerity. Without the presence of these four to some degree, with at least some conscious awareness of striving in their direction, the religion can only be based on sentiment.

“Follow now or forever be condemned. Surrender today. Give your life over. We can’t really explain what that means, but since you talk a good game, you are in. You are in the God-game, and we welcome you in. At least you are not like the rest, who are sinners.”

Upon establishing a foundation of religious principles, the corresponding categories of rewards are dharma, artha, kama, and moksha. Religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and final release from the cycle of birth and death.

As one can imagine, these rewards are not easy to achieve. Dharma requires strict attention to regulations and principles, from the time of birth to the time of death. There is the recommended flow through rites of purification known as samskaras. There is no guarantee that our business ventures will be successful, and sense gratification is not the easiest to control or maintain at a level of proper satisfaction.

With so much going on, with so much to pay attention to, with so many potential distractions, with so many causes of lamentation, who can actually reach moksha? How can there be sense gratification and renunciation at the same time? This is one of the secrets to the science of self-realization, when followed under the guidance of proper authority.

Even so, the rewards are difficult to attain simultaneously. Tulsidas makes the joke that a person only finds four grains of gram flour, instead. In other words, they get nothing. They try so hard, but they fail. Material nature gets in the way. There is obstruction. There are so many ways to fail; you don’t need to read a book on how to do it.

At the same time, there are already four rewards within us. Two external eyes, and two eyes on the inside. Mind and intelligence. These four can be used for worshiping the giver of the four rewards. Putting the many fours together, we have found a way to reach the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

We use the two eyes to see, such as to view the deity in the temple, to meditate on beautiful depictions of the transcendental features belonging to the one who is both nirguna and saguna. We can use the eyes to see written instruction, conversation, and descriptions of events past, present, and future, as they relate to Shri Rama.

We can use the mind to control our behavior in such a way that we are always meditating on that beloved husband of Sita. We can follow our intuition, which is nothing more than a manifestation of intelligence, to seek transcendence, to go for the sat instead of the asat. We can use all four gifts to always be with Rama, who will then always be with us.