Three Reasons To Follow Pure Devotion To The Supreme Lord

“Whom are you lamenting for when you yourself are pitiable? Why do you pity the poor when you yourself have now been made poor? While in this body that is like a bubble, how can anyone look at anyone else as being worthy of lamentation?” (Hanuman speaking to Tara, Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 21.3)

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शोच्या शोचसि कं शोच्यं दीनं दीनाऽनुकम्पसे
कस्य कोवाऽनुशोच्योऽस्ति देहेऽस्मिन् बुद्बुदोपमे

śocyā śocasi kaṃ śocyaṃ dīnaṃ dīnā’nukampase
kasya kovā’nuśocyo’sti dehe’smin budbudopame

1. Everyone is worthy of pity

We think of only those we feel sorry for. They must be struggling so much. The difficulties they have to endure. The cap on their movement. There is like this invisible ceiling holding them down. There is nothing that can be done to change the situation. It is as if they have lost life’s lottery. Bad luck. Misfortune tied to the parents at birth. An ill-fated existence.

Shri Hanuman explains that every person is worthy of pity. From the highest to the lowest. From the person who currently has everything going for them to the one who can’t seem to catch a break. From the one looking forward to many years of enthusiasm and enjoyment to the one who is depressed that they no longer have the same vitality that they used to.

आ-ब्रह्म-भुवनाल् लोकाः
पुनर् आवर्तिनो ऽर्जुन
माम् उपेत्य तु कौन्तेय
पुनर् जन्म न विद्यते

ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
punar āvartino ‘rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate

“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.16)

2. Everyone will be poor

This person has the most wealth. The calculation is based on a hypothetical liquidation of shares held in a publicly traded company. Of course, that might never materialize. There is a difference between unrealized and realized gains. Someone would have to be willing to buy those shares in order for them to be sold. Moreover, the per share price can drastically change on a whim, based on the news of the day.

Shri Hanuman says that the person who laments the loss of others loses on their own, as well. No one really has any wealth. How can they, considering that they are not even the doer? For every intended result to manifest, nature must first cooperate. We do not control nature, though we senselessly try. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada compares it to trying to stop the waves of the ocean while out on a boat.

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि
गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कार-विमूढात्मा
कर्ताहम् इति मन्यते

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.27)

3. Everyone is worthy of lamentation

I am so sad over what happened to someone I care about. The pain they went through. The suffering they endured. Their desperate pleas for assistance. The way they remained in a dependent state, without any chance of revival.

Shri Hanuman says that every person is worthy of lamentation. This is because they are living in something like a bubble. The body can burst at any time. It is not necessarily a sturdy structure. Try walking into a wall by accident. It hurts. Imagine the impact when falling from the stairs or being involved in an automobile collision.

Everyone will be poor. Everyone is worthy of lamentation. Everyone is to be pitied. This is based on the event known as birth. The vulnerabilities begin at that time. As soon as there is birth, there must be death. Armed with such awareness, the wise lament neither for the living nor the dead.

श्री भगवानुवाच
अशोच्यनन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे
गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ
prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase
gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca
nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ

“The Blessed Lord said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead.” (Bhagavad-gita, 2.11)

This is sufficient justification for worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Moreover, that worship should be without personal motive. There is nothing I can gain which will change my pitiable condition. I am still in the bubble-like body whether I worship or not. I am never really wealthy, no matter what my bank account says.

परमानंद कृपायतन मन परिपूरन काम
प्रेम भगति अनपायनी देहु हमहि श्रीराम

paramānaṃda kṛpāyatana mana paripūrana kāma
prema bhagati anapāyanī dehu hamahi śrīrāma

“Shri Rama, who are supreme bliss and the resting place of mercy, who can fulfill all the desires of the mind, please grant me pure loving and unwavering devotion.” (Dohavali, 125)

I should worship simply to be with the Supreme Lord. His association is worth more than anything we can imagine. His association continues after this life. Consciousness of him is what stops the cycle of birth and death. What greater reward can there be?

In Closing:

What greater reward to be?
Than from rebirth to free.

Only when going to His place,
The dreaded fate to erase.

Done steady worship through,
Like example of Hanuman who.

Otherwise full of pity and lamentation,
Ill-fated despite determination.