“If having not seen Sita I shall leave from this place and go to the city ruled by the king of Vanaras, of what avail will my achievements prove to be? My crossing over the ocean, entering Lanka and seeing the Rakshasas will have all been useless.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 13.20-21)

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यदि सीतामदृष्ट्वाऽहं वानरेन्द्रपुरीमितः
गमिष्यामि ततः को मे पुरुषार्थो भविष्यति
ममेदं लङ्घनं व्यर्थं सागरस्य भविष्यति
प्रवेशश्चैव लङ्कायाः राक्षसानां च दर्शनम्

yadi sītāmadṛṣṭvā’haṃ vānarendrapurīmitaḥ
gamiṣyāmi tataḥ ko me puruṣārtho bhaviṣyati
mamedaṃ laṅghanaṃ vyarthaṃ sāgarasya bhaviṣyati
praveśaścaiva laṅkāyāḥ rākṣasānāṃ ca darśanam

“I think I have found the secret to life. Not necessarily in the purpose to the existence. I cannot really explain why we are here, why we suffer, why we have to stay with family only to one day separate from them. Those are still mysteries to me, but I think I know the best way to continue forward.

“Simply work in such a way that you forget. Relinquish the constant monitoring of time itself. Find something to do that is a distraction. You see these people who can go to the office each day, five days a week, every week of the year, for many years in succession. They are more than happy with having something to do, with a meaningful way to occupy the time.

“I think that is what every person needs to find. Otherwise, the life experience is really miserable. There is nothing to be happy about. If you are winning, you will one day be losing. If you are losing, that is already unhappiness. Do you see what I am saying?”

This approach may help to pass several years, up to an entire lifetime, but that is no guarantee of an end. The future might bring more of the same. The individual is eternal in their existence. They have endurance in the manner that the externals to which they apply themselves do not. The wise person can therefore avoid depression in knowing the basics of the spiritual science.

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)

The distractions work, but is there progress being made? If I take pleasure in building a house, in constructing it from the ground up, should I simply tear down everything I have built when I am done? Sort of like putting together a puzzle over a few days. At the end of the week, I dismantle the puzzle and scatter the pieces all about. This way, I can start the same puzzle again.

The perspective of the Vedic tradition is to build upon the work. The work may be a distraction, and this may help in easing the pain of separation, such as with the loss of a loved one, but some progress should be made. If the argument is that there is no opportunity for progress since everything gets nullified at the end of life, then we can consider the variety to life experiences.

All people do not take birth in the same environment. One person suffers from the very beginning. No mother or father. No caretakers. No well-wishers. No resources. Another person has a loving family big enough to fill an entire village. They learn culture, discipline, kindness, charity, sacrifice, and volunteer austerity from childhood. They grow up to be well-adjusted, in the sense that nothing can phase their diligence to pious behavior.

These varieties are due to past experiences. The entire system, the collective of action and reaction, is known as karma. The living beings have karma within the human experience, and these correspond to conceptions of life. Those conceptions of life carry forward, and there is nothing that can obstruct the process.

शरीरं यद् अवाप्नोति
यच् चाप्य् उत्क्रामतीश्वरः
गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति
वायुर् गन्धान् इवाशयात्

śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti
yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaraḥ
gṛhītvaitāni saṁyāti
vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt

“The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.8)

A wise person like Shri Hanuman considers his many accomplishments. The purushartha, the benediction in the completion of the interest, involved intense experiences; the victories did not come easy. The time spent could well be considered a necessary distraction from the overall depression associated with a temporary existence. Hanuman used the time well.

Except he still contemplates how to make the accomplishments worthwhile. The completed puzzle should have value. He wants to build upon the successes. In that specific situation, the goal is to find Sita Devi. She is the wife of Shri Rama, who is an avatara of Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Finding Sita will please God. This objective carries benefits sustained through the course of time. Known as kala, time only destroys, but when applied to devotional service, it can turn auspicious in nature.

We have a similar opportunity to work in a way that brings real progress. We can please God with our efforts. We can simultaneously avoid the dreaded existence that focuses only on loss, when there is actually the best opportunity right now, here, today, to acquire the greatest gain.

यत्रोपरमते चित्तं निरुद्धं योगसेवया
यत्र चैवात्मनात्मानं पश्यन्नात्मनि तुष्यति
सुखमात्यन्तिकं यत्तद्‍बुद्धिग्राह्यमतीन्द्रियम्
वेत्ति यत्र न चैवायं स्थितश्चलति तत्त्वत:
यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं तत:
यस्मिन्स्थितो न दु:खेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते
तं विद्याद्दु:खसंयोगवियोगं योगसंज्ञितम्

yatroparamate cittaṁ
niruddhaṁ yoga-sevayā
yatra caivātmanātmānaṁ
paśyann ātmani tuṣyati

sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad
buddhi-grāhyam atīndriyam
vetti yatra na caivāyaṁ
sthitaś calati tattvataḥ

yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ
manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ
yasmin sthito na duḥkhena
guruṇāpi vicālyate

taṁ vidyād duḥkha-saṁyoga-
viyogaṁ yoga-saṁjñitam

“The stage of perfection is called trance, or samadhi, when one’s mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is characterized by one’s ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.20-23)

In Closing:

That summit to attain,
When completion to gain.

But now what to do?
Avoid despair and misery too.

Rather than puzzle to break,
A lasting meaning make.

Like when Hanuman at Lanka to land,
Quest to find Sita as planned.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, hanuman, hare krishna, life, poem, poems, poetry, ramayana