“During the exile period wearing the garb of an ascetic, while subsisting on fruits, seated on a bed of grass, and having love for trees, He gave Lanka to Vibhishana. In this way does Raghuvara behave.” (Dohavali, 162)

Download this episode (right click and save)

बलकल भूषन फल असन तृन सज्या द्रुम प्रीति
तिन्ह समयन लंका दई यह रघुबर की रीति

balakala bhūṣana phala asana tṛna sajyā druma prīti
tinha samayana laṃkā daī yaha raghubara kī rīti

“I have heard it said that the person who steps foot in the bhakti path of spirituality, in devoting themselves to service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is already liberated. They will achieve mukti, which is like the enjoyment corresponding to the release, moksha, from the cycle of birth and death. Their fate is in the hands of the object of worship, who is satya-sankalpa.

“I am not like that. I can desire something. I can set an objective. I can work diligently towards that goal. I can keep track of progress, in writing down my efforts. I can document everything, to be revisited later on, for the purposes of revision, adjustment, coordination, and optimization. I can do all of these things, but since I am not satya-sankalpa, there is no guarantee of success.

“With God, however, He can make things happen in an instant. Since bhakti is dedicated to Him, liberation will surely be the end-result. How does this work, though? Do we not retain free will? Is there not the option to deviate? What if someone sets foot in the path, but then falls down later on? They engage in an illicit affair. They follow through on a heinous crime. They obstruct the devotional efforts of others. They do something really bad.

“How can their liberation be guaranteed? That part of it doesn’t make sense to me. I can see if you are faithful to the path. If you try to remove anarthas, and if you take the words of your spiritual guide as your life and soul, then there is alignment with the proper order. You will be living sanatana-dharma. Absent that diligence, the dridha-vratah, how can someone hope to achieve liberation?”

There are many ways to understand the reality, but we can take a simple example: the case of the Rakshasa named Vibhishana. He took birth in an inauspicious form. He was a man-eating ogre by birth. He was surrounded by others who were addicted to the worst kind of behavior. Their adharma was like habit or second-nature; practically impossible to give up.

As described in the Dohavali, Goswami Tulsidas says that Vibhishana was made the king of Lanka by the Supreme Lord while in the most renounced setting. Shri Rama had practically nothing to offer. He was abiding by the terms of the request of Queen Kaikeyi in Ayodhya. Rama was living like an ascetic, taking joy from the trees providing Him shade. He rested comfortably on the floor, on a kusha mat, and the best food available was fruits and roots.

Vibhishana received the honorary title because of devotion. There was full surrender, sharanagati. His success was already guaranteed, though the reality would manifest later on. Rama made Vibhishana the king of Lanka, but Ravana was still on the throne. Ravana was Vibhishana’s brother. The two had a falling out because Ravana refused to listen to good advice. He kicked out the one person in the kingdom who was trying to help him.

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

“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)

The truth holds because the surrendered souls are under the protection of a different kind of energy. They may slip up on occasion. They may fall down. They may have terrible things happen to them, in the external sense, but they are always protected. Since they sincerely tried to please God the person, in connecting directly with Him, they will one day reach liberation.

In Closing:

Since vow of devotion to make,
And feet in that path to take.

Their success assured and true,
By object of worship who.

Like Vibhishana to Rama came,
And instantly the king became.

But manifesting at a later time,
When ouster of Ravana to find.

Categories: dohavali 161-200, questions

Tags: dailyprompt, dohavali, poem, poems, poetry, tulsidas