“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.26)

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पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं
यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति
तद् अहं भक्त्य्-उपहृतम्
अश्नामि प्रयतात्मनः

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

“If you follow the informal lecture circuit, as I will refer to it, for the bhakti-yoga tradition, you notice some recurring themes. One of them is this placing of the human birth on a kind of pedestal. It is higher than the animal birth, you see. Therefore, you should take it seriously, that you have been born a human. You should make the most out of the opportunity.

“There is this urgency suggested, supported by the Vedic aphorism, athato brahma-jijnasa. Now is the time for inquiring into the spiritual side of things. Let the inquiry begin. Let there be questions. Do not settle for following blindly. Do not be bullied through dogmatic insistence or be scared into submission based on this bleak picture of the afterlife that others will paint for you.

“Rather, the scare tactics should not apply since birth itself is the cause of miseries. Following birth, you get old age, disease, and death. What goes up must come down. That which is manifest before us will one day become unmanifest. It was unmanifest [avyakta] prior to the time of birth. There is nothing to worry over in terms of the existence of the individual, but just see the suffering they endure starting from the event known as birth.

अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत
अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना

avyaktādīni bhūtāni
vyakta-madhyāni bhārata
avyakta-nidhanāny eva
tatra kā paridevanā

“All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when they are annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation?” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.28)

“His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada feeds this comparison by pointing out how the animal has a less developed consciousness. They are still conscious. Only a fool would say otherwise. The cow is a female who produces an abundance of milk proportionate to the love and affection they feel towards their children. The more protected the cow is, the more love it shares, the more milk will be produced. There must be consciousness for this to take place. Consciousness indicates the presence of life. The living being is conscious and is therefore known as chetana.

“I do not deny any of these truths, but we have to consider something within the human experience. There are periods of less developed consciousness. Childhood is the obvious example. The child has to wait until their consciousness fully develops before they can begin to receive formal instruction. In many respects, the child is less advanced than the animal.

“How does spiritual life apply within those periods? What about those who are never fortunate enough to have their consciousness fully develop? What hope is there? Have they lost out on the potential associated with the precious human birth?”

It must be acknowledged that through poor association, through mixing with the various modes of nature, not only does the living being take birth in a specific species, but they might have their growth stunted through outside obstruction. Everything is ultimately due to karma, which begins with choice.

पुरुषः प्रकृति-स्थो हि
भुङ्क्ते प्रकृति-जान् गुणान्
कारणं गुण-सङ्गो ऽस्य
सद्-असद्-योनि-जन्मसु

puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi
bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ‘sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu

“The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil amongst various species.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 13.22)

The first time I voluntarily take a seat in a discourse on the science of self-realization, I have no idea what is going on. The terms are foreign to me; the concepts make no sense. I want to learn something, but all I hear are these words not spoken in my area. The words are Sanskrit in origin, and I am not entirely sure why the speaker feels the need to keep reciting Sanskrit. The language is not even spoken in general conversation anymore. Were it not for these sacred texts that people continue to reference, the language would be extinct.

This barrier is actually due to my underdeveloped or obstructed consciousness. I have become too accustomed to mixing with passion and ignorance to realize truth [tattva] when I hear it. This does not mean that hope is lost. This does not mean that I no longer have the potential for intelligence associated with the human birth.

From Bhagavad-gita, we have a shloka which recommends the kinds of items that can be offered to Shri Krishna, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Any person can offer a flower or some water. They can pick up a leaf and kindly present it before a picture or deity of Krishna or one of His non-different expansions like Rama, Vishnu, and Narasimha. Where is the question of a barrier? Even with a less developed consciousness, I always have an inclination towards service. This is the meaning to dharma. The tendency to serve will always stay with me. It has endurance in the manner of the everlasting potency of the individual itself.

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)

Through such offerings, made in the proper mood, with love and devotion, even the animal community can benefit. Though they are stifled through the laws of nature, because of the circumstances of their birth, the work of a single devotee can bring benefits to last beyond the present lifetime.

The double-sided benefit to a clear consciousness is the ability to remember Krishna and also explain the science of connecting with Him to others. The two sides are not joined at the hip. Even if I cannot convince a single person of the need for contemplating Divinity, if I am connected to Krishna then my life is perfect. If I think of Him at the end, anta kāle, then I will reach the highest nature in the next iteration of the life experience.

अन्त-काले च माम् एव
स्मरन् मुक्त्वा कलेवरम्
यः प्रयाति स मद्-भावं
याति नास्त्य् अत्र संशयः

anta-kāle ca mām eva
smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ
yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.5)

In Closing:

Just remember Him at the end,
Practice in that way spend.

Never mind consciousness growing,
Or if all of the facts knowing.

Benefit that others can teach,
Helping them destination to reach.

But at the individual opportunity so,
Towards the imperishable realm to go.

Categories: questions

Tags: children, dailyprompt, life, poem, poems, poetry