“Thus I have explained to you the most confidential of all knowledge. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad­-gita, 18.63)

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इति ते ज्ञानम् आख्यातं
गुह्याद् गुह्यतरं मया
विमृश्यैतद् अशेषेण
यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु

iti te jñānam ākhyātaṁ
guhyād guhyataraṁ mayā
vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa
yathecchasi tathā kuru

1. Getting married

“Yeah, everyone gets cold feet. Don’t worry about it. I would also seriously consider the other options. If you do not marry this person, then who? Just understand that for anyone you live with, after many years they will get on your nerves. Right now everything is nice, sweet, and full of joy. When that goes away, and it will, how will you feel about the other person? Would you still want them around? That is the question to ponder.”

2. Buying a new home

“Are you sure this is the home for you? I know it looks nice, but consider the factor of maintenance. The pool in the backyard. The extensive lawn that will have to be cut on a regular basis. How is the noise factor? Do cars constantly pass by on the road in front? What about sunlight? Will there be ample natural light within the home during the day? These are some things to ponder.”

3. Changing jobs

“If you change now, you will not know a single person at the new place. The money might be better, but what about the quality of life? How stressful will the typical day be? Another factor to consider is the health of the business. They are profitable today, but what are the long-term prospects of the industry? Is it solid and healthy or is it newly found and vulnerable to the ever-changing whims of the consuming public?”

4. Taking experimental medication

“I know they keep parroting this line of ‘safe and effective,’ but understand that medicine is very complicated. Each patient reacts differently. And I have news for you. If they are sticking a needle in your arm, you are a patient. The potential reactions vary based on genetics, age, and also the health problems a person suffers from at the moment.

“What exactly is this medication supposed to protect you from anyway? Oh, so you would otherwise have a ninety-nine percent chance of surviving the disease? You might not even know you have the disease unless some test tells you that you do? Explain to me again why you are even considering taking this medicine, which is administered through injection?”

5. Religion

The line of questioning applying to the previous categories makes sense. Though we might be pressured into the decisions, if someone advises us to take a step back, to get a clearer picture, to assess the situation from a 10,000 feet view, so to speak, it is not an extraordinary transition. We have to make so many choices in a given day, after all.

Which road to take to work. Which shirt to put on. What to eat for breakfast. Which video to click on from the list recommended by the algorithm. Where to go on the next vacation. When to take the next vacation.

We make so many of these small decisions on a daily basis, but with religion the tendency is to either accept or reject based on the prevailing culture of the area. Such as the religion we inherited from the parents. The one that everyone else in the community follows. In many cases, it is like automatic enrollment, in the manner that the local motor vehicle office registers us to vote when we get our driving license. We either show up to the house of worship on a regular basis or we never go at all. That is what they say about attendance at church.

But if we think about it further, religion, in the genuine sense, is the most important decision we make. This is because the consequences to our other decisions have temporary significance. Even the end of life, which was guaranteed from the time of birth, has a fixed duration of impact. This is because the individual inside moves on. Prior to birth they are avyakta. They become avyakta again after leaving this world. They are only vyakta based on our perception, when they are alive.

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)

We should deliberate on religion. It is a choice. That is at the heart of the matter. The consequences depend on the choice that we make. We should not follow blindly, though we have the option to. We should not follow out of fear of retribution, punishment, or rebuke from the community at large. We already suffer so much. Birth is one of the four miseries of a material existence. After birth, we must experience old age, disease, and death.

What can be more terrifying than the guaranteed prospect of losing everything we work so hard for? We will one day be permanently separated from our friends and family. This truth applies whether we agree with the principle or not. We can curse at the sun in the sky or appreciate its routine appearance, but our opinion does not change the situation. The sun will stay where it is.

One way to tell that the culture described in Bhagavad-gita is genuine is to see the manner in which it is presented. The student in that situation has a choice. Though he is speaking to the highest being of all, the origin of teachers, the adi-guru, there is no force applied.

The substantiation for the standing of the teacher is in the words themselves. In the modern day, some of us have a bitter experience with religion. Their leaders tell us to follow or else. This is our only chance. If we fail to show up, if we do not align with their particular institution, then we are doomed forever.

On the other side, the teacher of Arjuna explains the science of the world in which we live. The difference between matter and spirit, which is fundamental to gaining a proper understanding of identification. The five gross elements of nature, along with the three subtle elements and how they end up associating with the individual, who is otherwise unaffected by anything which covers it.

भूमिर् आपो ऽनलो वायुः
खं मनो बुद्धिर् एव च
अहङ्कार इतीयं मे
भिन्ना प्रकृतिर् अष्टधा

bhūmir āpo ‘nalo vāyuḥ
khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego – altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.4)

The teacher of Arjuna explains the nature of action and consequence. The true meaning of work and how action can sometimes be inaction and vice versa. The teacher explains that the individual persists through the shifts to the material nature surrounding the living beings. There is both purusha and prakriti to study. Then there is the influence of time, which delivers the deserved results to action at the appropriate time.

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)

There is an explanation of how the suffering and enjoying takes place. We also learn of the standing of the highest being in relation to all that we see. We learn of the individual’s relationship to that highest being. That understanding is the most important, since it is the factor of highest priority when assessing the choices to make in life. It is like the highest goal; the one upon which all other goals are tied.

मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्
किञ्चिद् अस्ति धनञ्जय
मयि सर्वम् इदं प्रोतं
सूत्रे मणि-गणा इव

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat
kiñcid asti dhanañjaya
mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ
sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva

“O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.7)

After offering this elaborate presentation, though in a brief manner through beautiful poetic verses in the Sanskrit language, the teacher leaves the option to the student. Arjuna should deliberate fully. Only then will the decision mean something. If Arjuna follows out of careful consideration, after weighing the different options, then the choice in favor of dharma will be strong. The vow will be strong, dridha-vratah, and so the choice for real religion will yield real benefits, to last beyond the temporary.

येषां त्व् अन्त-गतं पापं
जनानां पुण्य-कर्मणाम्
ते द्वन्द्व-मोह-निर्मुक्ता
भजन्ते मां दृढ-व्रताः

yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ
janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām
te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā
bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ

“Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.28)

In Closing:

Known already to me,
As the greatest to see.

That kindness to cousin shown,
Away by that mercy blown.

But still with that recommendation to give,
That after careful consideration live.

Upon hearing truths compilation,
In bhakti path with determination.

Categories: the five

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