Not The Dreaded Renewal

By krishnasmercy on January 6, 2025 • ( 0 )

“The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are surrendered to Me, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss enlightening one another and conversing about Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 10.9)

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मच्-चित्ता मद्-गत-प्राणा
बोधयन्तः परस्परम्
कथयन्तश् च मां नित्यं
तुष्यन्ति च रमन्ति च

mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā
bodhayantaḥ parasparam
kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ
tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca

It is business, after all. People have to eat. They have to support their families. They would like to go on vacation every now and then. Live in a nice house. Basically, not have to constantly worry about maintaining a living. As a result, innovation continues; there are new ways that people with an idea for a business get started and subsequently enjoy profit from it. They fulfill one of the four rewards of a human existence, artha.

One such innovation is the subscription service. A long-held complaint of the consumer of television programming has been the lack of an a la carte purchasing option. They get many channels bundled together. The average viewer does not watch most of these channels. They have a few here and there that they prefer. They would rather pay a cheaper monthly fee with a reduced lineup of channels.

But bundling is the entire reason for the model working in the first place. The networks starting up get to air in homes in established markets. They get a share of the monthly fee, whether people watch their channel or not. In more recent times, there is the growing practice of cord-cutting. Consumers can subscribe to individual online streaming services and not be forced into a higher monthly fee.

This model works for the providers precisely because the payment is automatic. The consumers might even forget that they are subscribed. At each renewal date, the credit card gets charged for the entire fee. The gym membership has worked under the same model, and successfully at that, for a long time. We could characterize the practice as some kind of exploitation, but then the consumer is also looking for their own deal. These kinds of dealings are to be expected as part of routine business activity.

We can use the subscription service as a way to understand the steady dedication and expanding flow of output in the mysticism of devotion. This goes by the term bhakti-yoga in Sanskrit, and the followers say that it is the original way of living. The claim is that the individual, who is spirit soul, is naturally inclined to serve. That is their dharma. When we apply the translation of “religion” to dharma, it is to show that allegiance with a higher power is natural to the individual. Dharma as a religious system is the same as dharma as an inherent characteristic. Since this characteristic is steady across the infinite time continuum, real religion can be known as sanatana-dharma.

Bhakti-yoga is one specific implementation of dharma. Since it is yoga, some of the limbs are routine and regulation, like niyama and yama. If classifying further, we could call this vaidhi-bhakti. It is following out of a sense of responsibility, with attachment to a specific cause. In vaidhi-bhakti, I am always aware of my progress. I have to be convinced to follow that devotion, and I have no problem with the austerities voluntarily imposed.

When vaidhi-bhakti matures, it turns into raganuga-bhakti. Here, the devotee follows because of attachment, raga. In this situation, there is no need of convincing. Rather, the yogi can not be convinced out of their devotion. Their routine of chanting mantras, for instance, continues every single day. The rising of the sun is like a renewal of a subscription to service. The devotee is happy to once again repeat a mantra, such as: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

The obvious distinction in this case is in the nature of the service provider. There is no exploitation. There is no profit to be extracted. There is no subtle “thumbs up” for the forgetfulness, wherein the monthly fee gets charged even if there is no engagement. Rather, the object of worship is itself so full of bliss, joy, beauty, and goodness that the person worshiping is more than happy to keep renewing the contract.

As described in Bhagavad-gita, the yogis in devotion take great joy in talking about their object of worship. They are not limited in this area, since the object of worship is ananta. There is no end to His glories. There is also no beginning to His presence, His standing, and His command over the many universes. The feeling from the interaction is ramanti, or blissful. It is the exact opposite of material dealings, which are like chewing the chewed.

श्रीप्रह्राद उवाच
मतिर्न कृष्णे परत: स्वतो वा
मिथोऽभिपद्येत गृहव्रतानाम्
अदान्तगोभिर्विशतां तमिस्रं
पुन: पुनश्चर्वितचर्वणानाम्

śrī-prahrāda uvāca
matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho ’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām
adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ
punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām

“Prahlada Maharaja replied: Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Krishna are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.30)

I might have to go to great lengths to cancel the gym membership. I am sick of that streaming service and their programming which is no longer appealing. I forgot my password, and so I can no longer log in. On the other side, with bhakti-yoga, if followed under proper authority, there is only increasing enthusiasm. There is utsaha which grows with further knowledge of the glories of the object of worship.