A Rare Position Is An Isolated Position

By krishnasmercy on January 23, 2025 • ( 0 )

“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.19)

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बहूनां जन्मनाम् अन्ते
ज्ञानवान् मां प्रपद्यते
वासुदेवः सर्वम् इति
स महात्मा सु-दुर्लभः

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ

“Can I follow bhakti-yoga and keep my friends? I don’t see why there has to be a choice. I like hearing about the difference between matter and spirit. The proper understanding of goals, achievements, successes, and even failures is important. No one else is going to give it to you as straight as the acharyas of the Vedic tradition, following the conclusion of Vedanta, which is the conclusion of all conclusions.

“At the same time, I know that there will be a line of distinction drawn between devotee and non-devotee. I am not even touching on the cultish behavior of avoiding people that you disagree with. There is the specific recommendation encouraging sadhu-sanga. Sat-sanga is an analogous term. Stay with like-minded individuals. Maintain the association of devotees.

“Well, if you are gravitating towards one side, you are automatically moving away from another side. The Sanskrit is asat-tyaga. Give up the association of non-devotees. The people who are not interested in the truth, tattva, will not be helpful to your progress, in the long run. There is the risk that they will bring you down, that their desires, objectives, and behaviors will pollute your understanding of the world.

“What if I am not ready for that extreme? I want to hear, shravanam. I want to chant, kirtanam. I want to stay attached to the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. I love the culture of bhakti-yoga, sanatana-dharma, but I want to keep my friends. I want to stay close with my family. Why should I have to choose between two sides?”

The truth is that the choice will already be made for you. There is simply no other way. If you have a specific interest, others will either share that interest or disagree with it. If you want to maintain a focus on the difference between soul and body, and someone else is interested in intoxication, enjoying the senses, and losing rational thought, where is the point of compromise? Eventually, one side will have to choose. Either you stay with your friend or you place your own interest at a higher priority. Your friend will have to make the same choice.

There is also a scientific basis to this harsh reality of progression in knowledge and understanding of the universe. Shri Krishna reveals that a person knows Him in truth after many births. There is the potential for countless janmas. We do not know how many previous times we have been in this world and in what capacity. We could have been a fish, a tree, or a dog. Only in this human birth do we have the opportunity for self-realization, due to the potential for realization itself, which is associated with rational thought.

If others are irrational, based on their pursuit of the temporary, then where is the middle ground? If someone has gone mad in hoping to eliminate the realities of a temporary existence, then the only hope is to lift them up. If I am struggling to maintain my own balance, any deviation, whether subtly encouraged or forced through pressure from peers, can erase all of my progress.

The person who finally understands Krishna is rare. The Sanskrit word is sudurlabhah. There is a saying within the realm of achievers. “It is lonely at the top.” This is because few people reach the height of excellence. A rare position is an isolated position. There is simply no way around the reality.

“’In My opinion,’ Shrimati Radharani continued, ‘one should not hear about Krishna, because as soon as a drop of the nectar of His transcendental activities is poured into the ear, one immediately rises above the platform of duality, attraction and rejection. Being completely freed from the attraction of material attachment, one gives up the attachment for this material world, family, home, wife, children and everything which is materially dear to every person. Being dispossessed of all material acquisition, one makes his relatives and himself unhappy.’” (Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 46)

Shrimati Radharani goes one step further. She says that it is better to never hear about Krishna. Because once a person does, they become attached. Due to that attachment, they end up alienating friends, family, society, and community. Of course, this is a remark made in frustration. There is a hint of sarcasm, since Radharani always stays with Krishna. There is no association which can change her inclination.

This must mean that there is something special on the other side. The rare position of understanding Krishna, which is also an isolated position, brings an extraordinary experience. As Krishna is purna, there is nothing lacking in Him. That which we were afraid to lose will be replaced by something millions of times greater in the enjoyment provided.

In Closing:

Ready into bhakti to leap,
But my friends wanting to keep.

Why this choice having to make?
Instead the best of both should take.

Truth that division automatically drawn,
The interest potential rivalry to spawn.

Radharani saying better not to even hear,
Since attached to Krishna inevitably clear.