“Our dear friend Yashoda, your son sometimes comes to our houses before the milking of the cows and releases the calves, and when the master of the house becomes angry, your son merely smiles. Sometimes He devises some process by which He steals palatable curd, butter and milk, which He then eats and drinks. When the monkeys assemble, He divides it with them, and when the monkeys have their bellies so full that they won’t take more, He breaks the pots. Sometimes, if He gets no opportunity to steal butter or milk from a house, He will be angry at the householders, and for His revenge He will agitate the small children by pinching them. Then, when the children begin crying, Krishna will go away.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.8.29)

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वत्सान् मुञ्चन् क्‍वचिदसमये क्रोशसञ्जातहास:
स्तेयं स्वाद्वत्त्यथ दधिपय: कल्पितै: स्तेययोगै:
मर्कान् भोक्ष्यन् विभजति स चेन्नात्ति भाण्डं भिन्नत्ति
द्रव्यालाभे सगृहकुपितो यात्युपक्रोश्य तोकान्

vatsān muñcan kvacid asamaye krośa-sañjāta-hāsaḥ
steyaṁ svādv atty atha dadhi-payaḥ kalpitaiḥ steya-yogaiḥ
markān bhokṣyan vibhajati sa cen nātti bhāṇḍaṁ bhinnatti
dravyālābhe sagṛha-kupito yāty upakrośya tokān

1. Kids messing with my animals

“You claim that God is real. I cannot accept that. There is this certain child within the neighborhood who always makes trouble. He must know that my animals are dear to me. We protect them to bring auspiciousness and because of economic concerns. We have our schedule carefully determined beforehand, but here is this small boy disrupting everything.”

2. Kids stealing my food

“You claim that God is real. I cannot accept that. Take this young child, for instance. He steals our food. We are not careless in our storage management. We have everything carefully arranged. The child knows what they are doing. There is intent. How could an almighty figure ever allow such an egregious violation of general etiquette and proper behavior?”

3. Kids breaking my stuff

“You claim that God is real. I cannot accept that. We have food stored for our family. We work hard to produce it. We are not foolish enough to simply pray for everything; we put in the necessary time. And yet this child comes here and spoils everything. There is no respect for private property. A stunning lack of manners.”

4. Kids making my kids cry

“You claim that God is real. I cannot accept that. God would have to care for the innocent. He would have to protect the most vulnerable in the community. Well, then why are my children the victims to this one particularly naughty child? He enters our home and pinches the babies. He wants to make them cry. He wants to leave a lasting impression. Is that not cruel?”

5. Kids pretending like they are innocent

“You claim that God is real. I cannot accept that. If there is a God, He must punish the wicked. He must keep track of who is naughty and who is nice. Well, this one child is the naughtiest of them all. Yet, He pretends that He is innocent! What kind of God would allow such a thing? It is like we good citizens are being taunted.”

…

Some accusations are so foolish that they should not warrant a response, but due to rapidly declining standards in educating the population about the world in which they live, the various paths available, the potential modes of living, and the purpose to the individual in their brief stint in what is known as a lifetime, sometimes even the silliest of ideas can gain traction. In this case, we deal with the denouncement of religion and God, in general, based solely on outcomes which are unfavorable.

For instance, there is no God because I am not tall enough to dunk a basketball. There is no God because I am forced to sleep at night. There is no God because of poverty around the world. Political persecution. Abuse of children. The disparity between the top one percent of earners and those slugging it out in the trenches, sitting through traffic on a daily basis, all to pass the time miserably at their desk while counting down the hours until they can return back home.

Vedic culture begins with acknowledgment of the situation. Coupled with that awareness of the misery is an urgency. The human birth brings the opportunity for cognition of the conditions in duality, but there is the inquiry itself. This opportunity is a blessing. We can notice what is going on around us. We can lament at the despair, the chaos, the tumult, and the malaise. We can make meager attempts at redressing this issue and that, but more importantly, we can question.

We can ask questions about everything from the sun to the dirt. Athato brahma-jijnasa says that now is the time for asking about the spiritual nature. There is urgency. The opportunity was absent in previous life experiences. As part and parcel of Brahman, we have steady vibrancy. We always exist. We have endurance, as compared to the temporary, which lacks endurance.

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)

Let’s lay it out on the table. This world is terrible. Horrible things happen. The worst of all is that every attachment we have will be snatched away from us. This is the work of kāla, which is the Sanskrit word for both time and death. We can try to fight back, but kāla will eventually win. If there is forced separation, why should we bother with attachment? Just what exactly are we playing for? What is the long game?

Prahlada Maharaja and His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada assert that there is no real happiness in this world. When we think we are happy, the experience is merely relief. It is like feeling elation at the annoying sound finally silenced. The rain stopping so that we can enjoy the sun. The cast removed from the broken leg now healed.

These are conditions in duality, which means that their presence or corresponding effect cannot be used as a basis for proving the presence of God. In other words, just because something bad happens to me does not mean there is no God. Something bad for me might be good for someone else. Bad and good are actually pairs applying only to a world of illusion. As confirmed by Goswami Tulsidas, this duality is created by Hari and can only be removed by the same Hari.

हरि माया कृत दोष गुन बिनु हरि भजन न जाहिं
भजिअ राम सब काम तजि अस बिचारि मन माहिं

hari māyā kṛta doṣa guna binu hari bhajana na jāhiṃ
bhajia rāma saba kāma taji asa bicāri mana māhiṃ

“Good and bad, which are part of the illusion created by Hari, cannot be removed without worshiping Hari. Keeping this in mind, worship Rama and renounce all desires.” (Dohavali, 127)

The above mentioned complaints could be voiced by someone living in the area of Gokula-Vrindavana during the time of Shri Krishna. This is the same Hari, but appearing within the manifest world. He retains His transcendental standing. Just because He appears within our midst does not mean that He is suddenly subject to duality.

Krishna is not necessarily well-behaved. As a child, He causes havoc and confusion through His intrusion. He makes His presence known. The mothers in the community are especially aware of His intelligence, exhibited at a young age. They lodge a formal complaint, in something like an abrupt visit to the police station headquartered at the home of Nanda and Yashoda.

While the less intelligent dismiss the idea of a God based on arbitrarily determined negative outcomes, behavior that would lead to such outcomes is worshiped for centuries by saintly people. The Supreme Lord is the most cunning of all, and for His devotees He might even cause disturbance to maintain their attention, which is what every living being ultimately seeks out, craves, and needs for lifetime after lifetime.

In Closing:

From my slumber to awake,
Opportunity to take.

That to annoy or even steal,
With most charming appeal.

For butter kept safely on high,
To enter without explaining why.

And quickly to His home returning,
At least blessed glimpse of Him earning.

Categories: the five, the maya of hari

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, hinduism, poem, poems, poetry, religion