“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)

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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

“Perhaps this gets to the heart of an issue well tested by time. It is one of the more puzzling questions to ponder from the side of allegiance. From those who do believe in God. From those who do not attribute the vast expanse to randomness, chance, or accident. The great intelligence involved in fixtures of nature, which represent the universe, both at the abstract and the micro level, could not be due to something that inherently lacks intelligence. Even with the supposed random falling of the coin, on either the heads side or the tails, there is an explanation from physics, in charting the course of the descent of the coin, travelling from point A to point B.

“Someone believes in God. They are inclined towards religion. There is an issue they cannot get over, though: tragedy. Bad outcomes. Horrible things happening to good people. If God is great, then why are so many bad things allowed? If God is kind, how can He allow for vindictiveness, cruelty, pettiness, and cheating?

“Is this image of a hands-off proprietor not also supported through the teaching of the Supersoul within Vedanta study? We are atma, or individual. The corresponding object, which is similar but also superior, proven in its all-pervasiveness, is Paramatma. This is the Supreme Soul. It is said that not a blade of grass moves without the sanction of God. He stands above nature, which is said to be the initial factor in the delivery of results.

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि
गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कार-विमूढात्मा
कर्ताहम् इति मन्यते

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.27)

“Paramatma is guiding both the thief and the homeowner. Both the sinner and the saint. Both the crooked politician destroying the country and the rising star in the opposition party, who is running for office to fix everything. If Paramatma has this all-pervasiveness, what is the point to anything? Why would He help bad people? Why are the wicked allowed to achieve their goals?

“Do you see why a person might turn skeptical to the idea of an all-benevolent God? If my faith is affirmed through auspicious outcomes, what about those that fall the other way? Should tragedies not, correspondingly, diminish my faith?”

This dichotomy between good and bad is necessary at the beginning. For starters, we carry an improper identification from the time of birth. We simply do not know what to do. We require guidance. Someone of authority assists us in making sense out of the world with which we interact. We simply do not have enough time to gather all the evidence and study the findings, through proper deliberation, to reach the correct conclusion.

The pursuit towards good, for rising up to a higher standard, could be said to be the justification for the tradition of worship of gods in the Vedic tradition. Though the Sanskrit word is deva or devata, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada intentionally applies the English translation of “demigod.” There is intelligence behind this choice. There is a reason, and it is not to diminish the standing of the devas or to insult their worshipers.

स तया श्रद्धया युक्तस्तस्याराधनमीहते
लभते च तत: कामान्मयैव विहितान्हि तान्

sa tayā śraddhayā yuktas
tasyārādhanam īhate
labhate ca tataḥ kāmān
mayaiva vihitān hi tān

“Endowed with such a faith, he seeks favors of a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.22)

It is confirmed within Bhagavad-gita that the results to that worship must be sanctioned by the Supreme Lord first. Shri Krishna is the full embodiment of Paramatma. He is like the person that we have a difficult time seeing, since we otherwise only know Him through the automated systems of nature. We have this inclination towards believing in God, in having faith, but our picture is not clear. Krishna is that clearest picture, kindly shown to the people of the time near the conclusion of Dvapara Yuga.

Just what exactly are the worshipers of the devas seeking? Someone like Vrikasura follows intense austerity to win the favor of Mahadeva, who is also known as Lord Shiva. Vrikasura asks for the boon of being able to kill someone simply by touching their head. By the law provided in Bhagavad-gita, the Supreme Lord must approve of this boon. It cannot be distributed without His sanction.

The very same Krishna then specifically intervenes to address the calamity caused by the bestowal of the boon. Narayana assumes a disguise and proceeds to trick Vrikasura into testing the boon on himself. By placing his own hand on his own head, the demon confirms the validity to the boon offered by Mahadeva. Both Krishna and Shiva are truthful in this regard. Everyone essentially gets what they want.

The higher standard is to think beyond duality. Rising above good and bad, auspicious and inauspicious, pleasure and pain – seeing the influence of the Supreme Lord in overseeing the entire creation, but also remaining above it, is rarely achieved. Goswami Tulsidas says that it can only happen through the grace of Hari, which is another name for Krishna. The duality is first created by Hari. He manages that illusion, which is like an energy working at His direction. Only Hari can remove that illusion, but we have to first ask Him for this favor.

We make our request known through worship, through approaching in the same manner as the worshipers of the devas. We can also ask for help in simply repeating the names, such as those found in the maha-mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. The wise understand the presence of Hari in both the good and the bad, in the fluctuations within the energy of illusion. By having this vision, I should know that I have been lifted up by God, to stay in a higher mode of living, which also aligns with my inherent characteristic.

In Closing:

Only when good to believe,
But not when bad to receive.

Not really an intelligent way,
Since no condition always to stay.

Choice at the foundation when,
Up and down to experience then.

My intelligence for above to rise,
To see Hari at everywhere size.

Categories: questions, the maya of hari

Tags: dailyprompt, karma, life, poem, poems, poetry, worship