“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)

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नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः
उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः

nāsato vidyate bhāvo
nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ
ubhayor api dṛṣṭo ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darśibhiḥ

The following is a criticism offered by someone not familiar with the Vedic tradition. Their only experience is through the visuals, in the casual glances across online images, videos, and depictions. Others have reinforced the general characterization, which is negative in comparison to the prevailing religions of the area.

“These people and their false gods. There are too many to count, in fact. The imagery is nice. The clothes they wear are beautiful. We are not mocking their fashion sense, but just see how silly everything is. The foundation is entirely wrong. Instead of praying for wealth, fame, good health, and the like, they should focus on something more meaningful. They are stuck in these demonic tendencies because their faith obviously has no information about the way to eternal life. There is only one way. That way is ours and what we inherited from our ancestors. These people should be praying for eternal life.”

Such commentary highlights a gross ignorance not only about the tradition, but also about the very nature of living. It would be akin to a high school student not knowing how to read. A decorated scholar of mathematics, with PhD credentials and all, not knowing how to add two plus two. When the most basic information is lacking, how can criticism based on that deficiency be taken seriously?

The reality is that there is already eternal life. There is nothing to reinstate. No one ever instated it, in fact. The living being is just that, living. It has been living since before anyone can remember. Choose an arbitrary point in time and assign it the status of “beginning.” Understand that the living being was alive at that time. It was vibrant. It was potent. It was just as much alive back then as it is today.

Even this viewpoint is limiting, though. We choose a point in time at random and consider it to be the beginning. There is a period of time prior to that, though. Time is infinite in both directions; whether moving forward or in reverse. Since the living being has been living since before anyone can remember, there is the Sanskrit description of anadi.

We should again emphasize that no one installed this property on the living being. This is one of the very definitions of life. Life has endurance. That which is not life, i.e. everything else, lacks endurance. Knowing what is life and what is not life is a core principle of the spiritual science. Actually, this is the beginning of real education. Everything else is meaningless.

Let us pause for a moment. We can easily cast aspersions upon any teacher or method of teaching. In this case, we can analyze. We can draw out an extended timeline to see if our characterization is valid. We say that education on that which lacks endurance has no meaning. What are some things which lack endurance?

The experience with food. The results of military conflict. The chase for the next exotic vacation. The drive to move to a larger residence. The pursuit of companionship. In other words, any situation with a temporary outcome will lack endurance. Any education focusing on creating those temporary outcomes hence also lacks endurance; it is not meaningful in the long run.

As the living being was alive in the past, it will continue to be alive in the future. Again, interference is not possible; the property is in a steady state. The property was never injected, installed, or configured by an outside force. As the living being is anadi, they are also ananta, which is endless.

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्
नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतो ऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin
nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ‘yaṁ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.20)

There is no reason to pray for something that you already have. What should we pray for, then? Why are people asking for different things from different gods, then? The reason is that because of illusion we forget our eternal nature. For some people, to simply take a seat in the classroom of the spiritual education is a mountain too tall to climb. They would rather do anything else, in fact. For such individuals, there is encouragement through a systematic process of supplication, wherein they can ask for little things. Gradually, they will learn that they are not in control, that they are not the doer, and that the rewards they seek will ultimately not have lasting meaning.

अन्तवत्तु फलं तेषां तद्भवत्यल्पमेधसाम्
देवान्देवयजो यान्ति मद्भक्ता यान्ति मामपि

antavattu phalaṃ teṣāṃ tadbhavatyalpamedhasām
devāndevayajo yānti madbhaktā yānti māmapi

“Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.23)

The wise understand that they are already eternal. They already have eternal life. What they now pray for is eternal service. The way to eternal service is to be free from illusion. To always understand the eternal identity as spirit soul. To realize that there is a source of both the material and the spiritual. That source is also eternal as spirit, but never vulnerable to illusion. He never is mistaken as to His identity. He never prays for the wrong thing. He never has to pray; He is the object of prayer.

परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातन:
य: स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति

paras tasmāt tu bhāvo ’nyo
’vyakto ’vyaktāt sanātanaḥ
yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu
naśyatsu na vinaśyati

“Yet there is another nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.20)

Those who pray for eternal service receive the reward of elevation to a realm that has endurance. In that place, there is no difference between matter and spirit. The service is eternal and so are the results. We can pray for such eternal service through chanting the maha-mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Final word His say,
Never having to pray.

Or into illusion set,
Desires immediately to get.

Ourselves eternal just the same,
But now into illusion came.

Service towards endurance to lead,
Chanting holy names to proceed.

Categories: religion

Tags: bhagavad-gita, dailyprompt, hare krishna, heaven, poem, poems, poetry