“Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 16.7)

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प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च जना न विदुरासुरा:
न शौचं नापि चाचारो न सत्यं तेषु विद्यते

pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca
janā na vidur āsurāḥ
na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro
na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate

1. Not sending to public school

“How is the new house? That is a great neighborhood. Which school district is it in? Oh, you don’t know. That’s strange. Most people think of the schools before deciding which home to purchase. Real estate agents practically have the district boundaries memorized. You mean you won’t be sending the kids to school? You will teach them at home? Are you out of your mind? Why would you torture them in that way? Those homeschool kids grow up to be weird, if you didn’t know. You haven’t watched those spelling bees on television? I never took you to be a crazy one.”

2. Not signing up for endless injections

“Which doctor do your children go to? What do you mean you don’t know? You’ve never taken them to a doctor? Are you crazy? What about all those injections that they need? I think there are like fifty of them. They are safe and effective; trust me. What do you do when your kids have an ear infection or some other ailment? You mean they’ve never had anything more than a cold? They barely ever get sick. You need to get your head straight. You are going down the dangerous path. I never took you to be a crazy one.”

3. Not sending to daycare

“How much are the daycare facilities around you? Oh, so you haven’t researched that yet? Wait, you don’t plan to send the kids to daycare? Are you sure about that? They will drive you crazy at home. They need to be around other children. They need that social time. You need that time to yourself. I never took you to be a crazy one.”

4. Not requiring medication

“Wait a minute, you are telling me that as a full-grown adult, with a family of their own, you don’t take any medication right now? No anti-depressants? Nothing for high blood pressure or cholesterol? Dude, what is your secret? Oh, you never even go to the doctor. I think you should get that checked out, immediately. You might have something seriously wrong with you. I never took you to be a crazy one.”

5. Not taking alcohol

“Is everything alright? I noticed that you are not drinking. Is it a health thing? Did something happen? Wait, you don’t drink? At all? Why not? Is it because of your religion? I respect that, but it must be torture. Oh, this is just a personal choice? You are happier without beer and wine? I don’t know, man. That sounds kind of crazy.”

…

This is the material world, after all. Applying such an identification immediately indicates duality. When something is material, there is an opposite, which is spiritual. Within the material world, which is itself part of duality, there is an endless list of pairs in duality. The Sanskrit word is dvandva. Bhagavad-gita explains that the living beings are overcome by this dvandva, especially in the dividing line between attraction and aversion. It is like we swing between the two, day after day, year after year. Birth and death are also dvandva; the living being is neither born nor vulnerable to death.

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)

As the place in which we currently inhabit features duality, the above reviewed situations can be argued from either side. The rainy day is favorable to the farmer and unfavorable to the spectator who travelled a great distance to sit in the stands to watch a baseball game. The recent crash in the stock market is devastating to the workers nearing retirement but a boon to investors looking to buy low and sell high.

Aside from the particulars to each case, the above review shows that simply declining a prevailing activity can invite intense scrutiny and criticism. In previous generations, a person would be considered crazy to indulge in any of these same behaviors. You were considered weak in succumbing to intoxicants. You were told to stay away from drugs. You were applauded for rational thought, for careful deliberation, and for a healthy level of skepticism against a government populated through prevailing public sentiment.

“Bhagavad-gita (16.7) says, pravrittim cha nivrittim cha jana na vidur asurah: demons, who are less than human beings but are not called animals, do not know the meaning of pravritti and nivritti, work to be done and work not to be done. In the material world, every living entity has a desire to lord it over the material world as much as possible. This is called pravritti-marga. All the shastras, however, advise nivritti-marga, or release from the materialistic way of life. Apart from the shastras of the Vedic civilization, which is the oldest of the world, other shastras agree on this point. For example, in the Buddhist shastras Lord Buddha advises that one achieve nirvana by giving up the materialistic way of life. In the Bible, which is also shastra, one will find the same advice: one should cease materialistic life and return to the kingdom of God. In any shastra one may examine, especially the Vedic shastra, the same advice is given: one should give up his materialistic life and return to his original, spiritual life.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 6.5.20 Purport)

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that it is the conclusion of all varieties of shastra to lean towards nivritti-marga. This is the path of negativity, in the sense of withdrawing the senses. Rather than constantly indulge, there should be some kind of control. Restriction in the kinds of food to eat. A limit to consumption. A cap on indulging the many urges of the senses. The opposite tendency, pravritti-marga, is basically for the animals. Only focus on enjoying; do not worry about anything else. A person who understands the dividing line between knowing what to do and what not to do, when to engage and when to withdraw, and when to dive in and when to hold back is in the mode of goodness. In simpler terms, they are intelligent. The crazy ones are those who have no idea, who behave indiscriminately, and who have no sound justification for their reckless behavior.

प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च कार्याकार्ये भयाभये
बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्ति बुद्धि: सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी

pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca
kāryākārye bhayābhaye
bandhaṁ mokṣaṁ ca yā vetti
buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī

“O son of Pritha, that understanding by which one knows what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, what is binding and what is liberating, that understanding is established in the mode of goodness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.30)

In the age of Kali, conditions will continue to degrade. What is accepted as standard behavior today will be outlawed and mocked in the near future. The ones who follow nivritti-marga out of a sense of duty, obligation, and loyalty to the Supreme Personality of Godhead will stand out even further, but their persistence will be rewarded. They will follow pravritti externally in the chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

सततं कीर्तयन्तो मां
यतन्तश् च दृढ-व्रताः
नमस्यन्तश् च मां भक्त्या
नित्य-युक्ता उपासते

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ
yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā
nitya-yuktā upāsate

“Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.14)

Their pravritti in this sense will automatically account for nivritti. Their strength and dedication tied to a vow will bring them happiness both today and in the continuation of their devotional life in the future iterations.

In Closing:

By present demonstration,
Accounted future iteration.

However many to be,
Divine presence to see.

Through regulation in nivritti,
And proper action in pravritti.

Despite the world as crazy to mock,
On spiritual destination to lock.

Categories: the five

Tags: bhagavad-gita, dailyprompt, poem, poems, poetry, vedas