“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said to the brahmana: I am completely under the control of My devotees. Indeed, I am not at all independent. Because My devotees are completely devoid of material desires, I sit only within the cores of their hearts. What to speak of My devotee, even those who are devotees of My devotee are very dear to Me.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 9.4.63)

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श्रीभगवानुवाच
अहं भक्तपराधीनो ह्यस्वतन्त्र इव द्विज
साधुभिर्ग्रस्तहृदयो भक्तैर्भक्तजनप्रिय:

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno
hy asvatantra iva dvija
sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo
bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ

For a thought exercise, we put ourselves in a position of capability combined with generosity. For the time being, we are not miserly. We might be envious now and then, as that is completely natural given the lack of the satya-sankalpa property. Only the Supreme Lord can work with a one-hundred percent success rate. Only He is undefeated; hence there are endearing names such as Ajita and Achyuta. He has no reason to be envious, since no one can be superior to Him. He is the topmost person, Purushottama.

In this hypothetical situation, we are happy in life. Our goal is to now make others happy. Friends. Family. Loved ones. Those we think are struggling. We want to spend time with them, as well, but there is a problem that thus far has been difficult to solve. It seems that for every person we wish to see, there is some void that needs to be filled. They will not be interested in association unless that deficiency can be addressed. They have certain desires, and they are not ashamed in pursuing those desires.

For instance, one person we know loves to clean up. Show them a mess and they get excited at the prospect of throwing things out. That is the only way to get them to visit, in fact. For another friend, they look forward to intoxication. They have their beverage of choice. If you can fulfill that desire, in a safe environment, they will spend hours seated in one place. For another person, it is playing a particular sport. For someone else, it is cooking outside, on the grill during the heat of summer.

The good news is that we can quickly determine the gap. If compared to an auditor reporting on the health of a large publicly traded company, we could run an analysis and find all of the vulnerabilities, prioritized from the most serious to the least important. The bad news is that it might not be possible to meet every desire. Some of them conflict, in fact. If one person wants one thing, but another person wants just the opposite, how are we going to help both individuals?

We are just one person, wandering the earth in this one lifetime, with our own liabilities, deficiencies, and potentials for failure. We are not perfect. Even if we want to help people, what can we really do? Imagine, then, the standing of the Supreme Lord. We are wishing well to a few people, but He is wishing well to everyone. If He wanted, He could give everything to every person. He has unlimited resources. His well never runs dry. He is married to the goddess of fortune, after all. She knows Him the best. She understands this property of wishing well. She describes it as sarva-bhuta-hite-ratah.

रामेति प्रथितो लोके गुणवान्सत्यवान्शुचिः
विशालाक्षो महाबाहुस्सर्वभूतहिते रतः

rāmeti prathito loke guṇavānsatyavānśuciḥ
viśālākṣo mahābāhussarvabhūtahite rataḥ

“My husband Rama is famous throughout the world. He is pure, truthful, and very gentle. He is mighty-armed, has wide eyes, and is always busy working for the welfare of all living beings [sarva-bhuta-hite-ratah].” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 47.11)

Where does God fit into this picture? What is His disposition? If He is wishing well, why is He not doing anything? Why isn’t He trying to make us happy? The reality is that there is plenty available in terms of wealth. The sun shines brightly. It provides heat and light. The fields produce food, using the combination of rainfall and sunlight. The entire mechanism has the external trigger of yajna. This is sacrifice in the formal sense. Yajna is passed down; it has arrived to us like water from a natural fall sourced at the origin of everything. Yajna is for our happiness.

अन्नाद् भवन्ति भूतानि
पर्जन्याद् अन्न-सम्भवः
यज्ञाद् भवति पर्जन्यो
यज्ञः कर्म-समुद्भवः

annād bhavanti bhūtāni
parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ
yajñād bhavati parjanyo
yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ

“All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rain. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.14)

Yajna is not exclusively for food or for enjoying the temporary life experience. Yajna is actually synonymous with the Supreme Lord, who is known as Vishnu. Yajna is for the human species. The animals cannot engage in worship through a systematic implementation. They cannot become consciously aware of the equivalence between yajna and Vishnu.

More than meeting this desire and that, yajna is for bringing Vishnu Himself. In other words, God provides the means for bringing God into our life. His presence is the real gap. More specifically, it is the awareness of His constant presence that we are lacking. He is always close by. He never leaves us.

अधिभूतं क्षरो भाव: पुरुषश्चाधिदैवतम्
अधियज्ञोऽहमेवात्र देहे देहभृतां वर

adhibhūtaṁ kṣaro bhāvaḥ
puruṣaś cādhidaivatam
adhiyajño ’ham evātra
dehe deha-bhṛtāṁ vara

“Physical nature is known to be endlessly mutable. The universe is the cosmic form of the Supreme Lord, and I am that Lord represented as the Supersoul, dwelling in the heart of every embodied being.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.4)

If we want to help others, if we want them to be happy, if we want them to settle down from their feverish pursuit of temporary experiences, we can give to them this awareness. Reminding them about God, about their relationship to Him, and about the benefit of remembering Him will do the most good for all people, across all periods of time. Keeping Vishnu close by is practically controlling Him, as the devotees attain the superior position through their lack of material desires.

In Closing:

For gifting happiness to try,
Then chance to keep close by.

Yajna implementation through,
For pleasure of Supreme who.

Passed down from immemorial time,
For all auspiciousness to find.

Gifting in remembering and chanting,
Such that even higher stature granting.

Categories: bhagavan

Tags: dailyprompt, friendship, life, poem, poems, poetry, yoga