“’O naughty child, now try going from here, if you can.’ Having spoken thus, she returned to her household duties.” (Vishnu Purana, 5.6.15)

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यदि शक्नोषि गच्छ त्वम् अतिचञ्चलचेष्टित
इत्य् उक्त्वा च निजं कर्म सा चकार कुटुम्बिनी

yadi śaknoṣi gaccha tvam aticañcalaceṣṭita
ity uktvā ca nijaṃ karma sā cakāra kuṭumbinī

“You hear the following criticism quite often. Perhaps the voices are louder now, due to the popularity of social media. Any person can say anything. Their opinion does not have to necessarily be the one in favor, the one most accepted, or the one from a reputable source. Rather, in the interest of influencing, I might look to any and all such comments to support my position. In the past, there was the effort involved in gathering your thoughts, writing them on paper, placing the written message in an envelope, and then mailing that envelope to reach the address of a periodical or publication. From there, the publishers would decide which thoughts and ideas to include in their upcoming issue, to give a general idea of popular opinion on a subject.

“The criticism in this case relates to people thanking God or considering that an Almighty force is responsible for their rescue. It could be after escaping danger or peril, such as a tragic accident. It could be after avoiding getting the tap on the shoulder during the latest but unexpected round of layoffs from the employer. A person thanks God when their child is born without issues, when the delivery goes through without pain. They thank God for the blessings they receive. They feel there is a purpose in their life, that some higher power is involved in steering their movements.

“The criticism here is that God is not involved, at all. For starters, if He is to get credit for the good outcomes, is He not equally culpable for the bad outcomes? In addition, science can explain everything. The reason that person survived the accident is because of where they were seated. That location happened to be spared from the collision. Science is the reason for good health. Science, in combination with randomness, delivers the results. There is no God or heavenly being that anyone can see in those instances.

“What is the response from the believers? Let’s say that the above criticism is offered from a distinguished gentleman. Someone who is not mean, petty, or vindictive. Someone who speaks eloquently, who maintains a cool head and a respectable disposition. They are open-minded, and their lack of religious affiliation is a contributing factor in reaching this opinion. How does the believer respond, if participating in an honest and friendly discussion?”

To begin, science only recognizes what is already there. It does not necessarily create, at least not with respect to the nature with which we interact. For instance, with the accident, science explains that there was a collision causing a spark of fire that only expanded a certain distance. Because someone was outside of the area of influence of the fire, they walked away from the ordeal unharmed. This is merely explaining the scientific foundation to the sequence of events. This does not explain why one person took their seat in a certain place.

The counterargument might be that chance or randomness is responsible for the rest. If that is the case, why did not the same randomness spare others from the ordeal? Why does randomness punish one person and reward another? If randomness is the governing law of the universe, then there is no purpose to behavior that society considers “good.” There would be no reason for a prison facility, for instance. Stealing would be on the same level as respecting property. In fact, we see that thieves sometimes rise to the highest levels of influence in society. If randomness governs everything, then there is no reason to be polite, kind, honest, and considerate.

There is the side of the believers, but there is an additional ascension required. That platform is knowing. The knowers understand that there is indeed a cause of all causes. This is described in Sanskrit as sarva karana-karanam. Science only explains what is already there. For instance, if I develop a new software application for managing insurance claims, we have agents at a particular company who use it. There is a training session to provide a general overview on how the system works, on the sequence of steps to take when entering in a claim.

Over the first few weeks, some of the agents run into issues. They cannot add more than one phone number to a particular party. The button is simply not there. It vanishes after the first phone number gets entered. One of the other agents finds a way around the issue, though. If they close out the system and open the existing claim again, the option for adding the second phone number is there. This is one instance of science at work. A person observed and then experimented. They figured out something about which they were not initially familiar.

This implementation of science does not automatically remove the possibility of a creator. After all, I wrote the application. There is a reason that the button disappears. There is code in the background. That code does not account for multiple entries for phone numbers on a given party attached to a claim, during a single user session. My intelligence, or intentional action in this case, is responsible for the issue. Science never created the issue; it only recognized it.

The Vaishnava tradition of spirituality places emphasis on both recognizing the cause to the randomness mentioned above and appreciating that cause. The reality is that randomness or chance is merely the absence of knowledge of the cause. The Vaishnava tradition says that there is one being ultimately responsible. He is directing nature, which must cooperate for any chosen action to produce the intended result. We might have seen the result manifest so many times in the past that we feel there is a guarantee moving forward, but the reality is different. We are not the doer. There are no guarantees.

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)

Upon recognizing the cause, the Vaishnava also appreciates. Whether the results are good or bad. Whether there is tragedy or triumph. Whether there is terror or intrepidness. Whether in isolation or surrounded by well-wishers. We have the ideal example in the people of Gokula-Vrindavana. They appreciate everything that goes into maintaining their life. They even appreciate the king of heaven, for supplying rain. It takes a compelling presentation of persuasion to get those people to one time skip the annual yajna in honor of Indra, to instead direct their offerings to the nearby hill known as Govardhana. But even that involves appreciation, as the cows are dear to the people and that hill is dear to the cows.

कथ्यतां मे पित: कोऽयं सम्भ्रमो व उपागत:
किं फलं कस्य वोद्देश: केन वा साध्यते मख:

kathyatāṁ me pitaḥ ko ’yaṁ
sambhramo va upāgataḥ
kiṁ phalaṁ kasya voddeśaḥ
kena vā sādhyate makhaḥ

“My dear father, I am very respectfully and humbly inquiring. What is this arrangement? Why you are busy in making some sacrificial ceremony, what is the reason, and what is the result? For whose benefit is it and by what means will it be accomplished?” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.24.3)

The people even appreciate a grinding mortar. Vital to their food production, which always goes towards offering, it is also associated with their beloved Krishna. He is the jewel of Vrindavana and the wonderfully adored son of mother Yashoda. She one time binds Him to a mortar to try to keep Him in place. If only for a little while, Yashoda can go back to fulfilling her duties as a housewife, kutumbini.

The laws of science say that a small child cannot escape from such a situation. The mortar is heavy. The child might be able to untangle the ropes, but the mortar itself will not budge. Except there is something different about young Krishna. He happens to be the grand coordinator, the one responsible for the results to action to manifest. Therefore, even that mortar can be moved by Him, dragged in between two trees and knocking them down. Since that time, saintly people appreciate Krishna even more, referring to Him as Damodara.

In Closing:

Since incredible shown,
As Damodara known.

Mortar typically food to grind,
But one time Yashoda to bind.

Her beloved but naughty child,
To calm behavior to mild.

Krishna the coordinator of all,
Then making those trees fall.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, krishna lila, poem, poems, poetry, science