Like Volunteering For A Lifetime Of Service

“One time, that wicked king of the Daityas saw his son of lotus-like face and beautiful eyes, surrounded by women, having returned from the home of the guru. In his hand, that boy was holding a slate which had the mark of a chakra at the top and the name of Krishna written with great adoration.” (Narasimha Purana, 41.35-36)

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तं पद्मवक्त्रं दैत्येन्द्रः कदाचित् स्त्रीवृतः खलः
बालं गुरुगृहायातं ददर्श स्वायतेक्षणम्
गृहीत्वा तु करे पुत्रं पट्टिका या सुशोभना
मूर्ध्नि चक्राङ्किता पट्टी कृष्णनामाङ्कितादरात्

taṃ padmavaktraṃ daityendraḥ kadācit strīvṛtaḥ khalaḥ
bālaṃ gurugṛhāyātaṃ dadarśa svāyatekṣaṇam
gṛhītvā tu kare putraṃ paṭṭikā yā suśobhanā
mūrdhni cakrāṅkitā paṭṭī kṛṣṇanāmāṅkitādarāt

It is one of the more puzzling aspects of the implementation of bhakti-yoga, as recommended by the acharya, who is the latest link in the parampara which traces so far into the past that no one can accurately identify a date of inception. On the surface, there is the practice of worshiping a statue. This is like the bank into which all the gains are deposited. Like a place of safekeeping, but there is no visible balance to track.

यत् करोषि यद् अश्नासि
यज् जुहोषि ददासि यत्
यत् तपस्यसि कौन्तेय
तत् कुरुष्व मद्-अर्पणम्

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

“O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.27)

The offerings arrive in a steady flow, like the ocean guaranteed to hit the shore at periodic intervals. The waves receded for a brief moment, but they will return. In the same way, the devotee left with the offering plate moments ago. Various delicacies, in the vegetarian category and more specifically the sattvic mode of living. The space in front of the altar is empty, but since the devotee is fixed in their vow, dridha-vrata, there will be another offering in the near future.

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)

Why not take the same effort to feed others? Why not work hard for something physical in return? Why not go the extra mile to please the spouse, the children, the extended family, or the circle of friends? Why dedicate so much time to pleasing an inanimate object, like a statue or a painting? The object of worship will not directly reciprocate. There is no confirmation of the acceptance of the offering. At least the tax authorities respond with a notification that your yearly return has been accepted. There might be problems after that, but at least there is two-way communication.

Devotional service is puzzling in this way, but the reality when viewed over a larger stretch of time is that everything else will meet with defeat. My friends. My family. My stature in society. My bank balance. These will not stay forever. I am working hard to benefit my body, but that body will be rejected as quickly as it was once accepted during the time spent in the womb of the mother.

The relationship with the Almighty, through His merciful incarnation of the deity, can stay forever. The benefit extends into the afterlife. We have evidence in the current lifetime. The afterlife is not that much different than today, as we are associating with a changing body. Our identity is fixed. If we are experiencing the bliss of devotional service today, tomorrow, and days into the future, it means that our link is active. We are connecting with transcendence. We are tapped into the Divine consciousness.

That same connection stays active moving forward. It is the one thing we get to keep after we move on from this temporary body. Consciousness carries forward. It is like the air transporting aromas. My wife is baking blueberry muffins in the kitchen. I am upstairs, but I can tell what is happening in the kitchen downstairs. This is because the air has transported the aroma. The same mechanism applies to consciousness, as described in Bhagavad-gita.

शरीरं यद् अवाप्नोति
यच् चाप्य् उत्क्रामतीश्वरः
गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति
वायुर् गन्धान् इवाशयात्

śarīraṁ yad avāpnoti
yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaraḥ
gṛhītvaitāni saṁyāti
vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt

“The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.8)

Someone like Hiranyakashipu cannot reconcile the concept of pure devotion, wherein the object of worship is compelled to reciprocate. Someone like Prahlada Maharaja worships spontaneously, out of affection. He will never turn the relationship into a business. He is not worshiping as part of a transaction that has a credit on the other side. The debit is the offering, and the credit would be some sort of personal benefit.

This is the way Hiranyakashipu behaved. He had a transactional relationship with Lord Brahma, who is the creator. Hiranyakashipu essentially tortured himself as a sign of allegiance. That extreme in austerity was enough to bring Brahma nearby, who was then ready to offer benedictions.

Meanwhile, the five-year old son of Hiranyakashipu was drawing symbols on a slate. Prahlada was writing the name of Krishna with great adoration. There was no extensive self-torture. It is not like Prahlada had signed a lease carrying a stipulation of regular offerings made in exchange for use of a particular facility. Prahlada would continue to worship whether others approved or not. Whether there was a personal gain or imminent danger as a result of connecting with Vishnu, Prahlada understood the potential of a persistent consciousness focused on the permanent. The father could never understand, even when later meeting the object of worship face-to-face.

In Closing:

Towards painting to steer,
For lifetime to volunteer.

In a manner fixed and steady,
To offer everything ready.

If to others taking the same,
What in long term to gain?

Since all destroyed by time,
Preserved this consciousness of mine.