“O son of Pritha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.13)

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महात्मानस् तु मां पार्थ
दैवीं प्रकृतिम् आश्रिताः
भजन्त्य् अनन्य-मनसो
ज्ञात्वा भूतादिम् अव्ययम्

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha
daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

“Devotees are supposed to be under the protection of this different energy. The ordinary energy, as I will refer to it, is prakriti. This is like accepting shelter from the worst kind of person. They invite you in, promise that things will be okay, but nothing goes well. Envy. Theft. Exhaustion. Deception. As if someone is tossing you around inside of a drying machine, there is one misery after another, only to run out of time at the end. You die, and you wonder what the entire experience was for.

“There is supposedly this other kind of prakriti. It is divyam, or divine. The mahatmas get to experience this version of prakriti. Their mahatma status is based on their connection in consciousness to Krishna, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna is synonymous with transcendence. The mahatmas are in transcendence because of their connection, which can be described as yoga.

“I don’t mean to be skeptical, but where is the evidence? I see that bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen in good places, such as Vrindavana, Mathura, Dvaraka, and Mayapura. Anyone can say that this is the divine will, that there is a higher plan in place, but then you could rationalize the same for everyone else.

“What I am asking is the mechanism by which to determine the nature of the prakriti applicable to a particular situation. How do you prove that devotees are under the protection of the divine prakriti, when the same things happen to them as everyone else; tragedies, torture, and misery?”

This can pivot into a discussion on the nature of evidence, itself. Someone tells me that there is something special going on. They tell me repeatedly. I refuse to believe. Later on, there is visible validation of the original claim. Even then, I can find some alternative explanation. I can find a way to dismiss the original authority. In this way, even if the Supreme Lord Himself were to appear in front of me, giving the visual of the virat-rupa, and promising to oversee everything, I can find a way to not believe Him.

Goswami Tulsidas has an interesting way of looking at the promise for protection. He takes the same concept of a divine prakriti and applies it to the situation of well-meaning, loving, and vigilant parents. This realization is based on both shastra and personal experience. There is the jnana which passes forward and the vijnana which later recognizes that the jnana is correct. Claim and proof. Instruction and validation.

खेलत बालक ब्याल सँग मेलत पावक हाथ
तुलसी सिसु पितु मातु ज्यों राखत सिय रघुनाथ

khelata bālaka byāla sa~ga melata pāvaka hātha
tulasī sisu pitu mātu jyoṃ rākhata siya raghunātha

“In the way that parents intervene when the children play with a snake or put a hand in fire, Sita and Rama are like the mother and father who protect Tulsidas in the manner of a small child.” (Dohavali, 147)

The saint, who worships God in the visual of Rama, thinks of himself as a child. The parents are Rama and His wife, Sita Devi, who is the goddess of fortune. It is a common misunderstanding to leave a scene of worship thinking that everything will be accounted for moving forward, as the devotee sees fit. Since they are worshiping God, since they are always connected and moving closer, upasana, nothing bad will ever happen again. Every desire will meet a successful outcome, saphala.

There is a subtle distinction with the divine prakriti. The devotee still might move to dangerous places. They may try things that are not in their best interest. They might still make mistakes. The difference is that the Supreme Lord will oversee. Like the parents who make sure the children do not place their hand in fire. The child still has freedom. They are not controlled in the manner of a robot. They have their independence, but at the same time there is restriction. A different kind of energy oversees their movements.

A person can only realize this through personal experience. They just “know” that Sita and Rama are there. They know because of the sadness from loss and defeat. They wanted something so bad, but they didn’t get it. They realize later that it was the greatest blessing to have failed in that area. They understand that some higher force was protecting them the entire time. That higher force is the divine prakriti, which is controlled by the highest being of all.

In Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna asks a question relevant to this discussion. He wants to know the way to identify someone who is in transcendence. What are the symptoms? What are the outward signals? How can the identification be made? The subsequent response from Krishna describes attributes that others are known to notice and inquire about.

For instance, a practicing devotee might be asked about their peacefulness. How can they remain calm amidst turmoil? Why do they give the vibes of fearlessness combined with steadiness? Why does it seem like they have life figured out, while everyone else is still wandering about in search of meaning? Why does the devotee remain steady in both happiness and distress? They never get too high or too low. They might be afraid from time to time, but that fear does not negatively impact their way of life. It does not inhibit their movements. It is like they are living in a higher place, while remaining right where everyone else is.

दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्न‍मनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः
वीतरागभयक्रोधः स्थिधीर्मुनिरुच्यते

duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ
sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ
sthita-dhīr munir ucyate

“One who is not disturbed in spite of the threefold miseries, who is not elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.56)

In these instances the devotees are unlikely to boldly proclaim a level of protection from a higher being. They indeed feel that way, but they will only share with those who are not inimical. This means that there has to be some faith involved in believing the instruction of Bhagavad-gita and the Vaishnava acharyas. There is no other way to distinguish between the two kinds of prakriti. You have to try it and see for yourself. The ones under that higher protection know with complete certainty that everything will work out properly in the end, because they have the greatest well-wisher on their side.

In Closing:

Greatest well-wisher on my side,
Like attentive parent to preside.

About my hand in fire to place,
To subtly intervene in that case.

Or if desperate for this outcome to long,
Lost but later realizing the wrong.

With protection steady never to forsake,
Another shelter never to take.

Categories: questions

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