We Worship The Person Who Gives Us A Choice

“Arjuna inquired: Which is considered to be more perfect: those who are properly engaged in Your devotional service, or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?” (Bhagavad-gita, 12.1)

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अर्जुन उवाच
एवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते
ये चाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमा:

arjuna uvāca
evaṁ satata-yuktā ye
bhaktās tvāṁ paryupāsate
ye cāpy akṣaram avyaktaṁ
teṣāṁ ke yoga-vittamāḥ

You have been on a good streak lately. As His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada would say, you are building numerical strength. Little by little, slowly, by taking one step at a time, though you are on the elevator method of spirituality, the progress is still gradual. This is how you see it, at least. You are chanting the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

The little secret you keep is that there is one particular process that you love. Reading Bhagavad-gita. Every single day. For your personal enjoyment. One verse is all it takes, to keep you contemplating the Absolute for the entire day. One verse is all it takes to create a vivid image imprinted within the mind. One verse makes you remember the flag of Hanuman, who is the dedicated servant of Shri Rama, flying atop the chariot of Arjuna, who needs some help in resolving his dilemma, which relates to an upcoming military conflict.

From this association in reading you could not be any happier, and so you are eager to visit a house of worship. It is during one such trip that you happen to run into a stranger. They notice the book you are carrying, which has the image of Krishna and Arjuna together on a chariot. They realize where you are going. They are not happy. They start screaming, right in your face. They object, and strongly at that. They are unashamed in voicing the following concerns:

“Repent now. Such and such is the only way. He is the only son. He is the divine in the flesh. Every other person is a sinner. There is no other savior. You must accept now, before it is too late. Stop worshiping those false gods. That is the trouble with you people. You should be praying for eternal life. You should not align with some demonic tradition. Bow down before no one else. That book you are holding will only spoil your brain. It is sinful to even look at the cover of that book.”

Granted, this is not the first time you have encountered such criticisms. The first few times you were taken aback. You never harbor hostility towards other traditions. Rather, you admire the loyalty of the followers. You are relieved that at least they have some baseline of good behavior. There are some guardrails that they hope to remain within. There are some lines they do not wish to cross.

At the same time, you cannot help but chuckle. For sure, anyone can say anything. Any person can claim that their book is the best, that their savior is the only one, that every person who does not follow is eternally condemned. You happen to like Krishna. You happen to realize that the name suits Him; everything about Krishna is attractive. You like His philosophy. You like His deeds, which are known as lila. You like His compassion, such as when He took the humble position in allowing the loving mother known as Yashoda to bind Him to a mortar.

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

“’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)

If Krishna is indeed a false god, He happens to be quite an extraordinary one. You know of no other charlatan who explains the mechanism for the creation, the different elements that constitute the material covering, the essence of identity, the factor of eternal time, and the way actions have consequences. You know of no other cheater who is kind enough to guide His servants along the proper path, shining the torchlight of knowledge from within. You know of no other friend who remains close by, throughout the time continuum, in birth after birth.

तेषां सतत-युक्तानां
भजतां प्रीति-पूर्वकम्
ददामि बुद्धि-योगं तं
येन माम् उपयान्ति ते

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te

“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 10.10)

The most humorous part of the “false god” criticism is that Krishna offers a choice. This is evident in a question directly posed to Krishna. Arjuna asks which path is superior. Worshiping Krishna directly or focusing on the unmanifest and inexhaustible, avyakta and akshara? If the claim is that Krishna is false, that He is a myth or some fictional character, then how to resolve the impersonal side?

Avyakta refers to the unmanifest. Akshara means “eternal” or “imperishable.” These are factual descriptions of something that everyone knows to exist. You could call it the universe. You could call it the sum collection of everything. You could call it Brahman or nirguna. Whatever you call it, it exists. Of this, there is no doubt. Only a lunatic would deny the existence of everything. If they deny that akshara exists, then they deny their own existence.

Krishna provides the option. He recommends direct worship. He reveals that the impersonal path is more difficult to traverse. This is because practically everyone we know is embodied, beginning from the time of birth. They identify with the temporary. They require education precisely to break that false identification. As Goswami Tulsidas rhetorically asks, if you cannot see yourself from the maya that covers you, how are you going to notice the entire collection of the Brahman energy? If you are stuck in the concepts of “my” and “mine”, how can you see what is actually in between the identity and the illusion? Better to follow devotion, in chanting the holy names.

हम लखि लखहि हमार लखि हम हमार के बीच
तुलसी अलखहि का लखहि राम नाम जप नीच

hama lakhi lakhahi hamāra lakhi hama hamāra ke bīca
tulasī alakhahi kā lakhahi rāma nāma japa nīca

“[O mystic] First know yourself, then realize the Supreme Absolute Truth, and then see the material nature standing in between. O wretch, without seeing these how can you understand what the unmanifested [invisible] feature of the Absolute Truth [alakh] actually is? Chant Shri Rama’s holy name instead, says Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 19)

You are not sure why that person scolded you in such a foolish way. You are more than happy to continue worshiping the person who offers you a choice, who allows for association with the factual and eternally existing complete whole. Though He is kind enough to give that option, you will politely decline. You are comfortable and confident following the path of Arjuna, who was supported by the flag carrying the presence of Hanuman.

In Closing:

Rather than with kindness and grace,
Violently yelling in my face.

That following religion wrong,
Something sinful in song.

But politely that appeal declining,
Because from Gita wisdom shining.

Explanation of everything real and true,
Safe in following Arjuna who.