“’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

“It is all we heard during childhood. Every instruction, every rule, every limit had some sort of kindness at the foundation. You should do well in school because that is how to make the teacher happy. You should share your toys in order to get along with others. You should get up on time, take a shower, change into clean clothes, and be responsible in order to present yourself well to the rest of the world. Be kind. Don’t be selfish. Be good. Don’t be bad.

“Well, now that I am a seasoned adult, I have some news for you. Bad people get away with things. All the time! Have you ever been on the highways? The motorcycles zip through traffic, travelling in lanes that do not exist. The truly reckless drivers rarely get apprehended by the police. No, instead the powers that be threaten to lock up some innocent family man who happened to be travelling a little faster than normal one day. He wasn’t anywhere near the fastest car on the road, but of course he is the one the police choose to target.

“Nice guys finish last. You and I both know it. The people who successfully ascend the corporate ladder are the clever ones. They are shrewd enough to know how to displace burdens of responsibility. They throw their colleagues under the bus, whenever convenient. They are more interested in appearance than substance. The same applies in politics. The low-level criminals go to prison, while the high-level criminals get elected to office.

“Why should anyone follow dharma, then? When dharma does not pay, what good is giving attention to it? Should not every person become selfish? Is that not the way to succeed? No one else is going to look after my happiness. I can guarantee you that. I have come to learn that even friends and family are envious; they do not wish me well.”

In one sense, being selfish is the way to go. It is the way recommended by a saintly person like Prahlada Maharaja. Goswami Tulsidas offers a similar recommendation. The key is in understanding the equality between svartha and paramartha. If being good relates to paramartha, then svartha would naturally go against that objective. The typical justification for being good is for fulfilling a higher objective, while svartha is for finding something to enjoy right now.

स्वारथ परमारथ सकल सुलभ एक ही ओर
द्वार दूसरे दीनता उचित न तुलसी तोर

svāratha paramāratha sakala sulabha eka hī ora
dvāra dūsare dīnatā ucita na tulasī tora

“When your personal and supreme interests can be easily obtained from one place, it is not sensible for you in weakness to beg at the doors of others, O Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 54)

If we understand the proper destination of paramartha, then we will see that svartha is exactly the same. Paramartha might be the long-term interest of enjoying in the afterlife, but the association of one person is above the duality of good and bad. The destination of His lotus feet is like the highest paramartha.

न ते विदु: स्वार्थगतिं हि विष्णुं
दुराशया ये बहिरर्थमानिन: ।
अन्धा यथान्धैरुपनीयमाना-
स्तेऽपीशतन्‍त्र्यामुरुदाम्नि बद्धा: ॥

na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ
andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās
te ’pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ

“Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Vishnu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.31)

The destination of His lotus feet happens to also fulfill svartha. There is a reason someone might be eager to visit a house of worship, partake of innocent activities like eating food in the mode of goodness, reading from sacred texts, and chanting the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. They are happy following along. They might feel some pressure in the beginning, to conform to the standards revealed to them, but there is the potential for a gradual transformation. The vaidhi in bhakti turns into raganuga. Devotion becomes the way of living; it is no longer a means to an end.

If our experiences teach the opposite, that adharma pays more than dharma, then just consider the duration of existence. Activities leading to the future development of a temporary body are karma. There is always an initial cause to the results, but the results do not necessarily remain for a long time. Sometimes, we don’t even remember the initial activities as the cause when the results eventually manifest.

अदृष्टगुणदोषाणामध्रुवाणां तु कर्मणाम्
नान्तरेण क्रियां तेषां फलमिष्टं प्रवर्तते

adṛṣṭaguṇadoṣāṇāmadhruvāṇāṃ tu karmaṇām
nāntareṇa kriyāṃ teṣāṃ phalamiṣṭaṃ pravartate

“Unseen and indefinite are the good and bad reactions of fruitive work. And without taking action, the desired fruits of such work cannot manifest.” (Lakshmana speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 66.17)

Here is a question to ponder. Which would we rather have? Temporary rewards, from either alignment with dharma or flagrant violations of proper etiquette. Or the association of the highest being of all, in such a way that we can never forget Him. Pure goodness leads to the latter result. We have the ideal example in Yashoda, who is the mother in the Gokula community. She is the embodiment of the kutumbini, as she manages the household and pays attention to responsibility.

Yashoda is at such a high level of conduct that she receives the wonderful benediction of Shri Krishna as a foster son. Yashoda is so bound in a relationship of love that she is completely unaware of the Divine nature of her son. She does not know that He is God. She feels compelled to offer parental affection. This is for both the good and the bad. If Krishna misbehaves, she is not above chasing after Him with a whipping stick. To keep Him settled in one place, she even attempts to bind Him to a mortar. After finally succeeding in getting the ropes to join, she taunts her child. She asks Him to try to move now.

The mystics, the scholars, and the renounced workers are so desperate to find the one known as Damodara to the people of Gokula. He was always loved. He was always well-regarded. He was always within the consciousness of the people. No temporary reward from following adharma can ever compare.

In Closing:

Since bad guys always win,
Does it not pay to sin?

The good exploited and defeated,
Always in worst position seated.

Of the highest good consider,
How Krishna in Gokula to deliver.

Yashoda to motherly duties attention,
To her own son in loving detention.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, damodara, god, hare krishna, kindness, poem, poems, poetry