“’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

“Listen, I like Krishna consciousness. I like chanting the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. I like associating with devotees, which is known as satsanga in Sanskrit. Maybe I am not so strong in my condemnation of others, in looking down upon what I playfully refer to as the ‘eww-dirty karmis.’ Maybe I should get more serious, instead of making jokes. Perhaps if I were more confident in my own practices, with assurance that I was on an elevated platform, I would feel comfortable dismissing others.

“Anyway, I am here to do what I do best: complain. For today, I will focus on this verse from Bhagavad-gita where the Supreme Personality of Godhead gives assurance. If someone is devoted to Him, they will find the proper course. This is because Krishna will guide them from within. We often hear similar advice from the spiritual leaders. If we approach them with a problem, they will advise to chant more rounds. If we have a doubt that is not easily resolved, they will ask us to stay true to the process. The answer will eventually reveal itself, you see.

“That is the problem. I don’t see. I don’t understand. Isn’t this a dangerous precedent to set? So many people claim to be following God. They received a calling from high above. They feel it in everything that they do. People can use that as an excuse to belittle, to abuse, to dominate, and to even cheat. How do we actually tell that Krishna is helping us from within? What are the signs? Why do we have to rely on signs? Why can’t He just speak to us?”

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 reality is that He speaks to us constantly. In the changing of seasons, for instance. This reminds us that nothing stays the same. We cannot find a permanent solution here. Those beautiful leaves are changing color right now. In a few weeks, they will fall to the ground. Perhaps this is why they refer to the autumn season as “Fall”. The cold winter follows. Then everything will eventually come back. Shri Krishna uses the seasons as a way to describe how happiness and distress fluctuate almost on their own, without any effort required from us. In this way, the seasons are speaking for God, but we fail to notice. Even when someone gives us the clue to decode the message, we remain doubtful.

मात्रा-स्पर्शास् तु कौन्तेय
शीतोष्ण-सुख-दुःख-दाः
आगमापायिनो ऽनित्यास्
तांस् तितिक्षस्व भारत

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ‘nityās
tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata

“O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.14)

God speaks to us in birth and in death. There is full potential when the living being emerges from the womb. That potential has the upper limit exposed at the time of death. That is when the potential vanishes. The fuel tank finally hits empty. There is no chance for return. There is only a memory for the people left behind. The same fate awaits me. In this way, God speaks to me about priorities, about what I should value, about how I should navigate my journey through life.

For the devoted soul, the guidance might be in a chance meeting with a spiritual guide. Paramatma is the guide within. Paramatma is Supersoul, who is the chaitya-guru. The guru on the outside, in the manifest form, is the same Paramatma. Not necessarily in identity, but in outlook. In interest. In conclusion of resolution of the many contradictory aspects of the philosophical presentation of sanatana-dharma. God speaks to me by arranging a meeting with a spiritual master.

God might also speak to me through restriction. Through prohibition. Through rejecting my plea for help, if what I want will cause untold damage. He does not necessarily offer the same oversight for others. For those who choose to go their own way, who think there is no God or that it is impossible to take guidance from Him. They take risk after risk, and the Supreme Lord remains neutral. But if I am following the devotional path, bhakti-yoga, then He might interfere when I have gone astray. Goswami Tulsidas compares this to the way parents maintain a watchful eye over their beloved children.

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)

We might be surprised to learn that the guidance can manifest within the realm of our prescribed duties. We have the ideal example of the kutumbini in Yashoda. She is a loving mother in the farm community of Gokula. She takes her responsibilities seriously. Though she is a housewife in the traditional sense, she works the entire day. Her work sometimes involves multitasking. She has to decide which item to attend to first. One time, she chooses to leave her beloved child for a moment, to check on a pot on the stove in the kitchen.

As Paramatma might guide me towards transcendental knowledge, to quell my fears and to lift up my spirits, the Supreme Lord might make a loving mother physically chase after Him. Shri Krishna did this with Yashoda. When she went to the kitchen, a young Krishna broke a pot of butter in anger. He then absconded with the goods. He took some of the butter with Him and fed it to His dear friends, the monkeys local to the area.

Yashoda had no choice but to chase after her son. She did so with a whipping stick. When she finally caught up with Him, she chose to mildly punish Krishna by tying Him to a mortar. She even taunted Him, after the fact. She rhetorically asked Him to try to move, now that He was bound. Just how much trouble could He get into now? For the devotees, Krishna is always getting into trouble, such that they will never forget Him.

In Closing:

Not in lack of activity bubble,
For devotees getting into trouble.

Such that after Him to chase,
And fall in maya to erase.

Speaking loud and clear,
Like to Yashoda most dear.

Take that as a sign,
Blessed this devotion of mine.

Categories: questions

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