“’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

“I recently heard a lecture from His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explaining how asking God for daily bread is not necessarily the highest level of worship. If considering in terms of tiers, there is one step remaining. That is where you feel that you must supply everything to God. You are like the store that He orders from. More than a store that He can pick and choose items from, you are supplying no matter what. The impetus is from your side, not His. You feel that this is your topmost obligation, of highest priority, at every given moment. Supposedly, this is what pleases God the most. Can you explain how that would be the case? It seems counterintuitive, given the relative juxtaposition. God is the greatest, and we are certainly not great. How can we ever feel compelled to offer Him service, in a way that He would feel obliged?”

Harkening back to our school days, when we were learning mathematics, the teacher would encourage the students to work the problem out. If we were having difficulty adding two large numbers, we could break the process down into smaller steps. Take the digits at the far right, add them together, and then carry the first digit, if we breached the value of ten. Then we repeat for the next row, moving leftward, until we crossed over the entire value.

In the same way, we can break down this philosophical dilemma by putting ourselves into a similar position. We start with the premise of superiority. In our example, we are someone important. We can supply orders. We can help others. We are a benefactor to many. We can say that there are many dependents.

Now, imagine the case of the supporters, in the general sense. These are the equivalent of the worshipers who pray. They ask for things. It is a good sign that they know where to turn. They approach us at regular intervals to meet their various needs. While we might appreciate this relationship, that people are correctly assessing our standing, happy for the attention we receive, consider the presence of emotions or justifications that remain hidden. They are underneath the surface, but they are still there. These taint the relationship, as we see it.

1. Envy

“Yeah, I am going to visit the big man, today. I don’t know how he got to where he is. He must know somebody important. He is not that wonderful, if you ask me. I hope to one day be in that very same position. Then people will look to me for answers. They will have to dress nicely and carry themselves in a professional manner. In the same way that everyone puts on their best face whenever the boss is paying a visit, people will do that for me. I can’t wait for that day.”

2. Malice

“Yeah, I am going to visit the big man, today. I brought some sweet treats as a gift. You can call it sucking up, but I call it being smart. No, these were not baked with love. I do not like this person at all. I can’t stand them, in fact. I hope they choke on these. Just kidding, but I do hope that one day we get a different leader. This person is the worst. We are only nice to them because of what they can offer us.”

3. Prestige

“Yeah, I am going to visit the big man, today. Just see how dedicated I am. I might be their most preferred subordinate. They like me so much. It is not that difficult to be in their good graces. You should think about trying to emulate me. I am such a great role model for others. This is how we will survive in this world, through supplicating the superiors.”

…

Imagine if you overheard such conversations. How would you feel? Is it nice to be flattered only because of something someone wants from you? Does that not ruin the relationship? What benefit is there in making people fear you? If not spoiling the relationship, then surely there must be something better to which to ascend. There must be a relationship that you would truly enjoy having.

We have the ideal example in the housewife attentive to her duties in the rural community of Gokula. Yashoda embodies the kutumbini spirit. She gives her full attention to her beautiful child, who is the darling of the community. She is not writing a book about how motherhood has changed her or offering advice to others on how to be celebrated for their attention to childrearing. Rather, Yashoda loves her son. Her love is simple. Her love is honest. Her love is so pure that there is nothing the son can do to change the relationship.

Yashoda loves Krishna so much that she is even willing to punish Him. She will tie Him to a mortar after He breaks a pot of butter in a tantrum. Yashoda will taunt Krishna to try to move. As He is so fond of running here and there, getting into trouble, giving away food to monkeys, and making the loved ones concerned for His unknown whereabouts, He should try to act on that chanchala spirit now. He is tied to a mortar. The ropes go around His belly. He is now known as Damodara, and it is a name He proudly hears when called upon by His devotees, as that name automatically links Him to the loving mother known as Yashoda.

In Closing:

Of relationship consider,
How single name to deliver.

As Damodara proudly accepted,
Through ropes of love protected.

That Yashoda something to ask,
Attentive to kutumbini task.

Only for that darling vision to get,
In highest relationship set.

Categories: the three

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