“’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, the internet can be brutal. It started way back with the message boards. I would sometimes get drawn into these heated debates about meaningless matters. Today, you have the comments section. There is commentary available for practically anything and everything. Sometimes, people don’t even read or watch the original post; they jump to the comments to see what people are saying about the content. I try my best to avoid the drama, but sometimes I can’t help it. I came across a comment the other day that really got to me. It made me laugh. It made me think. It made me appreciate the genius.

“The comment said something to the effect that the only people who understand women are other women, and they all hate each other. I mean, come on! That is hilarious. You can never say something like that in public. Rather than choose sides in the debate, consider the following hypothetical. I am going somewhere with this, trust me. I want to highlight a central issue of misunderstanding. In this case, you have a husband and a wife. The husband has been travelling recently, for work. He is back home now and slowly getting back into a daily routine. The couple has two young children.

“On one particular morning, the husband asks the wife if she can drop the kids off to school. The husband has to prepare for a meeting later on, done virtually. He could still make it home in time if taking the kids, but he would not have sufficient time to prepare for the meeting. He would feel rushed. The wife agrees. She will drop off the kids. The husband then proceeds to the rest of his morning routine. He happens to be in the middle of exercising when he receives a text message. It is from his wife. She politely asks if he is busy, since she is getting swamped in the kitchen at the moment. It is a ‘disaster,’ as she puts it.

“The husband thinks this is an emergency. He abruptly halts his workout, heads to the kitchen, only to find that everyone is sitting peacefully, enjoying breakfast. The wife shows not a hint of distress or disturbance. The husband is flabbergasted. Why would she send a message like that if there is nothing wrong? The wife then casually asks if the husband wants to join them on the drop-off to school. Again, the husband is in disbelief. He literally told her why he couldn’t drop the kids off. Why is she bringing this up? The husband thinks to himself that if the roles were reversed, he would never do the same. He would happily accept the responsibility. He would never send out an SOS message unless there was a true emergency.

“In hearing this story, I can immediately tell what is going on. The wife simply wants a sign from the husband that he cares about the family, that they are a priority to him. She played her husband; almost like a test to see if he pays attention to them. The husband is too logical and literal to pick up on the game. I am not here to choose sides, to say who is right or who is wrong. These sorts of battles have taken place ever since men and women joined together, living in the same house, under one roof, in the holy union that is marriage.

“My question is that if men cannot understand women and women cannot understand men, how is anyone supposed to understand God? Is that not the recommendation from Bhagavad-gita, itself? Is that not the distinction in the translation and commentary provided by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, which is correspondingly titled, ‘Bhagavad-gita As It Is’? Is God not the most difficult person to understand? What chance do we really have, then?”

Vishnu Purana explains the relationship between the living beings and the Almighty by using a comparison to a large and powerful fire. The fire is everything. The fire is the source. The fire is the energy. The sparks that emanate from that fire are also part of the fire. But those sparks are also different. Those sparks travel through space, leaving a kind of distance between the byproduct and the origin. God is that original fire and we are the sparks. Since our origin is the fire, it is like God accomplishes omnipresence through expansive movements and our different placements.

एक-देश-स्थितस्याग्नेर्
ज्योत्स्ना विस्तारिणी यथा
परस्य ब्रह्मणः शक्तिस्
तथेदम् अखिलं जगत्

eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner
jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā
parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktis
tathedam akhilaṁ jagat

“Everything that is manifested within this cosmic world is but the energy of the Supreme Lord. As fire emanating from one place diffuses its illumination and heat all around, so the Lord, although situated in one place in the spiritual world, manifests His different energies everywhere. Indeed, the whole cosmic creation is composed of different manifestations of His energy.” (Vishnu Purana, 1.22.52)

If we can consider the vast expanse, the infinite cosmos, the countless universes as nondifferent from God, this means that it is impossible to reach the end of His qualities. If we cannot reach the end, it means that God is ananta. How, then, can any person accurately claim to understand God? If He is without end, then the understanding would have to continue. The study would commensurately expand.

Fortunately, that original fire is a person, and a kind one, at that. Through His limitless compassion, He offers opportunities for entering into the mysteries of His understanding. That is to say, there is a chance to at least come closer. This is one literal meaning to the Sanskrit word upasana, which is also taken to mean “worship.” To worship in the proper sense is to come closer. To come closer is to understand someone who is impossible to know fully.

भक्त्या त्व् अनन्यया शक्य
अहम् एवं-विधो ऽर्जुन
ज्ञातुं द्रष्टुं च तत्त्वेन
प्रवेष्टुं च परन्तप

bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya
aham evaṁ-vidho ‘rjuna
jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena
praveṣṭuṁ ca parantapa

“My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.54)

The Puranas are like the supplementary category of Vedic literature. The same timeless truths of the original Vedas are told in the form of stories, narrations, questions, answers, and comparisons. The presentation is still intelligent, appropriate for reaching the proper destination. For instance, Bhagavata Purana goes into great detail about the origin of the universe, the factor of time, the different ways the living beings come to this world, the forms they inhabit, the role of the elements, and how to break out of the cycle of birth and death. After sufficient explanation of the esoteric truths, there is the narration of the appearance in this world of Shri Krishna. The very same all-powerful being responsible for the laws of nature descends into the universe He created. He chooses to play as a small, beautiful, adorable, and dependent child in the farm community of Gokula.

वत्सान् मुञ्चन् क्‍वचिदसमये क्रोशसञ्जातहास:
स्तेयं स्वाद्वत्त्यथ दधिपय: कल्पितै: स्तेययोगै:
मर्कान् भोक्ष्यन् विभजति स चेन्नात्ति भाण्डं भिन्नत्ति
द्रव्यालाभे सगृहकुपितो यात्युपक्रोश्य तोकान्

vatsān muñcan kvacid asamaye krośa-sañjāta-hāsaḥ
steyaṁ svādv atty atha dadhi-payaḥ kalpitaiḥ steya-yogaiḥ
markān bhokṣyan vibhajati sa cen nātti bhāṇḍaṁ bhinnatti
dravyālābhe sagṛha-kupito yāty upakrośya tokān

“Our dear friend Yashoda, your son sometimes comes to our houses before the milking of the cows and releases the calves, and when the master of the house becomes angry, your son merely smiles. Sometimes He devises some process by which He steals palatable curd, butter and milk, which He then eats and drinks. When the monkeys assemble, He divides it with them, and when the monkeys have their bellies so full that they won’t take more, He breaks the pots. Sometimes, if He gets no opportunity to steal butter or milk from a house, He will be angry at the householders, and for His revenge He will agitate the small children by pinching them. Then, when the children begin crying, Krishna will go away.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.8.29)

If ever a person were on the verge of overflowing confidence in their understanding of Divinity, they might get stumped hearing that God pinches babies to make them cry, steals butter from the homes of neighbors, and rides the tail of a calf as a sort of sport. How could God ever do that? How could God behave poorly? Why would He put others into difficulty?

The explanation is that there is devotion on the other side. That devotion is so amazing that God Himself wishes to experience it. We have the embodiment of the kutumbini in Yashoda. She does not have status. She does not carry reputation for scholarly achievement. She takes care of the home. She takes care of the children. Krishna happens to be her child. She is not above mildly punishing Him for temper tantrums. She even ties Krishna to a mortar and then taunts Him, asking Him to try to move. This is the true understanding of God. He is the most powerful being who happens to succumb to the power of pure devotion.

In Closing:

For understanding true,
Consider kutumbini who.

Beloved as Yashoda known,
Her fearlessness shown.

When son Krishna to bind,
As Damodara in courtyard to find.

God who always the greatest of all,
Now as punished dependent to call.

Categories: questions

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