“The beginning of Krishna consciousness and devotional service is hearing, in Sanskrit called shravanam. All people should be given the chance to come and join devotional parties so that they may hear. This hearing is very important for progressing in Krishna consciousness. When one links his ears to give aural reception to the transcendental vibrations he can quickly become purified and cleansed in the heart.” (The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 10)

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“I have two things for you today, and I intend to find a way to tie them together. I am not entirely sure how to do that just yet, so let me begin the attempt by introducing the first idea. It is more of a realization, actually. It is a personal reflection that hit me recently. Anytime someone complains about the lack of user-friendliness of a specific technological gadget, which is sold as an improvement, that person gets made fun of. They are called a ‘boomer’, even though they might not be that old. They are old enough to remember living in a period of time when there were no such gadgets. These same people happened to be earliest adopters of the now-legacy technology. What I mean to say is that such people have seen it all, from beginning to end.

“I happen to be one of those people. My complaint today is that overall everything is becoming fake and overly complicated. There was a time when you looked at the menu of the screen and it is what it showed itself to be. Today, you have to wait a few seconds. The user-interface is essentially false. It is this giant head-fake. You go to click on something and it disappears. You end up calling someone else on the phone. You have to wait forever for an app to load. That one tech company has so butchered their music application on the smartphones that I don’t even bother anymore. I think it was easier when we had CDs. You know, the physical discs inserted into a machine? We didn’t have to wait for a menu to load. Every button we pressed did exactly what it was supposed to.

“My realization is that I wish we could go back to text. I mean words. You know, those things we learned to read as children? Those things we wrote down, sometimes on pieces of paper. I want to keep the technology, but get rid of most of the images. Some small icons are fine. I don’t need a ribbon filled with pictures, where I am supposed to guess what each button does. I know how to read. I can find what I am looking for much easier when it is written out.

“This brings me to the second item. Do you happen to remember a common joke used to highlight a person’s lack of intellectual curiosity? It might have been a friendly way to rib someone for not being too bright. The joke related to books. If a person not known for their academic prowess informed you that they read a book over the weekend, the friends might retort with, ‘Oh, really? There must have been a lot of pictures in that book.’

“We heard this joke so often back in the day, but does it even apply anymore? Would anyone today get the joke? This is because pictures dominate. The image is everything. Alright, but whatever happened to text? Even the podcasters have to turn on the camera these days, if they want views. Is the trend towards image and video consumption not a negative, then? Are we not all slowly turning into the target of that joke from a bygone era? Or do you think I am making too much of this? I always thought wisdom came through text. People who read books are considered smart. What if people stop reading books? What will happen to something sacred, like the parampara system kindly described in Bhagavad-gita?”

एवं परम्परा-प्राप्तम्
इमं राजर्षयो विदुः
स कालेनेह महता
योगो नष्टः परन्तप

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam
imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa

“This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.2)

The concerns are valid. The original premise still holds. The power of sound remains throughout the time continuum. Everything can change for a person simply from hearing. We have the historical example of Prahlada Maharaja, who heard while within the womb. He heard from the esteemed Narada Muni. That was a special circumstance, but the interaction occurred in truth. The cause of the spontaneous devotion in Prahlada, as he later developed into a fearless five-year old preaching the truth to anyone and everyone in the community of Daityas, could not be denied. Narada Muni is a great benefactor, in this way, as he is always travelling and lifting others up through sound.

ऋषिः कारुणिकस् तस्याः
प्रादाद् उभयम् ईश्वरः
धर्मस्य तत्त्वं ज्ञानं च
माम् अप्य् उद्दिश्य निर्मलम्

ṛṣiḥ kāruṇikas tasyāḥ
prādād ubhayam īśvaraḥ
dharmasya tattvaṁ jñānaṁ ca
mām apy uddiśya nirmalam

“Narada Muni delivered his instructions both to me, who was within the womb, and to my mother, who was engaged in rendering him service. Because he is naturally extremely kind to the fallen souls, being in a transcendental position, he gave instructions on religion and transcendental knowledge. These instructions were free from all material contamination.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.7.15)

If we search long enough, we likely can find many instances of the same kind of transformation taking place within our own lives. We never heard of a particular sport before, for instance. We never bothered to watch it. But one day, while stuck in traffic on the highway, a person on the radio started talking about a particular athlete. They brought up some recent controversy. We couldn’t help but take an interest. Suddenly, we were vehemently in support of a particular athlete, based on a perceived wrong committed against them. We decided to subsequently purchase merchandise, write notes online, and pay for subscriptions in order to show our support.

“Vedic knowledge is called shabda-pramana. Another name is shruti. Shruti means that this knowledge has to be received simply by aural reception. The Vedas instruct that in order to understand transcendental knowledge, we have to hear from the authority.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shri Ishopanishad, Introduction)

We can argue that reading is more important, but the real source of the potency is sound. Even in ancient times, when books were at a premium, the important instructions were written down somewhere. This is how historical events were cataloged. But the words were merely a way to decode sound. Even if a person is completely illiterate, they can still rise to a higher standard by hearing. We saw this in the endorsement given by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to the brahmana who could barely read the words of Bhagavad-gita. That brahmana had the appropriate mental image, created through sound, tradition, and devotion. The brahmana always remembered Krishna and Arjuna on the chariot, preparing for the battle at Kurukshetra. This understanding of Bhagavad-gita was perfect.

यावत् पडोङ्, तावत् पाङ ताङ्र दरशन
एइ लागि’ गीता-पाठ ना छाडे मोर मन

yāvat paḍoṅ, tāvat pāṅa tāṅra daraśana
ei lāgi’ gītā-pāṭha nā chāḍe mora mana

“As long as I read the Bhagavad-gita, I simply see the Lord’s beautiful features. It is for this reason that I am reading the Bhagavad-gita, and my mind cannot be distracted from this.” (Brahmana speaking to Lord Chaitanya, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 9.101)

As far as what can be done today, the sound is still available. One way or another, we should hear. We should try our best. Let others hear the holy name. Let others take an interest through sound. Let them gradually build their way up, through acquiring numerical strength, in chanting the maha-mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. The goddess of fortune, Sita Devi, once remarked that by always remembering her beloved husband, Shri Rama, it came to be that the sounds manifested in the ether. This happened to be due to the arrival of Hanuman, at the scene, who is always glorifying the Supreme Lord. That glorification never goes to waste.

रामेति रामेति सदैव बुद्ध्या विचिन्त्य वाचा ब्रुवती तमेव
तस्यानुरूपां च कथां तदर्थमेवं प्रपश्यामि तथा शृणोमि

rāmeti rāmeti sadaiva buddhyā vicintya vācā bruvatī tameva
tasyānurūpāṃ ca kathāṃ tadarthamevaṃ prapaśyāmi tathā śṛṇomi

“Since with intelligence I have always been speaking the words ‘Rama’ ‘Rama’ and thinking of Him, in that manner I am seeing and hearing His story corresponding to that.” (Sita Devi, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 32.11)

In Closing:

Source at the sound,
Lasting potency found.

That even if words cannot read,
Towards knowledge can proceed.

Like brahmana in hand the book,
Image of Krishna and Arjuna took.

Through holy names created the same,
To highest platform can attain.

Categories: questions

Tags: axiety, dailyprompt, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, reading, screentime