What Time Did You Leave The Office Today

By krishnasmercy on June 5, 2026 • ( 0 )

“’You said that He is indeed everywhere, so why can He not be seen in this pillar? If I do see that Vishnu right now in the middle of the pillar, then I will not kill you. Otherwise, you will be divided into two.’ Having seen (his father) in that way, Prahlada began to meditate on that Supreme Lord.” (Narasimha Purana, 44.10-11)

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त्वयोक्तं स हि सर्वत्र कस्मात् स्तम्भे न दृश्यते
यदि पश्यामि तं विष्णुम् अधुना स्तम्भमध्यगम्

तर्हि त्वां न वधिष्यामि भविष्यसि द्विधान्यथा
प्रह्लादो ऽपि तथा दृष्ट्वा दध्यौ तं परमेश्वरम्

tvayoktaṃ sa hi sarvatra kasmāt stambhe na dṛśyate
yadi paśyāmi taṃ viṣṇum adhunā stambhamadhyagam

tarhi tvāṃ na vadhiṣyāmi bhaviṣyasi dvidhānyathā
prahlādo ‘pi tathā dṛṣṭvā dadhyau taṃ parameśvaram

“This is going to be a very specific complaint, so I beg for some patience. I only discovered this issue recently, but it likely has been going on for a while. I must not have been paying attention before. When I explain to you what it is, you will see why. I think we all have better things to do. Well, at least we should, but apparently not.

“To set the table, I have been a professional for several decades now. To give you an idea of how long, back when I started, I did not even have a cellphone. Most people my age didn’t, either. We had computers, the internet, and the like, but obviously so much has changed since then. I lived through it all. Most of this time was spent on site, sitting at a desk in an office, facing a computer screen. I have no complaints. There was pressure, sure, but I enjoyed what I worked on. I have no regrets.

“Let me tell you that during that entire span I never once cared about what time other people arrived at the office. I never cared how big or small their office was, whether they had windows or not, or how long they took for lunch. I am not saying this to boast or to highlight my good qualities. It is just not something I ever cared about because it never affected me. I have enough pressure as it is, to meet deadlines, to live up to expectations, to keep up with my responsibilities. Why would I add an extra burden of constant surveillance of people who have nothing to do with my work?

“Let me tell you that I am completely in the minority here. Practically everyone else keeps an eye on such things. This is not reserved for colleagues, either. Friends and family seem to care. They are upset if you are home too early on a given day. They want to know just how long you spent at the office, even though they live hundreds of miles away. I could understand if an employee was behind on their work. Then it matters that they took a midday trip to the supermarket. If they were watching streaming videos all day instead of delivering what was asked of them. But no, these people inquiring have nothing to do with my work. Whether I was retired or working all day, it should not affect them.

“But sadly, it does. I must say, upon coming to this realization I have lost a ton of respect for such people. I honestly think they are the biggest losers for keeping tabs in this way. Just how miserable do you have to be that you are only happy when someone else is miserable? It is a freaking joke. I am done with these people. Just imagine how upset they would be if I shared how happy I am with my different enjoyable activities, with my triumphs and my successes. That would drive them over a cliff. These people are pathetic, I must say. If what I describe applies to you, then I do apologize. I hope you find a way to get over that which should have no impact on your life.”

It must be a difficult standard to reach if the Supreme Lord, Shri Krishna, has to mention the lack of envy as one of the qualifications for remaining above the entanglements of a material existence. It must be one of the most common issues of conditioned life. It must be a symptom of the larger problem of being bound, of being stuck in the spinning wheel of material suffering, the samsara-chakra.

यदृच्छालाभसंतुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः
समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते

yadṛcchā-lābha-santuṣṭo
dvandvātīto vimatsaraḥ
samaḥ siddhāv asiddhau ca
kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate

“He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady both in success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.22)

The case of a friend constantly concerned with the amount of time their friend spends at the office is mild by comparison to the leader of the Daityas. In that situation, the father went against his own son. The father was paranoid through words. The son was only five years old. The son could not act on the words. The son had no authority of which to speak. It is not like the son could compel others to do anything.

Meanwhile, the father, who was the Daitya leader named Hiranyakashipu, could command palace guards to attack. He could direct defenders to rush at the son with pointed weapons. The father could order Prahlada be fed poison, dropped from the top of a mountain, and serve as the lunchtime meal for venomous snakes. The father could command the teachers at the royal academy to force instruction onto the son, in a kind of deprogramming effort.

विष्णुः शस्त्रेषु युष्मासु मयि चासौ यथा स्थितः
दैतेयास् तेन सत्येन मा क्रामन्त्व् आयुधानि वः

viṣṇuḥ śastreṣu yuṣmāsu mayi cāsau yathā sthitaḥ
daiteyās tena satyena mā krāmantv āyudhāni vaḥ

“O Daityas, just as Vishnu is in those weapons and also situated in me, so by that truth your weapons will not be able to overcome me.” (Prahlada Maharaja, Vishnu Purana, 1.17.33)

The existing base of knowledge had to be extracted, you see. The son named Prahlada was speaking nonsense, according to the father. The son claimed there is a singular source of strength. The son claimed to know names for that source. The son showed allegiance to that source by reciting those names, by writing them down, and by remembering them. The son recommended the same for the father, that Hiranyakashipu should worship Vishnu.

In that situation, what influence did Prahlada have over the father? The child had a different way of life. He was a student, after all, just beginning the period of instruction. The father was already in the seat of power. The father had protections against all sorts of creatures, weapons, elements, and times of the day. The father was practically invincible. Why should he care what an immature child was saying?

“In the conditional state, every living being is envious of another living being, but in the liberated state there is an absence of animosity. Prahlada Maharaja was tortured by his father in so many ways, yet after the death of his father he prayed for his father’s liberation by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He did not ask any benediction that he might have asked, but he prayed that his atheistic father might be liberated. He never cursed any of the persons who engaged in torturing him at the instigation of his father.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.14.46 Purport)

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada attributes the difference to the states of being. In the conditioned state, every person gravitates towards envy. It is like they are not happy unless and until someone else is losing. When others are diminished, the envious feel elevated. Meanwhile, someone in the liberated state is only wishing well for others . This was the stance of Prahlada, who tried to inform his father that Vishnu is sarvatra. Vishnu is everywhere. The father refused to believe. If he was envious of a mere child, surely he was envious of Vishnu, as well. The person in the conditioned state was wrong. The child in the liberated state was correct. Vishnu validated the sarvatra claim by spontaneously appearing from a pillar, roaring and ready to return the favor of violence against the wicked Hiranyakashipu.