“Of what use are wealth, comforts and pleasures, home, wives, and sons if one is not able to see Shri Rama?” (Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 48.7)

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किं नु तेषां गृहैः कार्यं किं दारै: किं धनेन वा
पुत्रैर्वा किं सुखैर्वापि ये न पश्यन्ति राघवम्

kiṃ nu teṣāṃ gṛhaiḥ kāryaṃ kiṃ dārai: kiṃ dhanena vā
putrairvā kiṃ sukhairvāpi ye na paśyanti rāghavam

1. Go on a cruise

“What am I going to do now? Travel. I will take one cruise after another. I do not want to have to worry about anything. Let someone else cook the meals. Let the captain steer the ship. I can sit back, relax, and enjoy.”

2. Endlessly scroll

“What am I going to do now? I think I might spend an entire day on my phone. Not talking. Not communicating. I will watch one video after another. They never end now, in case you hadn’t noticed. I can read one news story after another. It is infinite content. I cannot wait.”

3. Play games

“What am I going to do now? I will go outside. I will play games. You want to meet up? How about tomorrow? I am not doing anything, wink, wink. Tennis, golf, biking, hiking – you name it. I am up for anything.”

4. Sleep

“What am I going to do now? How about sleep? In the morning. In the night. At any moment I feel overwhelmed by life. No one can stop me. I no longer have to feel the pressure of waking up at a certain time and reaching a specific destination. I will do as I please, comfortably and with rest in mind.”

5. Follow Rama out of Ayodhya

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada uses the Sanskrit word “pavarga” to describe the horrors of life in the material world. Applying not only for the human being, but for any instance of life that begins with birth and ends with death. Pavarga breaks down into different kinds of suffering, such as exhaustion, fear, and bondage. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the giver of apavarga. The short “a” sound in front of the word negates the attached concept. God gives liberation, which can be defined as the removal of the different miseries identified by the word “pavarga”.

“…the word pavarga signifies our struggle for existence and our meeting with defeat, exhaustion, bondage, fearfulness and, at last, death. Apavarga means that which can nullify all of these material conditions. Krishna is said to be the giver of apavarga, the path of liberation.” (Shrila Prabhupada, The Nectar of Devotion, Ch 59)

The above reviewed situations involve the absence of one of the greatest fears in life: maintaining a living. The landscape is a steady lack of security. Even if you live on a remote farm, a single devastating storm can wipe out your whole existence. For people in the cities and the suburbs, the economic climate is ever-changing. One day a person is secure in their job, looking at a balance sheet showing steady profits across decades. This business happens to sell paper. Well, in a few years the digital revolution arrives. People still use paper, but the reliance is significantly less. This means that the previously profitable business is now in jeopardy of going under.

Based on this analysis, the above reviewed hypothetical situations make sense. One of the greatest fears has been removed; at least on the surface. A person no longer has to work. They do not have to worry about maintaining a family. They have security. They take advantage of that security in different ways.

Contrast these tendencies with the mood of the housewives in Ayodhya, during the time period of King Dasharatha. They had security. They could enumerate the items of enjoyment. A home. A loving, attentive, and caring husband. Children. Items for enjoyment within that life. Without prior notice, those housewives were ready to give up everything. There was no question of retirement. There was no thought of securing a better future, in stocking provisions. They abruptly left home to follow one person.

That person did not ask for the company. That person did not need the support. That person was being punished for something He did not do, which was covet the kingdom. That person was caught in the middle of a dispute between husband and wife. That person was otherwise universally beloved. No one could say a bad word about Him. Those housewives knew the truth, and so they decided to follow Rama into the forest. This was not a weekend camping trip. This was not an excursion to be documented by a film crew, to later be sold to a television network. This was not an experiment to see how city folk could handle the wilderness.

This was a lifechanging decision, made at the spur of the moment. The people loved Rama so much that they were not going to let Him suffer. They would accompany Him in the forest for fourteen years. They would recreate Ayodhya wherever He went. They would renounce their own security in order to make Rama feel safe and secure. Alas, Rama could not tolerate their suffering. He would not allow them to continue onwards. He created a diversion whereby the people were fooled into returning back home.

In their anguish, in their heartache, in their unbearable pain of separation, those housewives admonished their husbands. Just why weren’t the men as affected? Just what were they looking to take out of life? Just what was left, now that Rama was not in their vision? Their sentiments convey the highest feelings of attachment, in a connection known as bhakti-yoga.

यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र
सर्वं च मयि पश्यति
तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि
स च मे न प्रणश्यति

yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra
sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi
sa ca me na praṇaśyati

“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.30)

In Closing:

Thoughts in one direction,
Indicative of connection.

Highest platform to reach,
Of life’s goal to teach.

That even retiring when,
Eternal occupation then.

That by Rama’s side,
In service to reside.

Categories: the five

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, ramayana, retirement