What Are They So Afraid Of

By krishnasmercy on November 12, 2026 • ( 0 )

“Keeping in mind the time of sandhya, that lovely woman of fair complexion, the daughter of Janaka, will surely come to this river of auspicious water to perform that sandhya rite.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 14.49)

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सन्ध्याकालमनाः श्यामा ध्रुवमेष्यति जानकी
नदीं चेमां शुभजलां सन्ध्यार्थे वरवर्णिनी

sandhyākālamanāḥ śyāmā dhruvameṣyati jānakī
nadīṃ cemāṃ śubhajalāṃ sandhyārthe varavarṇinī

“There is the saying, to each his own. In the more politically correct version, we substitute ‘their’ for ‘his.’ This means that not every person will follow the same tendencies. They will not have the same preferences. The likes and dislikes will vary. I completely understand that. I respect the choices that other people make, as long as those choices do not impose on my ability to live. I also understand that others might find what I do to be odd, strange, weird, or what have you.

“Keep my commitment to tolerance in mind as I bring up the following. What is up with these people who pray all the time? I am not targeting a specific religion, either. I am not talking about showing up to a house of worship once a week. I think it is cool to say a prayer before eating. I know that the bhakti-yoga tradition recommends something prior, in actually offering the food first. This is a kind of yajna, or sacrifice. The resulting food is the remainder, the yajna-shishta. This food is supposed to then be blessed. It is supposed to be free of karma.”

यज्ञ-शिष्टाशिनः सन्तो
मुच्यन्ते सर्व-किल्बिषैः
भुञ्जते ते त्व् अघं पापा
ये पचन्त्य् आत्म-कारणात्

yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo
mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ
bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā
ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt

“The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.13)

“I am not really complaining, but what I find odd is this need to keep praying. In the morning. In the afternoon. In the evening. Alright, you believe in God. I get it. Trust me, I am also a believer. I am not going the way of the heathen. I just need some sort of explanation. Are you afraid of God? Is that why you are praying so much? Just what is it that you are afraid of? Trust me, the sun will rise tomorrow. Whether you pray or not, the clouds will drop water from the sky, in the form of rain to nourish the crops. The cycle is so predictable that we have something called ‘the rainy season.’ Goswami Tulsidas even uses that season as a way to glorify the holy name of Rama.

बरषा रितु रघुपति भगति तुलसी सालि सुदास
रामनाम बर बरन जुग सावन भादव मास

baraṣā ritu raghupati bhagati tulasī sāli sudāsa
rāmanāma bara barana juga sāvana bhādava māsa

“Devotion to Shri Rama is like the rainy season, the wonderful devotees the paddy fields, and the two syllables in Rama’s name the months of Sawan and Bhadon [rainy season], says Tulsi.” (Dohavali, 25)

“Is it because these people did something bad? Is that why they feel the need to keep praying? Are they constantly asking for stuff? Or are they just following the tradition established by their parents, grandparents, and ancestors? I am genuinely curious.”

There is always variety in the cause. The justification will not always be the same. For the case of devotees of Bhagavan, who is also known by names such as Vishnu, Krishna, Rama, and Narasimha, we present the following hypothetical situation. This is to assist in our understanding as to why someone would feel the need to constantly pray.

In our story, you are an adult, about to rough it, as they like to say. You are spending the weekend outdoors. This is not really your thing. It is not something you did as a child. A few of your friends recommended it, as a way to escape the daily grind for a few days. You eventually acquiesced, after they repeatedly insisted. You make it through the first day intact. The trouble begins on the second day. On what is supposed to be a calm, peaceful, and invigorating hike through nature, you happen to get lost. You trailed behind the group. You thought you were close enough to reach them by a loud call, but something must have gone wrong.

You assume that they will eventually come to find you. Perhaps it was a wrong turn. How big is this forest, anyway? There will be no trouble. All of your assumptions turn out to be incorrect. You end up being stranded for several days. How did this happen? Where is everyone else? Somehow, you figure out the mechanism for starting a fire. You have no food. You have no shelter. What if an animal comes by and decides to attack? Will you even survive? Why is it so difficult to find civilization?

Fortunately, the rescuers eventually arrive. It turns out that your friends were just as desperate to find you. They tried and they tried, but based on your own movements, in an attempt to retrace your steps, you ended up in a place no one had bothered to look. Some type of mix-up, it seems. Regardless, you are so happy to return to civilization. You vow to never take the essentials of life for granted. You will appreciate the contact with other people. You will welcome the glowing sun in the morning horizon. You will give thanks for the rain. You will never throw a fit over the taste of food or the lack of variety. You will accept whatever comes your way.

This begins to give an idea of the feeling of appreciation in the devoted souls. They happen to have that appreciation without having to necessarily go without. They pray all the time because they remember. They have heard the teaching from Bhagavad-gita about the seed-giving father. They fondly recall the vision of Narayana lying down to rest, creating the universes through His breathing, which is effortless. They appreciate the blueprint for food production embedded within the seed. They are thankful for water and grains, which tend to be available in abundance, with relatively low cost.

तुलसी जाने सुनि समुझि कृपासिंधु रघुराज
महँगे मनि कंचन किए सौंधे जग जल नाज

tulasī jāne suni samujhi kṛpāsiṃdhu raghurāja
maha~ge mani kaṃcana kie sauṃdhe jaga jala nāja

“Tulsi knows, has heard, and has understood that Shri Rama is an ocean of mercy because He made jewels and gold expensive, while keeping the most important things like water and grains inexpensive.” (Dohavali, 149)

This tendency for worship and prayer happens to also be one way to identify people of the highest character. When Shri Hanuman was searching for the missing princess named Sita, he guessed that she would find her way to a nearby body of water, during the period of sandhya. This is the junction, between day and night or night and day. Sita was in the greatest distress, at the time. If anyone had a reason to curse God, to speculate that there is nothing good to come from pious deeds, it would be that daughter of King Janaka. But she always remembered her beloved, Shri Rama, and so her commitment to prayer remained.