Author: Purushottam Nitai Das

                                                     Photo Credits: www.iskcondesiretree.net

As a product pack has an expiry day written on it; similarly our body comes with an expiry date. For each of us the expiry date is different but it is guaranteed that one day our body will certainly perish. Death is painful not just for the one who dies but also for his near and dear ones. Although death comes to us without any intimation but we can’t complain that we were never informed about it. All the sacred Vedic literatures have been loudly informing us that this world is not a permanent place for us to live. In Gita Krishna says that this world is temporary and filled with miseries – duhkhalayam asasvatam (Bhagavad Gita 8.15).

So as a concerned father of all living beings, he constantly asks us to get out of this painful world which is characterized by repeated birth and death.  In Krishna’s kingdom, the spiritual world, there is no death, no disease and no suffering. There is unlimited happiness! And once we reach there we would never return again to this material world (Bhagavad Gita 15.6). It isn’t difficult to achieve that supreme destination. Krishna explains that by performing pure devotional service unto him we become eligible to go there (Bhagavad Gita 2.51).  In this age of Kaliyuga, the age of downfall, the process prescribed is chanting the holy names of the Lord like the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. This chant of deliverance will reawaken our dormant love for Krishna and cleanse our heart of all the impurities. And then upon leaving this body we won’t take birth in this material world again but will go back home back to Godhead. 

So, let us not waste our life in running after the things of this world which will be taken away from us at the time of death but instead we should strive to develop love of God which will guarantee us a transcendental future and supreme destination.  

But this would fructify only if we also nurture intense longing to go back there. Many a times our desire is to improve our material life through devotional activities. Our chanting becomes mechanical and we start expecting Krishna to help us in fulfilling our material desires.  We again get caught up in the vicious cycle of name, fame and money.  Material attachment keeps us back in this material world and our suffering prolongs.

So while practicing devotion we need to be very cautious and careful. We should regularly monitor ourselves especially our desires.  We should analyze if our desires are material or spiritual. The moment we find that our yearning is not for Krishna but something else then we should immediately take corrective measures and should steer ourselves again towards the path which will take us towards Krishna.

The cool rays of the sun, the excitement of the birds and the playful wind makes morning hours very soothing, comforting and relaxing.  Scriptures explain that morning is in the mode of goodness, afternoon is in the mode of passion and evening is in the mode of ignorance.  And the scriptures further say that morning is the best time to practice devotional life. During this time there are very less external distractions and the mind is calm and relaxed. So, one can peacefully and attentively chant the holy names of the Lord. It is true that one can chant the holy name of the Lord at any time in the day and if done with sincerity it would always have the same benefit.  But since almost all of us are sadhana bhaktas (practitioners) and not siddha bhaktas (realized souls) so we are required to practice our devotional life in a way wherein we can completely focus our mind on chanting. And the serene atmosphere of the morning hours helps in being more focussed during chanting which then effectively purifies our minds and senses of all impurities and takes us towards Krishna.  This is why Srila Prabhupada made morning devotional programs compulsory in all the Iskcon temples of the world.

Krishna explicitly advises in Gita that a devotee needs to be hard working. In Gita 6.1 Krishna says that a person who does his prescribed duties as required is actually in the renounced order of life and not the one who doesn’t do any work. And our work should not be whimsical. We should perform only those activities which satisfy the Lord because Krishna has said that work done as sacrifice to Vishnu should only be performed (Bhagavad Gita 3.9). So, a devotee of Krishna always tries his best to be productive at each and every moment of his life and he works in such a way which pleases Krishna and brings him closer to Krishna.

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no duty.” B.G. 6.1

Lord Rama’s associates weren’t happy to see Vibhishana when he came to seek shelter of Lord Rama. They thought that Vibhishana being the brother of Ravana, an enemy of Lord Rama, cannot be trusted. But to everyone’s utter surprise they found that Lord Rama happily welcomed Vibhishana and he did not even doubt the motive of Vibhishana. Lord Rama went on to declare that even if Ravana comes to his door then he would happily embrace him. This is why Lord Rama is called very merciful. Being the Supreme Lord, all the living entities are his parts and parcels and in spite of us rejecting him or even going against him, he is always ready to forgive and forget all our previous mistakes and tonnes of sins which we have committed. He does not carry any grudges against us and nor is he vengeful. He always wants to see us happy and tries his best to do what is best for our spiritual life. Our tinniest of endeavour attracts him. During the construction of Rama Setu, all the monkey warriors were doing phenomenal job but there was a little squirrel who was also trying his best to serve the Lord. But due to his insignificant body size he was only able to move a small speck of stone. But Lord Rama appreciated the effort of the squirrel and praised his work.