The Lord gives everyone an opportunity, or we can say many opportunities to come to the right path and take his shelter. But many times, we refuse his advances.
While constructing the Rama-setu bridge, the monkey – warriors used to write the name of Lord Rama on the stones and would throw them in the mighty ocean; the stones used to float. Once Lord Rama Himself threw the stone in the ocean and surprisingly the stone sank. When Hanuman saw this, he started smiling.
Hanuman with folded hands said, “My dear Lord this is just one of your lilas. You make huge planets float in the sky so what is the difficulty for you to make these stones float in the ocean? By this act of yours, you just want to highlight that those who take your shelter will fearlessly cross this ocean of material existence but those who leave your shelter sink in this ocean of nescience.”
Lord is willing to give his shelter to us but unfortunately, we, the adamant souls, are not willing to take his shelter.
Take the example of Ravana, he got so many opportunities to correct his mistakes, but he wasted all those chances. First Vibhishana counselled him then Hanuman and then Angad but each time Ravana refused to listen to them.
In our life too we get good advice from sincere devotees of the Lord but still we refuse to take complete shelter of the Lord. Many of us may say that we are religious because we regularly visit temple and believe in God.
Never leave the shelter of Lord Rama
But if we closely observe our consciousness, we will see that we worship God not because we love God but because we love to get something from him so that we can enjoy independently from God. We just want him to help us in sense gratification.
When our desires are fulfilled then we even forget to remember God. This is why we see people who are rich and famous generally say that they do not believe in God or hardly go to temple to take darshan of the Lord. And if our ask is not fulfilled by Lord then we even become upset with him or we even stop believing in him.
Ask any atheist and they will tell you that what God has done for me. I have seen people saying that we have to defeat God. Ravana is gone but people who have mentality like him are still there in this world.
Let us not forget that this life which we try to enjoy is full of uncertainties. Anything happens at any time. And most importantly the physical body and the adulation and adoration which we get here are temporary.
So, let us never leave the shelter of the Lord. Even if the circumstances are unfavorable, we should remain under the shelter of the Supreme Lord. Vibhishana did so and made his life glorious. We should follow the footsteps of Vibhishana and never leave the lotus feet of Rama.
Lord Rama repeatedly gives us many opportunities to take his shelter. We should grab this opportunity and always remain under his care and protection. If we are with Lord Rama, then we will eventually get free from all bodily and mental sufferings.
Distress, disease, lamentation & fear will completely get vanished. We can then swiftly sail through this ocean of nescience and reach our ultimate destination which is the abode of the Supreme Lord.
Three Reflections
- Those who take shelter of Lord Rama will fearlessly cross the ocean of material existence but those who leave his shelter will sink in this ocean of nescience.
- Ravana got so many opportunities to correct his mistakes, but he wasted all those chances.
- If we are with Lord Rama, then we will eventually get free from all bodily and mental sufferings.
Ask Yourself
- Do I sincerely listen to the advice of sincere and senior devotees?
Action Item
- Reflect upon an advice given by a sincere devotee who is your well-wisher and try to act upon it.
