Narayana Krishna

“Krishna was well-aware that these women had abandoned all other desires and had come there solely with the desire of seeing Him”.

Sarva dharma partiyajya- they had abandoned every other desire and had come there only to see the Lord. Barring the thought that they should see Him, they entertained no other desire.

“With a charming smile, He addressed them saying, ‘O supremely fortunate women! Welcome to this place. O Mahatmas, please be seated. What is it that I can do for you? With a desire to see me, you have crossed all obstacles and arrived here. This single desire has prompted you to disregard all impediments on your path. Barring seeing me, currently no other desire rules your minds. This world was not visible to you, who were totally desirous of seeing me. With utmost devotion and dedication, you have arrived here. Your behaviour is in tune with your loving nature. Your deep love, that was secretively nurtured within your hearts, has now gushed out and turned visible.

Spiritual aspirants who are well-versed in the knowledge of the four goals of life and those who are able to expertly differentiate between Self and non-Self objects, will naturally possess direct devotion towards me. They possess complete devotion replete with noble, saintly traits’.”

Irrespective of all the obstacles that come on the way, one should consider the Lord to be everything to him/her. Those who try to link their devotion to their personal problems are not devotees at all! They are traders who worship the Lord in order to drive away the problems that could land on their head. They are fickle in nature. Once their work is satisfactorily accomplished, they abandon God. They do not even return to thank God. They no longer remember Him. Now that their desire is fulfilled, suddenly they lack the time to visit Him. They remember God only when faced with another problem or another desire. In case it fails, they curse and then abandon God.

Another section of people use God and Sadguru only to fulfill their material desires. ‘My last desire remained unfulfilled, at least fulfill this present desire’- they openly put forth their request. Neither will they abandon Swamiji nor remain firm in their devotion. They lack total devotion, but yet they refuse to give up.

True devotees remain unaffected by success or failure of the task for which they had approached God. It is not that they are free from desires. But their dedication towards God far surpasses their need to fulfill the desire. Hence, regardless of whether their desire is fulfilled or not, they continue to remain devoted. This is true devotion. The wives of the Brahmins belonged to this category. Irrespective of the outcome they seek the Lord.

Krishna thought, ‘I am the Self within everyone. More importantly, I am their lover’.

The term lover should be interpreted as ‘that person upon whom one’s mind eternally dwells’. It is unconnected to sensual, lustful, physical needs but is connected to the Self. A lover referred to here is he who is dear to the Self.

“It is this contact with the Self which makes life-force, intellect, mind, body, spouse, children, wealth and renown- dear to a person. To any living entity, there can be nothing dearer than such Self.”

None of the associations, which arise due to the Self, are as important to any living entity as is his/her own Self. No object in this creation is more valuable to a person than one’s Self.

“He then continued, ‘O women-folk! Please return to the sacrificial hall. Through you, your husbands will successfully complete the Satra-yaga they have begun and will obtain the resultant fruit”.

If the ladies complete all the associated Yagna activities and assist their husbands, the latter will reap the fruits of the yagna.

Maharishi Śuka continued, “Hearing these words, the wives of the Brahmins replied, ‘O Lord, it is incorrect on your part to be so unkind to us’.”

As instructed by you, we have given up everything and reached you. Now you ask us to revert back to the path of action. Is it right? More importantly, it is hard for us to go back to that path now that we have seen you.

Krishna Krishna