Narayana Krishna

“Krishna said,

Na prītaye ‘nurāgāya hy ańga-sańgo nṛṇām iha

Tan mano mayi yuñjānā acirān mām avāpsyatha

In this universe, happiness derived due to bodily contact is ephemeral and can neither bestow permanent happiness nor permanent love. Hence, fix your mind totally upon Me’.”

The happiness derived by embracing one another is short-lived. Same is the case with happiness obtained upon meeting a dearest one. As such, it is of utmost importance to fix the mind upon the Lord. As the gross body has been taken on due to some destiny, let the body involve in the physical chores or assigned duties. Abidance to duties is also ordained by the Lord.

When the Lord has ordained that we should attend to our duties, it is incorrect to overstep these dictates and act per our wishes. It amounts to going against His wishes. As even the duties are His creations alone, we have to conquer them. How? By physically completing the duties while mentally fixing the mind completely upon Him. The mind should not run towards the world. If the mind is placed in the interactions with the husband, sons, brothers and the like, then it is incorrect. The mind gets distracted and spoilt.

My first command was that you should diligently complete your assigned duties. Therefore, go back to your homes and assist in the completion of Yagna and the other associated household chores. You have said, ‘we have abandoned everything and come to you’. While that is correct, among the duties assigned to you, were some duties which should not be abandoned and which need to be completed to perfection. Such mandatory duties need to be taken to completion before they can be abandoned i.e. before they can be given up in totality. Once it has been taken to completion, there is nothing more to be done regarding it. It is then equivalent of abandoning. If abruptly you abandon the duties mid-way, then it classifies as slipping from the path of karma (action).

From this it is evident that duties assigned by God need to be necessarily completed. Nevertheless, while completing these duties/ actions, mind should be placed completely upon the Lord. Do not focus upon the tasks- they will automatically get completed.

It is true that everything connected with this body is impermanent in nature. Nevertheless, I have given you this body. Along with the body I have assigned you certain duties pertaining to it. You need to complete those duties perfectly.

The explanation given to those ladies is equally applicable to us. ‘I have given up everything and come. I will not return home. I will remain forever in the ashram’ – if devotees make such statements, who will complete their duties? Will I have to go there and complete their duties? Who will take on the responsibility for completing their pending work? While taking these tasks to completion, place me in your mind and worship. Occasionally come and visit me and return. Our dedication towards our duty is of foremost importance.

When it is said ‘discard your duties’ it implies- take them to completion and thereafter discard them. It also implies – place your mind upon the Lord while completing your duties. Do not get entangled in them. Not getting mentally entangled in those duties is equivalent of discarding them. The day you master this art, you would have discarded all your duties although mechanically you run around completing them. This is because your mind is fixed on God. This is another approach to the same Vedic statement and which too holds good.

Actions allotted to us as duties are also assignments ordained to us by the Lord. We have brought our destiny with us and hence we alone need to complete it. Who will go through our destiny? Ignorance caused us to seek unwanted desires. He was not ignorant. He granted with full knowledge, but we were ignorant. He did not forewarn us that our desires were unhealthy. He just said- so be it. For this reason, we are warned not to entertain desires.

We must learn to worship the Lord without any desire. Time and again I repeat the same message. Do not worship Him in order to fulfill your trivial, fleeting desires. Gradually the list will turn endless. The ever-compassionate Lord fulfills all our desires, but only in a sequential order. In order to exhaust all the desires contained in the list, we will need to go through multiple births. In every birth we fall into problems and also into the trap called worldly bondages. We have to grieve. All these are the outcome of one’s desires. Hence, the person who seeks to cross this fearful, dreaded ocean called spiritual ignorance (ajnana) should never entertain desires.

‘Ok. Swamiji. From this moment I agree to change my ways. Will I be blessed with immediate liberation?’ My answer is, ‘For past many births you entertained innumerable desires. There is none who can go through these experiences and their consequences on your behalf. You have created them hence you compulsorily need to exhaust them’.

‘But Swamiji out of ignorance I sought them’. I say, ‘Yes, I agree. Even though you foolishly asked for them, you need to experience them. Now you are wise and have stopped seeking newer desires. The benefit for this will be experienced in future’.

Hence from now on offer service to the Lord discarding all desires. Then in your next birth or next to next birth or in that future birth wherein traces of your old desires are completely eliminated, you will scale to higher levels. You will be ready to merge into Him. This is the meaning of the statement ‘sarva dharma parityajya’. We should interpret that phrase thus. We cannot say- now that I have seen You, why are You asking me to go away?

These ladies had thought of Krishna night and day. Agreed. They had come to see him. Good. But then, who can exhaust their destiny which follows them from across births? Who can go through their destiny on their behalf? Will their sons, husbands, brothers or other relatives be able to exhaust it for them? No. Each person has to exhaust his/her own destiny. In order to merge into the Lord, even that impurity has to be eliminated.

Let’s assume your Guru has assigned you the duty to ring the bell. You are abiding by His command. He then asks you to fetch the bowl of coloured rice. You set aside the bell and run to fetch the bowl. You return with the bowl and place it beside Him. What is it that you should now do? You need to resume your earlier task of ringing the bell. That was His initial command, wasn’t it? You have to go back to that duty.

As we go through life’s experiences and clear out the old impressions of past actions, we become purer. Today you have abandoned other desires. In other words, only today you have received the admission. This association with God and Guru has helped you to refrain from entertaining future desires. In its absence, you would have continued to entertain more desires. Now all you need to do is to exhaust all the past desires by experiencing them.

Krishna Narayana