Nārāyaṇāya namah

Prahlāda continued, “O Lord Narasimha! All the measures taken by living entities to dispel grief give only temporary relief. Sorrows have no permanent exit”.

Swamiji explains: When sorrows disappear, people celebrate. Little do they know that the sorrow was impermanent. Weighed down by sorrows they believe it is unending and refuse to accept that it will come to an end. Since sorrow is impermanent the remedy cannot be permanent. With His grace, you have to, with your own efforts, discover the permanent solution for all sorrows. You may question- why can’t the person who knows the cure, permanently cure this sorrow of mine? The answer is- this grief has to be experienced, only then it can be cured permanently. But in general people are unable or unwilling to even taste the suffering. Learn to go through sorrows. At times, sorrows are also sweet.

“For instance, there is no absolute guarantee that parents will protect their child, or that a medicine will definitely cure the patient or that a boat will rescue a person drowning in the ocean”.

A person who is drowning in the seas should have the sufficient merit (punya) which enables a boat to come to his rescue. There is absolutely no guarantee that a medicine will cure 100%. It may give only temporary relief at times.

“Human beings in this world are of varied natures. With their modern outlook, some behave as if they belong to the future time periods, while some, desirous of abiding by the age-old habits, act as if they belong to the past. While some are rich, some belong to the low-middle income groups. Irrespective of all these differences, all the various persons, methods, situations and places which influence living entities and which cause them to be born in a particular time period, in particular situations, in particular forms or which cause transformations in them are nothing but Your form”.

Although this world with all its differences, appears complicated, everything happens purely with His energy. It all originates from the same source. Everything moves per a person’s destiny alone! For instance, at this moment we do not know if a tsunami is creating havoc in some region; whether any place has been levelled due to earthquake; whether some accident is taking away some life somewhere in the world; or whether boats are sinking. Of course, modern technology ensures that even trivial news from all corners of the world is aired to us. Even a theft that takes places in South Africa is aired here. A few decades back, when such information was unavailable, we assumed that everything and everyone in the world was peaceful and that no mishaps ever took place in the world. So people lived happily and peacefully assuming everything was ok. While we pray for the universal well-being, where is the guarantee that everyone will remain happy and calm?

“O Lord, everything is Your form. You are the giver, the receiver, as well as the object being given. You alone are our past residence, present residence and future residence! You are the one that travels. You are the one that resides. You are the past, present and future trade”.

Currency that is in our custody would have passed through innumerable hands such as those of traders, commoners, bureaucrats, saints, thieves and banks but still it retains its sanctity. Money is the basis for all trading and exchange business. In currency conversions, bank notes (money) of one country are exchanged for another. Do you have any idea how many hands it has changed before reaching you? What belonged to another person yesterday will belong to another in future. That a small piece of paper currency which controls everything appears to be another of His plays.

“The veil called spiritual ignorance (avidya), which has no beginning, creates this wheel known as samsāra which consists of 16 spokes known as 5 organs of perception, 5 organs of action, 5 life-forces and mind. Their combination is the living entity. This body which predominantly consists of mind is subtle in existence.

This subtle body, which is in the form of impressions of past actions (karma vasana), is created due to the will of the Supreme Lord, when the illusionary energy is agitated by time. Due to the resultant turbulence within the three attributes of Nature, the subtle body emerges.

It is almost impossible to conquer this mind which is filled with desires and which believes in performing fruitive activities specified in the Vedas for the fulfilment of these desires”. We speak of conquering the mind but deep within we entertain desires. How to conquer when desires still exist? Only a pure mind can be conquered.

Vāmadevaya namah