Skip to main content

WEATHERING THE STORMY WEATHER


It is stormy, windy and rainy in Goa for the last few days. Seeing the wind and the heavy downpour, I started wondering, "What an experience it would be to be in such a storm and wind in a boat in the middle of the turbulent ocean". A crazy thought, I guess. 

But then I got this insight that, "Well, we are already in the middle of an ocean with violent winds around." The scriptures explain that, this material world is a huge ocean of birth and death, with turbulent winds and storm of problems and miseries all around us and we, tiny entities being caught in this terrible and powerful ocean are struggling helplessly to stay afloat and stable in the midst of all this drama. This material world is not so easy to overcome however powerful and expert one may be just as, even an expert swimmer is unable to swim across an ocean. 

Therefore Lord Krishna tells us in Bhagvat-gita 7.14

"daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā"

"This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome." 

So, what is the hope for us to overcome this insurmountable ocean of birth and death?

Lord Krishna Himself answers this question is the second part of this very verse of the Bhagvat-gita. He says - 

"mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te"

"But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." 

The key is simple, "Surrender unto Him". His lotus feet are compared to a boat that can safely pligh us across this dangerous shark infested ocean of miseries as Srimad-bhagvatam 10.14.58 explains -

"samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ
mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ
bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ
padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām"

"For those who have accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Murāri, the enemy of the Mura demon, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf’s hoof-print. Their goal is paraṁ padam, Vaikuṇṭha, the place where there are no material miseries, beyond this material world where there is danger at every step."

Narottam Das Thakur, a great Vaishnav Saint of medieval times prays in a similar mood in his famous song, "Gauranga Karuna Karo" showing us how we should pray to the Lord so that we can weather the stormy weather of this world -

"podechi bhava tuphāne nāhiko nistār
sri carana tarani dāne, dāse karo pār"

"I am plunged amidst the violent hurricane-
stricken waves in the ocean of this material world, from which there is no escape. Kindly give me the gift of Your divine lotus feet, which are compared to a boat in which Your servant may cross over the ocean of birth and death."

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AGENTS OF CHANGE

The first chapter of Bhagvad-Gita is entitled ' Observing the armies on the battlefield of Kurukshetra '. This chapter is all about Arjuna seeing the world through his eyes, interpreting the situation according to what he thinks is right. The result - confusion and stress. This the turning point in his life, where he surrenders to Krishna and asks Him for guidance. Lord Krishna then starts to speak the timeless wisdom of the Bhagvad-Gita only to give Arjuna the right vision. If we honestly glance into our hearts, we will come to the same conclusion that Arjuna came to - that observing life through our present perceptions has not helped us, we still feel unhappy and incomplete. We probably need a change of lenses, a vision change.  That's exactly what the Bhagvad-Gita does for us. It helps us change our vision from "What I think is correct" to " What is actually correct ", it helps us change from saying " Let my will be done " to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

STEP OUT to STEP UP

Don't live the same day over and over again and call that a life. Life is about evolving mentally, spiritually and emotionally . -   Germany Kent We all have our own comfort zones which we don't want to leave. Why? Because life is very predictable and set according to our convenience. "Why should you leave all this to embrace a life of risk, unpredictability and inconvenience", reasons the mind. This may be true but it also true that life without challenges is not life at all - it is just survival. We are born not to survive but to thrive. Thrive means growth and growth means the growth process. And the growth process is always not easy but the result is always amazing.   THE PROCESS OF GROWTH Just like a caterpillar goes through a struggle to come out of the cocoon, but that struggle, that growth, transforms it into the most beautiful butterfly similarly coming out of our cocoon of comfort may be difficult but the fruits are exceedingly wonderful. Or just li...
Post a Comment
Read more

GETTING OUR ATTITUDES RIGHT

" Our altitude in life depends not on our aptitude but our attitude in life. " A few days ago was the appearance day of Sri Advait Acharya. Advaita Acharya is non different from Lord Vishnu and appeared as one of the most confidential associates of Lord Chaitanya. His life is filled with great lessons for all devotees in the line of Lord Chaitanya. Here are two most prominent and crucial lessons from His life that is very very important for devotees to understand. RIGHT ATTITUDE OF A PREACHER Advaita Acharya even though was Lord Vishnu Himself, still seeing the suffering condition of the human society, prayed to Lord Krishna to personally descend. Why? Because He thought, He was powerless to transform the hearts of the living entities. Just see, He Himself is the powerful Lord but still felt incapable. This is a true quality of a powerful preacher - he considers himself powerless and thus seeks and prays to access powers, higher than himself. By His earnest prayers, Lord Kr...
1 comment
Read more