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

THE BREATHING BELLOWS

Every morning when I wake up and notice my breathing and observe my chest swelling up and down being pumped with air, I invariably remember a verse from the Srimad-bhagvatam which states that our breathing is like the breathing of the bellows of a blacksmith. Both the bellow and our body is made of leather. The bellow may feel that it is breathing on it's own and is fully independent but, it does not know that as soon as the blacksmith stops pumping air in it, it will stop breathing and lay lifeless. Similarly, we may be proud of our breathing and our life and may feel fully independent but, we don't realise that as soon as God decides to stop pumping air into our system, our body will stop breathing and lay lifeless.  What is there to be proud of when we don't even have control over our breath?  We should be grateful to God for giving us the wonderful opportunity and gift to breathe and live. And, the way we express that gratitude is by using ...
Post a Comment
Read more

DIVORCE LUST - MARRY LOVE

"There is only one happiness in life - to love and be loved." Probably one of the most frequently used word in human dictionary is - love. The number of books, novels and movies made with this theme are unlimited. But most often than not what we consider to be love is not love but lust disguised as love. You see, on the surface both love and lust appear to be similar but in reality both of them are galaxies apart. Here are few thoughts which show the stark difference between the two. These are not mere poetic words put to sound nice but are words with deep meaning which can be accessed if pondered upon a little deeply. You can call these "The Love-Lust Sutras". My suggestion is not to rush through this list but go through it slowly and meditatively. THE LOVE-LUST SUTRAS Love is healing, lust is hurting Love is complete, lust is incomplete Love is peace, lust is anxiety Love is satisfying, lust is agitating Love is truth, lust is illusion Love is from heart, lust ...
1 comment
Read more

FORTUNE BEYOND IMAGINATION & QUALIFICATION

As devotees, we don't realise the great fortune of being able to wear the attire of a Vaishnava, apply Tilak on our forehead, wear Tulsi beads on our neck, chant the Holynames of Krishna, associate with His wonderful devotees, engage in His service, honour His prasadam, visit His holy dhamas, circumbulate Tulsi, see His holy deities, hear His Katha, participate in His festivals, read His words in the scriptures. These are by no way ordinary activities. These are blessings of an immeasurable kind. What we are given access to and the kind of devotional life we are given a chance to preform is very rare. Only very very fortunate souls get the fortune to get connected to the Lord through anyone of these activities. Indeed, great demigods long to experience this kind of life. And the best part is that we have been offered all this fortune without any qualification of ours. One time, one disciple asked Srila Prabhupada, "What was our qualification that we got to meet you and t...
Post a Comment
Read more