Why Krishna watched as Gopis lifted water.

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Why Krishna watched as Gopis lifted water

 

Once the gopikas of Brindavan were lifting heavy pails of water while

their cowherd friend Krishna, stood by and watched. He made no move to

help them. The gopis marked His strange indifference. However, a little later

when they wanted to remove the pails from their heads and place them on the

ground, Krishna rushed to help them. Asked why, He replied that His task was to

help human souls unburden themselves, not assist them in adding burdens.

 

Often, we pray for the very things that God does not want to give us:

added burdens. We seek fame, fortune and power but none of these give us the

happiness we are seeking. Why? Simply because, all these are

external and related to the world, whereas true happiness is internal

and related to the spirit. We may strew our lives with pleasures, but

that will not help because there is a vast difference between pleasure

and happiness. The former is related to the senses and is evanescent;

the latter is of and from the soul and is abiding.

 

How to attain soul-abiding happiness? The scriptures have a stunning

thing to say... they tell us that there is nothing to attain for we are

sat-chitananda or embodiments of bliss, it is just a question of

realising it. The whole aim of life is this Self-realisation. To reach

this one has to turn one's gaze and attention inward, away from the

material world, to the inner essence of being.

 

" Whether one is a yogi or a bhogi; whether one is a sanyasi or

householder, he alone will be truly happy and will verily enjoy, who is ever

revealing inwardly in Brahman " , said Adi Sankara in the Bhaja

Govindam.

 

It is maya or illusion that creates the universe and spreads before the mind the

vast paraphernalia of the objective world. It is a nartaki or enchantress who

entices the intelligence and traps the senses. Every material thing is a decoy

to make you lose your way to the spirit. It's like chasing mirages one after

another.

 

The more you clear the clutter of worldly desires and negative thoughts the more

space is created for spirit to surface and roam free. Desire in itself is not a

bad thing; it is limitless desire that creates havoc and destroys peace.

 

A basic concept underlying the Hindu attitude to life is that of the

four ends of man or purusharthas: dharma, righteousness; artha, wealth; kama,

desire; and moksha, liberation. An emancipated and integrated approach to human

experience is reflected in the four purusharthas. Dharma is the regulating

factor and if artha and kama are kept within the parameters of dharma then the

individual will, in the natural course, proceed towards the final and supreme

aspiration, moksha.

 

Since material pleasures can never provide complete fulfillment, it is

worthwhile to enquire deeply where true satisfaction and happiness lie. For

this, one has to awaken the spiritual senses which exist in a

dimension different to that of our limited physical senses.

 

Sathya Sai Baba says: " Less luggage, more comfort, make travel a

pleasure. On this journey of life our desires are our baggage. The fewer our

desires the greater our comfort... many people interpret

renunciation to mean either giving away as charity, money or land or

donning the ochre robe; but real renunciation is the giving up of

desire " .