Kannada Article by: Raghavendra Ural
English Rendering by: M R Bhashyam
Respond to (lekhana@ayvm.in)
Some amongst us say "Where is God? These are creative imaginations of our own so that we may console ourselves. Do not unnecessarily waste your lives by running behind God etc. If you have to, then do these after retirement". Some others say "I have wasted my entire life going behind these ideas of god etc. I have not been able to see Him. People simply say these things. Do not waste your life's while like me". Let us try to understand the value of these points of view from a story narrated by the revered Śrī Śrīraṅga Mahāguru.
"There is a door which is closed for hundreds of years. The door has rusted and because of the rust it is not possible to open the door. Someone has said that there is huge wealth stored behind that door and we are curious to see. 'If the door is oiled, it is possible to remove the rust' someone has advised. Though we doubted, we applied a spoon of oil to the rust and tried opening the door, but the door did not open. So we come to the conclusion 'look we tried. It is impossible to remove the rust by oiling'"
This type of ignorance arises, if we do not understand how much of oil has to be used for a given quantity of rust. Similarly, since we have not opened the internal doors for a long time, the rusts of our character called rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa have settled. To remove these, it is necessary to pour the oil called devotion – bhakti-rasa. The quantum of the Bhakti-rasa that needs to be poured depends on the age of the rust; that is all!
"It is impossible to remove the rust of many a birth with just a spoon of devotion. Hence, if the oil of devotion is poured everyday at His divine feet, then the internal doors will open and we will not escape a vision of the benevolent Lord" is the proclamation of our great sages.
"When you are born a human and when the tongue is functioning, can you not say the name Kṛṣṇa" so has said the great devotee Puraṅdaradāsa. He has not said that you do this after retiring from your profession.
Hence, let us pour our oil of devotion, when there is still strength in the body. Let us make our internal doors open. Let us try to enjoy the joy of His presence in this birth itself.
Note: The Kannada version of this article can be viewed at AYVM blogs.