Have an Intimate Connection with Your Loving God through Prayer

“Once there was a very poor woman. She was having 4 sons & 2 daughters. Her husband was not keeping well & was bed ridden, so there was no source of income in the house. As the food & vegetable items in the kitchen started diminishing, she started worrying, how she shall arrange for these items for her family in the future. She thought of taking some lentils & vegetables on credit from the nearby shopkeeper.

She humbly approached the shopkeeper & explained the situation of her family to him. She had hoped that he will help her & give her food items but the shopkeeper refused to help her & asked her to go somewhere else for help. Seeing her plight a nearby standing man tried to help her & told the shopkeeper that he shall pay for whatever she wanted in food items.

The shopkeeper asked the woman reluctantly to put her buying list on the weighing scales and whatever her list weighs, he shall give her that much items. The woman on hearing this just bowed her head. Then she just closed her eyes & after some time took out a piece of paper and wrote something on it. She then put that piece of paper on the weighing scale carefully with her head bowed down. Just as woman put that piece of paper on the scales, it went down as if the paper has taken the place of weights on the scale.

Both the shopkeeper & the other man stood there in amazement when the scale went down and stayed down with the weight of paper. The shopkeeper looked at the scales in bewilderment & started putting the food items on the other side of the scale. The scales did not balance & he continued to put more and more food items on the other scale until the scales would balance. To the amazement of the shopkeeper, the scales would not balance at all.

Finally, he pounced to take that piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement. It was not a food items list. It was instead a prayer which said: "Dear God, you know of my needs and I am leaving this in your hands to give me, as much as, You want."

The shopkeeper gave her the food items that he had put on the scales & did not charge the woman anything after seeing that miracle. Woman thanked the shopkeeper for his good gesture. Later on the shopkeeper discovered that, in fact the scales were broken with the weight of that mysterious piece of paper; therefore, only the Lord knows how much a prayer weighs.”

Through Prayer a person can address the Lord, his/her feelings & mind. Prayer is a way of having a personal experience and intimate connection with our loving Lord. He is willing to listen to you and responds with love and concern, all the time. The method of such calling our Lord is PRAYER. Those who have faith in Lord, generally Pray for Him. Prayer can be done during the worship or can be done just silently in our mind. If we pray to the Lord with sincerity then He shall answer to our prayers immediately.

Below are verses of Bhagwat Gita in which Lord Krishna is telling about His devotees & how He always protects them:

"ye tu sarvani karmani
mayi sannyasya mat-parah
ananyenaiva yogena
mam dhyayanta upasate"

"tesam aham samuddharta
mrityu-samsara-sagarat
bhavami na cirat partha
mayy avesita-cetasam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 6-7)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of Pritha—for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death."

"mayy eva mana adhatsva
mayi buddhim nivesaya
nivasisyasi mayy eva
ata urdhvam na samsayah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 8)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Just fix your mind upon Me and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt."

"ye tu dharmamritam idam
yathoktam paryupasate
sraddadhana mat-parama
bhaktas te ’tiva me priyah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Twelve verse 20)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Those who follow this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engage themselves with faith, making Me the supreme goal, are very, very dear to Me."

So let's always engage in devotional service of the Lord. Let's sing His glories so that He can always be merciful on us. If we shall do such devotional service to the Lord then we shall get special mercy of the Lord & He shall bestow all the good things in our life.

Jai Sri Krishna

Do You remember God when You are in distress?

Do you remember God when you are in distress or in your bad times only? As per Saint Kabir:

Dukh Mein Sumiran Sab Kare , Sukh Mein Kare Na Koye
Jo Sukh Mein Sumiran Kare , Tau Dukh Kahe Ko Hoye

It means that we remember God only in our anguish,
Nobody remembers God in joy,
If we remember Him in happiness,
Then how can sorrow come in our life.

Let’s see, what Bhagwat Gita says about these different believers in God who are also called devotees of God.

As per Bhagwat Gita Devotees are of different types. Some remember God when they are in distress & want to get rid of their grief. Some want to know God due to their inquisitiveness about Him. Some pray God to attain wealth in life while some wise men want to have true knowledge of God. As per Bhagwat Gita there are 4 types of devotees of God.

1) First one are those people who are in distress. In our bad times when we are in distress or when we are going through physical or mental agony, at that time we generally remember & pray to God. Such people devote themselves to God because they wish to be liberated from grief.

2) Second one are those people who want to know about the God. Such people have faith in God & want to know more about Him. Such people due to their inquisitiveness, debate about the God, read books etc. to know more about the God.

3) Third one are those people who want to gain wealth in life. There is no end to such people in this world. You can find such people generally in temples etc. asking God to give them wealth, money etc. Such people are those one's who do their appointed task for money because doing it will bring good fortune to them. So such people are the doers of selfish action in life.

4) Fourth one are those people who are people of True knowledge. Such people are really the wise men.They have true knowledge to God. They are the realized sages, who have attained to the stage of reaching the supreme goal.

Below are the verses of Bhagwat Gita which explain about the above said 4 types of devotees.

"chatur-vidha bhajante mam
janah sukritino ’rjuna
arto jijnasur artharthi
jnani cha bharatarsabha" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Seven verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me—the distressed, the inquisitive, the desirer of wealth, and the one who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute."

"udarah sarva evaite
jnani tv atmaiva me matam
asthitah sa hi yuktatma
mam evanuttamam gatim" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Seven verse 18)

"Sri Krishna said: All these devotees are undoubtedly magnanimous souls, but he who is situated in knowledge of Me, I consider to be just like My own self. Being engaged in My transcendental service, he/she is sure to attain Me, the highest and most perfect goal."

So just check, which type of devotee of God are you? If you are not the fourth one i.e. a person of True knowledge, a really wise person, then just strive to be the one. Just devote yourself to God, read religious literature, join the company of saintly people, give charities, alms to the people. Doing all such good works & having a yearning for God, you shall certainly become a wise person, a true devotee of God & shall ultimately attain to Him.

Jai Sri Krishna.

We have not brought anything at the time of birth

"Once a rich man having many horses went to a local village fair. There was one thief who saw a beautiful white horse with that man. The thief stole that white beautiful horse in the fair. That thief went a little far away in the fair & tried to sell that white horse. Another thief in the guise of a rich man came to the first thief & pretended to buy that horse. To have a test drive of the horse he rode on it’s back & stole that horse by rushing it to the woods. When the First thief came to know of the trick of the Second thief, he felt very sad.

When the people asked that thief whether he has sold his horse, he said, “Yes, he has sold it”. When people asked him, at what price he sold that horse, he said, “I sold it at the price, I had bought it.” Of course, a horse got in theft was gone in theft....& yes, for a free. So the same one horse changed three hands in a single day in the fair."

Our life is also like that only. We get things in our life which remains for some time with us. Then either we sell it, gift it or it perishes on it’s own on completion of it’s lifecycle. There is nothing which remains ever with us. In all cases, either things leave it’s owner or owner leave those things.

As per Bhagwat Gita, whatever belongs to you today, belonged to someone else earlier and shall belong to some one else in future. Change is the law of the universe. We have not brought anything at the time of birth, so how is it that we have lost? What did we produce, which is destroyed? Whatever we have, we have received it from the God only while on this earth. Whatever we will give, we will give it to the God. Everyone came in this world empty handed and shall go the same way. Everything belongs to God only. We are mistakenly enjoying the thought that this is ours. It is this false happiness that is the cause of our sorrows.

If we see the life on this earth, it has a specific lifetime & age before that person disappears from the stage earth. No one is immortal & has ever stayed permanently on this earth. But we all become so much involved & busy in our life on this earth that we all forget that one day we all have to leave this earth, leave this body. Our Life is not permanent on this earth & it is for a limited period of time after which it shall pass away. So we all should know the real purpose of life & should not let God slip out of our mind & life anytime, as He only shall save us during this life & also after this life.

Jai Sri Krishna

Ram – The Supreme God & The Son Of King Dashrath

There is many times the debate; whether Ram, the son of King Dashrath was a normal human being or He was the real Supreme God who is eternal, ever-existing, infinite, omnipresent and primeval? Let’s see what Bhagwat Gita & other religious books say about that.

In Bhagwat Gita Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that:

"yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 7)

"Sri Krishna said: Whenever and wherever there is a decline in virtue/religious practice, O Arjuna, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself the Lord of the universe, i.e. I manifest Myself as an embodied being."

"paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya cha duskritam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 8)

"Sri Krishna said: To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium."

So as per Bhagwat Gita the Supreme God, "Lord Vishnu" descends on the earth to deliver mankind from time to time. In "Treta Yuga" or "Treta Millennium" He took the form of "Lord Rama" & in "Dwapra Yuga" or "Dwapra Millennium" He took the form of "Lord Krishna". So the Supreme God, "Lord Vishnu" descends on the earth from time to time as Avatars & hence both "Lord Rama" & "Lord Krishna" are the forms of Supreme God only.

In below verse, Lord Sri Krishna fully establishes that He Himself is Lord Rama also who is the wielder of weapons like bow & arrow:

Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Ten verse 31:

"pavanah pavatam asmi
ramah shastra-bhrtam aham
jhasanam makaras chasmi
srotasam asmi jahnavi" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Ten verse 31)

"Sri Krishna says to Arjuna: Of purifiers I am the wind, of the wielders of weapons I am Rama, of fishes I am the shark, and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges."

In this "Bhagwat Gita Chapter Ten-Verse 31", "Lord Krishna" himself is clearly saying that "Among the wielders of weapons, He himself is Lord Rama." So this verse also clearly establishes that "Lord Rama" & "Lord Krishna" are the forms of Supreme God, "Lord Vishnu" only & hence are one & the same being at two different times.

In the Ramayana also it is said time & again that Lord Vishnu only incarnated as Lord Rama as the son of King Dashrath in the "Treta Yuga" or "Treta Millennium".

In Kabir Ji's Holy Book also Kabir Ji has taken name of Lord Rama many times. Below is a verse from it:

Ek Ram Dashrath ka beta, ek Ram jo ghat ghat mein baitha
Ek Ram ja ka sakal pasaara, ek Ram jo sabse nyaara

Meaning of above verse is:

The one Ram is Dashrath's son, the same Ram abides in every pore of creation
The same Ram created everything, the same Ram is the most unique

So from above verse also it is clear that One Ram who was born as the son of King Dashrath is the one who is Omnipresent God & who sits in each & every atom, pore of this creation. So let’s pray to our Sovereign Lord King who is Sri Ram Chander, the Son of the King Dashrath. Lord Ram alone is the Giver and all creatures are beggars of Him. So the Akaal Purkh who resides in everyone is Sri Ram Chander only who was born to King Dashrath in the "Treta Yuga".

Saint Kabir also says that 'Ram' is the one who is All-pervading Lord. Saint Kabir, always chanted the name of Ram, while in meditation & also kept in mind that the same Ram is the Omnipresent God. So let's worship "Lord Ram" as the incarnation of "Lord Vishnu" & also the Omnipresent God & who sits in each & every atom, pore of this creation, the one who is always all around us.

Jai Shri Krishna

Read also.............'Lord Rama' & Bhagwat Gita