When God walks Side by Side With You

In Bhagwat Gita Lord Krishna has given a promise that He is always with His devotees. Whosoever, worships Him with true heart, He is always with that person. But it is our mind only that is not having complete faith in Him & His powers. We do not actually know how resourceful & powerful God is & that He can take care of all of our problems. It's only that we should have unswerving faith in Him. If we do have such faith in Him & always think of Him, pray Him, then there is no chance that He shall not be with you always & in times of your adversity. Recently I was listening to a devotional song / bhazan by Sh. Vinod Aggarwal Ji in which he was describing about the story of a person, who wanted to test his faith in God - Lord Krishna, whether or not God is always with him. Story goes like this:

Once there was a devotee of Lord Krishna who always used to have faith in the powers of the God & always used to pray Him in his mind. That person was very rich. That person prayed to God & asked the God that I love you, pray you, adore you so much but how come I am to know that You are with me & shall protect me in all circumstances.

God told him, "You see, you daily goes for a morning walk by the bank of the river. Now onwards I shall walk by your side, whenever, you shall go for the morning walk."

Next day that person went for the morning walk but could not see anybody over there. When he came back from the morning walk, he started complaining to God, "As promised, You have not come to my side when I went for the morning walk. God, I could not see You during my morning walk."

God said to him, "I have come during your morning walk but with these eyes you could not see Me".

Devotee, "O God, then how am I to know that You are with me?"

God said to him, " See, whenever you walk by the side of the river, you normally see only two footsteps of yours. Now ,whenever, you see four footsteps instead of two, just think that I am walking by you."

It started happening that way only & that person always saw four footsteps & felt happy & confident that God is with him & walking by him.

Life is the name of change. Now the times changed & with the quirk of fate, somehow that person lost his wealth & got poor. When the wealth was gone, all his near & dear ones turned their faces away from that person. He started to feel very lonely but was confident that in all these times of adversity, though all his near & dear ones, friends & relatives have left him but at least his revered God-Lord Krishna is with him. That person still used to go for the morning walk. But surprisingly during these times of adversity he again started seeing only two footsteps instead of four, during his walk by the river. Now that person was very surprised that his revered, lovable God too has left him during the adverse times. He started regretting & crying but ultimately said in his mind, "Let it be the will of God, what he can do?"

Life for that man went on like that only & with time, again his times changed & he once again became rich & prosperous. But now when he went to the morning walk by the side of the river he again started seeing four footsteps instead of two. Now he got impatient & complained to God that this is not fair.

He said to God, "It's all right that in my adverse times all my near & dear ones had left me but how come that You too, who always promised me to be with me, too had left me in my adverse times. God, how come that You leave your devotee in his bad times?"

Now God could not keep His silence & told that person, "O My Dear one, in your times of adversity the two footsteps that you saw were not yours but these were of Him."
That man said, "How can it be that those footsteps were Yours & not mine?"

God said, "O My Dear one, in your times of adversity, YOU WERE IN MY LAP & I ALWAYS WALKED TAKING YOU IN MY LAP ONLY. In such a condition how can your footsteps be there on the bank of the river. Those two footsteps in your adverse times were mine only. Now your good time has come so now once again I shall be separate from you & shall always walk by your side."

In Bhagwat Gita Lord Krishna tells Arjuna to always have faith in Him only as, whosoever, keeps faith in Lord Krishna, He always protects that devotee.

"ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesham nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 22)

"Lord Sri Krishna says to Arjuna: But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have."

"ananya-cetah satatam
yo mam smarati nityasah
tasyaham sulabhah partha
nitya-yuktasya yoginah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eight verse 14)

"Lord Sri Krishna says: Whosoever, always & constantly remembers Me with undivided mind; by that person, I am easy to obtain, O Arjuna, because of his constant engagement in the devotional service to Me."

Jai Sri Krishna

Pitcher Needs to Submerge in Water to get it Filled

A Saint was telling a symbolic story:

Once a Pitcher (earthen pot for storing water) was lying beside a river. Pitcher was made of clay earth which was baked in fire, so it had become hard like a stone. Pitcher thought that it is so hard & strong but water is soft, so water should come & get filled in it. So much time went by but water never came & got filled up on it’s own in the pitcher. River was so vast that it flowed with it’s own grace all the time. In the end, a saint came, took the earthen pot, got it fully dipped in water & took it back. Lo! water got filled up in the pitcher & water too came in control of the pitcher. So the saint told to the pitcher that by giving up its ego completely by bending before the river only, you can get water filled inside yourself.

Similarly, by surrendering our ego in the Divine feet of the Lord Krishna we can get to know of Him. If we shall sit beside the river (not come towards God) then we shall not be able to know Him. By devotion of God, He too shall come in control of yourself.

Under the influence of ego human beings forget the truth about God & thinks his/her identity to be different than others. Once a person knows this knowledge of God, then the delusion of "Maya" disappears & that person shed his / her ego to become one with God again. As a rope that is burnt retains its shape intact, but has become all ashes, so that nothing can be bound with it; similarly, the person who feels one with everyone & is devoted to God, retains only the form of his egoism, but not has any idea of vanity (Ahamkâra).

Below is a verse of Bhagwat Gita which tells how an egoistic person behaves:

"ahankaram balam darpam
kamam krodham cha samsritah
mam atma-para-dehesu
pradvisanto ’bhyasuyakah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 18)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, these egoistic people become envious of the Supreme Lord, who is situated in their own bodies and in the bodies of others, and blaspheme against the real religion."

Below is a verse of Bhagwat Gita which tells how surrendering one's ego one can achieve the God:

"tam eva saranam gaccha
sarva-bhavena bharata
tat-prasadat param shantim
sthanam prapsyasi sasvatam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 62)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, surrender your ego fully unto the God. By His grace you will attain transcendental peace and the supreme and eternal abode."

So Let's shed our ego & not be egoistic, as it shall not do any good to one self. Let's surrender our ego in the Divine feet of the God & adore Him only so that He can give us a blissful life.



Jai Sri Krishna

When God walks by your side

In Bhagwat Gita Lord Krishna has given a promise that He is always with His devotees. Whosoever, worships Him with true heart, He is always with that person. But it is our mind only that is not having complete faith in Him & His powers. We do not actually know how resourceful & powerful God is & that He can take care of all of our problems. It's only that we should have unswerving faith in Him. If we do have such faith in Him & always think of Him, pray Him, then there is no chance that He shall not be with you always & in times of your adversity. Recently I was listening to a devotional song / bhazan by Sh. Vinod Aggarwal Ji in which he was describing about the story of a person, who wanted to test his faith in God - Lord Krishna, whether or not God is always with him. Story goes like this:

Once there was a devotee of Lord Krishna who always used to have faith in the powers of the God & always used to pray Him in his mind. That person was very rich. That person prayed to God & asked the God that I love you, pray you, adore you so much but how come I am to know that You are with me & shall protect me in all circumstances.

God told him, "You see, you daily goes for a morning walk by the bank of the river. Now onwards I shall walk by your side, whenever, you shall go for the morning walk."

Next day that person went for the morning walk but could not see anybody over there. When he came back from the morning walk, he started complaining to God, "As promised, You have not come to my side when I went for the morning walk. God, I could not see You during my morning walk."

God said to him, "I have come during your morning walk but with these eyes you could not see Me".

Devotee, "O God, then how am I to know that You are with me?"

God said to him, " See, whenever you walk by the side of the river, you normally see only two footsteps of yours. Now ,whenever, you see four footsteps instead of two, just think that I am walking by you."

It started happening that way only & that person always saw four footsteps & felt happy & confident that God is with him & walking by him.

Life is the name of change. Now the times changed & with the quirk of fate, somehow that person lost his wealth & got poor. When the wealth was gone, all his near & dear ones turned their faces away from that person. He started to feel very lonely but was confident that in all these times of adversity, though all his near & dear ones, friends & relatives have left him but at least his revered God-Lord Krishna is with him. That person still used to go for the morning walk. But surprisingly during these times of adversity he again started seeing only two footsteps instead of four, during his walk by the river. Now that person was very surprised that his revered, lovable God too has left him during the adverse times. He started regretting & crying but ultimately said in his mind, "Let it be the will of God, what he can do?"

Life for that man went on like that only & with time, again his times changed & he once again became rich & prosperous. But now when he went to the morning walk by the side of the river he again started seeing four footsteps instead of two. Now he got impatient & complained to God that this is not fair.

He said to God, "It's all right that in my adverse times all my near & dear ones had left me but how come that You too, who always promised me to be with me, too had left me in my adverse times. God, how come that You leave your devotee in his bad times?"

Now God could not keep His silence & told that person, "O My Dear one, in your times of adversity the two footsteps that you saw were not yours but these were of Him."
That man said, "How can it be that those footsteps were Yours & not mine?"

God said, "O My Dear one, in your times of adversity, YOU WERE IN MY LAP & I ALWAYS WALKED TAKING YOU IN MY LAP ONLY. In such a condition how can your footsteps be there on the bank of the river. Those two footsteps in your adverse times were mine only. Now your good time has come so now once again I shall be separate from you & shall always walk by your side."
Jai Sri Krishna

River Worship - "Ganga Aarti"

The Ganga ( गंगा Gaṅgā) or Ganges River is a major river of the Indian subcontinent. It is associated with mythology, as well as, reality with the people of India. It is a very sacred river to all the Hindus. In Hinduism it is personified as a Goddess & it is an integral part of Hindu religion. It is believed by all the Hindus that bathing in the Ganges river, generally or on certain occasions causes the remission of sins and facilitates the attainment of salvation (Moksha). So Hindus travel from distant places to take a holy dip in it's waters. Hindus also immerse the ashes of their kin in the sacred waters of the Ganges. Such rituals normally take place at Haridwar, Varanasi (Kashi or Banaras) and Allahabad.

Recently I visited Varanasi which is also called Kashi or Banaras. Varanasi is situated on the bank of Ganges River in Uttar Pradesh state of India. It is considered to be the oldest city on earth. It is also called the city of "Lord Shiva". "Kashi Vishwnath temple" over here is a Shiva temple which is there in the city since time immemorial. For me visiting over here was really a spiritual experience. A spiritual aura pervades through whole of the city & a special peace comes to mind sitting on the banks of Ganges River. The greatest experience was participating in the "Evening Ganga Aarti" (Evening prayers to the Ganges River) at it's bank. It was not less than a cultural festival which happens daily on it's bank. Thousands of people (Indian, as well as, foreigners) take part in this "Evening Ganga Aarti" daily. The devotion of the people is unparalleled at that time of evening prayers. Here below are some pictures of the Ganges River & the ritual of Ganga Aarti, taken by me at Varanasi. Hope you would like it.

In Bhagwat Gita, Lord Krishna himself declares that among all the rivers, God himself is there as "River Ganga ( गंगा Gaṅgā)" on this earth. So River Ganga is a form of living Goddess only. Below verse of Bhagwat Gita explains that only.

"pavanah pavatam asmi
ramah shastra-bhrtam aham
jhasanam makaras chasmi
srotasam asmi jahnavi" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Ten verse 31)
"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: Of all the purifiers I am the wind; of the wielders of weapons I am Rama; of fishes I am the shark; and of all the flowing rivers I am the River Ganges."