Vyakhyaan by Vinod ji Agarwal_'A'

The word 'Gulfaam' signifies the essence of beauty which is connected with conscience and not the physical body. Whatever appeals to our mind is called beautiful. In Bhakti Maarg, God only removes our flaws and fills us up with good qualities. So a devotee intends to convey here that God's active presence is converting the gulaam (slave) into gulfaam. "तेरे साथ से गुलाम अब गुलफ़ाम हो रहा है.. करते हो तुम कन्हैया मेरा नाम हो रहा है।" __ Listen to 'Shukraana' at https://shukraana.podbean.com

Depending upon individual experiences or inner calling, we may feel God in various ways- as a personal figure, as energy, as bliss, as super natural power and so on. Once we accept His existence, our life begins to transform and a major role is played by the spirit of surrender towards Him. After exhausting all the other possible means, the seeker sincerely beseeches God's grace which helps in effacing his false ego. Citing its own incapacity and sinfulness, the surrendered soul looks up to Him to carry it.

Every human being is required to balance his three kinds of lives- First is the social life which demands selfless service to family and society. Next is the personal life, meant for serving one's own genuine interests. A devotee, however, readily gives up his personal share too if need arises. The fair conduct through these two roles simultaneously helps us in our spiritual life, whereby a loving connection is intrinsically sought with the Supreme Being.

Every spiritual activity is generally based upon some scientific theory. In earlier times, our temples used to have big brass bells in front of the deities. When a visitor used to ring the bell, its loud sound would render him thoughtless, causing the deity's image get captured in his still mind. On this basis, sankirtan has become an effective medium for concentrating our mind through the sound waves. Hari naam Sankirtan is actually a divine harmony of music (Naad Brahm) and words (Shabad Brahm) which lets the listeners forget about their physical existence and get absorbed in Him.

As we make use of medicines like anesthesia to make body lose the sensation of pain, injury etc the divine sessions of sankirtan enable our mind lose the sensation of the world around. We can not evade the bitter fruits of our Karma but its bitterness does not effect us if our conscience is absorbed in the melody of Hari naam.

For the present era of Kalyuga, chanting the Holy name is said to be the fastest way to reach God. The sound waves of these chants move in a circular motion thereby clarifying our aura. Further, our keenness to meet Him strengthens its centrifugal force enabling the chants to pull the called one nearer. So we should try to somehow get into the habit of chanting if we really desire to grow spiritually.

A devotee always wants to remain in the proximity of his Lord and wishes away all those things which may drift him away. Very often some sort of grief or dissatisfaction marks the beginning of our spiritual quest. On the way there comes a point when life offers us the exact antidote of our misery to make us worldly happy. The seeker however should be careful to not stop at that point because bliss is his destination not just happiness. It is not to rebuff the achievement of fame, wealth, priesthood etc but these can never be taken as yardsticks of our spiritual progress. One has to, in fact, cross over them to achieve what soul is wishing for.

Conservatism is the root cause of domestic as well as social conflicts. Spirituality demands recognition and reverence for various sets of thoughts, sects, religions etc because all of these are like different routes reaching the same destination. We must stick to one but should never contempt the other routes. For those who are actually able to reach God, nothing is disputable. They freely accept everything in His name without caring for their personal repute.

Spirituality is much beyond religiosity. It is an inward journey of our soul while latter is related to outward set of activities. Nevertheless the religious differences automatically vanish when love enters the field because It enables us to feel a direct connection with our Universal source. Bhakt Raskhan was a Muslim pathaan but his devotional love towards Lord Krishna made him highly venerable for all Brajwasis.

By performing charitable activities, our soul experiences a unique sense of satisfaction. It is a divine fruit in itself and one should never be narcissist about it. We must always remember that Almighty is the ultimate source of everything though it may look to be passing through our hands.

Charity(for social welfare) and chanting (for personal welfare) are the two basic components of Bhakti. Hari naam sumiran rather lays the foundation of selfless service. Our body should be dedicated to the service of other beings while the mind should remain absorbed in the name of lord. In this way, a devotee can avoid the useless pride of being doer of any seva or daan.

Spirituality implies enrichment from within but most of us mistake it to be the means for materialistic upliftment. The abundance or dearth of physical things is a matter of our destiny but spiritual enlightenment is purely the result of God's causeless mercy. Hence one should serve the saints, read holy text and pay obeisance to deities for no other purpose than receiving this divine mercy.

We often complain that the misfortune befalls us though we never do anything bad. Our perception might hold true for the present life but we are unaware of our past karmic connections which form the basis of the ongoing screenplay. The journey of an individual, spread over various lifetimes, is like a movie. Being ignorant of its initial sequence, we fail to understand the actual genesis of the current scene. Therefore we should never blame any particular person or incident for our problems rather face them boldly.

Each individual is bound by the cumulative effect of his own past actions known as destiny. Every present moment is an opportunity to preset our future but the unfolding events of today cannot be changed. However our positive take can make present look easier and can also help us in carefully designing our future.

God does give everyone a chance to realize His presence directly or indirectly. Life unfolds before us as per our destiny but our Lord often overlooks our negative points and blesses us mercifully. By repeatedly recollecting such moments of His grace, our faith gets strengthened and we become self reliant.

The anecdotes of God’s various incarnations reassert the significance of being hardworking and enduring. Almighty is all capable of removing the worldly sorrows yet He suffers and enjoys like a layman following the law of causation. This teaches us that our destiny lies in our own hands but once set, it cannot be changed. All the human beings have been given the power of discretion to make the rightful choice of karma and also the intellect to adequately respond to the result thereof. Praying and calling for God's grace can strengthen but not replace our own efforts.

The curvy tour of life becomes a divine experience if one has faith that Lord is standing beside. His presence doesn't imply elimination of evil from life but His energy makes us empower it. We must not forget that Manthra survived in the kingdom of Lord Rama only while Vibhishan lived in the house of Ravana. Hence vice cannot be nullified but goodness has to win over it. Moreover, it must be always kept in mind that whatever suffering or pleasure we face in present life is the fruit of our own past deeds. So no other person should be held responsible for any of our happenings.

Arth, dharma, kaam and moksh are said to be the four desirable fruits of human life. 'Arth' implies understanding the essence of God, 'dharam' means knowing about His nature and 'kaam' denotes His style of working. One who is able to attain these three reaches the stage of 'living' liberation i.e. moksha is achieved even before leaving the mortal body. This divine realization comes through His grace only and after experiencing this grace, there remains just one thing worth demanding- endless devotion to His Lotus feet.

We all have the tendency to consider ourselves wiser than others which causes mistrust, discontent and doubtfulness. Such type of negativity is immensely harmful for both socialization and spiritual advancement. Therefore faith and dedication are said to be the pillars for success in any stream of life.

One dark night, a traveler was passing through a village. As his destination was yet away the village chief gave him a lamp so that he could see the path. The traveler soon returned and complained that his way was over eight km long while light of the lamp could cover a distance of merely hundred yards. The chief said that it was foolish to expect that his whole way should be lit at a stretch. As he would move on, the light of lamp would be ahead of him and thus he could cover his whole distance. Similarly, every seeker should build up his faith against the impending darkness and keep his pace constant. Every passing moment clears the path for the next step.

The motive of a reasonable benefit is essential for undertaking any activity in society but the same gets vitiated if greedily desired at the cost of others. However, in spirituality it is good to be more and more greedy for God.

Lord Krishna took birth during night time and prison cell immediately lighted up with His radiance, the chains of Father Vasudev broke open and the gate keepers went into deep slumber. This sequence of events carries an important message- we may keep trying but it is very difficult to remove all our subtle impurities. So we should instead aspire for His direct appearance in our hearts. Once His light dawns inside us, He is expected to do rest of the things Himself like what happened in Mathura jail. _ When we feel an urge for God, there is enlightenment in our conscience which dispels the darkness caused by our ignorance. The shackles of our accumulated prejudices and pre set reservations start breaking off. Our behavioral tendencies, conditioned by lust, anger, greed, attachment, vanity and envy fall asleep. Finally, the doors to our inner bliss get unlocked and this is called Krishan Janamashtmi.

People of the modern civilization often raise questions on the conecpt of God. They need to understand that they cannot get their answers without assuming His supremacy first. It is like an algebraic problem wherein we ought to begin by making some assumption- suppose/let x= a. As we move step by step, alongside this assumed thread we are able to extract the exact value of the assumed statement. Hence taking up one divine figure as the basis of this Universe helps us to uncover the endless mystery.

There are four principal Mantras in Hindu culture- Eim which symbolizes power, presided over by Maa Durga; second is Hrim symbolizing health and is presided over by Maa Annapurna; thirdly it is Shrim that denotes wealth (Maa Lakshmi) and the fourth is Klim which implies compassion whose presiding deity is Srimati Radharani. There is a prayer in the beginning of Durga Saptshati Path that may Goddess grant us strength along with compassion so that we can selflessly work for general welfare.

We spend a major chunk of our life in running after money, career, technology and people for the simple reason that we believe them to be the source of our happiness and comfort. Since all of these are the fleeting sources of pleasure, we remain discontented unless we realize that God alone is the eternal source of joy. It is, in fact, our mind which unlocks this eternal joy by getting engaged with internal conscience instead of external media.

We should try to cheerfully accept whatever comes in our way and should be firm in sincerely performing our natural line of duty. When we lead our worldly life with such a sense of detachment, it constitutes the real act of worship and consequently leads us to our natural state of existence- 'Inner joy'. Once a king declared that he will put his foot on nothing else than leather. A big endeavor was made by his ministers to cover whole of land with leather but in vain. Finally, a saint gifted him a pair of leather shoes and said if he wore them, no land needed the leather cover. Likewise, the world cannot be changed according to our perception but if we are able to change just our own perception, there remains no need to change the world.

Hindu ideology propounds the worship of Sun God (Surya Dev), Lord of fire- Agni Dev, Lord of water- Varun Dev, Lord of air personified as Vaayu Dev, Moher Earth -Bhoo Devi, Goddess Ganga, Yamuna Devi and like. 'Worship' here does not mean doing just ritualistic pooja rather revering them practically. Conserving Water, electricity and other forms of energy; preserving our environment; not polluting the air, keeping our rivers clean, maintaining the ecological balance amounts to their continual and real pooja.

If we truly love our God, how can we hate any of His creature? Therefore, not being hostile to anything and wishing well for all His beings signify a life of unbroken devotion. A committed devotee does not need to sit in temple all the time rather his heart should be a heavenly abode. Offering bhog in front of deity figures is undoubtedly significant but we can also try offering our food to the one sitting within. It requires nothing except a keen call in our mind, "come My Lord and savor the food that I chew."

Saints are the agents for spreading the fire of devotional love. However in the present era of spiritual propaganda, we need to be careful while accepting somebody as a saint. It must always be remembered that the enlightened souls get self- illuminated and need no promotional campaigns. The real saints convey a lot through their silence and the phenomenal impact of their divine association (satsang) is directly felt by our conscience.

Lord Vishnu is said to be resting in Vaikunth and the word Vaikunth means without any loop( kuntha). So a heart which is clear of all forms of knots becomes the residing place of Lord. For that sake we should appropriately communicate our feelings and try to clarify the issue instead of holding anything negative for anybody. _ Love has an intrinsic element of respect which becomes apparent through its humble language. Also the tendency of being respectful is the foundation of a healthy relationship.

All of us want peace in our life but many of us skip to discern that it cannot be found anywhere out but lies within ourselves. As long as we keep on finding faults with others and fail to restrain our conflicting thoughts, the peace will remain elusive.

The word 'pareshaan' implies neglecting our 'shaan' i.e. the identity of being a part of the Supreme whole. When we forget about this fact, the unimportant things begin to cause us pareshaani. So we must realize that our ego is bound by destiny, not the self and ego is non-existent. For that reason devotees believe that the worldly troubles are actually His signals to draw us closer but we often fail to catch them.

There are mainly three sources to seek spiritual hints from- genuine saints, sacred books and our own observations. The feeling which comes from inside is of much greater significance than the external influence. We naturally tend to go at places which are favourable to our interests and seek company of those who seem to make us joyful. However as the real joy lies inside us we must try developing interest to meet ourselves as well.

Lord Ganesha is the Lord of intellect and He rides on mouse which is known for its ability to make way out of anything. So Ganpati utsav inspires us to be insightful about our actions and steady in our faith. Also we need to imbibe His devotion towards parents and Raam naam. Moreover, His head of elephant motivates us that we should never forget the lessons of morality.

Intoxication, like sound sleep makes us forget ourselves, causing calm and relaxation for some time. For that sake many people consume alcohol and other narcotic substances to absently pass through the tough phases of life. Such heady practices, in fact, subsequently lead to more stress rather than relief. On the other side, a devotee desires to get drunk in God's love so as to become absent-minded through the divine hangover. Also, the 'formal' society often condemns such 'inebriated' devotees. This helps in annihilation of their false ego and hence leads to their spiritual purification.

We usually misinterpret attachment of relationships as love while love is a divine feeling which cannot be defined by any relational nomenclature. It aims at nothing else than the happiness of the beloved and this spirit of mutual freedom binds the souls forever.

Just like Lord Krishna is present everywhere His abode Shri dhaam Vrindavan is also pervasive. So ‘vrindavan ko vaas’ does not necessarily mean changing the geographical location as His dhaam cannot be restricted to a particular area of land. Rather it implies an aura which is Vrindavan exists globally as it implies an aura which is imbued with Lord’s presence through His naam and katha. For that reason it is said that He never steps out of Vrindavan. Further, Shri Radha is also called Hara (greenery) and the blue sky represents Krishna. So by keeping our environment green and clean, we can directly feel the presence of Divine couple around us.

It is only by the grace of Lord that we get to associate with saintly people in our life. It is through their association that we begin to feel an urge to get closer to Divinity.

Youngsters commonly hold the belief that devotional activities are meant to be done in old age only. As it is unknown whether one will live up to that age or not, we must remember that human birth is an invaluable opportunity to go back to our eternal home- Godhead. So the effort must begin as soon as possible and continue until we reach there. The prescribed practices that are shunned in the adolescence are harder to be done when body becomes physically frail. Also, the mind needs be prepared at the time when it is like wet clay otherwise it becomes the biggest obstacle in our holy journey. Spirituality is the wholesome food for our soul like we need nutritional diet for the body and hence should be adequately taken throughout the life.

We generally recognize ourselves with our bodies and related people but our true identity lies with our soul. The devotees, who are able to get hold of that universal identity, wish to never forget it again. So a devotee prays here for a deeper spiritual connection with his Idol and not just ceremonial.

Being passionate for the Lord's creation is said to be defective for the soul's nurture but the same passion, if gets directed towards Lord, becomes devotion. So our negative tendency needs to be diverted instead of laboring for its suppression. While writing Shri RamCharitManas, Goswami Tulsidas ji also begs for the boon that may he always love Lord Ram like a lusty man and be ever voracious for chanting His Holy name more and more.