Reputation

“…but in this world, I will not bring about disgrace on myself.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.22)

One of the nice perks of becoming a pure devotee of God is that you are able to transcend all rules and regulations. Mundane morality is nice, but it only exists for a specific purpose. Simply treading the virtuous path is not enough, for if we fail to develop a loving attachment to God, all our pious activities are essentially a waste of time. The paramahamsas, the truly liberated souls, don’t need to follow any social conventions or prescribed regulations, but they still do so anyway. Even the greatest souls take care to maintain a good reputation for themselves. There are legitimate reasons for this concern.

The set of law codes that mankind is to abide by is known as dharma in the Vedic tradition. Dharma translates to an occupational duty or that which defines the essence of something. The living entity is an individual spirit spark emanating from Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As a part of God, the soul’s inherent duty is to serve Him. Nevertheless, the material world is considered to be an ocean of nescience where we living entities forget about God as soon as we take birth. In the beginning stages of our lives, it’s not very easy to reawaken the dormant loving propensities that we have for the Supreme Lord. For this reason, Krishna passed down a set of ruling principles, rules and regulations to guide mankind’s conduct. This collective set of rules can be thought of as dharma.

Dharma is intended to help us break free of our attachment to matter, and to allow us to instead focus our concern on the spirit that resides within. This spirit is what defines us, and its presence is the basis for our life. It is one thing to learn about the nature of the spirit soul, but it is another to actually realize that we are not our bodies. To help us gain a practical understanding of the difference between matter and spirit, dharma sets forth a set of recommended guidelines that we living entities can follow. Some of these regulations are pretty simple and straightforward. “Don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t murder, don’t unnecessarily burden others, etc.” These are common laws that are adopted by most societies. There are other more advanced rules and regulations such as fasting on certain days, not eating meat, and not engaging in sex before marriage.

Virtue exists so that we can one day develop a love for God, who is the original friend. Those who tread the virtuous path naturally acquire auspicious qualities such as peacefulness, honesty, equanimity, and love for all beings. A truly virtuous person does not pick favorites. They don’t like one group of people and hate another, as is common today for many governmental leaders. Most political campaigns are run on the basis of pitting groups against one another: rich versus poor, black versus white, Christian versus Jew, etc. People who think along these lines cannot be considered virtuous due to the fact that every living entity is an equal part of this creation. We are all spirit souls who are under the care of our Supreme Father, Lord Krishna.

The advanced devotees actually go one step beyond virtue. They certainly do acquire all the beneficial traits associated with saintly people, but they take it to another level by dovetailing all of their activities with God’s service. A virtuous person does everything according to the rules of regulations of written guidelines, or scriptures, but a devotee does everything for the benefit of Krishna, who is the author and all rules and regulations. In the Vedic tradition, one of the primary methods of worship is sacrifice. In Sanskrit, the word “yajna” means sacrifice. Yajna also means Vishnu, who is Krishna’s four-handed expansion. This small detail provides great insight into the real meaning behind religion and religious principles. Dharma exists for only one reason: to connect with God.

Devotees dedicate all their activities to Krishna as a form of sacrifice. This behavior is called bhakti, or loving devotion. The great acharya, Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, states that bhakti is simply the purification of karma, or regulative work. By default, we all engage in karma, which is activity on the material platform. We perform some work so that we can be benefitted in some material sense at some point in the future. When we change the nature of our work by dedicating activities for pleasing the supreme person, Krishna, these works can be classified as bhakti. Those who engage in bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, are known as bhaktas.

“Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service, he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.30)

Since the work performed by bhaktas is completely pure and uncontaminated by any material impurities, the devotees themselves transcend all rules and regulations. This means that the advanced devotees don’t need to abide by mundane morality, for they have already achieved the true purpose of life. Even though this is the case, we often see that devotees take even greater care to abide by the rules and regulations enjoined in the shastras. They have a strong desire to maintain their reputations as virtuous people.

One such example was Sita Devi, the wife of Lord Rama. During the Treta Yuga, the kind and merciful Supreme Lord descended to earth in the guise of a human being named Rama. Born as the eldest son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya, Lord Rama was groomed to be the successor to the throne. Since God possesses all opulences and fortunes, when He appears on earth to play a particular role, He is naturally the best person at whatever He does. As Lord Rama, God appeared as kshatriya prince, wholly dedicated to dharma and the welfare of the saintly class. Lord Rama was the king of kings, and the greatest of all fighters who used the bow and arrow.

Being beautiful and all-powerful, the Lord was married to Sita Devi, the daughter of King Janaka of Mithila. We can only imagine how exalted Sita was, for she had the tremendous honor of being Rama’s partner in the performance of His religious duties. Her execution of devotional service was so perfect that Lord Rama, on many occasions, praised her for her dedication. He referred to her as a sadharma-charini since she was dedicated to helping Rama perform His prescribed duties. Sita’s reputation as a chaste and virtuous wife was famous throughout the world.

Unfortunately, on one occasion, Sita was kidnapped by the demon Ravana. These events were all preordained because Lord Rama needed an excuse to take on Ravana in battle. The demon brought Sita back to his kingdom of Lanka and propositioned her. He showed off his wonderful palace, and even bragged of all the beautiful wives that he had. Ravana promised to make Sita his chief queen, and openly declared that he would become her servant. Sita, being a pure devotee, could only think of Rama at all times. She had no desire to even look at Ravana.

In the above referenced statement, Sita is wrapping up her stern rebuke of Ravana. She hurled carefully crafted insults at him to let him know that Rama would surely come to kill him and that she would never waver from the virtuous path. In this final statement, Sita mentions how it is impossible for her to ruin her good name. She knows that she has deeply insulted Ravana, but she wants to state for the record that she is not sorry for saying such things. In order to maintain her reputation, she had to speak the truth to the demon.

Sita had no desire to be famous and well-known throughout the world as a pious wife. Devotees are above any need for that kind of self-aggrandizement. A bhakta is someone who acts only to please God, meaning they don’t even mind going to hell or being ridiculed by every person in the world, provided that the Supreme Lord remains pleased. So why was Sita concerned about her reputation? The answer is that she was more concerned about Rama and her father, King Janaka. Lord Rama was well-respected throughout the world, even by His enemies. If it should turn out that His wife and devotee, Sita, was able to be won over by a demon, it would cause Him tremendous grief and make Him the recipient of scorn from others. The same would hold true for King Janaka, for the daughter’s behavior is a direct reflection of the parentage she received growing up.

In this regard, we see just how great Sita was. She went against her quiet, shy, and peaceful nature in order to maintain the good name of her husband and her father. The lesson here is that no matter how advanced we become in the execution of devotional service, we should always try to remain on the virtuous path. We certainly don’t require a good reputation, but our good behavior will reflect well on the Supreme Lord. If God is great, then surely His devotees must be great as well. If devotees take to sinful life out of carelessness, others will take note and use such transgressions as ammunition to fuel their attacks against Krishna. Since God is so nice to us, we should be equally as nice to Him and try to show others that He has instilled good values in us.

Reasons for Living

“Bind or destroy this body of mine, which is deprived of feelings [due to separation from Rama]. O Rakshasa, I will not protect this body or even my life.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.21)

The central teaching of the Vedas is that we are not our bodies. The spirit soul residing within represents both our true identity and the basis of our life. The Vedas also tell us that this soul is similar in quality to God, for it is meant to always be blissful and full of knowledge. Knowing this, one may wonder what the purpose to life is. Why are we forced to remain inside of a body which is destined for destruction? If we all die eventually, why do we even take birth? Why do we have arms, hands, legs, and a brain? Moreover, why should we work so hard to maintain the body, which is essentially just a shell that gets burned or buried at the end of life?

To answer these questions, let’s first analyze how most conditioned living entities view the body. By default, we are all born into ignorance. This is true for every living entity, and it is evidenced by the fact that an infant cannot do anything for itself except cry. At one time we were all babies who were completely dependent on our parents for everything. All the knowledge that we possess today had to be acquired over many years of trials, tribulations, and schooling. Through knowledge and intelligence we slowly but surely rose above the natural animalistic tendencies that we inherited at the time of birth.

As we grow older, most of us are taught to become self-sufficient individuals. Do well in school, get a good job, be responsible, and raise a family. This is the ideal existence, for if we are able to maintain ourselves and our families, a lot of our worries get eliminated. In a spiritual sense, however, this sort of life is still considered conditioned, meaning it has no influence on the soul. A living entity can be considered conditioned if it has no knowledge about the soul and its relationship to God. The quintessential trait of a conditioned person is that they identify solely with their body. This identification then leads them to think that the aim of life is to meet the sense demands of the body to the fullest degree.

What are sense demands? They can be thought of as anything relating to the four primary activities of animals: eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. We all want to feel pleasure by performing activities that make us happy. Eat nice food, have a beautiful spouse, travel to nice places, hang out with our friends, etc. This sort of life certainly provides some level of sense pleasure, but it is very difficult to maintain. For those who have, there is always anxiety in maintaining their possessions. In today’s world, the economic condition is an ever-changing one, with new industries forming and dissolving every day. One hundred years ago, almost half of the population of America engaged in agriculture as their main business. That number is now drastically diminished, yet the food production is as high as it has ever been. All those farmers didn’t become homeless, but rather, they found new ways to earn money. In a similar manner, the IT boom of the last twenty years has created a whole new industry of jobs. People now are becoming computer specialists instead of joining other fields.

All this change means that sustaining a quiet and peaceful family life is not as easy as it used to be. Simply to meet the basic demands of the senses, we must go through so much trouble. The Vedas tell us that there is certainly nothing wrong with working hard to maintain our lives, but at the same time, we should realize that the pleasure derived from this way of life is temporary and fleeting in nature. In reality we don’t have to work that hard to gratify our senses. To illustrate this example, we need only look to the animal community. An animal, such as a dog or a cat, certainly eats, sleeps, mates, and defends just like humans do, except that they don’t hanker or lament. They don’t worry about a mortgage payment, or how they will maintain their wife and children. This is because animals don’t have the intelligence to understand those things. They simply act to satisfy their senses, and they don’t necessarily worry about the quality of their enjoyment. Human beings may sleep on comfortable mattresses, while dogs sleep on the floor, but the enjoyment derived isn’t much different. Sleep is sleep in the end.

Human beings have a higher level of intelligence for a reason. We are not meant to imitate the animal kingdom. Our arms, legs, and brain are supposed to be used for a higher purpose. To understand what that purpose is, we must first understand what defines our existence. What is that one thing that sustains us? The Vedas tell us that it is dharma. Dharma is sometimes translated to mean religion, religiosity, or virtue, but in reality, it is something that truly defines one’s existence, an occupational duty that never changes. Religion means a kind of faith, something we change at the drop of a hat. One person believes in Christianity, while another believes in Hinduism, while another jumps from one to the other. Dharma is not like that. It is something that is always in existence. For this reason the Vedas refer to religion as sanatana-dharma, meaning the eternal occupational duty of man.

So dharma defines us, but what does that actually mean? Our occupational duties are always in existence, but what do these duties entail? In a nutshell, our dharma is to always remain connected with God, for that is our original constitutional position. The body is merely a temporary covering for the spirit soul that resides within. The soul has transcendental qualities, the foremost of which is attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna. Krishna is God, the same God that everyone looks up to and sometimes chastises. We are minute spirit souls, but God is the complete soul, the most superior person, or purusha. Our eternal occupational duty is to always serve Him in a loving way.

If our eternal duty is to serve God, why are we placed in a world where we are allowed to forget Him? Why do we take on the characteristics of animals at the time of birth? This material world is a type of prison house, a place for wayward spirit souls to go to try to act out their desires to imitate God. The Lord is very kind after all, so anyone that doesn’t want to abide by dharma is not forced to. The Lord is so kind to the deviant souls that He created this phantasmagoria known as the material universe to allow them to come and play.

The soul can be thought of as the actor, the body as the machine or set of instruments, and the creation as the playing field. We have total freedom in how we choose to act, though we have limited abilities to actually affect the outcomes of our actions. This is because every other living entity has an equal right to perform their own fruitive activities. As a result there are bound to be collisions. This complicated system of reward and punishment is all managed by God through His agents known as the demigods. So in this regard, we really have no control over our material fortunes and misfortunes.

The only way out of this temporary prison house is dharma. Abiding by dharma is very easy; we simply have to dovetail all our activities with God’s service. Dharma means pleasing God. How do we go about doing this? There is a term that more accurately describes the nature of our occupational duties: bhagavata-dharma. Bhagavata-dharma means devotional service, or those duties which are aimed at pleasing Bhagavan, or Bhagavata. Krishna, or God, is known as Bhagavan because He possesses all fortunes. Anything directly associated with Bhagavan is known as Bhagavata. Bhagavata can refer to books about God or to devotees who serve Him. In this way, bhagavata-dharma, or being always engaged in God’s service, can be thought of as the highest duty in life.

As outlined by the great bhakta, Prahlada Maharaja, devotional service consists of nine distinct activities: hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering prayers, becoming His servant, becoming friends with the Lord, and surrendering everything unto Him. As we can see, this affords us many avenues which we can go down as it relates to serving God. Those who engage in bhagavata-dharma are making the most out of their lives. Instead of seeing the body as a source of distress and misery, devotees take full advantage of their hands, legs, mouth, and brain to glorify God, chant His name, and talk about Him with others.

A great example of a person who perfected all nine of these processes was Sita Devi, the wife of Lord Rama. Though Krishna is the fountainhead of all forms of God, He kindly takes many different direct expansions for the enactment of various pastimes. One such expansion appeared on earth many thousands of years ago. Known by the name of Rama, Krishna played the role of a pious prince, wholly dedicated to the welfare of the pious. Naturally, Rama’s wife was equally as pious, for God can never associate with non-liberated souls. Matter is inferior to spirit, so much so that God can never directly associate with matter. When He appears on earth, His body is completely spiritual, and so are all the people He becomes friends with or marries.

Sita Devi based her identity on her devotion to Rama. In this way she showed the proper way for a wife to behave towards her husband. The Vedas tell us that a marriage is a fifty-fifty partnership, with each person assigned separate tasks which they must perform with dedication. The husband is assigned with the task of providing protection and the wife with the duty of serving the husband at all times. These duties were heightened in Sita and Rama’s relationship, for Rama was God Himself, and Sita was a pure devotee. The devotees take it upon themselves to always act in God’s interests, and the Supreme Lord takes charge of protecting them. In this way we see how the loving relationship between God and His devotees operates.

Lord Rama’s duties required Him to take on a famous demon of the time, the ten-headed Ravana. The demigods were living in fear of Ravana because he had acquired great fighting ability. Being a committed atheist, Ravana wanted to rule the world, and he thought he could do so by doing away with the devatas. Lord Rama, being God Himself, easily could have just gone to Ravana’s kingdom of Lanka and killed Him, but the Lord wanted to abide by the proper code of conduct assigned to the kshatriya, or warrior, division. This protocol stipulated that Rama couldn’t take Ravana on in battle unless He was provoked. Lord Rama got the excuse He needed when, while residing in the forest of Dandaka, Sita was kidnapped by Ravana.

Hearing of Sita’s beauty, Ravana’s heart became set on having her. Sadly for him, Sita’s heart belonged to Rama. She was incapable of even thinking of another man. In the above referenced statement, Sita is telling Ravana to go ahead and do what he wants with her body, for she is ready to renounce it. Being held captive in Ravana’s kingdom, Sita was unable to perform devotional service, so she deemed her body to be useless. This is the sign of the highest level of intelligence. Sita had no desire to use her body to satisfy animal instincts. If she couldn’t serve Rama, she had no desire to live.

The lesson here is that we should take the necessary actions to ensure that we can always perform devotional service. Our lifestyle should be adjusted in such a way to eliminate as many hindrances to our devotional activities. The four biggest obstacles towards advancing in spiritual life are the sinful activities of meat eating, gambling, illicit sex, and intoxication. Eliminating these activities and simultaneously taking up the regular chanting of the holy names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, is the formula for success. We don’t need to reject everything as being material. Rather, we should judge every activity through the prism of devotional service. “Will such and such activity help me in my devotional life, or will it hurt me?” Thinking along these lines, we can make the most of this wonderful opportunity of human life. If we fail to act according to dharma, none of our activities can be considered worthwhile.

Padmini

“How can that female swan who is accustomed to sporting with the king of swans amidst lotus flowers ever cast her eyes on a water-crow that stays amidst bunches of grass?” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.20)

Expensive chocolates, the finest wines, the most succulent of meats…these things are all considered part of finer living. This lifestyle isn’t enjoyed by most people, so one who can indulge in such enjoyments is considered blessed and part of the upper tier of society. More than just an issue of affordability, indulging in the finer things in life requires sacrifice and commitment. One must really derive great enjoyment from these amenities in order to make the necessary investment of money. As a result of this higher level of enjoyment, one grows accustomed to having only the best things in life. A resulting side effect is that one can never go back to their old way of life. Cheap cars, foods, and drinks become intolerable. Along the same lines, devotees of God experience the highest taste by constantly associating with the Supreme Lord. When asked to indulge in material life, a return to the miserable and temporary existence of the conditioned, devotees utterly reject such a notion, being incapable of adapting to a substandard way of life. An example of this was seen with the wife of Lord Rama, Sita Devi, many thousands of years ago.

Why are there different classes of meat? Why doesn’t everybody just eat the same kinds of food and live in the same types of houses? Things would be a lot easier that way. There would be no fuss or jealousy, and everyone could be more at ease. The problem is that every individual is born with different qualities and desires. The concept of individuality implies that there is a desire to stand out, a need to be different. A person loses their individuality if they act the same way as everybody else, performing the same activities, and enjoying the same pastimes. Not only is there a desire to be different, but this is actually the natural course of things. For example, not every person goes into the same field of work when they turn into adults. Medical schools and business schools certainly recruit their fair share of candidates in the hopes of churning out bright, new doctors and businessmen, but there is no fear from the public that every single person will become a doctor or a business. Carpenters aren’t worried that there won’t be any new carpenters around, and policemen aren’t worried that there won’t be anyone to defend the innocent public in the near future.

“According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.13)

These worries relating to the choices of occupation are absent because it is seen that people naturally take to different activities. The Vedas, the scriptures emanating from India, tell us that each individual is the same in quality but that their material bodies are composed of different modes. The individual gets their identity from the soul, or atma, which is the same in quality for every person. This atma is pure and uncontaminated, for it inherits its qualities from God. The Supreme Lord, whose original form is Krishna, can be thought of as a giant fire and the souls of the living entities as minute sparks from that fire. Though these sparks are pure and full of bliss, when they come to the material world they assume a body composed of the modes of nature. These modes are goodness, passion, and ignorance, and they are referred to as gunas in Sanskrit. Guna means a material quality or rope, and it is defined as such because a material quality causes the soul to be bound to the laws of nature. As a spiritual spark, the soul is not bound to anything, completely autonomous in its wanderings. However, in order to appear in the material world, the soul must agree to be bound up by gunas. This binding is voluntary and not instigated by the Supreme Lord.

When the soul gets covered up by gunas, the resulting life form, the living entity, takes to different activities. Since gunas can be mixed up in so many different proportions, there are no two conditioned living entities that are exactly the same. This is good in a sense because individuality is maintained, and thus differences are seen in activities and natures. Since there is no equality in the material sense, we see that some people take to enjoying the finer things in life, while others do not. For example, a rich person may require a private airplane, fully stocked with adult beverages and lavish furniture, while a middle class person may prefer travelling on a commercial airplane or simply driving their cars from place to place. Some people insist on eating high class foods, while others are fine with just simple grains, milk, and fruits. In fact, many yogis in India go their whole lives surviving simply off fruits and milk.

Since the material world is full of dualities, what is palatable for one person may not be so for another. To many, the renounced lifestyle of a yogi seems torturous. These differences in viewpoints speak to the notion of dualities, the fact that everything is relative. People grow accustomed to their way of life, especially if they enjoy fine living, so what they often view as painful really isn’t. For example, in today’s age, most everyone is accustomed to watching television, talking on cellular telephones, and using computers. Just twenty years ago, cell phones were hardly used and computers weren’t even owned by most people. In today’s world, it may seem impossible to get by without the internet, but people lived for so long without it and had no problem. If our cable or satellite television goes out for just a short period of time, we panic or get angry, but in previous times there was no need for such things. This shows that one who enjoys the finer things in life, the “good life”, has no desire to return to what they deem as ordinary or substandard life. Once a person grows accustomed to using their iPods to listen to music, going back to using walkmans and CD players is not an option.

Usually when discussing this phenomenon in terms of its significance in spiritual life, the issue is portrayed in a negative light. One of the central components of spiritual life in the Vedic tradition is tapasya, or penance. The more a person becomes attached to objects of sense gratification, the harder it becomes to perform penance. Penance isn’t simply a tool of punishment, but rather a way to curb the influence of the senses and acquire detachment. This detachment is extremely helpful in fostering one’s attachment to God, which is the ultimate objective for every person in life. Though others may be unaware of this objective, it is undoubtedly the highest engagement for the soul to reconnect with its source, the Supreme Lord. Awareness of this objective can take many many lifetimes to acquire, but that doesn’t diminish the superior nature of the sublime engagement of devotional service to God, or bhakti-yoga.

Though becoming attached to the finer things in life can certainly be a hindrance towards spiritual advancement, the phenomenon actually can teach us a lot about the benefits of performing bhakti-yoga and some of the side-effects that come from associating with God. Sita Devi illustrates this point quite clearly in the above referenced statement. Many thousands of years ago, the Supreme Absolute Truth, the original fire from which all sparks in the universe emanate, God Himself, appeared on earth in the guise of a human being. The activities of this human being have been chronicled in the famous poem composed by Maharishi Valmiki called the Ramayana.

One of the nice things about God appearing on earth is that it lets others see how those who have achieved the ultimate objective in life behave. Since the goal of human life is to associate with God and to always be thinking of Him, it makes sense that God’s associates who are present during His time on earth would be perfect candidates to study. One such associate was Sita Devi, Rama’s beloved wife. She exuded all the qualities of the perfect woman, mother, daughter, and wife. In many respects she was greater than Lord Rama, for she taught others how to practice devotion through her example.

Sita’s execution of bhakti-yoga wasn’t without obstacles. We can look back now and see that everything ended well for her, but her life was full of pain and suffering. In this way, she showed us how to remain firmly committed to the righteous path, regardless of what setbacks we may have to suffer through. Probably the most terrifying period of her life was when she was kidnapped by the Rakshasa demon Ravana. Rama, His younger brother Lakshmana, and Sita were residing in the forest of Dandaka when one day Ravana came and set up a diversion to lure the two brothers away from Sita. Successfully taking her back to his island kingdom of Lanka, Ravana tried every which way to get Sita to turn her eye towards him. This, of course, was impossible, for Sita never turns her thoughts away from God.

While rebuking Ravana, in order to get her point across about how she would never give in to him, Sita offered up a series of metaphors, each one beautifully illustrating her desire to be with Rama and her utter repulsion towards Ravana. In the above referenced statement, we see that Sita compares Rama to the king of swans, or the greatest swan, and Ravana to an ordinary diver bird, or water fowl. She is saying that as the wife of the king of swans, she has grown accustomed to sporting with her mate amidst bunches of lotus flowers. Flowers are a symbol of the good life, for they have a pleasing fragrance and an outward appearance which is appealing to the eye. In the Vedic tradition, flowers play an integral role in beautification. They are used to make garlands which are offered to the spiritual master and to the deity residing within the temple. The lotus flower is also the symbol of Lord Vishnu, Krishna’s primary expansion residing within the spiritual world. One of Vishnu’s names is Padmanabha because He has a navel which looks like a lotus-flower. Vishnu’s wife, Lakshmi Devi, is known as Padmini because she sits on a lotus flower while residing in the spiritual world with her husband. This is a relevant point because Sita and Rama were technically incarnations of Lakshmi and Vishnu. From her statement, Sita is secretly hinting at her divinity and how she and her husband are always with lotus flowers.

Ravana, on the other hand, is compared to a low-class bird who simply hangs around bunches of reeds and grass. In this way, he is viewed as living a low-class life. Sita is saying that since she has experienced the higher taste of fine living, it would be impossible for her to associate with the low-class life that Ravana was accustomed to. What does this mean for us? Aside from helping us achieve the ultimate objective in life, bhakti-yoga is deemed to be fine living in the grand scheme of things. This may seem strange at first because we usually associate a yogi with someone who has a shaved head, simple clothing, and no possessions. In fact, the most elevated status in spiritual life is sannyasa, which is the renounced order. By fine living, we are referring to spiritual living. Bhakti-yoga is considered the high life because it involves direct association with God.

Though Sita got to travel the world alongside Rama, it doesn’t mean that we are bereft of this association today. In this day and age, we can directly connect with God through the transcendental sound vibration of His names. By regularly chanting, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, we can experience the high life. Fine living wouldn’t be complete without nice food, music, and clothing. These things certainly do exist in the life of a bhakti-yogi, but they are meant for the enjoyment of the Supreme Lord instead of the individual. Devotees offer up the tastiest food to the deity of the Lord, dressing Him in the nicest clothing, all the while playing the sweetest music.

Bhakti-yoga represents the sublime life. If we get accustomed to this transcendental lifestyle, we can one day have the same fortitude and determination that Sita did. She never gave in to Ravana because she didn’t find him or his lifestyle appealing in the least bit. By the same token, if we become attached to the wonderful food known as Krishna prasadam, and the beautiful music known as harinama-sankirtana, we can surely reject all the unnecessary and unwanted things in life.

A Higher Taste

“How can that female swan who is accustomed to sporting with the king of swans amidst lotus flowers ever cast her eyes on a water-crow that stays amidst bunches of grass?” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.20)

Those who are unfamiliar with Vedic customs find it hard to believe that someone can live without eating meat or drinking alcohol. What’s even more surprising is that people who grow up in America and other countries around the world which don’t have a steeped tradition of Vedic culture can also give up these bad habits. The secret to this renunciation is attachment, the development of a higher taste. Vishnu devotees have found something that gives them thrills and highs that far surpass the temporary feelings of happiness derived from engagement in sinful activities such as drinking and taking drugs. This ananda, or bliss, can only be achieved through association with the Supreme Lord.

Devotees of Lord Vishnu are known as Vaishnavas. There is only one God, regardless of what anyone else may claim. God cannot be the exclusive property of any one group of people; He exists, and His dominion is over all of mankind. The Vedas, the oldest scriptures in existence, are unique in that they go beyond just telling us that there is a God; they give us details about what He looks like, what activities He performs, and what His names are. The Vedas tell us that the original form of God is that of Lord Shri Krishna. He is also known as Bhagavan, meaning the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Godhead is a more accurate description for God because it speaks to the fact that God can take many forms. Krishna is the fountainhead of all these forms, thus He is known as the Supreme Godhead. Krishna’s immediate expansion is that of Lord Vishnu, who has four hands and lives in the Vaikuntha spiritual planets.

Since there is essentially no difference between Vishnu and Krishna, devotees of either or both are referred to as Vaishnavas. A key distinction between an untrained theist and a Vaishnava is that a devotee of Vishnu voluntarily gives up what are known as the four pillars of sinful life: meat eating, gambling, illicit sex, and intoxication. One may wonder what these activities have to do with God. After all, isn’t it enough to just believe in God? The reason these activities are deemed sinful is that they cause one to be bound up in the illusion of this material world. Illusion means taking something to be one thing when, in reality, it is something else. The world we live in is deemed to be illusory because it makes us think that we will be happy associating with it.

Material happiness is an illusion because matter itself is constantly changing, being subject to creation, maintenance, and dissolution. Sex life which is against religious principles serves as a great example in illustrating this point. When men and women reach a mature age, they seek out each other’s company. Men look for certain traits in a woman, and women have their own set of qualities they look for in a man, but a commonality exists in that both groups look for beauty. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there is no denying that beauty is often related to a person’s outward features. These features consist of matter, for that is what the gross body is comprised of. The body is constantly changing: from boyhood to youth, from youth to adult, from adult to old age. Though the body constantly changes, the identity of the owner of the body doesn’t. This is because the spirit soul residing within the body is what determines a person’s identity; it forms the essence of existence. The outward covering is simply a dress, something which gets worn out over time.

As the body gets older, it becomes less attractive to the opposite sex. The same woman we were attracted to in our youth, now becomes less attractive in old age. So the driving force behind sex life, material beauty, can be considered an illusion, for it is ever changing. This is one small example of how material happiness works, and the same principles can be applied to gambling, intoxication, and meat eating. This is all by design, though, for the material world is not meant to be our permanent home. Since spirit is superior to matter, there is another world where spirit reigns supreme. That place is known as the spiritual world, where God and His eternal associates dwell. Unlike the material world, everything in Krishna’s realm is blissful, permanent, and full of knowledge. What we see is what we get, so there is no illusion.

Returning to the spiritual world is actually quite easy. We simply have to have a sincere desire to associate with God. If this desire remains with us at the time of death, in our next life we receive a spiritual body. If we assume a spiritual body, naturally we will live in the spiritual world. Krishna’s promise to us is that once we assume a spiritual body, we will never be subject to the forces of the material world again. This means that our days of being tricked by material nature will be over.

So this seems simple enough; just desire to be with God. Here’s the catch though. In our current conditioned state, we have a tight attachment to sinful activity. This attachment is not very easy to give up. Even if we want to be with God, if we still have an addiction to any sinful activity, we will be forced to accept another material body at the time of death. To help us remain on the virtuous path, the great Vaishnava saints recommend that we kick our addiction to the above mentioned pillars of sinful life. No meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication, and no illicit sex.

For people growing up in Western countries, even giving up one of these activities is difficult. There is a well-known historical incident involving of one Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s preachers going to England and trying to convert famous dignitaries into devotees of Krishna. A high ranking government official in England asked the preacher how he could go about becoming a brahmana, or high class priest. “Can you make me a brahmana?” the person asked. The preacher replied that it would be very simple, that the person would only need to give up the four primary sinful activities. Immediately this dignitary replied that it was impossible. “Give up drinking? Give up meat-eating? No way; I can’t do it.”

This sentiment is echoed by many people who live in countries which have a rooted tradition of meat eating and intoxication. “If we give up these activities, what will we do for fun? What will we eat?” These are certainly valid concerns, which luckily have been addressed by the great devotees of Krishna. The acharyas tell us that more than simply giving up activities, we need to take up a full-time engagement which will make us automatically give up all bad habits. This engagement is known as bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. The primary component of devotional service is chanting. If we regularly recite God’s names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, we will slowly develop an attachment to God.

How do we develop an attachment to somebody we can’t even see? The secret lies in the fact that God and His names are identical. This is a little tricky to understand at first, but it is undoubtedly true. Being the Supreme Absolute Truth, there is no difference between Krishna and any of His primary expansions. This means that Krishna’s original form, His arms, legs, names, and books that describe Him are all equal, for that is the very definition of Absolute. Chanting is the recommended process of devotional service for this age because it is the easiest and most effective method of connecting with God. Along with performing other activities such as hearing, remembering, and offering prayers, a person can spend twenty-four hours a day engaged in Krishna’s service.

Associating with Krishna by these methods is in some ways better than offering service to Him face-to-face. This is because if we hear about Krishna or chant His name, many of our inhibitions are removed. Our love for Him is free to grow, and it doesn’t get checked by any social conventions or self-consciousness. We are free to love the Lord unconditionally, without any expectation of reciprocation.

As a result of associating with God, one automatically loses tastes for other subordinate activities. If a person regularly engages in devotional service, they no longer desire to associate with illusory matter, something which provides no lasting pleasure. This essentially describes the life of a sannyasi, or one in the renounced order. Sannyasis renounce material life, dedicating their whole lives to serving Krishna. Usually the idea of sannyasa is equated with shaving one’s head, carrying around a stick, and travelling from place to place. These things certainly do help one remain renounced, but sannyasa is more a state of mind than anything else. By dedicating their lives to Krishna, sincere devotees find a higher taste, something which gives them a million times more pleasure than anything they ever did before. In this way, we see that sannyasa is more about pleasure than it is renunciation.

Due to His causeless mercy upon the fallen conditioned living entities, Krishna descends to earth in a spiritual form from time to time. He enacts pastimes, punishes the miscreants, and gives pleasure and protection to the Vaishnavas. One such appearance took place many thousands of years ago in the Treta Yuga, the second time period of creation. Appearing on earth as Lord Rama, the handsome and pious prince of Ayodhya, God’s mission was to kill the Rakshasa demon Ravana. In order to facilitate Ravana’s destruction, Rama needed an excuse to take him on in battle. This excuse came through the kidnapping of Sita Devi, Lord Rama’s wife, by Ravana.

Taking Sita back to his island kingdom of Lanka, Ravana tried his best to win her over, but he was unsuccessful. In response to his advances, Sita scornfully rebuked him and let him know just what was in store for him as a result of his horrible act. In the above referenced statement, Sita is asking Ravana a rhetorical question relating to her love for Rama. She compares Rama to the greatest swan [raja-hamsena] that lives with its consort amongst lotus flowers and Ravana to an ordinary diver-bird who rustles around in reeds and grass. This beautiful analogy also describes the difference between spiritual life and material life.

Sita is saying that she has already tasted pure bliss through association with God. She was more than just an associate; she was God’s wife, His eternal consort. Sita and Rama can never be separated at any time. Even though Ravana kidnapped her, he was only able to touch and see a material version of Sita. The sinful and the materially conditioned can never see God and His pure devotees for who they truly are. This flawed mindset leads them to view the deities in temples as ordinary wood or stone statues.

Ravana was a gross materialist who took the satisfaction of the senses to be his topmost priority. He lived in beautiful palaces, had a tremendous fighting army of Rakshasas at his disposal, and was married to hundreds of beautiful princesses. Yet all this was not enough; lust drove him to forcibly take another man’s wife. Actually, material life is never enough for any person, not just Ravana. This is why religion exists; it is our way out of this ocean of nescience. Due to Ravana’s sinful nature, Sita wanted nothing to do with him. More than just not wanting to be with him, there was simply no way for Sita to ever associate with Ravana. In thought, word, and deed, Sita was wholly dedicated to Lord Rama.

Having found a higher taste, Sita could not tolerate the mundane enjoyment provided by matter. Her statement also shows that she had completely renounced material life, something which is not common for women. The sannyasa-ashrama, as well as the entire varnashrama- dharma system, is intended primarily for men. A woman’s dharma is that she should be dedicated to her husband, and thereby share in the results of his pious activities. Sita, being a pure devotee, transcended all these rules and regulations. This proves that any person, regardless of their race, gender, or ethnicity, can take to devotional service and achieve perfection in life. Being madly in love with God is the true sign of one in the renounced order. The lesson here is that we can easily renounce all sinful activity simply by accepting a higher taste, the sweet transcendental mellow of pure loving association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

A Blessing in Disguise

“Eternal time in the form of death having arrived, you, O lowest of the Rakshasas, forcibly took me away from my husband. Now that very same death will kill you, your Rakshasa associates, and all those dwelling in your palaces.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.17)

Having a fear of death is quite natural because death is the time when our current life’s activities come to an end. Since we have attachments to our current way of life, it makes sense that we would fear losing everything. The afterlife also represents the great unknown, so there will be some trepidation as it relates to treading unchartered waters. Most of us don’t know when death will come, for the forces of nature act on their own; we have no control over them. For the fortunate among us, death announces its arrival through signs such as illness and disease. Knowing that death is imminent, the wise take the necessary steps to prepare for their next life.

What if we were told we had two weeks to live, or maybe a month? What would we do? What if we knew the world was going to end very soon? How would we act? These questions have been pondered by man for centuries. Many books have been written on the subject and many movies made as well. The answers given to these questions are often the same. “I will spend as much time with my family as possible. I will quit my job and just have fun all day. I will stop worrying and live a carefree life. I will try to enjoy as much sex as possible.” So we see that the natural instinct is to turn to sense gratification when there is a fear of it being taken away. That is all we know after all; sense gratification is how we have fun right now, so if we knew our life was going to end, it would make sense that we would try to engage in activities that we already enjoy.

The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that this sort of mindset is adopted when one lacks knowledge of the soul and its constitutional position. The soul is eternal, so it never takes birth nor does it ever die. The material body is temporary and subject to birth and death. The spirit soul can be considered the actor or the driving force behind activities. The material body, along with the entire material creation, can be thought of as the playing field where those activities are carried out. God created this material world, so it is due to His sanction that living entities are given the opportunity to act out their desires. On this playing field, we are allowed to do whatever we want. This means that if we want to continue playing on this field, God will not take us away. Since our bodies become old and decrepit, the Lord gives us fresh new bodies to play in. This changing of bodies is known as reincarnation, or the repeated cycle of birth and death.

This all seems well and good, but the Vedas refer to repeated births and deaths as samsara, which means material entanglement. Say that we were trapped in a room with a series of games that we could play. The rules of the room stipulate that we can play these games for as long as we want to, but in order to play, we must remain in the room. If we want to leave the room, we have to stop playing. It makes sense that eventually we’ll want to leave the room, for if we continued to play games without stopping, the fun would quickly wear off. Something that appeared to be enjoyable in the beginning would soon turn into a miserable experience. The material world can be thought of as a big room where we are allowed to play without stopping. If we continue to hanker after sense gratification, we are forced to remain in the room. This is how karma and reincarnation work.

The wise use the knowledge of imminent death to their advantage, taking it as a great opportunity. Instead of engaging in temporary sense gratification, something which we have ample opportunity to perform already, wouldn’t our remaining days be better spent trying to figure out why we take birth and why we die? Instead of racing against time, trying to have as much fun before we die, wouldn’t it be wiser to figure out how to stop death? This was the path taken by the great King Parikshit some five thousand years ago.

“While the King was thus repenting, he received news of his imminent death, which would be due to the bite of a snake-bird, occasioned by the curse spoken by the sage’s son. The King accepted this as good news, for it would be the cause of his indifference toward worldly things.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.19.4)

Parikshit was a pious king, born in a very famous family. He was a descendant of the Pandava brothers, close associates of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On one particular occasion, Parikshit was cursed by a brahmana boy and was told that he had less than a week to live. Rather than get angry over the situation and lament his ill-fortune, the king used it as an opportunity to break free of his attachments. Instead of trying to gratify his senses by performing activities that he already engaged in, Parikshit decided that he wanted to use his remaining time on earth to hear about Krishna, or God. The famous Bhagavata Purana, or Shrimad Bhagavatam, describes the information that Parikshit heard from Shukadeva Goswami, the son of Vyasadeva. Due to its content, the Bhagavatam is considered the greatest Vedic work, but its glory is enhanced even further since the words contained within were spoken to a dying man. Parikshit wanted to learn about the Absolute Truth before he died, and he was successfully able to do so by hearing from his spiritual master. In this regard, Parikshit set the example for how a dying person should behave. Surrendering unto God is the real business of the human being, whether they are in the prime of their life or on the precipice of death.

Many thousands of years before King Parikshit, another powerful king had the good fortune of knowing that death was imminent, but he sadly did not take the proper course of action. The Rakshasa king Ravana, the ten-headed demon of Lanka, was made aware of his impending death by Sita Devi, the wife of Lord Rama. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He appears on earth from time to time in various forms to enact pastimes and to teach others how to make the most of their time on earth. Lord Rama was a pious kshatriya warrior who was dedicated to dharma and the welfare of the saintly class of men. Since He was a defender of the innocent, it was His job to punish the miscreants such as the Rakshasas who were roaming the earth at the time.

Lord Rama had a beautiful wife named Sita who was the daughter of King Janaka of Mithila. Sita was highly sought after as a bride, but only Rama was able to win her hand in marriage by successfully lifting a famous bow of Lord Shiva’s during Sita’s svayamvara, or self-choice ceremony. As part of His pastimes, Rama roamed the forests of India with Sita and His younger brother, Lakshmana. In Lanka, Ravana had many beautiful palaces, all full of beautiful women with whom he regularly cavorted. Yet Ravana’s sexual urges weren’t satisfied, and after hearing of the beauty of Rama’s wife, he was determined on having her for himself. Ravana devised a plan which allowed him to successfully kidnap Sita in Rama and Lakshmana’s absence.

Ravana brought Sita back to his palace and tried to win her over with sweet words. He couldn’t have her by force since he was cursed on a previous occasion. This curse, which was imprecated on Ravana after he had forced himself upon a woman, stated that should he again choose to cavort with a woman against her will, he would immediately be destroyed. Sita had no interest in Ravana. She was an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, so her only business was serving the lotus feet of Shri Rama, an incarnation of God. In this regard, Sita was the perfect devotee.

In the above referenced statement, Sita is letting Ravana know that eternal time, in the form of death, had arrived to kill him. It’s one thing to tell somebody that they are about to die, but getting them to believe it is a different story. To back up her claim, Sita made reference to Ravana’s forceful kidnap of her, the point being that only those who are about to die would act in such a way as to bring about their own death. She is essentially telling Ravana, “Death is coming to get you, for why else would you have done something as stupid as taking me away from Rama? You certainly must have a death wish. This all-devouring death will now come to kill you and all your associates.” Death was coming for Ravana, and the instrument of that death would be Lord Rama and the arrows shot from His illustrious bow.

Sita is letting Ravana know that he shouldn’t waste his time trying to satisfy his sexual desires. There was no point in trying to win her over since she was already committed to another man. Death was coming for him, so his time would be better suited taking to devotional service. Actually many associates advised Ravana to surrender unto Rama and have all his sins forgiven. Sadly, Ravana wouldn’t heed this advice, and his entire kingdom would soon be ruined by Rama and His army. Sita’s words would hold true as Ravana would eventually die at the hands of Rama.

Most of us don’t know when death is coming. Keeping this in mind, we should take to devotional service right away. Devotional service is known as bhakti-yoga, which means linking the soul with the Supreme Soul, or God. Executing devotional service is essentially waving the white flag of surrender, informing God that we no longer wish to associate with material nature. Spirit is always superior to matter, and since God is the origin and controller of spirit, His realm is superior to this material world. Those who go to Krishna’s spiritual planets never take birth again; they transcend samsara.

“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.16)

Executing devotional service is not difficult either. The simplest way is to constantly chant God’s names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. We should simply “chant chant chant” until we “can’t can’t can’t” anymore.

The Influence of Time

“When the time for the destruction of living entities arrives, people are seen to perform activities that endanger themselves due to the influence of that all-devouring time.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.16)

This is a beautiful cause-and-effect explanation given by Sita Devi, the wife of Lord Rama. The statement itself is a little complicated to comprehend at first, but if we understand the context, we can see that it is indeed a profound explanation of how time works and how the living entities behave at or around the time of death. This statement served as a slick way of reminding the demon Ravana that his days were numbered.

If we analyze the verse, we see that there are two parts to it. The first part says that there is a set time when the living entities are bound to be destroyed. This is the influence of time, which is considered a divine energy created by God. No one can check the power of time no matter how hard they try. It has long been man’s fantasy to travel either back in time or into the future, but there is actually no possible way to do it. The second part of the statement says that when this all-devouring time, or death, arrives, human beings start behaving in ways that cause danger to themselves. Usually, we understand this concept in the reverse order. It is understood that we first take harmful actions, which then lead to death. Here, Sita Devi is saying that it is actually the opposite, meaning that death arrives first. Death then influences the living entities to act in harmful ways so that it appears that they are killing themselves. The harmful activities are merely instruments of death which the living entity has no control over.

Upon first glance, this logic seems a little strange. If a person jumps off a bridge or overdoses on drugs, are they not the cause of their own death? The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that we certainly do have a tiny amount of independence in how our senses will react with material nature. However, we have no control over the time of our birth or the time of our death. These are both determined by destiny, or the influence of the divine energy known as time.

If we apply these principles to some common situations, we can gain a better understanding of how time works. Drug and alcohol addicts often act in ways that give the impression that they are trying to kill themselves. Many famous rock stars tried their hardest to kick their drug and alcohol addictions, but they were never able to do so. Eventually, they succumbed to death. In reality though, death had already arrived, and their harmful actions were merely the instruments of death.

The influence of all-devouring time, or death, can be seen in people who are terminally ill. Alzheimer’s patients slowly lose their brain power as time goes by. They become so out of it that they soon fail to recognize their own friends and family. This is all due to time’s influence. Death is usually not a welcomed event, so it is not surprising to see sick people act in strange ways when they are just about to die. Death means that the soul is preparing to exit the body, a body which it has become attached to during its lifetime. Extracting the soul from the body can be a very painful experience, and as we all know, when we are in pain, we lose rationality and our grasp of the proper code of conduct.

Sita Devi directed these words to the Rakshasa demon Ravana, so as to inform him that death was on the horizon. Sita Devi was the wife of Lord Rama, an incarnation of God who appeared on earth many thousands of years ago. Lord Rama is one of Krishna’s primary incarnations, the complete list of which is provided in the celebrated Vedic texts such as the Shrimad Bhagavatam, Mahabharata, and Puranas. Rama appeared on earth to give Maharaja Dasharatha of Ayodhya a son, to give protection to His devotees, and to kill Ravana. The demon race known as the Rakshasas was steadily ascending to power in the world at the time. Their leader was the ten-headed Ravana who lived with his fellow Rakshasas on the island kingdom of Lanka.

There is a detailed history of the origin of the Rakshasa race given in the Ramayana, but what is most important to know about them is that they are sinful by nature. They may outwardly appear to be religious since they engage in many sacrifices and austerities, but their motives are all nefarious. They adhere to religion as a tit-for-tat system, where they perform certain activities for the express purpose of receiving some material reward. On the surface this isn’t a bad thing since we all possess material desires to some degree. However, these Rakshasas didn’t just want ordinary material boons; they wanted extraordinary powers so they could rule the world. A hostile takeover of the world requires the terrorizing of the innocent, something which Ravana had no problem doing. He and his associates would regularly harass the harmless sages living in the forests of India at the time.

Lord Rama was a great warrior prince. Being God Himself, He could easily defeat anyone in battle simply by using His bow and arrows. His excellent fighting prowess was on full display during one occasion when He defeated 14,000 members of Ravana’s Rakshasa army in the forest of Janasthana. In retaliation, Ravana devised a plan which allowed him to kidnap Sita while Rama was not by her side. Taking her back to Lanka, Ravana thought he could win Sita over by showing her his grand opulence. He even tried to flatter her by saying that she would become his chief queen. Ravana had hundreds of beautiful wives, so by saying that Sita was superior to them in beauty, Ravana was paying her a high compliment.

Sita was having none of this though. Being a pure devotee of God, her mind never once swayed from the lotus feet of her husband and supreme deity of the world, Shri Rama. Sita was also very intelligent, for that is a byproduct of performing devotional service to God. Mundane scholarship has its limits, but possessing knowledge of God enables one to become the smartest person in the world. Sita informed Ravana that his days were numbered. She knew that Rama would come for her and that when He did, Ravana would be easily defeated. In the above referenced statement, Sita is essentially telling Ravana, “Death surely must be coming for you, for why else would you have done something as stupid as kidnapping me? Due to the influence of impending death, people act in ways that cause harm to themselves. This is why you have kidnapped me, for death is coming to you very soon through the arrows released by my husband.”

Sita’s words would hold true as Rama would eventually come to rescue her. Ravana was soundly defeated in battle, dying as a result of the wounds inflicted by Rama. The lesson here is that once death approaches, we have no control over our actions. Therefore it is important that we take the necessary steps to make our lives perfect right now, while we still have our wits about us. And how do we achieve perfection in life? The Vedas tell us that the meaning of life is to think about Krishna, or God, at the time of death. Those who do so will be liberated from the repeated cycle of birth and death.

“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.5)

This point may seem contradictory to Sita’s statement. If we have no control over our actions at the time of death, how can we guarantee that we’ll think of Krishna? The answer is that it is our consciousness at the time of death which determines our next body. Consciousness is something that is developed over this lifetime and previous ones as well. It is similar to the concept of a person’s life flashing before their very eyes when they have a near-death experience. All the activities of this life are a preparation for the next.

Knowing this, we should act in such a way that our consciousness is fixed on God at all times. This will increase the likelihood that our consciousness will be pure at the time of death. To achieve this aim, we simply need to regularly chant the holy names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Chanting is one of the exercises that makes up bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. All the great devotees of the past, such as Sita Devi, Lakshmana, and Hanuman were expert performers of devotional service. They never feared death, for they knew that their minds were always fixed on God.

Chanting is not the only method of devotional service. We can hear about Krishna, read books about Him, talk about Him with others, worship His deity, etc. There are so many avenues available to us. We don’t know when death will come, but we do know that we have every opportunity to perform devotional service right now. If we achieve perfection in this process, time’s influence over us can be negated.

Detox

“By means of a shower of arrows released in battle, He [Rama] will take away your prowess, pride, strength, and impudence from every inch of your body.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.15)

Life is full of many experiences and events which take their toll on our bodies. The aging process wears down the different parts of our body, making our skin look wrinkled and old. The mind also takes a beating from having to repeatedly go through the daily grind. So it is not surprising that many of us look for ways to cleanse our bodies, both internally and externally. There are many popular methods aimed at removing impurities from the body, but none of these target the inner self, the soul. The best way to cleanse the heart, the area where the soul resides, is to constantly associate with God. Though the actual nature of this association can vary, one is still guaranteed to be detoxified of all impurities through the establishment of a relationship with the Supreme Lord.

The spa is a nice retreat for those needing some relaxation time, some time to unwind and recharge the batteries. Spas are health resorts usually located near the seaside. Attendees are treated to various cleansing procedures such as mud masks, massages, skin treatments, and exercise routines like yoga and tai chi. These treatments are nice because a person can just relax and let trained professionals take care of their every need. This is in stark contrast to the way we normally operate, where we are required to be responsible in meeting the demands of our employers, family, and friends.

During the course of a day, our bodies accumulate various impurities through the activities we engage in and the places we go. This is why we are required to take a shower every morning, for the body accumulates dust, sweat, and other impurities over a twenty-four hour period. To combat the attack of these impurities, products such as facial cleansers, shampoos, and fancy soaps are used, thus ensuring an always clean body. The body is not the only thing that accumulates impurities, for the mind also attracts all sorts of bad things from the events that are witnessed and the people that are encountered. For mental health, one may try to relax, watch television, talk to close friends, etc. If we are really down in the dumps, we may visit a trained professional such as a psychiatrist or a psychologist.

While these methods are certainly capable of removing impurities, they fail to tackle the primary issue, the root cause of our uncleanliness. Our bodies, including our minds, are products of material nature which is referred to as prakriti in Sanskrit. Prakriti can mean matter, or it can refer to something being female or feminine. This points to the fact that matter is subordinate and not in control of anything. It is dominated; it is controlled by spirit, also known as purusha. We are all purusha in a sense because we are all spirit souls at the core. The soul is the driving force behind our activities, the basis of our identity. The gross material body is incapable of performing activity in the absence of the soul. We know this from studying the event of death. When a person dies, the soul exits the body. As soon as the soul leaves, the body becomes useless and starts to decay. Using deductive reasoning, we can conclude that it is the soul, or purusha, that is important and not the body, or prakriti.

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.20)

The aforementioned detoxification methods all aim to cleanse gross matter in the form of our outward bodies, and subtle matter in the form of our minds. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that the soul is eternal, while the body is not. This means that our current life is not the first one we’ve had. Rather, our soul transmigrates from one body to another through a series of lifetimes. Through the course of events that occur in each lifetime, the soul accumulates dust, which then carries over to the next life.

“The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 15.8)

The soul itself is always pure, but due to its subordinate nature, it has the propensity to become attached to gross matter in the form of a body. When we take birth, our past activities and consciousness come with us, thus forming a material body with a specific nature. The individual spirit soul, or jivatma, is purusha in a small sense, but it is still inferior to the maha-purusha. Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the maha-purusha, or great predominator or person. Unlike us, God can never associate with material nature, or prakriti. On a higher level of understanding, we living entities are prakriti since we are meant for the Lord’s enjoyment. He is the male, or predominator, and we are female, or the predominated. This is not meant to be taken in a negative light. It means that we spirit souls are happiest when we are in loving association with God.

Through the course of our many lives, dust accumulates around the heart due to all the sinful activities we commit. There are different definitions for what actually constitutes a sin, but at the basic level, any activity which causes us to remain bound to the repeated cycle of birth and death can be classified as sin. God is extremely fair, and He lets us live wherever we want. If we want to stay in this temporary material world, He more than happily obliges. The great sages have declared that desiring to remain in the material world constitutes a sin because we are actually meant for God’s enjoyment. We can think of it in terms of a marriage. In a good marriage, both husband and wife are completely devoted to each other; they have no desire to intimately associate with anyone else. Our relationship with God can be thought of in the same light. We are meant to be loving servants of the Supreme Lord, but by living in the material world, our attention, along with our devotion, goes elsewhere. This certainly isn’t a nice thing, for we have no reason to neglect God. Since material desires represent willful neglect, they are considered sinful.

“Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krishna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence.” (Lord Chaitanya, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Antya 20.12)

How do we cleanse ourselves of the effects of our sinful activities? The only way is to constantly associate with God through the process known as bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Yoga means linking the soul with the Supreme Soul, or God. Bhakti means love or devotion. If we combine the two terms, we see that the only way to achieve perfection in life is to try to link with God in a loving way. How can we associate with God if we can’t see Him? Due to Krishna’s causeless mercy, the Lord can be realized in many ways. In this age especially, Krishna incarnates in the form of His holy name, which can be invoked by regularly chanting the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Devotional service also has other processes such as hearing, remembering, and offering prayers. There are so many avenues available to the conditioned soul as it relates to cleansing the heart.

The great thing about associating with God is that He is the supreme pure. This means that He will automatically cleanse whoever He associates with, regardless of the nature of the interaction. A prime example of this was seen in the interaction between Lord Rama, an incarnation of Krishna, and Ravana, a Rakshasa demon. During the Treta Yuga, the second time period of creation, Krishna appeared on earth in the guise of a handsome, kind, and compassionate warrior prince named Rama. Lord Rama was the greatest fighter, but He was still loved and adored by all. This is the beauty of God’s nature. Whether He is pleasing the devotees or punishing miscreants, He is always full of splendor and beauty.

“In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 4.8)

When the Supreme Divine Being descends to the material world, He remains completely spiritual. Unlike with the living entities, there is no difference between God’s body and His soul. When the Lord comes to earth to fight the demons, He brings devotees from the spiritual world to be His sparring partners. In this regard, Ravana can be considered a great devotee in spirit, who was playing the role of an enemy. One may ask why God would need to fight with anyone. The answer is that Krishna possesses all qualities and propensities. Just as we have a propensity to wrestle and fight with others from time to time, God too has the same tendency. His fighting is a little different in that all His activities are spiritual. When He fights with demons, it is not only to please His desires, but also to teach everyone a valuable lesson.

Ravana’s trademark characteristic was that he was a devout atheist. He certainly believed in the existence of demigods, or elevated celestial beings, but he thought that by gaining their favor, he could eventually vanquish them. Why would someone want to usurp the power of suras, or saintly people? Ravana wanted to be worshiped as God, and for that to happen, he had to become the most powerful man in the world. He thought he was well on his way towards invincibility by having a great kingdom, tremendous fighting powers, great wealth, and hundreds of beautiful wives. The demigods knew Ravana’s Achilles’ heel however. As with any devout materialist, sex desire is always strong. Many a great man has fallen down due to insatiable lusty desires, and Ravana was no different. Though he had hundreds of beautiful princesses for wives, he had his heart set on the one woman he couldn’t have: Sita Devi, the wife of Lord Rama.

Along with His younger brother Lakshmana, Rama and Sita roamed the forests of India for fourteen years as part of their pastimes. Ravana heard of Sita’s presence in the forest and became insistent on having her for his wife. All of Ravana’s associates warned him not to raise Rama’s ire and not to take Him on directly in battle. Partially heeding their advice, Ravana decided to steal Sita away by setting up a diversion whereby Rama and Lakshmana would not be around to fight him. Successfully kidnapping Sita and taking her back to his kingdom, Ravana tried his hardest to win her love, but he was unsuccessful.

In the above referenced statement, Sita Devi is chastising Ravana for his sinful act of stealing another man’s wife. She is also warning him of what will happen when Rama will come to rescue her. Being a pure devotee, Sita was very smart, so she knew how to pick just the right words to irritate Ravana. She knew that Ravana was very proud of his strength and prowess, so she made sure to mention that Rama would take those attributes away by shooting His arrows. It appears that Sita is warning Ravana of bad things to come, but in reality, she is blessing the demon. She is telling him that Rama will come to cleanse him of all his sins. “O Ravana, all of your bad traits will be eliminated once you meet my husband face to face. Since Rama is God Himself, everything associated with Him is purifying, including His arrows. Once those arrows enter your body, you will be absolved of all your sins and become liberated.”

This is precisely what happened. As a reward for their participation in battles with Him, God grants the demons the liberation of merging into His body. This reinforces the fact that anyone who thinks of God at the time of death certainly never has to take birth again in the material world. They ultimately achieve moksha, or liberation. The demons such as Ravana are special cases, so it is not advised that we take to sinful life in the same way. We don’t need to fight with God to get His mercy. In fact, those who serve Krishna in a loving way are awarded an even greater type of liberation, that of being allowed to continue their service eternally in the spiritual world. This is a much easier and less complicated way of cleansing our sins. We simply need to perform devotional service at all times, and we will never have to worry about the impurities of material life contaminating us.

Survival

“Certainly my husband, the highly effulgent Lord [Rama], joined with my brother-in-law [Lakshmana], is fearlessly residing in the empty forest of Dandaka by taking shelter of His own prowess.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.14)

For the human being, life is full of fears. Defending, or fearing, is one of the four activities of animalistic life, and we human beings inherit these tendencies of animals at the time of birth. It is through culture and good education that we become civilized, but that element of fear always remains with us. As adults, we often try different ways to test our strength and survival skills. Being able to dwell in a vacant forest without any fears is a true sign of manhood and self-sufficiency. These abilities, which aren’t found in most people, were exhibited by Lord Rama and His younger brother, Lakshmana, many thousands of years ago in the forest of Dandaka.

Dwelling in the forest is difficult because most of us are dependent on our fellow human being for our livelihood. In today’s world, most everyone works for somebody; they are employees of a larger corporation. No matter how skilled we are at our occupation, our income is dependent on the fate of the companies that we work for and the customers who patronize them. In this regard, we aren’t very independent. Since most of us don’t grow our own food, we rely on the supermarket shelves to supply us with the food that we need to survive. The supermarkets themselves rely on an intricate chain of food producers, suppliers, and delivery men.

“As a ripe fruit has no other fear than to fall, so a man who is born has no other fear than death.” (Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 105.17)

Aside from relying on others for our livelihood, we inherently understand that the world we live in is a dangerous place. To make matters worse, death is sure to come some day. There is a famous saying from Lord Rama which states that just as a ripe fruit has no other fear than that of falling to the ground, the mature human being has no other fear than that of dying. We have an innate fear that death can happen at any moment, especially at the hands of other living entities. For our protection, we rely on the brave volunteers of society who take up arms in defense of the innocent. The military and police force in America voluntarily put their lives on the line to defend their fellow man. If not for these brave fighters, civilians would be left to fend for themselves.

In this regard, we see that man’s dependencies are vast and far-reaching. If it weren’t for other living entities, most of us would not be able to survive. Being completely self-sufficient is actually an art form. It is a quality that few people possess. For those who desire such a trait, forest life represents the playing field where one can practice their survival skills. The modern day Boy Scouts organization strives to teach self-sufficiency and survival skills to its members. Young boys are taught how to pitch tents, start fires, and administer basic first aid, all by themselves, without the help of any modern technology.

This idea of pure survival is also depicted in famous movies and television shows. The hit film, Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks, dealt with the theme of survival. The main character in the movie, a parcel delivery man, gets stranded on a deserted island and is forced to provide food, clothing, and shelter for himself. The television sitcom, The Office, also had an episode where the main character in the show, Michael Scott, asks to be left alone in the wilderness without having any knowledge of his whereabouts. In the episode, Michael wants to prove his manhood by being able to successfully survive in the woods and eventually find his way back home after being dropped off in a remote area. The Office is a comedy after all, so obviously Michael is not able to successfully survive by himself. He doesn’t last very long in the wilderness either, for he has no idea how to even start a fire or how to find his food.

Most of us would be terrified if left alone in the forest. There are no restaurants, no hotels, no televisions, and no soda machines. We wouldn’t know what to do. More than anything, we would be pretty scared. To make matters worse, the forest is full of wild animals that would have no problem attacking human beings. Essentially, we would have to sleep with one eye open to make sure that no predators went on the attack in the middle of the night.

In the above referenced statement, Sita Devi is referencing the fact that her husband, Rama, and His younger brother, Lakshmana, were both residing in the vacant forest of Dandaka and living fearlessly. Her statements were made to the Rakshasa demon Ravana, who had just kidnapped her and brought her back to his island kingdom of Lanka. In the Treta Yuga, many thousands of years ago, a handsome and pious prince appeared in the Raghu dynasty, a famous line of kings whose ancestry traced back to the first king on earth, Maharaja Ikshvaku. This pious prince was named Rama and He was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the four-armed plenary expansion of Lord Krishna, or God, who resides in the spiritual world.

Rama had three younger brothers, with Lakshmana being the one closest to Him in friendship. Since the boys took birth in a royal family, they were trained in the military arts. During those times, the governments were run by royal monarchies made up of valiant warriors. This class of men was known as kshatriyas, and they were chivalrous, brave, and expert at providing defense to the innocent. Sita Devi, an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, married Lord Rama in a grand ceremony in the kingdom of Mithila. The couple was enjoying blissful married life when suddenly Rama was banished from His kingdom of Ayodhya by His father.

Roaming the forests for fourteen years along with Lakshmana, Sita was one day kidnapped by Ravana while Rama and Lakshmana were away from the group’s cottage. Taking her back to Lanka, Ravana tried his best to win her over, but Sita was having none of it. She was completely devoted to Rama in thought, word, and deed. Ravana’s lusty desires were very strong, but he was not able to satisfy them with Sita. She sternly rebuked him and reminded him that she had a husband who was living fearlessly in an empty forest along with His brother.

This is an important point because Sita is trying to contrast the qualities of Rama with those of Ravana. The demon lived in a very opulent kingdom, where he was served by thousands of Rakshasa warriors and hundreds of wives. Ravana himself had great fighting prowess, but he didn’t use any of these skills in kidnapping Sita. Rather than fight Rama directly, Ravana set up a diversion whereby Rama and Lakshmana were lured away from their cottage by a deer, thus leaving Sita all alone. Sita mentions the fact that Rama and Lakshmana are fearless and all by themselves, whereas Ravana, though possessing a grand army, was himself too afraid to fight Rama.

One may wonder why Rama and Lakshmana, being completely fearless, chose to live in the forest. Rama was God Himself, and one of the Lord’s attributes is that of renunciation. No one can be more renounced than God. This fact should make sense to us because God is the original creator of everything. Renunciation is only difficult for those who have attachments to things. Attachments are formed out of insecurities and fear. God knows that He is the greatest, so He has no need to fear anything, thus He also has no attachments. The Vedas describe God as being atmarama, meaning He is satisfied with Himself. He is comfortable in His own skin, as the saying goes. Rama accepted the punishment of exile so that His father’s reputation could remain intact. Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya, had promised one of his wives any two boons of her choosing. She asked for Rama’s exile and the king was forced to oblige, otherwise he would be made to be a liar. Rama accepted the punishment to keep Dasharatha dedicated to the truth.

Rama and Lakshmana had no problem surviving in the wilderness. In fact, many of the great sages who had set up hermitages in the forest petitioned the two brothers to protect them. Rama and Lakshmana did just that by defeating thousands of attacking Rakshasas. Simply by using their bows and arrows, the two brothers could allay the fears of anyone residing in the vacant forests. Sita’s statement is foreboding evil upon Ravana. Eventually, both Rama and Lakshmana would march to Lanka and kill almost all of Ravana’s Rakshasa associates, including Ravana himself. Sita would be rescued by her heroic husband and His equally brave younger brother.

The lesson here is that we should never think that we are more renounced than God. Lord Rama is a true hero who doesn’t speak much. He lets his actions do the talking. For us mere mortals, we simply have to let the great fearless one, God Himself, protect us. Being her husband, Rama was Sita’s most effulgent Lord, but as spirit souls, part and parcel of God, Rama is our Lord too. He can deliver us from danger in the same way that He saved Sita. Whether we are living in a vacant forest or a crammed city, we simply have to think about the Lord, and He will kindly deliver us from all evils. In this age, the same Lord Vishnu incarnates in the form of His holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. If we hang on to this sacred mantra and take it to be our only means of survival, we can transcend any and all fears.

Cheaters Never Win

“Your sinful act of coming to the forest and taking me away from the side of my husband will not result in future happiness for you.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.13)

We often hear the phrase, “cheaters never win.” This is certainly true in the long run, but in the short term, we see that cheaters and thieves certainly do get away with transgressing laws. Some of them rise to great fame through underhanded methods. This doesn’t mean that they completely get away with their sinful actions, for cheaters end up paying big time in the end. The same principle holds true for aspiring transcendentalists. There is no quick and easy path to God; we have to put in great time and effort to achieve success. If we try to associate with God or one of His devotees while remaining committed to sinful life, we will surely meet with trouble.

There are countless examples of people who got away with committing crimes but then later on suffered the consequences. The famous football player, O.J. Simpson, is an example of this. Accused of murdering his ex-wife and her boyfriend, Simpson tried to flee the country and escape a trial. After a high-profile, high-speed chase with the police, Simpson eventually turned himself into authorities and faced a trial which was followed by millions on television. To the average observer, the evidence seemed overwhelmingly in favor of Simpson’s conviction on the charges of murder. Nevertheless, with the help of an all-star legal team, Simpson was acquitted of the charges. His defenders rejoiced, but many across the country were flabbergasted, including the friends and family of those who were killed. It seemed that Simpson had gotten away with murder.

As time went on, however, Simpson’s true colors would show. Instead of staying out of the public eye and living a peaceful life, Simpson took to some bizarre behavior. He wrote a book titled, If I Did It, where he pondered the question of how he would have gone about committing the murders had he actually been the culprit. The book was cancelled shortly after its release. Simpson couldn’t stay out of trouble, however, as he was later arrested for breaking into a hotel room and stealing memorabilia which he claimed others had stolen from him. Simpson eventually was convicted on the charges brought against him and forced to go to jail.

“Just as a tree starts to blossom during the proper season, so the doer of sinful deeds inevitably reaps the horrible fruit of their actions at the appropriate time.” (Lord Rama speaking to Khara, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 29.8)

These situations occur all the time on a lower scale. The forces of nature delude us into thinking that just because no one is looking, we can get away with committing crimes. For the serial cheaters and serious law breakers, the consequences to their actions are sure to bear fruit. There is another famous saying, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” All of our actions have consequences. If we want to achieve something, we have to work hard for it. There are no short-cuts. If we try to cheat our way to success, we will eventually suffer the consequences. For example, students in grade school or high school may cheat on their exams and even get good grades. But later on in life, there will come a point where they won’t have the opportunity to cheat. The things they should have learned in school will then be forced upon them. When this time comes, there will be no one around to help the cheaters. In America, there are some who actually graduate high school without knowing how to read. Obviously for these situations to occur, there must be some serious cheating that goes on, either by the student or the administrators of the school.

The Vedas tell us that the material world is governed by a force called maya. She is described as an illusory force; she fools us into thinking that we can cheat nature. We are all susceptible to maya’s influence, and if we don’t learn how to control our desires, she can lead us astray. This was the case with the Rakshasa demon Ravana many thousands of years ago. Ravana was born as the son of a brahmana, but he had the qualities of a Rakshasa. Brahmanas are the priestly class of men, so named because they know Brahman, or the all pervading impersonal energy of the Lord. Since a brahmana is required to know Brahman, it stands to reason that simply taking birth from a brahmana father doesn’t automatically grant brahminical status.

Though Ravana had a pious father, he himself was deluded by maya. He was a gross materialist who viewed satisfying the senses as his only business in life. Trying to meet the demands of the senses is not anything out of the ordinary, but there are different ways to go about it. The Vedas provide the system of varnashrama-dharma, where one is allowed to live a life of regulated sense gratification, all with the aim of advancing spiritually. There is another path, however, known as adharma, or irreligion. This was the path taken by Ravana. He certainly performed great austerities and worshiped the devatas, but this worship was performed in the mode of ignorance. He had no desire to improve the future fortunes of his soul; he was only worried about the demands of his body. He used his acquired powers to harass the saintly class of men.

Lord Krishna, or God, is the original proprietor of everything. Since He created the universe, it stands to reason that He is the rightful owner of everything. The Lord is very kind to us though, so He allows us to borrow His property while we perform our activities on earth. Those who act with this knowledge have no desire to encroach on others’ property or to harass other innocent living entities. Sadly, Ravana lacked this knowledge. He wanted to possess all the wealth in the world, and he didn’t care how he got it. The ends justified the means as far as he was concerned.

In the early stages of Ravana’s life, it appeared that cheating was paying off. He and his Rakshasa associates would regularly harass the peaceful brahmanas residing in the forests. These sages weren’t harming anyone; they had taken to forest life since it was quiet and peaceful. By harassing these exalted personalities, Ravana showed just how vile he was. He had no regard for innocent human life. Nevertheless, the demon amassed great wealth, and he ruled over an opulent kingdom in Lanka. He had every material object at his disposal. He regularly drank wine, ate meat, and had sex with a multitude of partners. He was living in his own version of sin city.

As mentioned before, cheaters never win, and Ravana would find this out the hard way. Though he had ample opportunities for sex with his hundreds of beautiful wives, Ravana became infatuated with one woman in particular: Sita Devi, the wife of Lord Rama. In today’s society, men and women are allowed to freely intermingle. Due to the natural psychological make-ups of the two genders, men and women have different ways they go about seeking a mate. They also find different qualities appealing and attractive. Generally speaking, if a man is interested in a particular woman and he finds out that she is either married or in a relationship, he immediately runs the other way. Men tend to prefer women who are completely devoted to them and don’t harbor feelings for other men.

This was not the case with Ravana. He became infatuated by Sita simply from hearing of her beauty. At the time, Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, had incarnated on earth in human form as Lord Rama. His wife was Sita Devi, an incarnation of the goddess of fortune, Lakshmi. The couple was roaming the forests of India with Rama’s younger brother, Lakshmana. Ravana came to the group’s camp in Dandaka, set up a diversion, and then kidnapped Sita. Taking her back to his island kingdom of Lanka, Ravana tried his best to win her over, but Sita would not budge. She was wholly committed to the lotus feet of Shri Rama.

In the above referenced statement, Sita is informing Ravana that his sinful act of stealing another’s wife would never lead to his felicity. He would be forced to suffer the consequences. Her words would indeed prove true as Rama would eventually march to Lanka, kill Ravana in battle, and rescue her. All of Ravana’s sins caught up to him. What turned out to be the tipping point was his sinful desire to enjoy God’s wife.

Krishna, or God, represents the energetic and His pure devotees are His energy. The energy works at the pleasure of the energetic, meaning the pure devotees always act to please the Supreme Lord. Not only do the devotees enjoy pleasing God, but the Supreme Lord enjoys associating with them through various rasas, or transcendental humors.

For us conditioned living entities, association with God and His devotees can come about easily, provided that we remain on the virtuous path. Ravana tried to steal God’s wife and paid dearly for it. By the same token, we cannot achieve transcendental perfection through underhanded methods. If we try to approach the Supreme Lord or one of His devotees while remaining committed to sinful life, we will never make progress. In order to associate with God, we have to sincerely change our desires from all things material, to all things spiritual.

In this age, the easiest way to remain in contact with the spiritual energy is to constantly chant the holy names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. At the same time, we should abstain from the four pillars of sinful life: meat eating, gambling, illicit sex, and intoxication. The idea is to always think about God and always be working for His satisfaction. We don’t need to give up all our activities; we just need to spiritualize them. Chanting Hare Krishna wherever we are is a great way to purify any activity. By using the fruits of our labor to meet our spiritual demands, we can slowly become purified.

“Those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form-to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.22)

God is not mean. If we sincerely desire His association, He will gladly grant it to us. Simply abiding by rules and regulations is not enough; the goal is to foster a deep attachment for the lotus feet of the Lord. Seeing how difficult spiritual life can be, many of us choose to put it off until later on. “Let me earn some money now and I’ll take to religion when I get older.” Yet if we remain servants of maya throughout our lifetime, there is no guarantee that we will think of God at the time of death. Even if we take up a little devotional service immediately, we can make tremendous strides.

Let us take up the sublime engagement of devotional service today. If we remain on the righteous path, we will surely be granted the association of Sita and Rama very quickly. Unlike Ravana, we won’t have to steal Sita Devi, for she will kindly appear to the devotee of Shri Rama. As we see from Ravana’s example, the path to perfection does not go through cheating God and His wife, but rather through sincerely serving the Supreme Lord and all His devotees.

Fortune Fame

“Gone is the duration of your life. Gone is your prosperity. Gone is your strength, and gone are your senses. The city of Lanka will become widowed due to your horrible deeds.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.12)

The demon Ravana is here being told that he will soon lose all that he had worked so hard for. A great demon possessing immense riches, Ravana would be forced to relinquish everything due to his stirring the ire of Lord Rama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To make matters worse, all of Ravana’s associates would also be harmed in a similar matter due to their close ties and dependence on the demon.

Lord Rama is an incarnation of God who appeared on earth many thousands of years ago. The Lord appeared in the guise of a human being; a kshatriya warrior famous throughout the world for His fighting prowess. His wife was the beautiful Sita Devi, the daughter of the King of Mithila, Maharaja Janaka. Sita was no ordinary woman either; she was an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. The major religions of the world tell us that God exists, but they don’t go into much detail relating to His name, forms, and pastimes. This is where the Vedas are unique. They tell us that God has unlimited forms, ananta-rupam, but that His primary forms are those of Lord Krishna and Lord Vishnu. In the spiritual sky, Lord Vishnu resides with His wife, Goddess Lakshmi, and His eternal support and friend, Ananta Shesha Naga. Vishnu, also known as Narayana, is a four-handed expansion of Krishna, thus He is the same God that we all pray to.

The main difference between God and we living entities is that God represents the supreme energetic, while we are His energy. The more perfect we become in a spiritual sense, the better we represent this energy. In Sanskrit, God’s pleasure giving energy is referred to as hladini-shakti. Goddess Lakshmi represents perfection in the area of giving pleasure to the Lord. The Vedas tell us that God can be referred to as Bhagavan, meaning one who possesses all opulences and fortunes. One of these opulences is fortune, or wealth. Vishnu is the wealthiest because the goddess of fortune, Lakshmiji, is His wife. This shouldn’t surprise us as God is the original creator of everything, so it would make sense that He owns all the wealth in the world.

Ravana, a Rakshasa demon who roamed the earth at the same time as Rama, actually had a large pool with a deity of Goddess Lakshmi in his kingdom of Lanka. In the Vedic tradition, Lakshmi and Ganesha are regularly worshiped by those desiring material benedictions. Lakshmi provides good fortune to those who worship her, and Ganesha removes all obstacles in the pursuit of happiness. It is the inherent nature of man to want to improve his living condition. “Please give me all the wealth and fame that I can get and make sure that there are no obstacles in my way.” This is the general mindset of worshipers of Lakshmi and Ganesha. This thinking isn’t necessarily bad, but one should realize the ultimate purpose behind the boons bestowed by these two divine figures.

Material life represents a sort of prison house for the spirit souls. When a person is sentenced to prison, they are forced to remain inside the confines of a jail or a prison yard. They may perform different activities every day, but essentially the time spent there is meant to serve as a punishment. It is virtually impossible to find true happiness in a prison. The material world is taken to be a macro version of a prison. We can perform different activities and experience different highs and lows, but in the end, our time here is capped, with a fixed time allotted for when we have to give up our body. The entire material creation is also subject to destruction. All this may seem bleak, but there is a silver lining. If we develop a loving attachment to God during our lifetime, we are guaranteed to never return to this prison house.

"Anyone who quits his body, at the end of life, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of this." (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.5)

There are essentially two paths that we can take in life. One path leads to bondage, and the other path leads to liberation. If we remain on the material platform and act solely in the interests of the senses, we remain on the path of bondage. If we act in a way that increases our love and attachment for God, we are on the path of liberation. In this regard, the boons bestowed by Lakshmi and Ganesha should be used by those on the path of liberation. Lakshmi is God’s wife, so she performs everything for the Lord’s benefit. The gifts she bestows upon us in the form of money and good fortune are intended to be used for the execution of devotional service. The same principle holds true for the boons bestowed by all demigods. Lord Ganesha is an exalted personality, well-respected by everyone. He is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, who are both great devotees of Vishnu themselves. By removing our obstacles, Ganesha hopes that we can have an easier time performing our religious duties.

For those who remain fixed to the path of bondage, the boons bestowed by Lakshmi ultimately lead to destruction. This was the case with Ravana. He was living very happily in his kingdom of Lanka. He had everything at his disposal: beautiful women, exquisite palaces, and an army full of highly capable Rakshasas. Yet he wasn’t satisfied with all of this. The pervading energy of material nature is known as maya. Her greatest power is one of illusion. Illusion means taking something to be one thing, when it is actually something else. Maya causes us to believe that material sense gratification will make us happy, when in actuality, it only causes us to be further bound to the cycle of birth and death. Intoxication is a great example of this. Many of us get excited when it comes time to go out and drink, but after the high wears off, we are left to suffer. Vomiting, headaches, hangovers, etc., are the after-effects of excessive drinking. Yet with all this suffering, many of us go right back to drinking alcohol the next day or the next weekend. This is all due to maya’s influence.

Ravana was under the control of maya. Not satisfied with having hundreds of beautiful wives, he decided to kidnap Sita from the forest while Rama was away chasing a deer. Taking her back to his kingdom of Lanka, Ravana tried his hardest to win her over, but she was unbreakable. A human incarnation of Lakshmi, Sita could never take her thoughts away from Rama, or God. In the above referenced statement, she is informing Ravana of what will happen to him for perpetrating such a heinous crime. He will lose his auspiciousness, strength, and his senses [indriyah]. Not only will he lose these things, but he will cause pain to all the members of his kingdom.

One must possess auspiciousness and strength in order to lose it, which means that Ravana certainly was very powerful. Sita warns him, however, that such material boons wouldn’t last forever. Though he worshiped Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma and even kept the deity of Lakshmiji in his kingdom, he hadn’t taken to the path of liberation. Moreover, he directly offended the Supreme Lord Rama and His pure devotee Sita. For Ravana, the same senses that derived pleasure from his material opulences would end up being the cause of great misery and grief to him. All of Ravana’s wives would be widowed. They were beautiful women, and they did nothing to bring about their future pain. Due to Ravana’s one horrible act, so many people would have to suffer.

Sita’s words would hold true as Rama would eventually march to Lanka, destroy all of Ravana’s army, and eventually kill Ravana himself. Even before this, Rama’s faithful servant Hanuman would come to Lanka and set fire to the city. The lesson here is that we should understand what fame and fortune are for. We shouldn’t reject or accept anything outright, but rather we should see how they relate to devotional service. In this age especially, the only dharma for mankind is the constant chanting of the holy names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

Sita Devi is so kind and sweet. Just as everyone loved Lord Rama, everyone also had similar affection for her. This is the nature of the pure devotee of God; they have no enemies. Lakshmi is nice enough to bless us with so many boons. We should make a serious effort to ensure that none of her gifts are used for the wrong purposes. Everything in this life should be used to glorify the Supreme Lord and distribute His causeless mercy to others. This will purify us and grant us eternal association with the divine couple, Sita and Rama.