Goddess Saraswati is the consort of Lord Brahma and is the Goddess of wisdom and learning.  She is considered as the personification of all knowledge - arts, sciences, crafts and all skills.  Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge, music and all the creative arts.  Saraswati is also called Vak Devi, the goddess of speech and sound.  Schools and libraries are her temples; books, pens, all tools of the artist and musical instruments are the items used in pooja to the enlightening goddess of wisdom.  Students worship Saraswati to perform well in examinations.

Continuing with the next two lines of 'Sadhana Karu Pyare' series....

sadā sochahu jāne kab chhin, jāya tanu yaha  pyāre

man ko māno śhatru usakī, sunahu jani kachhu pyāre

We have already heard many times and are acquainted with the fact that we are not this material body.  But, we have such a close relation with our mind that we don't even realize that we are not the 'mind'.  Whatever this mind thinks, we identify with that.  Then we go to Swamiji and say, "Swamiji, why did I think like this?  Why do I have this thought in my mind?"  Now see, you are not thinking, but it is your mind that is imagining or thinking.  You have identified yourself with the mind, and hence you are getting the feeling, "I am thinking; why am I thinking; I should not have thought like this."  If you distance yourself a little from your mind then you will realize that you are not the mind.  We will think, "I am different from my mind."  

This mind often does unwanted thinking."  God has made this mind as a machine that continuously thinks.  According to the Geeta:

nahiṁ kaśhchit kṣhaṇamapi jātu tiṣhṭhatyakarmakṛit

"This mind can never remain inactive even for a moment."  It is the inherent nature of the mind to constantly think.  Hence, by considering ourselves as the mind we get tensed.  And what does the mind do?  It wanders around in the three modes of Maya.  This world comprises of three qualities of Maya.  They are, Tamo guna (mode of ignorance), Rajo guna (mode of passion), and Sattva guna (mode of goodness).  The mind is made up of these three modes of Maya.  The particular mode that predominates at any moment depends upon the exposure that you get from outside world and the outside environment.

For example, every morning you visit the place of worship at your home and pray to God.  And because of the sattvic environment, sattva guna emerges in your mind and you are in a sattvic mode.  Your mind becomes calm and pure.  The mind starts getting absorbed in God.  At that moment, you are approached by your son or your grandchild.  He starts crawling on the floor and keeps his little hand on your back.  You hear him, feel his loving touch and immediately you start thinking of your little grandchild.  You say, "O my dear child!"  Now see, the mind, which was chanting Hare Ram gets distracted and gets absorbed there.  It means that the environment changed and your mind got dominated by rajo guna.  You are still chanting Hare Ram, but your mind is somewhere else.  You lift the child and place him in your lap.  Just then, your neighbour comes in and angrily says, "What were you saying to me yesterday?"  The moment you hear this, you become angry and go from rajo guna to tamo guna.  You say, "Mind your language and speak!"

Observe how the outside environment affects the modes of every individual's state of mind.  It shows the constantly fluctuating modes of Maya.  Hence, these modes keep on changing in our mind.  That is why you sometimes get a feeling from within, "I should practice devotion every moment."  You say, "I will get up early morning at 4 am and practice devotion."  And sometimes you say, "Why to get up so early, I will get up at 7 or 8."  Sometimes you say, "Has anyone seen God or not?  These saints keep lecturing day and night without reason."  Just see, how the state of mind of an individual keeps changing.  You get nervous and say, "Swamiji, Why does this happen?  Why does our mental state keep changing; our feeling keeps fluctuating towards Saints as well as God according to the three modes of Maya?"

The reason is the constantly changing state of individual's mind.  Therefore, Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says, "Do not consider the mind as your friend.  Consider it as your enemy.  It will surely mislead you and will keep you in delusion.  That is why, when you get up in the morning, curse your mind saying that you will not listen to it.   Make a firm decision that you will not listen to your mind but listen to your intellect.  The intellect is beyond our mind and heart.  Therefore, we have to grasp the true knowledge in our mind.  When we acquire proper knowledge, then the intellect will control the mind, and you will follow the spiritual path sincerely.

If you get devotional feelings by yourself, then it is the Grace of God.  Because of good deeds of previous lifetimes, you are automatically thinking of God, and are attached to Him.  If these feelings are not present, then you have to forcefully attach your mind towards God using the Divine knowledge and control the mind. This is the sign of a true devotee.  We should try hard to learn and realize the true knowledge in our mind constantly.  

Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says, "Always remember - You never know when this life will be over.  We may not get the next moment as life is transient.  No one knows when it will come to an end.  And when this life ends, you will realize that you lost this golden chance of progressing on the spiritual path.  But if we think that today could be our last day, then we will not procrastinate in practicing devotion and we will strive to attain our goal as soon as possible."   And if you say, "What is the hurry?  I am only 50 years old.  I will do it when I retire and have more time."  Later, you say, "I am now retired but my children still need my guidance.  I also have to worry about my grandchildren.  I will do it when my responsibilities to my grandchildren are complete."  And one day we die, having lost a golden opportunity to uplift ourselves.  If we become careless towards achieving our goal, then our devotional zeal will also reduce.

Once, two Brahmins of Janakpur were discussing that their king, despite his material opulence, is not attached to it.  He possesses so much wealth, luxury and richness, yet he is detached from it.  One of the two said, "Let us go and ask the king himself how he can remain detached amidst such wealth."  The other Brahmin said, "No, we should not ask the king.  Kings are not predictable."  But, the first Brahmin insisted on going and meeting the king.  So they both went.  After reaching the palace, they asked, "O King, we are curious how, despite the many luxuries and the wealth that you possess, you don't have any attachment to it?"  The king got angry and answered, "How dare you ask me this question?  I will sentence you to death."  The king ordered the servants to take the two Brahmins and hang them to death the next morning.  "But feed them nice tasty food tonight", he said.  

They were taken to sleep on a comfortable soft mattress sprinkled with rose water.  Now they both started cursing each other, saying, "We should not have come here in the first place.  We have lost our lives."  They were tense the whole night and couldn't sleep.  The next morning they were called by the king.  He said, "I have changed my mind.  I am giving you both one more chance to save your lives.  Take a bowl full of oil in your hands and walk around my capital city, Janakpur.  Be very careful that not even a single drop of oil should fall down.  Otherwise, you will be hanged to death."   

Now, both Brahmins took a bowl full of oil and holding it in their hands, started to walk around the kingdom.  When they came back, not a drop of oil had fallen down.  So, King Janak asked, "You roamed in my territory and came across many attractive alluring things like restaurants, cinema halls, hotels, gardens.  Did any of these things distract you, or did you get attracted to them?  They both replied, "How could our mind go elsewhere?  It was alert with the fear of losing our lives if we dropped even a single drop of oil."

So, King Janak said, "This is the answer to your question which you asked me, despite these luxuries, how am I detached?   You had this fear that you can die anytime.  Similarly, even I always realize that this human form is temporary.  It could be snatched away from me any moment."

Hence, we must always remember this fact and never procrastinate.  We must practice devotion without any delay and try to progress quickly on the spiritual path.  When we constantly have this fear in our minds that life is transitory, the mind will automatically come under control. This is what Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says in these two lines.

Question:  There was a Ram temple in our house; I was in the habit of hearing the Tulsi Ramayan, and meditating on the form of Lord Ram.  But after marriage, in my in-laws' house, I began reading the Durga Saptaśhati and observing Navrātras.  When I heard the Bhāgavat saptāha, I liked the leelas of Shree Krishna.  How should I decide which God to worship? 

Answer:  Although Ram, Durga, Krishna are all different forms of the one Supreme Lord, yet it is advisable to focus your devotion on a single form.  There is a Hindi saying:  

eka sādhe saba sadhe, saba sādhe saba jāya

"If you focus all your attention on a single activity, you will succeed in it.  But if you try to succeed in multifarious things at the same time, you will fail in all of them."  With the same logic, if you try to love all the forms of God, you will end up loving none.  But if you devote your mind to one form, you will develop love for all of them.  So you must choose one form to worship, which is called "Iṣhṭa Dev", or the devotee's chosen form of God for devotion. 

Now the question you have asked is about how to choose your Iṣhṭa Dev.  In deciding this, you must consider which form of God is attractive to the mind.  If your Iṣhṭa Dev has a beautiful form, you will find it much easier to meditate on Him.  Also, if your Iṣhṭa Dev has wonderful pastimes, it will be very helpful in your devotion.  To turn your mind towards God, leelas also play an important role.  By hearing and chanting those leelas, devotees increase their love for God.  From both these view points, devotion to Shree Ram and Shree Krishna is both sweet and easy.  Hence, They are also the most popular Iṣhṭa Devs in India.  Their sweet pastimes are lovingly sung and remembered in temples and houses in every part of the country.

Amongst Them, Shree Krishna manifests four special nectars, above and beyond any other Avatar of God:

1.       Exceptionally attractive form (His famous three-fold bending form with a flute on His lips).

2.       Amazing sweetness of His flute that attracts even Lord Shankar.

3.       The sweetest childhood pastimes that enchant the minds of devotees.

4.       Leelas displaying the greatness of love, which reveal how God forgets His Almightiness because of the love of His devotees.

For all these reasons, I would highly recommend that you make Shree Krishna and His Divine Consort, Shree Radha Rani, as your Iṣhṭa Dev.  However, if you decide to choose any other forms of God, that is also fine.  

Swamiji answers selected questions related to Yog, Spirituality and Philosophy every month on our e-Magazine. 

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Bal-Mukund Contributions

Irving-Texas

        Holi by Srikar Gade                                  Happy Ram Navami  

                                                                                   by Sonika Harish         

  New Jersey 

 I Love Krishna by Tia Vasudeva

 View more contributions by Tia  

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QUIZ

* What is the name of Shree Krishna's brother? 

* Name the lady demon who had come to feed Bal    

   Krishna with the intention to kill Him.

* Did Shree Krishna punish her? How did He

   reciprocate?

* Who was the uncle of Shree Krishna?

* Which place did Kansa rule?  

* Which is the favourite animal of Shree Krishna?

* Which is the favourite food item of Shree Krishna?

* Name the instrument He likes to play.

* What does Shree Krishna like to put on His   

    head/crown?

* Is Shree Krishna dark or fair in complexion?

View Answers