There are many forms of grace, but three of them are considered to be of great significance:
- Attaining a human birth,
- Having a desire for God-realization,
- Meeting a true saint.
1. Attaining a human birth
The human body is so important that even Indra, the king of heaven, wants this body. The human body is a very complex machine and there is no other body as complex as that of a human. We strive to maintain a very healthy body, yet suffer from many ailments due to improper habits and the prevailing environment.
In addition, an average human suffers innumerable miseries as a result of illness and death of loved ones. It is amazing how we humans are able to continue living. However, there is a wonderful power that we humans possess – knowledge.
There is no other creature, with the exception of celestial Gods in heaven that can match the faculty of knowledge that we human beings possess. We have the power to comprehend who we are, the nature of our body, this world, God, bliss, sorrow, etc.
We can inquire into what causes sorrow, and how to eliminate the root cause of all sorrows. We have the power to understand and take the appropriate steps to find the cure. Countless fellow humans, like Tulsidas, Kabirdas, Meera, Nanak and Tukaram, have accomplished this. It is the gift of knowledge that gives immense significance and value to the human body.
Celestial gods possess greater knowledge than us, but they cannot do sadhana, or devotion. They are only permitted to enjoy heavenly pleasures, which are temporary. Also, heavenly happiness is not pure happiness. There is constant hankering to attain a higher level of happiness, very similar to what happens on earth.
The mental diseases that torture us also befall those who dwell in heaven. Consequently, heaven and this world are similar, since both are subject to sorrow, restlessness, dissatisfaction, lust, anger, greed, attachment, envy and pride. The difference is that, we humans can work on improving ourselves (by doing sadhana), whereas celestial gods cannot.
It is impossible to earn in heaven, since one only enjoys the rewards of his past karm. There is no option of performing new karm in heaven.
So, the first grace of God is that He gives us a human body. Just think how important a grace this is. Granted that we attained human birth due to our own actions, but it was God who took note of our actions, and rewarded us by making us human. God did all this for us.
Actions cannot yield results on their own. Let us say we donated $100,000. This act of charity will not yield fruit by itself. God will have to intervene and give us the fruits of our donation. So, God is merciful in that He rewards us for our actions. Otherwise, we would never have attained human birth.
kabahu k kari karua nar dehi
det ish binu hetu sanehi
God has gifted us a human body due to His compassionate nature. We are suffering because we fail to contemplate properly. What are we thinking? “How should I spend my time?” We are constantly planning on how to earn more wealth, constructing a house and leaving behind a large fortune for wife and kids. There seems to be no concern about our own spiritual upliftment.
We must think about why we have come to this world. Our lives are wasted in planning how to make the body happy, and we work towards those plans. Still, we fail because our desires keep tormenting us. We may sleep on a bed of gold studded with diamonds, but we still suffer from inside. Happiness comes from within, not from external objects.
The power of knowledge that we have been blessed with in this human form, should be used towards reaching our goal by surrendering to God and Guru. And we should be in a great hurry to reach our goal. We have no idea how long or short our life is. There are no guarantees.
Prahlad preached to his little friends, “Do not wait for youth.” Hurry up. It may never arrive. Similarly, do not wait for old age. Do not think we are too young. Life is uncertain; death is certain.
We say, “Dead sure.” When it is time to die, there is no power on earth that can save us. Abhimanyu, the nephew of Lord Krishna and the son of Arjun was killed at a young age. His wife Uttara was widowed at the age of sixteen. Imagine! even Lord Krishna, Arjun and Ved Vyas could not save Abhimanyu. Everyone will die at the designated time; reciting prayers will not help.
do batan ko bhuli mat jo chahasi kalyan
narayan ik maut ko, duje shri bhagavan
Along with God, keep death in mind. Do not wait or procrastinate. Procrastination has wasted countless lives of ours.
To be Continued…
Extracted from Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj’s Lecture.
