YAKSHA PRASHNAM – SATHSANG PART 4

By Chitra Devraj

‘Atithi Devo Bhavah’ which means ‘to have the bhaavah that our guest is the Lord Himself’. Atithi generally means surprise guest. Whoever comes at unexpected time should be given food and love.THERE IS FOUND A PERSON WHO ENJOYS ALL THE OBJECTS OF THE SENSES. HE IS INTELLIGENT. THE WORLD HOLDS HIM IN ESTEEM AND HE IS QUITE POPULAR. AND YET, THOUGH THIS MAN BREATHS, IT IS SAID THAT HE DOES NOT LIVE. WHY?

A man, though he breathes, is considered to be not alive if he does not offer anything to Gods, guests, servants and the pithris. (This answer underlines the fact that a selfish person even though lives, he is considered as dead. The whole creation operates on the value of sacrifice. Lord Krishna says in Bhagawad Gita that a person who enjoys other people’s efforts and doesn’t contribute anything to the world is considered as a thief. Every day is the Prasad of the Lord.

Our scriptures explain in great detail that each sense organ is presided over by a deity. For example, the presiding deity of the eye is Agni, the presiding deity of ears is Vaayu. What can be the best offering to the Gods? If we use the sense organs to think about the Lord, to hear about the Lord, to see, touch, smell the Lord that can only be the best of the offerings.

Our Vedas say ‘Ateeti Devo Bhavah’ which means ‘to have the bhavah that our guest is the Lord Himself’. Ateeti generally means surprise guest. Ateeti is not a guest whom we invite at our convenient time and day. Whoever comes at unexpected time should be given food and love. We may arrange big parties, but that can never be considered as a selfless action. It will become like the story of Kubera who called Lord Shiva for a dinner just to show off his wealth. The Lord never comes with a notice.

We always give what is unwanted to the servants working at home, for example three days old food, last decoction coffee. We eat before them but never offer anything to them. These actions show our arrogance and pride. The Lord who is in us is in them also. People generally pay the servants less and get more work done through them. We should not understand that the servants should be treated as angels but they should be treated with compassion and love.

Shraardham is the word which has born out of Shraddha. It is an offering we make for our father and forefathers for all the blessings they had showered on us. Swami Parmaarthananda says that even if they had not given us big riches, they have given us this body through which we are enjoying this world. Offering to Pithris is a thanks giving ceremony and it makes one humble in life.

As long as we have desires we cannot be a part of sacrifice in the creation. The desires make us selfish in life. We breathe in and breathe out only thinking about us and who are attached to us. A person may be well educated and hold a great post in the world. But Bhagavad Gita tells they are zero in the eyes of the Lord, if they work centered in the thought ‘I am the body’. As long as we don’t have the mind to give others, share with others, we live a dead man’s life. A dead man is useless to anyone around. Similarly we become useless to the world if we are self-centered).

WHAT IS WEIGHTER THAN THE EARTH ITSELF?

The mother has more weight than the earth. (Weight generally means the capacity to take burdens. Weightier is used in the sense of bearing a heavier burden and the mother bears the burden of bringing up the family, usually with insufficient resources. The Pandavas mother Kunti is a great example for this. In all the difficulties, she has brought up her children in a great way. The strength of the mind of Kunti ma was so great that the Pandavas faced all difficulties with courage and they could live happily even in the forest (Our children are unhappy when they move away from Gulf).Her devotion and love for Krishna had been passed on to the children too. They had been guided by Krishna all through their life.

The child is shaped as per the nature and temperament of the mother. Her virtuous behavior makes the child brilliant. The great God had created this whole universe. Innumerable kinds and varieties of living beings are existing in this world. All are well acquainted with the traits and characteristics of their temperaments and natural tendencies. But no living being possesses the highest esteemable quality or virtue of compassion and affection which only the mother possesses for all. When Lord Krishna left the world, the Mother Earth was crying that who will relieve her from the evil effects of Kali. In any circumstances in life, a mother never thinks of getting rid of the children or husband irrespective of they are good or bad.

Because of these virtues in her the Vedas have offered great admiration and respect in their very beginning by quoting “Maatru devo bhava”. “Always hold mother as God”. This great respect is offered by the Vedas because woman is the mine of the most precious human-diamonds.

We have Mother Teresa, Mata Amritanandamayee who has great capacity to listen to people, cry for them, show them great love and care. We see the nature of mother in them. They are mother to the world because of their unconditional love.

WHAT IS HIGHER THAN THE HEAVENS?

The father is higher than the heavens. (Heaven is the place of happiness. The father is the head of the family, the figure that the family looks up to for the guidance in every way. Listening and following the guidance of the father, a man gets happiness here and now. The respect and love we carry for the parents will give us all higher things we seek in life here and now.

Man gives importance to the reality that actually is noticed by him. But woman is an image of cautiousness and pity. If these two temperaments of man and woman holding the above said virtues come together, the earth will become ‘vaikunta’ (the abode of Lord Vishnu)


CONCLUSION:

One comes out of delusion only by understanding the Vibhuthi of the Lord in everyone and in everything we see in our day to day life. Tenth chapter of Bhagavad Gita says that one who knows the Lord as beginningless, unborn and Lord of all worlds is undeluded (assamudah). It is not by taking man grows. It is only by giving man grows. Let us be the first persons to give love. Let us go beyond finding faults with others. Let us live the life of divinity and not the life of a dead man.

Every practice starts at home. If we cannot love and respect our parents, we cannot love people outside. All great spiritual knowledge and worldly degrees are useless if we don’t thank them for what they had given for us. They need our love and care especially at their old age. Everybody long for mother’s love because it is the purest and divine by itself. Bhagavad Gita says ‘yad yad acharathi shreshta tat tad eve taro janah’ which means whatever great people do, the others follow. Our parents have guided us in a great way. Similarly our actions will be followed by our children because for them we are great. Let us live in the line of dharma in every way.

HARI OM!