Hello and welcome to episode 57 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today I want to talk about God. Is he partial to a few people and cruel to others and what Krishna says about this?
Today’s question comes from Joy and she says “when I look around the world I see so many variations of god’s grace. Some are wealthy and some are very poor. Some are happily married and some fight every day. Some have so much to eat while others are starving. Some people live in mansions while others sleep on the streets. Is God partial to certain people? Is this Karma?”
As always Krishna has the answer to your question. I want to share a verse with you. Take a pen and write it down because you will refer to it again and again. “Towards all beings I am the same. I hate none nor hold anyone dear. Those who worship me with devotion live in me and I in them.”
The Baron Village
We’ll explain this in detail a little further on but for now I want to share a story with you. This story is set in a village in south India. This village was struck by a terrible famine. In this village there was a man who was very devout. He prayed a lot and would read the Bhagavad Gita every morning. His wife would scold him. She said there was so much work to be done and sitting reading was not helping at all.
At the time the man was reading a verse form the Bhagavad Gita that says that people who meditate exclusively on Krishna and who worship would be brought prosperity and security. He saw this and said it was not possible. That Krishna has many things to do than carry prosperity and security to every single person. He was very angry so he got a pen and put three scratches through the word carry and replaced it with the word grant. He said Krishna does not personally come and carry prosperity to each individual. He said that Krishna would grant prosperity through opportunity.
His wife was there and she challenged him on this. She said that Krishna does do this. She did not read all the verses but she was talking about her own experiences. She pointed out the many stories where Krishna directly carried prosperity to someone. Her husband disagreed again which led to quarrelling between them. Eventually the wife said that they should just leave it at that. She wanted him to go and ask for help because they had no food to eat.
He went out into the scorching heat. There was nothing around. The whole village was baron. At the same time the wife spoke to her idol of Krishna. She told him that she had her mind fixed on him and she believed that he would carry prosperity and security to them. She told Krishna that they really needed help at this time and so she asked him to carry security to her and her husband.
A beautiful voice
After a while a beautiful voice seemed to flow through the village. The voice seemed to come from miles away and it sounded like a boy singing. No one had ever heard anything like it. Everyone was very excited as it seemed like the voice was coming closer. The wife came out of the house and there she saw a blued eyed boy carrying a basket that was full of fruit. The boy approached the woman and told her to take the basket. The wife thought that maybe her husband had paid the boy to come so she asked. The boy said no, that he had been told to give it to her. He did not want any money.
Then she thought that maybe her husband had frightened the boy and he had come out of fear. Still the boy insisted that she take the basket. H left it at her feet and started to walk away. As she watched the boy walk away she noticed the long scratches across his back. The woman was shocked. She called to the boy but he ran away. She thought her husband had been cruel to the boy and wounded him.
The provider
She took the fruits inside and waited for her husband. When her retuned she was angry. She screamed at him and asked him how he could be so cruel to that poor boy. The husband looked at her and told her that the heat of the sun had made her mad. Her husband looked at the basket and fruit and a thought came to him. He went to his book and looked to where he had scratched three lines through the word carry. When he opened the page he realised the scratch marks had gone and the word carry was still there.
Krishna had come to show the husband that he was wrong. He had directly provided for them in their time of need. He took those scratch marks upon himself and offered them to the wife. When the wife realised what had happened she was overjoyed. Her husband finally accepted the truth that Krishna can and does carry prosperity and security to individual people.
Kill your ego
Krishna came because the wife had surrendered completely to him. She had killed her ego. When you kill your ego you will be able to come in contact with your consciousness. At that point all will become equal. Those other differences are due to karma and because people will not kill their ego.
In most of our daily life our mind is outside. When the mind is outside the ego is activated. The ego is your sattvic, rajasic and tamasic gunas. It’s all the characteristics of the body mind and intellect. When this happens you forget your consciousness and you’ll be restricted to what’s in your karma and what’s written in your script. You’ll fail to benefit from the full benevolence of your consciousness – the serenity, beauty joy appendance and prosperity.
Krishna says that we all have a dual nature. The first is our mind. When you put your mind out our ego is activated and it we operate to the mind, body and intellect. The second nature is our consciousness. We can choose to operate by putting our mind out or drawing in in towards the consciousness. Krishna says we should choose the latter. Keep your mind cantered on the consciousness.
The husband was knowledgeable but because his mind was out he had a strong ego. When you have an ego you cannot benefit from appendance. When your mind is inwards all your knowledge and skills will beautifully present themselves.
So even when you are in the worst of circumstances know that your ego is strong and that your mind is out. Even though there is pain on the outside you need to draw your mind to the inside. This will improve any situation because the true nature of the consciousness is bliss.
Give even when you have nothing
A poor man once asked Buddha why he was poor. Buddha says he was poor because he doesn’t give. The man explained that he doesn’t have anything to give. Buddha then said he was to work. Give his services. The man said he couldn’t work because he had no skills. Then Buddha said give your energy. Meditate and smile at people. Whenever you lack something you must give. Give even when you think you have nothing.
If people hurt you then forgive them. If your health is bad buy medicine for those who cannot afford it. If you think your home is not good enough then buy something for a homeless person. Discrepancies happen when the mind is outward. Give even when you think you have nothing to give. Giving will destroy your ego. When you give you will be rewarded with appendance.
I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.
