---: Spiritual Investment: ---- Hare Krishna all devotees, Please accept my dandavat pranams. All glories to Lord JAGANNATH and Sri Chaitanya . Making financial investments is a crucial requirement nowadays for everyone considering the unsteady economic conditions now. We try to invest our money in bank, in the form of saving certificates, insurance or pension policies. Insurance policies are meant to provide financial assistance to our families after we die/after policy maturity. Also we invest in houses/real estate so that our dependants can enjoy these assets even after we leave this world/ make use of the asset for their living. But unfortunately, there is no investment/insurance scheme offered by banks or insurance companies, which will accompany us after we die. The scriptures point out the spiritual investment we can make in this connection and this investment will protect us even after death. In the Mahabharata, Vidura instructs Dhrtarashtra about handing over the kingdom back to the Pandavas. Their conversation lasted for an entire night and this is popularly known as Vidura Niti. In this section, Mahatma Vidura explains how one should perform activities in this world in the following sloka in Mahabharata Udyoga Parva. divasenaiva tat kuryaad yena raatrau sukham vaset ashta maasena tat kuryaad yena varshaah sukham vaset purve vayasi tat kuryaad yena vriddhasukham vaset , yaavat jivena tat kuryaad yena pretya sukham vaset. Do those activities during the day, which will make you to pass the night in happiness; and do those activities during eight months of the year, which will enable you to pass the rainy season happily. Do those activities during youth which will ensure a happy old age; and do those activities during your life in this world, which will enable you to achieve eternal life after death. There is an interesting story in this regard. A beggar entered into a foreign country (island) where he was resting under a tree. The people of the island were looking for a person to be their king. The priests in the island arranged for an elephant in the temple to carry a garland and whoever is garlanded by the elephant would be the king. The elephant chose the beggar and garlanded him and he became the king. He was quiet happy to see the opulent palaces with all arrangements for nice arrangements and everyone at his beck and call. At that time an old man came to him and said, See young man, the rule of this island is that you can be the king here only for 5 years. After this, the people will send you to an unmanned island which is far from here. This same fate happened to all kings who were selected before you. So all of the enjoyment you have here is temporary. The king became shocked and enquired, “What happened to those kings who were sent to that island?. The old man replied, There is lot of wild animals in that island. So they might have killed them. Same will be your fate after 5 years. The king was scared and asked the old man what to do. The old man said, Please rule the kingdom to the best of your ability and at the same time start doing developments in that island where you will be sent after 5 years. In these 5 years the people will listen to you and carry out whatever you say. Please utilize it. Ensure that the island is a perfect place to live by that time. I instructed the same thing to the previous kings. No one listened to me and they wailed away the 5 years enjoying the kingly life. At least you don’t repeat that mistake. The king took this instruction seriously and he first sent a batch of soldiers to clear out the forest area and fence it. Then in the second year he sent workers to the island to construct a beautiful township with all facilities. Then in the next year he sent farmers to create fields and growing crops. In the next year he sent a good number of people to live there. In this way he was making constant developments in the unmanned island. As expected, the people expelled the king and send him to the unmanned island. But by this time, the island was a beautiful township and many people were waiting to receive him. The king just landed their and started his new life happily thanks to the old mans advice. In this story we can see that the king utilized his temporary tenure very wisely under the guidance of the old man. In the same way after attaining the human form of life, one should make this spiritual investment under the guidance of the pure devotees of the Lord, since the human body with all the senses and faculty of advanced intelligence is very suitable for God realization. When theyre in good working condition if we engage them in devotional service, we can accrue permanent spiritual assets which can take us back to the Lords eternal abode. Sometimes, the investment we make in financial market may not give us the expected result. The stock market may crash or the money we get from our investments may be lost in medical treatment if we get a terminal disease. However there is no loss or diminution of investment in this spiritual endeavor as the Lord personally takes care of our spiritual advancement as stated in the Bhagavad Gita (2.40). nehaabhikrama nasho’sti / pratyavaayo na vidyate svalpam apyasya dharmasya / traayate mahato bhayaat In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear. Sree Chaytanya explains in the purport with very encouraging words about making spiritual investment in human life as follows: Activity in Krishna consciousness, or acting for the benefit of Krishna without expectation of sense gratification, is the highest transcendental quality of work. Even a small beginning of such activity finds no impediment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage. Any work begun on the material plane has to be completed; otherwise the whole attempt becomes a failure. But any work begun in Krishna consciousness has a permanent effect, even though not finished. The performer of such work is therefore not at a loss even if his work in Krishna consciousness is incomplete. One percent done in Krishna consciousness bears permanent results, so that the next beginning is from the point of two percent, whereas in material activity without a hundred percent success there is no profit... Material activities and their results end with the body. But work in Krishna consciousness carries a person again to Krishna consciousness, even after the loss of the body. At least one is sure to have a chance in the next life of being born again as a human being, either in the family of a great cultured brahmana or in a rich aristocratic family that will give one a further chance for elevation. That is the unique quality of work done in Krishna consciousness. I pray at the lotus feet of our beloved Gurudeva, Lord JAGANNATH and my Father ,Mother so that I will become enthusiastic in making this spiritual investment. Yours in the service of Lord JAGANNATH and devotees, Advocate, Jagannath Singhari Odisha,PURI
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 11:34:07 +0000
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