{"id":4504,"date":"2020-03-25T12:29:19","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T12:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/?p=4504"},"modified":"2022-07-05T15:50:58","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T10:20:58","slug":"coronavirus-and-the-cultivation-of-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/writings\/krishna-talk-articles\/swami-bv-giri\/coronavirus-and-the-cultivation-of-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus and the Cultivation of Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Recently, a devotee asked me, \u201cIs it possible to live in this material realm without fear.\u201d Fear is an inextricable factor within the material world, but at this particular time, people are specifically fearful of the threat of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Coronavirus is an insidious foe for the physical body due to its invisibility, as the symptoms do not manifest immediately. In many cases, an individual may be a carrier, but totally unaffected by the virus, but that person may spread the virus to others. Now, the news is dominated by this subject and the sickness of fear has infected everyone regardless of whether they have the virus or not.<\/p>\n

Fear is known in Sanskrit as bhaya<\/em> (from the root bhi<\/em>, \u2018to be anxious\u2019). Why do living beings feel fear? Fear stems from mental attachment – fear about our body, fear about losing material facilities, fear about relationships, fear about our reputation and what people think about us etc. All these fears are on the mental platform and only exist in our minds. A child fears the dark only because he or she doesn’t know what is lurking there…there is a fear of the unknown in their mind. Unknown means ignorance (avidy\u0101<\/em>). At present with the Coronavirus, people are fearful for a number of reasons \u2013 medical experts claim that there is no cure at this time, people do not know if they are infected or not, people are afraid of losing their jobs etc.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the greatest fear for the living entity is the fear of death (mahat-bhayam<\/em>). This fear is one of the five kle\u015bas<\/em> (miseries) that plagues the j\u012bva<\/em>. These five are avidy\u0101, asmit\u0101, r\u0101ga, dve\u015ba<\/em> and abhinive\u015ba<\/em> \u2013 ignorance, false identity with the material body, attachment to enjoyment, repulsion, and the fear of death. All these kle\u015bas<\/em> arise from \u2018secondary interests.\u2019 \u015ar\u012bla \u015aridhara Mah\u0101r\u0101ja says:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cBhayam dvit\u012by\u0101bhinave\u015bata\u1e25 sy\u0101d<\/em> \u2013 secondary interest. Common interest, one interest, if we can reduce many interests into one interest, then there is harmony \u2013 no fear. Fear is only from separate interest. There is a clash between separate interests. But if that can be linked to the common interest (K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a), then no fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness means differentiating between the ultimate interest of all j\u012bvas<\/em> (K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a) and secondary interests (our material desires), thus one sees things for what they are. There is no ‘unknown’. Yasmin vij\u00f1\u0101te sarvam eta\u1e41 vij\u00f1\u0101ta\u1e41 bhavati<\/em> \u2013 \u201cfor one who knows the supreme, there is nothing that is unknown.\u201d The Vi\u1e63\u1e47u-sahasran\u0101ma<\/em> states:<\/p>\n

na v\u0101sudeva bhakt\u0101n\u0101m \u0101\u015bubham vidyate kvacit
\njanma m\u1e5btyu jar\u0101 vy\u0101dhi bhayam naivopaj\u0101yate<\/em><\/p>\n

“Those who are devotees of V\u0101sudeva need not worry about any inauspicious occurrence at any time. They have no fear from transitions like birth, death, old age and disease.”<\/p>\n

In times like this, when there is an international crisis, it never ceases to amaze me how a certain class of devotee seems to revel in this sort of news. Any apocalyptic situation on the horizon and they leap into action on social media \u2013 they go into a \u2018cut and paste\u2019 frenzy, spreading a melange of fake news, half-fake news and real news, and share their opinions with one and all about how \u201cIt\u2019s all coming down!\u201d They paint a dark picture of a world where Coronavirus zombies stalk the living, a world where world governments (\u201cthose karmi<\/em> demons!\u201d) declare martial law to control the plebs and have actually created Coronavirus to kill off the weak. These devotees declare that we have to be ready! \u201cGet as much ammo, food and toilet-paper (???) you can lay your hands on! It\u2019s gonna be a rough ride!\u201d One would almost think they actually want<\/em> to see the world burn! Who knows, such fanatical fascination with this new virus may even give rise to a new cult \u2013 \u201cAll hail Corona Devi, the Imperceptible One, the Great Equaliser!\u201d<\/p>\n

In all seriousness though, the only result of all this fear-mongering is paranoia, confusion and misinformation.<\/p>\n

\u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da would often say that not a blade of grass moves without the Lord\u2019s sanction, and \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a confirms this in the G\u012bt\u0101<\/em>:<\/p>\n

may\u0101dhyak\u1e63e\u1e47a prak\u1e5bti\u1e25 s\u016byate sa-car\u0101caram
\n<\/em>hetun\u0101nena kaunteya jagad viparivartate<\/em><\/p>\n

“Under My command, material nature produces the universe with all its moving and non-moving beings. O son of Kunt\u012b, because of this the universe continually manifests.” (G\u012bt\u0101<\/em> 9.10)<\/p>\n

The atheist or non-devotee has no understanding that the hand of the Supreme is in everything. He cannot comprehend that material nature, under the Lord\u2019s direction, is dispensing karma<\/em>, both on an individual and a collective scale. One who is in ignorance feels nothing but fear and bewilderment because they think that this one life is the all-in-all. So if devotees are truly K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a conscious, why should they be in fear, and moreover, why should they cultivate fear in others?<\/p>\n

In times of calamity, it is the duty of a devotee to give real news and distribute knowledge \u2013 not about Coronavirus awareness, but of the real cure for all diseases.<\/p>\n

ida\u1e41 \u015bar\u012bra\u1e41 pari\u1e47\u0101ma-pe\u015bala\u1e41
\n<\/em>pataty ava\u015bya\u1e41 \u015bata-sandhi-jarjaram
\n<\/em>kim au\u015badha\u1e41 p\u1e5bcchasi m\u016b\u1e0dha durmate
\n<\/em>nir\u0101maya\u1e41 k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-ras\u0101yana\u1e41 piba<\/em><\/p>\n

“The beauty of this body is transitory, and eventually it ages and its hundreds of joints come apart. Therefore, O fool, why are you asking for a cure? Just take the pure nectar of \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a!” (Mukunda-m\u0101l\u0101 Stotram<\/em>)<\/p>\n

\u015bata sandhi jara jara tava ei kalevara
\n<\/em>patana haibe eka dina
\n<\/em>bhasma krimi bi\u1e63\u1e6dh\u0101 habe sakalera gh\u1e5b\u1e47ya tabe
\n<\/em>ih\u0101te mamat\u0101 arv\u0101c\u012bna
\n<\/em>ore mana! \u015buna mora e satya vacana
\n<\/em>e rogera mahau\u1e63adhi k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a n\u0101ma niravadhi
\n<\/em>nir\u0101maya k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a ras\u0101yana<\/em><\/p>\n

“Your body is tormented in hundreds of different ways and one day it will collapse. It will then become ashes or worm stool, and everyone will see how disgusting it really is. Therefore, it is unwise to be attached to this body. O mind! Hear my truthful words! For this material disease, K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s name is the most powerful medicine – drink the nectar of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a constantly.” (Bhaktivinoda \u1e6ch\u0101kura, Bhajana-rahasya<\/em> 3.3)<\/p>\n

So, in the meantime during your quarantine, chant the holy name, serve \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and the Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas, be smart, and stay safe!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Swami B.V. Giri discusses the recent outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus) and how the real disease that the conditioned j\u012bva cannot escape is that of fear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[113],"tags":[171,170],"krishna_talk_article":[213],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4504"},{"taxonomy":"krishna_talk_article","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/krishna_talk_article?post=4504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}