Gītāmṛtam – The Nectar of Bhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 2.40

नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते ।
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ॥

nehābhikrama nāśo’sti pratyavāyo na vidyate
svalpam apyasya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt

There is no loss, nor is there any diminution of result in performing this dharma. Even the slightest effort saves one from the greatest fear.

Illumination

Temporary happiness comes automatically. We do not want any misery but still it comes. Pleasure also comes automatically. In course of time it is so set. We do not want pain, still pain comes. We may not want happiness, still happiness will come. The law of life is wandering in such a way, up and down, pleasure and pain.

tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido
na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ
tal labhyate duḥkhavad anyataḥ sukhaṁ
kālena sarvatra gabhīra-raṁhasā

One who is learned should only endeavour for that purpose which cannot be achieved by wandering from the top of the universe to the bottom of it. As with distress, mundane happiness is also acquired in all circumstances, without any endeavour due to the law of karma through the subtle force of time. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.18)

So we must not care for pleasure or mundane happiness. We must take a risk. We must take a leap. Take advantage of sādhu-saṅga! Our Guru Mahārāja (Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura) established centres for sādhu-saṅga and śāstra, which are necessary for a devotee to take him towards the highest goal. Without sādhu-saṅga and sādhu-sevā, one cannot go there, so he created so many places. What he did was revolutionary. When people cannot earn freedom of the country in a constitutional method, they take the revolutionary path. They are prepared to incur loss, a risk – still they want to go towards the goal of freedom. He made such arrangements and called everyone to join, “Come! Whatever little you can acquire there, that is incomparable with any acquisition of this mundane world.”

For sādhu-saṅga and for the advantage of so much facility, we must take a risk. And for whatever period of time we can utilise, that is of infinite value. It will fetch something, some coin of infinite character, and this mundane flickering is to be killed. It is nothing! No risk, no gain! I am getting sādhu-­saṅga. Wherever I am getting cultivation about the Lord and knowledge of the scriptures, then I must run towards that. But like a child learning to walk, there may be one or two falls. Sometimes one will fall down, but if one does not take the risk of walking for fear of falling down, one will never learn how to walk. So take some risk, and if you fall down and get some pain in the limbs, it cannot be avoided. Don’t be afraid of that. Whatever you will do is a very high and valuable thing. That cannot be had here and there. Don’t lose that chance simply for name, fame, and a peaceful life. By observing the model rules, we hope to get a happy, favourable position in the course of going up and down, but we will get nothing by maintaining that position. We must take a risk.

tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujaṁ harer
bhajan na pakvo’tha patet tata yadi
yatra kva vābhadram abhūdamuṣya kiṁ
ko vārtha āpto’bhajatāṁ svadharmataḥ

One who has forsaken his material occupations to engage in the devotional service of the Lord may sometimes fall down while in an immature stage, yet there is no danger of his being unsuccessful. On the other hand, a non-­devotee, though fully engaged in occupational duties, does not gain anything. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.17)

Millions of times, from infinite time immemorial, I am moving, going up and down. What is the benefit of maintaining a position in that sort of cycle? We must take a leap and come out of that circle. If one tries to come out of this vicious circle by taking an ambitious step, and in consideration of the improvement of the illusory, he holds some contemptible position, it does not matter. What little he has earned, that is the real thing and that will help him. This going up and down for eternal time has got no value at all.

Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa, “If anyone dies before attaining full-realisation (siddhi), then are the things he acquired lost?”

Then the Lord said, “No, whatever you have acquired, that will be kept. Again, in the next birth, that will come to help you. Whatever has been acquired is eternal – it cannot be destroyed.” Kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (‘O son of Kuntī, declare it that My devotee never perishes.’ Gītā 9.31). The assurance is given by Kṛṣṇa – “Even if he has come to Me only for the time being, he has taken some medicine before leaving, so ultimately he must come back to Me again.”

Following Mahāprabhu’s advice to help others, it may be found in rare cases that the doctor approaches with a good heart to cure the patient, but he himself dies. It is also not impossible, but it is not desirable. When one organises a party for relief-work, some soldiers may be sacrificed before obtaining victory. The victorious party will also have to incur some loss when fighting with the enemy. Similarly, in the mission, some soldiers may be asked to approach rich men and women, therefore some may be lost. But their loss will be for the time being, and again they will come back. We expect them to come back again because once someone has a taste, he will not be able to forget that.

Similarly, if one who has given up his householder life takes sannyāsa, but could not keep up that life of continuous kṛṣṇa-bhakti and guru-bhakti, and falls down and again comes to take a wife – whatever he did in those few days is nirguṇa (transcendental). But in the consideration of society, a man who took sannyāsa but could not keep it up, is rejected, “Oh, he is a vāntāśī (one who eats his own vomit) – he is fallen! He went to fulfil his ambition, but he could not keep the purity of life, so he should be avoided.” But that has no meaning in this space. What he has done, to take the risk by service of this quality, can save him from a great dreadful future. That is not to be compared to any loss or gain of this world. That is different from the gain of this mundane world. That is nirguṇa and will remain permanent. A little bit of that higher thing will help him greatly in the journey of his eternal life. The physical and mental is a non-important phase of life, but the wealth acquired in the area of the soul – that is all-important. The taste of the highest quality of such things, a small portion is enough and will fulfil our highest purpose of life. The least connection with that has inestimable gain. It won’t leave you! For the time being it may be suppressed a little, but it cannot be finished. It is of an eternal character. It has connection with the eternal aspect of the universe. It is apratihatā (unchecked). We are to come near such a sort of existence. We are to come in connection with that plane of life. It is there; only we are to have our connection with it. If we have come in connection with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, our prospect is guaranteed, and it is only a question of time and different stages that we must pass through. Faith will help us to come out with flying colours under any eventuality. In this infinite universe, only faith in Him can save us. The highest intelligence will only take us to that sort of understanding.