Slokam 6

The people of Vraaja become greatly prosperous because of the presence of the Paramathma in their presence.  The slokam mentions that the prosperity directly emanated from Laksmi who is ever at the service of the Paramathma.

There is a shower of happiness and prosperity among the people of Vraja.  A series of innumerable auspicious events occur in Vraja.

Prosperity and happiness are the endowments of the Paramathma in our lives. So is good health and well being.  In the absence of the Paramatthma’s oversight, the asuras will occupy our residences and ruination will follow almost immediately.

When we invoke the Paramathma,  He will willingly take abode in our homes. As long as we maintain him with proper respect and offerings,  the Parmathma will willingly protect us from deterioration and destruction.

However, the Paramathma is not invoked with desire or with the intention of acquiring wealth.  The purpose of dedicating, ourselves and our families and also our homes is to clearly enable us to give ourselves upto Him without any reservations.  We have to be clear within ourselves that the Paramathma has nothing to gain by being in our homes. Like in the home of Nandagopa,  Sri Krishna will happily accept our offerings and ever be with us. 

One factor must be kept firmly in mind. If we invoke the Paraathma, and meditate upon him, we must be prepared to lead our lives very very strictly by his teachings.  The Paramathma does not tolerate double standards.  The dedication has to be absolute.  The effort to drop desire, attachments and sense pleasures must be ever on-going in His presence. There is no time off to indulge ourselves.

The people of Vraja are the epitomes of simplicity.  They live by the wealth of agriculture,  and entrust themselves to the service of the Paramathma.  Nandagopa spares no effort or expense in complying with the ritualistic requirements,  and compensate the brahmins, to invoke the endowments from Sriman Narayana.

It is not a surprise that the Paramathma chose Vraja as His home of upbringing.  Vraja is clearly a harmonious community with no acrimony or animosity.

When we pray to the other forms of the Paramathma,  we can live a “normal life” of pursuing our worldly desires (as long as it is lawful),  once we complete our daily prayers.  However when we are with the Paramathma it is very important that we dedicate our entire effort to attainment of the Paramathma’s feet. 

If by chance we pursue our material world ambitions, we will have to face up to the consequences of taking direct lessons from the Paramathma which can be hard to go through.

The reason for this is simple. The Paramathma is with us to enable us to transcend this world and take us to higher and higher levels.  If we consider devotion to Him as strengthening ourworldly ambitions, that would be a big mistake.  On the contrary,  it is quite likely that the devotion to Paramathma will mould our worldly experiences to guide us to the path of detachment.  As a knower of all our strengths and weaknesses the Paramathma knows exactly which lessons need to be administered and in what way.

The Paramthma does not appreciate pretentions. Even if we manage to suppress our desires,  and do not actually pursue worldly desires,  the Paramathma will not accept.  He will ensure that we completely eliminate our inner desires, and elevate us step by step to higher levels. 

May we ever dedicate our homes and families to  the care of the Paramathma.