Slokam 10

The slokam describes beautifully the pastime of the Paramathma in herding the cows on the green pastures of Gokulam.  The accompaniment and merriment of the Gopas is really an enthralling experience for all the little ones.  It is a setting that we cannot even begin to imagine today.  From the age of 5, the average child begins the toil of life in the Kaliyuga,  only for the purpose of meeting the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter.  Under the direct guidance of the Paramathma, the entire human community lived a life that was perfectly attuned with mother nature.  There was no dearth of basic necessities.  There was greenery in abundance.  Everyone prayed to the supreme.  The scene was perfectly orchestrated by the Paramathma to invoke the joy of living from within.   There was no need for competition.  Everyone did their assigned daily duties without rancor or greed. 

However, even in such times, an idyllic existence was not permanent.  The asuras invariably disrupted daily life with their terrifying activity of enslaving and attempting to gain control of the life of the average family.  No one was spared from subjugation.  However, even then,  life does not seem to have been overpowered as it is today by misery, depression and defeat.  The common man in those days did not pursue material gain.  They seemed to have been living in the pursuit of high principles.  That is why even kings were able to walk out of their kingdoms onto forests after dropping all their illusory wealth and power.

Such an existence must have been devoid of illusion.  The kings did live a life of opulence and indulgence.  That was the basis of all conquest.  They also perpetuated the family rule.  None of this was really contested by the people.  The kings in turn were always working towards the welfare of their people.  The kings were restrained in the expansion of their power largely due to their inability to overcome the vast distances, natural diseases and absolute lack of communication.  In hind site, all the technologies that are available today seem to be more of a handicap and a burden rather than a blessing.  Technology has enslaved all of us. We are now playing games that go in circles and although we think we are making progress, we are in fact regressing.  This is the deception of Kali Yugam.

Many of the devices and technologies that we think we have developed to promote material well being and safety and security, are in fact an endless maze of layers and layers of pathways that lead to nowhere.  In fact the material journey that we have undertaken is a self deceptive one that keeps the mind engaged in delusionary traps.  Illusion definitely has a purpose. It is the primary tool of mental creativity. Everything in the material world begins as an illusion, develops into an idea, becomes a project involving multiple contributors and then transforms our material life into something better.  If the project does not succeed then we are back to square one. 

Whether the project is a success or not is not whether the effort transforms life.  The real success or otherwise of the attempt is in whether we underwent an inner transformation through a better understanding of the inner self.  A better understanding of the inner self, results in better control of the inner self and a better control of the inner self means that we will not be influenced by the twists and turns of life.  In fact when we attain a state of inner steadiness,  life will fall in line with our inner selves and will not create even a slight ripple of disturbance.

This is the only purpose of the material world through which Krishna Paramathma takes all of us for a walk on the banks of Kalindhi.