IMPORTANCE of
HUMAN BIRTH
Human birth is the most sacred one among the 84 lakhs (8.400.000) of
different beings of the Lord’s creation. To attain such a sacred birth, which
is difficult to get, is a great fortune indeed. Humans are endowed with mind,
intelligence, reasoning faculty and ego, whereas birds, beasts and other species
have mostly only Ahamkara. Only in human birth the way of Bhakti can be
followed. Only as man can the soul carve out its own path, in no other life can
it make this choice. The Devas (Gods) have lost this power and also the
inhabitants of infernal regions – both lost their independence. The former are
servants, the latter prisoners. Man
ruled by desires can never attain the
bliss of those who serve the Lord. He alone has the chance to liberate himself from
the wheel of birth and death by his love and servitude for God. The Shastras call human life invaluable.
Humans must look beyond the brief span of bodily existence to the salvation of
their souls, set foot on the path to God
before they are snared helplessly in the wide net of Samsara. At some time in
remote past we were thrown out of the heart of the universe, wandered far and
wide and collected in birth after birth filth and rubbish in the shape
of sins. Due to the Samskaras attained in previous lives the individual soul
gets a human birth. The Lord Himself is
the individual soul (Jivatma) in as much as He is the Great soul (Paramatma).
Only He is real, everything else Maya.
Lord Haranath said that man’s glory in life is that he is born of divine
parentage and by this right of inheritance he is entitled to the wealth of
Prema which is the exclusive property of
his Father, the Lord. Very unfortunate are those who ignore or deny their
eternal Father and thus disinherit
themselves from the only wealth worth achieving, PREMA .Man who is eternally
free, birthless, deathless, divine spirit has forgotten his real nature and
identifies himself with the mortal body. He forgot that all
things including his body belong to the Lord and have to be given back to Him.
There is absolutely nothing that can be called our own. Man’s purpose in life is to lose all sense of distinctive
personality and to be dissolved in the Lord like camphor in the fire. All
things are regulated according to the Lord’s wishes and will ever be so.
Everyone is moving according to the Lord’s command. Man is powerless, a mere
puppet, the strings are in Lord’s hands. We move as He makes us move, we dance
as He makes us dance. Nothing of this place is thine or mine, everything is of
that Supreme, kind Lord .Man suffers the consequences of his own Karma – good
or bad – as sown by him. Only by suffering can Karma be
expiated. The bodies, products of the seeds of our past deeds yield fruits in
shape of pleasure and pain. Why are we anxious for the body? It is not ours, it
belongs to the Lord. If you think Lord Haranath not of our own we will cause
Him pain; this He said.
All beings in this world – birds, beasts worms, insects have come to
play a part on the stage of the Lord who is the dearest to us. Each will pass
away in time when he has played through his part. All beings are watched by Him
with equal interest and each pleases Him with his performance and gets his reward
according to the part he plays. The Lord ever hears us from a place of
concealment, prompts us, when we forget, but never shows Himself, for then all
charm of the Lila will vanish. He is exceedingly delighted when we act our part
well. Various are the rewards that He heaps on us. For those who do not act well He engages tutors to coach them and appoints
them again in some good service. Our Lord wants that we should be
willing participants in His eternal drama of love and service. He has given
free will to everyone to choose between good and evil and waits till the Jiva turns to Him on
his own accord ( to see man’s predilection for Him). If any one should be
unable to bear the initial strain and pressure involved in the process of
purification and desires to leave Him and to proceed along the path of Maya He
feels sorely mortified and disappointed. If however he withstands the sufferings He chooses him as His instrument. Thakur exclaimed:”If you are
involved even in trivial troubles I become so miserable that all the four
quarters seem dark to me.”
The earth is a place of examination. However good a student may be he
cannot but flinch at the prospect of impending examination. Similarly, however
good a man may be, however dear he may be to the Lord, he cannot but be frightened
and embarrassed at times on coming to this place of trial or examination. When sorrows and
difficulties come, know that they come only after taking Lord’s permission.
Consider them as His gifts and take them humbly. Human life represents the
matriculation class, lower forms of life the primary, and lives in heaven the
college. As students decide on their future career according to personal
tendencies after passing the classes so is this time in life proper for beings
to decide on one’s goal in life – forward or backward. This is evolution. The
thing we came here to earn afresh is the adoration of the Lord. We neglected
that and passed our time in fretful attempts to grasp things which are already
our own. Those who aim at the right
life should mould their life according to the precepts of our Lord Kusuma Hara.We
are all His servants, sent by Him to do His biddings and play as He makes us play.
When we act only as an instrument or agent the ultimate responsibility of our
acts falls not on us but our principal, the Lord. Thakur Haranath said: “You are my own and have no
reason to be anxious. Remain dressed before your Lord as His own, love Him with
heart and soul. Depend on him, surrender totally as wife, love Him as your husband.
It is the husbands work to awaken love in His wife’s heart and mind. None but
He can do this, and it is His NAME, not knowledge of scriptures that teaches. Everything
is open to Him as he resides in the hearts of all. You are all beggars at my
door, go on begging. I will give you. Have full faith in Me. Dive deeper and
deeper into your husbands love, He,
being the original and only cause of this Universe. By loving Him we love all
beings and all things. To me all are equally near and dear. Whoever offers me
some love sees me standing at his door. The highest goal of human life is
anyhow to become enlisted in the family of the Lord, to become a member of His
Brindavan home and to get permission from Radha Rani to serve Him in Yugal. Flatter
Him. To take His Name day after day is to flatter Him for He lives in His
Name.”
The Lord is watching our movements at all times. When we totally
surrender we come under His influence and protection. Maya can no longer affect
us. As our love and faith in Him grows, as we surrender mind, ego, body
totally, the Lord will destroy our ego which separates us from Him.He stretches
out His hand to save those who are solely devoted to Him from their Karma. Lord
Haranath said: “You are each a limb of mine. I want you to remain supremely
pure. I may or may not be yours, you do make me yours. Those who seek to reach
the Lord by reason become lost in the wilderness, but those who solely depend
on His help to get through have no ordeal to face. Remain depending on Him,
look up to Him whether in trouble or not, like a child looking up to its mother.
When once I accepted you I will not leave you, even if you leave me. I am
always with you ,even if I leave this body. I shall be with you in life after
life. If you give me a drop of your love I shall give you an ocean of my love.
With every breath of mine I remember those who do not think of me.”
To
worship the Lord or to take His Name is not amongst the pre-ordained tasks.
This is turning the screw in the opposite direction and loosening of the
grip of destiny, turning the wheel of birth and death. Had not the
Lord Himself come down to us as incarnation of grace and mercy and made
us His own in supreme love we could never aspire for Brindavan. Our own work is
only to worship and love Him. Lord Haranath is a great savior of sinners,
constantly He took upon Himself the sins and diseases of others and suffered on
their behalf. Faith in the divine Name arises as result of penance and austerities, it is our own priceless treasure.
The more Name we take the nearer we come
to the Lord. The Lord’s Name alone will ever keep us joyful in the extreme.
Name once made our own, Lord Himself will be our
own. The Name will show the right path, nobody else needs to be asked for help.
Name is the light in darkness. Let us be
ever grateful for this priceless gem – His Name. A moments life with Kusum Hara’s Name on our lips is to
be valued more than a million years without it. One should never, even in the
midst of deepest distress, think of leaving the Lord’s Name.
The Lord said:” By repeating Name we will become
all holy and sanctify the entire creation.
Consider not this life as your own but protect it carefully as His. You
will realize after I pass away what potency lies in the Name Kusuma Haranath.His
Name alone will ever keep you joyful in the extreme. Name once made your own
the Lord Himself will be your own. The Name will show the right path. Nobody
else needs to be asked for help; Name is the light in darkness.
By Ruth Baur
By Ruth Baur
