I would like to teell you one anecdote

Once, Lord Krishna and Satyabhama were taking a morning walk. Suddenly, Bhamasa got curious about why Lord Krishna keeps on praising Arjuna. Why is it that you always speak his name? What has he got that you don't get tired of praising him? Arjuna may be a great warrior, but he does not need to be praised that much! Satyabhama felt that he is so close to Krishna that no one else should be as close to him. Lord Krishna only smiles back, without responding to his question. It so happens after a few days that Krishna and Satyabhama were sitting alone, whilst a few feet away, Arjuna was sleeping. But Arjuna's hair was scraping the floor. Krishna could not bear to see this, so he asks Satyabhama to go and lift his hair and put it on the bed. But he asks him to make sure Arjuna does not wake up.

Satyabhama goes and slowly lifts his hair and puts it on the bed. And suddenly, Satyabhama just freezes there for ten minutes. When he returns to Krishna, the Lord asks him the reason for his delay. Satyabhama exclaims that "Lord, your leela is unparalleled. Whilst I was lifting Arjuna's hair, I could hear the words 'Shri Krishna', 'Shri Krishna', 'Shri Krishna' in his hair. You are ever so present in my heart, but you are absorbed into every every cell of Arjuna's body. And now I understand why you talk about him and praise him so much."

When such a bhakti rises in the heart of a devotee, even God has to acknowledge and salute him. If you have the eyes, you can see God in a rock, and if you don't, even when God is in front of you, you will be oblivious to it. We should live such a life, and have such a devotion that a mahapurush will be compelled to remember you in his prayers. So what do we need to do to achieve such a life?

In the Kalpasutra, Bhagwan talks about five essential duties that one must perform during Payushan.

The first one is - Amaari Pravartana - Amaari = non-violence. Pravartana = to establish. To establish a non-violence attitude in your thought, actions, deeds and words. History is a witness that most wars that have been fought in the name of dharma have sacrificed more innocent lives than atheists have ever done. Swamiji implores that everyone should teach their children at least to eat vegetarian food, if nothing else. He defines vegetarianism, according to Jain dharma, as "no meat, no sea food, no eggs." - adopt a principle of non-violence in food as well. He also requests everyone to visit the website www.meat.org - a website that will be an eye opener for all those that eat meat.

Think about this - all animals that are peaceful and useful to society are all vegetarian; Elephants, horses, cows. All that are dangerous are non-vegetarian; Lions, tigers, cheetahs. All vegetarian animals drink water with their mouth. All non-vegetarian animals drink with their tongue. By human nature, we are meant to be vegetarians. We also have a large intestine which is designed for a vegetarian diet.

According to Jain dharma, one should not eat stale food, or left over food. All food that is left over creates a breeding ground for small organisms and life forms. All food that one eats should be saatvik and cooked fresh. This creates positive vibrations and energy in your body. When cooking, one should listen to spiritual music or stavans to create positive energy. This is all part of developing an "amaari" attitude in one's life.

A big aspect of "amaari pravartana" is Jeev Daya. The foundation of Jain dharma is jeev daya. Jain dharma states that if you feed grass to a cow, all your unfavourable planets become favourable for you. If you feed the birds, your family experiences more happiness and bliss. If you feed "rotla" to a dog, your enemies look favourably on you. If you feed flour to ants under a tree, all your debts start to clear off. If you help any fellow human being, your wealth and fortune increases. These are various aspects of jeev daya mentioned in Jain dharma; whilst difficult to establish according to scientific facts, there is still a deep science and spiritual connection behind it.

July 1, 2019