Looking for greener pastures, many Indians left their homes and migrated to other countries. Even young men and women from traditional conservative families ventured out of their insulated nests with an aim to acquire more knowledge and skills yet with a firm belief that their roots will hold them tight and not give any scope for aberrations. They went with the idea of having the best of both worlds. The best of the material world with its promise of more wealth, fame and fortune; and the ‘other’ world that was already deeply embedded in themselves in the form of traditions, practices and faith in the divine. Apparently the balance was not so easy. Getting the best of both worlds mostly meant compromising on many aspects of this ‘other’ world since it was invisible to others. What practices we followed at home, what religious rituals we identified ourselves with, what food we ate at home and what prayers we chanted, everything was a private affair. What we did or what we did not, did not really matter outside.
In the quest of getting the best of both worlds the ‘private’ inner world is mostly compromised. When Srila Prabhupada went to America he did the opposite. At the age of 69 when he decided to spread the Krishna consciousness movement throughout the world he sacrificed his ‘comfortable’ life in Vrindavan; the best life that any sannyasi can ask for. The respectful, peaceful and spiritually surcharged life in Vrindavan was a huge sacrifice in itself what to speak of the risk that he took upon his own health to travel to a country that was thousands of kilometres away; the distance was not just physical but there was colossal gap in the social and cultural ethos as well. But Srila Prabhupada truly discerned the best from the two worlds and helped many others to do that. The philosophy of yukta vairagya or engaging everything in the service of the divine, specifically in the service of the supreme lord Sri Krishna, was clearly explained by Srila Rupa Goswami in his Nectar of Devotion (Bhaktiramritasindhu). Srila Prabhupada practically applied this philosophy and exemplified the meaning of true renunciation when he utilized all the facilities provided in the materially prosperous United States in the service of Lord Krishna and His devotees. Yet he did not compromise anything in his sacrosanct world of spiritual practices rooted in the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy. In fact, it was this world of his that made sense of the outside world. This was indeed the best world in the truest sense since it works on the higher principles of selfless love, respect and empathy.
Srila Prabhupada belonged to this best world and being situated there he took the best from all the other worlds and gave it to us. So how can we have the best of both the worlds? By following the same route; situate ourselves firmly on the spiritual plane through our consciousness and take whatever is best available in this material world. As Srila Prabhupada would often put it ‘make the best use of a bad bargain’! Recognizing which among the two worlds is really ‘best’ is the key to get the best of both the worlds. Because most of us get it wrong and prioritize the material world, we end up losing both. In our chase for the best of material comforts we slip off the spiritual plane and sure enough settle down for some hotchpotch, precarious mid ground where the roots are wavering and branches are stalled. Srila Prabhupada explained and exemplified this principle of yukta vairagya. Giving the analogy of a blind and a lame man, he spoke of how some people are endowed with many material facilities but none to progress spiritually. A blind man can carry the lame man on his shoulders and the lame man can direct the blind man, he said. The spiritually blind have to be directed by the spiritually elevated saints who may be lame in the sense of the material facilities. Best of both worlds!
When little Dhruva, angered by his father’s neglect, went seeking for unprecedented wealth, he was looking only at that world, the material world and its promises. Fortunately for him both his mother and most importantly sage Narada helped him ‘see’ the other world. And when he finally did see the four-handed supreme lord Himself, he felt guilty and stupid for having asked something quite insignificant in comparison. Eventually Dhruva indeed got the best of both worlds; he understood what was truly more significant or ‘best’. When Vibheeshana left his powerful brother and king Ravana, he already knew that he was entering the best world and very soon he got the best of both worlds when he was crowned as the king of Sri Lanka upon the death Ravana.
Certainly the material world and its comforts are alluring and the path of bhakti that defines our inner world feels very challenging and tedious. But to choose one over the other may leave us in a lurch; confused and disoriented. There will surely be many dissuading us from taking our spiritual path seriously, screaming for attention and convincing us how the austere spiritual life is not worth it all. This reminds me of a beautiful song written saint Gopala Dasa who belongs to the Madhva sampradaya or tradition where he is addressing Goddess Lakshmi and asking her whatever made her marry Vasudeva or Lord Krishna!
Gopala Dasa, in a song using the poetic device called as ninda stuti, that employs mockery or sarcasm to glorify the Lord prays to mother Lakshmi as follows:
My dear mother Lakshmi, why did you marry Vasudeva? Knowingly you seem to have overlooked all his faults, as He assumes numerous forms!
Your personality is divine, with the fragrance of a lotus, delicate body and an enchanting face and He, Vasudeva assumes the form of a foul smelling fish (Lord Matsya) and a rough body of a boar (Lord Varaha)! Your form is so pleasing whereas He assumes extremely fearful form (Lord Narasimha). You generously give yourself to others whereas He begs for alms (Lord Vamana)!
O’ Mother Lakshmi, why did you marry Vasudeva?
You have an eternally blissful place to reside whereas He wanders in the forest (Lord Rama)! You are highly respected as the most chaste but He desires to enjoy with several women (Lord Krishna). Whosoever hears about Him doesn’t want to do anything with this material world, seeing His deity they give up all worldly wealth! Further, those who go to His abode don’t ever come back!
O’ Mother Lakshmi, why did you marry Vasudeva?
Your character is spotless and extremely courteous whereas He is very fond of fighting (Kalki, Parashurama) and has no clue of His parentage (Krishna). His relatives are all materially impoverished and yet He lays on a banyan leaf sucking His toe!
O’ Mother Lakshmi, why did you marry Vasudeva?
He does not depend on anything on anyone for His pleasure (atmarama). He needs neither sleep nor food nor has any permanent residence (He stays wherever devotees sing His glories)! By making a palatial abode for you in His heart, that magician has deceived you.
O’ Mother Lakshmi, why did you marry Vasudeva?
Lord, His abode, His devotees and everything in relationship with Him is the best world. Mother Lakshmi knows what is the best choice to make. She chooses the Lord despite all of His apparent ‘faults’. We on the other hand choose everything else but Him completely forgetting that best of both the worlds presented before us is a possibility only when we understand which among the two is really best. Now the huge Indian diaspora in other countries have taken shelter of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) founded by Srila Prabhupada and indeed they have got an opportunity to actually get the best of both worlds. All of us, for that matter, irrespective of where we live have the same opportunity.
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