“My past has been so sinful. How can I possibly approach Krishna?” Such doubts may block us in our devotional journey.
Gita wisdom reassures us that Krishna focuses on our intentions for the future, not on our actions in the past. Using the journey metaphor, he focuses on where we want to go, not where we have been. He declares in his conclusive proclamation in the Bhagavad-gita (18.66) that he will free us from all our sinful reactions if we just surrender to him.
Of course, Krishna wants us to be pure, but first and foremost he wants us. However we may be, he wants us, because he loves us – always. We are all his beloved children who have been lost since time immemorial. We have become lost due to our ignorant quest for pleasure. This quest has misled us into increasingly degraded forms of enjoyment, thereby trapping us in a maze of sin.
Most spiritual processes require us to remove the taints of sin before we can approach spiritual reality. But bhakti-yoga being the path of grace involves Krishna coming to us to remove all our taints.
When we adopt other spiritual processes, we are like lost children trying to find a path back home. When we adopt bhakti-yoga, we are like lost children sending a SOS to their parent who being eager, even desperate, for reunion comes to their children.
Krishna focuses on our desire to reunite with him and, in proportion with that desire, he offers himself to us through his various merciful manifestations like the holy name, Deity and scripture. As he is supremely pure and supremely potent, devotional contact with him purifies us better than any other process, and reinstates us in an eternal life of love with him.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Text 66
"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."
Post by Chaitanya Charan Das
You need to be a member of ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT to add comments!
Comments