Two Differences Between Absolute And Relative Truths

“Brahma, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.33)

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अहम् एवासम् एवाग्रे
नान्यद् यत् सद्-असत् परम्
पश्चाद् अहं यद् एतच् च
यो ऽवशिष्येत सो ऽस्म्य् अहम्

aham evāsam evāgre
nānyad yat sad-asat param
paścād ahaṁ yad etac ca
yo ‘vaśiṣyeta so ‘smy aham

The skeptic will say that there is no universal truth. Even something as basic as the claim of the sky being blue can be challenged:

“Well, that is according to your opinion. I understand that the majority is on your side, that hardly anyone will challenge the assertion. But according to my vision, the sky is a different color. Who are you to prove me wrong? How can my sentiment be incorrect? It is how I view things. What is food for one person is poison for another.”

The Vedas present a concept known as Absolute Truth. The Sanskrit word is tattva. Brahman is what describes the concept as a whole, as it applies to everything. The differences between the kinds of truths are not difficult to understand.

1. Relative truth is based on conditions

There really is no equivalent word for religion in Vedic culture. This is because the idea of sole reliance on faith is based on a lack of knowledge. The word Veda means knowledge, and so the aim of the culture is to understand the higher concepts through intellect, with the application of reasoning, logic and humble and submissive inquiries.

Dharma is the closest match to religion, but it also has different meanings based on context. In terms of occupational duty, dharma becomes conditional, i.e. relative. The dharma for a person with the qualities of a shudra is different than that for a person who exhibits leadership and fearlessness in protecting the innocent.

The distinction with a relative truth is that there is invalidation once the supporting condition gets removed. In simpler terms, when a person is no longer in the laborer occupation, the dharma they previously had no longer applies to them. This means that the truth was never absolute.

The material world is full of such relative conditions. The mistaken assumption is that the relative can be made permanent, that the conditional will remain unchanged forever into the future. This is not so, and therefore relative truths bring endless argument and debate. One side pitted against the other, attempting to do the impossible: have their opinion apply universally.

2. The Absolute Truth is not based on conditions

This is a simple and easy way to understand God. He is the lone truth, principle, concept, idea or what have you which is not based on conditions. He is the same regardless of how the manifest world looks at a certain point in time.

The three primary time periods for analysis are beginning, middle and end. Bhagavan, which is one further descriptive term for the Absolute Truth, is there at the beginning. Before any living beings inhabit the world, prior to the existence of planets, stars, trees, earth, mountains, and rivers, the Supreme Lord is fixed in His position of dominance and supremacy.

He is the constant factor within the period of existence. The witness is everywhere through the expansion known as Supersoul. He is also there at the end, a fact supported through the testimony of saints like Markandeya Rishi.

स त्वं भृतो मे जठरेण नाथ
कथं नु यस्योदर एतद् आसीत्
विश्वं युगान्ते वट-पत्र एकः
शेते स्म माया-शिशुर् अङ्घ्रि-पानः

sa tvaṁ bhṛto me jaṭhareṇa nātha
kathaṁ nu yasyodara etad āsīt
viśvaṁ yugānte vaṭa-patra ekaḥ
śete sma māyā-śiśur aṅghri-pānaḥ

“As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, You have taken birth from my abdomen. O my Lord, how is that possible for the supreme one, who has in His belly all the cosmic manifestation? The answer is that it is possible, for at the end of the millennium You lie down on a leaf of a banyan tree, and just like a small baby, You lick the toe of Your lotus foot.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.33.4)

In the Shrimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavan explains that He is beyond these time periods, as well. After all, past, present and future represent conditions. They are relative both in the sense of the entire timeline of creation and also at the individual level. When I was not married, my future involved family life. To my child, that same time period was the past.

The Absolute Truth is the same regardless of condition, and in truth the living entity is the same way. At the defining level they are a pure spirit soul, not tainted by conditions involved in material existence. Due to the influence of ignorance they have lost their way, succumbing to depression, madness and feverish pursuit while experiencing something like a dream.

The representative of the Absolute Truth brings the necessary knowledge to awaken the dormant tendency towards Divine life, which is always eternal. That spirit can be awakened today through something as basic as the chanting of the holy names, which are identical to the Absolute Truth: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Over petty issue endless debate,

Each side their position to restate.

Whereas the condition relative in dependency,

Changing through temporary residency.

Absolute Truth concept Vedas giving,

Ideal match for soul eternal living.

He beyond the periods of time,

In every situation to find.

Three Purposes Served By The Hiranyakashipu Story

“Until the return of our spiritual master, Shukracharya, arrest this child with the ropes of Varuna so that he will not flee in fear. In any case, by the time he is somewhat grown up and has assimilated our instructions or served our spiritual master, he will change in his intelligence. Thus there need be no cause for anxiety.” (Shanda and Amarka speaking to Hiranyakashipu, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.50)

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इमं तु पाशैर् वरुणस्य बद्ध्वा
निधेहि भीतो न पलायते यथा
बुद्धिश् च पुंसो वयसार्य-सेवया
यावद् गुरुर् भार्गव आगमिष्यति

imaṁ tu pāśair varuṇasya baddhvā
nidhehi bhīto na palāyate yathā
buddhiś ca puṁso vayasārya-sevayā
yāvad gurur bhārgava āgamiṣyati

Vedic literature is for lifting up every type of person. Wherever they may be in life, however much money they have, whatever they are longing for, to whichever depths they have fallen or heights to where they have reached, every historical account presented in the spotless Sanskrit language serves multiple purposes in education.

The Hiranyakashipu affair is no different, as he made a significant impact through his ascent to world domination and subsequent persecution of the saintly son named Prahlada. There are aspects to which every kind of person can relate, whether young or old, rich or poor, famous or barely known to the outside world.

1. Humiliate a person who rose to the top on the strength of gifts provided by others

Who isn’t interested in rising to the top? There is the adage in business that if you are not growing, you are not going. A steady profit is insufficient for analysis. How does this past quarter’s performance compare with last year at the same time? What are the trends?

You can be successful in business, with a popular product line, when suddenly things take a dive. Technology renders your industry obsolete. Tastes change. The newer generation does not hold steady to the patterns of their parents.

With Hiranyakashipu, we see that a person is vulnerable to humiliation even after they have reached the highest mountain, so to speak. No one was above the leader of the Daityas; at least in the material sense.

Yet the king forgot from where his powers came. He had won the favor of Lord Brahma, the creator. On the strength of boons provided in exchange for worship, Hiranyakashipu became almost invincible. He had no reason to feel excessive pride, yet that could not be curbed. He could have easily remembered the past, the time when he wasn’t as powerful.

The humiliation came in the form of a quick descent, all the way to the bottom. He lost everything, and it was entirely his fault. There was vulnerability from the beginning, and the pious son named Prahlada tried his best to guide the father in the right direction.

2. Highlight the glories of a perseverant, obstinate and completely sinless child

It is etiquette to respect the elders. Especially within a household, the children should be obedient and submissive to the parents. There is the obvious angle of vision which sees into the future, that the children will one day be parents of their own and hope for the same kind of respect.

There is also the knowledge-aspect, wherein the child realizes that the parents are completely responsible for safety and wellbeing. The child does not know about deadlines at the office or searching desperately for a better material condition, to have enough money to meet life’s necessities. Everything is in the care of the elders, who are thus essential for life to continue.

Prahlada was respectful, but obstinate in some ways. In Hiranyakashipu’s kingdom, worship of Vishnu was forbidden. No exceptions, not even for one of the sons of the king. Prahlada could not be dissuaded, however.

The story of his exchange with the Daitya father highlights the glories of the saints of the Vaishnava tradition, who have truly abandoned every other interest in life in favor of bhakti. That devotion is pure, and it cannot be squashed, regardless of how much force an opponent may apply.

3. Relive a period in time when once again the Daitya class failed at their objective of eternal world domination

The gods and the demons. The good guys and the bad guys. Saintly versus sinful. The struggle dates back to the beginning of the creation, and as much as it may seem that the nonbelievers advance more often than not, they actually fail in their objective.

They wish to become immortal, in the way they define it. Remain in their present situation, tied to the exact same body. They fail due to the existence of time, but somehow they feel they can evade the undefeated force of nature on the next attempt around.

In Hiranyakashipu’s case, the failure was remarkable due to the size of the opponent. At five years old, the weaponless Prahlada could not do anything to alter the life of the Daityas. He was not a threat, and yet through his devotion he took down the most powerful ruler.

The same attempt will be made countless times in the future, yielding an identical result. The devotion of the devotees is never destroyed, and so it is not surprising that Prahlada succeeded, supported as he was by Narasimha.

In Closing:

Saints in Prahlada’s triumph delighting,

Story failure of Daityas highlighting.

Where since the beginning of time,

The same end result to find.

That impossible in body to stay,

Caught in time’s destructive way.

Whereas devotees by Narasimha supported,

Many cases by Vedas reported.

Is It Necessary To Study All Religions

“This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.2)

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राज-विद्या राज-गुह्यं
पवित्रम् इदम् उत्तमम्
प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं
सु-सुखं कर्तुम् अव्ययम्

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ
su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam

Friend1: Let’s take this situation. Pretend that I like Vedic culture. Bhagavad-gita, Shrimad Bhagavatam, Ramayana – awesome books. Really mean that. I get more satisfaction from reading a single verse than I do from adjusting my material condition times ten.

Friend2: What do you mean by adjusting?

Friend1: Solving problems. Fixing the car that is not working. Finding a higher paying job. Moving to a bigger apartment. Changing the light bulb in the ceiling. Completing that difficult coding project at the office.

Friend2: Okay.

Friend1: Immersion in the Vedic culture is certainly a higher experience. It is a superior taste, as described by Shri Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita:

विषया विनिवर्तन्ते
निराहारस्य देहिनः
रस-वर्जं रसो ऽप्य् अस्य
परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते

viṣayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ‘py asya
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

“The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.59)

Friend2: Well, that is the whole point. This is not merely another attraction in the tourist exhibit known as the material world.

Friend1: For a person in this situation, is it necessary to try other faiths? Should I make an experiment of other religions and see if the experience is similar?

Friend2: The first point of contention is this notion of “religion.” Dharma means something a little different, but I won’t go into an extended lecture. I understand what you are trying to say.

Friend1: Another religion, as it is defined in general conversation.

Friend2: Right.

Friend1: You hear people make this argument.

“I want to understand everything before I make a firm decision. Let me see what others have to say.”

Friend2: A wise person does understand every point of view. A truly cultured individual, a gentleman, if you will, makes a decision after applying rational thought, which automatically includes a willingness to have their mind changed.

Friend1: To be persuaded in a different direction. Open-mindedness.

Friend2: What I would ask you to consider is the case of an ill patient visiting a doctor.

Friend1: Okay.

Friend2: Say there are many physicians within a particular community. Is it necessary for the patient to visit every single one of them?

Friend1: You mean to get an assessment on the illness?

Friend2: Yes.

Friend1: Okay, that would be silly.

Friend2: Why?

Friend1: Because who has the time or the money to do that?

Friend2: Pretend that there are sufficient resources. Is it still a bad idea?

Friend1: Yes, because it could only take one doctor. Find the cure. Become healed. If I call a repairman to fix my broken dishwasher, once the task is done I no longer need to call other people.

Friend2: Precisely.

Friend1: Are you saying that once I find true satisfaction in a spiritual culture, there is no need to venture elsewhere?

Friend2: A hungry man knows when he has eaten to satisfaction. He does not need another slice of pizza to be truly certain.

Friend1: Okay, but what if I am curious about the other experiences? Maybe I am not really happy. Perhaps there is a higher level to reach?

Friend2: That is a valid argument, but one book like the Shrimad Bhagavatam saves you so much time. Every single philosophy ever invented or put forward is presented. It is not like the Vedas insist on blind faith. Apply your intellect. Bring every doubt to the table. If the books don’t answer your questions after a thorough reading or two, the representative is there to settle doubts. The genuine saintly person will not toss your questions aside as too difficult to answer.

Friend1: I see.

Friend2: Go ahead and see for yourself, if you want, but you will only find incompleteness. Anything not rooted in the Vedas will be deficient to a certain degree. Better to know God in full, through the king of education presented to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

In Closing:

On final place settling before,

Thorough review understanding for.

Idea that from every religion take,

And then wise decision make.

But by Vedic literature already done,

Included all philosophies and those to come.

King of education to Arjuna gave,

Words of Krishna this world to save.

Is The Goal Of Our Existence To Find Peace

“One who is not in transcendental consciousness can have neither a controlled mind nor steady intelligence, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.66)

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नास्ति बुद्धिर् अयुक्तस्य
न चायुक्तस्य भावना
न चाभावयतः शान्तिर्
अशान्तस्य कुतः सुखम्

nāsti buddhir ayuktasya
na cāyuktasya bhāvanā
na cābhāvayataḥ śāntir
aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham

Friend1: This comes across as one of the most common answers from beauty pageant contestants.

Friend2: What is the question? And are we playing Family Feud?

Friend1: Something along the lines of what is hoped for, what is the goal you would like to achieve.

Friend2: Ah, yes.

Friend1: World peace.

Friend2: For sure. How could you be against that? Imagine saying:

“Nah. I’d rather have world conflict. Fighting where I live and also abroad. War is good.”

Friend1: It is the safe answer, no doubt. Children may express a similar desire. Stepping back for a moment, should that actually be a goal?

Friend2: What is the scope? World peace or internal peace?

Friend1: Peace, in general. Is that the purpose of an existence?

Friend2: There are different angles of vision. One person would say that peace is very easy to achieve. It takes a matter of seconds.

Friend1: Oh yeah? How?

Friend2: Surrender.

Friend1: You mean to God?

Friend2: Don’t have to cover that topic yet. Take the two parties who are at war. One of them just has to give up. If the communists are ready to take over the nation and you raise opposition, naturally there will be conflict.

Friend1: Yes.

Friend2: Instead, just lay down your weapons. Let the aggressors take over. That is peace, is it not?

Friend1: Never thought of it that way, but you are correct.

Friend2: From the spiritual side, there is the formula for peace provided by Shri Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita:

भोक्तारं यज्ञ-तपसां
सर्व-लोक-महेश्वरम्
सुहृदं सर्व-भूतानां
ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिम् ऋच्छति

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

“The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.29)

Friend1: Acknowledge three things and you are good to go.

Friend2: Yes. Simple and straightforward.

Friend1: But what about the ultimate purpose? Is peace the end? Is that what I should be striving for? You just mentioned how peace doesn’t necessarily equate to a condition of happiness. The bad guys can force their way into power and make everyone else miserable. Technically, there is peace; based on the absence of conflict.

Friend2: Precisely. Shri Krishna also questions how there can be any happiness without peace. This implies that the first factor is used as an anchor for the presence of a second.

Friend1: Happiness, then? That is the goal.

Friend2: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada puts it so nicely:

“An eternal bliss distinguished from ephemeral sensual satisfaction.”

Friend1: Wow. Saying so much in only a few words.

Friend2: The happiness is not fleeting. Juxtapose with the winter and summer seasons. Those come and go on schedule. Nothing anyone can do to change it; even if you switched from automobiles to bicycles as the primary means of transportation.

Friend1: More than just the coming and going of happiness and sadness, this higher experience should be without end, i.e. eternal.

Friend2: Distinguished, as well.

Friend1: Meaning notably different from other kinds of happiness.

Friend2: Specifically related to the interaction with the senses.

Friend1: You hear people reference something similar.

“Oh, that experience was spiritual. I’m taking care of my spiritual happiness.”

Friend2: Right. There is an inherent understanding that something more exists, beyond this temporary body. To experience the transcendental bliss is the purpose of the human birth. It should be remembered that such bliss is not far away in terms of physical distance. The soul is endowed with this bliss.

Friend1: Anandamayo’bhyasat.

Friend2: There you go. The eternally blissful one expands into many individual sparks which inherit the same properties. That eternal condition is only temporarily covered at the moment, but through proper guidance and training a person can go beyond peace. They can reach into the other world and experience what rightfully belongs to them. The process especially effective for the modern age is the chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Peace quickly can get,

Down your weapons set.

And opposition not mounting,

Yet for happiness not accounting.

Guru for beyond senses saying,

A higher experience from praying.

And consciousness in Divine’s direction,

Real ananda from that connection.

Four Ways Vedic Culture Estimates The Social Division

“According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.13)

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चातुर्-वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं
गुण-कर्म-विभागशः
तस्य कर्तारम् अपि मां
विद्ध्य् अकर्तारम् अव्ययम्

cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ
guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ
viddhy akartāram avyayam

Before you can begin this new job, the hiring company requires the completion of a specific training course. There are others in the class with you, and this is not simply an attendance-based merit system. Grades, assignments, tests and the like – there is assessment at every level.

If we were to say that every attendee passes the course regardless of merit, the system would render the training meaningless. Passing should have some corresponding outcome at the foundation. It is nice to think that every person is in the same category in theory, but relative positions like high and low, pass and fail, and ahead and behind have real world value.

Vedic culture applies this concept to the issue of social upliftment. The standard is based on the degree of self-realization, and so there are primarily four resulting categories.

1. Goodness

The matching qualities are intelligence and higher learning. We see such a distinction in practically every area of life, beginning from the time of birth. In comparison to the newborn child, the parents are in a position of goodness. They have more intelligence. They have learned sufficiently through life experiences.

If they were to sit back quietly and not guide the child, inconceivably stating “equality” as the justification, how would the child ever advance? The position in goodness is to be put to use for improving the wellbeing of every person. If I understand that the individual is a spirit soul and not their body, I should pass on that knowledge to others. After all, the entire purpose of the human existence is to reach this realization, at a minimum. Athato brahma-jijnasa.

2. Passion

The defining trait is the tendency to lord it over the material world. Like a competitive spirit inside, the drive to get ahead, to be better than your neighbors and peers, passion is what keeps the world going. The ultimate destination is sex life, which is the only way to maintain the population moving forward.

This category is considered a step down from goodness due to the lack of a realization of the self. Life in this mode is something like the hamster running on a wheel or a person stepping on a treadmill, thinking that with each step they are moving closer to a destination in the distance.

The truth is that passion maintains a sort of neutral position. The drive does yield an output to be utilized for sustainability, but in terms of advancing the individual in their journey through transmigration, it is like being stuck in quicksand.

3. Passion-cum-ignorance

Passion typically is a single group, but here there is a sub-division for those who are merely productive. There is no feverish pursuit to advance, to win a competition, so to speak. They work hard every day to produce a yield. Something like the farmer making sure that there is sufficient crop at the time of harvest.

4. Ignorance

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada describes this mode as “the spirit of passive acceptance of being controlled by the laws of nature.” It is something like the “end the misery” philosophy:

“Who cares? Life is terrible. You’re born. You get stuck going to school. Then you’re at an office for an endless number of hours, for thirty plus years. Then you retire and wait for death. Nothing we can do to change the situation. Might as well sit around and do nothing. Drugs and alcohol? Go for it. Why not?”

…

The idea is that a person should try to advance through the modes. They are never relegated to a particular division for eternity nor even a single lifetime. Otherwise, no one would be able to lift themselves up from poverty or drug addiction. If a person can be trained to be a doctor, then surely they can have their minds opened up to the side of spiritual life, which contains knowledge of the distinction between Divine and material.

Indeed, even the divisions are rooted in something from a higher world. In the Bhagavad-gita we see that Shri Krishna claims credit for the system, technically known as varnasharama. He views every person equally, though those devoted to Him are considered friends.

समो ऽहं सर्व-भूतेषु
न मे द्वेष्यो ऽस्ति न प्रियः
ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या
मयि ते तेषु चाप्य् अहम्

samo 'haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu
na me dveṣyo 'sti na priyaḥ
ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā
mayi te teṣu cāpy aham

“I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.29)

Though there is spiritual equality, in the suffering condition of material existence the society gets divided based on attributes and ways of living. In theory, this should be beneficial to everyone involved; otherwise, the population becomes vulnerable to staying in ignorance, with no hope in sight.

The Vedic culture, whose culmination is pure and unalloyed devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is meant for returning the individual to their position of spirit soul living in a world free of duality. No more distinctions and no more need to separate between reality and fiction. The return to that way of living is possible through the guidance of the spiritual master, who receives the sacred information in an unbroken chain of transfer known as parampara. They are thus supported directly by Bhagavan, who happily welcomes back lost souls into His company.

In Closing:

Not with spiteful words to attack,

Krishna happily welcoming back.

Varnashrama for this purpose made,

Not for same in every life played.

Equality at spirit but distinctions too,

An Ideal role suited for me and you.

Spiritual master proper way revealing,

And duality condition healing.

Three Types Of Projects Which Are Difficult To Manage

“Brahma, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.33)

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अहम् एवासम् एवाग्रे
नान्यद् यत् सद्-असत् परम्
पश्चाद् अहं यद् एतच् च
यो ऽवशिष्येत सो ऽस्म्य् अहम्

aham evāsam evāgre
nānyad yat sad-asat param
paścād ahaṁ yad etac ca
yo ‘vaśiṣyeta so ‘smy aham

If you could only do everything yourself. Then there wouldn’t be these silly deadlines that no one is able to meet. No problem dealing with this person or that. You would have the full information store. Everything would go through you, and more than anyone else, you have faith in your ability to deliver.

The real world is not so simple. The projects can become large in scope. They can span many years due to concurrency issues, i.e. working on more than one task at a time. The discipline of project management exists for a reason. The training involved deals with the issues that are identified through many years of experience.

1. Software development

Again, if there is only one programmer involved, perhaps not as many issues. Let them concentrate on one thing. They do all of the design. They know which function does what. They remember the different versions to the code, how every enhancement was configured and how the discovered bugs became fixed.

Yet to hire a programmer to work on only one project is not the best use of time or money. If you can get three people to help you move, the job typically takes much less time. The same thought applied to software development yields a large team of expert coders.

The difficulty, of course, is in managing everything. One person writes only the front-end piece, i.e. what the end user sees. Another deals with the foundation, the database portion. One coder is waiting on another. This programmer only has access to this portion of the repository. Moreover, two people could be working on the same section of code at the same time, and so how to resolve the changes they apply? For these reasons a project which might take a single person a few months to do can extend out to several years for a large team.

2. Construction

Here more manpower should yield greater efficiency, but again there are many issues which have to be managed. If the builder reaches a snag in a particular section, all the previous work might have to be scrapped. Go in a different direction. There is the clock looming in the background. The project has a deadline; otherwise there would be no incentive to work hard.

3. Planning a wedding

Everything has to be right. The cake, the food, the flowers – one slipup and the entire event gets ruined. Let there be enough vacant rooms in the hotel for the expected guests. Ah, but there is no way to accurately predict who will accept the invite and who won’t.

There is the wedding planner for this very reason. Pay some money up front and let them deal with the headaches. They stay on top of the organization, making sure everyone is where they should be. The last thing you want is someone to get the date of the event wrong, which is possible with even the parents of the two people getting married.

…

From the Shrimad Bhagavatam we get a set of four important verses which accurately describe the Supreme Lord. The setting is a conversation with the creator, Lord Brahma. If we thought project management was difficult, imagine being in charge of populating the entire world. Not just the types of bodies inhabited, the species, but also the infinite variety and beauty found within every aspect of the creation.

Brahma needed some training first, and in that moment the Supreme Lord Vishnu explained to Him the secrets of time. God was around before anything manifested. He remains while everything can be seen, and He will also exist after the eventual annihilation.

This means that Vishnu is the actual coordinator. He is the greatest mind, capable of juggling as many tasks at the same time as can be conceived. He remembers everything that has been done, by every single person. He is the all-pervading witness, antaryami. Everything is in Him, but He is not in everything.

मया ततम् इदं सर्वं
जगद् अव्यक्त-मूर्तिना
मत्-स्थानि सर्व-भूतानि
न चाहं तेष्व् अवस्थितः

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ
jagad avyakta-mūrtinā
mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni
na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ

“By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.4)

The best manager also has the ability to take control over the most difficult task of finally escaping the cycle of birth and death. Maya creates such an illusion over the otherwise intelligent soul that a person can’t help but dream about their office environment at night. The place to which they reluctantly travel, merely for earning a living, becomes a permanent fixture difficult to escape.

दैवी ह्य् एषा गुण-मयी
मम माया दुरत्यया
माम् एव ये प्रपद्यन्ते
मायाम् एतां तरन्ति ते

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te

“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

Imagine, then, the effort required in escaping illusion altogether. This world is difficult to overcome, but those surrendered to the Supreme Lord can easily cross beyond it. This is because He helps them, in the same way that He originally guided Brahma.

In Closing:

Concerns in Vishnu confided,

So Lord the creator guided.

Largest scale keeping in mind,

Other difficult projects also to find.

Escaping illusion of largest scope,

But even then a light of hope.

With Divine help made easy the leap,

Bhagavan track of complexity to keep.

Three Options If You Can’t Get Immortality

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.20)

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न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्
नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतो ऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin
nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ‘yaṁ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

An exercise conducted in theory, though with a real-life example documented in Vedic literature, take the situation of approaching an empowered benefactor. The commonly discussed scenario is rubbing a magic lamp and having a genie emerge:

“I can grant you three wishes. Choose wisely. Think about what it is you desire.”

Immortality is on your mind, but that is not an option. The idea gets squashed immediately. What options remain? In what direction should the mortal human being, gifted with enhanced intelligence in comparison to other species, explore?

1. Build component pieces

The best example from history is Hiranyakashipu. He didn’t have to rub a lamp. He didn’t visit a remote cave where a bearded old man welcomed those visitors lucky enough to find him. Rather, the best of the Daitya race engaged in rigid austerities. This is the time-honored tradition rooted in Vedic culture. It has yielded great results many a time, and Hiranyakashipu was able to find the ultimate success.

His sacrifice was so extreme that it caught the attention of Lord Brahma, the creator. Brahma is something like the master engineer, taking the three ingredients of goodness, passion and ignorance and generating an output of up to 8,400,000 distinct body types. These are the species, and the temporary occupants are the sparks of the Brahman spiritual energy.

Hiranyakashipu wanted immortality, as he defined it. Stay in the same body forever. No destruction. No forced exit. No succumbing to the forces of nature. Brahma himself does not have this ability, so he could not very well grant it to others, no matter how much they pleased him.

Hiranyakashipu then decided to build component pieces to achieve the same result. He was not limited to three wishes. In essence, the benefactor subtly gave him permission to try his best:

“Go ahead. Think of ways to become immortal without asking for it directly. Be as clever as possible. I will not stand in the way.”

The leader of the Daityas asked for immunity from death in so many situations. Safety from attacking weapons. Different species would not be able to kill him. Cover the two time periods in a day, the daylight hours and the nighttime. Brahma agreed to everything.

2. Unlimited enjoyment

If I know that I will have to pass on at some unknown time in the future, one option is to request unlimited enjoyment. At least let the time be spent peacefully and without disturbance. Enough food to eat; maybe at a grand buffet. Wine to consume, associates with whom to spend time. A loving family. The ability to travel far and wide without being tied down to daily responsibilities.

3. Realize that you are already immortal

The glaring flaw with the first two options is that the reality of eventual death remains. Hiranyakashipu could not account for every situation, meaning there was still mortality no matter how cleverly his requests were constructed.

With the option of unlimited enjoyment, there is still the limitation in terms of time. Eventually, that way of living has to end. The individual moves on to a different situation, a different place with a new body.

Another option is to realize that you are already immortal. The elusive boon is already part of your existence. Shri Krishna explains that the soul cannot be killed. Only the body gets destroyed. The real agent of change is kala, or time, but sometimes we attribute other external factors as the trigger agent, such as lethal weapons, disease, old age and the like.

If I realize that I am already immortal, I can find a way to influence my future destination. Specifically, after this lifetime expires, the place travelled to next can be decided. I am not completely helpless. Shri Krishna again gives the hint.

यं यं वापि स्मरन् भावं
त्यजत्य् अन्ते कलेवरम्
तं तम् एवैति कौन्तेय
सदा तद्-भाव-भावितः

yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya
sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.6)

The state of being is everything. My consciousness. What is it focused on at the moment of exiting the body? There needn’t be so granular an analysis. Choose spiritual or material. It is easy to identify the latter. Anything where I will again be subject to birth and death, where I live in a destructible body – that means the state of being will be the same.

Spiritual means that I will no longer be subject to death. I will be immortal in the fullest sense that my body and spirit will be identical. This is already the case with the Supreme Lord, Bhagavan for whom no distinctions in duality apply.

The individual souls are meant to live the same way, to be free of anxieties, to be permanent residents of the land known as Vaikuntha. Consciousness is the key, and through genuine spiritual life practiced under the proper authority, the wish is already granted. Those who think of Krishna at the end will attain the same nature, they will get to associate with Him in the future and be immune from the trials and tribulations of material existence.

In Closing:

With granting wishes three,

Request that death never to see.

Settling for next thing best,

Where enduring time’s test.

But the end arriving still,

But the soul nothing can kill.

Immortal in that sense already,

Realized through devotion steady.