Five Things I Can Ask For From God

“O Lakshmana, do you rule this earth with Me. You are like My second self, so this glorious opportunity has been presented to you as well. O Saumitra, do you enjoy all the pleasures you desire and the fruits of the regal life. My life and this kingdom I covet for your sake alone.” (Lord Rama speaking to Lakshmana, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 4.43-44)

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लक्ष्मणेमां मया सार्धं प्रशाधि त्वं वसुन्धराम्।
द्वितीयं मेऽन्तरात्मानं त्वामियं श्रीरुपस्थिता।।
सौमित्रे भुङ्क्ष्व भोगांत्स्वमिष्टान्राज्यफलानि च।
जीवितं च हि राज्यं च त्वदर्थमभिकामये।।

lakṣmaṇemāṃ mayā sārdhaṃ praśādhi tvaṃ vasundharām।
dvitīyaṃ me’ntarātmānaṃ tvāmiyaṃ śrīrupasthitā।।
saumitre bhuṅkṣva bhogāṃtsvamiṣṭānrājyaphalāni ca।
jīvitaṃ ca hi rājyaṃ ca tvadarthamabhikāmaye।।

1. Open up the playgrounds again

“It’s been way too long. I learned years ago just how devious politicians can be, but this time they were guided by so-called experts from science and medicine. In the beginning, they told us it would last only two weeks. This had to be done in order to spare the hospital system; a move to eventually save lives.

“Well, it has been almost two months now. They keep extending the deadline, two weeks at a time. It is really criminal, if you ask me. If they told everyone in the beginning that they had to stay home for several months, no one would have accepted.

“I am desperate to go to a playground or exercise facility. It is part of my overall health. And isn’t health what we are concerned with, here? I need my children to go outside and play. It is child abuse to keep them locked up. I hope that the man upstairs can perform a miracle.”

2. Let me go back to work

“How am I supposed to feed my family? The government is still collecting taxes during this time. As the schools are closed, aren’t we entitled to a refund? These are thieves of the highest degree. I don’t think they are concerned with anyone’s safety or wellbeing.

“I know that the leaders in society are supposed to be like gods among men. Nara-deva is the term in Sanskrit. To me, the people in charge today are asuras. They are the worst demons, and from studying history I know that only the Supreme Lord can deal with them adequately.”

3. Help me find a house I can afford

“When the neighbors upstairs move about in the apartment, it sounds like they are stomping. I worry that the ground will break through. These people must be dinosaurs or something. I have never heard anything like this.

“I would love to move to a different place, but housing prices are insane. God, I hope that you can help me out. By some miracle make a home affordable enough that we can take possession. I think that would make our lives much more peaceful.”

4. Guide me on dealing with allergies

“This is the worst time of the year. While others are excited over the full departure of the dreaded cold of winter, I am not eagerly anticipating the allergic reactions I have to pollen, grass, and trees. Sometimes it gets to be unbearable, to the point I must take prescription medication, which has its own severe side effects.

“As God is the controller of the material nature, I know He can help me out. He can lessen the intensity of the miseries faced in this world, as He did when protecting the residents of Vrindavana from a devastating rainstorm instigated by Indra, the king of heaven.”

5. Give me a kingdom

“The Supreme Lord is known to be a kingmaker. As Shri Rama, He installed Sugriva on the throne in Kishkindha. He personally transferred the power in Lanka from Ravana to Vibhishana. The younger brother Bharata was king for a while, only after Rama’s sanction of the scheme. Wouldn’t it be great if He could pass on the same honor to me?”

…

From Shri Rama’s pastimes we see that He is willing to share anything with His devotees. When the honor of becoming the new king of Ayodhya arrived at His feet, He was ready to share with His younger brother Lakshmana.

Rama is an avatara of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Lakshmana is the embodiment of the guru. One is God the person and the other is God in the form of a worshiping servant. A notable attribute in Lakshmana is that he does not ask anything from Rama. He could have become the new king, but he would rather all the glory go to the eldest brother.

The mentality of the guru is to give generously. He shares the wisdom of the ages with anyone who is sincerely interested in advancing the condition of the consciousness. He understands the temporary nature of the material world and how asking for this small benefit and that is not the best use of the acknowledgment and belief in a higher power.

Service is the way to transcendence, and the more pure the mentality, the more bliss will arrive in the process. This can be experienced right now, today, through the chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

So many desires granting,
But guru’s only for chanting.

So that mired by hate instead,
Continued Divine love to spread.

From Ramayana poem to see,
That Rama kingmaker is He.

But the service propensity preferred,
Like Lakshmana great honor deferred.