No one’s life can be just a series of failures. Like days and nights, success and failure are part of everyone’s life. Possibly, your desires are immense, but you may not have accumulated enough good deeds to fulfil them. Hence, your self-confidence is waning. For example, if you only have a hundred rupees and desire a diamond necklace but can’t afford it, you blame God and yourself. Is that justifiable? Whatever you are experiencing is the consequence of your past actions. We need wisdom and discretion to understand this.
What Is True Success In Life?
You can speak, and you have ears. God has given you so much; this is life’s success. God is fulfilling everyone’s needs according to their karma. And whatever is extremely essential for you, like air, water, sky, earth, etc., God is providing for free. Think how difficult the life of people who cannot speak, hear or see is. We should sometimes thank God for giving us such a beautiful life. Engage in chanting, practice austerity, and perform virtuous deeds, and you will receive benefits accordingly.
The Game Of Karma – Nothing Is Free Here!
Nothing in this world comes for free. If someone has become a president, they would have undergone austerity. Someone with a million dollars now must’ve given charity in the past, accumulated merit, and practised austerity. If someone commits sins now, they will face the consequences, leading to later destruction. But because they(people) have done good deeds in the past, they are reaping the rewards in the present. We receive and lose according to our actions. What you are experiencing today is the harvest of your past. The most important thing is, what are you sowing currently?
Work On Your Present
Perform good deeds now. Stay enthusiastic and crush failure. Once, twice, thrice, you might fail, but by the fourth time, you’ll gain the wisdom to understand why you are failing. And then, you’ll emerge victorious. It’s not written in anyone’s destiny to keep failing every time. We aren’t animals born without free will to endure past karma. Humans are born to forge new destinies through new endeavours, and we shouldn’t be disheartened. We must chant the lord’s name, maintain our character’s purity, protect others’ rights, and strive for worldly progress. Success will eventually come our way.
Cycle Of Karma and Time
There was a great monk named Vidyaranya. He was born into a poor Brahmin family. Being poor, he had no arrangements to support his parents. To arrange wealth, he performed the ritual of Gayatri. Chanting Gayatri Mantra twenty-four lakh times leads to one Purashcharan. He performed twenty-three such Purashcharanas but did not achieve anything. His parents also died during this time. He also became old and accepted Sannyasa!
As soon as he accepted sannyasa, Goddess Gayatri appeared before him and said, whatever you want, ask; I am ready to give you anything. He said, I am a monk now; I don’t want anything. He asked why she didn’t come earlier. Then Goddess Gayatri said, you had twenty-four major sins from past lives. Twenty-three of your sins were destroyed by Purashcharans, and the last sin was taken away by accepting sannyasa. And after this, I came immediately.
From this, we learnt that until our past sins are eradicated, they obstruct our progress, so our efforts fail. That’s why, alongside our endeavours, we must also engage in devotion. I recommend that ‘Radha Radha’, ‘Hari Hari’, ‘Krishna Krishna’, or whichever name of God is dear to you, chant that because that name will cleanse your past sins. We shouldn’t lose hope in failure and must conquer failure. We are humans, not animals.
Two Means To Achieve Success!
There are two means to success: chanting the name and our effort. With this, we will be successful. This is what Lord Krishna instructed Arjun in the Bhagavad Gita: “Fight while remembering me.” This remembrance will destroy sins, and our efforts will pave the way for success.
Keep your character pure, live righteously and perform your duty while chanting the holy name of God. If you do all this, you will never lack enthusiasm. And if past sins come to bring you down, you can erase them with the power of your devotion. Sins can only be destroyed by the power of the holy name.
Guidance by: Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Ji Maharaj
