Sharanagati

Men have four roles. One is the fighter. Man should be a real man. Usually we think that man should be a fighter. Therefore if you go to a martial arts training, you will find mostly men. Sometimes you will find women also – with man’s character. This is a classical role for men. God is also a fighter. We worship Krishna as a fighter-God. He is ready to fight for justice. Krishna is ready to fight for you! This is a divine role for human beings.

The second main role for the man is the king. King means not only the enjoyer of the top rang, but he is a caretaker, a well-wisher. He takes care of the subordinates, it is not only that he collects taxes and harasses the subordinates. He takes care also. In India there was once such a maharaja; whenever he went out of his palace, he was distributing the same amount of gold and silver coins as his bodily weight. How many times the president is coming out of the palace? How much distribution is there? This person was not only collecting, but distributing also. And the king should not take care only materially, but spiritually also, because it is said, that the king will take one eight part of the karmic reactions of the subordinates. Is it good to be a king? Just think: the more subordinates you have, the more karmic reactions will come on your head. Therefore the subordinates must obey by the rules. And the king has to perform his job nicely. We worship God as king also. Krishna is our God and He is our king. Therefore we put a crown on His head. But He is not a worldly king, taking only one eight part of your karma. He is a transcendental king, divine king; He can take hundred percent of your karma. Is it good to be a subordinate of such a king? Are we ready to pay our taxes to Him? He is a good king.

The third role for a man – this is the lover. Have you ever met this type of lovers? Like troubadours from the Middle Ages? This is a little outdated antagonism in the twenty first century. But these lovers were not physical lovers. They were spiritual lovers. Without a beloved there is no lover. We worship Krishna as a lover. There are different grades of lovers. There are some small-scale lovers. They are the chaste type, the loyal type. They love only one. Then there are the medium-capacity lovers; they try to love more and more. But you know, human capacity is limited. But God’s capacity is not limited. Krishna is so attractive, that not only one, two or few ladies are running after Him. But all the ladies of the three worlds are enamored with Him. May be this is little embarrassing to hear that you fall in love with God. But more we can understand this when ladies fall in love with the representatives of God. You can be enamored by the representative. Why? Because he represents somebody. And now, without going in too much detail, ladies have high expectations. And those expectations only a god could fulfill sometimes! No human being on earth could meet those expectations. Therefore we worship God in such a way, that He is capable to attract all of us. He is the Supreme Lover. And we can be His supreme beloved… Well, may be not the Supreme, but we can also be His beloved. This was the romantic aspect of human nature. What is left? The mystical role.

The mystic role is the magician. The magician, or the monk, or the high priest – this is the mystical role of a human being. He is not running after love, he is not running after power, he is not running after influence. But he is running after God’s union, “unio mystica” – mystic unification, how to meet the Supreme. This fourth role is considered the highest for men. And we worship Krishna as the highest magician, supreme magician.

Once a magician came in Krishna Balaram Mandir to visit Shrila Prabhupada*.  This was happening in Vrindavan, and you know, in Vrindavan, there are some good magicians. This guy, all of a sudden, started to manifest some precious stones. At other times he was just pulling rupees from the ears of Shrila Prabhupada. So he was making funny jokes. The devotees were little embarrassed, but Prabhupada was laughing and enjoying the show. And then, all of a sudden, he changed his mood. And he said: “No. Your magic is nothing compared to my magic. Because you can create some little rupees and stones. But I can convert, I can change, I can save these guys and girls from death. From death I can lead them to immortality.” Mrityor maa amritam gamaya. This is the real magic – from death you can come to eternity. So this fourth type is considered the highest. And we worship Krishna as the highest magician. Because for Him the impossible is possible.

I think if we could agree that God is the best fighter – He fights for you, He fights for liberating you; if we agree that He is the best king, He takes care of you perfectly; if we can agree that He is the best lover, I am attracted to Him; and if we can agree that He is the best magician, He can put a divine spell over me – then why should not we put, render ourselves under such a sweet and influential care?!

*Sri Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) – spiritual master, a great preacher of love of Godhead, who distributed bhakti to the western world. He is the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)