Sharanagati

“Bhagavad Gita” is not popular. Because it does not support the present-day propaganda: “Enjoy life, be happy as you like, everything is possible, everything is waiting for you…” But unfortunately this western life-style does not even know how to enjoy life. What is the most precious spice? Saffron. Because it is collected from flowers, which are very small – from their bloom-pollen. It’s more precious than gold. And you can imagine in such a little pollen, there is some oil content inside, but very little. Still they can press this oil from this part of the flowers. And the maharajas in India used to put it on the body as massage oil.

So, what is the western culture enjoying life, if the maharajas were anointing the body as massage oil with saffron oil?! Just imagine! We don’t have any idea about enjoying life. What to speak of enjoying transcendental pleasures. Because what is happening in the world? Everybody is running after some enjoyment. This is a natural desire of the soul, because the soul is sat-chit-ananda, so ananda is there; but due to the limitation of illusion this ananda is not revealed. Therefore we are searching for this happiness. The only problem is that we search in a wrong place.

Because we want immediate results. When your tongue is hungry, you want to give some food and then you are satisfied, immediately. Or when you want to see something nice, you just look, search and you feel: o, this is harmonious, this is nice. And of course, humans have other senses also, which they try to derive pleasure from.

But usually whatever we achieve through this contact of the senses – I mean sense organs and the sense objects – is fleeting, ephemeral, coming and going. Although the desire, the thirst in the soul remains there. It’s called “trishna” – this thirst, thirst for life, thirst for existence. Change one letter – Krishna – and your thirst will be satisfied. Until we do not make this change of letters, that thirst will stay with us.