Few Good Men

I was sitting in my couch and peering through the glass door of my balcony. The setting sun was shining through and it started to rain. It was a pretty sight, one of gifts from God. I was reminded how beautiful is the creation of God and that any man made beauty is considered puny and trivial before it. As I was witnessing the light of the sun piercing through the droplets of rain I realized that rain gives life to the otherwise inert earth. When rain falls all living beings come to life just as a man starving from food enriches his senses the minute he eats sumptuous food.

Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita (BG 3.14) that living beings subsist on food grains and food grains are produced by rains and in turn the rains are produced by the performance of sacrifice that arise from prescribed duties of mankind. A far cry description given by modern science about rain fall.

annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ 
yajñād bhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ 

I was thinking that despite the degraded conditions of this age of kali with people barely performing their duties and performing sacrifices, how is it possible that these rains that I was witnessing through my glass door be falling very so pleasantly and in fact falling at all? If rains are produced by sacrifice of work, then surely these rains must be falling because there are few good men who are still performing sacrifices for the benefit of mankind at large even today in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy. These rains are credited to those few good men.

Just like when a city protracts taxes from the citizens and even if only few rightful citizens pay taxes, the benefit of those taxes are distributed to all and not just to the few. Similarly because of the few good men performing sacrifices and paying taxes to the cosmic Government, the rains are falling at the right times and benefiting all people alike (sinful and pious). However, it is predicted that these few good men performing Yajna (sacrifices) will diminish and the world soon will be populated fully by rogues and thieves. In that unholy state there will be irreversible damages caused by Mother Nature. In fact we see the wrath of Mother Nature even now.

The sacrifice that these few good men are performing is the sacrifice of glorifying the Holy Names of God. The recommended sacrifice for this age is chanting the Names of God. There is no other method. Just as a rightful citizen pays taxes for the services received, similarly a conscientious person with an ounce of dignity should repay the services received by Mother Nature and services inadvertently received through other living beings. While it is not possible to repay each and every individual separately, the recommended process is to go to the source and pay our dues just as we pay the taxes to the Revenue Department and the money gets distributed from there. That source, great saints reveal, is Krishna. One such saint is Narada Muni. Below is what He has to say;

yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena 
tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ 
prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇāḿ 
tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā

As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality - Srimad Bhagavatam 4.31.14

Therefore following the expert Muni Narada, we too should pay our dues (sacrifice) by pouring water to the root – Supreme Being Krishna. The recommended process of sacrifice is also given. It is to chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Doing so one benefits oneself and the community at large and because we will be performing dharma properly due to chanting, we will be blessed abundantly by Mother Nature. This is a fact, not sentiment!

Of course modern science will give its impersonal description to rain fall, however from the Bhagavad Gita we learn that Mother Nature is controlled by various beings of higher power not visible to mundane vision and this chanting automatically satisfies them. Being satisfied they will sent forth rain in a proper manner just as I witnessed it through my glass door.

Chant Hare Krishna and benefit the world.

Hare Krishna