The One Thing That Guarantees Success
Contemplate on God -
To attain any object in this world (such as wealth, a son, etc.):
- First, desire arises. Then
- a resolution is made, after which
- action follows.
After that, you may or may not attain the desired result. Success is not guaranteed despite your efforts. People continue earning throughout their lives yet die as beggars. On the other hand, an illiterate person may sometimes become a billionaire. Some people are unable to have children despite multiple marriages. For example, Chitraketu was a king in Satya Yuga. He had one crore wives, but none bore a child. Once, when Sage Angira visited his palace, Chitraketu wept before him and said, "Who will become king after me, and who will offer me tarpaṇ (the ritual offering made to deceased ancestors, regarded as a sacred duty of a son toward his father and forefathers)? I need a son."
Sage Angira explained to him at length, "In countless births, you have had countless sons. What have you gained from them? Why do you continue to nurture this desire for a son? Practice devotion to God." But Chitraketu did not listen. He repeatedly implored the sage, saying, "Please be gracious enough to grant me this one wish."
Then Sage Angira gave the chief queen a havishya (a sacred preparation) and told her she would bear a son. Ten months later, the queen gave birth to a son and began receiving great honor and attention. Seeing this, the other queens became intensely jealous. They began to think, "The king no longer even speaks to us."
In the end, all of them together poisoned the child and killed him. Everyone began to weep in grief. Then Sage Angira returned and said to Chitraketu, "I had already explained to you that such is the nature of this world."
In other words, not every endeavor we undertake in this world will inevitably succeed.
But with God, the opposite is true. Do nothing; only think, "He alone is mine," and you will attain Him. However, the condition is that you must think this continuously, not just once. You do think about it, but only for a short while do you feel that "God is mine." For a much longer time, you think that your worldly mother, father, son, husband, and others are yours. That is why you have not developed a complete attachment to God. Fire is produced only by continuously rubbing together two sticks of the arani tree. If you rub them intermittently and then stop, they will cool, even break, and no fire will be produced.
God told Uddhav -
vishayān dhyāyataḥ cittaṁ vishayeshu vishajjate
māmanusmarataścittaṁ mayyeva pravilīyate
"Uddhav, it is a straightforward matter. If you repeatedly contemplate that happiness lies in worldly objects and persons, you will develop attachment to them. If you repeatedly contemplate that God alone is yours, you will develop attachment to Him. "Dhyāyataḥ" means contemplation. Simply thinking of God is everything."
Therefore, it is said -
smartavyam satatam vishnuḥ vismartavyo na jātucit। sarve vidhiniṣedhāḥ syuretayoreva kiṅkarāḥ॥
Keep remembering God constantly in your mind; that is all you need to do. This is called devotion.
Sing and think about God's names, forms, pastimes, qualities, and abodes to support your constant remembrance. But remembrance is most important. Therefore, contemplate again and again that God and Guru 'alone' are yours, and you will attain your goal.
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