Why Sādhanā If Grace Is Causeless?
God and Saints Are Causelessly Merciful
Explanation: Binu hetu kripalu kahāte ho, puni sādhan kyon karvāte ho.
You are called causelessly merciful; so why do You ask us to do sādhanā?
Kirtan: Nit sewa maangoon Shyama Shyam Teri (Braj Ras Madhuri, part 1, page no. 178, sankirtan no. 118)
Both God and the saints are merciful and compassionate without any cause.
Binu hetu Kripalu means causelessly merciful. The word hetu means a cause or reason.
In this world, no soul bound by māyā can show compassion without a reason. It is simply impossible.
What is the greatest reason behind all our actions?
The desire for divine bliss (divyānand), the bliss of God.
This is the soul's natural longing. Until this longing is fulfilled, every soul, from a mosquito to Brahmā, the creator, shows kindness only for a reason.
Parents endure hardship to raise their children. They educate them, care for them when they fall ill, and make countless sacrifices for their well-being. At first glance, their actions may appear entirely selfless.
Yet, even behind such actions, there lies a hidden self-interest - the expectation that their children will care for them in their old age and perform the shrāddh rituals after their death to help them attain liberation. In this way, even our relationships are influenced by self-interest. Driven by the same desire for happiness, we seek fulfillment through our mother, father, son, wife, husband, and everyone else. The poor soul is constantly hungry and thirsty for bliss, searching for it everywhere.
Therefore, only God and the saints bestow grace without any cause. They have no happiness left to attain. The saint has already attained divine bliss.
Now, a question arises: If God is known as the one who bestows grace without any cause, why does He ask us to practise devotion?
Why should we chant "Radhey Radhey" day and night? Should He not bestow His grace without any cause, even if we make no spiritual effort?
A shopkeeper gives us goods when we pay money. Similarly, if God showed mercy in return for our sādhanā, that too would become a business transaction. Where, then, is the causeless mercy? Naive people with limited understanding argue this way.
But we must understand a fundamental point: What kind of spiritual practice could we possibly perform that would oblige God to bestow His grace?
What resources do we have with which we can do sādhanā? We have five gyānendriyas (sense organs), five karmendriyas (organs of action), and one mind. These are our eleven instruments. Whether one follows the path of devotion, knowledge (gyān), or yoga, these are the instruments through which one practises.
We may undertake pilgrimages, chant God's name, or contemplate Him with our mind. But all these senses are material and made of māyā. They are not divine. Our ears and eyes are both made of the five gross elements. The entire body is formed in the mother's womb from a single drop consisting of the father's vīrya and the mother's raj (the reproductive cells). Remarkably, although the ears and eyes are composed of the same material elements, we cannot see with our ears or hear with our eyes. Each organ has its own limitations. Material nature and God belong to entirely different realms. Material objects are perishable, whereas God is eternal.
Worldly love diminishes with every passing moment and eventually comes to an end. Relationships that once brought us happiness may later become sources of pain. The very father, mother, or wife through whom we once sought happiness may eventually become a source of distress, leading us to lament, "It is my misfortune."
In God's divine realm, however, true love increases every moment. It keeps growing and never diminishes or ends. All divine objects and relationships bestow happiness that grows with every passing moment and continues for eternity.
Go gocara jahaṁ lagi mana jāī, so saba māyā jānehu bhāī.
Whatever lies within the reach of the senses and the mind belongs to māyā.
Any action performed through material instruments will itself remain material. When we contemplate God, we do so with a material mind.
Yet, through His causeless mercy, God accepts this material contemplation as divine and transforms our senses, mind, and intellect into divine instruments.
The ultimate result of the spiritual practices prescribed in the Vedas is to purify the mind, not to make it divine. In other words, the purpose is to remove our attachment to everything in the material world and empty the mind of worldly attachments.
But an empty mind alone cannot take us to our ultimate goal.
This is where the Guru comes in.
The Guru, too, is merciful without cause. By bestowing causeless mercy upon us, the Guru transforms our mind and senses into divine instruments through God's divine personal power (swaroop shakti). Only then does divine contemplation of God, the vision of God, and so forth become possible.
Therefore, never think that God and the saints do not bestow grace. They are indeed causelessly merciful. However, to receive their grace, we need a divine vessel, whereas all we currently possess are material instruments.
To become fit to receive God's grace, we must first empty the vessel of our mind of its worldly attachments. We must develop neither attachment nor aversion toward anything in the material world, whether living or non-living.
We ourselves cultivate many such afflictions. One example is becoming a slave to the palate. Even when food is available at home, we still go to a hotel or restaurant simply to satisfy our taste buds. This craving for taste is a terrible affliction. As we grow old, many other desires may gradually fade, but the tongue's craving remains. Even on his deathbed, an old man says, "Oh, let me have a rasgulla one last time!" Those with greater financial means even visit increasingly expensive restaurants and spend ₹1,000 on a meal that might cost only ₹10 to prepare at home. In effect, they also pay for the restaurant's overhead expenses, all to satisfy their tongue and fill their stomach.
In this way, we cultivate countless self-made afflictions.
When we were born, we did not have these habits. Initially, we drank our mother's milk. As we grew older, we began adding sugar to milk and gradually developed a preference for sweetness. Eventually, we could no longer enjoy milk without sugar.
The same principle applies to many other acquired habits, whether drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, or indulging in other acquired cravings. These are not innate necessities; they are habits we develop and reinforce ourselves.
In principle, we can overcome a disease we have brought upon ourselves by changing the habits that sustain it. But how can we eliminate a natural longing that is inherent in our very being?
What is that natural longing?
It is the longing to attain divine bliss.
Because we are parts of God, this thirst for divine bliss will always remain within us. No amount of material happiness can fulfill it, because worldly happiness is limited and temporary. We truly seek happiness that is infinite, eternal, and grows with every passing moment. Only divine bliss can satisfy the soul's deepest longing.
Therefore, God and the saints are merciful without cause. They have nothing left to attain.
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