By Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati*
Īśvara’s grace is impartial and available to all. Lord Krishna says that what is important is not what you offer, but how you offer it. Although what we offer—a leaf, a flower, some water, or karma—may have little value in and of itself, when we offer it with devotion, to please him, the Lord receives it with love, tad bhaktyupahṛtam aham aśnāmi. In this way, Lord Krishna also tells us that in every action and interaction, although God does not seem to be there, he is very much there. Whenever we are expressing our feeling of love, there is also a return or an echo of that feeling.
Also read: Spirituality: Upāsanā is meditation on saguṇa-brahma
The Lord reveals himself to the seeker who chooses the Lord. What is meant by choosing is that one considers the Lord the very goal, the very objective; one is devoted to the Lord. Whoever chooses the Lord is as though chosen by the Lord. The Lord reveals himself to one who dedicates his or her life to pleasing him, knowing him, realising him. Thus, by our act of worship, we are invoking the grace of the Lord. Grace means favourableness. The Lord becomes favourable to us.
Does that mean that īśvara is partial? Does it mean that he showers grace only on those who make an offering to him and other people are deprived of his grace? If that is the case, then what is the difference between īśvara and some politician or bureaucrat who rewards those who bribe him with favours? In some places, if you want to get work done—some admission approved or paper signed—you give dakṣiṇā, a gift, and things get done, otherwise they don’t. Does īśvara also work like that? Is it that devotees give dakṣiṇā and then the Lord showers his grace upon them?
No, Lord Krishna says, “samo’haṁ sarvabhūteṣu na me dveṣyo’sti na priyaḥ, I am the same to all beings; I do not have dveṣa, dislike or aversion, for anybody, nor do I favour anybody.” When Lord Krishna uses the word “I” here, it means the one, non-dual brahman, īśvara. He has neither attachment nor aversion for anybody, meaning that he does not function out of rāga-dveṣa. That is the difference between brahman and the local lord, who can be pleased by offering him dakṣiṇā. That local person functions out of attachment and aversion. With your dakṣiṇā you are invoking attachment, his weakness, and thus taking advantage of him. Lord Krishna says, “I do not respond out of rāga-dveṣa. Samo’haṁ sarvabhūteṣu, I am equal to all beings without exception, without partiality or cruelty.”
The whole of nature is like that—without partiality or cruelty. When the sun shines, that light is equally available to everybody, without exception. The earth equally supports everybody, and whoever tills the land is blessed by the earth with crops. The Ganges water quenches the thirst of whoever drinks it whether it be a saint or a sinner. There are people who foul the place, but even then, the Ganges equally blesses them. What we call nature is also a manifestation of the Lord and does not operate with rāga and dveṣa, attachment and aversion or partiality and cruelty.
Devotion opens your heart to īśvara’s grace
You might ask, “Lord, if you are really equal and impartial to everybody, then why does it appear that some people are more favoured and seem to be more fortunate than others?” Lord Krishna says, “ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpyaham, I am in those who worship me with devotion and they are in me.” In other words, those who worship īśvara with devotion are able to tap his grace. They make themselves suitable receptacles to receive the grace. The difference is in the effect—the sense of satisfaction in receiving grace from the Lord, which lends an appearance of being favoured—and not in the cause.
One saint in India used to give this example: It is raining and one person is complaining that all the other people are walking in the rain and enjoying themselves, but even though he is also walking in the rain, it would not fall on him. Somebody pointed out, “Hey! You’re holding an umbrella. Close that umbrella.” The ego is like an umbrella. As long as the umbrella of ego is there, even though īśvara’s grace may be showering on everyone, we feel as though we do not experience the favour. This is because there is an obstacle that we ourselves are placing.
Another example is that the sun shines equally for everybody and yet, it is possible that there is darkness in somebody’s home. Why? Because the window shades are not open. Even though sunlight is equally available to everybody, something is expected of us also, in as much as we must open the window shades or curtains to experience the light. Similarly, grace is always flowing, but we must open the gates of our hearts for grace to flow into us.
Opening the heart is our sādhana or spiritual practice if only to make us a fit receptacle to receive the grace of the Lord. His grace is always there because his nature is grace. The bhaktiācāryas, teachers of devotion, teach us that īśvara is anugraha-svarūpa. He is grace by nature, meaning that he does not have to make any effort to shower grace; that is his nature. The sun does not have to make any effort to illumine because to shine is the sun’s nature. If the sun needed to do something to shine, then it is possible that it might forget to do that or somehow be prevented from shining. But that is not possible because to shine is the sun’s nature. Like that, anugraha, grace, is the nature of īśvara. Therefore, we need to become a fit receptacle for receiving that grace.
Everything is given by īśvara
We always require the grace or favour of īśvara. We require his grace even in our day-to-day pursuits; not to mention needing it in the spiritual pursuit, our pursuit of reaching īśvara. We always require his grace. We always require his blessings.
A bhakta or devotee is always a very humble person, not due to helplessness, but due to being a realistic person. A person who does not know the reality of life may be a proud person or an arrogant person. He may think, “I did this. I created this. I am a self-made man.” Only the person who does not know the realities of life can think like this. When someone would tell Swamiji, “I am a self-made man,” Swamiji would respond by asking, “Who made you?” It starts from there.
When we analyse, it is gratifying to see that we are fortunate to always be the recipients of the grace of īśvara. In fact, he is always showering his grace without us even asking for it. An unseen hand is always helping us. It is for us to recognise that. Swamiji used to point out that īśvara is the giver. When we look at our life and ourselves with an open and humble mind, then we realise that everything is given to us. This body is given to us. The organs of perception are given to us. The organs of action are given to us. The mind is given to us. The intellect is given to us.
You can argue, “Yes, the intellect is given to me, but I work hard. Everybody has intellect, but just look at what I have achieved.” Then one has to realise that even the capacity in the intellect is given to us, along with the possibility of achievement. Even the capacity to work hard is given to us. In spite of the capacity to work hard, some people are just not motivated. Therefore, whatever motivation we have is also given to us. Looking at our life in this way, we find that there is nothing but grace in our life. Īśvara’s grace is always there. That is a way of looking at things.
At the same time, we also need īśvara’s grace for the various unknown factors to become favourable to us. Many factors, known and unknown, influence our life. We need the favorableness of all those variables. That is called the grace of īśvara. Thus, the recognition of the grace of īśvara is extremely important for a bhakta, a devotee.
…to continue
*Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati has been teaching Vedānta Prasthānatrayī and Prakaraṇagranthas for the last 40 years in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Throughout the year, he conducts daily Vedānta discourses, accompanied by retreats, and Jñāna Yajñas on Vedānta in different cities in India and foreign countries.
