Srimad Bhagavatam – day 613
How does poverty cause transformation in a person?
Krishna
Maharishi Nārada thought, “In this world, arrogance and pride do not exist in the poor. In fact, every form of pride distances from a penniless man”.
In all, there are 64 or 65 different types of pride. Arrogance should not exist even at the subtlest levels.
He further thought, “When unexpectedly, unimaginable difficulties land on the head of the conceited, problems themselves transform into penance”.
If a rich man is suddenly reduced to a state of penury, the spiritual transformation that takes place in him is unimaginable! Purandaradasa reached that sublime state wherein he wandered from town to town glorying Krishna. Thousands of his compositions on Lord Krishna were noted down by his disciples. Each composition imparts valuable lessons.
Even Swamiji’s compositions are filled with invaluable lessons. Some bhajans are purely to glorify the Lord; some bhajans impart spiritual lessons in addition to glorifying Him; some bhajans incorporate the discussion between the devotee and the Lord along with glorifying Him and there are some bhajans which can be sung easily in any language. In addition, Swamiji has composed bhajans in vernacular languages such as Tamil, Hindi etc. Some bhajans are in the form of mantras. If such bhajans are repeatedly sung, the devotee’s bond with the Supreme Lord strengthens.
Maharishi Nārada thought, “The transformation undergone by a poverty-ridden person is immense!”
Due to lack of food, his body shrinks by the day. At times, days pass before he can obtain a decent meal. Lack of food causes him to lose consciousness; at times, he becomes incapacitated to complete the given chores. What will such person ever seek in life apart from food and water? He, who was soaking in riches previously is now willing to do any menial work for food. He agrees to serve his previous employees. In that penniless pitiable condition, he begs, ‘I do not need any wages for my work. Sir, please give me food to eat. That’s all I ask’.
“Lack of food weakens his sense-organs”.
Only pure food (satvik) transforms into life-force (prana). Killing other living entities for filling one’s stomach is totally forbidden. In the absence of food, one can eat leaves and survive. Starving to death is preferable than killing any animal for food.
While plants do not try to escape when being cut, animals run away in order to escape the axe as they consider their life very dear. For this reason, eating plants is acceptable as per the Scriptures, while killing animals is forbidden.
Due to non-sharing of food with the needy in the past, the person’s balance of merit reduces to zero. Had he accumulated some merit earlier by feeding the poor, it would have prevented him from experiencing hunger pangs now. From this, the importance of poor-feeding is understood. Chitragupta, the accountant-assistant of Yama, the Lord of death, is perfect in maintaining the account of merits and sins every living entity. He is far more efficient than even the best accountant on earth. If we have some balance of merit to our credit, Chitragupta sincerely records it in our account statement. This becomes useful at a later date when we are in dire need. If our account shows zero merit, then in what way can Chitragupta help us?
“Poverty weakens and debilitates the senses. He who suffers due to lack of energy cannot harm others”.
Can a person, who lacks energy, ever harm other living entity? It is impossible.
“Not harming other living entities becomes a penance in itself. He respects all saintly persons. He begins to treat all people alike, just as saints do”.
As God resides within every living being, saints treat everyone alike. No living entity should be harmed as God resides therein. The penniless person obtains the wisdom that God resides within everyone. Likewise, irrespective of whether he is rich or poor, any human being who is on the verge of death refrains from killing even a hen. Being on the verge of death, he automatically sympathizes with it which is on the verge of death. God causes this realization to automatically dawn in him, without him reading any book on the subject, or being taught about it and without any form of external learning. The Guru who is seated within teaches him.
“The penniless person alone gets the chance to associate and live amidst noble saints”.
In Haridwar and Rishikesh, 99% of the mendicants are truly noble. Only 1% are deceitful. These Sadhus of Haridwar were wealthy in the past. Having been reduced to penury, they now seek alms along with real saints. In this process of seeking food, they mingle with true saints.
The penniless person who has lost all his wealth, who is suffering due to hunger-pangs and whose senses are all weakened, mingles with noble saints, listens to them and lives amidst them. He, who once upon a time, slept in air-conditioned room on soft mattress covered with silky bed spreads, now sleeps amidst these saints on rocky barren surfaces braving the extremities of weather. He who was attended to by many servants in the past, now sleeps by the roadside, awakens every morning and proceeds to some ashrama where free food is served.
Had he cultivated these noble qualities when he was wealthy, his wealth would never have gone away. The Lord would have ensured its protection because it is extremely rare for a wealthy person to be virtuous in nature.
Narayana