A SPIRITUAL INVESTMENT

Making financial investments is a crucial requirement nowadays for everyone
considering the unsteady economic conditions now. We try to invest our
money in bank, in the form of saving certificates, insurance or pension
policies. Insurance policies are meant to provide financial assistance to
our families after we die/after policy maturity. Also we invest in
houses/real estate so that our dependants can enjoy these assets even after
we leave this world/ make use of the asset for their living. But
unfortunately, there is no investment/insurance scheme offered by banks or
insurance companies, which will accompany us after we die. The scriptures
point out the spiritual investment we can make in this connection and this
investment will protect us even after death.

In the Mahabharata, Vidura instructs Dhrtarashtra about handing over the
kingdom back to the Pandavas. Their conversation lasted for an entire night
and this is popularly known as Vidura Niti. In this section, Mahatma Vidura
explains how one should perform activities in this world in the following
sloka in Mahabharata Udyoga Parva.

*divasenaiva tat kuryaad yena raatrau sukham vaset
ashta maasena tat kuryaad yena varshaah sukham vaset

purve vayasi tat kuryaad yena vriddhasukham vaset
yaavat jivena tat kuryaad yena pretya sukham vaset
*
"*Do those activities during the day, which will make you to pass the night
in happiness; and do those activities during eight months of the year,
which will enable you to pass the rainy season happily. Do those activities
during youth which will ensure a happy old age; and do those activities
during your life in this world, which will enable you to achieve eternal
life after death*."

There is an interesting story in this regard. A beggar entered into a
foreign country (island) where he was resting under a tree. The people of
the island were looking for a person to be their king. The priests in the
island arranged for an elephant in the temple to carry a garland and
whoever is garlanded by the elephant would be the king. The elephant chose
the beggar and garlanded him and he became the king. He was quiet happy to
see the opulent palaces with all arrangements for nice arrangements and
everyone at his beck and call. At that time an old man came to him and
said, "See young man, the rule of this island is that you can be the king
here only for 5 years. After this, the people will send you to an unmanned
island which is far from here. This same fate happened to all kings who
were selected before you. So all of the enjoyment you have here is
temporary." The king became shocked and enquired,"What happened to those
kings who were sent to that island?". The old man replied, "There is lot of
wild animals in that island. So they might have killed them. Same will be
your fate after 5 years." The king was scared and asked the old man what to
do. The old man said, "Please rule the kingdom to the best of your ability
and at the same time start doing developments in that island where you will
be sent after 5 years. In these 5 years the people will listen to you and
carry out whatever you say. Please utilize it. Ensure that the island is a
perfect place to live by that time. I instructed the same thing to the
previous kings. No one listened to me and they wailed away the 5 years
enjoying the kingly life. At least you don’t repeat that mistake." The king
took this instruction seriously and he first sent a batch of soldiers to
clear out the forest area and fence it. Then in the second year he sent
workers to the island to construct a beautiful township with all
facilities. Then in the next year he sent farmers to create fields and
growing crops. In the next year he sent a good number of people to live
there. In this way he was making constant developments in the unmanned
island. As expected, the people expelled the king and send him to the
unmanned island. But by this time, the island was a beautiful township and
many people were waiting to receive him. The king just landed their and
started his new life happily thanks to the old man's advice.

In this story we can see that the king utilized his temporary tenure very
wisely under the guidance of the old man. In the same way after attaining
the human form of life, one should make this spiritual investment under the
guidance of the pure devotees of the Lord, since the human body with all
the senses and faculty of advanced intelligence is very suitable for God
realization. When they're in good working condition if we engage them in
devotional service, we can accrue permanent spiritual assets which can take
us back to the Lord's eternal abode. Sometimes, the investment we make in
financial market may not give us the expected result. The stock market may
crash or the money we get from our investments may be lost in medical
treatment if we get a terminal disease. However there is no loss or
diminution of investment in this spiritual endeavor as the Lord personally
takes care of our spiritual advancement as stated in the Bhagavad Gita
(2.40).

*nehaabhikrama nasho’sti / pratyavaayo na vidyate
svalpam apyasya dharmasya / traayate mahato bhayaat
*
"*In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement
on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear*."

"SARVAM SHRI KRISHNAARPANAMASTHU"!