Rajeev Verma, Self composed & published 1993
God was not in a good mood when He was distributing life. Till now, among the souls with whom he had distributed life, he had not found even a single person who had done good deeds in himself. Well, after a long wait my turn came. Yamraj (God of Death) handed me over to them and went for another hunt.
When God heard the account of my life, his eyebrows were raised. He looked at me with great seriousness, then took a long deep breath and said, “A son with good character, a devoted wife, a happy master, an affectionate friend, a mind free from sorrow, an attractive figure, a stable splendor, a face adorned with knowledge, all this is the happiness of God.” The sorrows and sufferings you have suffered in this life are the fruits of the remaining deeds of that life.
Hearing such a humble voice, I became emotional and said, “O God, the one who keeps her/his father happy with her/his good conduct, the one who thinks about the welfare of her/his spouse, is the wife/ husband and who remains equal in both happiness and sorrow, she/he is the true friend.” Yes, these three are attained only by virtuous men.”
Hearing this, God smiled and said, “I am giving birth to you on earth in a male form, but remember, even in suffering, do not lose your conscience. Give up craving, embrace forgiveness, give up ego, give up sin. Divert your mind, speak the truth, follow gentlemen, serve learned men, respect respectable men, keep even your haters happy, express your virtues, all these are the characteristics of good men. If you forget these, I will keep reminding you by giving you trouble from time to time, but do not forget my teachings in the worldly pleasures. Go, your mother is waiting for you on earth.” After saluting God, I went along with Yamraj to come to earth.
Then Yamraj said in the way to pass time, “I am giving policy knowledge for the public welfare. Go on earth and spread this knowledge, do good for yourself and mankind.”
“The characters that are seen in the world are not beneficial. The fruits of good deeds that go to heaven also appear to be a form of fear. There is only one truth of human life, that is death. What does man know? He knows this, that the body, the family, the world, all did not exist before and will not exist later also. But I (atma) was there before and will be there even after the body. But where do we believe this? We want to keep the body and the world. We want that the body should remain healthy, wealth should come and we should be respected. The feet of the one who lives close to God never wander. He finds true happiness and peace. As soon as we come into the light of God, all our weaknesses and sins are destroyed.
Not to cause violence to living beings, not to lose someone else’s wealth, to speak the truth, to donate as much as possible in the past, to remain silent while talking of females, to break cravings, to be polite towards teachers, to be kind to all living beings, etc. are told by all the scriptures. This is the path to welfare. Whatever amount of wealth, whether small or large, has been taken by the Creator in fate, he gets it even in the desert and he cannot get more than that. Therefore, be patiently satisfied with what you have and do not express humility in front of any rich person. See ! Put the pitcher in a well or in the sea, the water will fill the same.
There are three types of wealth: donation, enjoyment and destruction. If money is not donated or enjoyed, then it remains in the third phase only. But today in Kalyug, man thinks that the one who has money is noble, he is a scholar, he is a speaker and he is visible. That means all the qualities are dependent on wealth in the form of gold.
Deer and fish live by eating grass and drinking water respectively, yet hunters and fishermen hate them. Similarly, the wicked hate the good people without any reason. Just as the shadow is thick in the beginning of the day and gradually decreases, then towards the end of the day the shadow remains thin and increases, so is the friendship between the wicked and the gentleman.
The glory of the hands lies in donating, the glory of the head lies in paying obeisance at the feet of the Guru, the glory of the mouth lies in speaking the truth and the glory of the arms lies in displaying immense strength. For gentlemen these are all luxuries and great ornaments. Keeping charity confidential, welcoming guests at home, remaining silent after doing charity, talking about a favor done by someone else in a gathering, not being proud of receiving money, talking about others.
Not to bring condemnation, this is a strict fast like walking on the edge of a sword. Just as trees bow down when they bear fruit, similarly good men who have attained prosperity also bow down. The full lifespan of humans is a hundred years. Out of this, a person spends his time sleeping at midnight, one fourth is spent in childhood and old age and the remaining fourth is spent in illness, sorrow of separation and serving the rich etc. Then where can living beings attain happiness in this life which is so fickle like the waves of water?
Hey humans! Why do you wander here despite knowing that there are many types of pleasures in this world that give you fleeting pleasures? Effort for such momentary enjoyment is futile. Man can go to hell, heaven and eighty-four lakh births, attain knowledge, renunciation and devotion. Man misused that freedom and hence got trapped and if now he makes good use of that freedom, fulfills his needs and gives up his desires, then the work will be done absolutely right, there is not even the slightest doubt about it. If a man only respects his experience, his work will be done.
“Idam Shariram!”
Saying this, Yamraj made me enter his body and disappeared. I came down to earth again. I wish to God that there should be prosperity everywhere and the policy knowledge of Yamraj proves to be best for everyone.
RAJEEV VERMA 