We are all small and will remain so. Only God is big and will eternally be so

Most of us wish and actively try to become big. We want to get attention as someone special. What about all the competitions? The idea is to be known as someone superior, not ordinary. There is nothing wrong with having such a feeling. How else does someone motivate themselves to try to excel, become better, etc? Do we succeed in becoming big? Let us take some examples. There is a sportsperson, who lives a very disciplined life and succeeds in winning many competitions and ultimately is ranked number one in the world. What next? He or she maintains the status for some time and then begins to lose the superiority because age catches up and someone younger beats him or her. Did he or she become big? Yes, for a brief period but not permanently. Another example is of a film star. She is glamorous. Many of her films have become hits. But over some time, she does not seem so great; some others have appeared on the scene, who are younger and prettier. So, the bigness was temporary.

This is the reality of life. We are all small without any exceptions and will remain so eternally. Only God is big and will eternally be so. Karmaphalas control us, which we have accumulated in our past. We are always doing karmas with our bodies, minds and words. These generate karmaphalas. We carry them till they come to fruition either as rewards or punishments. They are of two kinds: material and spiritual. The material kinds are under the jurisdiction of the divine authority, which works under the superintendence of God. (The Bhagavad-Geeta 9.10) God oversees the spiritual kinds, which are acts done about God such as praying and meditating. Spiritual acts put us in a higher category and bring ‘saubhagya’ (good fortune). Overall, God is the final arbiter of our lives; He controls everything.

But we remain in denial. We want to become big and control things, and pay a heavy price for it. If we become big in our eyes, others must become smaller. That is what we would like to think. What do others feel about such bigness? Bigness in the material sense evokes mixed reactions. Mostly, it is envy, which distances us from others. Then, we want to become enjoyers rather than serve others, which is what we should be doing to gain the favour of others, especially God. What does God expect from us? That we will become mediums of God for bringing good karmaphalas to other souls. Unless we do so, surely, we will distance ourselves from God. And if we try to exploit others under the false feeling of bigness/greatness, we bring punishment to ourselves. Let us examine whether we can become big. How about bad karmaphalas appearing in our lives and hurting us? If this wasn’t bad enough death comes and takes us away and all our bigness/greatness is left behind. We are relocated as determined by the divine authority. Even during our lives, there is no peace, no ‘sukha’ and no sense of security. So, what should we ideally do? The answer is to become a ‘sevaka’, i.e. one who serves others. Why? Because this earth planet has been fashioned this way. We are supposed to serve others and they are supposed to do likewise. A few examples will clarify. We go and see a doctor. He examines us and writes a prescription. You may not realize that he is serving you and we pay him for his services. Then, comes the next step of becoming spiritually inclined, which may inspire us to become social workers. That is commended very highly in the Geeta. (6.40) Some persons make good progress and take shelter from God and use all their resources in the service of mankind like Adi Shankaracharya. That is how they become big ‘sevakas’, yes big. This feeling of bigness is perfect because it is based on the reality of the creation. Such persons please everyone, most importantly, God – the only real big, it counts the most; we get all kinds of ‘saubhagya.’ Trying to become big is fine if done properly. Otherwise, all materially big persons are made to look small, as has been seen in the recent past.

(The writer is a spiritual teacher)