AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI reveals how a win is a loss if it takes us away from God
What do I mean by such a statementIJ How can a win be a lossIJ We try for successes, profits and victories all our lives. How can these be considered our failures, losses and defeatsIJ The following examples will make you think again.
A girl is born. She turns out to be very beautiful. It goes to her head. She spends a lot of time in caring for her looks, her figure, etc. Time passes and in spite of her best efforts crow’s feet appear on her face. The skin begins to loosen. The fat’s redistribution in the body plays havoc with the figure. She has lost the battle to look beautiful. Her beauty is like that of a flower which blooms and then withers.
A very productive cow is purchased. It gives a lot of milk and pleases its owner. However, a few years later, the milk supply begins to dry up. It cannot do what is was purchased for, ie to give a lot of milk. Similar is the story of a fruit tree. It grows, gives fruits, stops producing fruits, and then dies.
A man is physically very strong. He works on his body in a gym regularly. Then, in spite of his efforts, his muscles are no longer so strong; they have started to weaken. Then, old age catches up with him and the same muscles are no longer his friends. Similar is the case of a world athletic champion. He or she reaches his or her peak and then begins to fade. The attention he or she used to get begins to lessen till he or she is consigned to record books. Take the case of a very useful employee. When the age of retirement comes, he or she is forced to retire. One day the person was very useful to the company and the other day he or she is no longer welcome in the company.
There have been countless successful and victorious persons but death takes them all away. They have lost the final battle. The material creation is somewhat similar. It is created, it stays, and then it is destroyed. Now you will agree that no one, I mean no one, can really win any material battle; he or she will ultimately lose, ie the material success will be gone. All material successes are temporary only; they can never be permanent, and death or some other causes will surely take them away from us. And we are left ruing if we are still alive.
Does this mean that we will always be losersIJ No, there is one battle we can win, though it is a very long drawn out affair; it normally spans a few human lives, if one keeps at it. But the victory or success is assured. lord Krishna guarantees this in the verses # 2.40 and 6.45 of the Bhagavad Gita. In the verse # 2.40, He states, “Neither there is waste of effort here nor there is opposite effect.” And in the verse # 6.45, He tells us, “One, who is properly striving, achieves perfection due to practice of many births, and reaches the supreme destination.”
So what did we learnIJ That a win is a loss if it takes us away from God. Or, in other words, a material victory is always illusory and temporary; there is no permanent success in it.
Therefore, a wise person employs whatever opportunities he or she gets in getting closer to God, while doing his or her duties to maintain the body as best as possible. And as has been stated by the lord, he or she really turns victorious in the end, and does not end up a loser. I welcome your comments.
Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com