Suppose we were invited to a feast in which everyone had slightly different delicacies on their plates. Suppose further that we got so caught in looking at what delicacies are there on whose plate as to not even notice the delicacies on our plate.

Such a pathetic misdirection frequently characterizes our present attitude towards our God-given gifts. We all have some talents – these are akin to the delicacies on our plate. But our culture often glamorizes certain talents, thereby making us crave for those talents and overlook the talents we have.

Moreover, whereas the delicacies on our plate are visible, the talents in us are often concealed. Some of our talents, we know about; some, others know about, but we don’t; and some, neither others nor we know. Given that many of our talents may be hidden, we need to discover and develop them through introspection and exploration. But introspection and exploration becomes difficult, if not impossible, when craving and lamenting consumes us emotionally.

Gita wisdom helps us counter such emotional misdirection by reminding us that we are all parts of Krishna and that he loves us for who we are, not for what we have. We can realize his love by practicing bhakti-yoga steadily.

Additionally, the Bhagavad-gita (17.16) recommends satisfaction as an austerity of the mind. Rather than treating satisfaction as an uncontrollable occasional feeling, we can cultivate it as a discipline by consciously focusing on things that stimulate satisfaction and avoiding things that trigger dissatisfaction. Instead of sighing about the gifts others have and we don’t, we can focus on discovering and developing the gifts we have.

By thus focusing on Krishna’s love and the gifts he has given us, we can gain inner satisfaction; and by tapping those gifts, we can make significant outer contribution.

To know more about this verse, please click on the image

Explanation of article:

Podcast:


Download by “right-click and save”