All of us want to achieve something glorious in life. Unfortunately, even if we achieve something special materially, whatever we achieve still leaves us prone to the twin miseries of hankering and lamenting. We hanker because, no matter what we gain, the feeling that we need to gain something more keeps dogging us. And we lament because whatever we gain is taken away by the upheavals of life – inevitably.
For an achievement to be truly glorious, it should catapult us beyond the reach of hankering and lamenting. Is there any such achievement? And can it be attained?
Yes, answers Gita wisdom to both questions.
The Bhagavad-gita (06.22) indicates that the achievement of divine trance takes us beyond the range of hankering and lamenting.
Freedom from hankering: When this trance-like state makes us lovingly absorbed in Krishna, that absorption satisfies us so completely that we realize there’s nothing more to be gained. Krishna fulfills all our heart’s longings for love, beauty and happiness so perfectly that the hankering for anything else can’t even touch our heart, leave alone torment it.
Freedom from lamenting: Worldly achievements are extrinsic to us, whereas love for Krishna is intrinsic to us as souls. It is a part of our very being; in fact, it is our original spiritual nature. That’s why no material upheaval can ever strip this gain away from us. Even when disasters strike at the material level, they don’t affect our core treasure and so can’t cause lamentation.
This supreme achievement is not only real, but is also realizable for each one of us. All that we need to do is cultivate remembrance of Krishna regularly. Over time, this remembrance will become habitual, natural and perpetual, and life’s supreme achievement will be ours.
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