Peace, prayers and eclipses

 Hari Aum.

As we all know, there are all sorts of wars currently being waged on our planet, some that have been ongoing for years and some more recent ones. And of course one major war that is presently taking place is the one in Eastern Europe. Unfortunately this is showing no signs of abating; there seems to be only escalation. 

For now, scenes of war are limited to our television screens. The hideous images of destruction and bloodshed look like something out of a violent video game except that sadly, they are very real. Although we may not directly be caught up in this (we are all indirectly affected by the economic fallout etc), a time may come when we very well may be. This war, like all wars, has the potential to escalate very significantly. The recent news regarding this currently is not at all encouraging.

There are a couple of eclipses coming up soon. The first one (solar) is on October 25, which happens to be the day of Diwali. The three days prior to this date is also regarded as a sacred time. After this, there is an eclipse (lunar) on November 8. As I've mentioned in other posts, eclipses are a particularly good time to perform spiritual practice for one's own spiritual progress and for the welfare of the world as a whole. They are a very good time to pray for peace in the world. 

As Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (chapter 2, verse 47-- please see below for the verse with translation by my Guru Sivananda and the relevant link):

"Karmanyevaadhikaaraste maa phaleshu kadaachana;

Maa karmaphalahetur bhoor maa te sango’stwakarmani."

"Thy right is to work only, but never with its fruits; let not the fruits of actions be thy motive, nor let thy attachment be to inaction."

https://www.dlshq.org/download/bhagavad-gita/

Essentially this means that we are expected to do our duty, and leave the rest in the hands of God. It is not for us to dictate what should and should not happen in this universe. However, we absolutely do have both a right and a duty to pray for peace, for happiness, for good sense and good ethics for ourselves and other living beings. Our duty is to pray to God and let Him/Her decide what to do. This is the way of surrendering our little wills before the Will of God, this is one way of being an instrument of God.

Based on our scriptures, God responds strongly to our collective prayers. An example is the arrival of the Krishna avatar. Just prior to His manifestation, an evil king called Kamsa had ordered a mass massacre of newborn babies. The horrific and heinous nature of this crime and the resulting sincere prayers of people for protection led to the hastening of the arrival of the Krishna avatar of Narayana to resolve these problems (He re-established dharma/righteousness on Earth and destroyed all evil during this manifestation). This is only one example of the response of God to the prayers of many people for help and protection; there are countless others that are described in all the world religions.

The Earth continues to face many challenges today. Various world leaders, filled with egoism and ignorance, have started this war in Europe. A war, which many experts say, could quite easily escalate into an all-out World War. The political leaders of many countries today make unhelpful, unnecessary and inflammatory statements and instigate each other to wage war. As Lord Krishna says in the Gita, there are various people born on the Earth who come here with the sole purpose of destruction; they come to wreak havoc here and destroy any peace and happiness. 

As we know, wars usually have no real winners. And a nuclear war, which some leaders are threatening each other with, would have absolutely no victors at all. It would merely destroy everything and render the Earth completely unfit for living.

Let us remember that five Pandavas with Lord Krishna on their side defeated one hundred evil-minded Kauravas. Strength does not merely exist in numbers, it exists where dharma is present.

As the final verse of the Gita says: 

"Yatra yogeshwarah krishno yatra paartho dhanurdharah;

Tatra shreervijayo bhootirdhruvaa neetirmatirmama."

"Wherever there is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, wherever there is Arjuna, the archer, there are prosperity, happiness, victory and firm policy; such is my conviction."

Let us therefore do some additional daily prayers for world peace from today. And also, do some special prayers during the upcoming eclipses and spiritual festivals such as Diwali for the peace of the world, for this war to come to an end. The current lunar month, known as Kartika, is regarded as particularly sacred and an ideal time for prayer and worship.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.