Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s Explanation for Why We Need God in Our Lives
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, a revered spiritual leader and profound Hindu scholar, dedicated his life to imparting the wisdom of the Vedic scriptures. Through his teachings, he emphasized the boundless nature of divine love and the importance of seeking spiritual fulfillment over worldly desires. In one of his enlightening speeches, he explained:
“Philosophically, you can worship any form of God. There is no difference because all the forms of God are various forms of one single God. God has uncountable powers and many classes of blissfulness; accordingly, there are many forms of God.
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What happened when Krishn appeared in Gokul? God Shiv was sitting in Kailash in His own samadhi and He discovered, “Oh, Krishn has appeared in India in Braj in Gokul. I must go and have His darshan.” When He came and saw Krishn, Their eyes met. Shiv felt so much love He couldn’t control himself and He began to dance. He danced for hours and hours and hours. God Shiv is the God of liberation, the God of Vaikunth abode. That same God Shiv is desiring Krishn love? Yes. This is a Divine secret. The supreme absolute Bliss, the form of that Bliss, is Krishn Himself.
During the descension of Krishn, all the Gods and Goddesses came to have His darshan and enjoy His leelas and blessings. Maha Lakshmi came to Braj and stayed there forever, serving Krishn and giving prosperity. All the forms of God serve Krishn. It means that Krishn love is something so sweet that it is desired by even Divine Gods and Goddesses. We want the best, and Krishn love is the best, even in the Divine world.
In the world there are limitations. There is small and big. In the Divine world, there is no big and small. All the forms of God are unlimited. In the Divine realm, everything is unlimited, and everything is absolute, but in Krishn love there is a special charm. For example, one devotee is seeing Bhagwan Vishnu and another devotee is seeing Bhagwan Krishn. Vishnu and Krishn’s form is very similar. Same face, same complexion, same eyes, nose, and ears, same height. There is only one difference, Vishnu has 4 arms and Krishn has 2 arms. When the devotee is seeing Bhagwan Vishnu he feels a great thrill of joy-so much happiness he can’t bear it. The other devotee who is seeing Bhagwan Krishn is feeling the same thrill of joy, bliss, and happiness plus something extra: intimate love, intimacy. “Oh, my Krishn!” He can go and hug Him. The devotee of Bhagwan Vishnu cannot do that. There is happiness, but no intimacy. There is some distance.
Suppose in the world, there is a very pretty woman who happens to be 40 years old. She’s very pretty, very beautiful. Two boys are looking at her. Both think she is very beautiful, but one says, “She is very beautiful, and she is also my mother.” Beauty plus a relationship, that’s the difference. Mother Yashoda loved Bhagwan Krishn as her child. The Brajwasis loved Krishn as their own playmate. The Gopis loved Krishn as their heart, mind and soul. He was their everything. In Krishn love, one has more intimacy than the experience of love with other forms of God like Bhagwan Vishnu, Durga, Shiv or Ganesh. This is something very special. This is the best in the Divine world, and we want the best.
Secondly, if we worship God, we should ask Him for His love, not for worldly things. As I said, the best is not in this world. The best is only in God. So, you have to ask Him for His love. We normally ask for worldly things from God. We don’t care which form of God we approach, Shiv, Durga or Ganesh Bhagwan, etc. We don’t care which temple we go to. We just keep asking for worldly things. “Oh Ganesh Bhagwan, please give me some wealth. Oh God Shiv, please give me some happiness. Oh Bhagwan Ram, please give me some prosperity.”
In your life, you have seen ups and downs, happiness and disappointments, good times and bad times. Were you ever fully contented in your life? Sometimes, for a short while, but not for very long. That’s the nature of the world; it will keep on going like this forever, unceasingly, without fail. You cannot find real happiness in the world -ever. We have to change our way of thinking. Desire God’s love from God, nothing else. Do not desire worldly things from God. Decide that we must find God’s love in this very life, then you become a true seeker of God.”