On March 09, 2025 at about 9 PM, we (me and my wife) were boarding the plane for Visakhapatnam, having reached Hyderabad in the morning from Lucknow. It was a long tiring day spending hours at the airport lodge, and taking a short but enriching visit to the Statue of Equality in between.
There was another event unfolding the same moment—the final of the Champions Trophy between India and New Zealand. India was chasing a target of 250-something (probably 252). As I stood in the boarding queue with my wife in front of me, I overheard the familiar buzz of cricket commentary. Almost instinctively, my hand reached for my phone.
And then, a thought arose: Was I truly willing to trade my chanting for a mere cricket score? The temptation was strong, but wasn’t this exactly what Lord Krishna speaks of in the Bhagavad Gita—the struggle between the pull of the material world and the path of spiritual discipline?
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जना: पर्युपासते।
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम्॥ (भगवद्गीता 9.22)
"Ananyāśh chintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate,
teṣhāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣhemaṁ vahāmyaham." (Bhagwat Gita 9.22)
("To those who are constantly devoted to Me and worship Me with love, I provide what they lack and preserve what they have.")
Taking a deep breath, I withdrew my hand from my pocket and resumed my chanting. In that very moment, as if to affirm my choice, I heard a voice from behind exclaim—"163 for 3!"
It felt as though the Lord Himself was testing me, and the instant I surrendered to the mantra-mārga, He chose to fulfill my trivial desire effortlessly.
Perhaps, He was reminding me that true surrender brings all else in its wake.
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