From Sacrifice Comes Rain
The Vedic Viewpoint and Other Spiritual Perspectives
Sacrifice actually means to offer something to God. But what can we offer to God who is the creator and owner of everything? A very nice analogy is given from the Vedic literature in this regard: Out of love for his father, a child wants to make a gift for him. So he finds some paper, glue, colored markers and other items in the house. He made a simple card and offered it to his father. His father was so pleased with the child's gift of love though it came from his home.
Similarly, we do not own anything in this world, it is all coming from God, yet we can offer things to Him with love and devotion. The lord becomes pleased with the love, intention and energy offered, which gives God great pleasure. After all He has everything, and He is only looking for our love, which He then reciprocates with us giving us great joy beyond the material conception. Krishna says in the
Bhagavad-Gita"Offer Me with love and devotion, a fruit, a flower, a leaf and I will accept it."
In the Vedic literature it explained that from sacrifice comes rain. In the age of Kali (our present age) the highest sacrifice one can perform is the congregational chanting of the Holy names of God. The Bible states in
Mathew 19:20, "
When two or more gather in my name there am I am."
The fact is on this planet we need rain and rain produces food grains and so many nice fruits and vegetables, which we can make so many food preparations from.
The Vedas state that when there is an abundance of sinful activities there will be drought or flooding or many natural disasters. There are four pillars of sins which are i.e., animal slaughter (meat eating), illicit sex, and intoxication and gambling. As long as there is animal slaughter there will be war and famine. But it is very difficult to give up these sinful activities in this age, so we must start with purification. The quickest and easiest way to purify the heart and mind according to the Vedas is the congregational chanting of the Holy names of God. This is called
Sankirtan Yajna. It doesn't matter what religion you follow-God is one. What ever bonafide name of God you know (Krishna, Allah, Jehovah, Rama, Gauranga) you should chant. There are many references in the Christian Bible in
Psalms, to
"Make a joyful sound unto the lord."
If we want to cure the water shortage, we should all come together to chant the names of God, and we will get the rain we need. This is confirmed in the Vedic literature. Everyone should organize at least a half an hour a day to chant and sing the names of God. The more people are chanting the names of God the fewer problems there will be in the world. Eventually the world would be completely purified and the Iron Age of Kali would turn into the Golden age which is possible only with this chanting process. If everyone was chanting this earth would become like the spiritual world and there would be no lack of anything. If one wants to accelerate the purification process the most recommended combination of names is the
Hare Krishna Mantra, also known as the Great mantra for deliverance.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna KrishnaKrishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Krishna has the potency of all of the names of God in one. Hare is the feminine energy of God and Rama is the pleasure potency of God, so it is complete. These names attract his attention immediately and are non different than He Himself. By chanting these names you are in direct contact with God. He becomes most pleased with this sacrifice and reciprocates according to your sincerity. Gradually one naturally gives up their lower nature for their higher nature and all sinful activities cease to exist.
Gather some friends or family and chant the holy names together sincerely, and so many other wonderful things will come into your life and all the dark clouds will eventually go away.
By Jayasri Radha
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