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Supreme Reliance on God and Freedom from Anxiety

का चिन्ता मम जीवने यदि हरिर्विश्वम्भरो गीयते
नो चेदर्भकजीवनाय जननीस्तन्यं कथं निःसरेत् ।।
इत्यालोच्य मुहुर्मुहुर्यदुपते लक्ष्मीपते केवलं
त्वत्पादाम्बुजचिन्तनेन सततं कालो मया नीयते ।।

kā cintā mama jīvane yadi harir-viśvambharo gīyate
no ced-arbhaka-jīvanāya jananī-stanyaṁ kathaṁ niḥsaret |
ityālocya muhur-muhur-yadupate lakṣmīpate kevalaṁ
tvat-pādāmbuja-cintanena satataṁ kālo mayā nīyate ||
– Chāṇakyanīti 10.17

Translation:

What anxiety can there be in my life when Lord Hari is sung or praised as the all-pervading and all-sustaining? Or else (if the Lord is not all-sustaining), how will the mother’s breast secrete for nourishing the life of the newborn? Pondering over this truth again and again, O Lord Yadupati (Krishna), Lakshmīpati (Viṣṇu), time is passed by me remaining exclusively, in the constant thought of Your Lotus-feet.

Points for Introspection:

Our life is full of anxiety and fear. Irresistibly we keep on worrying about the future. “Will everything be alright for me, my family, house, property, profession?” – these are the underlying thoughts in the mind of everyone amidst all activities one is engaged in.

At every step, we plan our life to flow in a particular manner, thinking that it will bring happiness and a sense of security to our minds. We strive hard to fulfil our desired plans. In the process, we suffer anxiety, tension and fear. ‘What if everything does not turn out to be in the manner we want?’ – thinking like this, very often we feel insecure, hopeless and even agitated.

We feel secure only when we have money, power, relatives, friends, name and fame etc. We rely and depend on these exterior possessions thinking that they will help and protect us in difficulties. But, is that the right thinking? Ignorantly, we seek our support and security in external things, forgetting the truth that God is the Supreme support in human life.

Every creature is a creation of God. When a child is in the mother’s womb, it is God’s supreme and invisible power that looks after the child every moment, providing nutrition to it through the mother and making it grow steadily till the baby steps out into this world. Does the mother or anybody else have any role in the growth of the foetus?

Creation being God’s own play, God takes the responsibility of every creature. That is why, not only does God look after the child in the mother’s womb, but also supplies milk to the mother’s breast in order to feed the little baby as soon as it is born. Nobody else has to play any role in that; neither do we have to remind God for making this arrangement. It is His most natural way to look after his creation.

Unfortunately, we neither are aware nor do we remember this fact. We do not remember the truth that having been created by Him, we are always under His loving gaze. He is the one who looks after our supreme wellbeing and knows exactly what is needed for us and when.

God is the helmsman of our lives. Because we forget this truth, we experience a doership for everything that happens in life. And because of this doership, we are always anxious, struggling constantly to understand in which way we should steer our lives so that life will be joyful and secure. We must remember that however much we make plans for our lives, nothing is in our control. In reality, it is God who steers and controls our lives.

This śloka is the song of a devotee who has deeply realized that God is the one who sustains our lives and that He alone has to be relied upon. So, the devotee sings in supreme devotion, “What is there for me to worry about in this life when I know God to be ‘Viśvambhara’—the one who sustains the world. If He is not, who then makes mother’s breast secrete milk in order to feed the newborn?… …”

The devotee sings this śloka with an intense conviction that whichever way life flows, one has to live this life performing all duties which God gives, remembering the holy lotus feet of God constantly. Relying completely on the Viśvambhara-nature of God and removing all kinds of doer-ship, life can be led without any worry or anxiety. Whatever is best needed in one’s life will be looked after by God.

Chanting this śloka throughout the day in the midst of all activities, will remove unwanted worries, reminding us of those holy lotus feet where we can place all our worries and be relieved. Gradually the mind gets filled with the feeling of supreme reliance on God.

Word Meaning:

का (kā) – what; चिन्ता (cintā) – anxiety, anxious thought; मम (mama) – my; जीवने (jīvane) – in life; यदि (yadi) – if; हरिः (hariḥ) – Lord Hari; विश्वम्भरः (viśvambharaḥ) – all-bearing, all sustaining; गीयते (gīyate) – is sung or praised; नो चेद्(no ced) – if not; अर्भक-जीवनाय (arbhaka-jīvanāya) – for the (sustenance of the) life of the child (newborn); जननीस्तनयं (jananī-stanyam) – mother’s breast; कथं (katham) – how; निःसरेत् (niḥsaret) – shall flow, secrete; इति (iti) – thus, in this manner; आलोच्य (ālocya) – pondering, reflecting upon; मुहुर्मुहुः (muhur-muhuḥ) – again and again; यदुपते (yadupate) – Lord of the Yadus, Krishna; लक्ष्मीपते (lakshmīpate) – Lord of Lakshmi, Viṣṇu; केवलं (kevalam) – exclusively, alone, only; त्वत् पादाम्बुजचिन्तनेन (tvat pādāmbuja-cintanena) – by the thought of your Lotus feet; सततं (satatam) – always, constantly; कालः (kālaḥ) – time; मया (mayā) – by me; नीयते (nīyate) – is led.

अन्वयः

का चिन्ता मम जीवने यदि हरिः विश्वम्भरः गीयते । नो चेद् अर्भकजीवनाय जननीस्तनयं कथं निःसरेत् । हे यदुपते, हे लक्ष्मीपते मुहुर्मुहुः इति आलोच्य केवलं त्वत् पादाम्बुजचिन्तनेन सततं कालः मया नीयते ।

kā cintā mama jīvane yadi hariḥ viśvambharaḥ gīyate. no ced arbhakajīvanāya jananī-stanyam katham niḥsaret. hey yadu-pate, hey lakshmī-pate muhur-muhuḥ  iti ālocya kevalam  tvat pādāmbuja-cintanena satatam kālaḥ mayā nīyate.