Our scriptures are filled with many conclusions, analogies, and stories. But the ultimate purpose of all these examples and teachings is to help us develop love for Kṛṣṇa.
Living in this material world while practicing spiritual life, our twofold goal is to:
Develop love for Kṛṣṇa, and cultivate distaste, or at least indifference for the material energy.
This simultaneous process of attachment to Kṛṣṇa and detachment from illusion is mentioned as artha-pravṛtti and anartha-nivṛtti respectively.
Soft Like Butter, Hard Like Stone
We need to develop a heart that is soft like butter for Kṛṣṇa, but sometimes hard like stone when it comes to dealing with the material energy.
Man is compared to butter, and woman to fire. Even if butter is kept in a refrigerator for 60,000 years like in the case of Vishwamitra, it will still melt when exposed to fire. Similarly, the heart of a conditioned soul, however hard it may be, melts instantly in front of material enjoyment.
A Misplaced Melting
When the heavenly society girl Urvaśī appeared before King Purūravā, his heart melted like butter. He became completely enchanted by her beauty.
But, when he later performed austerities and had darśana of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, astonishingly, his heart did not melt. How amazing is this! I was thinking about this fact, and quite astonished.
The Bhāgavatam describes the Lord as –
snigdha-prāvṛḍ-ghana-śyāmaṁ
sarva-saundarya-saṅgraham
The Lord’s beauty resembles a dark cloud during the rainy season. As the rainfall glistens, His bodily features also glisten. Indeed, He is the sum total of all beauty. SB 4.24.45
At another place, the Lord is described as ‘lavanya-saram’ or the essence of loveliness. (SB 10.44.14)
Even after having the darsana of such a beautiful form of the Supreme Lord, Purūravā’s heart did not melt. Because, in actuality, he did not see the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His vision was clouded by Urvasi’s beautiful features, and in front of that beauty, even the beauty of the Supreme Lord faded away.
The Tragedy of a Conditioned Heart
We may feel bad seeing the case of Pururava, but unfortunately, we also belong to a similar category. We also see the Supreme Lord daily. Krishna is there in His deity form, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is non-different from Krishna Himself, and most importantly, Krishna is fully present in His holy name. Our eyes, ears, tongue, and mind all come in touch with the Lord in various ways on a day-to-day basis.
Yet, how unfortunate it is that our hearts remain like stone in front of Kṛṣṇa, and like butter in front of even the faintest stimuli of material pleasure. The reason – We are clouded by material desires in various forms.
We must think – Where do we want our hearts to melt?
Before Kṛṣṇa, or before the countless lures of sense gratification?
Sense gratification can never satisfy us. But Kṛṣṇa can. Therefore, we must heartily approach Krishna each and every single day, with tears in our eyes, with desperation and longing in our heart, and with determination in our intellect. Then, we can also melt before Krishna and remain like a stone, unfazed, in front of the countless temptations of sense gratification.
