Spiritual Thoughts About the Rain
Today we look upon rain only from a convenience and inconvenience point of view. We know that rain should be there, otherwise the taps are going to run dry at the onset of next summer.
So rain should be there, but not to the extent that it inconveniences us. It should not rain when we are going out, when there is a cricket match, when there is a marriage in the family. It can rain on regular working days when we are indoors—that is okay. This is how we look at rain now.
Our children sing "Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Another Day," when it suits us. Our wise elders had a holistic perception—not just about rain, but about everything. The Tamil saint poet Thiruvalluvar talks about the importance of rains in Thirukkural. He says rain itself is nectar, what you call amrita, because that is what sustains life in the world.
Rain is so important—no rain means no life. Rain produces food. In the food chain, plants come first. Plants are the primary source of food. Without rain, no plants, meaning no food. So our sustenance itself is dependent on rain.
Moreover, rain forms part of food: drinking water, water that cooks. The primary source of drinking water is rain. The primary source of water that we drink and with which we cook is rain. We are surrounded by oceans, but that water is not of any direct use to us because it is salty. So every drop of water we drink comes from rain.
The saint says without rain, also, there will be pralaya (deluge), but a pralaya of hunger, which will consume everything, destroy everything. The plows in the field cease to move if the clouds withhold their wealth. Their wealth that they share with us is rain.
Rain ruins at times through excessive rain—floods. It ruins crops, it ruins dwelling places, life. But rain alone can revive what it has ruined. There is no other power which can revive what rain has ruined. Without the raindrops, there won't be a blade of grass on Earth.
Oceans look huge and self-sufficient—they are not. They are in constant interaction with the rain clouds. They give water to rain clouds and get back water in the form of rain. They act in synchrony, in harmony.
Even the divinity takes care that it rains, otherwise all worship and festivities which are meant for the divinity would stop from below, from Earth. No rain, no food, no celebration, no offerings, no yajna, no naivedya. So it is also in the divinity's interest that it rains in time and in right quantity.
No rain means no charity, no generosity. Who will give if there is nothing to give? This great aspect of humanity that is giving, sharing, will be wiped out if there is no rain.
Even detachment of the sanyasi will not be possible in the absence of rain. He can remain focused on his sadhana only if he gets that fistful of bhiksha that he gets, which has to originate from a generous hand, or that single fruit that he needs which is there on the tree. In the absence of rain, neither of these will be there. Abstinence is by choice. You can abstain when food is available. In the absence of food, in total hunger, there cannot be abstinence, there cannot be detachment.
Let's say two weeks with absolutely nothing to eat—a group of men, ordinary men, and one man who has denounced the world or trying to denounce the world. And suddenly one packet of food drops from the sky—only one packet. Twenty men among whom is one man who is trying to denounce the world. Will he or will he not also join the fight for that packet? After two weeks of hunger, imagine. If he has not, he must have already succeeded. But for someone who is trying to denounce the world, that will not be possible. So even for denouncing food, food is required in small quantity, and for food, rain is required.
No water means no life on Earth. So no rain, no water, no life on Earth. This much is the importance of rain. So next time you swear at rain that comes when you're about to venture out of your home, think about all this.
English
Practical Wisdom
Click on any topic to open
7
30
Astrology
Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavatam
Bharat Matha
Devi
Devi Mahatmyam
Ganapathy
Garuda Puranam
Glory of Venkatesha
Hanuman
Kathopanishad
Mahabharatam
Mantra Shastra
Mystique
Practical Wisdom
Purana Stories
Radhe Radhe
Ramayana
Rare Topics
Rigveda Explained
Rituals
Sages and Saints
Shiva
Spiritual books
Sri Suktam
Story of Sri Yantra
Temples
Vedas
Vishnu Sahasranama
Yoga Vasishta
26
17
10
0
