Akaran Karun - Shri Krishna
Akaran Karun is a Sanskrit phrase which literally means, “causelessly merciful” aka one does not need a reason to bestow grace". He bestows grace with no expectation of ever receiving anything in return. This attribute is one of the countless traits of Shri Krishna. In addition, God-realized saints are also Akaran Karun.
Apart from God and God realized saints, all other living beings are under the control of Maya so they do not experience the unlimited bliss which is God Himself. They are incessantly in search of that bliss or anand (आनंद). This innate desire is so overpowering that until they attain this anand they cannot spare a moment to think of anything else let alone do anything for the betterment of others. So, their seemingly philanthropic actions are also for the sole purpose of attaining self-happiness.
Anand is God. Anand is not a name given to God, instead it is His natural epithet. In other words, God is anand and anand is God. So, until God-realization no living being can even attempt to be Akaran Karun. Let us reflect if Akaran Karun name is befitting for Shri Krishna. 1. God's Omnipresence manifests in three ways –
a. He becomes the divine world,
b. He is present inside each and every particle of the Sansaar-The World, and
c. He lives inside our hearts and notes down all our actions.
He takes a note of all the thoughts that go through our mind, most of which do not translate into physical actions. He determines our destiny based on our actions; thoughts are actions. (1)
During our life as human beings, we perform different kinds of actions - good, bad and devotional. Good and bad actions increase our karmic bondage, while devotional actions, take us closer to God. If God did not sit in our hearts to observe our actions, He would not be able to grant us the fruits of our actions. Devotional actions continue to accumulate life after life. These accumulated devotional actions eventually lead us face to face with God, releasing us from the clutches of Maya forever. On the other hand, good and bad actions get destroyed after bearing their undesirable fruits, which are painful reminders of the wrong choices we make in life – of choosing Maya over God and an inspiration to choose the path of God to escape these miseries forever.2. God Almighty very meticulously observes and records all our actions. Even though most of our actions are inspired by anger, passion, greed, jealousy, and malice, He does not give up observing and maintaining these records. Imagine, if someone with a master’s degree is offered a good salary for a janitorial job, do you think he would ever gladly accept it?Imagine, if someone with a master’s degree is offered a good salary for a janitorial job, do you think he would ever gladly accept it?Then why does the Supreme Lord of the universe toil day and night to observe and record each of our actions, most of which are bad?
Simply put, it is “because of love”. He wants us to be delivered from the afflictions of Maya. That’s why He stays right behind us with His arms open wide ready to embrace us. He awaits the moment when the jeev will turn around and He will embrace and bestow His unlimited divine bliss upon the jeev forever and always.But unfortunately, we don’t pause to listen to the messengers of God (see Saint or imposter) who have attained the bliss. Instead, in search of this bliss we keep running after the sansaar - the world, which is a manifestation of inert Maya hence has no bliss in it. As a result of our obsession with Maya we turn away from God, who is happiness personified. Also, He is eager to bestow His grace on everyone who approaches Him. But what can He do, if we are adamant on running away from Him? 3. We are totally unaware of what good or bad actions we have committed in our previous lifetimes. The allmerciful-God not only records our actions, but also judiciously grants us the fruits of those actions.4. Even if a person who has been hostile to God all through his life, turns towards God much later in life, God lovingly accepts the person. He burns the sins and records of all of the past insults the person had hurled upon God. Who can be more graceful than God?5. From the moment a soul attains God-realization, He bestows all of His powers upon His devotee; like unlimited divine knowledge, unlimited bliss, His divine abode and His 8 main powers (2)
अपहृत्पाप्मा, विजरो, विमृत्युर्विशोको विजिघत्सोऽपिपासः सत्यकामः सत्य संकल्पः ।
apahr̥tpāpmā, vijarō, vimr̥tyurviśōkō vijighatsō’pipāsḥ satyakāmḥ satya saṅkalpḥ .
In the words of Tulasidas,
जानत तमुहिं तमुहिं ह्वै जाई ॥
jānata tamuhiṁ tamuhiṁ hvai jāī .
“Those who know You, become like You”. Even though the jeev is infinitesimally small and insignificant as compared to God, God bestows all of His powers to the fullest extent upon that jeev. He doesn’t hold back anything. What an awesome grace! 6. Not only that, He exalts His devotees by these words –
अनुब्रजाम्यहं नित्यं पूयेयेत्यंघ्रिरेणुभिः ॥
anubrajāmyahṁ nityṁ pūyēyētyaṅghrirēṇubhiḥ .
"I walk behind my devotees, so that their foot dust may fall on Me, and I will be purified." (3) I walk behind my devotees, so that their foot dust may fall on Me, and I will be purified.7. He also secretly serves His devotees, sometimes even as a servant just because of His akaran karun nature. (4) 8. Further, He says,
यत्मकर्मभिर्यत्तपसा ज्ञान्वैराग्यतश्च यत् । योगेनदानधर्मेण श्रेयोभिरितरैरपि ॥
भाग ११.२०.३२ एवं भ.र.सिं.
yatmakarmabhiryattapasā jñānvairāgyataśca yat . yōgēnadānadharmēṇa śrēyōbhiritarairapi .
bhāga 11.20.32 ēvṁ bha.ra.siṁ.
सर्वं मद्भक्तियोगेन मद्भक्तो लभतेंजसा । स्वर्गापवर्गं मद्धाम कथंचिद् यदि वांछति ॥
sarvṁ madbhaktiyōgēna madbhaktō labhatēñjasā .
svargāpavargṁ maddhāma kathañcid yadi vāñchati .
"The devotees of The Supreme Lord attain the rewards of following the path of Karma, Gyan, Yoga and any other foreseeable means".
God is so merciful, whenever someone sincerely calls out to Him from the bottom of their heart, He reaches there immediately without sparing a moment. Once we call Him wholeheartedly, He would appear and enrich us with unlimited divine bliss forever. You might point out that He does everything for His surrendered devotees only. If He doesn’t need a reason to grace, then He should be unbiased to others as well and bestow His grace in general. The understanding of this is given next.
9. God does bestow general grace (सामान्य कृपा) on every jeev. He provides the same water, air, space, earth and fire to everyone. He provides all the necessary things to all without discriminating against jeev based on their caste, creed, knowledge, deeds or species of life. God has the power to resolve that “may water become poison for those who do not believe in Me” and that will come true. But He never ever did that since the beginning of times. (4)
अजगर करे न चाकरी पंछी करे न काम । दास मलूका कह गये सबके दाता राम ।
ajagara karē na cākarī pañchī karē na kāma . dāsa malūkā kaha gayē sabakē dātā rāma .
“Python does not serve any-one and birds do not earn a living. Yet, He provides food to the animals and birds alike. Saint Maluka, says God blesses everyone”. This is called general grace which is on all, regardless of their disposition towards God.
10. Many of us have found ourselves in situations where we were stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no-one to ask for help, but then someone appeared from somewhere to help us. It is God who comes in disguise to save us and disappears thereafter without claiming any credit. We later realize and say, “Apparently God Himself came to save me at this time.” But we are so ungrateful that as soon as the problem is solved we forget the grace.Shri Krishna does so much for us despite being fully self-complacent i.e. He has no unfulfilled desires so on one can do anything to benefit Him. Yet, He serves us, so we can become blissful. There should not be a grain of doubt that He is Akaran Karun.
God is Akaran Karun. It is we who have not yet called Him wholeheartedly. After Gajraj surrendered, he called for Hari. Shri Krishna reached there to help when Gajraj said, “Ha” and Gajraj completed “ri” after seeing Him. (2). I believe you understand the meaning of “wholeheartedly”. It means there must not exist any hope of support from anyone or anything else except Shri Krishna.
If you want to witness the Akaran Karun attribute of Shri Krishna, be humble and innocently call Him from the innermost core of your heart. He would come. If you call Him just to test Him, you would never be successful.