For a spiritually rich life, it is important for one to practise staying in touch with God regularly and permanently. Approaching God just in moments of distress is like a quick fix — it can only give temporary relief, writes AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI

Lord Krishna states in the verse # 7.16 of the Bhagavad-Geeta that four kinds of virtuous people worship Me. These are: a distressed person, an inquisitive man, a seeker of wealth and a wise person. Let us keep in mind that the Lord calls all of them virtuous. Then, in the next verse, the Lord states, “Of those, a wise person — the single-minded devotee, who practices yoga regularly is the best.” But, then, in the next verse, the Lord calls them all really noble.

It was a little confusing to me till a realization came recently. I will narrate three stories, which will explain why the Lord, ultimately, equates all of them.

There was a distressed person. His wife had become really sick. They had two small children. There was no one else in the family; their parents had passed away long time back. As his wife’s condition worsened, this man began to turn desperate. How was he going to bring up his two children if his wife passed away? In desperation, he turned to God and began to pray very sincerely. Time passed and his wife’s condition began to improve miraculously to his great relief. She began to again shoulder her responsibilities towards the family. Much relieved, the man felt that there was no further need to keep praying and stopped.

Some years later, he, himself, became very sick. This sent him into panic. Who was to earn money for his family? Then, he remembered God and began again to pray sincerely for his own recovery. The Lord was much pleased and he recovered. This time he did not stop his spiritual practices; he had become wise.

Let me now take up an inquisitive man. Whenever he had some problem, he would ask his relative and friends for answers. Sometimes, they were able to help but on other occasions they couldn’t. In those circumstances, he turned to God for answers. As he was a sincere man, God provided him with the answer. Much delighted, he would go back to his routine life forgetting God.

Some time passed and he was again faced with still more serious problem and no one could help. Now, truly desperate, he remembered God for answer. After much praying, the Lord took pity on him and provided the answer. Much relieved, he swore never to forget God; he began to seriously study bona fide scriptures in order to learn them and be in regular touch with God through His instructions. He had become wise like the distressed person.

Now I take up a seeker of wealth. A student did very well in his studies and was now ready to earn a living. However, instead of taking up a job, he desired to enter into business. His father was already having a shop in their locality but this boy wished something on a bigger scale; he wanted a shop in a mall. Finding no other avenue to raise the extra money, he began to pray to God sincerely. After some time, a bank, which had earlier refused to grant him a loan agreed. The boy was ecstatic. They sold their shop and the father-son duo moved into a mall.

Many years passed, things were going well for the family till the boy’s mother fell badly sick. She required a major operation, which meant a lot of money. The boy, now happily married, remembered God and prayed for help. Luck smiled on the family and some property owned by an older folk in the family came to them upon that man’s death. Now this boy turned man took an oath to always remain connected with God and not on requirement basis. He had become wise.

Though I have made all my characters wise but this does not happen so fast. It takes many births to really become wise. The memory of the first success vis-s-vis God remains but not everyone is so wise to continue linking with God so soon. They seek God’s help on requirement basis. For both these reasons, ie seeking God’s help and ultimately, becoming wise, God calls them virtuous and noble. What do you think we should do? Try to become wise in this life itself by linking with God and staying linked permanently, not occasionally.

Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com