Gita 03.16 – Absorption in higher things that connects us with the highest reality brings the highest happiness

This very simple act of chanting the holy names Bhagavad Gita 3.16 the previous verses have described the cycle of cosmic cooperation that sustains the existences within the cosmos we satisfy the higher beings the devatas by performing sacrifices and they fulfill our desires by providing the things we need this verse is saying evam pravartitam chakram this cycle that has been ordained by destiny na anuvartayati haya those who do not follow it aghayur indriya ramo which people are aghayu these are very profound meaning packed compound words aghayur aghayu is life agha is sin so a life of sin a sinful life not just one or two sinful activities but the life itself becomes sinful indriya aramo aram is enjoyment indriya aramo means those who delight in sense enjoyment mogham partha sajivati mogha is waste partha arjuna sajivati so those who do not play their role in the cosmic cycle that is ordained ultimately by the supreme lord a lot of such people live sinfully seeking sense gratification they waste their life the way we participate in the cosmic cycle is by chanting the holy names to the extent we are negligent in the chanting of the holy names to that extent we are actually not playing our part in the cosmic cycle and happiness is always a byproduct never a product that means that we get happiness not so much by doing things which will immediately provide us gratification but by absorbing ourselves in something greater than ourselves to make a constructive contribution which results in happiness as a byproduct for example a painter goes deep into thoughts of making good paintings and while being absorbed in that thought so there actually one is in the universe of painting absorbing oneself in a higher reality and actually the same applies to any field even if somebody is doing something like business there also some of the biggest breakthroughs biggest achievements in business happen when people are in what is called a flow they absorb themselves in something much higher and the same is true in sports also now these are all examples which talk about how absorption in something higher brings satisfaction but the truth is actually much deeper and the truth is that it's not just something higher it should be something higher that connects us with the highest so when we use our respective talents and use them to connect ourselves with Krishna therein we find the highest fulfillment not just a higher fulfillment but the highest fulfillment because Krishna is the highest reality and he is the source of the supreme happiness now in addition to whatever be our specific areas of interest or specialization through which we connect with Krishna we can also directly connect ourselves with Krishna by offering ourselves to him through his manifestations such as the holy name now in the earlier times the kings would offer themselves through kshatriya activities they would become great archers or sword fighters or spear throwers or whatever and by that they would make their offering to the lord but along with that they would also perform yajna so now the idea is we can perform in this yajna in yuga yajna through the harinam sankirtana and this yajna enables us to rise to a higher level of reality to connect with Krishna by offering our consciousness to Krishna and when we don't do this sooner or later our consciousness will get dragged down to a lower sensual degree to a sensual level and at that sensual level we will simply gain misery so if we want to go beyond misery we need to recognize the necessity of offering our consciousness to Krishna through the process of chanting every time we pray to Krishna and we see the holy name as a receptacle as Krishna manifesting himself through an accessible receptacle in which we can offer our consciousness to him and that will give us that will raise us above indriya arama and enable us to relish the topmost happiness of life, the happiness of.