Fame is life’s driving purpose for many : “I would do
anything to be the cynosure of all eyes, as are sportstars.”
Little do they realize that public attention hardly ever
translates into personal satisfaction. Sportstars who are regularly greeted by
cheers whenever they arrive in a sporting arena soon get used to it – the high
coming from the cheer fades with time. To get a high, their fans need to do
something extra, give some special applause. And to earn such applause, they
need to deliver special performances.
But none of us, not even geniuses, are perfect. Even the
most talented sportstars can’t perform superlatively all the time and so don’t
get special applause.
And when the sportstars fail, as is inevitable in due course
of time, the audience’s frustration bursts forth as boos and jeers. The
sportstars already depressed by their poor performance end up feeling battered
by the audience’s opprobrium.
The Bhagavad-gita underscores this discomforting reality
about fame when it declares (02.34) that for those who have been honored,
dishonor is worse than death.
Gita wisdom offers us a purpose higher than fame to live
for. That purpose is love – , spiritual love for Krishna that can stay with us
forever. We are at our core souls who hunger and thirst for love. Not knowing
how to fulfill this longing, we try to substitute it by the titillation that
fame provides.
When we pursue a life of loving service to Krishna, we may
even get fame as a byproduct. Or we may not get fame, depending on what Krishna
sees as best for our all-round growth. But we will definitely get what
attracted us to fame in the first place: the hope for attention, affection and
satisfaction – all of which are completely fulfilled in a loving relationship with
Krishna.
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