Life on Lease

yācitakamaṇḍana nyāyaḥ (borrowed ornaments)

A man tries to show off using borrowed ornaments, not having his own.

This sūtra shows the vanity of the souls of the material realm. In English, there is a similar saying, "To adorn oneself with borrowed plumes." Of course, such a fellow looks ludicrous. But why? Because such man or woman poses with that, which is not his own. Truly, this is the position of everyone here. I already mentioned several times that we are not the creators. Supreme Lord is the original Creator. We are at best secondary creators, when in the position of Lord Brahmā, which is one to billions of billions chance. So even the position of a secondary creator is not so easily available. We are much down the "food chain" than we pretend we are not. Śrī Īśopaniṣad (1) clearly says that as such we are given due share for our own enjoyment:

īśāvāsyam idam sarvaṁ

yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat

tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā

mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam

It means that everything, we are so proud of, is actually

borrowed from God. Indeed we are living on lease. And it can't be changed - bad news for some. There go freedom and independence. We are eternally a leasee, while the Lord is eternally lessor. Wise men recognize this. Therefore they act accordingly. Śrī Īśopaniṣad (2):

kurvann eveha karmāṇi

jijīviṣec chataṁ samāḥ

evaṁ tvayi nānyatheto 'sti

na karma lipyate nare

With this consciousness, he is happy to perform all kinds of activities, while offering the results and all credit to God. By performing such greatest sacrifice, eventually, he comes to the point, when he wants to fully surrender to Kṛṣṇa, guided by His personal leadership. The important point here is that we recognize Kṛṣṇa as the true creator and owner; we sacrifice our body, mind, and words for Him. That frees us from the false pride of showing off with borrowed ornaments. With such an attitude, we are not jail-bound by matter. There come back freedom and independence. It does not imply that we should not adorn ourselves with nice ornaments, scents, clothes. It implies it ought to be done for the pleasure of the Lord. Then the discrimination of who is leasee and who is leaser becomes not important. Since then everything is done for Kṛṣṇa to have fun. Śrī Īśopaniṣad (16-18):

pūṣann ekarṣe yama sūrya prājāpatya

vyūha raśmīn samūha

tejo yat te rūpaṁ kalyāṇa-tamaṁ

tat te paśyāmi yo 'sāv asau puruṣaḥ so 'ham asmi

vāyur anilam amṛtam

athedaṁ bhasmāntaṁ śarīram

oṁ krato smara kṛtaṁ smara

krato smara kṛtaṁ smara

agne naya supathā rāye asmān

viśvāni deva vayunāni vidvān

yuyodhy asmaj juhurāṇam eno

bhūyiṣṭhāṁ te nama-uktiṁ vidhema