There’s an analogy about the moon’s beauty. The moon looks beautiful in connection with the many stars in the sky. One of the proverbs taught in school says, “There is nothing as tasty as salt and no better god than mother.” Salt being tasty is a statement in connection with other ingredients. It cannot be consumed alone, but without it, the food becomes inedible.

However, if people are gifted salt without anything else, they consider it a big insult.Everything in this world becomes fruitful due to its connection with other items.

Relationships also follow the same path. No one can live without connection.
One can exist, but to live a meaningful life, we need relationships.

Relationships become good depending on how much people involve themselves. Some people are imposing in others’ lives, and they are like too much salt, tough to handle.

On the other hand, some people are hardly involved in relationships. They are like very little salt in food – you can’t relish this food either. The right amount of salt in food makes the food perfect.”

Building relationships is like cooking — mixing different ingredients in a recipe at the right time. For example, while cooking rice, we do not put the rice first in water; rather, we boil water and then add rice, and at the same time, we do not put little water and more rice. The proportion and timing both need to be perfect.

In Ramayana, Kaikeyi imposed her relationship upon her husband, which eventually caused his downfall.

Manthara, who was supposed to serve with humility in the house of Kaikeyi, imposed herself and provoked the simple Kaikeyi, causing her to lose her credibility in the Ramayana forever.

Vali, the powerful elder brother of Sugriva, overpowered Sugriva and forced him to leave the kingdom and run away. That artificial relationship was rectified by Sri Rama by Vali’s removal.

Sita, Rama, Lakshmana, and Hanuman had the perfect relationship._ Rama never imposed, Sita never demanded, Lakshmana never crossed his limit, but played his role as brother at the same time. Hanuman was the servant of all these three, never crossed his limit, nor ever acted timid.

Why is Rama Darbar such a beautiful sight to see? Because everyone played their role rightly with the right amount of involvement at the right time. Can we do it?”

– Govind Das (ISKCON MEMBER)