How we gave up soul-sovereignity for a pittance – while the “cat of time” is smiling and waiting to pounce
A Vedanta-Inspired take on the the futility of search for scraps in the trash can of material life.
It all started ‘innocently’. From the day we chose to be born here because we wanted to ‘experience’ independence. To try out things first hand, in separation from our divine position and ego.
A nudge here. A comparison there. And most of the times, it is from people we know and love. It start with an invitation to “try just once.” And once you do, your neck is pinched under the mouse trap. You get rewarded for being a ‘rebel’; a prize for running faster and also a pat on the back for chasing what everyone else seems to be chasing. And if you happen to do it better, you are given the title ‘genius’, ‘extraordinary’, ‘gifted’, ‘celebrated’…what not! There is no dearth of such titles in this world.
So, you ask, “what is wrong with chasing material happiness…isn’t that what we are born for?” Like the famous anonymous saying goes “It is not WHAT you do; it is the WAY you do it.” Let’s break that down in this article, with wisdom from the Lord Himself in the Bhagavad Gita.
Here’s the thing – before we realize the presence of the rat trap, we are caught in motion – endless motion. We are running not towards freedom, but within the unforgiving, but glittering walls of a treacherous maze, designed to keep us busy and going in circles. This maze is so well-built that it convinces us that our movement is progress.
That our exhaustion is “achievement.”
That our suffering is simply “part of the grind.”
But we are not meant to be or become rats. And this race was never our path to trace in the first place.
The Laboratory of Illusion
Our modern world and its so-called leaders have both worked to ‘perfect’ the art of psychological captivity – through social media, through corporate race packages, now even the startup ecosystems. It sells us upgraded, different versions of happiness – carefully packaged in substances, screens, salaries, and slogans. We are deeply conditioned to believe that the fulfillment lies just around the corner – perpetually around the corner. And just after THAT elusive ‘next’ milestone, the ‘next’ possession, the ‘next’experience, we can become happy!
We are told: be more, do more, have more. And in this desperate pursuit of more, we become lesser and lesser – without our knowledge.
Less connected.
Less grounded.
Less aware of who we truly are.
“Trai-gunya-vishaya vedāh
nistrai-gunyo bhavārjuna…”“The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature, O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes.”
— Bhagavad Gita 2.45
Lord Krishna gently but firmly reminds Arjuna—and through him, all of us—that the material world, with all its dazzling distractions, is governed by the three modes of material nature that bind the soul to a repetitive cycle of desire, effort, and disappointment and ultimately death.
It is not the real freedom we are chasing- but an elaborately designed illusion. Why so? because we are ‘trapped’ into believing that if one person ‘succeeds’, the others who try to copy that ‘success formula’ also should succeed – forgetting how the intricate design of accumulated karma works – both good and bad. And because this is difficult and indigestible truth for most people, they completely reject the truth of karma. It doesn’t matter if we believe in karma. Our belief is irrelevant. Karma believes in us. And like they say, the tentacles of karma are so perfectly designed and so accurate, that it knows when to reach out to who – it never forgets the address of anyone, in any lifetime.
The Mirage of Modern Success
In our eagerness to “live fully,” we often fall into the very traps we swore we would avoid.
- We consume substances in the name of experience.
- We substitute genuine intimacy with indulgence.
- We mistake rebellion for liberation.
- We chase high after high, until our spirit no longer remembers what peace feels like.
The saddest part is not that we are trapped – It is that we do not even know that we are trapped at all, further and further away from the Divine.
“Bahu-nām janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ”“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.”
— Bhagavad Gita 7.19
It often takes many, many lifetimes for a soul to realize that the search outside is fruitless – that everything we are trying to experience is already present in our connection to Lord Krishna. And because of the rebellion against the truth of repeated birth and death, people have completely rejected the concept of many lives and concocted the YOLO – YODO nonsense. Thus, were born all unVedic religions
The Real Sigma Personality – An Aligned Soul
Our culture glorifies the ‘lone’ wolf, the fake ‘sigma’, the disruptor. But what value is there in independence if it cuts us off from the Original Source? – like a hand cut off from a healthy body. How powerful can a person be, who has forgotten his/her essence?
The true “sigma” is not the one who detaches from society alone – but the one who detaches from illusion; and rises above it. The one who reclaims their identity not as a consumer or a competitor,
but as an eternal servant of God, full of knowledge and bliss.
“Mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ…”“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts.”
— Bhagavad Gita 15.7
Before the Cat Comes, RUN!!!
We are like trapped rats running frantically – caught in a never-ending spiral while the predator cat waits quietly, with a smile about the inevitability of ‘death’ – literal and figurative.
The cat here is a perfect metaphor for time. The cat is the perfect mimic of the Time, in its behavior.
Time is patient.
It doesn’t rush.
It allows the illusion to feel real, the distractions to feel urgent.
And then, without warning, it pounces.
Death, karma, consequence – they come not as punishments, but as closures of one chapter, only for the next one to begin. Time is a GREAT reminder that the race always had an end. The question is not when it ends. The REAL question is: Did we remember who we are before it did?
There Is Still Time!
There is nothing inherently wrong with material ambition, effort, or even progress.
But when these become the means to forget our divine, spiritual nature, they no longer elevate us – they bind us. Lord Krishna NEVER said do not pursue your ambitions or fulfil your material needs. Here are few timeless quotes from His own mouth, which prove that ‘it is not just WHAT we do; it is the WAY we do it’ that matters – as long as the WHAT falls within the purview of established dharmic principles:
Do your duty, but surrender the outcome
“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.”
— Bhagavad Gita 2.47This verse is one of the most important verses to remember, and the cornerstone of detached action. Krishna teaches us to pursue excellence – not out of craving for reward, but as an offering of dharma.
Perform action with devotion, not greed
“Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage.”
— Bhagavad Gita 3.9
Even goal-pursuit becomes divine when it is done for Lord Krishna, not for our fake ego. It is not ambition that traps us – but the intent and content of our work.
Know the difference between desire and duty
“Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them.”
— Bhagavad Gita 16.7
This stark verse is a mirror – when we chase desires disconnected from truth and dharma, we begin walking the path of asuric (demonic) consciousness, mistaking indulgence for freedom.
Live in the world, but not of it
“One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.”
— Bhagavad Gita 5.10
Like the lotus, we can live and work in this world, yet remain unstuck – untouched by its dirt, unmoved by its illusions.
True intelligence is aligned with higher purpose
“In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.”
— Bhagavad Gita 2.44
When our intelligence is hijacked by greed, pleasure, or status, we forget the soul’s true path. Lord Krishna warns us: be careful what fills your mind—because that shapes your destiny.
We are not meant to run in loops. We are not meant to die ‘chasing’ lest we become the ‘chased’.
We are meant to rise.
To remember.
To return.
Return to our natural position as a spark of the divine, forever connected to the Supreme Whole.
And in that remembrance, find the peace and joy that no substance, no salary, no success can ever offer.
Ask yourself – what is the rat in you chasing?
Secondary Inspiration from the video ‘Happiness’ by Steve Cutts https://youtu.be/e9dZQelULDk?feature=shared MUST WATCH!
REAL FREEDOM! 