By Giriraj dasa
People generally pray for material benefits: “O God, give us our daily bread. Give me nice position. Give me nice wife, nice following or this or victory,” so on, so on, so on, simply for material enjoyment. My Guru Mahäräja used to say that if we pray to God for all these nonsense things, it is just like a man goes to a king and the king says, “Whatever you want you can ask from me,” and if the man says, “Kindly give me a pinch of ashes.” It is like that. If we ask from God for some material benefit, it means that I am asking from a king a pinch of ashes. When king says that “You ask whatever you want,” he can say, “So give me half the kingdom.” That should be the prayer. And why a pinch of ash? Similarly, it is our foolishness. When we ask for bread, “O God, give us our daily bread,” that means I am asking. The bread is already there. Why for you? For everyone, for all living entities, the bread is already there given by God. Eko yo bahünäà vidadhäti kämän. The elephant is not going to the church for praying, “Give me food.” He is supplied in the jungle food. A tiger is supplied food. Even ant is supplied food within the hole. Who is going to supply food there? How they are eating? How they are living? How they are begetting children? The same thing is there. Ähära-nidrä-bhaya-maithuna—everything is there in the ant, in the elephant. Who is supplying their necessities?