Walking along a sea shore, I saw a little fish stuck on the sand flapping in utter bewilderment and pain. Tears came to my eyes. I tried to pick him up but he was so scared that he flapped and came out of my hands. I held him with both hands and threw him into the ocean. But then next wave came and left him in the sand again. Again, I threw him and again the ocean left him in the sand. I realized the power of the ocean was so great and the fish was so weak.
In this material world, we are like fish out of water. When the fish is pushed away onto the sand, there is nothing in his power that he can do to get back into the ocean, and even if he does, the waves will keep pushing him away. The only possible way for him to be saved is if someone picks him up and throws him into the ocean.
God is an ocean of kindness, compassion and love. His kingdom is a deep, bottomless, fathomless ocean of ecstatic mellows, a safe natural home of all the living entities. Saintly people come to the shore of ocean of material existence, personally pick each one of us and throw us into the ocean of union with God. But like that fish, our tendency is to resist, to escape mercy. And just as the waves would bring the fish back, the waves of the illusory energy keep pushing us to our own previous state of conditioned life. So many bad habits, so many reasons to forget God.
After some four attempts of throwing him into the ocean and see him pushed away, I picked him up, went deep into the ocean and threw him as hard as I could. When the next wave came, the fish remained in water.
– Radhanath Swami
Wonderful article by Radhanath Swami. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Great work keep it coming
Best you could change the blog name title Radhanath Swami – An ocean of compassion | Radhanath Swami.Info to something more specific for your webpage you write. I liked the blog post however.
Another a very great read by the author looking forward to read more very soon.
Maharaj has an ocean of compassion towards all living entities.
Maharaj was so compassion towards fish she was so insinficant. we are in this material world suffering like a fish helplessly
You are always reminding us of the pitiable condition of souls in this world and have so much compassion for them.
Thank u very much
This is really an eye opening example from Radhanath Swami how he has tried to show us out real picture.
Because of ignorance we suffer the pangs of material miseries & the saintly people come to give us knowledge & save us from the sufferings.
One has to keep trying and pushing oneself in spiritual life since we are so much conditioned to enjoy transient pleasures of this material world.
Very nice explanation of the compassion of the messenger of God. Radhanath Swami by showing compassion to that lucky fish revealed so simply the compassion of a messenger of God.
Radhanath Swami makes the spiritual concepts so easy to understand by wonderful analogies
Haribol,such a good example of ocean to portray Maya
very nice analogy. Maharaj’s compassion is like ocean which is putting us back and again into our original consciousness.
A PURE DEVOTEE FO LORD IS THE ONLY RESCUE FOR US N THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. THANK YOU MAHARAJ FOR LIFTING US UP AGAIN N AGAIN.
How unfortunate we are to resist the mercy of God and his representatives taking all the trouble to put us back in the ocean out of their unlimited compassion. Radhanath Swami Maharaj has dedicated his life for this very cause.
What a compassion!
A saintly person like H.H.Radhanath Swami sees everything in relation with Lord and is therefore always God conscious.
When I listen to Radhanath Swami teachings, I feels like I am drowning in the grace of God which is like a unlimited nectarian ocean.
such deep lesson from such a trivial experience….that’s the Glory of Radhanath Swami Maharaj
If Radhanath Swami has so much feeling for a fish, imagine how much compassion he must be feeling for suffering human beings.
Anarthas are deep rooted bad habits and they die hard. But my mercy of saintly person we get reminded of our scary position in this material world. Thank you maharaj for enlightening us.
“So many bad habits” – this is my problem. Need to stop escaping mercy.
Analogies bring spiritual matters alive! Though the subject is very serious, with beautiful real life analogies, it becomes very vivid and clear.
That is why it becomes important for us to accept a saintly person like Radhanath swami as Guru so that we would be thrown back into the ocean again and again, never to come back.
This article revals to me that Radhanath Swami is on a mission to come down to the material shore to help ‘us’ fish get back into the waters and remain happy ever after. Thank you.
Thank you for your compassion on this world
Radhanath Swami has given a very good analogy of fish.Our tendency to resist when saintly persons gives us mercy.Thats why we are cheating ourselves.I pray unto Radhanath Swami(a saint) for all souls and me to accept that divine mercy and give up habit of resitance.Thank you.
the compassion of great souls is unfathomable, even to save one person they are ready to cross the limits sacrificing there existence. Maharaj is live example he is inspiring us to become instrument of that compassion.
I am moved by this story because it shows a sincere attempt by Maharaj to help fallen souls and here we are still thinking that material world is place to be. Thanks for sharing this wonderful article.
Saintly people come to the shore of ocean of material existence, personally pick each one of us and throw us into the ocean of union with God. This is very realizing truth by H H Radhanath Swami.
There is so much of learning from this incident which Radhanath Swami quotes herein.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful article.
Only by the help of saintly people like Radhanath Swami can we understand that our situation is like fish out of water otherwise we very much feel at home in this material world.
Wonderful article – The only hope is the causeless mercy flowing through saintly people. Thank you so much Maharaj for this very insightful article.
True compassion means to do an act of service to others which will bring them eternal peace & happiness. This is exactly what Radhanath Swami has been doing selflessly for decades, preaching love of God to everyone, because in today’s chaotic society, only God-consciousness can bring sanity & bliss in our lives. Radhanath Swami is indeed truly compassionate to all of us who have become miserably materialistic & forgetful of God.
I feel myself to be like that fish to whom Radhanath Swami is throwing again & agin in the ocean of Krishna Consciousness. Thank you very much Radhanath Swami.
It is a amazing story. I heard this first time in Prerana. He is in this material world just for us. Now its our duty to take full advantage of His association.
Radhanath Swami has come to save us, he could have happily stayed in Vrndavan like many other Yogis..
Radhanath Swami Maharaj is personally picking us- the unfortunate fish & placing us in the necterean ocean of love!
Indeed Radhanath Swami is a true representative of God trying to bring us back home to God’s spiritual kingdom by dovetailing our material propensities in the service of the Supreme Lord.
Maharaj is an ocean of compassion.
Comparison of our life with that of fish is perfect. Like fish we come out of the mercy of god casue of our attachement to this material world and god again and agian tries to get us connected with the spiritual world.
Maharaj comes to the shore of ocean of material existence and personally picks each one of us and throws us into the ocean of union with God.
this story brings tears to my eyes. thank you.
What a realization !!! Saints like Radhanath Swami are teaching us to take shelter of Guru, Sadhu, Shastra.
Very wonderful dress.we are so fallen that the saintly people have to go bin the ocean then throw us with force.
“And just as the waves would bring the fish back, the waves of the illusory energy keep pushing us to our own previous state of conditioned life. So many bad habits, so many reasons to forget God.”
Fantastic analogy and very instructive article. May you also throw me out, beyond this material energy out of your compassionate nature. Thank you Radhanath Swami.
Nice.
Nice and very graphic analogy by Radhanath swami, explaining tireless efforts by pure souls on ocean shore to help conditioned souls like me, but who again and again try to continue to enjoy and suffer. Thank you Radhanath swami.
This is only our hope. Some saintly person like HH Radhanath Swami comes(directly or through his disciples) and connect us to God and our tendency is to escape and forget the God. But they tirelessly do their job of connecting us back to Krishna.
Radhanath swami is one such person who is literary throwing all his disciples in the ocean of union of GOD.
Thank you Maharaj. You are always reminding us of the pitiable condition of souls in this world and have so much compassion for them.
Swami ji’s compassion is heart melting
Maharaj is SAAR GRAHI. In everything he looks what this incident is teaching us. Recently in San Diego, he was narrating various lessons from so many natural things. We are so fortunate that we get to know his heart.
This is the situation of all of us in the world as Radhanath Swami said and we need to take shelter of spiritual teacher and agree to be put into the ocean of spiritual existence which is our eternal nature.
So wonderfully said.
Just like a Father , Radhanath Swami is a genuine well wisher.
Even if the child may not understand but father always will always do whatever is best for the child.
When will that good fortune befall upon us that great saints like Radhanath Swami will walk by the shore of material existence and cast a glance on all of us lying in pitiful condition and throw us deep into the ocean of love of god and devotional service
When heart is full of compassion, like Radhanath swami, even aquatics are benefitted.
What a wonderful way to explain our current state of folly!We pray to saints like Radhanath Swami to save us from further being caried away by illusory waves onto the dry shores of material existence
Very nice & inspiring analogy of fish…..thanks swamiji for sharing your realisations & teachings…………
We need great souls like Radhanath Swami to push us back home back to God. The great souls like Radhanath Swami come to tjis world only to cut our illusory world and put us on the right path, in the ocean of compassion of God.
Such analogies by Radhanath Swami help us get deep understanding of this material world. Nice on.e
Our condition is like that of the fish, being driven to the shore to suffer due to our bad habits and conditioning.
How much effort the likes of Radhanath Swami are putting to throw us back deep into the sea of our Spiritual existence…
That is our great hope and someday we will learn to stay in and assist them in their service some day
Such a hope giving article. It reveals to us that we are totally helpless. However the spiritual master comes and throws us back into the ocean. Thus the shelter of the saintly people is extremely essential.
Radhanath Maharaj has very nicely related the incident of fish with the real life.
Maharaj is demonstrating practically what a spiritual master does to a conditioned soul – limitless compassion!
Thank you Radhanath Swami for being an ocean of compassionate mercy.
Many many Thanks to Radhanath swami for the wonderful article that compares people like me to the fish out of water. I pray and hope that everyone like me place themselves in the hands of true saints like Radhanath swami so that just like the fish we can all go back to our original home, the spiritual world.
All Glories To H.H.Radhanath Maharaj
What an analogy. We are absolutely like that fish. If we are to remember this, day in day out we will surely be able to walk what our Guru Maharaj has preached us.
hare Krishna
Reading this gives so much hope.. We suffer so much in this material ocean but when we are in safe hands such as Radhanath Swami then he will be our Saviour.. We have to just allow ourselves to be in his hands …
Thanks for this wonderful article showing the compassion of Maharaj.
Maharaj we are like that fish and you are saint who is pushing us back to the ocean.
Analogy of fish is beautiful. Conditioned souls of this world are like this fish whom Radhanath Swami is trying to throw into the ocean of blissful God consciousness.
Very nice analogy from Maharajah. Like fish out of water is suffering, in the same way we are suffering in this material world, but by the influence of the illusory energy we think we are enjoying.
What an amazing analogy of the fish to our lives.Maharaj is so patient that inspite of our tendancy to resist he is pushing us so lovingly.
Yes true enough, just like maharaj was saviour of that fish, he is saving all of us as well. We are that rebellious fish and maharaj is that saintly person. He is endeavouring very hard to put as back on the lotus feet of the Lord.
This is how Radhanath Swami is serving the fallen conditioned souls. To get the benifit of this mercy what is needed that we do not be scared & remain in his hand AND avoid outside temptations to remain in our natural home.
God is an ocean of kindness, compassion and love. Similarly, His kingdom is a deep, bottomless, fathomless ocean of ecstatic mellows a safe natural home of all the living entities.
Very True!