If God will grant you one wish, what would you ask for?

“You’re a devotee of many Hindu Gods. What would be your desire if a God appeared and offered you a boon?” a friend asked me.
“It’s a hypothetical question. What I would do then, I can’t answer now…”
“I mean, what do you pray to God?”
“I just recite some mantras as part of worshipping Gods. I don’t know if it comes under prayer.”
“Uday, it seems you didn’t understand my question. What are your wishes or wants you to request in the prayer?”
“God has provided me whatever I need, that too in abundance. Why would I pray for anything else?”
“But you may have wishes or wants, right?”
“Maybe temporary wishes like I want to eat a Jalebi and Chikku or I want to go for an offroad drive in Ghats (mountains pass) or would want to watch next Indiana Jones movie Dial of Destiny in an IMAX theatre… But I don’t have to pray for that, right? I can just fulfill my wishes, right?” I asked him.
“What do you mean? ”
“My father used to say parishram mein bhagavan hai means ‘there is God in hard work’. I would add the word “smart” too. God is the process of working smart and hard that helps you to achieve your goal. Instead of trying to experience the God (process) in you, you are sitting lazy and just praying for your wish. Isn’t it insulting God? What’s more, when God has already provided us this way to fulfill our wishes, why would we irritate God again?”
“Uday, you are trying to deviate. My question was very simple. What will you ask if God comes and allow you to wish for anything you want?”
“I worship such Gods that they will know my wish (or want) even before the neurotransmitters convert it into a thought. And the Gods I worship are NOT like egoistic human who demands to beg for something. My God wouldn’t want me to beg him/her for anything. No real Gods would want you to worship and beg for something. No real God will tell the likeness of ‘if you don’t worship me, I would roast you in hell’. My Gods are not like that – they are inside me and outside too. To my understanding God is everything. There is nothing other than God. Even nothing is God.”
“I understand your point, Uday, it is the reality but philosophy. At least, as a courtesy to your good friend, please tell me. If God gave you a single wish, what would you wish for? I am curious…”
” *Anayasena Maranam* ”
“What?”
“Give me a death without pain. It is the first sentence of a sloka (verse). _Anayasena Maranam Vina dainyena Jeevanam; Dehi me Krupaya Sambho, Raksha Raksha Maheshwara_ . The meaning: O Shiva, please grant me a peaceful death without pain, a life without any dependence on others for my basic needs.”
He thought for a while and said: “Hmm.. that’s very true… actually what else do we need in life? You’re right. What is the source of this verse?”
“Not sure. Some scriptures attribute this to a discussion between Yama and a Rishi, and that, Yama told the Rishi, Vidura (or Kshatr, who was half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu in Mahabharat) to pray thus. There is another version of this attributed to Krishna…”
“What’s it?”
“ Anayasena Maranam Vina dainyena Jeevanam; Dehi me Krupaya Krishna; Raksha Raksha Janardhana . Here you’re praying to Krishna (or Vishnu). This sloka is referred to as Drona Sthuthi, ascribing it to the prayer of the great Dronacharya to Krishna.”
“So you mean to say that only one wish is all that matters to human life – to give a peaceful death without any bodily troubles.”
“Yes, in fact, that’s the only thing you can really wish for, this is the ONLY prayer that really matters.”
“Thank you, Uday, I will start this prayer from now itself. What is the greatest virtue than to be able to die with the vision of our favorite idol in our mind in the last days when no money, status, fame, relatives, or friends will help us?”
I smiled at him. The talk was based on my perspective. People will have different perspectives. (Message Number: 372)
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