Doesn’t Valmiki’s transformation demonstrate that spirituality can change nature?
Hare Krishna.
So, Valmiki was a decoit and then he became a composer of the Ramayana. So, can you say that spirituality cannot change? I wouldn't go so far as to say that spirituality cannot change. I am saying that we shouldn't make change of nature as the expected standard from everyone.
Sometimes scripture gives us certain examples which are extraordinary. But that may not be the universal way spirituality acts on everyone. So, it is not that necessarily that somebody who is doing brahminical activity is more advanced than somebody who is doing Kshatriya activity or somebody doing Vaishya activity.
The important thing is how much is one devoted to Krishna? How much is one to serve Krishna? So, it's definitely possible. Ultimately, it's Krishna. Krishna is God.
He can change anything. So, he can change anyone in any way. And that's why people can become competent at doing things which they had no competence earlier.
So, in that sense, definitely spirituality can bring about dramatic transformations. But with respect to one's own nature, it is not so easy to change. There are only two verses in the Bhagavad Gita which are repeated twice.
One is Maa Mevaishyasi. So, almost 80% of the verse is the same. This is 9.34 and 18.65. The only other word that is repeated is 3.35 and 18.47. That is sabhavan yatan karma kurvan na apna utikil vishyam.
So, basically, Krishna is quite strong in saying that we have to act according to our swadharma. So, he is basically in the context of the Bhagavad Gita is saying Arjuna, you are a Kshatriya, don't expect that you can act like a Brahmana. A Kshatriya has to be a martial guardian of society.
A Kshatriya has to punish wrongdoers. A Brahmana can punish, but a Kshatriya can't do that. So, in that sense, it becomes we, we cannot restrict the potency of bhakti and say that bhakti can't change nature.
But we can't make the extraordinary the standard. Bhakti can bring about extraordinary changes in people's lives, but that is not the standard expectation. We shouldn't make a person who is having a Vaishya nature feel guilty that they are not No, we should encourage them and they should be able to feel happy, serving Krishna in their own way.
So, if we expect the nature to be changed as a standard expected from everyone, then that can choke many people from serving in the way that they feel naturally inspired to do. Does that answer your question? Thank you.