Just as Krishna gives conviction to different people to worship different devatas, does he give different devotees conviction to serve him in different ways?

Transcript

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so it is said that Krishna gives the worshippers of the devatas conviction to worship the devatas so can it also be said that when different devotees become convinced about doing a particular service then that conviction also coming from Krishna some devotees feel we should distribute the original unedited books but in doing that they may criticize others for distributing the edited books so how does one see this? Yeah, there are three different aspects to this there is that well-known incident about Shri Prabhupada where Prabhupada, he went through three different places and each of those places he said that he will say for example he came to a farm community in New Vrindavan and he says there is nothing more important than this service but then he went to Buddhist school, there is nothing more important than this and then he went to Gurukul, there is nothing more important than this so in spiritual life to be convinced that what one is doing is the best is not wrong in fact in the Brihad Bhagwatamrat it is described that when the Gopakumar goes to the spiritual world he goes to Ayodhya first, this is Lord Ram’s abode then he goes to Vaikuntha which is Vishnu’s abode then he goes to Dwarka which is Dwarka Krishna’s abode and finally after that he goes to Vrindavan it is interesting in each of these places in Ayodhya, in Vaikuntha and in Dwarka the residents think that the Lord whom they are worshipping is the highest and they think that Ram is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and they think actually okay Vishnu, Krishna they all come from Ram Ram is the highest and similarly, same with Vaikuntha where they think Vishnu is highest and the Dwarkavasis think that Dwarka Krishna is highest and there is no reference anywhere that Sanatana Goswami is trying to say that they are wrong so there is transcendental subjectivity which is actually, which enhances the flavor of devotion so at one level to think that my service is the best is not wrong because that is what will bring out our inspiration to offer our best but it is a subtle line that while considering myself as the best I don’t criticize others so the challenge in doing that is that somehow as long as we are insecure in our own devotional practices we tend to feel that for my service to be the best others cannot be the best so it’s like if I am to come number one in my class then somebody else cannot be the number one somebody else is number one that means my number one is being displaced but the point is that in Krishna’s abode Krishna is unlimited and Krishna can fully reciprocate with you from your heart and still be fully available for me in my heart so Krishna in that sense he can be with one Gopi and he can be with another Gopi also so that conviction that my service is the best if that is conviction that is formed with spiritual understanding then I won’t have to put down other devotees but if that is not accompanied with spiritual understanding in order to prove my service is the best I may have to put down I may be consciously or subconsciously putting down other services saving more ignorance yeah that’s exactly what we are talking about yeah 45,000 yeah that’s beautiful that’s exactly what we are talking about exactly so then the Gopis too each one they don’t feel bad for the other ones no they don’t at all feel bad for the other ones that is why he is saying that the ego kicks in yeah he doesn’t care he doesn’t care see the ego truly yeah that’s true second point I wanted to say is that there can be something which is the best for me and it may not be the best for someone else because we are all individuals so we all can have different definitions of success in our spiritual life but when we make one definition of success as the only definition of success then we become fanatic so for me say being a Brahmachari might be good but that doesn’t mean I should have everybody else become a Brahmachari for me being a writer may be good but that doesn’t mean everybody has to become a writer for me just because something is good for me that doesn’t mean it has to be good for everybody so when we take one definition of success and make that the only definition of success then we become fanatic Prabhupada was very very brilliant very inclusive and he encouraged different people to do many many different things in their own ways so the same Prabhupada who has inspired me in one way can inspire somebody else in another way I know one very senior devotee in our movement who is known to have been very critical of others for many years and then now he has become quite old he has become a little sickly so I met him a couple of years met him sometime ago and he said that I feel the most important instruction that Prabhupada has given us that we should cooperate that’s what he told in the line so he said that if somebody who has served Prabhupada for 30-40 years if that person feels inspired now to serve Prabhupada in a way that doesn’t make sense to me rather than criticizing him I should see that Prabhupada is bigger than my understanding and Prabhupada is inspiring this person in a particular way so many times much criticism happens because you know as devotees we talk about each other instead of talking with each other this person like this, this person like this, this person like this actually if you just go in front and talk with them you will understand why they are doing what they are doing so if at all we feel the need if we don’t feel the need or don’t have the opportunity we just don’t we give them the benefit of doubt somebody after serving for so long if they feel inspired, they feel convinced there must be some way Prabhupada is inspiring them even if they are somehow off track they have a relationship with Prabhupada and Prabhupada will protect them Krishna will protect them get them on the right track I don’t have to do the job of appointing of considering that I am a self-appointed watchdog to correct everyone else so that way we can be fixed in our service while at the same time being not just tolerant but respectful of other services Thank you very much Thank you very much