Does focusing on Krishna require that we always be in the mode of goodness?
Question to think of Krishna We need to always be in the mode of goodness But while working in our Companies In the corporate world, competitive world today It is not possible to Always be in the mode of goodness So then how can we always think of Krishna And also perform In Our work Answer, all the three modes Have their utility The mode of goodness is especially important For maintenance But even passion is required for creation Ignorance is required for Destruction And all three are phases of existence So Even when we are serving Krishna There are times when We may also have to create things And creation requires passion So therefore it is not that As a devotee We have to always be in the mode of goodness When Arjuna was fighting The Purushetra war Was it that he was Peacefully raising his bow and Prayerfully shooting each arrow He was doing what was required Hundreds of arrows coming to him Especially when he had entered Into the Kaurava army on the 14th day to try to reach Jaidrath Arrows were hurling at him From all sides and he was Rapidly shooting arrows to defend Himself and counter up his attackers A devotee is Defined by the determination to serve Krishna And for that purpose A devotee can use All the three modes In the service of Krishna Now For us to practice bhakti steadily For us to do anything steadily We need a certain foundation of goodness If there is not adequate Goodness Even in our material life We will not be able to sustain anything If somebody is super passionate They will not even be able to stick to one job Or one project They will start off one thing With big dreams and they will do it for some time And afterwards they will get bored with it And they will go to something else So There are some people like that who just make start-ups And they build the start-ups Make it big and then they sell off They like the adventure of Starting something and making it big But they don't want to Go on with the humdrum of daily maintaining it Now Somebody can do this even for the service of Krishna They can have start-ups And they can Make big money and use it for Krishna's service But then there is anxiety There can be big gain and there can be big loss also in that So bhakti is defined Much more by our intention than by our action A certain action Requires Us to Do certain professions Require us to do certain things If somebody is undertaker Somebody who cremates bodies Or burns bodies That person becomes a devotee Then burning bodies is their duties Brahmanas also who are involved in this They have to burn the bodies That's destruction But there can be a devotee who may do that And they may do it in a Mood of service to Krishna In a prayerful mood Devotee may do this with kirtans going on all around So bhakti means that our intention is to serve Krishna Of course there is a certain time In our day When we need to focus completely on Krishna As much as possible During our sadhana or japa Or swadhyay or satsang Or puja And at that time if we have too much rajas Then we will not be able to connect with Krishna We will feel all this is just a waste of time All this is just a ritual I have to get over with So that time definitely When we are doing sadhana We want to be in sattva so that we can Rise towards the sattva But there are other times when we are meant to Serve Krishna practically And during that time We do what is required And We need regulation So it is not that a devotee is 24 hours in rajas If the profession requires rajas Then devotee will be in rajas So Arjuna when he had to fight the Purushetra war He was completely involved in fighting But it was not that when The sages would come to his palace And the sages would be discussing Philosophy, he would be restless When can I go and fight No, when Dharma was to be discussed and Dharma was To be practiced, he was completely He was focused on that So bhakti is not unrealistic Or utopian Bhakti is eminently practical And transformational So karmanatam abhyarcha sadhyam Vimriti maanava If you understand that We are meant to Worship Krishna through our work And whatever is required for our work We do that wholeheartedly And We keep it in proportion We don't let the work consume us 24 hours a day We don't let the thoughts of the work Obsess us on a regular basis Even while we are doing Our sadhana So We live In a world that is Prominently rajasic and tamasic today So we can't Artificially think that we will be Completely sattvic all the time We need sattva At certain times so that we can Connect with the sattva But we need rajas also Prabhupada when he was in Mayapur he told devotees That who were all Building big temples in Mayapur and Nanda He said for ourselves we can just eat a little Kichadi and chant Hare Krishna and live Under a tree But we want people to come here to Mayapur and Vrindavan And they can not come here Unless they have At least some level of reasonable comfort So for them For the sake of compassion We have to engage in activities that involve Passion Constructing Dealing with contractors Making sure that one doesn't get cheated Bargaining Pushing people to do work on time And that's very different From the idyllic life that many devotees Are thinking that in Vrindavan and Mayapur We are seeing Radhe Radhe Shamsa and we will be blissful But Prabhupada told them This is your service So our profession May not appear to be directly like a service Because we are not exactly building a temple But if our home is a temple Then our profession is also for Maintaining our home temple So We need to have an inclusive Vision of devotion Where Our intention is to serve Krishna And we establish a strong connection with Krishna Through our sadhana But then we carry that connection Into whatever work we are doing And we do that work In whatever way is necessary But for the purpose of serving Krishna Thank you.