Ambition, Satisfaction & Devotion 1 – Outside-in Ambition vs Inside-out Ambition

[Seminar at Singapore] Video:

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Hare Krishna I'm grateful to be here amongst all of you. I'm sorry we got a little late. There was some misunderstanding about the timing of the program.

So, I'll speak today on the topic of Satisfaction, Ambition and Devotion Exploring the Connection So, I'll mostly take this in two parts. There will be a third part in Arsakeshwari but that will be somewhat different, a little down. So, today I'll speak a little bit from the contemporary and scriptural perspective and tomorrow I'll focus on the applicational perspective.

So, if we consider the very nature of the human condition to be conscious is to be desirous. When we are conscious of something we perceive things and then based on our perception I like this, I don't like this, I want it, I don't want it. So, to desire is a natural condition.

Now, when we practice bhakti often it is said that our desires can act as our enemies and we have to guard against our desires dragging us away. So, some people feel that if you become spiritual then you become unambitious and today's world ambition is considered to be very positive thing. We all want to grow in our life, ambition is required and to some extent satisfaction although at one level we all want satisfaction but some people especially those who are very much affected by the corporate competitive mentality they sometimes see satisfaction as a negative thing.

If you are satisfied then how will you strive for more? So, satisfaction means the situation that I am in I am happy with that. Ambition means I want to do something more. So, ambition and satisfaction can at one level seem opposite and then if we move forward further and consider devotion.

So, what effect does devotion have on our satisfaction and on our ambition? So, I will talk from two perspectives. So, devotion is not just one stereotype thing. Devotion essentially is an expression of the heart which expresses itself through one's complete being in a move of service to Krishna.

So, the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavatam both talk about Bhakti. However, the way they talk about Bhakti is significantly different because the context is different. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna wants to give up ambition.

He says, I don't want any kingdom. I will just live in the forest as a mendicant. And Krishna tells Arjuna, no, you have to fight.

And Krishna tells Arjuna Therefore Arjuna arrives and attains victory. And you will get a flourishing kingdom. Your enemies will be killed by my arrangement.

Enjoy this kingdom. So, the Bhagavad Gita is very much calling Arjuna to action. In contrast, the Bhagavatam is spoken to Panchit Maharaj.

And most of the Bhagavatam is about renouncing the world and focusing entirely on the Supreme Lord. Everything in the world is considered to be attachment, is considered to be distraction. Many of the things which people crave for, they are seen as entanglements.

And one is told, give them. So, the essence of devotion is always the same. But the application of devotion will vary.

Arjuna is a warrior in the prime of his youth who is about to fight a vital war for the establishment of Dharma. And there, for him to express his devotion is by picking up his weapons in readiness to fight. So, when I say devotion is not one thing, that means that devotion can have different forms in different situations.

If you consider surrender. Normally, if you talk about surrender, the standard example is Draupadi. She raises her hands in helpless dependence.

Krishna, help me. I surrender. That is one way of surrender.

It's extraordinary. How she was able to remember Krishna and take shelter of Him even in such a crisis. The Bhagavad Gita concludes by telling Arjuna, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam shanam vraja Surrender to Me.

And Arjuna says, this is 18.66, 7 verses later, Arjuna says, I will do your work. That means, I will surrender to you. But how does Arjuna surrender? Does he raise his hands up in dependence? No.

Arjuna's surrender is by picking up his bow. He has picked up his bow in readiness to fight. And that is the mode of his surrender.

That means, surrender can have many forms. There is dependence on Krishna and there is diligence for Krishna. Dependence on Krishna is a form of surrender and diligence for Krishna is also a form of surrender.

So, Draupadi exhibits surrender through dependence for Krishna. Arjuna expresses surrender through diligence for Krishna. So, both are important in their appropriate places.

When about 25 years ago I started giving classes for the first time, one senior devotee gave me some guidelines about how to speak and the last guideline was depend on Krishna. In bracket was, but only after you have prepared. So, if I don't prepare anything, that means I am dependent on Krishna.

That is not dependence. That is irresponsibility. If we are doing a service for Krishna, we have to take responsibility for that service.

If we are cooking for Krishna, we have to take responsibility, make sure that all the ingredients are mixed properly, that everything is done in a way by which the service to Krishna is done well. So, a lot of confusion comes in our life in our application of devotion if we don't understand when dependence is called for and when diligence is called for. So, dependence and diligence both have vital roles in bhakti.

And this applies with aspect of satisfaction and ambition. So, satisfaction can be correlated with dependence and ambition can be correlated with diligence. So, in bhakti there are the… So, I was talking about, Bhagavad Gita is talking about bhakti, do things for Krishna and Bhagavatam's mood is, now Parikshit has accepted more or less that I have been cursed and I am going to die.

And now his focus is simply absorb himself in Krishna. So, Parikshit Maharaj's mood is of what? Dependence or diligence? Dependence. He is dependent on Krishna.

There also diligence is there because he is diligently hearing. But he is not directly doing any activity in the world. So, he has accepted his fate we could say and now here he is focusing simply on absorbing himself in Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada himself exhibited both these attributes. He was dependent on Krishna at the same time he was diligent for Krishna. Wherever Srila Prabhupada got an opportunity to share Krishna bhakti, he did that.

So, he was diligent. If he got opportunity to publish back to world magazine, he was tirelessly going and distributing in this hot streets of Delhi in middle of summer. But when a particular service didn't work out, he just depended on Krishna.

This door is closed, what door will open? So, if he saw people not at all interested in B.T.G.A, at that time spiritual magazine, then he got a suggestion. Somewhere, the idea came. You should write books.

Now, he was dependent on Krishna. What should I do now? How should I serve him? And then the idea came, suggestion came. Sir, write books.

And he was immediately diligent for writing books. So, in our life, dependence and diligence both are required. In our service to Krishna.

So, how we can say Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee. He is focused completely in the service of Krishna. In our case, we have many desires.

We are very much in the material world. We have material obligations. We have material desires.

So, how do we apply satisfaction and ambition in our life? How do we apply this dynamic of dependence and diligence? There are two perspectives in this. First is, understanding that for us as devotees, the material side can also be spiritualized. At one level, we separate between the material and the spiritual.

At another level, we understand that if our goal is Krishna, then nothing is material. Everything can be spiritualized. So, now, when we are trying to spiritualize everything, we have to also understand that we are finite beings.

And our finiteness creates certain limitations. If we consider the human body, the human body is naturally meant to grow. A baby may be so small that it can fit practically on the little more than the palm of a hand.

But that same baby grows up and becomes a fully grown human being. So, this growth is natural in the body. But, if there is cancer, then also there is growth.

But that growth is disproportionate and destructive. One small part of the body starts growing excessively. And it grows so much that it damages and destroys other parts of the body.

So, growth is healthy, but cancerous growth is not healthy. So, similarly, if we consider our life, as I said, to be conscious is to be desirous. So, we all want to grow.

We want to grow socially, we want to grow financially, we want to grow physically, we want to grow in various ways in our life. And the desire to grow is natural. However, based on our mind internally and our culture externally, certain desires can become disproportionate.

And when those desires become disproportionate, and they start pulling us excessively, then the growth that results is not harmonious growth. It is cancerous growth. So, much of what is called as ambition in today's society is actually very imbalanced.

When people, in the name of ambition, they may just neglect their family, their health, everything else, and people become workaholics. Normally, if anybody gets any kind of addiction, somebody becomes alcoholic. In much of the world, people don't look down on drinking.

They say, drink, but don't become drunk. Drink, but don't become drunk. That is their idea.

Now, it's like, you can go on the cliff, but don't fall off the cliff. Well, okay, why go near the cliff? All the same, when you can go near the cliff, and there is a powerful wind which will push you down also. So, people may think drinking is cool.

But becoming a drunk is not considered cool. If you become alcoholic, even motorist people look down upon that. So, normally, if somebody becomes an addict, that is considered negative.

So, most addictions, they attract reproach and condemnation from society. But workaholism is an addiction that is prestigious. The more a person is an alcoholic, you know, I work 12 hours, 14 hours, 16 hours, throughout my life, I have not taken a single leave.

So dedicated. Dedication is good, it's essential. But sometimes it becomes disproportionate.

Such people just can't work together. Their whole life is imbalanced. So, in society, in today's world, this disproportionate desire can be simply in terms of work, or it can be in terms of possessions.

I want to buy this, I want to buy that, I want to buy that, I want to buy that. So, just as work can become addiction. Now, what do we mean by addiction? Addiction has three characteristics.

One is, there is an insatiable craving. We all have many desires. But there are certain desires, which, okay, they come, if I get it, it's good, if I don't get it, it's okay.

Like, say, if we are going along, we see, oh, there is, after this, say, there is prasadam, and there is gulab jamun over there. Yeah, I would like to have a sweet. I would like to have a second sandwich.

Okay, there's no second, it's okay. So, we have desires, if we don't get it, it doesn't matter all that much. We may not like it, but it doesn't matter so much.

But, when something is an addiction, when there is a craving for something, and we don't get it, it just drives us mad. You just feel as if I can't live without it. So, lobha pravrttirarambha karmanam asyamahasva vajasya tan jayante vruddhe bharatarishva In 14th chapter, 12th verse, the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that asyamaha spruha spruha, desire is natural.

Asyamaha is insatiable desire. The desire itself is unbearable. So, craving, when it is something which one just can't live without.

So, without that one gets so agitated, so overwhelmed, that one somehow or the other has to get it. That is an indication that it might be addictive. Just can't live without it.

Secondly, even when one decides I want to control it, still one can't stop it. So, craving, lack of control, and even when one gets consequences of that, one suffers because of that, still one does it again. So, that is an indication that the desire has become extremely strong.

So, we all, now why does anyone become an addict? We all need shelter. There are many problems in our life. And when these problems come, how do we deal with these problems? We all have our ways.

Some people, when the problems come, oh, just turn on the television and forget everything. Just forget everything. Just watch television, forget everything.

Some people, when they get frustrated, they may drink. Drink and forget everything. So, some people, they must lose themselves in work.

The work is good. But, when it is done to, because one faces unbearable problems in life, which one can't solve, and then one is taking shelter of the work. Some people may take shelter of sense enjoyment.

So, when we take shelter of these things, Krishna talks about this, कामं आश्रित्य दुष्पूरं दंबमान्वदान्विता मोहाद्ग्रहित्वासंग्राहान् प्रवर्तंते अशुचीवता कामं आश्रित्य Some people take shelter of karma. We are meant to take shelter of Krishna. But, when we take shelter of our desires, what happens? We all face problems in life.

Suppose, say, somebody is walking along the road and he sees some thief is, that person sees a thief is chasing them. Person runs, runs, runs to get away from the thief. And, the person runs into a group of kidnappers.

And, the thieves would only have stolen what is there in the pocket. But, the kidnappers will keep and take everything in the bank account. They'll take it as a ransom.

So, you got shelter from the thief, but, actually, the name of the shelter put a person in greater trouble. So, what happens? Sometimes, when we face problems, to get released from problems, we may take shelter of something. So, somebody may say, I have so many problems in my life.

I just drink. And, the drunkard's slogan is, there is no problem in the world whose solution doesn't lie at the bottom of a bottle of liquor. All problems can be solved.

But, what is happening is, that is going to create a bigger problem. Alcohol addiction is going to create a bigger problem in future. So, similarly, when people get compulsively attached to certain things, then, at that time, the desire that is created by that, the craving that is created by that, the insatiable, intolerable feeling of dissatisfaction that is created by that, that cannot go away.

In trying to fulfill that, one may spend one's entire life and still it will not be satisfied. So, many times in today's world, there is just like workaholism is there, there is shopaholism. Shopaholism is shop, shop, shop.

I want to buy this. And, people just get caught in buying, buying, buying. And, they keep buying things.

The result of that is that they have a basement filled with products which they have probably opened only after once they got it. And, they thought, how am I going to use it now? I keep it there. And, they have a bank account which has got empty because of that.

So, when there is ambition which is largely triggered by externals, then quite often, that ambition leads to actions which are disharmonious. So, the desires which come within us which are triggered by externals, they make us grow in a way that is cancerous. So, in trying to get bigger and more and better, that is the idea, then people bind themselves.

I want to buy this. I want to get this. I want to get that.

I have this vehicle. I want that vehicle. I have this house.

I want that house. I have this. I want that.

And, the ambition for more that comes from desires that are kindled from outside, that ambition will never be fulfilled. And, that will subject us constantly to dissatisfaction because the very nature of that ambition is that it is not inherent to us. It is something which is circumstantially triggered.

So, this does not mean that all our desires or all our ambitions are necessary like that. There is, we may work for possession. I want this.

I want that. I want that. Or, it may be for position.

I want to get this position. I want to get that position. So, possession and position, these cravings can come externally into us.

But, there can be the other idea also. The idea of contribution. That, I have been given certain talents.

I have certain abilities. And, I want to use them. I want to do justice to whatever I have been given.

I have certain responsibilities. I want to do them well. So, there can be the ambition that is inside out and there is the ambition that is outside in.

The ambition that is outside in means by externals, it is triggered within us. And, because it is triggered by externals, it is not really related with our core. And, even if it is fulfilled, it does not lead to much satisfaction.

Because, it is not really related with who we are and what we really want to do in our life. And, because it is triggered by externals, the nature of the externals is that today one external is glamorized and tomorrow something else is glamorized. Today, a particular car comes in the market.

I want this car. And, everywhere they advertise that car. If I have this car, then I have arrived.

I have become famous. I have become wealthy. But, by the time a person buys that car and gets the car and starts driving in the car, by that time a new car has come.

And, nobody actually notices this old car. So, then again, oh, I want prestige in life. So, what do I do? I try to get that car.

I try to get that car. So, I was in America a few months ago. And, I was going through one city.

And, there I saw almost like in a mail, 10 advertisements. And, all those advertisements were about what? Changing your car was never so easy. The whole idea was, oh, you have this car, you want to change it? Just like some people change phones.

So, you just change your cars. And, it's a big obsession. Now, a car, yes, it can have some facilities.

See, most of the times, when there is one product with this many facilities and then some new features come up. And, then we feel, oh, I want this feature also. And, then we go for that.

And, then we go for that. Now, in this case, if we consider how many of the new features we actually use, we just get caught, oh, I want this new, I want this new, I want this new. And, the whole consumer economy is running on the fuel of consumer dissatisfaction.

If the consumers are not dissatisfied with what they have, why would they purchase something new? If they didn't purchase something new, then what will happen? How will the economy run? Of course, consumer products are not the only thing in the economy. But, the point I am making here is, there are certain things which are designed to keep us dissatisfied. And, if we don't see that, then we will stay dissatisfied for life.

No matter what we achieve. No matter how much we possess, still, there will always be something out there, which I don't have. So, usually, when you feel dissatisfied, oh, I don't have that, he has that, she has that, I want to get it.

So, when this dissatisfaction is there, this dissatisfaction is frequently kindled by externals. So, for example, I saw an ad. Now, this ad was about a young man who was driving a car.

And, a young girl was sitting next to him, looking with admiring eyes. And, the background was another young man, scowling. And, the caption was, Ride this car and enjoy the envy in your neighbor's eyes.

Now, enjoy the envy. Now, what is the standard of enjoyment? It is so dependent on somebody else being envious. Suppose, tomorrow, that person gets a better car, then what happens? Then, they will enjoy the envy in our eyes.

So, it just makes us dependent on externals. And, this way is not the way to satisfaction. So, what happens, we may think, oh, if I just get this, I will become happy.

I want this and I will get it and I will become happy. But, the possession itself does not make us happy, because the possession is not the problem. The disposition is the problem.

What is the disposition? The disposition is, we have become habituated to looking at the things we don't have. We all have, there are certain things which we have and certain things which we don't have. And, the nature of Rajoguna, nature of the mode of passion is, that we are captivated by the things that we don't have.

And, the result of that is, no matter how much we have, our eyes will go to something that we don't have. And, that will keep us dissatisfied. So, Prabhupada writes in the 14th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Prajasas tu phalam dukkham.

It's 14th chapter, 16th verse, Krishna talks about 16th, 17th, 18th. Prabhupada says that people think that by earning more money, we will become satisfied. But, he says no, because as long as the mode of passion is there, we can never be satisfied.

Because, the mode of passion has a certain disposition associated with it. And, that disposition is, to look at the things which we don't have. And, no matter how much we have, we look at what we don't have and we'll be dissatisfied.

That is just the way the passionate society works. And, here, the solution is, to learn to look at what we have. So, unless we come to the mode of goodness, no matter how much we achieve, no matter how much we possess, we'll not be satisfied.

It's not how much we have, it's what we are looking at. People nowadays want to increase their standard of living. Oh, this standard, I want to move this standard, this standard.

It's good. You want to improve your standard of living. But, just improving the standard of living, will not increase our happiness.

For that, we have to improve, not our standard of living, but our standard of longing. Our standard of longing. What are we longing for? What are our desires for? If we are longing for the same thing that everybody else in the world is longing for, most people in the world are materialistic, and everybody is longing for more and more material possessions.

If that is what we are longing for, then, just as everyone else is dissatisfied, we'll also be dissatisfied. In the Mahabharata, when Duryodhana arranges to somehow or other try to dispossess the Pandavas of everything, he tries to first have them poisoned, tries to have them poisoned, then he tries to have them burnt alive, but each time the Pandavas emerge more successful, more prosperous. Then, finally, what happens is that the Pandavas, they perform the Rajasuya Yajna.

And, when they perform that Yajna, Duryodhana comes back, fuming with anger and envy. How much prosperity they have! And, at that time, Dhritarashtra tells him, Son, why are you unhappy? You have magnificent palace, you have royal opulence, you have queens, you have everything that you long for. Why are you dissatisfied? So, his reply is very typical and very instructive of the mentality of a person in the Yoga.

He says, What person can be happy when his rival has more than what he has? What person can be happy when his rival has more than what he has? So, here, his happiness is not dependent on what he has. His happiness is dependent on what? Somebody else has. And, tragically, even when he dispossesses the Pandavas, even through the gambling match, he steals everything from the Pandavas.

Even after that, he is not satisfied. He says, I want to flaunt my wealth before the Pandavas. He says, I will go to the forest, and I will go with my chariots, and my gold, and all my possessions, and I will see how they are living in poverty, and they will see how I am living in prosperity.

And, seeing them burn within me, then I will be happy. So, that means, his happiness was not just dependent on what he had, his happiness was not even dependent on what others had. Although he took everything from the Pandavas, still he was not happy.

What happened? Eventually, he went there, and there he wanted to flaunt his wealth, but he got into an argument with the Gandharvas, and the Gandharvas, they got angry with him, and they fought with him, and he was defeated. His associates, Karna, Dushyasana, Shakuni, all ran away. Duryodhana was left alone, and he was arrested.

And, in front of the same Pandavas, in front of whom he wanted to flaunt his wealth, eventually what happened? They saw him as a prisoner of war. Utterly humiliated. And eventually it was Bhima who came and rescued Arjuna.

Sorry, rescued Duryodhana. So, he was completely humiliated. He wanted to show his power, and what happened? It was Bhima who showed his power and saved him.

He just couldn't bear it. Actually, what happened? While he refused to go back, he said, I am going to commit suicide now. And he sat down to fast to death.

Somehow, the Ityas and the Dhanavas, they came in a mystic vision to him, and they told him, don't commit suicide. We have great plans for you. We have great plans for you.

The point I am making here is, I said that, when we are in possession, it does not give us satisfaction, as long as the disposition is in the mode of passion. So, Duryodhana's disposition was in the mode of passion, that's why no matter how much he had, he was never satisfied. So, the solution, on one side, as I said, there is dissatisfaction or ambition that is outside.

The ambition that is outside is triggered by externals, what others have. If that is the dissatisfaction, that is the ambition, that is never going to be dealt with. But it can also be inside-out.

Inside-out means, either I can look at what I don't have, and I crave for it. Or, I can look at what I have, and we are satisfied with what we have, but we would like to make a contribution with what we have. Okay, I have certain abilities, I have certain resources, I want to use them constructively.

Arjuna is a devotee, and as a devotee, was he satisfied? Yes, he was satisfied in Krishna, but he was not satisfied in the sense of being passive. He became a champion archer by tirelessly practicing archery. One of his names is Gudakesha.

Gudakesha means, one who has conquered sleep. Now, this has many different contexts, but one context is that, when he was practicing archery, all day he would learn archery from Drona, and all night practically he would practice that archery. So that's how he conquered sleep.

So, Arjuna was always devoted to Krishna, but his devotion did not lead to apartheid. He saw that he has archery skills, he saw them as gifts of Krishna, and he wanted to use them to the best of his ability. So, his pursuit of excellence in archery also required ambition.

But the foundation of the ambition was not dissatisfaction. The foundation of the ambition was contribution. I have been given this skill, I want to use it to the best of my capacity.

And this, in pursuing his excellence in archery, he never became adharmic because of that. He did not, like Duryodhana in trying to fulfill his desire for wealth, he just flagrantly violated dharma. But Arjuna never did that.

Arjuna's ambition to become an excellent archer made him work harder, and he used his archery eventually in Krishna's service. So, if we have certain abilities, and we use them in Krishna's service, and for that we want to improve them more and more, then that ambition to want to make a contribution in whichever field we are in, that is a healthy ambition. Now, just as all the parts of the body grow naturally, proportionately, the whole body grows, similarly, if our growth of a particular ambition does not lead to the disruption of other aspects of our life, then that is healthy.

So, Bhaktivinoda Thakur said that I long for the day when there will be, the high court judges will be wearing tilak. Now, what does it mean? It means that those who are devotees, they will become competent enough to become high court judges. So, they will definitely need to have a high level of competence to rise to that level of post.

But, they will also be devoted. So, that balance is what should not be disrupted by ambition. So, if we have a holistic understanding of devotion, if we think of devotion as rejection of the world and simply focusing on Krishna, that is good.

That is good for somebody in the position of Parasharath Maharaj who is just facing death. But, the model of devotion also is Arjuna. And, if we have an inclusive understanding of devotion, then, दामिपुद्धियोगंतं येनमांपयां दिते Krishna will give us the intelligence, how best I can balance.

And, in this way, if our intention is to serve Krishna, then, we serve Krishna through our sadhana, we serve Krishna through our sadhana, which we do diligently. We serve Krishna through our seva, which we do diligently. And, we serve Krishna through our worldly responsibilities, whether it be taking care of our family, doing our professional jobs.

We see it all as a service to Krishna. We have an inclusive vision of devotion. That will ensure that my goal is not just to be successful in this one field.

My goal is not just to be successful in my bhakti activities and be responsible in my worldly activities. My goal is not just to be successful in my worldly activities and to be negligent in my devotional activities. If we see that all these, all the aspects of our life can help us to develop our relationship with Krishna, then, that purpose of developing our relationship with Krishna will help us to arrive at a balance.

So, how that balance comes, I'll talk about that in tomorrow's class, where I'll talk about a very interesting conversation between Narada Muni and Yudhishthir Maharaj, where he talks about balance and how it is to be achieved. I'll summarize what I spoke today and then we can have some questions. So, I spoke about how we can have devotion as something which has both ambition and satisfaction within it.

So, I began by talking about to be conscious is to be desirous. But what kind of desires we have, that will determine whether our desire will lead to satisfaction or not. In materialistic culture, people think of satisfaction and ambition as opposite.

But they don't have to be like that. If our ambition is for possession and position, if our ambition is outside in, determined by what the world is doing and what the world is glamorizing, then that ambition will never lead to satisfaction. Because that kind of mode of passion will keep us obsessed with what we don't have.

So, no matter how much we have, the mode of passion will make us look at what we don't have and will keep us dissatisfied. I talked about Duryodhana. He said, how can a person be happy when his enemy has more than what he has.

So, the current consumer economy is driven by consumer dissatisfaction. And that's why no matter how much we have, it keeps us dissatisfied. So, the growth that we often see is disproportionate.

It is like cancerous growth. It may be workaholism, it may be shopaholism. So, when this kind of disruptive growth is there, it causes distress.

It never leads to satisfaction. That kind of ambition outside in is something which we want to avoid. But bhakti is not just simply about renunciation.

Bhakti has, there is dependence on Krishna and there is diligence for Krishna. So, Draupadi is dependent on Krishna, Arjuna is diligent for Krishna. And when we have our devotion in the mood of contribution, this is what I have been given and this is how I want to use this in Krishna sense, then that ambition which comes from there is not outside in but inside out.

So, like Arjuna had archery skill and he excelled by working hard. But he also maintained his devotion. So, similarly, when we understand that we don't have to give up our desires but our driving desire has to be to develop a relationship with Krishna.

And if that, we understand that relationship with Krishna has developed in an inclusive way, then we can balance the various aspects of our life and thus our growth will not be cancerous but it will be harmonious. So, how to seek this balance? We will talk in tomorrow's class. Are there any questions or comments? You can just speak the question, I will repeat it.

Trying to develop instead in archery, right? You are talking about that. Was he not passionate on that? Was he not passionate on that? Still be passionate about something and can continue our devotional service? Correct. Good question.

So, if Arjuna was developing his archery skills, was he not passionate about it? Can we be passionate about something and still be devotional? The word passion has different meanings in different contexts. So, there are terms and there are concepts. So, the term, the concept is intellectual or it's mental.

The term is verbal. The concept we could say is like a suitcase. The term is like the handle to the suitcase.

Once I had gone to America and then when I was going from one place to another, my suitcase broke. So, the last moment the devotees gave me another suitcase. And when I landed at next place, I had forgotten what the suitcase looked like.

So, I only remembered its handle. So, I remembered the handle was of a red color. So, then on the carousel I was pulling out all the red colored suitcases and checking, is this my suitcase? So, what happens is that the same handle, similar handle can be there in many different suitcases.

So, the handle is like the term and the suitcase is the concept. So, the handle in this case is passion. We are talking about the word passion and the concept is the suitcase.

So, in the Vedic context, the word passion is used in a particular way. In today's world, passion is used in a different way. So, in the Vedic context, the word passion refers to Rajoguna.

It is a disposition of the mind, which keeps one perpetually dissatisfied. So, passion is insatiable desire, compulsive work, constant competitive mentality. That is the notion with which the word passion is associated.

In today's world, the word passion is often used in a very positive sense. You should have a passion for something. And when we say have a passion for something, means you have some spirit to drive, to achieve, to get something done.

So, say Einstein had a passion for science. Now, that is not necessarily in Rajoguna. He was doing research, which is intellectual work, which is quite often sattvic.

So, if we are using passion in the positive sense of wanting to do something, wanting to achieve something, wanting to contribute something, then having passion is natural. So, Arjuna definitely had a passion for archery. Without that, he could not have been an archer.

So, if we are going to do something, if we are going to achieve something, if we are going to have an ambition, even to make a contribution in a particular field, we have to have some driving spirit. And if we are using that driving spirit to make a contribution, and we are using passion as the word to refer to that, that's perfectly fine. So, when that passion becomes all-consuming, and that passion just puts everything, just in the name of the passion, we neglect everything else, then that is where it becomes unhealthy.

So, when we are doing something, we need to be absorbed in it. And we can say that time, if we are doing our job, if we are doing some research, if we are doing some studies, if we have passion for that, we will be absorbed in that. And that is good.

But, if that is the only thing that we think about all the time, and we can't do anything else, then that is not just absorption, that has become a compulsion. That has become an obsession. And that is unhealthy.

So, does this answer your question? Thank you. Any other questions? Yes, please. Sir, you mentioned about contribution.

How does contribution leads to expectation about puja, bhajans and so on. What are the things that you want to gain? Okay. How do you do that? Good question.

So, when we make a contribution, we also want prestige, adoration for that. So, how does that work? See, the nature of varna, Krishna talks about varna and ashram, we all have a particular nature. So, for a brahmana, for a kshatriya, for a vaisya, for a shudra, these are broad human types, you can say body types, body-mind types.

So, when we do something according to our nature, then just doing that activity gives satisfaction. If as a result of doing that activity, we get praise, we get appreciation, we get glorification, that's a bonus. We don't do it just for the secondary things.

When we are doing something which is not according to our nature, then we don't do it because we like it, we do it because I'll get something out of it. So, if we are making a contribution according to our abilities, our talents, then we do it because we just like to do it. A brahmana will study.

Now, many of us, we study scripture simply because we want to speak scripture to others. We memorize verses so that we can quote to others. That's why I know so many verses.

Most of the times we study only when we have to speak something. But those who are brahminical, they study because they love to study. And they may speak only 1% of what they study actually.

They satisfy. So, for them, study is not a tool to preaching. Study is not a tool to impressing others.

So, if we are doing something according to our nature, then making a contribution itself brings satisfaction. Of course, we would like to be effective and being effective means that we make a contribution in a way that benefits people. And if people are benefited, then naturally they may express their appreciation.

So, Akshila Prabhupada, when he was preaching in India, for 30-40 years he was trying to share Krishna Bhakti in India and he did not get much results. Eventually, he went to America and there people he found were much more interested. And there he got results and he brought the Americans to India and seeing Americans and Europeans practicing Krishna Bhakti, Indians started practicing.

We know this, more or less, about Akshila Prabhupada's life. But looking from this perspective, Akshila Prabhupada, when he was making contribution, he had some knowledge about Krishna, he had Krishna Bhakti and he was sharing that Krishna Gyan and Krishna Bhakti. But people were not receptive in India.

So, when he went to America, was he dissatisfied? While he was going from India? He could say on one level he was dissatisfied that the results of his service were not manifesting. But people who met him in India also in those days, 1964-1965, when he was struggling, if you read Leenam they say that he is a simple, saintly, scholarly person, he is happy. So, Prabhupada's personal happiness did not depend on whether people were taking Krishna Bhakti or not.

He was happy in his relationship with Krishna. But he wanted that others should also take it. So, he went to America and eventually he brought Americans to India.

So, that means that we don't have to necessarily very rigidly separate contribution from appreciation. If we make a worthwhile contribution and we make it in a way that it brings appreciation, we just see that as Krishna reciprocating and telling us to do this service more. Do it in this way.

If we are not getting that, then maybe that is a signal that we have to do some course correction. But for us, the appreciation from the world is not the sole driving purpose for doing it. We are doing it because that's what is our nature, that's what Krishna has told.

Krishna has made our body and mind in such a way that that's what we are happy doing. Does that answer your question? Thank you. Any other questions? Yes, please.

Question inaudible. So, I was actually waiting for this question. So, when I said that we should not look at others and if we sometimes see that others are successful, more successful than that, that may cause us dissatisfaction.

That comparative, comparing mentality is there. So, what do we do about that? When I said that our ambition should be inside out, not outside in, that doesn't mean that we don't look at the outside world and don't care for the outside world. We live in a world and practically, we live in a competitive world.

So, what others are doing is going to shape the result of what we are doing. I may study very well for an exam, but if all other students study better than me, and the percentile may come out poor. Then the result is going to be that we are not going to get the result.

So, I was in Phoenix in Intel. I gave a three part talk on competition, constructive and destructive. So, I am here, others are here.

So, the difference between constructive and destructive competition is that destructive competition means my center is pushing the other person down. Constructive competition is the other person inspires me to become better. Become better doesn't necessarily mean that I have to possess more than that person.

It simply means that I strive to perform better. I strive to contribute more. I strive to improve myself.

So, we all are social creatures and what people around us are doing naturally affects us. So, how can we make our competition constructive? That is, there are three things in it. First is that we don't desire the other person's distress or failure.

If that is happening, then that is very much destructive. Second is that when we strive to improve ourselves, we can get inspiration from others. There is inspiration from others and there is imitation of others.

So, we have to understand that I am my own person and he or she is a different person. So, I don't have to become better than that person. I have to become the best me.

And if they become the best, that's fine. And if their best is better than my best, that's okay. My purpose should be to become my best.

And quite often it is when we see others doing something well, that's what inspires us to do it. It can be in material life, it can be in spiritual life. If we are distributing books, we see other devotees distributing a lot of books, that inspires us, let me also distribute books.

So, taking inspiration from others is very good. Because we are social creatures. So, we take inspiration from others and try to do our best.

But again, the purpose is what? I want to make my best contribution. My reference point is not that I want to become better than that person. My purpose is that I want to do my best.

So, there can be competition in the mode of ignorance, there can be competition in the mode of passion, competition in the mode of goodness and competition in transcendence. Competition in the mode of ignorance means that if I can't succeed, nobody else will succeed. It's like, now there is a threat of nuclear weapons being used by North Korea.

So, these weapons of mass destruction, they are said to lead to MAD. MAD is Mutually Assured Destruction. So, the idea is, if I can't win, I'll make sure that you don't win.

So, that is destructive, that is tamasic. In the mode of passion, our goal is I want to succeed and I don't care what happens to others. I may not intentionally want to destroy others, but if in my success I trample others, I don't care for it.

So, for example, the way modern western civilization has progressed, we have had a devastating ecological footprint. The way we have damaged the ecology, it's alarming. When I came from America to Europe, flying over, in the airplane, they show sometimes a navigating map.

So, there they showed, we were flying over what is called as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. What is that? There is plastic, which has been thrown into the ocean, and now that is, not literally present as plastic, but that has not disappeared completely. So, as particles it is present.

And that Great Pacific Patch is actually four times bigger than Germany. And just there. So, all around the marine life is affected, and it's very damaging.

So, now when people started the Industrial Revolution, their goal was not to destroy the ecology. Their goal was, we don't care for the ecology. The ecology gets destroyed, that's what they call as collateral damage.

It just happened. So, when we have competition in the mode of passion, we are just completely unconcerned about others. We don't desire intentionally their destruction, but we are not concerned about the middle.

In the mode of goodness, when there is competition, there is the whole picture that is there. That means, as I said, I am a person, the other person is a different person, and I want to bring out my best. So, I also have my morals, I have my values, I have my ethics, and I am not going to trample on them to succeed.

But I will do my best. So, in the mode of goodness, the focus is on doing our best, not on, we may be inspired by others. In transcendence, the purpose is to please Krishna.

So, in that mode, whatever will please Krishna the most, that is what is cherished. So, for example, once some devotees, they went to their spiritual master and they said that, we are going to do book distribution in a very big way this year, and we want to come the first in the whole country. Last time, the highest book distribution temple, they distributed 90,000 books.

So, we want to distribute 100,000 books this year. So, then their spiritual master told them, they said, please bless us so that we can distribute 100,000 books. So, he says, yes, I will pray that you distribute 100,000 books, and I will pray that you come last.

What does that mean? That means that everybody serves Krishna more, Krishna's message goes to more and more people. So, in transcendence, our purpose is to please Krishna. So, for the pleasing of Krishna, we want to do the best.

The different gopis, they all cook for Krishna, and they all want to cook as well as they can. But their purpose is not that my delicacy has to be better than their delicacy. The purpose is Krishna should be pleased.

So, we can have competition, that is not a problem. But if we can have constructive competition, which is in the mode of goodness or in transcendence, where the pursuit of one thing does not blind us to the whole picture, then we can get inspiration from others without needing to have imitation of others, without needing to have the defeat of others or the destruction for our satisfaction. Will you answer your question? Please stop here.

Do you have a question? Last question. Follow up to the answer, the last answer. So, how do we adopt? There is a question which I should have raised tomorrow.

How do we apply this into the corporate? Because that is what we are supposed to do. So, we are supposed to compete, there is a lot of collateral damage we do in the office. So, in the corporate world, in offices when we work, we all do collateral damage because of competition.

In the 18th chapter, in the 47th verse Krishna says, 47, 48, 49, he is talking about how to work in this world. And there Krishna says that सहजं कर्म कौंतेय सदोष्यं अपिनत्यजीत सर्वारंभाहि दोषेन धुमेनाग निर्वावृता So, he says that सहजं कर्म कौंते, whatever is our work, सदोष्यं अपिनत्यजीत that just because it is faulty, don't give it up. सर्वारंभाहि दोषेन All endeavor in this world, all work in this world is covered by fault.

How we use the example? धुमेनाग निर्वावृता Just as fire is covered by smoke. This means that fire is considered pure, but smoke is considered messy. So, but still when fire is there, smoke will be there.

Similarly, Krishna says all work in this world will be covered by faults. So, it's not just in today's corporate world. In every situation in life, in every age, there is always contamination.

That has to be practically dealt with. Actually, Prabhupada gives the example. Let a businessman may tell a customer, now for you I am taking no profit.

Businessman will not be able to live without profit. So, that businessman when they say like that, it's basically, Prabhupada says, it's a simple untruth. They just speak untruth.

That's what they do. So, now, that's just that. So, in certain places, certain things may have to be done.

So, when we live in a competitive world, then some amount of competition is unavoidable. So, we have to see that we are meant to be devotees of Krishna. As devotees of Krishna, our purpose is not primarily to be champions of morality.

That doesn't mean we have to be immoral. Definitely not. But that simply means that we don't necessarily have to be campaigners against certain forms of evil that are prominently present in society and that are integral part of society.

For example, if I may be very, if I come to the mode of goodness by the practice of bhakti, I may become more environmentally conscious. Now, if I start thinking that every time I ride in a car, this car is causing so much pollution. This pollution is causing so much problems to the ecology.

Well, that's true. But what can I do in today's world? So, some ultra-ego conscious people may say, no, we will not use automobiles. We will use some other kind of vehicles.

We will use different things. Some people may say, oh, we will just go and live in a village. Okay, we will live in an eco-friendly community.

That's good if we can do it. But if our service requires us to function in today's world, we have to, as Prabhupada would say, make the best of a bad bargain. So, in the competitive world that we live in today, if competition is largely a part of life, then we have to accept it.

But we don't have to necessarily embrace it in an excessive way. That means, so, A, if we are part of a company which, by its operation itself, does cause some collateral damage, then we can't go against the company. We can't just quit our job.

But within that, if it is possible, we can see if we can take up a role where we can come up with some more eco-friendly opportunities or we can take up a role where things are not that competitive, where if we work with a team, we work in a cooperative way. So, it's like the social current is moving in a particular way and we can't resist the social current completely. But that doesn't mean that we have to fuel the social current.

We can, within that social current, be an example of somebody who is sattvic. The overall life is going to be passionate. The overall world is going to be passionate.

But that doesn't mean that we have to be super passionate. We can relatively be in goodness. So, how to do that, that will vary from situation to situation.

So, for example, somebody may just have to, say, somebody is a doctor. And if that doctor is a part of a hospital where there is a whole system of kickbacks or commissions that you recommend certain tests. And because of that, the world does the tests.

They give some percentage for the tests. Now, for the doctor, the doctor may not decide, I'll become a campaigner and I'll fight against the whole medical system about this. I may not do this.

Or, we all, in our particular situation, can decide what lines to draw. So, we don't want to use our devotion to be immoral. By the same time, we have to recognize that we are finite beings.

So, we can't rebel against the whole system. So, we try to be an agent of change or difference within the particular situation we are in. And ultimately, the more lasting change is not social change, but spiritual change.

So, if in whatever situation we are in, you say, if we are living in a city environment, where we are also contributing to the ecological footprint, where we are also using cars, we are also using many things, that's going to cause some damage. But if our life is for the service of Krishna, and we are helping people raise themselves to spiritual consciousness, then that is going to make a significant difference. If we are practicing bhakti, and we share about bhakti with others, and then somebody becomes a serious devotee, that person also becomes an environmentalist, and that person brings a bigger change in society.

So, we have to see, in my situation, what is the best I can do. And if we have that sincere desire to serve Krishna, then Krishna will guide us, how we can best function in our situation. So, as I said, ददामि बुद्धियोगंतम् येनिमामुप्यांतिते If we have an intention to serve Krishna, He will give us the intelligence by which we can serve Him effectively.

I'll conclude with one example. There was a devotee who was in the U.S. Army. He was in the U.S. Army and then he became a devotee.

When he became initiated, his spiritual master gave him the name Bharata Sarathi. So, then he was told, when the conflict was happening in Iraq, he was told to go to Iraq. Now, he told his spiritual master, I don't want to go, this war is political.

Why should I go? So, his spiritual master told him, No, if you have been working in the army, they paid you, that is your duty, that is your job, you have to go there. So, then when he went there, he was a squadron leader. And when he would lead his squadron, so, because even then, he would remember Krishna, just chant Krishna's name in the mind.

So, what happened was, he stayed very cool. And he led his squadron out of several guerilla attacks, several ambush attacks. He saved them by his presence of mind.

And then, one of his troop members, they asked him, that, how do you stay so cool? So, he was about to answer, then they struck him. He says, now I understood, why Krishna sent me to Iraq. He said, I have been trying to speak about the soul and bhakti and Krishna to them in America, but when they were living in comfort, they were not interested.

But now, when they are on the border of life and death, they are seriously interested. And then he spoke about how we are the souls and we are eternal and we are indestructible in life or death. We have a relationship with God, we should remember God.

And then afterwards, he, every time when they would go on expedition, they would have their guns, they would have their green uniform, their helmets, and before they would go, he would give them an inspirational talk. And just before they would go, they would all come and he would sprinkle some Gangajal on them. Some sacred Ganges water.

They would go to fight. And there, there he, he was a good singer. So, once a week, he started doing kirtans over there.

And they all started singing. Then he wrote about his experiences in a journal, he called it Battlefield Bhajans. And then, eventually, the singing program became so popular that actually in the American cantonment in Iraq, he organized a Rath Yatra.

And that was the first and only Rath Yatra in the Islamic world, especially that part of the Islamic world, publicly. So, you know, Krishna had his plan. Now, in his situation, he can't say that I will not fight this war at all.

He has to fight. That's the situation which he is in. But we can all become agents of change within whatever situation we are putting.

Thank you very much.