Are all attractive things good for devotees of the all-attractive?

Answer Podcast:

Hare Krishna Question from Vinay Prabhu You said in one Gita Delhi article that You can see all Attractive things in this world as Reminders of Krishna’s attractiveness But then there are certain things in this world which are Attractive but they are not good For devotees So how should we see these things? Answer When we say that Attractive things should remind us of Krishna That does not necessarily mean That we embrace those Attractive things It simply means that In principle whatever Attraction that is there in those things We can understand Intellectually that that Attraction is coming From Krishna and rather than Seeking the attraction in that thing We see We seek to find the attraction In Krishna Prabhupada writes in Chaitanya Charkam That Some spiritualists say that Even the taste of liquor Is Brahman Because ultimately everything is Brahman Now even if we say in a distant Sense that the taste of liquor is Brahman Actually Prabhupada also talks about this In In one of his books that He says that if somebody thinks That The taste of wine Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita That I am the taste of water So if somebody says that the taste of wine is also Is ultimately Wine is liquid And so taste of wine is also Krishna Then by thinking of Krishna thus Even this drunkard will one day become a great devotee So now Srila Prabhupada says that But then he also based on Shastra The regulative principle no intoxication So if the taste of liquor Is also Krishna then why do we have To follow the principle of Intoxication That is because yes the taste Of liquor is Krishna In the sense that Captivation that captivating potency That is there in liquor That is also coming from Krishna But that does not mean that That will take us to Krishna Krishna is transcendental So if you consider this as transcendence Then there is goodness, passion and ignorance So now The transcendental That Transcendental Krishna manifests In this world through things Which are which manifests Their attractiveness and goodness and passion and ignorance So now The manifestations and ignorance If we get attracted to them We stay away from Krishna So liquor also has its attractive potency And liquor would not have Its attractive potency unless Krishna Manifested a spark of its attractiveness Through it But that is manifested for people Who want to stay in ignorance Krishna Fulfills, accommodates them and fulfills their desire But getting attracted To those manifestations of Krishna Will not take us closer to him That will take us away from him So what we understand Is that Yes, when we see some people Getting intoxicated Maddened by attraction to liquor Then we understand by that That actually this is This capacity for liquor Of liquor to madden people is there because Liquor manifests Krishna’s all attractiveness Spark of Krishna’s all attractiveness So if a spark can attract And madden people so much Then how much can the whole Attract me if I focus on the whole So we intellectually Focus on Intellectually understand But we don’t have to experientially Entangle ourselves with these things Similarly the beauty of The Sense objects Now where does that beauty Come from? That comes from Krishna But if we become attracted to the Beauty of the sense objects Then we will Usually not go towards Krishna We will get entangled In the material world and we will not Move towards Krishna So what we should do is When we see beautiful sense objects It’s not that we dwell on those sense objects But whenever we feel an attraction We intellectually understand If this particular This beauty Is coming primarily from the body And it’s going to be temporarily beautiful But if this can be so captivating Then how captivating Will be Krishna’s beauty Therefore let me try to focus on Krishna’s beauty So We certainly when we say that The attractiveness of all attractive things comes from Krishna That does not mean that we become Attracted to all those things Rather it means that we Direct our attraction towards Krishna By remembering That their attractiveness is also coming from Krishna And their attractiveness is only a spark Whereas Krishna is the full So by Even if I turn away from their attraction Even if I don’t let myself get attracted to them I’m not losing anything Rather I’m gaining So by this philosophical understanding Of The Of Krishna being the source of everything attractive And therefore we focusing on Krishna’s attractiveness And then we can also Focus on the attractiveness of those things That take our consciousness towards Krishna So for example if we Like to taste good food Then we take Delicious prasad So then we are getting the taste Of food And we are getting the connection with Krishna If we like to hear music If some devotees Are very good singer Then we can hear their kirtans If we like to hear intellectually stimulating classes And lectures and deep philosophy Then we try to find out which devotees give that kind of classes Which books Satisfy our intellectual need And then there through the intellectual stimulation That Intellectual stimulation is also manifestation of Krishna Intellectual attraction is also manifestation of Krishna But that if we Become attracted to the intellectual Brilliance of some atheists That attraction will take us away from Krishna The intellectual brilliance of devotees Will take us towards Krishna So we Decide based on Anukulyasya sankalpa patikulyasya barjanam We accept that which is Anukul which is favorable And we reject that which is unfavorable So those manifestations of Krishna Which manifest His attractiveness Which take us towards him We focus on them And those manifestations which take us away from Krishna Even though they manifest His attractiveness only We understand that They will take us away from them So we don’t focus on them So are all commentaries