As exalted devotees don’t want liberation should we not desire to get out of this world?

Answer Podcast

So in exalted devotional prayers, it’s said that we don’t even desire liberation. But at our stage when practice is so difficult, isn’t it foolish to not desire liberation? Isn’t it good that we desire to get out of this world? Yes. See, in bhakti, there is always, not just in bhakti, in broad Vedic spirituality, there are always multiple levels.
And what is good at one level may not, may actually be bad at another level. So, or may not so good if a father has two sons and say both of them are at different levels in their academy. One of them gets very good marks, the other gets poor marks.
So now, say one of them gets 80 percent, the other gets 40 percent value. And then now, today both of them have come with their results. And both of them have got 60 percent.
Now the father will say the person, the boy has come from 40 to 60 percent, shabash. And then the boy who has come from 80 to 60, madhbash, what did you do? He’ll say, hey, both of us got 60 percent. Why are you praising him and scolding me? It’s because from 40 to 60 is a step up, from 80 to 60 is a step down.
So like that, you know, bhakti can be so inclusive that there is, the Bhagwatam says that whether you have all desires or no desires or the desire for liberation, just practice bhakti intensely. So here is a very inclusive understanding of bhakti. And then there is also Bhagwatam verse that actually pure devotional service is when unmotivated, uninterrupted.
That is paradharma. That is what the Bhagwatam is teaching. So that means when we hear scriptural instructions, we respect all scriptural instructions.
But at the same time we have to see what level we are at and what is the step up from where we are. So for us, you know, we can’t become pure devotees without becoming devotees. That means we have to first have a relationship with Krishna and then we can make the relationship selfless.
So at our level, if we think that, you know, Krishna, this world is a place of misery and I want to get out of this world and Krishna can help me get out. That is good. So at the same time we appreciate the selflessness of exalted devotees where they desire that, oh, how bad, I don’t want anything except the service of Krishna.
So that those expressions of selfless love, they can inspire us to appreciate that there is how much nectar there must be in bhakti that, you know, that the devotees are able to tolerate even the miseries of material world. You know, say somebody is sitting on a bed of thorns. It’s painful or a chair of thorns.
But if somebody is eating, say, ice cream, delicious ice cream, and that taste is so good that they forget that they are sitting on a bed of thorns. Now, you know, at that time first, you know, on the other hand, somebody might be intoxicated with so much alcohol that they don’t even realize that I’m sitting on a bed of thorns and the thorns are actually piercing them and they think, yeah, I’m enjoying. That is bad.
So from the intoxicated state where one doesn’t realize one is in pain to come to a state where one realizes that I’m in pain so that one can think of a way out of the pain. That is good. So for us to recognize that this world is a place of misery and I should get out of it, that is a good desire.
In fact, one time Prabhupada was asked, now what is the most important qualification for going back to Krishna? He said that, now you should realize this world is a place of misery and want to get out of this world. So that is foundational actually. At the same time, when we hear this expression, we can understand that even in this world, if we become absorbed in Krishna, there is so much happiness that we can transcend the pains of this world also.
So it’s a progression. So we respect all scriptural statements, however lofty they are. At the same time, we don’t try to imitate them and we don’t become discouraged just because we are not at that level.
Whatever level we are at, we look at how I can move one step up, one step up, one step up. And gradually, we will also attain that exalted devotion which is described by the saints.