Bhagavatam-daily 95 – 11.08.11 – Even when seeking Lakshmi for Narayana, don’t pursue Lakshmi more than pursuing Narayana

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.8.11 Pāṇipātro dharāmatro makṣikeva na saṅgrahe Pāṇipātro dharāmatro makṣikeva na saṅgrahe So Sāyantanaṁ For the evening Śvasthanaṁ vā For tomorrow Nasaṅgraniṁ tabhīkṣitaṁ Nasaṅgraniṁ And should not accumulate, who? The bhīkṣitaṁ The one who is a mendicant One who is acquiring the bhikṣa The food that is given in charity Pāṇipātro dharāmatro Pāṇipātro So, what should be the container that one should use? Pāṇi Pāṇi is the hands, Pātra Pātra is the container Udharāmatro Udhara is the belly As the storage container Makṣikeva Makṣike is the honey bee, na saṅgrahe One should not become an accumulator like a honey bee Now, here From the same honey bee Multiple lessons are being drawn out And In some of those lessons the honey bee is complemented positively and the honey bee is treated negatively. So, for example the honey bee who collects nectar or honey from different flowers accumulates. So, from that activity of collection one can learn that as the honey bee goes to the essence of the flower, we can also go to the essence of books of wisdom and see the essential wisdom therein and enrich ourselves with that essence So, as far as essential perception is concerned, we can learn from a honey bee on a positive side focus on the essence, but on the terms of in terms of accumulation the honey bee is used as a negative example that don’t be greedy and accumulate like a honey bee more and more and more rather be simple So, when one is a renunciate, the idea of the purpose of renunciation is to practice absolute dependence on the Lord and dependence can be practiced when we understand, when we don’t depend on our own plans So, in one sense, for those who are very highly renounced even the planning for the food for the evening or the food for the next day is considered to be a blemish on their dependence on the Lord because rather than depending with faith on the principle that the Lord is the provider and he will provide if one becomes greedy and accumulates Oh, now I have met a charitable donor and he is this householder is charitable and the householder are giving me charity, so let me take more and more food So, in case something is not available tomorrow, then I’ll have from today something left back So, that sort of mentality is not approved over here Pani patro dharam So, pani patra That means, like that the hand be the vessel and udara, the belly be the container, storage container matra So, basically don’t take anything more than what can fit in the belly and what can fit in the hands So, now this may seem an extreme principle and again, when we look at a principle when we look at a when we look at a particular scripture statement, we have to understand the underlying principle and see how it is relevant to us So, it is not that after hearing these instructions Maharaj Yadu literally adopted this particular mode of living He was a king and he learned the principle and he applied the principle according to his context So, here Maharaj Yadu our brahmana is taking a principle that he learned Now, whether we need to learn the same lesson and whether we can apply the same lesson from that context that requires careful consideration So, as devotees sadhakas living in today’s society where there is so much insecurity and uncertainty lack of proper financial planning may create so much turbulence in our life that we may not be able to practice bhakti also because of the anxiety that comes because of financial instability So, first of all it means there are two extremes over here one extreme is to not bother anything about finances and to just focus on transcendence Now, if somebody is at a level of attachment to the transcendent reality to Krishna, then one will not be concerned also whether I get food or not and if someone doesn’t get food, instead of complaining, the person will think Oh, Krishna is calling me back to him So, by not providing me food by not providing the necessities, Krishna is indicating to me that I should come back to him as quickly as possible and most people are not up to that level and we should not imagine that we are at that level and moreover Krishna and spiritual master usually want us to serve here in this world, assist in the mission also So, we don’t have to go to that extreme of being completely financially oblivious and in the name of spirituality but the other extreme is to get into so much financial anxiety and focus so much on economic development that one feels that I have no time for spiritual growth Such a danger is far more likely for us than the other danger of focusing so much on spirituality and neglect finance.
Actually, we live in a world where people around us are having anxiety then they are going to put us under anxiety and they are going to pressurize us, why are you not earning more why are you not making more plans for your security and things like that So, in general we are all shaped by our socio-cultural influences around us So, financial anxiety and financial planning are such deep-rooted facts of existence in today’s world that it’s unlikely that we will neglect them entirely What is far more likely is because of those socio-cultural influences which fill us with constant financial anxiety, we may not be able to think about spiritual growth at all and rather we may put it on a indefinite hold thinking that after I am better financially then I will practice spiritual life At such times we can take inspiration from such examples of enunciates who had so much faith in the Lord that they could just take enough in charity now charity itself is not a certain we get charity today and we get nothing tomorrow, but even within charity if somebody gets more to not take more that is so remarkable generally if we get charity our idea would be that Oh! If I got charity just accept it If the person is ready to give more and more let me take more and more but no so first of all to live on charity requires itself a great level of dependence on the Lord and to live on finite charity without making some contingency plan for the future that is even more difficult so we can derive inspiration from this principle of that there were great saintly people utterly renounced who were able to live like this so for me at my level can’t I at least live at the level of being enough dependent on Krishna to give a few hours of my life to him to not let Krishna is these saintly people it’s not that they are lazy that they are not they are not able to earn or they are not able to plan for the future it is they are so absorbed in Krishna that they feel why bother I’ll collect food and then I will accumulate it and then I will preserve it and I’ll have to bother whether it stayed safely or not whether ants have come or whether somebody has stolen it so why let the mental energy get diverted so much just eat what is required today and just worry about tomorrow when it comes and focus the mind on Krishna so we are not expected we are not asked to do that kind of thing but the very least we can do is with our endless anxieties in material existence I’m not putting aside all my material plans but at least for a few hours when I’m hearing when I’m chanting when I say well let me put aside my anxieties and give at least this much of my life this much of my consciousness to Krishna and that way we can keep ourselves focused on Krishna during the time that is meant for Krishna so at least that level of dependence you can show to Krishna that okay for the few hours that I am going to do bhakti at that time I will not bother about planning so absorption is also or attempt for absorption is also an expression of dependence and we can strive for that and that is how we can express our dependence on Krishna and of course we live also as a missionary movement and to share the message of the lord in this world resources are required to build temples to distribute books to organize festivals and for this purpose collecting wealth and then using that wealth in Krishna’s service is not wrong in fact it is essential and within this vision we see wealth not as for our enjoyment like Ravana or Sita but we see wealth as Lakshmi who is meant for the service of Narayana and with that vision devotees who are Narayana Parayana can use lots of Lakshmi also in Krishna’s service but such devotees also when they can use Lakshmi and we should use Lakshmi in Krishna’s service but we should be careful that we shouldn’t make the pursuit of Lakshmi as more important than the pursuit of Narayana because if that happens then even though we may start off with the intention of using Lakshmi in Narayana’s service but if our connection with Narayana is not strong enough it is not regularly rejuvenated through sadhana then when we get Lakshmi our heart will not get connected to Narayana because of irregular insufficient distracted sadhana and so when we get Lakshmi rather than remembering that Lakshmi is meant for Narayana we will start thinking that Lakshmi is meant for my enjoyment and that way we may become entangled so again even for our worldly maintenance or for our devotional service when we need some resources we should definitely strive to get the resources but we shouldn’t make the pursuit of those resources as our primary obsession our primary focus should be on Krishna and remember these resources are meant for him and that way also we can maintain our dependence on him but Krishna I want to do this for you but now I want to build a temple for you but then for raising the temple so much funds are required for getting funds you know even 24 hours are not enough so I’ll use all my time available only for raising funds and I don’t have any time to chant your holy name I don’t have time to study scripture then I may get the Lakshmi but then the Lakshmi will get me because without the connection with Krishna the intention to serve Krishna will not stay strong without the regular contact that sadhana brings and then even if we get glory even if we get fame even if we get resources those resources will go to our heart instead of going to our head instead of going to Krishna and in that way we will become entangled so by regulating our endeavors to acquire material things and by focusing on serving Krishna through a direct spiritual connection also if we have adequate time to that we can express our dependence and that is the principle we can learn from this