CC daily 194 – 7.7-8 – The call of duty is not a license for insensitivity

Chaitanya Chitta Amrit Madhya Leela text 7-8 chapter 7 Lord Chaitanya's tour of South India Chaitanya Mahaprabhu knew here that for his associates it would be very very difficult for them to live without him and in fact they had already in an extraordinary way exhibited their devotion to him by leaving their house Navdeep where they all had their settled lives and the associates were not at least those who had travelled from Navdeep to Puri they were not but still they were they had their life they had their position they had their social circles and they had left it all for the sake of Lord Chaitanya to be with him and now the Lord was planning to travel South India not in a high profile way but in a very discreet way so he is going to tell them that that he wants to go alone and this is going to be heart-wrenching, heart-rending, heart-breaking for them Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in a signal lesson in sensitivity tells us that here he shows how we should deal with such situations he says with great humility he calls the associates and he holds their hands and after holding the hands he speaks to them very gently saying that all of you are more dear dearer to me than my very life and indeed I can give up my life it will be easier for me to give up my life than it will be to give up your association such an expression of affection is going to be unforgettably etched in the hearts of his associates and they will cherish, treasure, relish shed tears of affection and gratitude and devotion when they meditate on such words later so Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is showing through such words that the call of duty is not a rationale for insensitivity Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was called from within to whom of course he is himself the lord but he was feeling inspired to go to south India and he would be leaving his associates now he could say that I have my mission I have to travel and I have to share the glory of the holy name, I have to deliver people and these are all very important missions for the whole world protection and redemption and he could very well have said that as compared to such an important mission how can I just give up that mission for the sake of staying with you don't come in my way that means he could have trivialized their emotions and portrayed their emotions as if they were being obstacles in his greater higher cause but he did not do that he although he tells them in such a heartwarming way that you are more dear to me than my life so indirectly by this he would be conveying that for him to go away is not something which he is doing with great joy yes he has a higher calling, a higher duty and for that he has to do this but he does it in a very sensitive way and thus he demonstrates how we too should act in our dealings in life that we need to recognize sometimes when we have a higher calling or a higher duty then at that time we feel very self-righteous oh I've got such a glorious thing to do and I feel inspired why should anyone come in my way so for example when we start practicing bhakti now our family members, our relatives our friends may not be interested in devotion they may not be inclined to a devotion and even if they are inclined they may not be inclined to the same level of intensity that we are and of course that example we can say at one level we can say it is different you know that is a material relationship where lord shaitanya and his associates is an entirely spiritual relationship yes the difference is there but still the principles underlying healthy relationships remain the same we as devotees are not meant to if we are related with friends if we are related with family members then we are not just meant to abruptly cut off those relationships and hurt others we become their way in connection with Krishna we become their way to Krishna when we become devotees when they are not yet devotees so if we are harsh and insensitive then they become alienated not just from us but also from Krishna so even from a spiritual perspective harshly cutting off things of being insensitive even in the call of duty that is not appropriate that can be counterproductive for their devotional process and along with that there is also the basic principle that we are meant to we are meant to train ourselves for the practice of bhakti in a way that is sensitive yes we don't have to compromise on a principle we have to be firm about our devotional commitments but we can phrase things in a way that doesn't hurt others here sometimes even as devotees there may be multiple callings one devotee may call me here one devotee may call us here and another devotee may call us there or some devotee may expect us to do something and we are also feeling inspired to do something else so now if that devotee is not our authority or even if that devotee is our authority but is an understanding authority and if we have got an inspiration and also we have got blessings for some other service then we may have to say that I cannot do this, I want to do this because I am involved in this this right now so when we say no it can be said gently it can be said sensitively it can be said respectfully sometimes when our actions may seem to convey the impression that we are heartless or uncaring when actually that is not our feeling in the heart then we need to make sure that that misleading expression is countered by our using appropriate affectionate words and thus we can even while saying something displeasing ensure that the relationship doesn't get damaged by that statement thank you.