CC daily 31 – M 4.114-118 – Devotees are not starry-eyed transcendentalists but are conscious of practical reality

Sevaras taustava dekhi anandita mane uttama bhoga lage etha bhuji anumane so sevaras taustava dekhi so as Madanthapuri was observing the temple the deity he saw that actually the service of the lord all arrangements were high class over there anandita mane and he became happy about it so it’s not that a devotee is just a starry eyed transcendentalist where devotee just sees Krishna over here in his ecstasy and doesn’t notice anything which will be right or wrong in this world at the material level no not at all a devotee although is transcendentally absorbed in service of Krishna the devotee is also focused on trying to do quality service to Krishna and doing quality service to Krishna means that the devotee is focused on learning how others are doing service and seeing also how others are doing service and wherever good service to Krishna is being performed devotee tries to also do good service try to learn and improve one’s own service also in this way the devotees ecstasy increases and in general the lord service gets improved the lord service gets enhanced that is the nature of transcendental devotion between the lord transcendental reciprocation between lord and his devotees now itha bhuji anuman he made anuman like this he inferred like that that oh if the service if all the arrangements are made very nicely then even the bhoga that must be offered to the lord must also be very nice so let me find out what all bhoga is being offered what all bhoga is offered over here I will try to find that out and finding that out I will inquire properly about this and then and similarly after knowing what all is offered in the kitchen over here I will offer similar bhoga to Gopal so the transcendental competition among the devotees of the lord is constructive not destructive that means that in this world when we people see others excelling being better than them then they want to pull them down so that they can prop themselves up but in the transcendental realm there is no need to pull anyone down and prop oneself up in their place because all of us are distinct individuals and we all have our individual relationship with Krishna and because we have this relationship with Krishna individually so therefore there is no need to worry too much about too many different things we focus simply on loving and serving Krishna and by loving and serving Krishna we all will advance so if some other devotee is doing a lot of service and doing high quality service then rather than feeling confused or disheartened or feeling in any way feeling that oh my service is not good enough and what will happen to me we don’t have to feel insecure because others are doing good services yes in the material world where resources are limited yes one person’s good service may mean one person’s good performance may mean others don’t get something similar but actually in spiritual life our good, another devotee’s good service does not necessarily, does not at all have to take anything away from us Krishna is unlimited, his mercy is unlimited and he is individually available to reciprocate with each one of us so by seeing how others are doing excellent service we can feel inspired to do service ourselves and by doing service like this we can march onwards in our relationship with Krishna moving forward and going onwards and onwards towards Krishna so there can be a, this is constructive competition where a devotee sees others good services and wants to do good service also bhoga vivarane ei lagi and for this purpose of wanting to improve his service too Gopal wanted to puchilen brahmane rasthane he asked the brahmanas and brahmana kahila sag bhoga vivarane and now naturally the brahmana is also someone who is the brahmana pujari of their deities is also eager to describe how wonderfully the lord is being served and he had also seen how mother Indrapuri was dancing singing an extra scene so this is a great devotee so he also started describing vivarane giving details of what all bhoga is being offered this is a devotee’s transcendental pride, not in the sense that I am doing such great service but this is the wonderful way in which the lord is being served that I am doing the service is my fortune not my pride that the lord deserves to be served in the best possible way and if the lord is using me as an instrument then that’s my fortune so when it comes to the service of the lord it’s not that we have to conceal what all service is being performed, we can speak about the service and we keep the focus not on I am doing the service but we keep the focus on the lord, these are the ways in which the lord is being served and in the brahmana said that among all the things, special items that are offered sandhyaya bhog, in the evening in the sandhyaya bhog lada kshira, sweet rice is offered the name of the kshira is amruta keli dwadashya amruta patre so dwadashya is 12 patre is earthen pots bhari amruta saman and this key that is offered 12 pots are offered and they are like nectar, the name is amruta keli and it is also like nectar, so normally whenever if you go to temple naturally the devotee of the temple will tell what are the special projects that are there what are the special ways in which the lord is being served over there similarly here this brahmana pujari is telling what are the special ways in which the lord is being served, here in this particular gopina temple he says that amruta keli is there and that is offered in the evening so gopinathe rakshira bali prasiddha naam yaar pruthvite aiche bhoga kaha nahi yaar so gopinathe rakshira bali this is known as the kshira of gopinath and prasiddha naam yaar it is very famous by this name by what? by the name of gopinath and it is pruthvite aiche bhoga in the whole of earth this kind of bhoga kaha nahi yaar it is not there anywhere else that is the speciality of this bhoga kaha nahi yaar, nowhere else is it available gopinathe keli is so special and pruthvite aiche bhoga kaha nahi yaar in all the earth no bhoga is there like this now is this an exaggeration the point here is that it is an expression of the devotion of the lord, of the devotees that they are offering the highest quality service to the lord and the devotees are also delighting, the lord is delighted by the service and the devotees are also delighted in offering the service and they try to offer the best quality service that is possible so in spiritual life there can be multiple bests it is not that one best has to be at the expense of another best because that is transcendental nature you know the devotees serve to the best of their capacity and it could well be that these devotees were having such intense devotion and were so expert also that the kheer was the best in the world the important point is not to get into a hyper critical factuality testing over here the point is in understanding the mood of devotion the devotees were offering the very best that they could and excellent quality that they offered had few if any parallels anywhere else, the point was not that they were trying to minimize others but the point is to emphasize the quality of the service that is being offered to the lord over here in our devotional service we don’t have to necessarily push down others to be the best that I have to be to please the lord, my service has to be better than everyone else’s service, if we are the best that we can be, that is more than good enough for the lord, we don’t have to think that I have to be better than others to be to please the lord what pleases the lord is our attitude of devotion in the service which is expressed through our sincere actions and our best execution of those actions so we will continue and see what happens in the next session