Dasha Mula Tattva 11 – Love is not just feeling but also doing

The subject of devotional service is being more and more focused. So, previously the focus was on Lord Hari and his energies. And the previous last text was about how by practising bhakti in association one can attain Prem.

Here now how to practise bhakti that is what the focus is. So, Shruti So, by hearing as given in scriptures Krishna khyana about Krishna then the katha of Krishna smaranati puja vidhigaraha So, smaran is of course remembrance. Nati is offering obeisances or bowing down.

Vidhiganaha like this there are various vidhis. And then from these vidhis various bhavas come. Such as Thadasyam Sakhyam Paricharanam.

Paricharanam is actually going to the various holy places. Apeatmadanam. Offering oneself completely to Krishna.

And in this way Navanganya. These are different forms of devotional service that can be performed. And by such performance of devotional service if one does it with Nav Angani.

Actually Nav Navanganya. So, these nine levels of devotional service one performs. Then regularly.

Anudinam. Then gradually labhate. What will labhate? Suvimala Rathi Rathi is attraction.

And Suvimala utterly pure, completely pure attraction will be born. So, essentially the point is that by rendering devotional service according to these nine levels we will attain pure love for Krishna. The concept of love is something which universally touches the human heart.

We all want to love and be loved. And while the word love is often associated with romantic love. But even in this world we have various kinds of love.

There can be love for the parents with children. Love of child for the parent. Love of person for a nation.

Love of person for some cause. And some people can have love for their hobbies. Some people's hobbies can grow into passions or they can become their vocations.

Now vocation is a hobby. Vocation is a profession. So, there are cricketers and there are people who have passion for cricket.

For others it is just a job. So, like that different people can have different forms of attraction to different things. Now, if we look at any field suppose somebody becomes a very famous cricketer.

Now, is it that in that game that person may see some champion cricketers playing very nicely and everybody being passionate and that may create attraction for cricketer. But if one wants to become a professional we understand that you have to commit, you have to practise, you have to maintain health, improve and only then one excels in that field. So, even the same principle applies in relationships.

People talk about falling in love. Yes, there may be some instant attraction that may come between two people. But the relationship is sustained not by what happens on first sight but what is the feeling we get on first sight that may be okay.

People say love at first sight. But the relationship will be sustained by what people do after many sights. So, like that love is not just a feeling that happens to us.

Love is not just a feeling that somehow comes upon us. Love is also a feeling that is cultivated by conscious actions. Love is in some cases the feeling may come upon us automatically.

But often for the feeling to be maintained consciously actions need to be done. And this applies to any relationship. If we consider any relationship say if a husband says I don't like you.

So, you are no longer my wife. Nowadays especially when the marital bond is trivialised then often people have divorces for very trivial reasons at times. And the problem with this is that the whole purpose of relationships is any relationship in general, every relationship actually helps us to counter our selfishness.

By nature all of us are self-centred. And in any relationship it helps us to come out of ourselves. Otherwise our self can become like a black hole in which we sink.

Oh, I don't like this. I, I, I, I. There is a natural necessary concern for oneself. But relationships help us.

If there are no committed relationships then that person person's thoughts about oneself they become like a black hole in which that person sinks deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper. Not thinking about anyone else. And self-pity is not humility.

I just think, oh, this is wrong with me. That is wrong with me. I can't do this.

I can't do that. That is all okay. But if it's all centred on I, I, I then still it is self-centred.

It is not Krishna-centred. So any form of relationship, it requires a certain level of commitment to sustain. And that enables us to counter our self-centred instincts which are there.

So when parents beget a child at that time taking care of that child is responsible. Big responsibility. And that forces the parents to mature and grow.

So now the difference between all other relationships and the relationship with Krishna. We'll come to that. But prior to that, the same principle applies to our relationship with Krishna also.

It is not that bhakti is a feeling that sometimes just comes upon us. Bhakti is also a feeling that we need to nourish and cultivate by conscious actions. And that is the import of the definition of bhakti.

Anushilanam. What is the definition of bhakti? No, no, no. What is the verse? Does anyone know from Bhaktasamut Senthur? The verse which talks about what is the definition of bhakti? Anukulena Krishna Anushilanam.

What is the first part? Anya Milashutashunyam Anakarmadyanavratam Anukulena Krishna Anushilanam Bhaktiruttama So Anukulena Krishna Anushilanam. Anushilanam means cultivation, systematic cultivation. So systematic cultivation of devotion which is of feelings or actions that are favourable to Krishna.

That is bhakti. Anukulena Krishna Anushilanam. So that which is favourable to Krishna, we do that kind of actions and cultivate the emotions.

And those emotions fall in these nine categories which we will discuss gradually, eventually. But the principle is bhakti is not just a feeling that we sometimes feel. Today I went in from the native and I felt very devotional.

Good. But how often? What happens if I don't feel devotion? It's not that relationships can be switched on and off just because we don't feel like being in the relationship. It requires commitment.

Same principle applies to bhakti and these are nine forms by which we can commit ourselves and nourish the feelings of devotion. Having said that, the principle of commitment for nourishing feelings that is universal. Whether it is for human-human relationships or whether it is for the human-divine relationship.

The major difference between any human-human relationship and the human-divine relationship is that whenever we have some affection, respect, love for someone that helps us if that person who we love is good, if that person is noble, if that person is virtuous then that affection for that person brings out our higher side. For example, in a simple level, students are studying in a college and they remember, my parents have paid so much fees for my student education. My parents have worked so hard so that I can get this education.

Then, even when there are so many temptations in the college to just fool around, they say, no, I have come here to study. So, there is a lower side and there is a higher side. That relationship brings out, that commitment to the relationship brings out the higher side.

Of course, it depends on whom we are relating with. If we mix with people who comprise bad association and we develop affection for them, then to please them or to avoid displeasing them, we may think that, okay, I have to drink, I have to smoke, I have to do this, I have to do that. So, we need a good association.

So, if we have a relationship with people who are good, then that brings out the good within us. In general, this applies for relationships. Relationships themselves take us out of our self-centredness.

Relationships with good people, they bring out our good side. But the difference between a human-human relationship, even with a good person and a human-divine relationship is that Krishna has this omnipotence to bring out the good within us far more than anyone else. I may love my parents, but thinking about my parents is not going to purify me.

If I have got anarthas, I may fight those anarthas because of my affection for my parents. But just thinking about my parents is not going to cure lust, it is not going to cure greed, it is not going to cure anger. But the difference between anybody else and Krishna is that thinking about Krishna itself is beautiful.

There is one thing is thinking about Krishna gives us the inspiration to not displease that person or the inspiration to please that person and then we use our willpower. But here we are not talking about willpower. Willpower means there is something which is pulling us in some other direction and we counter it and we push ourselves in some other direction.

But purification means willpower is not required because we have become pure. It's like if somebody offers us meat, most of us will not be tempted because we become purified of that desire. So there is no willpower required.

So willpower is required as long as there is impurities. Once we have become impure, then there is no willpower required just for fighting the anarthas because those anarthas just disappear from the heart. So this purification that means the elimination of lower desires that can happen only by our connection with Krishna.

That cannot happen by connection with anyone else. So therefore we need to connect with Krishna and connection with Krishna gives us the omnipotence because of his supremacy to become purified. So here all the world's religions talk about love of God, theistic religions at least.

They talk about love of God. But it is only in the Vaishnava tradition in the bhakti traditions that a process for developing love of God is talked about. So if we can compare the description of the analysis of the various stages of bhakti as given in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition if we compare this with say Christian theology or Islamic theology or other religions, they don't have, they say okay you have to follow these rituals and if you have to maintain your faith then you will be delivered.

But what is the transformation of consciousness that is going to happen? What are the stages through which the consciousness will go? How will it transform? And what all can we do to transform that consciousness? That systematic procedure is not talked about. So in the Bhakti Rasamrith Sindhu which is a foundational book for our tradition there systematic evolution of devotion is talked about. Not just how devotion evolves but also how we can ensure that our devotion evolves along the path.

There are two different things. One is say if I am here and I have to go to Kolkata. So first somebody just says okay you just do this you will get to Kolkata.

Will we really get and if I don't know what is Kolkata how will I know I have got to Kolkata also? So now if I want to go to Kolkata first of all there should be a road. This is the road and these are landmarks. And not only there is a road after I know the road I should have some facility by which I can go along the road.

If I am going by walking I have to have the energy to go along the road. If I am going by vehicle the vehicle needs fuel. That means there has to be a path for moving and there has to be a process for moving along the path.

Both are required. And both of these are given in far greater detail in the Gaudiya Vishnu tradition than anywhere else. Shruti Krishna Khyanam so here hearing about Krishna speaking about Krishna and the Nav Vidha Bhakti that Prahlad Maharaj talks about that is the process by which we can attain Krishna.

We go closer and closer to Krishna and eventually attain Krishna. So now when we practise the Nav Vidha Bhakti the important thing to recognise is that this is we know the verse the next part of this verse which Prahlad Maharaj teaches is when these activities are offered to Krishna then they are the nine lakshanas of bhakti and by this attraction to the lord will happen and this is the perfection of education, the best education. Prahlad Maharaj was asked by Hiranyakashyapu, what is the best thing that you learnt? This is what I learnt in school he said.

So actually these shravanam, kirtanam, smaranam these are universal human activities. For example today India Pakistan cricket match is going on. So what is happening people are doing shravanam, kirtanam, smaranam there is a commentary going on somewhere that is kirtanam and then people are hearing the commentary reading the commentary and they are remembering.

So if you look at the daily news it is nothing but shravanam, kirtanam, smaranam Novels, movies what are they? They are shravanam, kirtanam, smaranam So in that sense shravanam, kirtanam, smaranam are universal activities that we will all do. The difference is about whom we do these activities. In tamo guna we will do these activities about some people in sattva guna we will do these activities about some people in sattva guna we will do these activities about some people There is a survey done in America about who are the role models of people So even 50 to 100 years ago in America people would say that their role model was somebody like Abraham Lincoln or Ralph Waldo Emerson these were national leaders who were who did some constructive contributions to society but just about 10-15 years ago when they did the survey the role models of people were of most young people were people like Madonna or movie stars sports stars but this is in itself the degeneration of generations the degeneration over the generations we can know who people are by looking at who their role models are but along with that one of the disturbing thing was who is the most inspiring person for you 17% youth said that I am my role model this is this is perverse ego why perverse ego what happens today's world is such that people often lose a lot of confidence self confidence is lost because we live in such a hyper competitive world and everybody is so aggressive you have to go out and get and grab and there is competition so many times people start feeling what they call as inferiority complex so to counter that people put on a bluff and bravado and they think that yes you know I am everything I can do what I want I can achieve what I want and this sort of self centredness it is one thing to be self centred it is quite another thing to be self righteous about one's self centredness self righteous yes I am the best person so that is something which is unfortunate now the bhakti tradition offers us uplifting models uplifting subject matter to do shravanam kirtanam sparanam so when this happens we can actually move closer and closer towards our own inner self how is that because we are eternally connected with Krishna as his parts so to the extent we recognise that connection and act according to that connection to that extent our original purity becomes revived and to the extent we don't act according to that connection to that extent we stay impure or we stay disconnected from our spiritual potentiality all the things that we could do we are not able to do if we stay disconnected from Krishna so with Krishna we flourish without Krishna we perish with Krishna we flourish without Krishna we perish we weaken and gradually we perish so how can we be with Krishna this is talked about here in this verse there are these processes one of the best we all if you look at all these activities we usually do shravanam that is something which we all regularly hear classes or we regularly read books as a part of our sadhana whatever atleast we hear classes so shravanam is something which we regularly do now smaranam how much we do we really can't control that we may try to focus when we are chanting we may try to focus when we are hearing or reading how much is difficult to focus now one of the best ways to make now among all the 9 fold devotional activities which is the most important shravanam is the most foundational without shravanam none of the other activities will not feel inspired to do it but the most important and the central activity is smaranam that is the one rule which we say which we all follow is always remember Krishna never forget us and all the other rules are meant to be servants of this moon sarva vidhi nishe dasur etayor eva kinkaram smartham yon satatam ishtu smartham yon na jatuchit so that is foundational now one of the best ways to make our shravanam permeated with smaranam we can do shravanam but if there is no smaranam happening then that shravanam is not of much use one of the best ways to do that is to link shravanam with kirtanam that means if we make a plan whatever I hear at least some of it I will speak we decide ok after we can all nowadays find forums for ourselves we may have some friends we can talk it with them or we can make a small group of ourselves on email and whatever we share a point of those classes whatever if we create a commitment for doing kirtanam automatically our shravanam will become intense now to make a commitment to doing kirtanam we don't have to be officially appointed by someone to give classes within our own circles we can create forums for ourselves and actually in the process of hearing shifting our role from that of a student to a student who also has to double as a teacher it's not that we think that I will be a teacher I don't need to be a student, we are eternally students but while being students if we think that ok I also have to be a teacher we will find that our receptivity will increase enormously so we will assimilate more we will learn more one of the biggest problems when we hear is that the mind is always saying I have heard this I have heard this the problem is when we hear we think I have heard this but when we have to speak we can't remember it not only when we have to speak even when we have to apply we can't remember it so why does this happen? because we are keeping this spiritual knowledge at the informational level we are not taking it to the transformational level when something enters the ears it is information when something enters the head it is comprehension when something enters the heart that is transformation so at the level of ears what we have is information, at the level of the head it is comprehension at least I understood some people say like once one devotee he was telling he was in Russia and he was telling I am not my body he was giving a class so one person after the class asked sir if you are not your body then whose body are you? if you if I am not my body you are the body that is for sure so if you are not your body then you must be somebody else's body so some people are just so caught in the bodily conception just can't get out of it it is difficult for them so at least intellectually I understood there is a side of me which is eternal, indestructible that is the soul that is foundationally required from moving onwards when it enters into our head then it is comprehension and when it enters into our heart we accept it, that it becomes transformation so this is how shravanam, kirtanam, smaranam when we try to do when we make a resolve to do kirtanam our shravanam will become serious and kirtan and smaranam will automatically happen now apart from that if you look at archanam, mandanam, dasyam here bhakti, Thakur explains it in a slightly different way but essentially he is talking about the same nine limbs nine limbs of bhakti so essentially each of these limbs can take us towards Krishna by themselves and we have the example in scripture of people moving towards perfection just by doing one limb of bhakti but that does not mean that they did not do the other limbs of bhakti let's go over quickly who is the example of perfection by shravanam Hrishit Maharaj, Kirtanam Shri Dev Goswami Smaranam Prahlad Maharaj Archanam, Truth Maharaj he offered Vandanam Akrooram he offered prayers when he was going to Vrindavan Archanam, Vandanam Dasyam, Anuman Sakhyam Arjuna Atmanivedanam Kali Maharaj Smaranam, Apadasevanam Lakshmidevi now if you see these are all examples it is not that these individuals did not do any other form of devotional service at all they did do it is not that Prahlad Maharaj only did Smaranam yes he did Smaranam but he also did Shravanam when he was in mother's womb he did Shravanam when he was instructing his schoolmates he was doing Kirtanam also but that is his defining form of devotional service now sometimes there is a little confusion because among these nine limbs of devotional service the later Sakhyam Dasyam these two especially are also Rasa's in the spiritual world so which are the five Rasa's in the spiritual world Shanta Dasya Sakhya, Atsalya Adhurya now the Sakhya and Dasya as a Rasa is different from Sakhyam and Dasyam as a limb of devotional service Sakhyam and Dasyam as a limb of devotional service means that is the way we as Sadhakas try to serve Krishna it is not necessary that when we are acting in Dasya Rasa that does not necessarily mean that our Swarupa in the spiritual world is necessarily in Dasya Rasa it may mean some other Rasa also so essentially we strive to purify ourselves and move onwards towards Krishna and as we do this how we move onwards that will vary from person to person we focus primarily on purification and as we keep doing purification we eventually our Swarupa will manifest so in the process of Sadhana Bhakti these are all limbs of Bhakti which we practise and all of us may be inspired towards different limbs some of us may like to recite verses more some of us may like to sing Vaishya songs that will come under Vandanam some of us may like to do Deity's mode some of us may like to study Shastra mode whatever it is somehow or other fix the mind on Krishna and allu dinam Bhakti is to be performed regularly it is not on off some days I perform some days I don't perform if you do like that then that sustained transformation of the heart doesn't happen but we perform regularly then we become purified elevated and eventually liberated suvimalarathim vaisalabhate so at that time we will get attraction for Krishna suvimalarathim pure attraction so we shouldn't expect devotion as the starting point for practising Bhakti devotion is the culmination of Bhakti if we expect at the beginning what we are going to get at the end then we are not going to move onwards so it is just like a student or a bodybuilder bodybuilder wants to lift 100 kg weight 100 kg is very difficult to lift but that bodybuilder may start with lifting just 10 kg now 10 kg lifting weight is also weight lifting 100 kg lifting weight is also weight lifting but there is a world of difference between the two both we may say both are doing weight lifting but they are doing at a very different level so like that what we as sadhakas do this is also Bhakti and advanced devotees what they do that is also Bhakti but there is a world of difference between the two the level the capacity at which it is done the absorption with which it is done the affection with which it is done is different but essentially just as we are lifting the weights again and again the muscles will develop and automatically the capacity to lift more and more weights will increase so like that just by striving to do Bhakti just by striving to remember Krishna our remembrance of Krishna will become more and more and our absorption in Krishna will eventually consume us samadhi na anusmara vicheshta tam in a deep state of absorption we will ultimately be able to remember Krishna so this realisation the process is evolutionary the result is revolutionary the process is evolutionary it is a gradual process to give an example for this every morning when we wake up before brahma murta it is dark and then we will be chanting and we look around at the sky ok it is dark it is twilight now and suddenly at one particular moment oh the sun has risen so the sun is continuously rising, rising, rising, rising but our awareness that sun has risen comes at a particular time so like that every day that we practise bhakti yoga the sun of Krishna prema is rising in our heart itya siddha krishna prema sadhya kabuna shravanadi shuddha chitte karaye uday karaye uday so every day that we practise bhakti the sun of Krishna is rising but as we keep practising it one day we realise oh yes I am absorbing Krishna so we can't force the sun to rise faster so we can't hyper accelerate the process of bhakti Krishna's mercy will manifest its own process but in the long run the result will be revolutionary but whereas the sun naturally rises the sun of Krishna prema is a natural rise we have to make sure that it keeps moving onwards, onwards, towards rising by the regular practise of bhakti so thank you very much, are there any questions? Is it necessary to know Asvarupa to go back to Godhead? No, there is no such stipulation that we have to realise Asvarupa there are Jiva Goswami explained in Sandarbha there are three kinds of liberated souls those are their feet are in the material world but their eyes are in the spiritual world the second is one foot is in the material world second foot is in the spiritual world third is both their feet are in the spiritual world just their body is in the material world what that means is he says how do we become transcendental, there are two things there is Gunatita and Svarupa Siddha Gunatita means we go beyond the three modes Svarupa Siddha means we realise our internal Svarupa so he says there is one kind of Mahabhagavata is one who is still sometimes affected by the modes but doesn't succumb to the modes that person is neither Gunatita nor Svarupa Siddha but is not controlled by the modes there is a battle but one goes beyond the modes, one wins the battle but still there is a little battle the other is one who is Gunatita but not in Svarupa Siddha that means one leg is in the spiritual world other leg is in the material world third is one who is Gunatita and Svarupa Siddha so now all three are considered to be exalted souls, liberated devotees but not all of them need to be Svarupa Siddha so yes for some devotees Svarupa Siddhi may come before liberation but Srila Prabhupada in general following Bhakti Sannyasa Thakur's example downplayed the esoteric aspects of Bhakti and he focused on the practical or missionary aspects of Bhakti and that's why he did not himself talk about his Svarupa nor did he talk about Svarupa for his disciples and ultimately whatever be the specific Svarupa that we have foundational to the realisation of Svarupa is the realisation of Dasya Bhaav there is Dasya Ras and there is Dasya Bhaav so Dasya Bhaav is common to all the Rasas even Radharani was in the most highest position in the highest Rasa, she also had the mood of serving Krishna Dasya Bhaav and Dasya Rasa is very important and that comes by the practise of Bhakti gradually so Dasya Bhaav is what we need to cultivate and then Svarupa Siddhi will come about so Srila Prabhupada focused on the process that will lead us to the ultimate perfection, whether that perfection will come before we go back to the spiritual world or it will come after we leave this body and go to the spiritual world that may vary according to the circumstances, that is a detail that is not a foundational necessity for purification and liberation.

Why is this purification needed? If the soul is complete why is purification needed? The soul is complete but there are different kinds of completeness Krishna's completeness is that he is independently complete Our completeness is that we are dependently complete Dependent completeness means what? If I consider my hand my hand is perfectly equipped for functioning as a hand Srimad Bhagavatam If the hand is cut off from the body then the hand cannot function for gripping, for touching for moving for all this the hand is functioning designed properly but its design and its utility, its functionality is dependent on its connectedness with the body So like that we are complete but our completeness is not independent completeness Our completeness is dependent completeness So because we are dependent we are dependent on our connection with Krishna to be complete So when we imagine that we can be complete with something else other than Krishna that is impurity The essence of impurity is what? To think that there can be any substitute for Krishna To think that we can find satisfaction, love and fulfilment through anything other than Krishna So purification simply means that we redirect our love towards Krishna So when we redirect our love towards Krishna we become connected with Krishna and thus we realise in our dependence to him we realise our completeness Any other questions? Question from audience Correct Ok Just as in any relationship we expect reciprocation similarly in our relationship with Krishna also we expect reciprocation So does that mean that we are not practising pure devotion or how can we practise our relationship with Krishna without any expectation See the point is of pure devotion is not the absence of expectation The point of pure devotion is the non-dependence on expectation The Gopis they do expect Krishna to come back They are craving for him to come back So that expectation of reciprocation from Krishna is there But there is no dependence on that. It is not that Krishna if you had left us and you have gone away so we will stop loving you So So here there is clear recognition of difference. Sometimes you may embrace me, sometimes you may trample me And it's not that the devotee is blind to that But still you are my Pranam Nama I will serve you So the expectation of reciprocation is natural in a relationship We can't suppress that But we don't depend on that reciprocation Because we understand that Krishna is our greatest publisher and Krishna will in his own time reciprocate in a perfect way We just need to wait So we wait for his reciprocation We don't demand his reciprocation.

Prabhupada writes in Bhagavatam Purport that a devotee desires darshan of Krishna but the devotee doesn't demand the darshan of Krishna So if you demand then there is no submission But if you don't desire only then where is the affection So both are required Now regarding our practise of bhakti when we say that we should have pure devotion we have to remember that we can't become pure devotees without becoming devotees That means initially only we think that I will strive only for pure devotion First we need to have a relationship then we can purify the relationship Suppose if there is something in our material life, in our professional life or in our family life which is burdening us a lot then can we pray to Krishna about that Oh this is material, I should not pray to Krishna about anything material Well we can think like that but if it is burdening our heart if that is we can't wish away its presence in our heart, whatever that concern is If it is there in our heart and it has a prominent place in our heart by trying to artificially wish it away what we do is that is always going to be there in our heart and in that part of our heart Krishna will not be there So what we can do is we can pray about that to Krishna so that part of our heart which is already occupied by that particular concern Krishna also enters into that Eventually Krishna will pervade our entire heart but initially whatever is in our heart we need to connect it with Krishna See when we give donation to Krishna the purpose is to give our heart to Krishna but if we can't give our heart to Krishna we should give what is in our heart to Krishna by giving what is in our heart to Krishna that we give Krishna a place in our heart so money and concerns about money are naturally in our heart so when we give donation sometimes people think that in the future when I become very prosperous then I will give 55%, 75% donation but now I can't 75% of my earnings I will give but now I can't give anything See the point of donation is not the activity the point of donation is the mentality We do donation not just to give to Krishna we want to give donation so that we connect ourselves with Krishna So just as this is from one perspective of donations but another perspective is if we have some anxieties some worries some concerns we share that with Krishna So it's not that we separate that part of our heart from Krishna and say I will try to be pure it won't work but what we do is after we share our heart with Krishna we surrender to him Krishna this is what I feel is the best situation for me Please if you feel this is the best please let this happen or if your will is something else please help me to understand it so that I can serve you in that situation So certainly we can pray to Krishna and by praying we connect with him So see one of the important differences between praying as it is talked about in bhakti and praying as it is talked about in common circles is that we see praying primarily as an activity normally as an activity to request Krishna to give us something it's ok at one level but in the Bhagavatam prayer is seen as an activity primarily for connecting with Krishna If you look at the Brahma Samhita prayers there is no request, there is glorification Govindam Adi Purusham Tamaham Bhajaam Even if you see Kunti Maharani's prayer the first major prayer in the Bhagavatam it ends with what Krishna let my consciousness flow towards you She doesn't ask anything from Krishna directly So if we start seeing praying not so much as a give and take with Krishna and more as simply a connection with Krishna a means to connect with Krishna then we will be able to become much more stable in our bhakti So even if we have some worldly concerns, it doesn't matter we share them with Krishna and that way we share our heart with Krishna and Krishna gains more and more of a place in our heart and over a period of time we will realise oh at that time I was so worked up about that but now it's not such a big thing There have been problems in my life in the past, I dealt with them and this problem, yes I will deal with it So the once we give Krishna a place in our heart then other things don't shake us so much But if something is shaking us we can't just deny that and say that I will be a pure devotee It will not work So we strive for a relationship with Krishna and then we strive for purifying that relationship Does that address your question? Anyone else? So in our relationship with people can we also be have a relationship without any reciprocation with any expectation of reciprocation or dependence on reciprocation It depends on the nature of the relationship There has to be reciprocation at some level or the other So if there are some say parents, they take care of the children but it is not that the children, parents may want that the child should become a devotee If there are two children, one child becomes a devotee other child doesn't become a devotee Parents should still love both the children It is not that parents reject the child just because he doesn't become a devotee Something like that That love should be there always in the relationship But there are different ways of expressing that love But on the other hand there are other relationships which are not exactly obligatory If we are going somewhere if you are doing preaching somewhere you are going somewhere for a programme and people don't care for you only over there Then if you have some other forum where you can go and there people are really interested in hearing Then it is not that just by going somewhere where people are not interested in hearing we become more purified because we are not getting any reciprocation Therefore we are practising unmotivated bhakti No, that is not unmotivated bhakti that is unintelligent bhakti Prabhupada could have done that Prabhupada could have just kept preaching in India Nobody is coming, I am getting purified Well, yes One purpose of preaching is that we want to get purified but we also want to share Krishnaamsa with others So it is not that if somebody is not interested in reciprocating at all you don't have to spend too much time in that That will vary according to the specific nature of the relationship But there has to be some level of reciprocation required and the extent of the reciprocation the nature of the reciprocation that will vary according to the relationship the time, place, circumstances in that relationship also Yeah, quickly Yeah How can we justify the conspiracies made by Krishna in the Mahabharata war? The Mahabharata demonstrates one fundamental principle that morality is not categorical it is contextual Morality means right and wrong To say that morality is categorical means this is the category of right and this is the category of wrong and whatever is in this category is right whatever is in this category is wrong Morality is not categorical Morality is contextual What does that mean? A simple example To speak truthfully is a virtue But suppose there are some riots going on and a friend of yours is being threatened and he has come in your house and he is hiding in your house and the rioter has come in your house Should he speak the truth at that time? In fact, speaking truth would be not just far from right it would be terribly wrong at that time it would cause a loss of life So normally truthfulness is a virtue but we can't make truthfulness into an absolute categorical virtue Morality is not categorical, it is contextual So this is the principle that Krishna repeatedly teaches in the Mahabharata by apparently using some kind of immoral activities Now if we go into the specifics of various issues we will find that there is abundant reason for using that kind of thing But the principle Krishna illustrates over here Arjuna before the Kurukshetra war single-handedly defeated all the Kauravas And why could Arjuna not have defeated the Kauravas in the Kurukshetra war? He could have done that But Krishna wants to illustrate that with the cunning be cunning We may have to be cunning with the cunning So it's not that we want to be cunning The Pandavas did not initiate immorality at any time But the Pandavas did respond in kind when others initiated immorality The Kauravas acted immorally the Pandavas reciprocated in kind So the Mahabharata's essential lesson is it's a very realistic book It's not an idealistic book So realistically it teaches us that morality is contextual, not categorical I have written several articles on my website especially relating Karna and his whole lecture addressing Mahabharata controversies You can find more about the specifics over there But the underlying principle is this Yes So how to correlate what we are hearing in Shastra with our daily life Firstly it is from hearing and observing how the Acharyas correlated How the spiritual teachers from whom we hear, they correlated And once we start with this I never thought this example can apply here I never thought the situation is similar to this Once we start doing that observing how others do it that faculty will develop But underlying the principle is there is a specific incident there is a universal principle and there is a contemporary application or contemporary incident or contemporary correlation Three things There is a scripture talks in terms of specifics So From the specific we have to move to the universal And then from the universal we return back to the specific So for example somebody may say that So when in Delhi the gang rape had happened Brutal gang rape So I did an article about the Mananchur Panka So what was point of that article that Today people are being provoked sexually by the media and especially the pornography industry So I took the specific principle was how Ravana was already lusty but even he had some good sense to control himself But when Shurpanakha provoked him by describing Sita's beauty then he lost all self control So that is the specific incident The universal principle is what that yes people have lust and that lust is provoked then they can act in terrible ways And the specific application is that in today's world there is so much provocation of sexuality through pornography This is just one example So broadly speaking in analytical theory this is called the ladder of abstraction Abstract means that it is a principle So on the ladder of abstraction when you go up there are universal principles On the bottom of the ladder of abstraction there are specific incidents or specific applications So what we need to do is when we want to understand the relevance of something we start from a specific incident we move up the ladder of abstraction to understand the universal principle and then again we need to move down the ladder of abstraction to understand the specific application of that principle in the situation So that way we can learn This requires some contemplation, some intellectual development and usually if we associate and hear from associate with and hear from thoughtful devotees that faculty starts developing Thank you very much.