Does one lose wealth or gain wealth by worshiping Hari?
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Hare Krishna. Question from Keshav Kashmiri Prabhu. The Bhagavatam says that for one whom Krishna shows special mercy, Krishna takes away all the wealth.
But then Padma Purana, Vishnu Purana also contain verses about how one attains great opulence if one worships Lord Hari. So therefore, what is the correct understanding? Does one lose one's wealth by worshiping Lord Hari or does one gain one's wealth? Answer, it depends on what is best for our ongoing spiritual evolution. Krishna is always our well-wisher.
And when Krishna, whatever he says, he is the well-wisher of all living beings. But then especially, he is the lord of the devotees. In fact, he says that I reside in the heart of the devotees.
It is 9.29. So now the point is that Krishna will do that which is the best for us. So now we have to understand the spirit in which different statements in scripture are made. So for example, the Bhagavatam is Amala Purana.
Amala Purana means it is giving the highest siddhanta. So dharma, dharmartha, kama, moksha are the normal Vedic progression, Puranic progression also. The Bhagavatam goes beyond that and says that all that is dharma, prajita, kaitavatra.
It is all false dharma and ultimately only pure devotion, kevala bhakti, prema, pumartha, maha. That is the ultimate goal. So now in the Bhagavatam, we see that when Yudhishthira Maharaj asks Krishna himself, why do your devotees suffer? So Krishna says that on those devotees who I have special mercy on, I take away everything by which they have no one except me to take shelter of.
So when that person becomes helpless because that person has lost all wealth, then that person has no one except me to take shelter of. And in that way, that person becomes more devoted to me, that devotee. This is my special mercy.
So the mercy is not taking the wealth away. The mercy primarily is the increased devotion, the increased unalloyed, undistracted surrender to Krishna. And the taking away of the wealth is one means to that.
It is not the only means to that. So now the Pandavas also got fabulous amount of wealth. You know, they were actually, there are not very few kings actually performed the Rajasuya Yajna.
Now Yudhishthira performed both the Rajasuya Yajna and the Ashwamedha Yajna. So that is an extraordinary level of prosperity is demonstrated by his ability to do so. So even he attained that level of prosperity.
So it's not that the Bhagavatam doesn't emphasize the fact of their performing Rajasuya Yajna. But it is mentioned in the Bhagavatam also. In the Mahabharata, it is described elaborately what all arrangements they went, the Pandavas did, how they went and conquered all the directions.
But the point is both talk about the performance of the Rajasuya Yajna and then later on the Ashwamedha Yajna also. So the Pandavas also got worldly prosperity. So as devotees, we shouldn't be afraid that just because I have become a devotee, I lose all my wealth.
No, we have to understand that Krishna cares for us. And caring for us doesn't mean that he cares only for our soul. He cares for our body also.
He cares for our mind also. And he cares for our soul also. Because we are a complete unit at this stage.
We can't just, we can't say somebody that I love you, but I don't care for your body. I care only for your soul. No, sometimes when caring for the soul may require doing something that is painful for the body, at that time, we may do something which is necessary, just like a doctor may do surgery.
At that time, still the doctor's intention is benevolent, but something painful is necessary that is done. But it's not that the doctor doesn't care at all for the patient's pain. Doctor cares only for curing the, removing the problem and curing the disease.
The doctor cares for the whole patient also. So, similarly, we shouldn't, wealth is a necessity in this world for living. So, money is a necessity.
Now, it is not that Krishna gets some sadistic pleasure in causing suffering to his devotees and somehow we are to interpret that as his mercy. No, no, no. Actually, Krishna loves us and only when there is some circumstance, some conditioning, some circumstance because of which that wealth is going to cause a major misdirection in our bhakti, then Krishna, like a surgeon, may take away that wealth from us, do an operation so that we can become more devoted to him.
But ultimately, Krishna is not just concerned about taking us out of this world. Krishna is also concerned about maintaining order in this world. He wants to establish dharma here.
That's why he descends again and again. Sambhavami yuga yuga. So, now who is going to maintain the order in this world? Ultimately, it is going to be devotees.
Those who are adherents of dharma, they only can establish dharma. So, then if they are to establish dharma in this world, they need power and authority and resources and wealth in this world also. So, just as Krishna established Yudhishthira as the king, so that dharma would be established.
So, Krishna would like to give his devotees power and wealth and position and influence in this world also. But Krishna is more concerned about our deliverance than about our being used for the world's deliverance. That means that if by giving us power and position, if that is going to make us so intoxicated that we lose our bhakti, then Krishna will not give us that because he is more concerned about us at an individual level.
So, Prabhupada said that Krishna can give you the whole world in 18 days, but are you ready to receive it? That's what he told his leading disciples. That means what? If we get so much power and influence, will we be able to do a service properly or will we get intoxicated by the power? So, when the Vishnu Purana, the other Puranas say that by worshipping Hari, you can get a lot of wealth and things like that. The point is not that those that are wrong, that can also happen.
That can also happen. And the Bhagavatam also says this point, that even if one has desires, one can still worship Lord Hari and one's desires will be fulfilled and one will get purified also. We see that in the example of Dhruv Maharaj.
Now, does that mean that if I want money and I worship Lord Hari, will I get the money? As I said, Krishna can fulfill our desires, but Krishna's concern is primarily to elevate us. And along with that, if you can accommodate our desires, he will accommodate them also. So, it will vary according to time, place, circumstance, whether a specific desire of ours will be fulfilled or not.
If somebody wants wealth, whether Krishna will provide that wealth or not, we don't know, because we don't know what is the best for us in the long run. So, that's why what we should focus on is that we do our devotional service diligently. And we do our material activities responsibly.
So, it's not that devotees have to be deliberately doing things to lose all their wealth. Certainly not. And it is not necessary that devotees will lose wealth because of their increased devotion.
So, we should not see necessarily correlation between gain and loss of wealth and seriousness or laxity of devotion. So, suppose some devotee, after becoming a devotee, becomes very wealthy. Now, is that wealth because Krishna is giving resources so that the devotee can serve more? Or is that wealth because, say, now it's a temptation coming from Maya, which can take that person away from Krishna? Or there's another possibility, somebody comes to Krishna and that person loses wealth.
So, is that his special mercy of Krishna that the person has lost wealth? Or is it that the person has become irresponsible in the name of devotion and is not doing the work properly and that's why he has lost wealth? So, now, which is the case in a particular situation, we as external observers may not be able to say. And it is not always our position to judge also. If we are in the position of a spiritual guide, then we can, after hearing, after understanding the student properly, give appropriate guidance.
But the important thing is, as you say, ask not why this, but how now? Now, why a particular thing has happened, we don't have to worry too much about that. Because that is in the realm, to a large extent, of the unknowable. At the best, we can infer something about it.
We can't know that definitively. So, why I have got wealth or why I lost wealth, I can't know for sure. But what I can focus on is, how now? How can I serve Krishna now? So, if we have that attitude, then whether we have wealth or whether we lose wealth, we will serve Krishna always.
Prabhupada talks about this attitude in his purport of 2.56, where, dukhe surudvigna vana, sukhe surudvigna taspruhavi, teraag bhaya krodha, siddhir muni So, Prabhupada says that, if a devotee loses wealth, then the devotee says that, actually, the devotee thinks that this is ultimately Krishna's mercy, minimized by sinful reactions. So, I'm grateful to Krishna and I'll become more devoted to Krishna. And if a devotee gets material facilities and resources, the devotee thinks that Krishna is so kind to me, that he has given me so many resources by which I can serve him better.
So, therefore, let me try to increase my service to Krishna. So, rather than bothering about why this, we focus on how now. In this situation, how can I best serve Krishna? And that attitude of focus on service will keep us steady and strong and happy and progressing in all situations, whether they be of material prosperity or material adversity.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.