God as the supreme therapist 7 – Understanding how Narasimhadeva gave strength to Prahlada

[Narasimha Chaturdashi Bhagavatam class on 5.18.14 at ISKCON, Denver, USA, concluding part of 7-part series on Prahlada’s prayers to Narasimhadeva 5.8.8-14]

Video:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Today is the auspicious day of the appearance of Lord Narasimha. And we will be discussing the prayers of Lord Narasimha that Biharlal has offered to Lord Narasimhadev. And today is the last prayer in the series.
And the prayers given in scripture are also instructions. So they describe either the state of consciousness of the exalted devotee or they describe the aspiration for an exalted state of consciousness that an advanced devotee has. And from that we can also learn what states we should aspire for.
So this series of verses is talking about it begins with, O Lord, please destroy the inauspiciousness in my heart. And this last verse concludes with that the lotus feet of Lord Narasimhadev are the source of freedom from fear. So normally most of us when we have to start practising anything new we always do consciously or unconsciously a profit-loss calculation.
If I want to buy a new house, if I want to take a new job, if I want to develop a relationship with someone. We think, okay, what will I have to put into this and what will I get out of this. And based on that we take decisions.
So, sometimes it may appear that spiritual life requires too much of a price. Oh, you have to follow this rule, you have to give up this, follow this regulation, you should do this, you should not do this, you have to do all these disciplines. So what is the fruit that we get? So, the fruit that is told over here is akutobhayam, that the result of taking shelter of Krishna is that we become free from fear.
And Prahlad Maharaj himself embodies this, that although he was in such a terrible situation that actually a child expects protection from one’s parents and the parent himself becomes bent to assassinate the child. Where does the child go for protection? So, among all situations, probably the most fearful situation for a child is when the child sees that my parent is my enemy. And my parent wants to hurt me, my parent wants to kill me.
Because at the level of that childhood, one’s world is actually reduced to one’s parents. One begins with the parents and as one grows, one develops friends, one has siblings, one has other relationships. But to have, to feel, not just feel, to actually have the reality that one’s own parent is against oneself, that’s a situation of profound terror for a person to be in.
And Prahlad happened to be in that situation where his own father was bent on killing him and he remained fearless through it all. So what was it that enabled him to be so fearless? So, we’ve been discussing on the topic of how Krishna is the supreme therapist and how the process of bhakti is meant to heal our emotions. So today, I’ll quickly go over what I talked.
We had six sessions on this topic of God as the supreme therapist. But basically, we talked about how today the greatest distress is especially in the western world at the emotional and psychological level. And the process of bhakti is meant to channel people’s emotional energy in such a way that it is connected to Krishna by which they will find the supreme happiness.
And while doing this, we have to be sensitive that if people are emotionally hypersensitive about some things, then we don’t agitate them over there because their emotional energy will block them from coming towards Krishna. Similarly, among a devotee association, we need to be respectful, kind with each other so that the negativities in the devotee association don’t block. Rather, the attractiveness of devotees and the attractiveness of devotee association inspires the emotional energy of the heart to move towards Krishna.
So now, in this last talk today, I’ll talk about how the fear is something which is inevitably there in everyone’s life. And even in a devotee’s life, fear will be there. Fear comes from the prospect of distress.
And distress also comes in life. So when these negativities come in our life, how does a devotee, what does having a healthy consciousness, what does a healed emotional state mean? Because emotional wounds are always going to happen. Physical wounds are going to happen.
Emotional wounds are also going to happen. So what enables a devotee to stay emotionally healthy enough by which even when bad things happen, even when negative emotions come within, the devotee is able to move onwards purposefully towards Krishna. So, narsimhapadam bhajatakutopayam that the fruit of worshipping Lord Narasimhadeva is that one will become free from fear.
bhajatakutopayam Now, free from fear doesn’t necessarily mean absence of fear. It means absence of control by fear. Fear is itself not a bad thing.
Fear is a natural and necessary response to danger. If a child is peering out from a 10-storey building and it doesn’t feel fear, then the mother will feel great fear. What are you doing? Come back! Whenever there is danger, fear alerts us to the danger and helps us avoid that or at least take caution.
So, fear is just as if I am sitting on this bench and if there is a nail over here, I feel some pain. Now, that pain actually protects me from doing something which will hurt me further. So, just as pain is a protector at the physical level, similarly fear is a protector at the emotional level.
So, fear alerts us to danger, both emotional danger as well as physical danger. And, it helps us, it is meant to help us take precaution. But, sometimes fear may have the other effect of making us paranoid.
When fear takes control of us, it becomes fearfulness. Fearfulness means our full consciousness becomes filled with fear. And, when that happens, then it becomes very difficult to do anything else.
In fact, in the Narasimha Leela, later on, when Prahlad is praying to Lord Narasimha Dev after Hiranyakashipu has been delivered, at that time there was striking contrast between the prayers offered by the Devatas and the prayers offered by Prahlad. So, Indra, in one of his prayers says, My dear Lord, O Lord Narasimha Dev, this Hiranyakashipu was terrorising us. And, his terrible activities had filled our heart with fear.
And, because of that fear, we were not able to do any dharmic activities. Now, O dear Lord, that you have killed him, therefore, we will now be able to start doing our dharmic activities. So, in contrast, Prahlad says, My dear Lord, I have no fear in this world.
My only fear is that I may forget you. My dear Lord, only fear is that in this terrible material world, actually, my fear is that I may be devoured by illusion. So, my dear Lord, in this world, I am bound by my karma and I am dragged from one illusion to another.
I simply long, when will you get me to your lotus feet? When will you call me to your lotus feet? And my fear is, he says, what I am fearful of? I am not fearful of my father, who was tormenting me. The fear, I am concerned that in this world, there is so much illusion that let me not be suckered in by the illusion of this world. So, Prahlad, his prayer was not that my father is causing me so much fear that I could not practise your bhakti.
Now, you have removed Niharnika Shiva, now I practise your bhakti. He says that, my dear Lord, let nothing put me in illusion. Prahlad was not fearful, even when his father was terrorising him.
Actually, Niharnika Shiva was not targeting the gods to kill them. He wanted to get the joy that gods are my obedient servants. So, he threatened them and made them his servants.
He couldn’t do that in Prahlad. And that’s why he wanted to kill Prahlad. So, in a sense, Niharnika Shiva was a greater threat for Prahlad than for Indra.
But, Indra was fearful and he couldn’t do his dharmic activities. But Prahlad remained fearless and continued his dharmic activities. Why is that? Continued his devotional activities.
Why is that? That’s because as the prayers themselves revealed that Niharnika Shiva dominated the consciousness of Indra. Whereas, Niharnika Shiva could not dominate the consciousness of Prahlad. And that what is the content of our consciousness that will determine our emotions and our actions.
So, if we consider what is Prahlad? Now, Prahlad was not oblivious to the presence of Niharnika Shiva. Obviously, Niharnika Shiva was there. Niharnika Shiva was his father.
Niharnika Shiva was the king of the kingdom in which he was living. So, he was obviously conscious. But, he did not let Niharnika Shiva take control of his consciousness.
So, the world stimuli can either be a component in our consciousness or they can become the consumer of our consciousness. Our consciousness can become consumed by them. So, for Indra, the stimuli of Niharnika Shiva’s dreadful power, it consumed his consciousness.
So, he couldn’t think much of anything else. As for Prahlad, his consciousness was primarily filled with Vishnu. And Niharnika Shiva was one component.
Yes, he is there. But, his consciousness was not filled by Niharnika Shiva. So, to a large extent, our capacity to act is determined by the content of our consciousness.
If fear dominates our consciousness, it makes us powerless. If, say, we want to do some difficult service, for many people, speaking in public is a difficult service. For some people, going to a Buddhist is a difficult service.
So, now, if we are aware of the difficulty and we prepare for it, then that is a component in our consciousness. But, instead, when we let that dominate our consciousness, then it just paralyses us. Oh, this will go wrong, that will go wrong, that will go wrong.
And we will not be able to do anything at all. So, the process of bhakti ultimately will take us to Vaikuntha, the kingdom of Krishna, where we are forever free from all fear. But, before that, we have a long and sometimes troublesome journey through this material world.
And, how do we survive this journey? We all have to be spiritual survivors at the least, if not spiritual, before we can become spiritual successors. The spiritual survivor means that we have to survive all temptations and tribulations that the world sends us. In our spiritual journey, there are two ways in which we may get distracted.
One is by temptation. That is the promise of pleasure. Why are you practising bhakti so much? There is so much enjoyment available here.
Come on, enjoy. So, that is one distraction, temptation. And, the other is the threat of trouble, the threat of pain.
No, this is going wrong, that is going wrong. Do something. What are you doing? Just chanting Hare Krishna.
What are you doing? Just practising bhakti. Do something to deal with this problem. So, if, say, our health is not good, our job situation is uncertain, our relationships are turbulent, I would say, okay, I have to fix this first.
Later on, I will do this bhakti business. So, then, the problems in life can become a distraction from bhakti. In Prahlad’s situation, it was even worse.
It seemed that his problems came because of his bhakti. He could have lived a very happy life as the son and heir of the most powerful person in the universe at that time. Hiranyakashipu was not just the ruler of the king of the demons, he was ruling practically the entire universe at that time.
And Prahlad was his son. So, he could have been happy, enjoying what his father had conquered and possessed. It was his bhakti that became the cause of his struggles.
This story in the seventh canto of Narasimha and Prahlad is distinctive among the various stories that are there in the Bhagavatam. Throughout the Bhagavatam’s theme is that when worldly distress comes, how one takes shelter of Krishna and transcends that distress. So, that is the whole theme of the Bhagavatam itself.
Parikshit Maharaj is cursed to die in seven days. And what does he do? He takes shelter of Krishna through the hearing of the Bhagavatam. Normally, if there is some adventure story, say some Indiana Jones movie or something like that, you have to get to this treasure and get it in time.
Otherwise, he will be killed or the whole world will be destroyed or something like that. The deadline bound things are there. And the whole action of the movie is how does he get there and do it in time.
So, if you see the Bhagavatam, Parikshit is told that you are going to die in seven days. And seven days later, he dies. What kind of story is this? But, the story really is that there is one narrative happening at the physical level.
There is another narrative happening at the spiritual level. At the physical level, he does get bitten by the snake and he does die. But at the spiritual level, he takes complete shelter of Krishna and he transients death.
The Acharyas describe that actually Parikshit Maharaj has left his body even before the snake-bird Takshak comes and bites him. And that’s how he actually doesn’t die. Because he chooses to leave his body, he absorbs Krishna.
And Takshak’s poison simply destroys his body. It doesn’t hurt him at all. Because he has already transcended the body.
He has already gone beyond the body to the abode of Krishna. So, the Bhagavatam’s focus is that how amidst physical distress, one can take spiritual shelter. The Bhagavatam’s mood is that, yes, this world is a place of distress.
And the Mahabharata’s mood is that when there is distress, fight a war and correct the situation. That is also a valid way of working. But the Bhagavatam’s mood is that, okay, there is Parikshit who has accepted that I am going to die.
The whole Bhagavatam’s mood is just take shelter of Krishna. Bhagavad Gita is a part of the Mahabharata. Bhagavad Gita’s mood is also take shelter of Krishna.
But the Bhagavad Gita’s mood of taking shelter of Krishna is different from the Bhagavatam’s. The Bhagavad Gita’s mood is that take up and act for Krishna’s service. Our Krishna tells Arjuna, surrender to Krishna.
And Krishna tells Arjuna, surrender. Normally, we think surrender means like the rope of praise our hands independence. I surrender to Krishna.
That is one way of surrendering. Parikshit Maharaj does that not by raising his hands but by raising his heart. By making his heart completely fixed on his ears and receiving the sound vibration of Krishna.
But the context of the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita is that Adharma is prevailing in the world and Adharma is to pick pot back. So Arjuna surrenders to Krishna but his surrender is not by raising his hands. His surrender is by picking up his bow in readiness to fight.
So surrender can be in both ways. Surrender can sometimes be by just dependence on Krishna. And surrender can sometimes be by diligence for Krishna.
We depend on Krishna for the things that are not in our control. And we are diligent for Krishna with the things that are in our control. So if say we have to give a class.
I mentioned this example earlier probably. 20 years ago, 25 years ago when I was first starting giving classes. So CVD would give me some guidelines.
And one guideline was that depend on Krishna. But in bracket but only after you have prepared. Depend on Krishna but only after you have prepared.
If I don’t prepare for a class and I say I am dependent on Krishna. That is not dependence. That is irresponsibility.
So in every situation there is something in our control and something not in our control. The things that are in our control we surrender to Krishna by doing those things diligently. If I have to give a class, I prepare diligently for the class.
That is my diligence for Krishna and that is my surrender. And for the things that are not in my control I am dependent on Krishna. Yes.
Some people ask an unexpected question. I forget this. If this happens, that happens.
Krishna will take care of it. So there is dependence on Krishna and diligence for Krishna. And both of these comprise surrender.
So now what happens to Prahlad Maharaj that he is, I was talking about Bhagavatam’s narrative is that the Bhagavatam’s mood is okay, this curse has been given and Parikshit doesn’t feel that I should counter a Brahmana’s curse. He has the power to do that but he accepts it. So basically he says okay, now changing this curse is not in my control.
Therefore what is in my control is changing my consciousness. And he focusses on that by hearing the Bhagavatam. So the overall stories of the Bhagavatam are about how different people face distress, face trouble and by the shelter of the Lord they go beyond the trouble.
So similarly we have the fourth canto. Dhruv Maharaj is distressed. He is distressed because his father neglects him and his step-mother insults him.
Or in the sixth canto we have Dhritarashtra, Chitraketu is cursed for a small mistake, just laughing at someone. Not in derision, but just in amazement that he is cursed to become a demon. So there are different situations in which people face trouble and great souls face trouble and they become greater by taking shelter of the Lord.
But Prahlad’s story is distinctive, we could say almost unique in that for him the trouble comes because of his devotion. For Parikshit Maharaj, it’s a small mistake. For Chitraketu, it’s a small mistake.
For Dhruva, it’s no mistake. It’s just his step-mother’s antagonism. But for Prahlad, the trouble comes because of his devotion.
So this is what sometimes makes things very difficult to deal with. Most of us come to practise bhakti so that we can get relief from distress. In the Bhagavad Gita, in the 7th chapter, Krishna says in the text 16 that four kinds of people come to him.
Who are these four kinds of people? Can you remember? The inquisitor, the distressed, seeking wealth, and last, searching for knowledge. Yes. Artho, Jigyansar, Artharsi and Gyan.
That’s in point 16. Now we could say that in Kali Yuga, four kinds of people come to Krishna. The distressed, the distressed, the distressed, and the distressed.
Most people, they start their spiritual journey because they get some frustration in life, which they feel I cannot deal with on my own. So, most of us, even if we have some inquisitiveness, even if we have some urge for getting some knowledge, it’s when distress comes that that urge becomes triggered. That’s when we start looking at it.
Start seeking spiritual knowledge. So, now, most of us come to the Lord to get relief from distress. But, if it is our coming to the Lord that causes distress, then it becomes extremely difficult to deal.
In general, practising bhakti, practising spiritual life in the material world is a challenge. Because the current of the material world is in the materialistic direction. So, most people, by their very nature, are materialistic.
And they want everyone else to be also like that. People say that I, I want to be special. But actually, they say I want to be special, but everybody is doing the utterly ordinary thing.
What is it? They are seeking food, sex, strength for defending themselves, wealth. These are all ultimately meant to fulfil their bodily needs. Ahara nidra bhaivaithunam jiva.
So, every people say they may have different hairstyles, they may have different dress, they may have different kind of tattoos, they may have different kind of bikes or cars. They may have a lot of external differences. They think I am bringing out my individuality.
I want to be my own person. I don’t want to be anyone else. But actually, that individual expression is fine.
But, our individuality is determined not so much by how we appear, but by what we aspire for. What is our aspiration in life? What is it that we want in life? Now, most people, their aspiration is power, so that they can enjoy sense pleasure. They want wealth, so that they can enjoy sense pleasure.
So, people in the world, they say I want to be special, but ultimately, their desires reduce them to an ordinary level. No matter how fashionable they look, no matter what kind of trendy things they do, their desires are just commonplace desires. So, actually, our individuality truly comes out by our spirituality.
It is when we become spiritual, then, our deepest aspirations of who we are and what we are meant to contribute in this world, that we can bring it out. So, in general, because most people in this world are materialists, and there is peer pressure, because of which others also are pressurised into being materialists. So, it is, in general, not easy to practise spirituality.
So, it is like our material, the materialistic current is pulling us in one direction, and the spiritual current is meant to, we are meant to push ourselves in another direction through our spirituality. It is difficult. But at the same time, what makes things worse is not just that we have to go against the world, but rather, if the world goes against us, that means the world becomes our enemy, the world may not care for us, the world may not appreciate what we are doing, the world may neglect us, the world may criticise us, that’s bad enough.
But, if the world starts attacking us, then it becomes almost impossible to be here. So, there are even today in the world some countries where devotees are persecuted because of their devotion. All of us in our life, we practise bhakti and we have some difficulties.
Some difficulties coming from our mind and senses, some difficulties coming from society around us. But, for some people, for example, when communism was there in Soviet Russia, many devotees were persecuted just because they were practising bhakti. And some of them were tortured, inhumanly tortured at times.
And if they had just given it up, they would have been, that trouble which was coming on them they would have gone. So, Prahlad, it was a situation that this institution is like a replica of the institution Prahlad was in. Now, at least in that situation, okay, there is the KGB, there is the government agency, which is hurting, which is attacking.
But here, it was one’s own parents, one’s own father who was attacking. I know one boy in India, I was at the temple and he was taking care of me. I found he was very jittery and fearful.
So I asked, he did not answer, what was anything wrong I asked him, he did not say anything. He evaded the question. Then I asked some senior devotees and they said that he had been in college studying engineering.
And at that time, he was introduced to devotees. So when he became a devotee, he was very outgoing, smart, enthusiastic. So he started sharing Krishna Bhakti with others.
And he started making many others also practitioners of bhakti. And he wanted to join as a brahmachari. When his parents came to know that he had moved into the temple, they were so angry that they hired a gang of thugs.
And they came into the temple and abducted him from the temple. And when they abducted him from the temple, they took him back and they threatened him. But when that didn’t work, they decided to use a psychologist to deprogram him.
And then when that didn’t work, then that psychologist, whoever was there, he started giving him shock treatment. And for this devotee, one year of his life is completely blank. He just doesn’t remember.
And after one year, somehow he got some memory back. And when he got the memory back, he said, Hey, I joined the temple. And he was found in a porridge hut and ran away from there.
And he came back to the temple. So when he came back to the temple, then his parents understood that he is just determined to do this, they left it. But, the devotees found that after he came back to the temple, his personality had changed.
He was very fearful, jittery. So then they took him to another devotee psychologist. And the devotee examined him and told him that that one year of shock treatment has caused permanent psychological damage.
Because of which, his personality has changed. So of course, by Krishna’s mercy, even the permanent is not permanent in this world. The body and everything related to the body is temporary.
So that was a few years ago. Now he has much more recovered. He again started preaching and distributing books and doing a lot of services.
So here, this is an example in today’s world of somebody suffering because of their devotion. We all have to go through distress in this world. That is just the nature of this world.
The result of past karma or whatever. But when sometime the distress seems to be coming because of our devotion, then the temptation can be very strong. Why should I do this? I am doing this for Krishna.
And what I am doing for Krishna is itself causing me distress. Then why should I do this? Actually, that is when the substance of our devotion will be tested. Actually, Bhishma in Mahabharata says that the test of love or the test of devotion is that there is every reason for breaking the relationship and still one doesn’t break the relationship.
That means there is love. So, when we have a relationship with the Lord and if distress comes, we expect the Lord to protect us. If the Lord doesn’t protect us, we think, why am I practising this bhakti? But if the distress comes because of our bhakti, then we say, what is this? Why should I practise bhakti? It’s like when we are sick, we go to a doctor.
And the doctor gives some treatment. And the treatment seems to make our condition worse. Why am I coming to this doctor? Doesn’t matter.
Why am I coming to this doctor at all? Better, if at all I want this treatment, let me go to some other doctor. Sometimes it may appear like that that our Krishna Bhakti is increasing our distress. This was the situation of Prahlad.
But this is only a perception. Distress, why it comes in this world, specifically is very difficult to understand. Ultimately, it is the distressful nature of this world.
And the specific stimulus or specific channel through which the distress comes is not the cause of that distress. What do I mean by this? The specific channel through which the distress comes is not the cause of the distress. That means, say sometimes, we may just do a small mistake.
Say for example, when I was walking along the road, it happened with me once when I was in a temple in India. I was just chanting Japa. I was walking and somebody had spilled water on the temple hall itself.
I slipped and fell. I fractured my leg. Now, from my point of view, it’s just not looking down at the ground when walking.
We do it so many times. How many of us constantly look at the ground? Maybe I should have looked down. It was a mistake on my part.
Or somebody could say that whoever spilled the water over there, they should have been careful not to spill water. Or when you cleaned the floor, they should have cleaned the floor properly. Now, for all of us, we could have made a small mistake.
But then I had to be rushed to a hospital. An ear surgery had to be done. I had already osteoporosis in my leg because of which the injury became much worse.
But, almost for more than a month or two, I was better than before. So now, sometimes, a small mistake will lead to a big consequence. So, sometimes, somebody may just be driving a car.
Somebody may just look at their phone. And at that moment, somebody just, somehow, somebody just walks along the road and you hit them. Sometimes, people may look at their phone while driving a car.
Nothing happens. But in that case, something terrible happens. So, usually, we think of karma as linear.
Now, we function in this world by looking for cause-effect correlation. So, if, say, I come to the class today and there is a burn scar on my hand, then naturally, you may ask me, what happened? So, that means, whenever we see an effect, we want to know what is the cause. So, we understand normally the law of karma as cause produces effects and effects must have a cause.
While that is one understanding of the law of karma, the connection between cause and effect is not linear. It is not necessary that cause A will produce effect B. Cause A might just be a channel by which the effect of some other cause might manifest. So, there might be three people who are walking along the same floor and one of them slips and has a minor fall.
One of them slips and has a major fall which causes fracture. Another slips but balances themselves. Nothing happens to them.
Why the difference? So, the same stimulus in the same house, there might be a mosquito which is carrying malaria. Now, one person gets malaria and the other person doesn’t get malaria. What is the cause? So, the cause, you could say the mosquito, but the mosquito alone is not the cause.
It is one zone past There are basically causes at three levels for whatever happens in life. There is the immediate cause, the remote cause and the ultimate cause. The immediate cause is a specific problem that we are facing.
Say, why did I get a fracture? Because I slipped on the water. That’s the immediate cause. The remote cause is our own past karma.
Somebody else who did not have any negative karma to be neutralised at that time, they may walk on that water but they will not slip. And the ultimate cause is forgetfulness of Krishna. So, the immediate cause, the remote cause and the ultimate cause.
The ultimate cause is why are we here in this world where we are vulnerable to all kinds of distress? That is because we are forgetful of Krishna, because we are disconnected from Krishna. So, sometimes we may obsess so much over the immediate cause. Why did I do this and this happened? I didn’t do anything.
Why did this person do like this? So, if we keep looking at the immediate cause alone, we miss the bigger picture. And sometimes, the immediate cause may be such that, say, we experience some frustration in some relationship and then that makes us come closer to Krishna. Once there was a boy who came to a temple and said, I want to become a dharmacharya.
Now, he was not very regular in coming to the temple, not coming for programmes. And I asked him, okay, what inspires you to become a dharmacharya? No, I just want to become a dharmacharya. And then he added, actually, I will tell you by Sunday for sure whether I want to become a dharmacharya or not.
I asked him, what is happening on Sunday? He said, I have proposed to a girl and she is going to respond by Sunday. If she says no, then I will become a dharmacharya. Now, becoming a dharmacharya is something where we are going to dedicate ourselves to Krishna.
Just because I am frustrated in a relationship, if I turn towards Krishna, well, it is good that I have turned towards Krishna, but that is not a sustainable way of turning towards Krishna. So, the point I am making here is that sometimes a specific cause of distress in the material world may be such that I feel, oh, the relationships in this world don’t give me pleasure, therefore, let me just focus on my relationship with Krishna. So, that may be an impetus.
But so many people get frustrated in their relationships. How many people become devotees? And if frustration is my motive for practising bhakti, if after I start practising bhakti, I get frustrated in the relationship, then what will I do? That’s it. So, the motive for moving towards Krishna has to be attraction towards Krishna.
Or at least the understanding, the conviction that Krishna is all-attractive and therefore, I want to connect with Him. So, the immediate cause can be anything. And if we obsess over the immediate cause, then we miss out on the bigger picture.
So, sometimes the immediate cause can be addressed. I know two devotees, both of them have got cancer. And one of them has found some alternative treatment, very peculiar kind of treatment.
But they are substantially healed by that. Another devotee is having a similar kind of cancer, but no treatment is working with him. So, now, why does somebody get cancer? Sometimes the cancer is a widely prevalent disease, but the disease just has no cause.
I mean, no known cause. So, sometimes at the immediate level, we can deal with the problem. Sometimes we can’t deal with the problem.
So, going back to my earlier analysis, that something is in our control and something is not in our control. So, dealing with the immediate cause, if it is in our control, we do it diligently. If a devotee has fallen sick and there is no treatment available, the devotee takes the treatment diligently.
Why? Because, with this body, I can serve Krishna better. I need this body to purify myself. I need this body to contribute in Krishna’s mission.
Therefore, we are diligent in trying to take the treatment. But sometimes, the immediate cause is not known or immediate cause is not treatable, not addressable. Then devotees become frustrated.
So, at that time, we look beyond. The remote cause, now what exact karma, who did, that is very difficult to know. But as devotees, we go to the ultimate cause.
The ultimate cause of all distress is forgetfulness of Krishna. So, let me take shelter of Krishna. In a deep shelter of Krishna, then I rise above the distress.
So, now if the immediate cause is coming from the outside world, if the immediate cause is, say, coming from, oh, I have a non-devotee who is troubling me, and therefore I get the realisation that, oh, non-devotee relationship don’t work. So, let me devote, let me wait for Krishna. Then the immediate cause is such that it pushes us towards Krishna.
But sometimes, the immediate cause may be such that it may seem to push us away from Krishna. Just like in the case of Prahlad, what happened was that it was his devotion that was causing him trouble. So, sometimes it may happen that especially when we live in devotee association, the greatest distress in our life comes because of devotees.
Some devotee may behave in a very unreasonable way. Sometimes devotees can become very judgemental. And then we just criticise, condemn.
And then we think, what is this? Are devotees like this? Why should I be practising bhakti? So, sometimes devotees when they travel around say that, even my materialistic colleagues, they are more courteous and polite than this. And it’s not always like that. There are materialistic people also who are very exploitative.
Basically, when we say, when we use the word devotee, we use it as an inclusive way. So, there can be devotees who are in the mode of passion, there can be devotees in the mode of ignorance, and there can be devotees in the mode of goodness. Overall, they are aspiring for transcendence.
But still, there are times when they get dominated by a particular mode. And when they are dominated by a particular mode, say, if I have a non-devotee colleague who is relatively mostly functioning in goodness, and I have a non-devotee who is overcome by the mode of I have a devotee who is overcome by the mode of ignorance. Now, a devotee may behave much more harshly, and a non-devotee may behave more kindly.
But when devotees are like this, what is the use of practising bhakti? But what we have to see is that this is just the immediate cause. That, okay, why this devotee is behaving like this? Sometimes you may be able to address it, sometimes you may not be able to address it. But if we let the immediate cause consume our consciousness, this devotee has done like this, that means devotees are like this, that means devotion is like this, what is the use of practising devotion? Then, we let that consume our consciousness, and we become unable to practise bhakti.
And we justify giving up bhakti by saying, oh, devotees are like this. But if we understand that devotion is much bigger and better than any particular devotee, no matter how big they may be, in one sense. So then, whatever the devotee’s action is, we see that as one component in our consciousness.
Yes, this devotee is behaving in a terrible way. I am hurt by that, and I cannot wish away that hurt. But I don’t let it consume my consciousness.
It is just one thing. I don’t have to let this devotee’s actions determine my relationship with Krishna. My relationship with Krishna is much bigger, far more important than this particular devotee.
Prabhupada told Shamsundar Prabhu when initially he was smoking even after practising bhakti. Do you want to let the cigarette come between you and Krishna? Just a little cigarette, a little pleasure. But similarly, do I want to let this devotee’s actions come between me and Krishna? We have to see that there is some reason why this is happening.
The immediate cause is not the complete cause. The devotee’s acting like this, probably, it is some karmic reaction I have to get. And, if all of us have to get some karmic reactions from our past, there is adhyatmik klesh, adhibhautik klesh, and adhyayatmik klesh.
Some distress comes because of the body, some because of the society, and some because of the environment. Now, if we are living in devotee community, then, if there is some quota of adhibhautik klesh to come, some quota of distress to come from society, where is that going to come from? If our society is primarily a devotee society, then the distress is going to come from the devotee society. Isn’t it? So, rather than blaming the devotee or thinking devotees are like this, we have to see that there must be some bigger cause over there because of which I don’t know.
So, if we can address the immediate cause, we address the immediate cause. If we can’t address the immediate cause, we don’t let that immediate cause consume our consciousness. We acknowledge it, but we let it be one component of our consciousness.
And we let our consciousness focus on addressing the ultimate cause. The ultimate cause is forgetfulness of Krishna. And let me intensify my remembrance of Krishna.
And if I can intensify my remembrance, then whatever is the immediate cause, that will become not so significant, not so consequential. We don’t deny. Somebody has hurt us, the hurt will be there.
But, we don’t have to let that hurt consume our consciousness. Sometimes, we have to live with pain. Example, even if we have to live with pain, we don’t have to live in pain.
What is the difference between living with pain and living in pain? Living with pain means pain is our companion. See, I’ve got some back problem. So, I have this nagging back problem.
I have to live with that. But, live in pain means, I’m constantly thinking, Oh, I have this back problem, and this causes this, I can’t do this, I can’t do that, I can’t do that. So, that pain becomes the container of my consciousness.
My consciousness can’t think anything beyond that pain. So, sometimes pain can’t be avoided. So, we may have to live with pain.
But, if we connect with Krishna, understand that Krishna is bigger than this problem, and we focus our consciousness on Krishna, we don’t deny the problem, we don’t deny the pain, but we don’t let our consciousness become restricted to that pain. Krishna said in Bhagavad Gita, in 8.58, if you become conscious of me, you will pass over all obstacles by my grace. So, Krishna is not saying here, no obstacles will come in your life, but you will pass over them.
Pass over them means, you will become bigger than those obstacles, and you will be able to go beyond them. So, Prahlad Narayan demonstrates this, that even when there was such a terrible, terrible situation in his life, his protector was becoming his assassinator. At that time, what did he do? He took shelter of Lord Nisargadatta.
Ultimately, in due course of time, the immediate cause was also addressed. That Hiranyakashipu was removed from his life. But, the important thing was, that Prahlad did not let that immediate cause come in the way of the ultimate cause.
But rather, he let that immediate cause intensify his devotion to the ultimate solution. So, similarly for us, rather than spending too much mental energy on trying to address the immediate cause, why is this happening? Why is this happening? If it is in our capacity to rectify this understanding, if it is in our capacity to address the issue, we do that. Diligently.
What is in our control, we do that. But sometimes some things are not in our control. In that time, it depends on Krishna.
We surrender by depending on Krishna. By depending on Krishna means that we surrender by offering Him our consciousness. We offer our consciousness to Krishna.
Whatever the situation I am in yours, please let me remember you. Please give me the strength to serve you. Sri Prabhupada Niyoda asked, what is the best prayer you can offer to Krishna? He said that, Pray to Krishna, please give me the strength to serve you always.
So, if we have that strength, then whatever difficulty comes in our life, the story of Prahlad Maharaj can give us the inspiration that we can overcome all distress and ultimately be delivered by the Lord. Prahlad was delivered not just when Hiranyakashipu was killed, but even when Hiranyakashipu was terrorising, Prahlad was delivered at that time also. Because he was delivered by the deep absorption in the Lord that he had got.
That absorption is the ultimate success of Bhakti. That absorption will raise us above the temptations and tribulations of this world. Ultimately, that absorption will raise us beyond this world to Krishna’s eternal abode.
So, I’ll summarise what I spoke today. I spoke about how how did Prahlad remain fearless amidst such fearful situations. We’re talking about how Bhakti heals our emotions.
And in this case, sometimes it appears as Bhakti demands too much of a price. You’re not going to do this, you’re not going to do this, you’re going to follow this tool, this and this thing. But what is the result of that? The result is akuto vayam.
It frees us from fear. Freedom from fear doesn’t mean absence of fear. It means absence of control by fear.
Fear is a natural, necessary protector, pointer to a protector from danger. And it’s only when fear dominates our consciousness instead of being one component of our consciousness that it becomes a problem. So the Bhagavatam contrasts the mixed devotion of Indra with the pure devotion of Prahlad.
That the threat of Hiranyakashipu caused Indra’s consciousness to be dominated by Hiranyakashipu. And therefore he could not practise his dharma. But Prahlad, he was not fearful of Hiranyakashipu.
Rather, he was fearful of the illusion of this world, of forgetting the Lord. So he, for Indra, Hiranyakashipu filled his consciousness. His consciousness was consumed by Hiranyakashipu.
For Prahlad, Hiranyakashipu was just one component of his consciousness. So how does this happen? So I talked about how Prahlad, the story is distinctive from all other stories in the Bhagavatam, that all the stories in the Bhagavatam talk about how when there is material distress, we should take spiritual shelter. At a material level, Parishad Maharaj is not saved.
He is doomed and he is cursed, he dies. But apart from the material narrative, there is a spiritual narrative. That is, at a spiritual level, he took shelter of Krishna and transcended the suffering.
The mood of the Bhagavatam is that when suffering comes and when it is unchangeable, then surrender by dependence on Krishna. The mood of the Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata is when suffering comes and you have the power to change it, then surrender by diligence for Krishna. So when sufferings come, often if they come from the outside world, then we may be inspired to take shelter of Krishna.
But if sufferings come because of our devotion, or sufferings come because of some devotees, then it becomes very difficult to deal. So there are devotees who were persecuted. I talked about this, Russian devotees and about this boy who was psychologically traumatised.
So, when the suffering comes because of our devotion, or it seems that if I give up devotion, the suffering will go away, then the temptation becomes very strong. Basically, illusion distracts us in two ways, by the promise of pleasure and by the threat of trouble. So, at that time, we need to look beyond the immediate cause.
It is not my devotion that is causing my suffering. Rather, it is some past karma that is coming through this channel. So, the immediate cause is not the complete cause.
There is just a channel for something bigger to happen. So, we can deal with distress at three levels or understand the cause of distress at three levels. Immediate cause is a slip and fall.
A false fracture. The water being spilled over there is the immediate cause. The remote cause is, I had some karma because of which that small incident led to a big fracture.
And the ultimate cause was forgetfulness of Krishna. So, when it is possible for us, we can address the immediate cause by diligence for Krishna. But, if sometimes the immediate cause is not addressable, we don’t think that we are helpless.
We don’t let the immediate cause dominate our consciousness. We see that there is something bigger happening. The ultimate cause for distress is forgetfulness of Krishna.
Let me take shelter of Krishna. So, if we, sometimes it is devotees who cause distress to us. Devotees who disappoint us.
Hurt us. Then, we have to see that rather than, see devotees are like that or devotion is like that. We see that, it is simply, I had to get some Adi-Bhakti Klesh.
Some Klesh from society. And it has come through devotees’ society because I am living in devotees’ society. So, just like any other distress, I would have used that as an impetus to intensify my Krishna bhakti.
Let me use this distress also as an impetus to intensify my Krishna bhakti. And then, in this way, we see Krishna and Krishna bhakti bigger than the immediate causes of distress. Then, our consciousness expands.
So that, our consciousness becomes, in that, it doesn’t become consumed by distress. Rather, distress becomes one component within it. We acknowledge it and we move on in our bhakti.
And in this way, we will be able to, Krishna assures us, transcend the distress of this world. Absorption in Krishna will raise us above the distress, making our consciousness bigger than the distress. Ultimately, it will lift us beyond this world to Krishna’s abode, which is forever free from all distress.
So, Prahlad Maharaj gives us, by his example, of how to practise unflinching devotion. And we can all pray to Prahlad that he may give us a drop of this devotion. We can pray to Narasimhadeva on his appearance day, that the way he blessed Prahlad, not just by coming at the end to deliver him from Hiranyakashipu, but throughout by giving him ungrateful devotion, that may he also give us a drop of that devotion.
Shri Narasimhadev Bhagwan ki Shri Prahlad Maharaj ki Shri Prabhupada ki Hai Gaur Premanande Kantraj Shri Bhagavan ki So, are there any questions or comments? Yes or no? You can ask, I’ll repeat. The details about karma, I’m wondering how to understand karma being mixed with devotional life? Like, so for example, say devotees have some problems, they become famous or have some great following. So, does that problem become expressed in their devotional life? And, therefore they become, you know, they get some great following as a devotee? Or does that depend on their devotion? So, there’s a mixture of the two? And for example, Shri Prabhupada had his astrology given that he was going to go to a hundred great temples in his birth.
And so, someone gets a devotee, I was just wondering. Two different questions, let me take this. So, if a devotee becomes famous or popular, then is it that the devotee had the karma to become popular? And that is simply being expressed in bhakti? Or is it that because of their devotion, Krishna is reciprocating and making them popular? When we look at the world, in general, the way of looking at the world should be such that it is unopposed to our bhakti.
So, let’s take an example. If some senior devotee who is very devoted to Krishna, is very absorbed in Krishna, they get a terrible disease. Now, this is an opportunity for me to do some service to this devotee.
That is the unfavourable vision. The favourable vision is, why this devotee got distressed, that is between this devotee and Krishna. But how I should say it, he has done a lot of service, this is an opportunity for me to serve this devotee.
The unfavourable vision would be, oh, I thought you were such a great devotee. The fact that you got such a terrible suffering means that you must have done some terrible karma in the past. That means you are not such a great devotee.
I was simply mistaken to think that you are a great devotee. If they have served as devotees dedicatedly, this kind of vision is unfavourable. So, reality ultimately is too complex for us to understand in its completeness.
One of the definitions I use for humility is that humility means to acknowledge the complexity of reality. Humility means to acknowledge the complexity of reality. I don’t know many things.
I can’t know many things. I am finite. Not only am I finite, I am a fallible being.
Even what I know, I can’t know fully. Even what I know, I think I know it correctly. I can’t know it fully.
And what I know also, sometimes I know incorrectly. So, we are finite and fallible. That’s why, rather than trying to get a conclusive understanding of a particular situation in life, we can get good understanding of the philosophical principles.
But when the principles start playing out in someone’s life, it’s very difficult to get a conclusive understanding of why something is happening. So, we should focus on the understanding that that is uncool for our bhakti, that is favourable for our devotion. So, if a devotee has become very popular, then what is the understanding that is favourable if I see that this devotee just by their past karma they have become popular? Then that may make me disrespectful of that devotee.
If that is happening like that, then I don’t know. Yes, they may have some karma also, but the popularity can also be a result of it. They are so purely trying to serve Krishna that Krishna is reciprocating with them.
Now, I can’t go into their heart to see whether it is their purity that is causing Krishna to reciprocate or it is their karma which is manifesting. So, if I am becoming disrespectful to that devotee, then better let me say, for whatever reason Krishna has made this devotee popular, Krishna knows what he is doing. Let me respect this devotee.
Now, we may not necessarily become a follower of that devotee. That particular devotee’s way of presenting doesn’t inspire us. But we don’t have to become judgemental or critical.
At the same time, if say, if we are doing some service and that devotee is doing some service and if both of us are doing more or less similarly, I also give classes, that devotee gives classes, and it’s not that that devotee is content to something very special. But somehow more people are attracted to that devotee and they are attracted to me. Less people are coming for my programmes.
Now, at that time if thinking, oh you know, I don’t have purity. If that makes me humble and let me say, intensify my bhakti, then that is good. But if that makes me discouraged, why? People are not coming.
Nobody, nothing is happening. I’m getting no results. Why should I practise bhakti? Why should I do this service? Then you should think that the results don’t come just because of because of because of the spiritual purity.
There’s a material component also over there. That means some people, they just have the karma by which they are meant to get the results. And maybe in future, they are going through a phase of good karma and they get a lot of results now.
And in future, they may have a phase of good karma and they may not have a phase of good karma. Popularity is also not a perpetual thing. Given in this lifetime, what has become beyond this lifetime.
So, we have to look at situations in a way that is favourable to our devotion. It could be, with respect to devotee’s popularity, there are three possibilities. One is, if they are so pure hearted that Krishna is reciprocating with them.
And Krishna is giving them, Krishna is letting many many people become attracted to them and through them to him. That’s reciprocation with their purity. That is the purest situation.
The other could be that the devotee has just got some past good karma by which they are very good speakers, very good singers. They just carry on. And they don’t have they are not even practising.
Sometimes it happens that some devotees are not even chanting their rounds properly. They come and do kirtans and people are just ecstatic in their kirtans. When people become ecstatic in their kirtans, they may feel tempted.
He doesn’t chant his rounds. They don’t have to do that. The way, Krishna can accept service from anyone.
So, even if somebody is not chanting their rounds, are they not allowed to do kirtans? They can do kirtans. And if they do kirtans, can Krishna not manifest through their kirtans? Krishna is independent. We can’t control Krishna.
Krishna is not chanting his rounds, so you can’t manifest from his heart, from his kirtans. Krishna is independent. Krishna can manifest.
So, different devotees may serve Krishna at different levels. Some devotees may, for whatever reason, may not be following the regular principles of sadhana bhakti. But if their kirtan inspires people to come towards Krishna, then we don’t take them as role models to follow.
But we don’t have to criticise their service. In Krishna, we can accept, okay, they can’t follow the full programme of bhakti, at least they’re doing this much, they’re moving towards Krishna. I’m giving an extreme example of a devotee who’s not even chanting his rounds, but they are popular kirtans.
So, we don’t have to take them as role models. But we see that this is the way, for whatever reason, in their spiritual situation, this is the service they can do for Krishna. And Krishna, with their musical ability, they’re doing their service.
Krishna is accepting it. So, in this case, we could say that, okay, they have the musical skill, and somehow Krishna is manifesting through them. In some way, people have been spiritually transformed.
But that doesn’t mean that they are the models we have to follow. So, if somebody becomes so inspired by them, and starts saying, I want to make them as my guides and teachers, then we may have to tell them. Yes, he’s doing this very good kirtan here, a very good kathakar, but then we have to look at whether they can be good guides for practising Krishna.
In a non-judgemental, non-critical way, we can objectively explain things. So, the in-between is where most of us are. We are trying to follow the rules of sadhana bhakti.
And along with that, we also have some desire for popularity. We also have desire for fame. So, if we get results, what are the results coming from? Are they coming because of our purity? Or are they coming because of our karma? Again, whatever is the reason that is favourable for our devotion, we adopt that.
A, if it happens that we are younger, and some senior level doesn’t get as many people for their programme as we did, then we should think that simply, maybe I have some karma by which I am getting this result. That doesn’t mean that I am better than that senior level. I may be better at giving classes, I may have a better brain, but they may have a better heart.
So, we can keep humility, and we can respect the seniors in that. So, we see in the Bhagavatam also, Shukdev Goswami was young, but still they chose him to speak. Of course, he was exalted in humility.
But the point is, Shukdev Goswami, at that time he spoke, but later on he was very deferential to Gyasdev and others, treating him like a father or a grand spiritual master. In other situations, in other Puranas that we see, Shukdev Goswami is very respectful according to it. At that point, he was appointed to give classes.
So, for us, rather than trying to understand what is the reality, we can focus on what is the vision of this reality that is healthy for my devotion. And I adopt that vision. That doesn’t mean the other side may not be true.
That may also be true, and I may have to address that. So, if some devotee is just cracking a lot of jokes in their classes, and that’s what is making them popular. Now, if somebody says, I’ll also start googling for jokes, and I’ll find more and more jokes in my class, and I’ll see those jokes in their mind.
Well, that is not a healthy thing to do. You can say, okay, that people also like to hear humour. And they can hear humour with some devotional message.
At least, those people who would never hear bhakti have started hearing some bhakti message. But that doesn’t mean all of us have to start seeking humour and try to get that kind of humour. Yes, they are doing the service at a particular level to attract a particular kind of people.
But our main message is the message of bhakti. And if some humour comes naturally, that’s fine. But we don’t have to start doing things simply to get popularity.
At the same time, we don’t have to denigrate those who have popularity. We see, we try to adopt that vision, which is the healthiest for our devotion. Does that answer your question? Okay.
Yes. Go ahead. From the general psychology to the ultimate cause.
Usually, in general psychology, when it affects us, then we are focused on the immediate cause rather than the ultimate cause. And when it comes to others, sometimes we propagate, say, ultimate cause. Just focus on the ultimate cause, let’s say.
So So both are valid in one sense. But what to apply then? My question is, is it dependent on state? Or is it just this psychological understanding that also needs to practise to focus on the ultimate cause? Or can we gradually develop our consciousness by meditating on Krishna, and then it doesn’t see the immediate cause? Okay. So, when we face problems, we focus on the immediate cause.
And when others face problems, we tell them to focus on the ultimate cause. So is it that we are lacking in faith and we are growing in bhakti by which we can also learn to focus on the ultimate cause ourselves? See, we don’t have to see the immediate cause and ultimate cause as competitive. Either I have to deal with this or I have to deal with that.
It can be both. Sometimes, if somebody has just spoken very hurtingly to me, then, maybe at that time I just feel like hitting back at them. But somehow, I take shelter of Krishna, I calm down, I come to the mode of goodness.
So, by first taking shelter of Krishna, by first avoiding the forgetfulness of Krishna, I will be able to avoid any knee-jerk reactions. And then, I may need to clarify. Okay, you know, you thought like this, but actually this is what I have seen.
This is why I did like this. So sometimes, we can address the immediate cause better by focussing on the ultimate reality. It is not that we only take shelter of the ultimate reality and not do anything at the immediate level.
Prabhupada, he worked in both ways. So, for example, when in Jhansi, he started the League of Devotees, at that time, when there was a conspiracy against him, a clique tried to take away the building which was going to be the headquarters of the League of Devotees. Prabhupada just said, this is not worth the fight.
He saw that as Krishna’s plan and left the place. He did not try to address the immediate cause, he just left. Because he had many reasons over there.
He said that we should build temples in big cities. Jhansi is a very small place. And he felt the people there were more pious than spiritual.
And he felt that they just had a general appreciation for sadhus, not a specific dedication to him. So, for all these reasons, he felt that there is no need to fight this battle. But then, later on, when we had the Juhu land, and there was Mr. N who was trying to steal, take the money and take the land from me.
Prabhupada said, he will not be able to take this, I will never give this Krishna’s money to him. I will never let him take this land. So, Prabhupada fought the war.
He fought a battle. Prabhupada was telling the warriors, you do this, you do this. He was like a military commander outlining a planned attack strategy.
So, Prabhupada fought over there. So, there also, of course, he was fighting, he said, Krishna, I want to build a temple for you. I promise I will build a temple for you.
So, it was for the ultimate purpose. But Prabhupada fought at the immediate level. So, we, do we, how much do we try to address the immediate cause, that depends on time, place and circumstance.
Broadly speaking, when we face difficulties in life, there are three broad options that we have. I call them as tolerate, mitigate or immigrate. It’s like, say, if I find I am living in a city where it’s extremely cold.
Now, what do I do? I have three options. One is to tolerate it. This is the way the weather is over.
Try to tolerate it. Other is mitigate it. Make sure that I am not heating in my home, in my car, wherever I go.
Or, if still it’s unbearable, then I will immigrate. So, Prabhupada also did the same thing at different times. The Pandavas did the same thing.
Initially, when they were poisoned, initially they were burned, they did not make a public fuss about it. They just tolerated it. But when Draupadi was dishonoured and the Kauravas remained unrepentant, then the Pandavas fought a war, mitigating it.
But eventually, when Krishna departed from the world, they immigrated. They also left everything. So, all three can be done with an emotional service attitude.
Tolerate, mitigate or immigrate. Tolerate means the immediate cause is there, we learn to live with it. Mitigate means we address the immediate cause.
We try to counter the immediate cause. Immigrate means we move away from that situation and do something else. So, if I am trying to do a service in a particular way and there is some trouble in that service, how do I decide which of the three to do? For that, we need to have a broader understanding of our bhakti to Krishna.
That means it is purpose that provides perspective. Purpose means that what is it that I really want to do? Say, if I am in a car, if I am in a train and it is a crowded train and the person next to me starts pushing me, I may push them back. How dare you push me? They push me back and I push them back.
And we get so caught in pushing each other that my station comes and goes and I am still pushing. That is foolish. You want more space? I just move somewhere else.
So, that is a small issue, tolerate it. But if they start pushing us out of the train itself, then we may have to take a stand. We hold our ground, we push back.
So, basically here, the big thing is I have to get to my destination. The small thing is where I stand, how comfortably I stand in the journey. So, in a sense, tolerance means to keep small things small so that we can focus on the big things.
Now, to know what is a big thing and what is a small thing, we have to have our purpose clear. Like, if I have to go to my destination, that purpose is clear, that helps me to decide what is small, what is big. Similarly, we need to introspect and we have to understand what is my purpose in life.
My purpose, ultimately to go towards Krishna, that’s fine. But in this life, what is it that I want to do? So, if some service is very important for us, that we feel is our contribution to Krishna, then even if there are difficulties, we will tolerate those difficulties and we will continue doing that service. But when service is taken up, it is not that we feel especially inspired to do that service.
But circumstantially, it came to us. But then, say, other people are becoming envious, other people are creating too many obstacles. I can do some other service.
The mood is not, these people are so bad that I have to give up the service. The mood is that I have better things to do for Krishna than get caught in this. So, if we keep our purpose clear to serve Krishna, then which battles to fight, which battles to tolerate and which battles to avoid in that.
To just, you could say, move away from. That guidance will come for us. Prabhupada’s intelligence means to see things in their proper perspective.
So, perspective comes through purpose. So, that’s why we need to introspect and see what is it that I really want to do for Krishna. And that will help us decide.
Did I answer the question? Any other questions? So, thank you very much. Narasimhadev Bhagwan ki Narasimha Chiturdashi ki Jai Intai Gaura Priyante Jai