How much should a grihastha plan for financial security and how much depend on Krishna?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna question how much should a grahastha plan for financial security and how much depend on Krishna answer the two are not mutually contradictory or exclusive you know planning for financial security can also be a part of one’s service to Krishna surrender to Krishna is not passive there is one way Draupadi surrendered to Krishna I just raise her hands up is Krishna helping but when Arjuna is actively fighting the war pursuing his yathriya dharma he is also surrendering to Krishna so first and foremost we shouldn’t think of these two as contradictory in the Mahabharata when Nargun is instructing Yudhishthira Maharaj about the duties of a householder he explains that in the grahastha ashram one has these three purusharthas to pursue dharma, artha and kama ultimately the goal is moksha but dharma, artha and kama that is being pursued they have to be pursued in a balanced way one should not pursue dharma so much that one neglects artha and kama, one should not pursue artha so much that one neglects dharma and kama and one should not pursue kama so much that one neglects dharma and artha so in today’s society most people pursue artha so much that they often neglect their families they work for a long time and of course they neglect even their spiritual life and many people delay getting married and then they have various kinds of premarital relationships so there they are pursuing kama and they are neglecting dharma and they are neglecting many people ruin their careers just because they have some affairs and they get scandalized so they neglect artha also so there is a balance between dharma, artha and kama now what will that balance mean that will vary from individual to individual because different people are of different natures, they come from different backgrounds they have different interests so a balance between dharma, artha and kama for a brahmana will be different from a balance between dharma, artha and kama for a kshatriya a kshatriya has to rule, a kshatriya lives in opulence whereas a brahmana has to teach primarily, a brahmana normally lives in simplicity so now it’s in Kaliyuga it’s difficult to determine one’s varna and therefore it is difficult to know what exactly one’s balance for dharma, artha and kama will be so one has to individually decide that individually deciding that means that we have to have time for our basic sadhana and along with that we also want to take up more and more service for Krishna because that direct connection with Krishna helps in speedy spiritual advancement at the same time especially if one is in grahastha ashram one cannot neglect artha so preparing financial security is a part of artha and Prabhupada himself gives the example of how there should be saving Prabhupada gives a particular percentage that there should be some charity given some use for expenses and a significant amount of saving should be done so the point is Prabhupada also talks about the importance of some level of financial planning and also preparing for future emergencies through security so in general what is the level of security that one should, financial security that one should strive for that will vary depending on one’s capacity for earning and capacity for taking up the workload and the anxiety associated different people can take up first and foremost is how much one wants to focus on spiritual life and generally if you want to focus more on spiritual life we have to spend more time that means we would have less time for our material profession so there are different kinds of jobs which require different amount of time and different levels of attention to it and one will choose a vocation accordingly so that one would have the arrangement of finances properly as well as the adequate time for spiritual life there is no precise balance for this but the basic principle is that one should not take there is manageable anxiety and there is unmanageable anxiety suppose we have to carry some luggage so then most of us can carry 5 kgs whatever few kgs different people will be able to carry 5 kgs some people will be able to carry 7 kgs, 10 kgs some people will be able to carry even much bigger weights so like that different people can manage, can live with different levels of anxiety some people can take up jobs which are extremely demanding and still maintain a reasonable calm by which they can also practice spiritual life other people they find it difficult to have that level of demanding jobs and then also to be calm it keeps them constantly stressed so we are losing not only on spiritual advancement but even material peace to just to perceive a more demanding job so that’s not one’s nature it’s not necessarily a disqualification that if one is not able to cope up with a lot of anxiety some people can do multitasking, some people want to focus on one thing, it’s just a matter of individual nature it’s not necessary that one is better than the other, it’s just that there is a difference, so one has to recognize one’s own nature and accordingly decide this so often Narada Muni says in the 7th Canto that when a person is in the grahastha one will always get advice for making financial improvements do this, why don’t you try that, why don’t you try that and he says that one should politely ignore one’s head when one gets such advice and one should continue practicing one’s spiritual life that means one should not let one’s definition of success be determined by others we have our relationship with Krishna and we have our own individual nature so based on that we can decide okay this is the level of financial strength or security that I am looking for and even if people tell me you work more you can earn more, you can do this, you can do that I am not going to go in that direction now what would that level be that will vary, there are basic things which are required in grahastha ashram ato grahakshetra sutaapta vittair, so one needs a home one needs, that is grahakshetra one needs some shetra refers to field but generically it refers to a source of livelihood, for farmers it would be a field, so sutaapta vittair, so one has after one gets married one has children and then one has relatives also so in grahastha life there are natural issues that are going to come up one has to take care of one’s spouse, take care of one’s children one needs a house, so whatever whatever financial demands are there one cannot be unrealistic and say that oh krishna will take care of everything krishna has given us an intelligence by which we can take care of it so when arjuna is fighting a war even when he is doing direct devotional service to krishna, he is not thinking that he has trained himself to be militarily competent, he was an excellent archer and then he is fighting the war, so he is not he is not just neglecting the material reality while in the name of devotional service so there are realistic issues that are going to come up and for that one has to have realistic plans now of course some people can go into a zone of worrying too much about the future problems and then the plan for future security can become endless there is no end to how much will be enough so we can’t foresee what kind of problems may come in the future and whatever realistic problems, whatever realistic issues are going to come, we prepare for that, we have some savings for it, but beyond that we can’t perceive every foreseeable issue and in general whatever level we fix, we try to we decide we are going to live at it is good that we have Sajati Asha Sangha as Bhaktivinoda Sindhu says that association of like-minded devotees that means devotees who also have a similar level of spiritual commitment if there are devotees who are focusing much more on financial security then they will constantly make us feel insecure that should I be doing this, should I be doing that, maybe I should be doing that, so like that insecurity will come up so first point is that one should take up manageable anxiety second point is that one should have association with like-minded devotees and thereafter decide what is the level of likely financial requirement that are going to come up and prepare for that and have some savings on a regular basis and ultimately we depend on Krishna but the point is dependence on Krishna is not passive and it is by no means a license for negligence of one’s material life and as long as a devotee is pursuing one’s material life and arranging financial security one should not see that as divorced from one’s devotional service ultimately Krishna says Svakarmana tam abhyarcha by your work worship him so we can have two attitudes towards the world one is that it’s a place of entanglement, it’s a place of anxiety and irritation and a place of forgetfulness of Krishna and that’s a jnani perspective, a very negative perspective towards the world the karmi perspective is very positive, oh this is the arena where all my dreams will be fulfilled and this is where I will become happy, I will become victorious and I will receive accolades from the whole world the bhakti perspective is that the world is also an arena for service, so as long as we are working in the world we need to also have a positive attitude towards it not positive in the sense that just our worldly activities will make us happy and that we don’t need God, rather positive in the sense that we recognize that this is also an arena where I can serve Krishna and we have to earn a living but rather than seeing that only as an obligation or only as a burden or only as a distraction from our spiritual life, we can see that also as an opportunity to to depend more on Krishna through the activities that we are doing so if we have a good sadhana then after that our basic consciousness becomes spiritual and then we can work in the world also without having to become entangled in it now we see Bhaktanath Thakur he was a responsible officer and now we can focus on his transcendental achievement and say in spite of being such a responsible officer, he was able to do so much more, so that is of course his prodigious capacity but at the same time the point was he took up a responsible position in the worldly situation he was a magistrate and it was a demanding job, it would cause anxieties naturally but he didn’t do that and he did it well so as devotees the basic attitude should be that there are some activities which connect me with Krishna directly and there are some activities which connect me with Krishna indirectly and the direct activities should get adequate time like our sadhana and sadhu sangha but along with that the indirect activities should not just be completely neglected or seen negatively they also can be seen positively that they are also an arena for devotional service to Krishna and that way for a devotee making the arrangements for financial security does not become a divorce from devotional service but also becomes integrated devotional service that is also one way by which I am taking care of the family that Krishna has entrusted me and I am utilizing whatever abilities Krishna has given me and I am earning resources which I am also using ultimately for serving Krishna in various ways so that way by recognizing that it is also devotional service we can have a more positive attitude and of course we need to take precautions so that we don’t get carried away by the mode of passion while we are engaging in that and thereby we can work in the long run towards financial security as well as devotional security that means we strengthen our relationship with Krishna and develop our faith in Him and get inner strength and peace by that connection irrespective of what is happening in our material life but at the same time whatever likely issues are going to come in material life we are not caught unprepared because of negligence in the name of transcendence and regarding specifics about what one should not do, one should do, one should use one’s experience and if required consult some senior devotee who is mature and can guide and move forward in one’s life but broadly we should see everything as a part of devotional service with multiple, with different levels of connection and accordingly mold our life to go closer and closer to Krishna constantly. Thank you.
Hare Krishna.