If some devotees feel inspired to hear Krishna’s intimate pastimes what can they do?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha Radha hear it, so if we see, to the extent we see Radha Krishna as a male and a female, to that extent hearing about their pastimes will trigger our mundane desires.
But to the extent we start appreciating that Krishna is God and Radharani is a devotee, to the extent we develop that spiritual vision, to that extent we’ll actually start seeing the sublimity, the spirituality of that pastime. And that requires a lot of purification. So without that purification, we will simply misunderstand.
So by this, and if that purification is there, even if we don’t hear directly about Krishna, even if we don’t hear so much about Krishna as in pastimes or whatever, but if we are purified, then at the right time, the love for Krishna will manifest in the heart. See, the manifestation of the love for Krishna is not just by our hearing. Yes, our hearing is important, but ultimately it is Krishna’s mercy.
It is by his mercy that the love manifests. We may hear Bahujanmayadi Kadai Shravanakirtana, we can hear for a long time, for many lifetimes, but if we do not please Krishna, if we are somehow offensive, then love will not manifest. So the point which I’m trying to make here is that the manifestation of pure love for Krishna in Vrindavan comes not just by hearing about Krishna in Vrindavan.
It comes by pleasing Krishna, pleasing Krishna’s representatives. It comes by purification and revelation. And without that purification and revelation, even if we approach Krishna’s intimate pastimes, actually we’ll misunderstand them and we’ll contaminate ourselves.
So even if, yes, somebody argues that Prabhupada has given a basic message, now Prabhupada has given a Chaitanya Charita Amrut, in which a lot of esoteric truths are also revealed. And Prabhupada never said that you should not read Priyasacharya’s books. It is not possible that if Krishna is infinite, so the books glorifying Krishna will also be infinite.
And Prabhupada has given us the way to connect with the whole tradition. He has given us the whole tradition. So one extreme is to disconnect Prabhupada from the tradition.
The other extreme is to disconnect the tradition from Prabhupada. That means to access the tradition, Prabhupada says, I’ll leave him behind and go ahead. Or the other is, we disconnect Prabhupada from the tradition and we say that we never discuss anything about Krishna or Radharani because Prabhupada did not discuss about it.
No, Prabhupada gave us the books and he wanted us to discuss. So like I mentioned yesterday, there are many Prabhupada disciples, senior devotees who are translating the Acharya’s works, who are commenting on them, who are speaking on them. So they are giving us access to the tradition through Prabhupada.
So basically, if some devotees very strongly feel that they want to hear about Krishna, then they can take the blessings of the spiritual master or the spiritual guides. And from those who are sheltered with Prabhupada, they can hear. So all of us have our own individual relationship with Krishna.
And how we advance, it varies from person to person. At our level, we have to fix the mind on Krishna. So nature of the mind is that it is always dissatisfied.
You know, if we have a lot of surveys, the mind says, oh, I don’t have time to study Shastra. And then if we get a lot of time to study Shastra, the mind will say, okay, how many books will you study? Do something practical. No matter whatever situation we are in, the mind will not be satisfied.
So even if we do not control that mind, even if we hear about Krishna’s esoteric pastimes, we will not be satisfied by hearing those pastimes. We will want to tell the world, hey, I know how many special pastimes I know. And therefore, you should understand, I am a special devotee.
So we are not relishing that pastime. We are actually simply relishing the ego and the pastime becomes the means by which we boost our ego. So actually, the connection with Krishna comes by purification and revelation.
And if some devotees feel inspired to hear, there is facility for that. But it should not be that devotees who want to hear about Krishna, they are told you should not hear at all. Especially the devotees who have spent some years, they want to hear, that’s fine.
But they do it in a way that is consistent with Prabhupada’s mode. And those who are engaged in the preaching mission, that is practical activities. If somebody wants to serve Krishna in a particular way, there is no need for them to make others feel that you are doing something less.
Somebody is doing Buddhist mission, somebody is doing deity worship, somebody is doing temple management, somebody is doing preaching basic concepts. All these are also ways in which we are serving Krishna. And all these can also take us to Krishna.
Because through all these, we will get purification and we will get revelation. And then we will come to Krishna. So basically, the point that different devotees can have different inspirations and bhakti.
And there can be within the broad umbrella for Prabhupada has given us, there can be different definitions of success. So building a big temple can be a definition of success. Distributing a lot of books can be a definition of success.
Youth preaching can be a definition of success. Now, discussing the Bhagavatam and getting into the Acharya’s commentaries can also be a definition of success. And it is not automatic that just because somebody is discussing the Bhagavatam, that means that person is more advanced than somebody who is doing book distribution.
No, actually the advancement will depend on one’s dedication. Somebody may be doing book distribution with a selfless mood. And somebody may be discussing esoteric pastimes of Krishna with a self-aggrandizing mood.
Then, who is closer to Krishna and who is further to Krishna is not dependent simply on who is talking directly how much about Krishnaji. It is based on how selfless one is in one’s heart, in the mood of service. So we can, if some devotees feel inspired, there is facility within our movement also for those devotees to hear more about Krishna in a way that is faithful to Prabhupada and in a way that can take them and others closer to Krishna.
But what is not appreciated is thinking that everybody else, they are just doing basic things and I am going to do something special. And by doing something special, I will get a shortcut to Krishna. No, the only way to Krishna is through purification and revelation.
And how that purification and revelation happens is through our service. So as a service, if somebody wants to study Krishna Leela, that’s wonderful. As a service, if somebody wants to do youth preaching, that’s wonderful.
As a service, if somebody wants to do book distribution, that’s wonderful. Prabhupada gave us a whole legacy in which all these are important parts. The problem comes when we make one thing as the only thing.
We start thinking, because I am doing this, I am special and everybody else, they are doing something else, it’s not important. No. If we see, studying the Bhagavatam, studying the Acharyas Kumbha is also as a service.
And some devotees will be inspired to do it and that’s fine. They shouldn’t create insecurity among others. They do it themselves and others do the service which they are inspired to do.
And we can all move towards Krishna. And we can have a vibrant bhakti tradition, living bhakti tradition, where all aspects of the bhakti tradition are available to people. Does that answer your