If we are more attached to Krishna and less attached to family responsibilities does that incur bad karma?

Anwser Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
If one is more attached to Krishna and bhakti activities and less to family responsibilities, does that lead to bad karma? As devotees we don’t have to be constantly driven by karma considerations. Yes karma is an important consideration to have but we are not driven primarily by karma considerations.
It is one factor which you have to consider. It’s like if we start always becoming calculative based on karma, you know where do we stop? For example, you know a baby is crying, should the mother think baby is crying because of her own karma? Obviously the mother’s duty is to take care of the baby. So the point is karma analysis is important but we have to we have to have other concentrations also out there.
So in general, attraction to Krishna is auspicious and whichever ashram one is in, if one has attraction that is very auspicious. At the same time, how one acts on that attraction towards Krishna that one has to balance. Sometimes it happens that we may feel it is attraction to Krishna but our mind is so tricky that actually it is not so much attraction to Krishna as it is an escape way from the trouble of materialistic life.
Like when I was involved for many years in college outreach. So there are many students who fall in love with Shastra just before exams. They will say oh these studies, they are all Monday, they are anyway temporary.
I love Ramayana. And the Shastra also, they will not be interested in philosophical books of Prabhupada. They are interested in stories, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Nilamrata.
So is that really love for Shastra? That is simply they are using attraction to Shastra as a rationalization for not doing studies. So because studies require hard work, it requires discipline and they are using this as a shortcut. So we have to be honest with ourselves that when I say I am attracted to Krishna, is it that I am using the attraction to Krishna? Because material life is difficult and taking up responsibility in material life can be demanding and Krishna Bhakti can seem very joyful, comfortable, chant, dance, say a nice Katha.
It can seem very nice. It can seem much easier. So the test is that actually if we are, the way Prabhupada taught Bhakti is that if we are attracted to Krishna, we take up responsibility for Krishna.
We take up services for Krishna. And then the whole concept of taking up responsibility means that we have to learn to resist our mind. When I take up responsibility, I am going to do this service, the mind says, I am really bored, don’t do it.
It says, no, I will be there, I will cook the prasadam, I will bring the prasadam. I am so bored, I don’t want to do it. But if you are taking responsibility means you have to fight against the mind.
So if we are attracted to Krishna, then we can begin not so much by rejecting material life or material responsibilities, we can begin by taking up some responsibility in Krishna’s service. And as we do that, we will really find out how deep rooted my attraction to Krishna is. If we have that commitment to continue studying Him, then it is not just, we are not just using Krishna Bhakti as an escape way to avoid the difficulty of material life.
We are actually genuinely attracted to Krishna. And then, if say we are in family life, then we have to, we cannot neglect our family responsibilities. So we have to come to some equitable balance by discussing with other family members.
Maybe in the past, we were planning to be very materially ambitious and do a lot of things in material life. But we may downscale our aspirations there. But then it has to be done in consultation.
We cannot abandon our family responsibilities. Prabhupada himself had the example that although he was, spiritual master told him to preach, but he actually did his family responsibilities for almost 30-40 years after that, after that instruction, and only then he renounced the world. So generally speaking, it’s only after a committed practice of Bhakti for a significant number of years, that one should consider completely giving up family responsibility.
There can be some amount of downsizing that can be done of one’s material life, but giving up is not at all a good idea. In India, a lot of young people are now becoming brahmacharis. So in Pune and Mumbai, where I am, almost Pune there are almost 150-200 brahmacharis.
In Mumbai also there are 150 brahmacharis. So then here, we have a policy, if any young boy wants to join as a brahmachari, in India the family structure is quite strong even now. So especially sons are expected to take care of their parents.
Sons are expected to arrange for the marriage of their sisters. So we have a policy that no boy can join the temple directly from college. You cannot leave your studies and join the temple.
You have to complete your studies, get a job, work and get job experience. The idea is that, because what happens if people who don’t have job experience in college, it’s just based on the mood. Sometimes they don’t feel like going for class and bunk the class.
We can do whatever we want, but once you go into office, you cannot bunk the office when we want. So when they get the experience of the toughness of materialistic life, then later on they come to the ashram also, if they find that life is difficult, they don’t think that, oh, they have the experience of what really material life also is. And not only work in a job, but also they are expected to complete their family responsibilities.
That means if their sisters are to be married, whatever financial arrangements are required, they do that. Sometimes they wait to join till the sister gets married. Because sometimes, because India is a conservative society in many ways.
So sometimes the sister’s marriage may be affected, marriage prospects may be affected if the boy is known to become Brahmachari. When the boy delays his joining till he becomes, till the sister gets married. And often, boys are also told to arrange for some substantial financial savings for their parents.
It’s not like whatever the parents have, love that the parents have given, we are giving money in exchange for that. We can’t do, we can’t repay the love of the parents simply through money. But it is that, it is our duty to offer some financial security for them.
So now this is, so I’m giving this as an example. It’s not, I’m not saying this has to be a standard everywhere. But I’m just giving this as an example that even for someone who has not entered grahastha life, even they are expected to do their family responsibilities and then join.
So what to speak of somebody who is already in our bhakti as a rationalization for running away from material responsibilities. And sometimes when we separate this, you know, this is material, this is spiritual, to some extent the separation is important so that we give time for our bhakti activities which are directly spiritual. But on another level, what is material and what is spiritual? The essence of spiritual is actually a service attitude.
It is, I may come to a temple, but if I am in the mood, oh, I am such a great devotee, how many people are coming down and bowing down to me. And I’m not, I’m in a devotional mood at all. So essence of bhakti is a service attitude.
And sometimes even in our family responsibilities, we can actually develop that service attitude. We can see our family relationships as a fortune to serve Krishna. And that way, as I said, any responsibility forces us to fight against the mind.
So even our family responsibilities can force us to fight against the mind. And by fighting against the mind, if we learn to fight over there, that fight can help us in bhakti also. So once we start practicing bhakti, we separate the material and spiritual in terms of time.
Okay, I have to give some time to go to the temple. I have to give some time for chanting, for Shastric study. But then after that, there is no need to constantly analyze this is material, this is spiritual.
No, you see all activities as a service to Krishna. So taking care of our family members, taking care of our children. It’s all a service to Krishna.
Because ultimately, the spiritual, the essence of the spiritual is the attitude of service. So if we develop that service attitude, then whichever ashram we are in, we can grow over there. Is the answer to your question? Thank you.
Yes, Brahmadev. You have another mic? We can have that. We can have that.