If we need some material skills for serving Krishna can we pray for those skills?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
If we find that our services require a particular kind of intelligence, say IT type, information processing intelligence or memorizing intelligence where we need to memorize verses and then we find that because of certain physical, environmental, social factors, we did not have that intellectual faculty developed adequately. And that’s why our service performance doesn’t come up to the mark in that particular area. Should we pray to Krishna for improving that intelligence, not in a karmakandi way, but in a way that we can do our service better.
Answer is yes. Whatever is favorable for our service to Krishna, we accept it. What is unfavorable, we put it aside.
So now, if there is a particular service which we are expected to do or told to do which we also want to do to some extent and a particular intelligence is required for that, seeking that intelligence and praying for that intelligence are not wrong. In fact, they can very well be a part of bhakti. It’s like if somebody has a service of preaching and for that purpose, person wants to study logic and understand logical arguments properly, then that intelligence is helpful for the preaching.
And trying to gain that intelligence is a part of devotional service. Shri Prabhupada writes in the third canto, I think, of Srimad Bhagavatam, that a devotee desires to see the Lord but a devotee doesn’t demand to see the Lord. So, certainly, this is with respect to directly spiritual aspiration, but even that a devotee always longs to see the Lord but a devotee is desiring and demanding.
In 11.4, when Arjuna wants to see the Vishwaroopa, he also beseeches the Lord, If you think it is possible for me to see this form, my dear Lord, please reveal it to me. So, having desires for things that can help us in our service to Krishna is definitely, can definitely be devotional. But, actually, when we have those desires, we should not make those desires into demands.
That means, we continue our service to Krishna, irrespective of whether those specific desires are fulfilled or not, whether those specific intelligences are granted to us or not. And, in general, if we do something on a regular basis, for some time, there is definitely some improvement that naturally happens just by practice. Vishwaprabhupada, when in London, the devotees were making Ratha Yatra, first Ratha Yatra, and then the Ratha Yatra cart collapsed because the wheels had not been made to bear the adequate, adequately strong to bear the weight.
The devotees asked Prabhupada, did our Ratha Yatra cart collapse because of poor devotion? Prabhupada replied, no, it collapsed because of poor engineering. And he said that, actually, it is the material principle that failures are the pillars to success. It’s interesting, actually, Prabhupada called it the material principle.
That means material itself, if I keep doing something again and again and try to improve myself, I will improve. That’s the material principle. Whether it may be writing, it may be singing, it may be speaking.
Like a child, how does a child learn cycling for the first time? So, failure, failure, child tries, falls, tries a little bit, falls, and then afterwards starts driving comfortably. So, in that sense, as devotees, if we need a particular kind of intelligence in serving Krishna, naturally, we will try to develop that intelligence. In that, we will endeavor.
And if we endeavor, even from material perspective, by endeavoring, endeavoring, things will improve. Now, the whole principle of prayer is to basically link our heart with Krishna. To link our heart to a place for the residence of Krishna, to the rule of Krishna is the ultimate objective of prayer.
And while we have this objective, the best way to do it is by bringing Krishna into our heart. But often that is difficult. Then, because our heart has so many concerns, so many aspirations, which may be partially connected with Krishna or unconnected with Krishna.
So, if we can’t bring Krishna in our heart, we take our heart to Krishna. Take our heart to Krishna means, whatever are our concerns, our anxieties, our desires, we take them to Krishna and submit them to him. So, even by that, we come closer to Krishna.
So, naturally, if we are trying to do a service and want to improve the specific types of intellectual faculties for doing that service, we are anyway going to invest a good amount of thought, a good amount of emotional energy, a good amount of time in that. So, if we are going to do that, then why not Krishnaize it, why not spiritualize it, by praying about it. So, is this dharmakanda? The fundamental difference between dharmakanda and bhakti is, what is the objective? In dharmakanda, the objective is to enjoy the material world.
We add, janma karma phala pranam, priyam hrishisholam, bhogaishvare gatindrati, na anyat asthiti vadinah, that bhogaishvarya, that is the goal and there is no other goal, that is what the dharmakandis think. Our devotee, while practicing bhakti, may also go through the dharmakandi level. As devotees, we may sometimes be practicing bhakti at the jnani level, sometimes at the karmi level.
That means what? We are not right now shuddha bhaktas, where we practice bhakti purely for the pleasure of Krishna. We practice bhakti primarily because we feel, because we gain something from it. We may get some intellectual stimulation from it, intellectual stimulation at the jnani level.
We get to do things which we like to do. Anyway, I like to sing and dance and people give me opportunities to sing and dance. So, I am very enthusiastic about that.
So, this is possible and it is not necessarily undesirable. So, that means if I want to climb up the bhakti ladder, ultimately I want to come to the level of kara bhakti, pure devotion, shuddha bhakti, where I simply want to serve Krishna and please Krishna. But right now, I am moving up that trajectory and sometimes I may be at the jnani level, sometimes my consciousness may be at the karmi level also.
But such a person is not considered a karmakandi. But considered a bhukta moving towards shuddha bhakti but currently passing through the karmakandi phase or the jnani phase. So, in such situations, it is important for us to keep in mind that if our goal is Krishna, our goal is to go closer towards Krishna and to ultimately love Krishna, then even asking for something material is not outside the purview of devotional service.
It may not be at the core of pure devotional service but it is within the ambit of devotional service. So, broadly speaking, yes, we can pray for anything that helps us in our service to Krishna but that prayer should be a desire, not a demand. That means that even if that prayer is not fulfilled, we will continue our service to Krishna.
And why we can desire it because that is already there in our heart. It’s already a concern. So, if we take that concern to Krishna and offer it in prayer to him, that helps us to spiritualize our heart and to connect our concerns with Krishna.
In that way, it is one stage in the ladder of bhakti where we keep moving upwards ultimately towards Krishna.