If we should be purpose-driven, not goal-driven, why do we set goals for new devotees to increase their rounds?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, when I said actually purpose driven, not goal driven, but then new people come, we give them goals, chant 2 rounds, chant 4 rounds, chant 8 rounds, when we have book distribution, we have goals. Distribute this many books. There are so many goals that we have.
Yes, when I said we should be purpose driven, not goal driven, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t set goals. Goals are right every day. Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita tells us, don’t be attached to the results of work.
But then, soon after the Bhagavad Gita was spoken, the Kurukshetra war started. And in every day in the Kurukshetra war, the Pandavas would set goals. Today we will fight this regiment.
Today you fight this person. Today you fight that person. Most famously, on the 14th day, Arjuna set a goal that I am going to kill Jaidat.
Krishna did not tell, Arjuna, you forgot Mahapaleshu Gadachana. Not like that. So, he did not tell Arjuna like that.
Now the point is, that goals naturally inspire us to act. So, most of us, right now, are in the mode of passion. And in the mode of passion, we need some tangible results to feel a sense that I am doing something worthwhile.
Without that, we feel, what am I doing? We want some tangible things. So, set up some tangible goals. That is not at all wrong.
As long as that doesn’t become the only purpose why we are doing it. So, for example, if you are studying Bhagavatam, you are like, if you are studying Bhagavatam, you say that, okay, there is Bhagavatam, I want to read Bhagavatam. And then what happens? The mind says that, okay, I want to read Bhagavatam.
Last 5 years, I didn’t read. Today also, if I don’t read, it doesn’t matter. I will read tomorrow.
And like that you say, another 5 years will go. But, if we set a goal, okay, we have got a Bhakti Vaiva course. I want to do this course.
And in that, in 6 months, we will complete 1.2. Then, what happens? That gives us a structure. That gives us a purpose. And then we move forward much faster.
Now, how many marks one gets in the Bhakti Vaiva course, how many courses one completes, it’s not that when we die, at that time, there is going to be some gatekeeper at Vaikuntha. Did you do Bhakti Vaiva? Did you do Bhakti Shastri? Okay, come in. Otherwise, go.
Not like that. At that time, we will be seeing how much we are remembering Krishna. But these are means which can help us to remember Krishna.
So, otherwise, okay, there is so much scripture. One day, I will study it. So, when we say one of these days means none of these days.
It becomes like that. So, usually, goals give us a sense of excitement, a sense of achievement, a sense of urgency. So, goals are good.
What is not good is just becoming attached to the goals or reducing our vision of Bhakti only to the goals. So, yes, let’s distribute this many books. Then what happens? Devotees get some excitement.
Let me try it. If somebody is not able to distribute, that doesn’t mean that they are bad devotees. That doesn’t mean they have failed.
If goals inspire us to bring out our best, if goals inspire us to rise to a higher level, then they are uncool to Bhakti. And because they are favorable for devotion, we accept them. But, if goals become all that we are doing, then, in the early days of our movement, it happened that there were two bus parties in the temple and both of them were in intense competition to distribute.
And they would wake up in the morning, complete their rounds and just rush out all day from distribution. And one team, they wanted to distribute more books. So, what happened? One of the very neophyte devotees at that time, he went early morning and he went and punctured the tires of the other bus.
Now, this is devotion, but this is, you can say, destructive devotion. Misdirected and destructive devotion. So, we don’t want to do like that.
If we think that goals are all that I have to achieve. So, ye na ke na prakaare na goal sampoornam. Somehow or the other, I have to achieve goals.
Whatever it takes. If we become like that, then it’s a problem. But if goals inspire us to remember Krishna and help us to become more dedicated, then they are favorable to bhakti.
We can use them. Thank you.