SB 01.05.09 – Don’t let the variety and the quantity distract from the quality and the intensity of devotion

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Srimad Bhagavatam 159 yatha dharmadayas chartha munivaryanukirtitaha yatha vasudevasya mahimayanuvarnitaha So here, Narada Muni is instructing Vyasadeva, and he is telling that yatha, just as dharmadayas chartha, the way dharma artha and adayas refers to kama, dharma artha kama moksha, that the way you have explained that munivaryanukirtitaha, the way you have explained that yatha vasudevasya, similarly, you have not explained the glories of Lord Vasudeva. mahimayanuvarnitaha You have not explained His glories in a similar way. So, the focus of this verse is on not giving due importance to that which is important.
The Vedic literature is a vast body of knowledge, and in that vast body, there are many things that are taught, and there is a procreation in them with pure devotional service coming as a culmination, the path of pure love. But, if one just reads the Vedic literature, one may well find that one doesn’t come towards that. One starts thinking that the material enjoyment, especially the pious, religious material enjoyment, that is the goal of life.
That is the perfection of life. That is the purpose of life. And, based on that understanding, one gets caught up, stamps oneself as religious, and neglects that which is truly religious, neglects that which is truly important, truly meaningful, truly glorious.
That is the path of pure love. And this sort of disruption in the spiritual growth of people because of not understanding the most important thing, this will happen because of the Vedic literature. In the sense that, in terms of relative proportion, the path of pure devotion has not been emphasized.
So, we ask them to correct that, and emphasize the path of pure devotion. So, how does one do that? By recognizing that, ultimately, it is the heart that matters, and it is the heart that we need to aspire for, aspire to fulfill through pure love. So, even in our spiritual life, when we are studying scripture, or when we are practicing spiritual life, sometimes less important activities may take up so much of our physical and mental energy that we may not give due importance to more important things.
So, for example, our personal devotional connection with Krishna, we all have certain activities by which we get strength. And to the extent we do those activities, to that extent we grow. And to the extent we don’t do those activities, to the extent we don’t do or we neglect those activities, to that extent our growth gets checked.
So, doing those activities is important for us, and yet the pressure of the broad spectrum of things that are there in Krishna consciousness may make us neglect the central activities. And that’s why it’s vital for every devotee to know, to put first things first, to not let variety and quantity of services distract from intensity of quality in the service that is most important. So, for example, chanting, and those devotional activities which help us to develop our personal connection with Krishna, they are important, and they need to be given importance.
So, those activities which deeply imprint the glory of Krishna in our heart and help us to come closer to Him. So, the activities that we definitely need to allow Krishna, that we need to give due priority to them, we need to allow Krishna to manifest His presence and sweetness in our heart and in our life by doing those activities wholeheartedly. So, in this way, we can avoid the imbalance that otherwise creeps in, and we can keep moving forward in our spiritual life, steadily, towards Krishna.
Thank you.