Spiritualizing our work through IAC – intention, action and contribution
[Bhagavatam class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.36 at ISKCON, Brisbane]
Video:
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so today morning we are discussing about the theme of spiritualising our work Shri Prabhupada speaks of the ways in which while functioning in this world we can make our work spiritual so I will speak this in terms of three points IAC intention, action and contribution so in India there is a common notion work is worship people in Hindi say karma hi pooja hai now this is a mistranslation of a well known verse from the Bhagavad Gita 18.46 talks about svakarmana tam abhyarcha siddhim vindati manava the verse actually says svakarmana by your work worship him tam abhyarcha and in this way you will attain perfection siddhim vindati manava so the Bhagavad Gita is not saying work is worship it is saying by your work worship him if work itself were worship then the donkey would be the greatest worshipper isn’t it if work itself were worship then tomorrow a beggar may say I am worshipping by begging a thief may say I am worshipping by robbing a butcher may say I am worshipping by slaughtering animals so work in and of itself is not worship now work is worship it is not a principle to be trivialised or made fun of it is a valid principle as far as considering that all work should be infused with dignity and nobody should be looked down upon because they are doing a particular kind of work so all work and all workers should be respected so if that is the intent if we see work is worship as an ethical or a social principle that is acceptable but if we make work is worship as a philosophical principle where when it is talked about it is used as an excuse for not doing any worship you say I am doing my work that is my worship there is no need to go to the temple there is no need to have deities there is no need to do any direct devotional activities so if that is the intention then that is a misleading principle Krishna is saying by your work worship him he doesn’t say that work is worship he doesn’t say that your work is the only way to worship him the same Bhagavad Gita 15-20 verses later talks about offer your obeisances to me pay your homage to me and then Krishna says study my message Krishna says Krishna says those who study the sacred conversation of ours they are worshipping me with their intelligence so Krishna talks about worshipping in many different ways so work is one way in which we can worship the lord and work is definitely not meant to be a substitute for worship so the understanding is that if we have infused our life with devotional consciousness if we have practised direct devotional activities done direct devotional worship of the lord then that will create a worshipful mood in our consciousness and then with that worshipful mood when we work then even our work will be done in a devotional mood otherwise if we do not have time for direct devotional activities then even if we have good intention that intention will not survive for long in the passionate world in which we usually work the passionate world will fill us with the modes of passion and ignorance and will drag our consciousness down so that means if we are going to make we are going to spiritualise our work the first aspect is as I said I am going to talk about intention action and contribution so intention it is not that whatever I am doing I am doing it in the mood of worship that is my intention that alone is not enough that intention has to be cultivated and it has to be protected it has to be cultivated by direct devotional activities we chant the holy names of the lord we associate with devotees when we worship the deities then that intention becomes real otherwise we may say this is my intention but actually that intention will not stay for long some people say why do you need to chant the names of god so much actually you can just chant why do you chant 16 rounds just chant once actually bhavagrahi janardana what is bhav just chant once with bhav that is enough yes chant once with bhav that is enough but the problem is bhav ka abhav hai there is bhav the emotion that is lacking we don’t have that emotion we can’t imagine that we have that emotion just chanting one name of Krishna is enough that is true but what is the quality of that one name it’s like saying that shooting one arrow is enough for you to win the gold medal in archery in the olympics yes it is true to win the gold medal you just have to shoot one arrow but in order for that one arrow to hit the bull’s eye the archer has to practise probably millions of arrows being shot before similarly to get that one name to be chanted with devotion we need to practise chanting so the point I am making is intention is not just a matter of imagination it’s not just inner sentiment I have the intention of serving the lord if we have the intention it has to be expressed through direct devotional engagement so with direct devotional engagements when we spiritualise our consciousness then our intention becomes to serve the lord in whatever we do in fact when Krishna becomes the goal of our life then whatever we are doing that also becomes spiritualised when Krishna is the goal of my life then my work also becomes for the purpose of attaining Krishna I see my work as a way of taking care of my bodily needs, taking care of my family members as a way of making sure that I am able to serve Krishna so that is an intention Krishna in the 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita talks about various levels at which you can serve him in 7.1 the 7th to 12th chapters are considered to be like the bhakti section of the Bhagavad Gita the Bhagavad Gita has 3 sections it said that the first section is karma, second section is bhakti and third is jnana actually this is not the correct understanding the correct understanding is the whole Bhagavad Gita is actually guiding towards bhakti the first 6 chapters talk about how karma culminates in bhakti the last 6 chapters talk about how jnana culminates in bhakti and the middle 6 chapters talk about how bhakti itself is the most important thing so the 7th chapter begins with a verse, 7.1 is mayi asakta manaha yogam yunjan madhashaya samshayam samagramma yathagyastasita shrano Krishna says that mayi asakta manaha make your mind attached to me, that is the perfection, now how to arrive at that perfection Krishna describes from 7.1 till 12.7 and he talks about the glory of fixing the mind on him the glory of the object of himself who is the person to be fixed on, to fix the mind on so if you have to fix the mind on something anything we need to do, we need 3 things for that what exactly is to be done, why it is to be done and how it is to be done if I have to drive a car ok, what exactly is to be done ok, I have to drive why do I have to drive, you can get to your decision fast how to drive, ok this is the brake, this is the steering wheel so basically for doing anything we need these 3 things knowledge purpose and skill or you can say knowledge, desire and skill so in the middle 6 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita Krishna gives us these 3 things he gives us the knowledge of how to fix the mind on him then he gives us the reason, how he himself is the all attractive supreme, he is the reservoir of all happiness, the reason why we should fix the mind on him, that creates desire and then he says if that doesn’t happen along with that the skills, you can think of him while functioning in the world how we can see the attractive things of this world as his opulences so then in 12.7 he culminates, how by fixing the mind on him, Krishna himself will become our deliverer I will quickly deliver you and then from 12.8 to 12.12 Krishna gives various levels at which we can connect with him so these are these are ladders on the bhakti yoga these are rungs on the bhakti yoga ladder in the Bhagavad Gita there are 2 kinds of ladders, there is yoga ladder in which Krishna talks about how from karma yoga to gyan yoga to dhyan yoga to bhakti yoga, one can go from one yoga to another to another but another Krishna says that actually one doesn’t have to go through all these yogas wherever one is, one can start practising bhakti and then he gives gaunatai bhagwan ki jaya he gives rungs on the bhakti yoga ladder so first he gives the topmost rung and then he goes down from there so first he says this Krishna says if your mind and intelligence are absorbed in me then you will live in me, it is not that we will attain Krishna in future we have already attained Krishna, we are living in Krishna in the introduction to the Bhagavad Gita as it is, the Prabhupada writes that the art of Krishna consciousness is to fix the mind and intelligence in Krishna this is the highest level somebody says actually my mind goes all over, millions of places, it doesn’t stay with Krishna, so what should we do? Krishna goes to one level below that he says as an exercise fix your mind even if the mind goes here and there fix the mind on me so Krishna says abhyas it is an exercise, it is a practise so when we, especially we chant the holy names or we study scriptures sometimes when people come to hear katha hear Krishna’s message they actually want to be entertained there are many people who see hearing Bhagavatam as a pious form of entertainment yes I have some nice stories to hear about yes that’s fine, at least they are hearing about Krishna but actually when we are hearing about Krishna we don’t just want to be entertained we want to enter into Krishna we want to absorb our consciousness in Krishna we want to become attached to Krishna and that’s why to fix the mind in Krishna when it is going here and there, going here and there especially we need philosophical conviction that Krishna is the highest reality siddhanta baliya chitte na kare alas iha haite Krishna lage sudhrudha manas Chetanjali Damodar said that don’t think this is all philosophy, I don’t want to hear it I just want rasa, I want pastimes he says no if you understand the philosophy properly then your conviction will come that Krishna is the only ultimate reality and then even if the mind gets distracted to other things it will come back to Krishna otherwise without philosophical understanding Krishna remains like an optional source of entertainment he is not seen as the indispensable source of shelter there is a big difference between the two that today I am like spiderman, tomorrow I am like batman next day I am like whatever else I am like harry potter so I take one character enjoy it and think of another character enjoy it we are seeing them as optional sources of entertainment but we want Krishna we want to see Krishna as the indispensable source of shelter and for that we have to see Krishna not just as a performer of entertaining character as a hero in entertaining stories he is God so we need to practise fixing the mind in Krishna and that’s why when we approach be it japa or be it kirtan or be it katha, our approach has to be proper many people love to do kirtans but they don’t like japa so much why? because in kirtan at one level we may say I am able to connect with Krishna easily but in kirtan there is music there is dancing, there are tunes so there is a lot else to fix the mind on than Krishna so the mind doesn’t want to be fixed on Krishna and chanting means there is not much else to think of you have to fix the mind on Krishna the mind goes here and there, even in philosophy when we are hearing classes, if it’s a philosophical class then we have to apply ourselves so when we are practising Krishna bhakti we can have the attitude that I am going to watch a movie, that means I go for entertainment or we can have the attitude that I am going for a workout when I go for a workout I know that I will have to exercise myself, so japa and class if we go in the mood of I want to be entertaining, I want to watch a movie most of the time it will seem very burdensome, but we go in the mood of, I am not going to watch a movie, I am going to get a workout so it’s exercise, but it’s good for me, it will strengthen me so the more we exercise to fix the mind on Krishna, the more mind becomes attracted to Krishna and gets fixed on him so that’s what Krishna says, the next level if you can’t constantly keep your mind on me, then strive to keep the mind on me, by that your mind will become attached to me that is just as by exercising and lifting a big weight our capacity to lift that weight becomes more and more, like that by fixing the mind on Krishna with discipline the mind will become more and more ready, amenable to be fixed on him, somebody says no, but this is not possible for me Krishna says, ok, one more level below if you can’t do this, then says if you cannot fix the mind on me, that means you cannot practise sadhana bhakti, then he says work for me and that means that we do seva for Krishna, we come to the temple we serve prasadam, we distribute books, we help clean the temple whatever services are required we work for Krishna so these are all ways in which we can make our intention solid and authentic this is all for, how do I really know that my intention is Krishna Vishnachakra Thakur gives an example that suppose a person has a family, but that person has a job which is far away from the family now if you consider, most of the part of a week or a part of a month or a part of a year, that person is away from the family and they are meeting different people in business talking, negotiating, discussing but internally that person is thinking, I am doing this all for my spouse for my children, for my family so that attachment is in terms, that attraction is in terms of intention so although there is no physical connection so much but still their intention is there similarly he says a devotee may have to work in a job may have to work outside and do a lot of things where there is no direct connection with Krishna, but in that case if that intention is there I want to serve Krishna then that work can also be spiritualised but that intention whereas with respect to family it’s relatively easier to develop, with respect to Krishna it takes time to develop that and that’s why we need diligent practise of sadhana bhakti so our actions whatever we do we can say that our actions can fall in different parts one is that the actions which we do for earning a living, second is the action that we do for taking care of our family members that means practically taking care third is we have social obligations so we can have professional, familial and social obligations, we go to some function, somebody’s party, somebody’s birthday is there, somebody’s marriage is there some social function is there now these all cannot be very directly spiritualised but if our overall intent is to serve Krishna, our overall intent is to try to do these in a way we can move closer to Krishna then we can move forwards so the action, Arjuna when he was fighting the Kurukshetra war he was not necessarily all the time it was not that he was looking at Karna, Hare Krishna he was looking at Shakuni, Hare Krishna no, he was not necessarily chanting Krishna’s name he could have been, but there is no description of that in the Mahabharata he was focused completely on fighting the war and the important thing was that he was doing it for the purpose of Krishna so if our intention is strongly spiritual, then our work can become worship why? because our work is done in a mood of service to the Lord, so a devotee sees that my talents, my abilities they are gifts from Krishna and they are meant to be used for his service so he said that what we are is Krishna’s gift to us what we become is our gift to Krishna what we are is Krishna’s gift to us we have certain talents, certain abilities and Krishna says I am ability in people whatever is attractive in this world that reflects a spark of my splendour so we understand that actually the the work if it is done for my ego I will prove how great I am then that is actually mundane but if I think that these are the abilities Krishna has given me let me use them for his service then we can actually infuse our work with the mood of devotion Arjuna when he was practising archery he would practise day and night during the day he would learn how to shoot arrows and at night he would practise that is one reason why he got the name Gudakesha, one who conquered his sleep so he was diligent and industrious in doing his archery Yudhishthir Maharaj is a pure devotee but at the same time he wanted to perform the Rajasuya Yajna and that required him to be enthroned as the greatest king in the world and he fought the necessary wars for that because if he is considered the greatest king then and he worships the lord thereafter and the lord will be even more glorified so a devotee can approach work in many different ways depending on one’s inclination, one’s inspiration one’s inclination could be that ok this work is mundane I just do whatever is required for maintaining my body so that I can focus on directly serving Krishna that’s fine if one doesn’t have any specific talent that is being used in the work, one doesn’t have any specific interest in the work, then we just do the work responsibly but focus our energy on Krishna some others may feel that this work is their colleague different people have different talent, different inclinations then they may get into that field and excel in that field but they do it for Krishna and if they can do it while ensuring that their intention remains spiritual by practising the sadhana properly then that can also be a very valuable way in which we can serve Krishna broadly there are two visions of how we may work in this world, one is that we think that this work is just I don’t want to get involved in it at all as less as possible and we focus on direct devotional service, the other is we see that ok this is the world I am living in this is the world where people are going to be in mostly so let me excel here and through that let me attract Krishna, people to Krishna both are fine but one has to choose what works best according to one’s nature so Bhaktivinoda Thakur was in our tradition much more we could say involved as a grahastha and he worked very hard, he was excellent as a magistrate he was very efficient in his time so that he did direct devotional activities also but he excelled as a magistrate also and the last I talked about is contribution contribution means that actually the fruit of our work is meant to be offered to Krishna, without that we will stay bound by the implications of the work, some people feel that ok right now I don’t have enough money so I can’t give charity right now I plan once I earn a lot of money then I will give huge amount of charity now in one sense it can be a good sentiment I want to give a large amount of charity but the problem is that here we are misunderstanding the purpose of charity in charity the important thing is not the activity but the mentality that means it’s not just how much money I give it’s the disposition that I need to give that is important so that charity has to be cultivated more as a disposition rather than simply as action, so yes in future if you can give a lot that’s fine but as a regular habit we need to give because that creates the mood within us that what I am earning is not mine, it actually belongs to Krishna and I need to offer it to Krishna so it’s like saying right now I am very busy so I don’t have time to eat food, on weekends I will eat for the whole week it doesn’t work like that, we have to eat daily similarly charity also should be given regularly so when you offer the fruits of our work as a contribution to Krishna thereby we become purified thereby we become elevated so Krishna talks about this at the next two levels in 12.11 and 12, 12.11 he states that … … … … he says that if you can’t work for me then just … … … … if somehow you cannot give the fruits of your work to me then at least give the fruits of your work for some good cause, Krishna says at least become, cultivate some level of selflessness and gradually by that also one will become elevated so bhakti is at one level a journey from selfishness to selflessness where selfishness means I put myself first and if at all God exists we treat God as a facilitator and fulfiller of my desires from that I centredness in all of us in the material world are I specialists.
Now I specialists, not EYEI but I. So we are all I specialists. From there we move towards becoming focused on Krishna. So bhakti is a journey towards that.
And Krishna says, if you cannot attain me, if you cannot offer to me, at least come out of yourself. At least contribute for some good cause. So the journey towards selflessness culminates in Krishna.
Even if it can’t begin with Krishna, let it begin somewhere. That’s the mood of 12.11. And in this way here, as in this verse it said that, Krishna Syan Smaran Teacher. Ultimately, whatever we want to do, the central point by which you connect with Krishna is through our consciousness.
By doing our prescribed duties, by doing our dharmic, by religious activities, we want to increase our attachment to Krishna. And as we become attached to him, we gradually become more and more absorbed in him. And when we are absorbed in him, then we attain him, not just in the next life, but even in this life.
Krishna is always there with those who are always remembering him. Krishna is never lost to those who are never lost to Krishna. And those who are always remembering Krishna, Krishna is always there with them.
So gradually, by the practise of bhakti, as given by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, as explained by Srila Prabhupada, through the society for Krishna consciousness that he has created, we all can become infused with Krishna consciousness. So thank you very much. I’ll summarise quickly.
I spoke today about how we can spiritualise our work. I talked about three main things. Does anyone remember? Intentions, action, contribution.
So in intention, I talked about how work itself is not worship. Work is worship can be an ethical or social principle for infusing dignity for work and workers. But if work is seen as a substitute to worship, then it is a misleading idea.
So by our work, we can worship the Lord if we have a worshipful relationship with him. And that worshipful relationship is established through direct devotional activities. So the intention to offer our work to Krishna has to be cultivated by doing something other than that work, by doing directly activities connected with Krishna.
So Krishna says, best is that have your mind and intelligence fixed in me and live in me. He says, if you can’t do that, then practise sadhana bhakti to fix the mind on me. So when we hear about Krishna, we do so not in the mood of entertainment, like watching a movie.
We do it in the mood of exercise, like doing a workout. The more we learn to focus and fix the mind on Krishna as the ultimate philosophical reality, then the more the mind will resist the tendency to get tempted by other things and will become fixed and absorbed in Krishna. In terms of action, I said that there are direct devotional actions that we need to do.
And along with that, we see our work as worship by seeing our talents as gifts from Krishna. What we are is Krishna’s gift to us and what we become is our gift to Krishna. Depending on how we feel connected with our work, we may either see, get wholeheartedly into the work and excel in it so that through that we can glorify Krishna.
Or we may just do the work as a profession, as something for earning our living, so that we can focus more of our energies on Krishna. And with respect to contribution, charity is not an activity, it’s a mentality. So rather than the quantity, it is the regularity that is important.
By working in a mood of devotional connection with Krishna, we can slowly but surely become increasingly internally absorbed in Him. And that absorption brings life’s greatest satisfaction. And it takes us to life’s ultimate perfection.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Are there any comments or questions? Just one.
Yes, please. There are people in this world who touch on some devout people, who do so many things during the day. And at the end of the day, they say, whatever I have done today, I offer it to Narayana.
Do you have any comments about that? Yeah, there are some people who do whatever they do throughout the day and say Narayana Samarpayami. I offer it to Narayana. That is sometimes simply a habit that has come from upbringing or culture or something like that.
We can appreciate that intention over there. But it indicates a lack of seriousness in the relationship with God. In no other relationship will we say that, I’m doing everything for you.
Say if a husband is working far away and then the husband comes back home maybe once a month or something like that. And the wife is talking with him. And then the husband is looking at messages on the phone or reading a newspaper.
I’m talking with you. Yes, I’m listening. He is lost in reading other things.
So the husband says that, tells his wife, when I’m away from you, I think about you. She says, when you are with me, you are not thinking about me. You are thinking about other things.
How can I believe that you are thinking about me when you are away? So if a person is not ready to spend time directly with someone, the pretensions that I’m doing everything for you, they are suspect. So like that, same way, just as it applies in any normal relationship. If there is a seriousness in the relationship, we spend quality time in that relationship.
So if people are not ready to do that, and that idea, whatever I’m doing is for Narayan, it is a good sentiment, but it doesn’t reflect reality. So it’s probably just because of cultural upbringing they are doing it. But it basically indicates that they are approaching the relationship with God very sentimentally.
I’m just doing it for God. No, Krishna is a real person. And we need to have a real relationship with him.
And that real relationship means real commitment. Real quality time has to be given for that. So that kind of attitude can be simply because they have some pious sentiment and they do it.
Or it can even be an excuse for not doing anything more. This is what I’m doing and this is enough. But from the Bhagavad Gita’s perspective, it’s not just offer your work to me.
It’s also think about me always. And if you are honest with ourselves, even when we practise sadhana bhakti rigorously, even after that, it is difficult to think of Krishna. If you are not practising sadhana bhakti at all and thinking about Krishna is almost impossible.
The world is so consuming. It’s just like thinking of Krishna happens only when Krishna becomes the foremost reality in our life. All of us, we have foreground awareness and background awareness.
So, for example, right now, say I’m answering your question. Say you are hearing the answer. So we are discussing, we are talking.
So I’m in your foreground awareness. You are in my foreground awareness. At the same time, we are also aware of many things.
Maybe there’s a crow is crowing over there or we’re sitting in a temple over here. So now, whatever is our life’s driving purpose, that is always there in our awareness. It’s in the background.
So, OK, I have this job. I have to do this. I have to do this.
It’s there in the back. So, and as we become more and more focused on the purpose, a student, say, who has come to, like I give Shanchi Thakur’s example, person may be working away from home, but that I’m working for my family. That is there.
That is at least there in the background. And similarly, for us, Krishna has to be there at least in the background. But as we advance more and more by sustained practise of bhakti, the world, to some extent, goes in the background and Krishna stays in the foreground.
For Shri Prabhupada, many of those who observed him, they said that when he was talking about Krishna, whether it is a private darshan with three, four people or it is a big pandal programme with 20,000 people, Prabhupada would be just as enthusiastic about speaking about Krishna. Because you’re not just speaking to those people. You’re speaking for Krishna’s pleasure.
So what happens is for the advanced devotees, Krishna is the foreground reality. And the world, they’re aware of it, but the world is the background reality. For us sadhakas, the world is the foreground reality and Krishna is the background reality.
But if we are not even sadhakas, then Krishna is not even in the background. So to just say that I’m doing it for Krishna, then that is simply sentiment. Only when we fix the mind on Krishna through conscious sadhana, that at least Krishna will come in the background.
Otherwise, it is not really authentic. We appreciate the sentiment, we appreciate the cultural gesture when they’re doing it, but it is not indicative of any serious relationship with Krishna. And it won’t lead to spiritual advancement in any substantial way.
Did I address the issue? So… Yes, Mataji? Sometimes when we’re thinking about service or Krishna like duties, I think sometimes about my work, that if I give some donations or something like that, that in some way is giving to Krishna. But I also get caught up in waiting for another set of circumstances, if you like. Oh, I think I could be a better devotee if this happens, or if my children leave home and I have to spend more time abroad.
And I’ve actually spent many years like this, and I’m suddenly realising that’s probably quite wasteful. So how to shift the thinking from… I keep waiting for these external things to occur. That’s true, yeah.
Sometimes we feel that certain external things, if they improve, we’ll be able to serve Krishna better. But then for years we keep waiting and that doesn’t happen. Yeah, actually Shri Prabhupada writes in the third canto, in a different context, he says a devotee desires to serve, desires to see the Lord, have personal darshan of the Lord.
But a devotee does not demand that. As a condition for serving the Lord. That means, naturally, as a devotee we want to have darshan of the Lord.
But it’s not that Krishna, if you don’t give my darshan, I will not serve you. If we don’t have the desire, then where is our devotion? And if we make it a demand, then where is our service attitude? So we need a balance of both. We desire, but we don’t demand.
It is definitely true that there are certain material conditions which can make our service to Krishna more difficult and certain conditions which can make service to Krishna easier. So it can be health, it can be financial security, it can be family obligations. And to desire that the more favourable material conditions come so that we can serve Krishna better, that can be a desire which is favourable for our bhakti.
It’s not necessarily, it’s not a material desire, it’s a spiritual desire. At the same time, we can’t let our practise of bhakti become dependent on that. We can’t make that attainment of the material condition as a precondition for our practising bhakti.
That means, Krishna, I will serve you the best that I can in my present situation. But in this situation, I am limited by this, this, this. If this could be arranged, I can serve you so much more.
So Prabhupada, even when he had no resources, he was actually still serving Krishna. When Hayagriva Prabhu was one of Prabhupada’s earliest English editors, he offered Prabhupada, I’ll type book. Do you have any more material to type? I can type for you.
And Prabhupada took him to his trunk. And it was actually, the trunk was filled from bottom to top with papers. And normally when we write on paper, we keep a margin on top, margin at the bottom, left margin, right margin.
Prabhupada, he’d written from the right top to the left bottom. No margin anywhere. And much of that paper on which he had written his books was actually envelopes, which he had received from people and he had uncut it and stitched it, stuck it.
And he’s writing on that. Prabhupada in India was often in a financially challenged situation. So he didn’t think, I don’t have money, how will I print the books? No, he was still writing.
So at one level, surrender can have many different means. Krishna, I just depend on you. That’s surrender.
But surrender can also mean, surrender means to do what we have, to do what we can with what we have now. So Prabhupada did. He had no money.
So whatever paper he had, he used that. In one of the books of Ashila Prabhupada in Vrindavan, it is said that Prabhupada was so poor and he had so little money that one shopkeeper tells him that he came, Swamiji came to me and he said, he said, actually I was writing this book and my refill has got over. So he said, you don’t have to give a pen to me.
Can you give me a, donate a refill to me? I have the pen. So this was Ashila Prabhupada. He was so committed to serve Krishna with whatever he had.
So with whatever time we have, we do our best to serve Krishna. And certainly we can pray to Krishna that with more favourable circumstances, I can serve you more. Does that answer your question? Thank you very much.
Ashila Prabhupada.