When all of us are unique, why do we compare devotees as per their level of advancement?

Transcript

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So the question is that, although all of us are unique Still we often compare, okay this devotee is this level, this devotee is this level So if you are unique, what is the need for comparison? Yes, we are all unique, but we are more or less going on one standard path It’s like, if I have to go from here to Vrindavan I am on the path, there is a road from here to Vrindavan So now all of us have our own vehicles and we are going So I have to see, okay now I am 1000 km away Somebody is 800 km away, somebody is 1200 km away So we have to take stock of our own consciousness So that we keep moving forward in the right direction Now generally speaking, the healthy comparison is with oneself The comparison with others is usually unhealthy Because what happens, as you rightly pointed out That when we compare with others, because all of us have different attributes So all of us will serve differently And we have the famous example of Lord Ram when the bridge was being built He considered the efforts of Hanuman and the efforts of the squirrel to be equal So was there no need for comparison then? Yes, the Lord says that I consider the efforts of both of you equal Whatever we have been given, we use that for the service of Krishna But the important point is also that some services have to be done in this world And for that, those who are appropriately endowed, they will be given those services So one is for the external administration of the mission Those who have been appropriately endowed, they will do the services Although Lord Ram considered Hanuman and the squirrel’s contributions to be equal But then we see that in the war, the squirrel was not doing the fighting In the war, it was not the squirrel who went and brought the herbs from the Himalayas Hanuman who brought it What does that mean? According to one’s capacity, one does service At the ultimate, it is the Lord who has given us our capacity And He wants us to use that capacity in His service So we use accordingly But for our own spiritual advancement, it is better to compare with ourselves So we compare with ourselves more to see whether we are moving forward in our journey towards Krishna Now comparison with others, if it can inspire us in some way, that is good But comparison with others, if it is going to make us feel discouraged Then it is of no use If we see that this person has been given this challenge, this person has been given this challenge Then it is not that I have to become like someone else I have to serve according to my capacity, according to my talents And my talents will be uncovered gradually also Prabhupada gave the standard process But then within the standard process also, he gave an abundant room for individuality When the devotees started doing distribution, some distributors were very good And then they told, they came to Prabhupada and said Prabhupada, we have found out certain lines, certain expressions, certain behavioural postures and poses And if we speak these lines, people will take books So can we go temple, temple, temple and say that we will teach devotees these lines And then we will distribute books Prabhupada became very great And says Krishna consciousness is individual, voluntary and spontaneous He said it is individual, voluntary and spontaneous When the soul desires to serve Krishna When the soul becomes inspired to serve Krishna, then devotional service is performed So therefore, what one should do is Focus on inspiring people to serve Krishna If you inspire people to serve Krishna, everything else will follow automatically Focus on inspiring others So, you know, we want to see If say, somebody has got a super fast car and I have got a slower car It doesn’t matter, we all know the story of the Tortoise and the Hare But the important thing is that We all have to move forward So what we should compare is, we compare with ourselves Now are my attachments decreasing, are my attachments to Krishna decreasing The difference between Now we may say that In the tortoise and the In the tortoise and the rabbit or the hare story There is one person who gets the prize So, it’s slow and steady wins the race we may say But the point is that with respect to spiritual world You know, there is not one trophy You know, there is Our Swaroopa is fixed There is no like 5 lakh students appearing for 5000 IIT seats It’s not like that Even if somebody else goes back to the spiritual world That person is not going to usurp our Swaroopa in the spiritual world You know, our Swaroopa is there for us And we will get that So, there is no need for us to have unhealthy comparisons with others So, if we compare It is only Primarily we compare with ourselves to see whether we are moving forward or not Just like, if I am on a train If I am on a journey Whether I am covering the distance or not I should see But along with that If I see others are moving faster That might inspire me to do more service And in that sense also I can compare