Will using our talents for Krishna lead to pure devotion?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So pure devotion is free from jnana and karma and anavrtam, so if we are engaging our talents as Sri Prabhupada did then will that lead to pure devotion yeah I gave a class in London on the topic of we can’t become pure devotees without becoming devotees what that means is first we have to connect with Krishna and then we can make the connection pure if I have no connection only then how can I have a pure connection so basically we could have an aspiration for pure devotional service but we cannot have the consciousness of pure devotion right in the beginning when we start preaching Prabhupada spoke simply to glorify Krishna when we speak are we speaking only to glorify Krishna well at least I can say that I am trying to but I am not there you know I also want to reciprocate with people so I want to say that people understand explaining some complicated concept gives me intellectual pleasure is that devotional? It is in the realm of devotion but it is not necessarily purely devotional but if we are told till you have the pure intention to glorify Krishna you should not preach for the rest of eternity we will be waiting to become pure devotees so Prabhupada gave us he told us purity is the force that is one of the principle which we talk about we want to go for pure devotional service but Prabhupada also said preaching is a part of our sadhana it is not that because we are pure we preach it is to become pure we preach similarly for our services we want to become pure but we can’t wait till we become pure to do something just do what we are meant to do right now what we feel inspired to do and gradually we move towards purity so the significant point over this is jnana karma di anavrtam avartam means when it is covered anavartam means when it is uncovered so what is this avaran the covering is where because of that covering our perception gets distorted and we start thinking that krishnetara something other than Krishna is more important than Krishna is more pleasurable than Krishna so when I have the karma avaran when I am covered over by karma at that time I think if I work hard and achieve this that will be the success of my life if I have the jnana avaran I can just crack this concept I can just crack this book but jnana and karma are anavartam means we don’t let that karma and jnana direct us away from Krishna karma and jnana are basically two faculties of the human beings when we interact with the world we take in information from the world that is the jnana in the world and we act in the world that is the karma in the world so jnana and karma are two basic functions of consciousness in this world we observe, take in information from the world and we act in the world so jnana karma di anavartam means these two functions of our consciousness of perception and action they are no longer contaminated by the desire for anything other than Krishna so when jnana and karma are both directed towards Krishna then that is pure devotion now the jnana and karma will be according to our somehow like yesterday I quoted Prabhupada and he was told that your English is so bad they tell it in this class only and you pronounce Sanskrit and say Bengali what can I do I have Bengali body so if a particular person has a particular body their jnana and karma will be shaped accordingly but they will not be acting simply according to their body nature they will be acting according to their body nature for Krishna in 18.61 59-60 Krishna tells Arjuna that you cannot but act according to your nature that you are bound by your sabhava and even if you now say you will not act according to your sabhava you will act accordingly you will not fight a war but you will be forced to fight by your nature and then he says your wine drinks are guided by the supreme Ishwara Sarvabhutana Vrndesha Arju Tishtati Brahman Sarvabhutani Antara Rudhani Mayaya that this body which is having its own sabhava which is having its own mechanism machinery but it is being guided by the supreme therefore in 18.62 the next verse Krishna says surrender to him whole heartedly now what is the point of Sarvabhavena whole heartedly over here that means your heart will be according to your sabhava your emotions will naturally be directed according to your sabhava but you that sabhava Sarvabhavena surrender to him Arjuna surrenders to his Kshatriya vocation and you will get the supreme destination and you will get the supreme destination so basically Krishna tells us that we use whatever the inclinations of our jnana and karma are we use them in his service so avrutam means that the intention is no longer towards Krishna the intention is towards