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September18,2010
Peopleonthehigherlevelsoftranscendencecanperceivethingswhichordinary
menof limitedintelligencecannotestimateorcomprehend.ObedienceofGodis
consideredtobesuperiortopietyandCharity.Thisisaconfoundingtheorywhich
most pious people fail to understand.This is a philosophy that needs to be
acceptedatfacevalue.Theefficacyofthesamecanonlybevaluedbywhoever
hasabidedandlivedbythisprinciple.
SrilaPrabhupadarecountsthestoryofHonestyamongstthieves.Therearefourthieveswholootabankandwiththebootytheydecamptoahideout.Eachone
sits alongside the loot and talk of honesty in distributing the money equally
amongstthemselves.Thebasisoftheiragreementitselfisonutterdishonesty.The
loot does not belong to them and all of them agree on being honest while
distributingitamongstthemselves.Onthesamelines,everythingonthisplanet
andbeyondbelongstoLordSriKrishnaandheistheAbsolutesoleproprietorof
allthatisandallthatcanbe.Howeverallofusaredisobedienttothe Supreme
Lord and talk about being honest in our day to day dealings.It is better to be
violent abiding by the will of God than to be nave , pious and kind , being
disobedient to theLord.It isawellknownfact thatYudhishtirMaharajschariot
nevertouchedthegrounduntilthetimehedisobeyedtheLordscommand.TheLordaskedYudhishtirtoproclaimthatAshwatthamahadbeenslaininthewarto
unsettle Dronacharya.Yudhishtir had a reputation of being a Satyavaadi or
Truthfulperson.YudhishtirMaharajshowedgreatreluctanceinutteringalieeven
atthebehestoftheAllSupremeLord.Immediatelyhischariotwhichfloatedonair
allthetime,touchedtheground.OnewouldwonderwhySudamawashonoredso
muchby theLordandwhat special qualityhehad for theLordtogiveHisown
opulencetoSudama.
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Sudamawasinawayattachedtohispovertyandhewasextremelyproudofhis
poverty.TheLordwantedSudamatobefreefromthispridewhichwasacausefor
hisfalseego.ThustheLordputsanendtoanysortofattachment.Forsome,he
relieves them by taking away all their possessions and for certain others , he
relievesthembybenedictingthemwithallsortsofriches.
TheLordoncetoldNaradatosearchforHisgreatestdevoteeintheUniverse.He
gaveNarada amission statement so that itwouldbe easier for Sri Narada to
arriveattheconclusion.TheLordtoldNaradaGoroundtheUniversesayingthatI
have a severe headache and that I desire the dust of the Lotus feet of the
devoteeswhichistheonlymedicineforthispredicament.SriNaradaapproachedvarious classes of the Lords devotee with the Lords command and His
predicament.SriNaradaapproachedtheJnanisfirst.TheJnanisconsideredthisas
anoffenceandrejectedgivingthefeetoftheirdust.TheYogisalsorespondedwith
asimilaranswer.TheQueensof theLordalsowereapproachedbySriNarada.
TheQueenssaidthattheydidnotdesiretobecastintoHellonaccountofgiving
thedustoftheirfeetasamedicinetorelievetheLordofHisheadache.Theytoo
sent ofSriNaradaemptyhanded.Even after approachingmillions of theLords
presumedelevateddevotees,SriNaradacouldnothaveahandfulofdusttocure
theLord ofhisheadache.FinallySriNaradaapproached the Gopis ofBraja.As
soonastheGopisheardtheLordswoes,theyimmediatelyfilledsacksofdustof
theirownfeetandgaveittoNaradaandaskedhimtobeintheLordsserviceat
once.TheycouldnotbeartoheartheLordsufferingfromheadache.SriNarada
told theGopis that since theywere giving the dustof their feet , theymay be
doomed intoHell foreverandwouldhave tosuffer unlimitedagonies there.The
GopiswerereadytobepushedtoHellforanunlimitedperiodifthatcouldbring
relief to theirmost beloved Lord ,Sri Krishna.Thus Narada concluded that the
GopisofBrajawerethetopmostdevoteesoftheLord.ThusservicetotheLordis
theSupremeactivitythatmancanengagehimselfin.
TherearesomepeoplewhosaythataftertheyhavestartedtheirBhaktiprocess,
theysimplydonot feel likeengaginginanyotheractivity.This isactuallyagood
indicationandoneneednotbeconcernedofsuchastateofmind.Thisnecessarily
doesnotmeanthatwehavetoabandonmaterialisticwork.Thiscannotbedone
especiallybythoseintheGrihasthaorderoflife.Oneshouldcontinuematerialistic
work in the mode of detachment.Just abandoningwork because one doesnot
have interest in such fruitiveactivity is not recommended.There was a certain
visitortothetemplewhoconfidedthathecouldnotapproveoftheBhaktiprocess.
The Bhakti process declares thatService to the SupremeLord isevengreater
thanservingonesownparents.Thiswasunacceptabletothisvisitorandhewas
oftheopinionthatservingonesownparentswasthetopmostformofsacrifice.
Thispersonevenwenttotheextentoftellingthatifsomebodyevenhintedaslight
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opposition to theideaofservinghisparents, hewouldbecomeviolent against
such a person.This gentleman stopped visiting the temple due to this unusual
principleofhis. Itwaslater learntbythetempleauthorities that thevisitorwent
abroad to pursue educationmuch against the wishes of his dear parents. He
furthermarriedanAmericanwomanalsotothedisgustofhisdearparents.Hedid
not return to Indiaevenoncetosee his now ailingparents.This is the stateof
thingsinKaliyuga.Hereisa personwhoforsookBhaktiforhisparentsandlater
forsook his parents for mundane sense enjoyment.It may not be an
understatement toconclude that Kaliyuga is verilyanothername for hypocrisy
PeoplefindallsortsofexcusestoexcusethemselvesfromBhaktionthegrounds
ofgoodnessandpietyand thenget themselvesrid from thoseveryqualitiesforwhich they abandoned Bhakti and further indulge themselves in false
engagementstosatisfytheirsensualurges.IfoneisnothonesttoGod,thenone
cannotbehonestto anyoneelseKrishnadeclares thatHeisouroriginal father
andmother and the personwho does not revereHim and be obedient to Him
cannot be honest to anyone else.Honesty devoid of KrishnaConsciousness is
simply the principle ofHonesty amongst thieves.Honesty becomes amatter of
convenience rather than a principle that needs to be upheld at any cost.Srila
Prabhupada vehemently concludes that if there is no surrender toGod there
cannotbeanymoralprinciplesinthisworld.
What is thedefinitionofLove.Whatwouldtwopeoplein lovedo?Whatarethe
symptoms?Theyarecareandsacrifice.Howeverdefinitionofsacrificewarrants
one tobe free from the want ofa particular commodity to be able tosacrifice
it.Onedoesnotexpectlovein return ifonereallybecomesqualifiedto love the
other.Thisistruelove.Thisistruesacrifice.Sacrificeisdonenotofthingsthatone
doesnotneedbutofthatwhichisverydeartoonesheart.Thereisasmalljoke
thattalksaboutthecompetitionofaRe1.00andaRs1000note.TheRs.1000
noteisextremelyproudanddeclaresitselftobesuperior.ImmediatelytheRe1.00
immediately laughsand saysthere isoneplacewhere theRe1.00coin always
enterswheretheRs1000notehasneverenteredandmaypossiblyneverenter.
TheRs1000notewaseagertohearaboutthatplace.TheRe1.00immediately
said thatit istheDonationboxplaceinside theKrishnaTemplewhere theRe
1.00coinhasSupremacy.Thisalsoshowsthereluctanceofthegeneralpublicin
partingwiththedearmostthingforthesakeoftheLordandthatisVitaminMor
MONEY.
KrishnaConsciousnessisnotanactivitytobeengagedin,oncethebodyisgood
for nothing , at the fag end of life, after the body has been burnt by sense
enjoyment.Truesacrificeisdonewhenonegiveshisbestyearsfortheserviceof
Krishna,whenonesbodyandmindareyoungandfitforBhakti.