|
"One who worships the Deity of Godhead in the temples but does not know that the Supreme Lord, as Paramatma, is situated in every living entity's heart, must be in ignorance and is compared to one who offers oblations into ashes"
Our relationship with devotees and non-devotees.
From Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 3 Chapter 29.
Translations and Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Submitted by Manoj
Canto 3.29.16
The devotee should regularly see My statues in the temple, touch My lotus feet and offer worshipable paraphernalia and prayer. He should see in the spirit of renunciation, from the mode of goodness, and see every living entity as spiritual.
Purport
… At the same time, to advance in devotional service, a devotee should see other living entities as spiritual sparks, parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. A devotee is to offer respect to every entity that has a relationship with the Lord. Because every living entity originally has a relationship with the Lord as part and parcel, a devotee should try to see all living entities on the same equal level of spiritual existence. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, a pandita, one who is learned, sees equally a very learned brahmana, a sudra, a hog, a dog and a cow. He does not see the body, which is only an outward dress. He does not see the dress of a brähmaëa, or that of a cow or of a hog. He sees the spiritual spark, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. If a devotee does not see every living entity as part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, he is considered präkåta-bhakta, a materialistic devotee. He is not completely situated on the spiritual platform; rather, he is in the lowest stage of devotion. He does, however, show all respect to the Deity.
Although a devotee sees all living entities on the level of spiritual existence, he is not interested in associating with everyone. Simply because a tiger is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord does not mean that we embrace him because of his spiritual relationship with the Supreme Lord. We must associate only with persons who have developed Krsna consciousness.
We should befriend and offer special respect to persons who are developed in Krsna consciousness. Other living entities are undoubtedly part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, but because their consciousness is still covered and not developed in Krsna consciousness, we should renounce their association. It is said by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura that even if one is a Vaisnava, if he is not of good character his company should be avoided, although he may be offered the respect of a Vaiñëava. Anyone who accepts Visnu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is accepted as a Vaiñëava, but a Vaisnava is expected to develop all the good qualities of the demigods.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Canto 3.29.17
The pure devotee should execute devotional service by giving the greatest respect to the spiritual master and the acaryas. He should be compassionate to the poor and make friendship with persons who are his equals, but all his activities should be executed under regulation and with control of the senses.
Purport
A devotee shows compassion to those poor souls who are wanting in spiritual knowledge by enlightening them in order to elevate them to Krsna consciousness. That is one of the duties of a devotee.
He should also make friendship with persons who are on an equal level with himself or who have the same understanding that he does. For a devotee, there is no point in making friendships with ordinary persons; he should make friendship with other devotees so that by discussing among themselves, they may elevate one another on the path of spiritual understanding. This is called ista-goshti.
In Bhagavad-gita there is reference to bodhayantah parasparam, "discussing among themselves." Generally pure devotees utilize their valuable time in chanting and discussing various activities of Lord Krsna or Lord Caitanya amongst themselves. There are innumerable books, such as the puranas, Mahabharata, Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita and Upanisads, which contain countless subjects for discussion among two devotees or more. Friendship should be cemented between persons with mutual interests and understanding. Such persons are said to be sva jäti, "of the same caste." The devotee should avoid a person whose character is not fixed in the standard understanding; even though he may be a Vaisnava, or a devotee of Krsna, if his character is not correctly representative, then he should be avoided. One should steadily control the senses and the mind and strictly follow the rules and regulations, and he should make friendship with persons of the same standard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Canto 3.29.18
A devotee should always try to hear about spiritual matters and should always utilize his time in chanting the holy name of the Lord. His behavior should always be straightforward and simple, and although he is not envious but friendly to everyone, he should avoid the company of persons who are not spiritually advanced.
Purport
… and he should avoid the company of persons who are not advancing in spiritual life. Another word is arya. Aryans are persons who are advancing in knowledge of Krsna consciousness as well as in material prosperity. The difference between the Aryan and non-Aryan, the sura and asura, is in their standards of spiritual advancement. Association with persons who are not spiritually advanced is forbidden. Lord Caitanya advised, asat-sanga-tyaga: one should avoid persons who are attached to the temporary. Asat is one who is too materially attached, who is not a devotee of the Lord and who is too attached to women or enjoyable material things. Such a person, according to Vaiñëava philosophy, is a persona non grata.
A devotee should not be proud of his acquisitions. The symptoms of a devotee are meekness and humility. Although spiritually very advanced, he will always remain meek and humble, as Kaviraja Gosvami and all the other Vaisnavas have taught us by personal example. Caitanya Mahäprabhu taught that one should be humbler than the grass on the street and more tolerant than the tree. One should not be proud or falsely puffed up. In this way one will surely advance in spiritual life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Canto 3.29.21
I am present in every living entity as the Supersoul. If someone neglects or disregards that Supersoul everywhere and engages himself in the worship of the Deity in the temple, that is simply imitation.
PURPORT
In purified consciousness, or Krsna consciousness, one sees the presence of Krsna everywhere. If, therefore, one only engages in Deity worship in the temple and does not consider other living entities, then he is in the lowest grade of devotional service. One who worships the Deity in the temple and does not show respect to others is a devotee on the material platform, in the lowest stage of devotional service. A devotee should try to understand everything in relationship with Krsna and try to serve everything in that spirit. To serve everything means to engage everything in the service of Krsna. If a person is innocent and does not know his relationship with Krsna, an advanced devotee should try to engage him in the service of Krsna. One who is advanced in Krsna consciousness can engage not only the living being but everything in the service of Krsna.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Canto 3.29.22
One who worships the Deity of Godhead in the temples but does not know that the Supreme Lord, as Paramätmä, is situated in every living entity's heart, must be in ignorance and is compared to one who offers oblations into ashes
PURPORT
… Therefore persons who profess to belong to some religious sect but who do not feel the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in every living entity, and everywhere else, are in the mode of ignorance.
If, without this preliminary knowledge of the Lord's omnipresence, one simply attaches himself to the rituals in a temple, church or mosque, it is as if he were offering butter into ashes rather than into the fire. One offers sacrifices by pouring clarified butter into a fire and chanting Vedic mantras, but even if there are Vedic mantras and all conditions are favorable, if the clarified butter is poured on ashes, then such a sacrifice will be useless. In other words, a devotee should not ignore any living entity. The devotee must know that in every living entity, however insignificant he may be, even in an ant, God is present, and therefore every living entity should be kindly treated and should not be subjected to any violence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Canto 3.29.23
One who offers Me respect but is envious of the bodies of others and is therefore a separatist never attains peace of mind, because of his inimical behavior towards other living entities.
PURPORT
In this verse, two phrases, bhutesu baddha-vairasya ("inimical towards others") and dvisatah para-kaye ("envious of another's body"), are significant. One who is envious of or inimical towards others never experiences any happiness. A devotee's vision, therefore, must be perfect. He should ignore bodily distinctions and should see only the presence of the part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, and the Lord Himself in His plenary expansion as Supersoul. That is the vision of a pure devotee. The bodily expression of a particular type of living entity is always ignored by the devotee.
It is expressed herein that the Lord is always eager to deliver the conditioned souls, who have been encaged within material bodies. Devotees are expected to carry the message or desire of the Lord to such conditioned souls and enlighten them with Kåñëa consciousness. Thus they may be elevated to transcendental, spiritual life, and the mission of their lives will be successful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Canto 3.29.24
My dear Mother, even if he worships with proper rituals and paraphernalia, a person who is ignorant of My presence in all living entities never pleases Me by the worship of My Deities in the temple.
PURPORT
But the devotee who wants to elevate himself to the higher level of understanding must know that the Lord is present in every living entity, and, as stated in the previous verse, one should be compassionate to other living entities. A devotee should worship the Supreme Lord, be friendly to persons who are on the same level and be compassionate to the ignorant. One should exhibit his compassion for ignorant living entities by distributing prasäda. Distribution of prasäda to the ignorant masses of people is essential for persons who make offerings to the Personality of Godhead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Canto 3.29.25
Performing his prescribed duties, one should worship the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead until one realizes My presence in his own heart and in the hearts of other living entities as well.
PURPORT
… he must realize his relationship and the relationship of all other living entities with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If he does not understand this, then even though he discharges his prescribed duties properly, it is to be understood that he is simply laboring without profit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Canto 3.29.26
As the blazing fire of death, I cause great fear to whoever makes the least discrimination between himself and other living entities because of a differential outlook.
PURPORT
There are bodily differentiations among all varieties of living entities, but a devotee should not distinguish between one living entity and another on such a basis; a devotee's outlook should be that both the soul and Supersoul are equally present in all varieties of living entities.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[BACK]
|