Bhaktisiddhanta's story

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Story 18: Any Pleasure and Sacrifice in Devotion?

 

 

Some herons were standing next to a boggy pond. A swan

happened to pass by. One of the herons asked the swan, "Why are

your eyes, face and toes so reddish?"

 

The swan answered, "Well, I'm a swan."

 

The heron then asked, "Where do you come from?"

 

"From Lake Manasarovar," the swan replied.

 

"So, how's it like there?"

 

"Well, the water of that lake is like nectar. Golden lotus

flowers grow in gardens on the surface of that lake, and all

around are jewel-bedecked platorms on which beautiful trees and

plants that bear exotic fruits and flowers grow."

 

The heron had a final question: "Are there big-sized

snails?"

 

"No, we don't have any nails at Lake Manasarovar," was the

swan's answer.

 

The herons exchanged mocking glances. "Damn, what a place

you come from, friend," they ridiculed the swan. "If there are

no snails at all, then we can't even consider it a lake! You'd

never catch US going there!"

 

Similarly, people who label themselves as humanists,

servants of mankind, philanthropists, etc. are curious to know if

the Krsna consciousness movement engages in social and humanitar-

ian works such as offering free medical services, distribution of

food and water in regions stricken by famine and drought, handing

out clothing to the needy, providing education for the il-

literate, and so on. When they are told that none of these

activities are considered by devotees to be very important, they

fail to see any value whatsoever in Krsna consciousness.

 

These people are bereft of philosophical sense. They cannot

or will not use their brains to trace out 1) what are the

fundamental problems of life, 2) who is suffering from them, and

3) what is the root cause of these problems. Just a little

reflection upon these themes will bring a philosophical person to

the conclusion that the fundamental problems of life are birth,

old age, disease and death. He will see that every living entity

in the material world suffers from these problems--whether he is

a welfare giver or welfare recipient. And finally, the root

cause of these problems is the condition of having a physical

body.

 

One who understands these basic facts of life can see that

mundane welfare work yields no lasting solution to the fundamen-

tal problems of embodied existence. Feed someone today, he'll be

hungry again tomorrow. Cure his sickness today, he'll be sick

again next week. And finally he'll grow old and die no matter

what material comforts are given him.

 

Krsna consciousness is aimed at solving our existential

problems at their root by curing the bodily conception. It is a

spiritual treatment of the soul's ills; it reveals to the

practicioner that he or she is not a tormented, struggling lump

of flesh, but an eternal person made of pure consciousness whose

real function is not exploiting matter but serving the Supreme

Transcendent Person, Krsna, of Whom we are all expansions.