Devotee seeks Lord Krishna as the end

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Hare Krishna,

 

A true devotee is one who seeks Lord Krishna as the end and not as a means for attaining something else. Including Krishna in one's life by orienting all actions towards Him is the mark of unalloyed devotion. There are two types of devotees. The first type is one who is devoted to Krishna with form and invariably devoted to a particular form of Krishna of his choice. The second is the one who meditates on the formless aspect of Krishna.

It must be understood that both are ``Upasakas'' and hence devotion is there. While the devotee who worships Krishna with form has to perform all rituals and practices recommended by the scriptures and pursue the path to liberation, the one who worships the formless Absolute is the one who has given up all actions to devote himself exclusively to realise the goal.

In the Bhagavad Gita Arjuna raised a doubt to Lord Krishna, just as he did right at the outset when the war was about to commence, after the Lord's exposition as he was even then confused, ``The devotees exclusively and constantly devoted to you adore You as possessed of form and attributes, and those who adore as the Supreme Reality only the indestructible unmanifest Brahman - of these two types of worshippers who are the best knowers of Yoga?''

Although for the sake of practice they were treated as different both ultimately reach the Lord Krishna . The path to Krishna is one though for the sake of different types of spiritual aspirants the same technique has to be modified to suit their level and inclination. In this case it is not possible to compare the two types of devotees or the relative merits of meditating on Krishna with form and without form. Each one has its own merits and hence there is no need to compare them. What is

more important is that both lead to the same end - liberation.

For the lay people and those in the initial stages of spiritual life it is easier and practical to adore Krishna in His personal aspect as it is easy for the mind which has not yet become steadfast to concentrate on a form. It is also easy to relate to Krishna as a person who has to be realised. Devotion is thus a mental process, an expression of one's love for the Supreme Being Lord Krishna who is adored as the end to be attained.

The aspirant who has evolved spiritually by embarking on scriptural study and progressed through the stages of listening to the exposition of the scriptures, committing the teachings to memory and meditating on them, is ready to give up actions and meditate on the abstract aspect of the Supreme.

Please Chant :Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare HareAnd Be Happy.

SriKrishnaya Namah!

Krishnadaya

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