Eligibility of the Candidate - Part 2

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!! Sri Rama Jayam !!

 

Contd (from part 1) :

 

 

 

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3) Devotional Service Surpasses All Liberation

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The attention of a pure devotee is so much attracted to glorification of the

Lord's pastimes, name, qualities, forms, etc., that the devotee does not care

for mukti. Sri Bilvamangala Thakura has said, " If I am engaged in devotional

service unto You, my dear Lord, then very easily can I perceive Your presence

everywhere. And as far as liberation is concerned, I think liberation stands at

my door with folded hands, waiting to serve me. " To pure devotees, therefore,

liberation and spiritual emancipation are not very important things. In this

connection, in the Third Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Chapter Twentyfive, verse

36, Kapiladeva has advised His mother, Devahuti, as follows: " My dear mother, My

pure devotees are charmed by seeing My different forms, the beauty of My face,

the structure of My body so enchanting. My laughing, My

pastimes and My glance appear to them so beautiful that their minds are always

absorbed in thoughts of Me and their lives are dedicated fully unto Me. Although

such people do not desire any kind of liberation or any kind of material

happiness, still I give them a place among My associates in the supreme abode. "

This evidence from Srimad-Bhagavatam gives assurance to the pure devotee of

being elevated to association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila

Rupa Gosvami remarks in this connection that one who is actually attracted by

the beauty of the lotus feet of Sri Krsna or His service, and whose heart, by

such attraction, is always full with transcendental bliss, will naturally never

aspire after the liberation which is so valuable to the impersonalists. A

similar passage is also there in the Third Canto, Fourth Chapter, verse 15, of

the same book, wherein Uddhava addresses Lord Krsna and says, " My dear Lord, for

persons who are engaged in Your transcendental loving service there is nothing

worth obtaining from religiousness, economic development, sense gratification or

liberation--although happiness from these different sources can be very easily

had by them. In spite of such facilities, my dear Lord, I do not aspire to

achieve any such results. My only prayer is that I may have unflinching faith

and devotion unto Your lotus feet. "

 

 

A similar passage appears in the Third Canto, Twenty-fifth Chapter, verse 34,

wherein Kapiladeva instructs His mother and says, " My dear mother, devotees

whose hearts are always filled in the service of My lotus feet and who are

prepared to do anything for My satisfaction, especially those fortunate devotees

who assemble together to understand My qualities, pastimes and form and thus

glorify Me congregationally and derive transcendental pleasure therefrom, never

desire to become one with Me. And what to speak of becoming one with Me, if they

are offered a post like Mine in My abode, or opulence like Mine, or even

personal association with Me with similar bodily features, they refuse to

accept, because they are satisfied simply by being engaged in My devotional

service. " A very noble example of this kind is Shri Hanuman. After having

completed

the incarnational responsibilities on Earth, Lord Ramachandra prepared to leave

for his spiritual abode (Saket). Unable to grant any equivalent boon to the

services offered by his dearmost servant, the in-debt lord asked Hanuman to

enter his abode (Salokya) & acquire his very form (Sarupya). But to the interest

of this supreme devotee, Hanuman opted to stay back on Earth till eternity

remembering the passtimes of his Lord & singing his glories in every breath of

his life. In Srimad-Bhagavatam, Fourth Canto, Ninth Chapter, verse 10, King

Dhruva says, " My dear Lord, the transcendental pleasure derived by meditation

upon Your lotus feet, which is enjoyed by the pure devotees, cannot be

approached by the transcendental pleasure derived by the impersonalists through

self-realization. So how can the fruitive workers, who at most can aspire to

promotion to the higher heavenly planets, understand You, and how can they be

described as enjoying a happiness similar to the devotees' happiness? "

 

 

The impersonalists desire to merge into the existence of the Supreme, but

without keeping their individuality they have no chance of hearing and chanting

the glories of the Supreme Lord. Because they have no idea of the transcendental

form of the Supreme Lord, there is no chance of their chanting and hearing of

His transcendental activities. In other words, unless one is already beyond

liberation, one cannot relish the transcendental glories of the Lord, nor can

one understand the transcendental form of the Lord.

A similar statement is found in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Fifth Canto, Fourteenth

Chapter, verse 44. Sukadeva Gosvami addresses Pariksit Maharaja there and says,

" The great soul King Bharata was so much attached to the service of the lotus

feet of Krsna that he very easily gave up his lordship over the earthly planet

and his affection for his children, society, friends, royal opulence and

beautiful wife. He was so very lucky that the goddess of fortune was pleased to

offer him all kinds of material concessions, but he never accepted any of these

material opulences. " Sukadeva Gosvami praises this behavior of King Bharata very

highly. He says, " Any person whose heart is attracted by the transcendental

qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Madhusudana, does not care even

for that liberation which is aspired to by many great sages, what to speak of

material opulences. "

 

In the Bhagavatam, Sixth Canto, Eleventh Chapter, verse 25, there is a similar

statement by Vritrasura, who addresses the Lord as follows: " My dear Lord, by

leaving Your transcendental service I may be promoted to the planet called

Dhruvaloka [the polestar], or I may gain lordship over all the planetary systems

of the universe. But I do not aspire to this. Nor do I wish the mystic

perfections of yoga practice, nor do I aspire to spiritual emancipation. All I

wish for, my Lord, is Your association and transcendental service eternally. "

This statement is confirmed by Lord Siva in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sixth Canto,

Seventeenth Chapter, verse 28, wherein Lord Siva addresses Sati thus: " My dear

Sati, persons who are devoted to Narayana [Krsna] are not afraid of anything. If

they are elevated to the higher planetary systems, or if they get liberation

from material contamination, or if they are pushed down to the hellish condition

of life--or, in fact, in any situation whatever--they are not afraid of

anything. Simply because they have taken shelter of the lotus feet of Narayana,

for them any position in the material world is as good as another. " There is a

similar statement by Indra, the King of heaven, in Srimad-

Bhagavatam, Sixth Canto, Eighteenth Chapter, verse 74. There Indra addresses

mother Diti in this manner: " My dear mother, persons who have given up all kinds

of desire and are simply engaged in devotional service to the Lord know what is

actually their self-interest. Such persons are actually serving their

selfinterests and are considered first-class experts in the matter of advancing

to the perfectional stage of life. "

 

 

Similarly, in the same Seventh Canto, Eighth Chapter, verse 42, when the

demigods are offering prayers to Lord Nrsimha, Indra the King of heaven says, " O

supreme one, these demons talk of our share of participation in the performances

of ritualistic sacrifices, but simply by Your appearance as Lord Nrsimhadeva You

have saved us from terrible fears. Actually, our shares in the sacrificial

performances are due to You only, because You are the supreme enjoyer of all

sacrifices. You are the Supersoul of every living entity, and therefore You are

the actual owner of everything. Long were our hearts always filled with fear of

this demon, Hiranyakasipu. But You are so kind toward us that by killing him You

have removed that fear from within our hearts and have given us the chance to

place Your Lordship within our hearts again. For persons who are engaged in the

transcendental loving service of Your Lordship, all the opulences which were

taken away from us by the demons are counted as nothing. Devotees do not care

even for liberation, what to speak of these material opulences. Actually, we are

not enjoyers of the fruits of sacrifices. Our only duty is to always be engaged

in Your service, for You are the enjoyer of everything. "

 

 

The purport of the statement by Indra is that beginning from Brahma down to the

insignificant ant, no living entities are meant for enjoying the material

opulences. They are simply meant for offering everything to the supreme

proprietor, the Personality of Godhead. By doing so, they automatically enjoy

the benefit. The example can be cited again of the different parts of the body

collecting foodstuffs and cooking them so that ultimately a meal may be offered

to the stomach. After it has gone to the stomach, all the parts of the body

equally enjoy the benefit of the meal. So, similarly, everyone's duty is to

satisfy the Supreme Lord, and then automatically everyone will become satisfied.

 

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Hare Krishna

Hare Rama