Guest guest Posted April 29, 2003 Report Share Posted April 29, 2003 Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada was traveling through Orissa with some of his disciples. One day as he was coming back from the Sakshi Gopal temple, some beggars asked for alms from the married men who accompanied Srila Prabhupada, but none of them gave anything. Srila Prabhupada, seeing this, stopped, . down and started to talk about the duties of married men. During his chat he said: "If married men think: I must not give any of my money, which I consider reserved for Krishna, to the poor and deprived, then they are really showing symptoms of wretchedness, cruelty, and lack of compassion for others. They should not consider that giving charity to the poor is a fruitive activity. This kind of mentality will make their hearts hard and they will suffer from greed. As a result of this they shall not want to spend their money even on the devotional service of the Supreme Lord, which is the ultimate goal in life. This will invite offenses in service. To save us from this kind of deceit and sinful concept, Sri Gaurasundara used to give money and other things to the poor people during His pastimes as a married man. The money we have, we have only gotten by the Lord's grace. If we give some of it to the mendicant poor people, then it is not a waste of money rather it is its correct use. Serving prasadam to others is the necessary duty of every married vaishnava. Even if these people have become poor by their karma, even so they are still a part of the Lord's family. Therefore it is definitively the solemn duty of every honest married man to help them". From a reproduction of a conversation with Major Rana N. J. Bahadur, at Armadale, Darjeeling, on 14 June 1935. Originally published in The Harmonist magazine (Vol. XXXI, No.21) on 27 June 1935. Vipin Kumar, M.S., Ph.D. Professor Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies 3550 General Atomics Court San Diego, CA 92121 858-455-3870 (voice) 858-455-3804 (Fax) www.vkumar@tpims.org (email) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 Personally I find this to be a wonderful story! Without references, I can't pass it on, as no one will believe. If they do, it will only be to a degree. Do you have the date, location, etc., that such conversation took place? Can it be found in the folio, for example? Or elsewhere? Thank you. YS, Prtha dd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonehearted Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 I believe I saw this story in the book "Prabhupada Sarasvati Thakur," published by Mandala Media. I'll look later to see if I can find it there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priitaa Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 Thanks prabhu. Especially if you can find a date or locale of conversation. This is a very good story beause we always hear how we should not donate to unworthy causes as they misuse the money, and other reasons. This probably would still hold true but it needs to be balanced, and sane. I had always thought it made us look like hard hearted cheap skates when we didn't give a little something to one in need, tho I simultaneously agree we shouldn't give them money to buy meat. Its hard to know where to draw the line, but the story was in India, so maybe the person was a vegetarian. Maybe. YS, Prtha dd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonehearted Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 It's on p. 130 of the book I mentioned. What Dr. Kumar posted above is just what's in this book, which is a traslated excerpt from a book about BSST by a Hari-kripa Brahmacari. There's not dat given, and, since the in incident is reported to have happened "as he was coming back from the temple of Saksi Gopal," I'd guess it was in or near Cuttack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priitaa Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 Thank you prabhu. I wish it were in the folio so I could use dates, etc., but oh well, this is good. YS, Prtha dd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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