Devotion Means: Always Giving, Not Taking

[krsna]

Devotion Means: Always Giving, Not Taking

 

by His Divine Grace Shrila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj

 

 

We should always be ready to serve according to the desire of the Master, because it is necessary to know which way we will proceed in our practicing life. We must proceed in the line of devotion. Here we can see, in the plane of exploitation many things are happening. The plane of renunciation also is not satisfying in this material world. Not this, not this, not this: this type of choice is not fair and there is not coming any good result. Only finally we can lose our everything existence. Actually knowledge, knower and knowable that will be demolished, then we will not be satisfied anyway to give up everything to a black hole. That can never give us satisfaction. The rest of our process is only existing in devotion.

 

Devote, devotee, devotion. The word is very sweet because it is always giving, not taking anything. The enjoyer is Krishna Himself and we are suppliers of the enjoyment. But directly we cannot supply because we have no direct connection with Krishna. Then through Guru, through the Divine Master, through the Vaishnava, through the association of the Lord we are supplying our devotional something what we have. But it is very good if we will get a good Master, good Guru. We will always be worry free. Because we must keep our faith to Him unhesitatingly and He must be affectionate with us. He can save us from this illusory environment through our activity and that activity will be devotion. Devotion to Krishna because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

Brahma-samhita says, "Ishvarah paramah Krishnah...", what we need: sat, chit, ananda. And who is the Creator of all creations if He is satisfied with us what difficulty will come to us? Everything is transcendental with Him. Where He is living that is automatically becoming transcendental, we know or not to know, willingly or unwillingly anything we will do, that is within the zone of transcendental. Then we must be benefited if we will follow the proper guardian. The Guardian of Devotion he is our life and goal. That advice the Scripture has given. And his desire we will consider as the desire of Lord Krishna. Without Krishna he has no existence. He is always serving twenty-four hours to Krishna. Actually Krishna is not getting time to give return to him.

 

Krishna said in Shrimad Bhagavat, "I am indebted with my devotee." This sloka (verse) is evidential sloka, very famous verse, Guru Maharaj used this sloka. Then Krishna Himself told, "Because day or night twenty-four hours." But if it is twenty-six hours then no problem Krishna will take two hours for giving the return. But this is not possible in this mundane world, and Krishna does not want to break anything. Also He does not want to change gravitation. Everything is given to Maya, Maya is managing here but He is giving light and strength to the devotee, and their basis of throwing themselves, their activities for the service to Krishna strongly they are getting from their Guru and from the proper practitioner.

 

Devotion means always giving not taking. Shrimati Radharani, She is wearing the cloth or decorating Her Divine Form or serving by hand or by feet or by eyes or by anything. Everything is for Krishna and all the Braja Gopis are also like that and for that their devotion is supremely honored as Prema (pure love of God). The Prema word we are using in this material world as "Love" and it is not a proper and not a good expression. Actually Prema and kama (mundane desire) both are looking the same. This expression is in the Scriptures, Krishna prema is completely different from mundane desire. Giving an example: one is dark, full of darkness and another is clean like daylight. Supremely it is going to Radharani, all ingredients, all servitors and everything belongs to Krishna through Radharani. Because She is expert She knows how to serve Krishna and which way Krishna will be happy. All activity of Radharani is this way giving happiness. For that, Krishna, how much happiness Krishna expressed. If we will consider a sloka of Prabodananda Saraswati then we will understand. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead everyone knows, but that Godhead wants, it is a miracle for us. Miracle means He is full, everything is fully existing within Him and He is full also. The Reality is for Itself and by Itself, then what is the deficiency there? He wants, but this mood is coming to Him, "I want." Seeing the servitors' mood He is more enlightened to ask something to them, this is called the pastimes of Lord Krishna.

 

That Gopi Gita in Shrimad Bhagavat when they are praising Krishna they are telling, when You were born here in this Braja Dham all opulence came to Braja Dham eternally, but it is expression only. This sloka also giving Shrila Rupa Goswami: "Vaikunthaloka and Mathura Puri what is better, what is good, what is higher?" In Vaikunthaloka there always is existing Narayan. Narayan has no father, no mother, Narayan He Himself is full there. But here in Mathura Puri when that Narayan is taking birth and getting a father, mother, brother, etc. the relations with the relatives are making Him more activated and that activity when coming to Narayan, Narayan is becoming happier than anyone. And that is the form of Lord Krishna. Then devotion to Lord Krishna is Supreme and under guidance of Radharani that is unquestionable. One wants to say that sloka, this sloka Prabodananda Saraswati said when Radharani was distributing food to the friends of Krishna with Krishna, the food distributing by order of Mother Yashoda. (By) Her (Radharani's) cloth-breeze Krishna getting and feeling, "I am so fortunate and so happy that I am getting the breeze of Radharani's cloth." This type of feeling, when coming to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there how much miracle feelings we cannot conceive of from this plane. That is the plane of devotion. It is not for us to offer to the Master anything according to our own taste which may not have His approval. Our own taste always will be purified by approval of our Divine Master. Because always we are doing something wrong and we cannot come out from that environment. But by the grace of our Divine Master to us, as Guru Maharaj said, it will go out and we will be clean and with our clean position what we will give to his divine hand immediately that will go to Lord Krishna through Radharani. This is the life of devotion.

 

Everyone wants to serve Krishna, service is giving them much enjoyment, much life, and much happiness. They are happier than Krishna when Krishna is fully satisfied by their service. We will see it in Shrimad Bhagavat and Brahma-samhita and Purana everywhere this type of expression. I was surprised when I read Brahma-samhita, at that time I have seen inside the Brahma-samhita everything is existing that we heard from our childhood. It is not in Shrimad Bhagavat or other Scriptures, and it was not our thinking where we will see or not, but when we read the Brahma-samhita we have got great satisfaction through that. And always there service to Krishna, service to Radharani is expressed very nicely.

 

Anyhow if we want to know more and more that is very good, but we must be careful about our mundane knowledge and mundanity. Otherwise we will go to the garbage of sahajiyaism. Easily we will think everything is coming to us for the service to Krishna, but it is nothing. All is bogus, all will be bogus and all will be imitation - alloyed. But pure devotion with a perfect Guru, from a perfect Guru will come to us as direction. We will follow the directives of our Gurudev, we will serve to Krishna through him. That service will be perfect and clean with his divine touch and immediately, as through a telescopic system, it will go to Goloka Vrindavan for the satisfaction of Lord Krishna.