SB 5.7.7 – Serving the Devotees Pleases Krishna

Giriraj Swami:

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Five, Chapter Seven, “The Activities of King Bharata,” Text Seven.

TEXT 7

evaṁ karma-viśuddhyā viśuddha-sattvasyāntar-hṛdayākāśa-śarīre brahmaṇi bhagavati vāsudeve mahā-puruṣa-rūpopalakṣaṇe śrīvatsa-kaustubha-vana-mālāri-dara-gadādibhir upalakṣite nija-puruṣa-hṛl-likhitenātmani puruṣa-rūpeṇa virocamāna uccaistarāṁ bhaktir anudinam edhamāna-rayājāyata.

TRANSLATION

In this way, being purified by ritualistic sacrifices, the heart of Mahārāja Bharata was completely uncontaminated. His devotional service unto Vāsudeva, Lord Kṛṣṇa, increased day after day. Lord Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva, is the original Personality of Godhead manifest as the Supersoul [Paramātmā] as well as the impersonal Brahman. Yogīs meditate upon the localized Paramātmā situated in the heart, jñānīs worship the impersonal Brahman as the Supreme Absolute Truth, and devotees worship Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose transcendental body is described in the śāstras. His body is decorated with the Śrīvatsa, the Kaustubha jewel and a flower garland, and His hands hold a conchshell, disc, club and lotus flower. Devotees like Nārada always think of Him within their hearts.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Lord Vāsudeva, or Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is manifest within the hearts of yogīs in His Paramātmā feature, and He is worshiped as impersonal Brahman by jñānīs. The Paramātmā feature is described in the śāstras as having four hands, holding disc, conchshell, lotus flower and club. As confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.2.8):

kecit sva-dehāntar-hṛdayāvakāśe
prādeśa-mātraṁ puruṣaṁ vasantam
catur-bhujaṁ kañja-rathāṅga-śaṅkha-
gadā-dharaṁ dhāraṇayā smaranti

Paramātmā is situated in the hearts of all living beings. He has four hands, which hold four symbolic weapons. All devotees who think of the Paramātmā within the heart worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the temple Deity. They also understand the impersonal features of the Lord and His bodily rays, the Brahman effulgence.

COMMENT

The First Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes the Absolute Truth in three features; Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. The realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the last word in God realization, and realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead includes realization of impersonal Brahman and localized Paramātmā. The Lord is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. Realization of Brahman is realization only of the eternal aspect of God, sat. Realization of Paramātmā is the realization of the eternal and cognizant aspects of God, Paramātmā. Realization of Krishna, Bhagavān, is the full realization of eternity, knowledge, and bliss.

And we cannot actually be happy without ānanda, without bliss. Therefore, the jnanis are not at all satisfied, and even if they reach to the level of impersonal Brahman, they cannot remain there, but they fall down again into material world because they do not relish sufficient pleasure in impersonal Brahman.

Srila Prabhupada gives the example that if you take a ship on the ocean, you cannot be satisfied just to remain in the ocean, seeing water on all sides. After some time, you will want to come to shore, to some city where there are people, places to go, and things to do. So, similarly, one cannot be satisfied in impersonal Brahman, but one wants some activities, one wants some company, one wants some bliss.

So, impersonal Brahman is not a permanent situation. Even if one rises to the platform of impersonal Brahman, he cannot stay there because he will feel lonely, he will become restless. And if he has no information about the transcendental activities of Krishna consciousness, he will come back to the material world for material varieties.

There are many impersonalists in India who declare [Unintelligible 00:26:56] that Brahman is true and the world is false. But after rejecting the world as false and going into the mountains to realize God, they become restless and they come back to the world, which they already declared as false, and they will open hospitals or schools or sometimes even become involved in politics. So, one cannot remain in impersonal Brahman for long. Eventually, he will want activities, he will want company, and he will come back to the material world.

So, the position of the devotee is greater than the position of jnanis who realize impersonal Brahman or yogis who realize localized Paramātmā. They realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His original form as Krishna in the spiritual world, and they know that the name of Krishna is not different than the Lord within the heart, who is seen by the yogis in meditation, and they know that the Deity of the Lord in the temple is also not different from the form of the Lord within the heart, as perceived by yogis in meditation. And therefore, they remain blissfully absorbed in Krishna consciousness just by chanting the holy names of Krishna and worshiping the Deity.

So here, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains that higher than the jnanis who realize impersonal Brahman are the yogis who realize localized Paramātmā, and higher than the yogis who realize the Lord in the heart are the devotees who realize Lord Krishna. But there is something higher even than Lord Krishna, and what is higher than Lord Krishna is explained in one prayer.

Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara ki jaya! Sri Jagannatha Baladeva Subhadra ki jaya! Sri Gaura-Nitai ki jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Nitai-Gaura premānande!

The devotee prays, “Some persons worship the Absolute Truth as the impersonal Brahman, as described in the Upanishads, and some persons worship the Lord in the heart. Still, other persons worship Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As far as I am concerned, I will worship Nanda Maharaja because Nanda Maharaja had the Absolute Truth falling on His hands and knees in his courtyard.”

In other words, the devotees of the Lord, by virtue of their pure love of Godhead, become greater than the Lord. Once, when we were in Calcutta, Achyutananda Swami had a talk with our landlord. Our landlord was a Bengali gentleman, and he had his own ideas about spiritual life. So, he told Achyutananda that actually, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is greater than Radha and Krishna, just like rasagullā is greater than milk and sugar. And he said that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is actually the origin of Radha and Krishna.

So, Achyutananda was a bit perplexed, what to make of the landlord’s philosophy. So, he asked Srila Prabhupada, “Is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu actually the origin of Radha and Krishna?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No.” The same example that first comes milk and sugar, then they combine to make the rasagullā.

Then, Achyutananda asked Srila Prabhupada, “Well, who is greater? Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or Radha and Krishna?” Srila Prabhupada paused for a moment. And then, he replied, “Srimati Radharani. Srimati Radharani is the greatest,” and then he pointed to a picture on the wall that showed Srimati Radharani seated on a raised platform and Lord Krishna kneeling at Her Feet, begging Her to be pleased with Him.

Then, Srila Prabhupada said, “Nanda Maharaja is the greatest.” Then, he pointed to another picture on the wall that showed Lord Krishna carrying Nanda Maharaja’s shoes on His head, and then Srila Prabhupada said, “The devotee is the greatest.” And Lord Shiva also confirms, [Unintelligible 00:34:52], that of all types of worship, the worship of Vishnu is Supreme, is the highest, but even higher than the worship of Vishnu is the worship of the devotees of Vishnu.

So, the most exalted worship is the worship of the Lord’s devotees, and one’s spiritual life actually begins [Unintelligible 00:35:36], when one takes shelter of the spiritual master, [Unintelligible 00:35:44]. When one takes initiation from him and takes instruction from him, follows his instructions, and serves him.

And therefore, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who played the part of a devotee, showed the example by declaring gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ. He said, “I am not a brahman. I am not a kshatriya. I am not a vaishya. I am not a sudra. I am not a brahmachari. I am not a grihastha. I am not a vanaprastha. I am not a sannyasi.” “Then, who are You?” gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ. “I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna, maintainer of the gopīs.”

So, this is the philosophy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It is better to be the servant of the servant of the Lord than to try to be the servant of the Lord directly. The Lord is more pleased when we become the servant of the servant than when we try to become His servant directly. And therefore, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna in Ādi Purāṇa, “Those who claim to be My devotees are actually not My devotees, but those who are the devotees of My devotees are actually My devotees.” So, we have to become the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord.

Our godbrother, Jagadpurush, who served in England for some years, told of his first visit to an ISKCON temple in Detroit. He came into the temple room and Srila Prabhupada was giving a lecture, and just as he walked in the temple room, Srila Prabhupada was saying, and he was moving his finger like this, “And the more we become the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord, the sweeter and sweeter and sweeter and sweeter and sweeter Krishna consciousness becomes.” And the more we want to become the master, the more we lose the taste for devotional service.

So, dāsānudāsaḥ. Anu means to follow, and anu also means to be very small. The material world, as we know, is the perverted reflection of the spiritual world. So, in the material world, we have pride. So, what is the counterpart of material pride in the spiritual world? The counterpart of material pride in the spiritual world is, “I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant. I am the last one in line. I have the most masters.”

In the material world, we want to possess so many material things, but in the spiritual world, they want to possess so many masters. So, the devotee feels proud, “I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant. I am the last in line, and I have the most masters to serve.” And that is his pride. So, Srila Prabhupada has asked to address each other as Prabhu. Prabhu means master. If I address another person as Prabhu, what am I? I am dasa. I am a servant.

So, we should be in the mood of serving the devotees, and by serving the devotees and pleasing the devotee, we can please Krishna more than if we try to serve Him directly, and then, all of our problems will be solved. Once, one disciple asked Srila Prabhupada how we can avoid fighting among devotees, and Srila Prabhupada replied, “If each devotee thinks, I am the servant of the servant, then there will be no fight.”

So, we have a great mission. We have received some knowledge from the spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, and when one receives something from someone, one is obliged to give something in return. It is normal reciprocation that if someone gives me something, I should give something back to him in return. So, when one receives knowledge from the spiritual master, what is his duty? His duty is to present the same knowledge to others, and that is the way that we repay the spiritual master, by sharing the knowledge that he has received from the spiritual master with others. And the more we preach, the more we distribute knowledge, the more we get knowledge.

Srila Prabhupada told the story of one famous impersonalist in India. He also had a famous disciple. So, the book describes how he touched this disciple, and by some sort of electric current, he was transferring his knowledge to his disciples. And when the disciple opened his eyes, he saw that his spiritual master was crying. So, he asked his spiritual master, “Why are you crying?” And the so-called spiritual master replied, “Because now I have given all of my knowledge to you and I don’t have any left.”

So, obviously, this is a material conception. Suppose I have one million pounds and I give the whole amount to you, so I can cry. Now, I don’t have anything left. But knowledge is not material. Transcendental knowledge is not material, and the more we give knowledge, the more we get. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta says the more the members of the Pancha-tattva distribute the contents of the storehouse of love of God, the more the stock increases. So, the more we distribute Krishna consciousness, the more we get Krishna consciousness. The more we distribute transcendental knowledge, the more we get transcendental knowledge.

And Srila Prabhupada said, “If you have knowledge and you don’t share it with others, you become envious, and envy is a very great anomaly in spiritual life.” In fact, we are in the material world because of envy of Krishna. So, if we want to get out of the material world, we have to become free from envy.

Once, during Srila Prabhupada’s presence, I was contemplating on the subject of envy, and I was thinking of so many reasons why I should not be envious. Krishna is unlimited, and therefore, His service is unlimited. He can accommodate unlimited numbers of devotees, engage in unlimited varieties of service, and He can give unlimited mercy. So, why be envious? It is not that if some devotee has a particular service, then my chances are less. My chances are always unlimited because Krishna and Krishna’s service are unlimited. And because one devotee gets mercy from Krishna, my chances of getting mercy are not less, because Krishna’s mercy is unlimited. He can give unlimited mercy to an unlimited number of devotees.

So, being envious of someone makes no sense, and I could also see how envy was such a great disturbance to Krishna consciousness. It didn’t help in any way, but it hindered. But still, in spite of considering so many points about envy, I perceived that envy was there. It was there. But finally, I approached Srila Prabhupada. Generally, I would not approach him with any question unless I had very seriously considered the question for a long time to see if I could get the answer. For some time, and understanding how damaging envy is, still, I was confronted with the question of how to get rid of it, how to make it go away.

So, I approached Srila Prabhupada. The first thing Srila Prabhupada asked was, “Can you think of any reasons not to be envious?” And I’d already thought of so many reasons. I said, “Yes.” Then, he said, “So, being envious means you don’t like someone. So, the tendency to not like someone should be directed against the demons who are creating havoc in the world and in the lives of devotees. The propensity not to like someone should not be directed towards devotees.”

So, everything that Srila Prabhupada said was perfect and based on scripture, confirmed by scripture. Many years later, I came across a song by Bhaktivinoda Thakura, where he mentions how different qualities can be dovetailed in different ways, and he mentions that envy or hatred should be directed against demons. Of course, not everyone who’s not a devotee is a demon. Most persons are probably innocent and we should distinguish between devotees, innocent persons, and envious persons, and we should, of course, make friends with devotees, show mercy to innocent persons by telling them about Krishna consciousness, and we should avoid being envious.

And by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, we have such broad programs in Krishna consciousness that even if we don’t approach envious persons to preach to them, which we should not be, we can still engage them in taking kṛṣṇa-prasāda, we can engage them in appreciating different varieties of spiritual activities, and then gradually, they can give up their envious natures and eventually, become devotees. But we should not approach persons who are envious of Krishna and Krishna consciousness to preach.

And Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains that the neglect of the envious by the devotee is the best medicine for the envious, because if the devotee were to try to preach to the envious, the envious would become more offensive, and the hostility on both sides would increase. So, the best thing is to neglect the envious, to avoid the envious, but still, one can pray for them. Prahlada Maharaja prayed that all envious persons be pacified. He prayed for special mercy for his father, Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was most envious. So, even though we don’t dare to approach them to preach to them, still, we can pray to the Lord to give mercy to them.

And of course, when we distribute books, we try to get everyone to take a book, and everyone who touches the book benefits, what to speak of giving some contribution to the book, how much he will benefit, and what to speak of reading the book. And sometimes people take books, they are not so interested themselves but then they think of some friend who may be interested. The friend will read the book and become Krishna conscious.

So, by having big festivals, by distributing books, by distributing prasāda, by chanting the holy name in public places, unlimited numbers of persons can come in contact with Krishna consciousness. And there is so much in Krishna consciousness. Practically, there is something for everyone. So, we should not be envious and think that Krishna consciousness is for some and not for others, because Krishna consciousness is actually for everyone.

And the obstacle in devotional service is called jīva-hiṁsā. Hiṁsā is generally translated as violence, but hiṁsā also means envy. So, one meaning of jīva-hiṁsā is commit violence upon living entities, to kill animals, and eat flesh. That is jīva-hiṁsā. But Srila Prabhupada has given another explanation of jīva-hiṁsā. Jiva means life, and the real life of the living entity is devotional service.

So, Srila Prabhupada said that to stop the preaching of Krishna consciousness is jīva-hiṁsā, because we are denying people the chance to live, to really live in Krishna consciousness. If someone is dying for want of water and we deny him water, it’s an act of violence. We are letting him die. You can’t live without water. We could give it to him but we choose not to give it to him, so he dies.

So, the soul cannot live without the water of Krishna consciousness. If we don’t give people the water of Krishna consciousness and just allow them to die spiritually, we are implicated in jīva-hiṁsā, and every living entity has the right to engage in devotional service, and if we deny him the opportunity to engage in devotional service, we are being violent, or in one sense, we are being envious.

So, Srila Prabhupada was so magnanimous that he always pushed Krishna consciousness to everyone. He wouldn’t deal with demons. If he knew someone was a demon, he wouldn’t try to preach to him, but his program is so broad that gradually, all types of living entities could make advancement. And of course, he gave the greatest emphasis to preaching to the innocent persons by a cooperative effort among the devotees.

So, this is the real process of developing devotional service, to become the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord, and becoming the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord is even higher than the realization of the Brahman, Paramātmā, or Bhagavān. Of course, we can’t really realize Bhagavān without becoming the servant of the servant of Bhagavān. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments?

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Nitai-Gaura premānande!