SB 7.5.12 – Everyone Should Be Friendly for the Service of the Lord

Giriraj Swami:

TEXT 12

sa yadānuvrataḥ puṁsāṁ
paśu-buddhir vibhidyate
anya eṣa tathānyo ’ham
iti bheda-gatāsatī

TRANSLATION

When the Supreme Personality of Godhead is pleased with the living entity because of his devotional service, one becomes a paṇḍita and does not make distinctions between enemies, friends and himself. Intelligently, he then thinks, “Every one of us is an eternal servant of God, and therefore we are not different from one another.”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

When Prahlāda Mahārāja’s teachers and demoniac father asked him how his intelligence had been polluted, Prahlāda Mahārāja said, “As far as I am concerned, my intelligence has not been polluted. Rather, by the grace of my spiritual master and by the grace of my Lord, Kṛṣṇa, I have now learned that no one is my enemy and no one is my friend. We are all actually eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa, but under the influence of the external energy we think that we are separately situated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead as friends and enemies of one another. This mistaken idea has now been corrected, and therefore, unlike ordinary human beings, I no longer think that I am God and that others are my friends and enemies.”

COMMENT

So, I will continue reading the purport, but I will also comment. Our godbrother Bhurijana dasa has said that pretty much everyone has the mentality that he or she is the center. He said, it’s as if everyone is walking around, and wants to say, “Excuse me please, I have an important announcement to make. I am the center, and all of you should cooperate with my desires.” Another time he said, “We live life as if it was a drama, and in that drama, we each think I am the hero, or I am the heroine, and everyone else is meant to be the supporting cast in the drama of my life.” Now, the problem is when each of us thinks, we are the hero or the heroine, and everyone should support me in my activities. There is going to be conflict because I think you are not supporting me in my star role, and everyone else is saying, ‘Well, you are not supporting me, in my star role. I’m the center. You should be supporting me.’ So, it’s the general conception that people have. It’s the material conception of life, or as Prahlada says, paśu-buddhi, animalistic conception of life. And, as we progress in Krishna consciousness, we should come out of that idea. We shouldn’t think, we are the center. But we should think that Krishna is the center. And, if Krishna is the center, and we are all cooperating for Krishna’s pleasure, then our relationships with each other will be very harmonious and congenial.

But when each of us is competing to be the center, to be the star in the drama, then there is a conflict. So, this correct consciousness is achieved by a combination of two things in terms of our efforts. One is by hearing shastra as we are hearing now. This hearing, proper attentive submissive hearing will remove those misconceptions from the heart. And, also chanting, attentive prayerful chanting will also remove these misconceptions. ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ. So, we should absorb ourselves in hearing and chanting to cleanse the contamination from our hearts which is disturbing, not only to our consciousness, our Krishna consciousness but also our relationships.

So now, I will continue reading the purport.

PURPORT (continued)

“I no longer think that I am God.”

COMMENT

This is what Prahlada is saying in effect.

PURPORT (continued)

“I no longer think that I am God and that others are my friends and enemies.”

COMMENT

In other words, if you support me in my role, you are my friend. And, if you don’t support me in my role, you are my enemy. But we are not the center, that’s the whole point. Krishna is the center, and we are all Krishna’s servants. And, in that sense, we are all one.

PURPORT (continued)

“Now I am rightly thinking that everyone is an eternal servant of God and that our duty is to serve the supreme master, for then we shall stand on the platform of oneness as servants.”

COMMENT

So, that’s what we want in our association-to feel that we are all together as servants of Krishna and guru-Prabhupada.

PURPORT (continued)

Demons think of everyone as a friend or enemy.

COMMENT

We are not demons. Are we? No, we are not demons.

PURPORT (continued)

Demons think of everyone as a friend or enemy, but Vaiṣṇavas say that since everyone is a servant of the Lord, everyone is on the same platform. Therefore a Vaiṣṇava treats other living entities neither as friends nor as enemies, but instead tries to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, teaching everyone that we are all one as servants of the Supreme Lord, but are uselessly wasting our valuable lives by creating nations, communities and other groups of friends and enemies.

COMMENT

So, this is a very important point that when we have this knowledge, we are not meant to keep it to ourselves, but we are meant to share it with others. We should preach, teach, and yeah, take responsibility in Srila Prabhupada’s mission to bring others to Krishna consciousness. So, they will also feel the benefit. And of course, the more we practice properly, and get the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, the more we will relish Krishna consciousness, and the more we will want to share it with others.

PURPORT (continued)

Everyone should come to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thus feel oneness as a servant of the Lord. Although there are 8,400,000 species of life, a Vaiṣṇava feels this oneness. The Īśopaniṣad advises, ekatvam anupaśyataḥ. A devotee should see the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be situated in everyone’s heart and should also see every living entity as an eternal servant of the Lord. This vision is called ekatvam, oneness. 

COMMENT

So, when we see each other or deal with each other, we shouldn’t see each other in terms of the body or friends or enemies, but we should see them as like us, servants of Krishna. And yeah, our relationships with each other should be very congenial. So, I’m going to move along to the real. . . Well, I mean, it’s all valuable but this explanation of Srila Prabhupada is very practical as to how we should deal with each other. So, please listen very attentively. Are you listening?

Devotees: Yes Maharaja!

Giriraj Swami:

PURPORT (continued)

Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord.

COMMENT

I’ll repeat that.

PURPORT (continued)

Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord.

Devotees: “Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord.” 

Giriraj Swami: “Everyone should praise another’s service to the Lord,” 

Devotees: “Everyone should praise another’s service to the Lord,” 

Giriraj Swami: “And not be proud of his own service.”

Devotees: “And not be proud of his own service.”

Giriraj Swami: “This is the way of Vaiṣṇava thinking,” 

Devotees: “This is the way of Vaiṣṇava thinking,” 

Giriraj Swami: “Vaikuṇṭha thinking.”

Devotees: “Vaikuṇṭha thinking.”

Giriraj Swami: “There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service.”

That was a long one.

“There may be rivalries and apparent competition”

Devotees: “There may be rivalries and apparent competition” 

Giriraj Swami: “between servants in performing service.”

Devotees: “between servants in performing service.” 

Giriraj Swami: “But in the Vaikuṇṭha planets,” 

Devotees: “But in the Vaikuṇṭha planets,” 

Giriraj Swami: “the service of another servant is appreciated,” 

Devotees: “the service of another servant is appreciated,” 

Giriraj Swami: “not condemned.”

Devotees: “not condemned.”

Giriraj Swami: So, this is very practical. And, it’s really just a matter of practice that we appreciate the service of others, and we do not criticize them. This is, it’s such an important factor both in our personal spiritual growth, and in our relationships with each other—that the service of another servant is appreciated, not condemned. I’ll quote another talk that Bhurijana Prabhu shared with me. So, he does japa seminars. And, in one seminar, he gave the devotees some homework. He gave them two items. One—to chant attentively, and two—to avoid criticism of Vaishnavas, means to avoid speaking or hearing.

So, the next day, he asked the students, how they did on their homework assignments? So, one lady said that she was really determined that she was not going to speak or hear any criticism of Vaishnavas, but the people she was with were criticizing Vaishnavas, and she couldn’t help it. So, Bhurijana Prabhu replied that you have one of two choices. Oh! yes, yes. So, that girl said, it was in the environment, that the criticism was in the environment.

So, Bhurijana Prabhu said, “Well, you have two choices. One is, you change the environment. And, if you want to change the environment, good luck, because the environment doesn’t want to change. The environment wants to criticize. So, the other alternative is that you remove yourself from that environment, and that is generally most practical.” Of course, I mean, we are in a way having this talk to try to influence the environment so that devotees don’t criticize other devotees but appreciate other devotees. But we may encounter criticism, and we should not participate in it either by speaking or even by hearing. Because it’s mentioned in the shastra that to hear an offense is also an offense. Just like it’s an offense to speak, to blaspheme a Vaishnava, it’s also an offense to hear blasphemy.

But I don’t think you do this much. But still just to clarify the principles.

PURPORT (continued)

There is no question of enmity between servants. Everyone should be allowed to render service to the Lord to the best of his ability, and everyone should appreciate the service of others. 

COMMENT

In other words, we shouldn’t try to keep anyone down. We shouldn’t think that, if I keep someone down, then my position in comparison will go up. That is paśu-buddhi, that is animalistic thinking, and that is not wanted in our hearts, and in our interactions with each other. Now, one interesting point, because I was a student of psychology, and I learned about an experiment that was conducted in a high school. And, in the experiment, each student in the class was supposed to choose the person whom they disliked the most. And then for one month, they were supposed to be very nice to the person whom they disliked the most. And after one month, every single student liked the person who they had previously disliked.

Now, this is a very interesting outcome because usually we think, if someone is nice to me, I like them. But this experiment showed that if you are nice to someone else, you’ll like them. Of course, if you are nice to them, they might also be nice to you. But the primary assignment was to be nice to the person whom you dislike. So, if we find by chance that there is someone we don’t like, we should try being nice to them. And, the result will be that we’ll start to like them. And, we should like each other because we are all serving Krishna together. But anyway. . .

PURPORT (continued)

Everyone should be allowed to render service

Devotees: “Everyone should be allowed to render service”

Giriraj Swami: “to the Lord” 

Devotees: “to the Lord.”

Giriraj Swami: “to the best of his ability,” 

Devotees: “to the best of his ability,”

Giriraj Swami: “and everyone should appreciate” 

Devotees: “and everyone should appreciate” 

Giriraj Swami: “the service of others.” 

Devotees: “the service of others.” 

Giriraj Swami: “Such are the activities” 

Devotees: “Such are the activities”

Giriraj Swami: “of Vaikuṇṭha.”

Devotees: “of Vaikuṇṭha.”

So, Vaikuntha, as we know, means the spiritual world, but literally Vai means without and kuṇṭha means anxiety. So, literally Vaikuntha means without anxiety. So, if we act in this way, we will be in Vaikuntha, and have no anxiety.

“Since everyone is a servant,”

Devotees: “Since everyone is a servant,” 

Giriraj Swami: “everyone is on the same platform” 

Devotees: “everyone is on the same platform” 

Giriraj Swami: “and is allowed to serve the Lord”

Devotees: “and is allowed to serve the Lord”

Giriraj Swami: “according to his ability.” 

Devotees: “according to his ability.’ 

Giriraj Swami: “As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā” 

Devotees: “As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā” 

Giriraj Swami: “(15.15),” 

Devotees: “(15.15),” 

Giriraj Swami: “sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo” 

Devotees: “sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo” 

Giriraj Swami: “mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca:” 

Devotees: “mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca:” 

Giriraj Swami: “The Lord is situated in everyone’s heart,” 

Devotees:” The Lord is situated in everyone’s heart,” 

Giriraj Swami: “giving dictation according to the attitude of the servant.”

Devotees: “giving dictation according to the attitude of the servant.”

Giriraj Swami: So, we are all servants of the Lord but we are also all individuals. And so, we may have different ideas of how we can serve the Lord best according to our position. And so, we should recognize that different devotees will serve the Lord in different ways, and the Lord will give them intelligence on how to serve Him in different ways. And so, we should see the Lord involved in all the activities of devotional service. And again, we should appreciate the other devotees’ service because they may be receiving dictation from the Lord to serve Him in a particular way.

Then Srila Prabhupada says that the Lord gives direction from within the heart to the devotees how to serve Him, but He gives different dictation to the non-devotees. But we won’t read that now. That’s not very relevant.

PURPORT (continued)

But when a devotee very sincerely wants to render service to the Lord, the Lord dictates in a different way. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10):

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te

“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” Everyone is actually a servant, not an enemy or friend, and everyone is working under different directions from the Lord, who directs each living entity according to his mentality.”

COMMENT

So, this is a very important and practical instruction of Sri Prahlada, and especially of Srila Prabhupada in his purport. And, this one sentence—Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord—that should be a mantra. Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Okay. So, thank you very much. Are there any comments or questions before we continue?

[Audio silent]

Giriraj Swami: Yeah. Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord means that we are all friends. But that’s a different kind of friend as opposed to friends and enemies. Friends and enemies means, you are my friend if you support me in my sense gratification, and you are my enemy if you get in the way of my sense gratification. So, that type of friends and enemies we don’t want, friends or enemies on that basis.

But everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Yes, we should be friends. In fact, that’s what distinguishes a madhyam bhakta from kaniṣṭhā. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes – prema, maitrī, kṛpā, upekṣāḥ. So, prema means we should give our love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. maitrī means we should make friendships with the devotees. kṛpā means we should give mercy to the innocent, and upekṣāḥ means we should neglect the envious. So, yes, that is an important point to clarify that yes, as devotees, we should be friends. But that’s different than friends and enemies on the material platform. Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much. [Unintelligible 00:30:10]. Any other questions or comments? So, I would. . .

Well, I’d like to recognize and thank Sridham Prabhu and Kishori Mataji for helping us establish this Mitra program. The program is very important. We’ve put a lot of effort into establishing it, and training devotees to act as mitras. I like the name—mitra. It means well-wishing friend. So, yeah, I hope that you all participate fully with your heart and soul, because it’s very important, and it’s meant to help you in your spiritual lives, actually, all aspects of your life. So, we all need to be trained, and to grow as Vaishnavas. And so, one aspect of the Mitra program is training. Yeah, and that’s also to say, it’s important, and it’s a combined effort.

Although individual mentees have their individual mitra, but the principle is that every devotee is the responsibility of the entire Mitra board. So, yes, it may be and it will be that some devotees are under particular mitras. But actually, all the mitras together should feel responsible for all the devotees. And of course, we should work cooperatively. And, part of the training is also to get a proper philosophical understanding of guru, well, everything but guru, and also to learn etiquette, Vaishnava etiquette—how to deal with the guru, and how to deal with other Vaishnavas.

And of course, it’s important that you all have strict sadhana. Yeah, those who are fortunate enough to live close to the temple, one of the temples, so it’s good as much as possible to attend maṅgala-ārati, chant rounds, and deity greeting, and guru-puja. Yeah, Srila Prabhupada said, best is to live in the temple. But of course, that’s not for everyone. And, the next best is to live near the temple, and come to the temple every day. The next best is to make your home into a temple. So, they are all good, they are all good.

And so, yeah, as it, sort of, came out in Srila Prabhupada’s purport, he wants us to preach, which means again a collective effort, a cooperative effort, and it means taking responsibility just to spread Krishna consciousness, taking responsibility for others. In fact, once Srila Prabhupada said that advancement in Krishna consciousness means accepting more and more responsibility for Krishna, on behalf of Krishna. So yeah, there are many. You are all very devotional and qualified. So you can be a very major force for the good in ISKCON and in the world.