Do I have to give up my occupation to serve Krishna?

Krishna-Balaram-and-Cowherd-Boys-return-with-the-cows

Krishna does not suggest anything impractical

So Krishna is not advising Arjuna to simply remember Him and give up his occupation. No. Krishna never suggests anything impractical. In this material world, in order to maintain the body, one has to work.

Human society is divided into four divisions of social order: brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra. The brahmana class, or intelligent class, is working in one way, the ksatriya class or administrative class is working in another way and the mercantile class and laborers are all tending to their specific duties.

In human society, whether one is a laborer, merchant, warrior, administrator or farmer, or even if one belongs to the highest class and is a literary man, a scientist or a theologian, he has to work in order to maintain his existence.

Krishna advises Arjuna not to give up his occupation

Krishna, therefore tells Arjuna that he need not give up his occupation, but while he is engaged in his occupation, he should remember Krishna. If he doesn’t practice remembering Krishna when he is struggling for existence, then it will not be possible for him to remember Krishna at the time of death.

Lord Caitanya also advises this. He says that one should practice remembering the Lord by chanting the names of the Lord always. The names of the Lord and the Lord are nondifferent. So Lord Krishna’s instruction to Arjuna to “remember Me” and Lord Caitanya’s injunction to always “chant the names of Lord Krishna” are the same instruction. There is no difference, because Krishna and Krishna’s name are nondifferent.

Remembering Krishna while working

Therefore we have to practice remembering Krishna always, twenty-four hours a day, by chanting His names and moulding our life’s activities in such a way that we can remember Him always.

How is this possible? The acharyas give the following example. If a married woman is attached to another man, or if a man has an attachment for a women other than his wife, then the attachment is to be considered very strong. One with such an attachment is always thinking of the loved one. The wife who is thinking of her lover is always thinking of meeting him, even while she is carrying out her household chores. In fact she carries out her household work even more carefully so her husband will not suspect her attachment.

In the same way as the married woman who is attached to another man is remembering her lover constantly but she is still carrying out her duties in her husband’s house, we should constantly remember the supreme lover, Sri Krishna, and at the same time perform our material duties very nicely.

A strong sense of love is required here. If we have a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord then we can discharge our duty and at the same time remember Him. But we have to develop that sense of love for Krishna.

Arjuna, for instance, was always thinking of Krishna; he was the constant companion of Krishna, and at the same time he was a warrior. Krishna did not advise Arjuna to go to the forest and meditate. When Lord Krishna explained the meditational yoga system to Arjuna he says that the practice of this system is not possible for him.

“Arjuna said, O Madhusudana, the system of yoga which you have summarized appears impracticle and unendurable to me. For the mind is restless and unsteady.” (Bhagavad Gita 6.33)

The best yogi

However, Krishna replies to Arjuna, encouraging him:

“Of all yogis, he who abides in Me with great faith, worshipping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimatily united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.” (Bhagavad Gita 6.47)

So one who is always thinking of the Supreme Lord, Krishna, is the greatest yogi, the supermost jnani and the greatest devotee at the same time.

Krishna goes on to tell Arjuna that, as a ksatriya, he can not give up fighting, but that if he fights remembering Krishna, then he will be able to remember Krishna at the time of  death. However to do this one must be completely surrendered to Krishna in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

We actually work with our mind and intelligence, not with our body.  So if our intelligence and mind is always engaged in the thoughts of the Supreme Lord, Krishna then naturally the senses are also engaged in His service.

Superficially it may appear that the activities of our senses remain the same performing devotional service to our activities in sense gratification, however the consciousness is changed. The Bhagavad Gita teaches us how we can absorb our minds and intelligence in the thought of Krishna. Such absorbtion will enable one to transfer himself to the kingdom of the Lord. If the mind is engaged in Krishna’s service, then the senses are automatically engaged in His service. This is the art, and this is also the secret of Bhagavad Gita: total absorbtion in the thought of Sri Krishna.

Try to advance spiritually

Modern man has struggled very hard to reach the moon, but he has not tried very hard to elevate himself spiritually. If one has fifty years of life ahead of him, he should engage that brief time in cultivating this practice of remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The easiest way

The easiest way to remember Krishna is hearing Bhagavad Gita from the realized person, this will turn one’s thoughts to the Supreme Being. This will lead toremembering the Supreme Lord, and will enable one, upon leaving the body, to attain a spiritual body which is just fit for association with Krishna in the spiritual world. Krishna says:

“By practising this remembering, without being deviated, thinking ever of the Supreme Godhead, one is sure to achieve the planet of the Divine, the Supreme Personality, O son of Kunti.” (Bhagavad Gita 8.8)
This is not a very difficult process. However, one must learn it from an experienced person, from one who is already in the practice. The mind is always flying to this and that, but one must always practice concentrating the mind on the form of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna or on the sound of His name.
Controlling the restless mind

The mind is naturally restless, going hither and thither, but it can rest in the sound vibration of Krishna. One must thus meditate onthe Supreme Person; and thus attain Him. The ways and the means for ultimate realization, ultimate attainment, are stated in the Bhagavad Gita, and the doors of this knowledge are open for everyone. No one is barred out. Everyone can approach Krishna by thinking of Him, for hearing and thinking of Him is possible for everyone.

Even human beings in the lower statuses of life can attain the Supreme. One does not need highly developed intelligence. The point is that anyone who accepts the principle of bhakti-yoga and accepts the Supreme Lord as the summum bonum of life, as the highest target, the ultimate goal, can approach the Lord in the spiritual sky. If one adopts the principles enunciated in Bhagavad Gita, he can make his life perfect and make a perfect solution to all the problems of life which arise out of the transient nature of material existence. This is the sum and substance of the entire Bhagavad Gita.
Conclusion

In conclusion, Bhagavad Gita is a transcendental literature which one should read very carefully. It is capable of saving one from all fear.

“In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.” (Bg. 2.40) If one reads Bhagavad Gita sincerely and seriously, then all of the reactions of his past misdeeds will not react upon him. In the last portion of Bhagavad Gita, Lord Sri Krishna proclaims:

“Give up all varieties of religiousness, and just surrender unto Me; and in return I shall protect you from all sinful reactions. Therefore, you have nothing to fear.” (Bg. 18.66) Thus the Lord takes all responsibility for one who surrenders unto Him, and He indemnifies all the reactions of sin.We are very busy… Reading Gita is enough…

One cleanses himself daily by taking a bath in water, but one who takes his bath only once in the sacred Ganges water of the Bhagavad Gita cleanses away all the dirt of material life. Because Bhagavad Gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. One need only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad Gita. In the present age, mankind is so absorbed with mundane activities that it is not possible to read all of the Vedic literatures. But this is not necessary. This one book, Bhagavad-gita, will suffice because it is the essence of all Vedic literatures and because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Bhagavad Gita — More important than the Ganges river

It is said that one who drinks the water of the Ganges certainly gets salvation, but what to speak of one who drinks the waters of Bhagavad Gita? Gita is the very nectar of the Mahabharata spoken by Visnu Himself, for Lord Krishna is the original Visnu. It is nectar emanating from the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Ganges is said to be emanating from the lotus feet of the Lord. Of course there is no difference between the mouth and the feet of the Supreme Lord, but in our position we can appreciate that the Bhagavad Gita is even more important than the Ganges.

The Bhagavad Gita is just like a cow, and Lord Krishna, who is a cowherd boy, is milking this cow. The milk is the essence of the Vedas, and Arjuna is just like a calf. The wise men, the great sages and pure devotees, are to drink the nectarean milk of Bhagavad Gita.
One Scripture, One God, One Religion

In this present day, man is very eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation. So let there be one common scripture for the whole world--Bhagavad Gita. And let there be one God only for the whole world-Sri Krishna. And one mantra only-Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And let there be one work only–the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Thank you for reading this newsletter. The next one will be called “The importance of the Disciplic Succession.”
First exam is coming!

Following that we will be having a little exam on “Introduction to the Bhagavad Gita“. So please read the newsletters carefully and if you have not read any of them please go back and read. I think you will enjoy the “exam,” I hope you will look forward to it and try your best to get the highest marks!

Author: Madhudvisa dasa

Krishna Responds to Everyone According to their Desires

Krishna Protects to everyone 

“All of them–As they surrender unto Me–I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Prtha [Arjuna].” (Bhagavad-gita 4.11)

Krishna is responding to everyone, devotee or non-devotee. He is revealing Himself or not revealing Himself according to the desire of the individual person. In another place in the Gita Krishna says: “I am within everyone’s heart and I am giving remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” So one may ask why would Krishna give anyone the ability to forget Him? He states here clearly that He gives remembrance and knowledge — but He also gives forgetfulness. Krishna helps the devotees by giving them rememberance and knowledge so they can worship and serve Him–because that is what the devotees want, they want to remember Krishna, so Krishna helps them. But the demons do not want to remember Krishna. They want to become the supreme lord themselves, they want others to serve them, they want to be the master–they do not want to surrender to Krishna, they do not want to even know that there is a Supreme Personality of Godhead above them. So it is Krishna’s mercy to the demons that from within their hearts He gives them the ability to forget Him.

In reality everyone is searching for Krishna in the different aspects of His manifestations. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is fully realized by His pure devotees but everyone is realizing different aspects of Krishna according to their desires and their surrender to Krishna. The jnanis or the philosophers partially realize Krishna in the form of His impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence that is spread everywhere in an all-pervasive way, the yogis or meditators realize the paramatma or supersoul feature of Krishna within their hearts. In this way Krishna is the object of everyone’s realization and He reveals Himself according to one’s desire to have Him.

In the transcendental world also Krishna reciprocates with His pure devotees just as the devotee wants Him. One devotee may want Krishna as his supreme master, another as his personal friend, another as his son and still another as his lover. Krishna responds to all the devotees equally, according to their different intensities of love for Him. In the material world also the same reciprocations of feelings are there, and they are equally exchanged by the Lord with the different types of worshipers.

The pure devotees both here in the material world and in the spiritual world associate with Krishna in person and are able to render personal service to Him and in this way they derive transcendental bliss from His loving service. Also Krishna helps the impersonalists who desire to commit spiritual suicide by annihilating the individual existence of the living entity — Krishna helps them by absorbing them into His effulgence. Because the impersonalists do not agree to accept the eternal, blissful Personality of Godhead they can not enjoy the bliss of personal service to the Lord, having extinguished their individuality. So Krishna is rewarding the impersonalists in the way they want to be rewarded, by absorbing them into His impersonal effulgence and He is rewarding the devotees also by manifesting Himself before them in the way they want to see Him.

Krishna directly states that for the non-devotees — because they do not want to see Him — He does not manifest Himself before them:

“I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-maya]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible.” (Bg. 7.25)

This whole material world is created by Krishna for us, the rebellious living entities who want to try to enjoy separately from Him. In reality there is no enjoyment separate from Krishna because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead the sole enjoyer and we are His servants. We are constitutionally servants. We have no alternative, we must render service. The devotees enjoyment comes from seeing Krishna happy. So when Krishna is happy because of his service the devotee enjoys.

The materialists, also, can not avoid this service. Even if you look at the greatest and most powerful men on the planet — they all have to render service. If you take the President of the United States — a very big post — still he has to serve the country. He is elected because he promises to serve the country and if he does not serve the people will demand that he be removed from the post of president.

Every one of us is serving. Some are serving their family and to get money they have to serve the boss and serve the customers. Even if one is alone he is still serving his senses.  In every field of life this service is the most prominent thing for everyone. Many have heard the term ‘sanatana-dharma‘ but very few realize what this is. Sanatana means ‘eternal’ and dharma means ‘occupation’ so sanatana dharma means the eternal occupation of the living entity. People tend to think that this sanatana-dharma is religion but that is not a very good understanding of the word because religion can change. One day I can be a Christian then I can change to be a Hindu so this ‘Christian’ or ‘Hindu’ can not be sanatana-dhrama because it can not be changed.

The dharma of an object is that thing which can not be separated from the object. The thing that can not be changed, the eternal characteristic of that object. For example if we speak of sugar it must be sweet. Sweetness is the dharma of sugar. If it is not sweet it is not sugar. The dharma of water is to be wet, the dharma of salt is to be salty… So what is our dharma? What is the characteristic that we have that can not be changed and without it we have no meaning? Actually that characteristic is service. We have no meaning without service. There is no way we can escape from service. Even to simply maintain the body we have to work, we have to render service. So our dharma is service and there are so many different types of service that we can be occupied with. But what is sanatana-dharma, our eternal occupation? That is service to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead so that is our eternal occupation, serving Krishna, and really there is nothing else but service to Krishna.

However Krishna has given us all a limited amount of independence. Our relationship with Krishna is based on love and love can not be forced. So if we are to love Krishna in a voluntary way then there has to be some other option for the rebellious living entities who decide not to love Krishna. That is this material world and because Krishna reciprocates with all the living entities in the way they want to see Him then it is His great mercy for the demons who have rebelled against Him the He creates this material world as a place where the demons can forget Krishna and try to be happy separately from serving Krishna. Actually there is no question of us ever being separate from Krishna but to create this illusion for the demons who want it Krishna has created maha-maya. It is only by the power of maya that the demons are bewildered into thinking that they can be happy separately from Krishna, it is only by the spell of maya that they think they can turn this material world into a happy place where they can live forever.

So the summary is Krishna reveals Himself to the living entities in the way they want to see Him. So for a devotee Krishna appears as Krishna in a relationship like son, friend of lover and for the demon Krishna appears as maya and by the illusions generated by maya the demon can believe that Krishna does not exist.

Therefore Krishna is revealing Himself to everyone in the way they want to see Him or if someone does not want to see Him Krishna is hiding Himself from them.

Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!