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By Romapada Swami<\/strong><\/p>\n As we progress in spiritual life, something which naturally arises in the heart is compassion. Once awakened, how are we to properly repose our newly-enriched compassion tendency? Persons who are \u201cspiritual\u201d are expected to be compassionate. Different people in this world have very diverse ideas of what compassion means, and how it should be expressed. Commonly, the worldly notions of compassion are far from what we understand compassion to really<\/u> mean, and how it is best displayed.<\/p>\n What kind of indication do we have from scripture, and from our acharyas, and from our spiritual teachings, about compassion? How we should repose the soul\u2019s natural tendency for compassion, on the spiritual platform?<\/p>\n There are two primary scriptural references related to compassion that I would like to make this evening. One of them is rooted in Krishna\u2019s pastimes in Vrindavan, just prior to the Tenth Canto<\/a> description of Krishna lifting Govardhan hill. How old was Krishna when he lifted Govardhan hill? Seven. He was in his seventh year. The same day, just prior to the Govardhan lila, Krishna gave His mercy to the wives of the Brahmanas<\/a>. That was His morning pastime. Lifting Govardhan Hill was an afternoon pastime. Both occurred on the same day.<\/p>\n On the previous day, Krishna performed His pastimes deep in the forest of Vrindavan.<\/p>\n Shortly before that was Krishna\u2019s stealing the garments of the young gopis<\/a>. This pastime was performed when Krishna was six years old. What does a six-year-old understand about boy-girl things? Nothing. But He is Supreme Personality of Godhead, so He in omniscient. He was fully aware of the innocent and pure desires of the young gopis. Even more amazing, this pastime was performed in the company of Krishna\u2019s priya-narma-sakhas<\/em>, small boys who were even younger than Krishna! Because they were so young, they were completely innocent; they didn\u2019t have any understanding of what Krishna was doing, other than Krishna was having fun, and the gopis were having fun.<\/p>\n After this pastime concluded, early in the month of Magh, there is an elaborate description of Krishna entering deep into the forest of Vrindavan, far far away from the Vrindavan village.<\/p>\n Deep in the forest, it was very hot. Summer in Vrindavan is very hot! Too hot! Krishna was noticing that the trees were providing nice shade. He was appreciating not only that the trees were providing Him shade ~~ it was so hot! Even more so, He was appreciating their service, their mood of serving the cowherd boys.<\/p>\n \u201cO Stoka Krsna and Amsu, O Sridama, Subala and Arjuna, O Visala, Vrsabha, Ojasvi, Devaprastha and Varuthapa, just see these greatly fortunate trees, whose lives are completely dedicated to the benefit of others. Even while tolerating the wind, rain, heat and snow, they protect us from these elements.\u201d<\/p>\n This is the way of life of trees: trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna, <\/em><\/strong>just serving and serving and serving, tolerating conditions and protecting others from the same conditions, just by their existence.<\/p>\n \u201cJust see how these trees are maintaining every living entity. Their births are successful. Their behavior is just like that of great personalities for anyone who asks anything from the tree never goes away disappointed. These trees fulfill one\u2019s desires with their leaves, flowers, their fruits, their shade, roots, bark and wood and also there fragrance, sap, ashes, pulp, shoots. It is the duty of every living being to perform welfare activities for the benefit of others with his life, wealth, intelligence and words.\u201d<\/p>\n The first time I heard this wisdom being taught by Srila Prabhupada, he didn\u2019t give the specific reference from the Bhagavatam. Instead, Srila Prabhupada was describing how he was expecting his disciples, his representatives, to present Krishna Consciousness to others. His explanation went like this. \u2018When you\u2019re on Sankirtan, or you are interacting with the public in some form or fashion, ideally if your association brings someone to dedicate their whole lives to Krishna that is very nice. If they cannot do that, they can contribute some of their wealth to Krishna. If they cannot do that, then they can apply their intelligence and do some service for Krishna. However, if they cannot do that, at least they should give their words of appreciation.\u2019<\/p>\n Then he explained it the converse way. \u201cIf our interaction leaves people in such an impression that they think \u2018The Hare Krishna people are bad\u2019, that\u2019s not very good. We shouldn\u2019t interact with people at all if they are left with such a bad impression. Rather, if nothing else is the outcome, their impression should be \u2018Those Hare Krishna people are very good\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Hearing that directly from Srila Prabhupada made a very deep impression. At the time I had no idea he was paraphrasing Krishna\u2019s words from the Srimad Bhagavatam while roaming in the forest of Vrindavan, where he says \u2018It is the duty of every living being to perform their welfare activities for the benefit of others with his life, wealth, intelligence and words.\u2019<\/p>\n Let me share something that is immediately related to this teaching of our Founder-acarya. One devotee at Penn State University had the responsibility of overseeing a registered student organization called \u201cThe Vedic Club\u201d. \u2014He is been the president of the Vedic club for several years, so he has relationships with many people on campus. Early one semester they hosted a major university-wide Festival, a Holi Festival. They had invited Bada Hari Prabhu to come and sing. Bada Hari Prabhu is like gold. He is golden-throated and golden-hearted and soft as a golden Gulab Jamun (Audience chuckling). He is a very very very wonderful kirtaneer. When the organizer of another university organization found out that Bada Hari was being invited to campus by the Vedic Society, she got very excited. She contacted the Vedic Club saying \u201cI have heard some of his CDs. He sings so nicely! When he comes to attend your Holi Festival, can I also make a booking for him to present something in our Confederation of Yoga Society group?\u201d The devotee replied \u201cSure. I\u2019ll be happy to arrange that. I\u2019m sure it will fit into his schedule.\u201d Then she said \u201cCan I ask you another question? Does The Vedic Society, and do you personally, have something to do with the Hare Krishna group?\u201d When narrating this story to me, the devotee shared \u201cI thought \u2018Oh no! She is going tell me some horrible story of some bad experience she had and whine and complain and I am going to be terribly embarrassed. Okay, here we go.\u201d In honesty, he replied to her \u201cYes, in fact I\u2019m an initiated member of the Hare Krishna group.\u201d And she went \u201cOh, no<\/u>! I liked you before.\u201d So he said \u201cTell me, what\u2019s the problem? Did you have a bad experience?\u201d And because of her bad experience, she has a bad feeling towards the entire Hare Krishna movement. One bad experience. She said \u201cI know you. You are such a warm and friendly person. You are not like that person that I met and had that bad experience with.\u201d<\/p>\n After some association together, that lady got over her feelings of having had a previous bad experience with some irresponsible devotee. Eventually she began to inquire: \u201cCan you tell me something about your teachings, and your life style?\u201d Eventually she concluded \u201cYou know, I really like this! I just didn\u2019t like that bad experience.\u201d<\/p>\n This all happened because she had such a nice relationship with someone that initially she didn\u2019t even know as a Hare Krishna. She eventually got over her bad feeling because she could understand that not everybody was like that bad person. But \u2026 one bad experience created such a lasting negative impression! Once a bad impression is created, it is hard to erase.<\/p>\n You all may think \u2018Oh, I am just a congregation member.\u2019 But probably people at your workplace know you as you are a Hare Krishna person. And whatever you do, however you speak, whatever qualities you carry, quite likely your co-workers are going to judge all the rest of us based on whatever interaction you have with them in your workplace. They have never met us. Right? You know what I am saying? Please understand: you are emissaries of Srila Prabhupada, the local temple, and even the whole Hare Krishna Movement. How you carry yourself, how you speak, your qualities, your calmness. People notice the nice qualities that the devotees have. Eventually they will start asking you \u201cHey, what\u2019s your secret? How come you are always calm all the time? Everybody in this office is fretting and blaming each other because the project did not get completed on time \u2018It\u2019s their fault, it\u2019s their fault, not my fault!\u2019 But you just remain calm; you don\u2019t do any of that. You just keep producing. You always have a clear mind. What\u2019s your secret?\u201d They will start asking you.<\/p>\n At least the words that people speak about devotees should be words of appreciation. Even by doing that, they will make spiritual progress. Even if they don\u2019t even know that you are a Hare Krishna person. In an unknowing way, they may say \u201cThis individual, they are very nice!\u201d Or more directly, they may express \u201cHare Krishna people are very nice.\u201d It\u2019s important.<\/p>\n Better than merely expressing words of appreciation, encourage them to read Prabhupada\u2019s books and understand what the teachings are with their intelligence, and worship Krishna in that way. Doesn\u2019t Krishna not say that in Bhagavad-Gita? \u2018He who studies this sacred conversation of ours worships Me by his intelligence.\u2019 Krishna says that.<\/p>\n They can take some of their hard-earned fruits of their labor and offer that to Krishna, to be used in furthering Krishna\u2019s work thru his devotees.<\/p>\n And they may give their life.<\/p>\n At least within the core of one\u2019s hearts should be the commitment that \u201cMy life should be for serving Krishna.\u201d This doesn\u2019t mean renouncing the grhastha ashram and all household duties. Rather, simply fully dedicate all those things to Krishna and His service.<\/p>\n Give your life to Krishna, for the benefit of others ~ specifically this is what Krishna is saying about the trees in Vrindavan\u2019s forest.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the essence of compassion.<\/p>\n I have been asked to speak about the topic of Compassion at two universities this spring semester. I am sharing with you in a way that I can\u2019t replicate when presenting this message to college students because they are not Sadhakas and you are. So I am expressing more comprehensively and directly now than I will be able to in a university setting.<\/p>\n Compassion has built into it three elements: you recognize the suffering of others, you feel something, and you are motivated to do something. These three elements are simultaneously Cognitive, Affective, and Motivational. You feel unhappy about the suffering of others and you want to do something about it. Empathy is feeling the pain of another, but compassion demands you do something about it. There is an action involved \u2013 coming from your heart, not just duty. You care, and you want to do something.<\/p>\n The message I want to communicate is very important for devotees \u2013 for all devotees practicing at different stages of devotional service: compassion and its corresponding happiness becomes elevated not by thinking of one\u2019s self interest; attention is directed to the interest and well-being of others. Once transcendental compassion is awakened by contact with bhakti, where is that powerful force best applied? Where do you repose that inner urge and tendency?<\/p>\n This question is beautifully addressed in a section of Srimad Bhagavatam which comes in the Fifth Canto<\/a>, Chapter 7<\/a> and Chapter 8<\/a>, the narration of the story of Bharata Maharaja. For those of you who will be attending a Ratha Yatra anywhere in the USA or Canada, you will likely see a drama that Bhaktimarg Swami has put together on this subject. He already performed the drama in Mayapur. It is entitles \u201cThe Three Lives of Bharata.\u201d It was so well done that somebody from Ahmedabad who was in the audience during the Mayapur performance requested \u201cPlease come and perform this drama in Ahmedabad. We will pay for your whole troop to come. We will get a prime theater and pack the hall with attendees!\u201d Bhaktimarg Swami agreed to the man\u2019s request. Just before Gaura Purnima, the whole drama troop went to Ahmedabad. The venue was a big fancy hall. The place was packed with ticket-paying attendees. The performers received a standing ovation at the end, and then prasadam was served. Praghosa prabhu who is a GBC member was one of the actors in the drama. He shared with me that people coming up afterwards saying \u2018Very profound, very easy for our children to pay attention and understand.\u2019 One very effective media for communicating the message of Srimad Bhagavatam is thru well-presented drama.<\/p>\n Bhaktimarg Swami is planning to perform the same drama at all of the Ratha Yatras this summer.<\/p>\n What are the three lives in the Bharata Maharaja story? The first life of Bharata was when he was a king. The father of Bharata Maharaja was Rsabhadeva, an incarnation of Krishna. Bharata Maharaja was such a great king that the whole planet was renamed after him. It had previously had another name, sometimes known as Ajanabha because of the reign of King Nabhi, alternatively Ilavrta-varsa but Bharata was such a prominent person that the whole planet was named after him. I don\u2019t know what John F Kennedy Airport was before John F Kennedy was president but he was such a prominent leader\u2026 (Devotee names the airport). Idlewild Airport. He was such a prominent president that they just dropped Idlewild whoever that fellow was (Audience laughing) and named it John F Kennedy. Similarly, there was a street in Bombay that was renamed after Prabhupada: \u201cBhaktivedanta Swami Marg.\u201d Whoever the person was, after whom the street had been previously known, he is now forgotten. It\u2019s now \u201cBhaktivedanta Swami Marg.\u201d So the whole planet was named after Bharata Maharaj.<\/p>\n As mentioned already, who was the father of Bharata Maharaja? Rsabhadeva. Rsabhadeva was an incarnation of the Lord. And the father of Rsabhadeva was Nabhi. His father was Agnidhra, who was a direct son of Svayambhuva Manu, in another category of incarnation or avatar. Manu\u2019s father was Brahma. And then Garbhodakasayi Vishnu. What a dynasty! If they weren\u2019t incarnations of God, they were pure devotees of the Lord. Twice, the entire planet was renamed after them. Great personalities!<\/p>\n Bharata Maharaja was such an elevated king that the duration of his life is just phenomenal according to the Bhagavatam. Even the math doesn\u2019t work but anyway. One thousand times ten thousand was the duration of years that he ruled. That\u2019s a lot of years! During that period of time he became so fixed in his devotion that he had no material desire. What\u2019s that? It\u2019s a stage of perfection. On the order of his father he had married, and he had five sons. In time he turned the kingdom over to his five sons, and then he went to the forest to engage in perfecting his spiritual life. He went to a place called Pulaha-ashrama. Pulaha-asharma is named after Pulaha Muni. It\u2019s described that there were two very special things about this ashrama. First, it has a reputation that the Lord is especially merciful in this place; to those who worship Him here, He shows His form. For this reason, Bharata Maharaja chose that place. Another is that the Gandaki River flows through Pulaha asrama. In the Gandaki River, Salagrama-silas are found. In deity worship, after bathing the deities and bathing the Salagrama-silas, caranamrta is produced. Caranamrta is just water that\u2019s washed the deity. But the Gandaki River is filled with Salagrama-silas. So the entire river is caranamrta!<\/p>\n Every day, Bharata Maharaja got his water and took his bath \u2013in caranamrta! Pulaha-ashrama is a very sanctified place. Since it was Satya Yuga, he was engaged in the process of meditation. He would fix his mind upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead with complete absorption by chanting the Rg Veda mantra called Gayatri. In this Gayatri mantra he was worshipping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Surya-narayana. Surya-narayana is a direct expansion of Lord Narayana in Vaikuntha. The sun god, Vivasvan, also worships the Personality of Godhead as the presiding deity of the sun, Surya-narayana. As he was meditating on Gayatri mantra, he wasn\u2019t just uttering syllables. He wasn\u2019t worshiping the sun or the Brahmajyoti. He was worshiping the Personality of Godhead. Amazingly and mercifully, the form of the Personality of Godhead appeared regularly in his meditation. He became so absorbed in his activities of devotion that he forgot everything else. He had detached himself from being the king of the whole world, with opulence rivaling the opulence of heaven. He had fame, he had everything! A very faithful beautiful wife, loving children. But his interest was achieving spiritual perfection. Both his worldly detachment and his spiritual attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead reached the point where he was experiencing Bhava Bhakti.<\/p>\n For those of you who know Nectar of Devotion or are little familiar with it, there are three divisions of subject matters in Nectar of Devotion, Vaidhi Sadhana Bhakti, Bhava Bhakti and Prema Bhakti. Bharata Maharaja achieved the stage of Bhava Bhakti. In the stage of Bhava Bhakti, his body would spontaneously erupt in ecstatic symptoms. His body would shiver and tremble, tears would stream from his eyes, his hairs would stand on end ~ just in his absorption of seeing the Personality of Godhead, calling His holy name. He was fixed in meditation upon Him, making various offerings. Although in the palace he had opulent things to offer, here in the forest the things he had to offer were simple. But they are all Krishna\u2019s property in any case. Whatever roots and berries he could gather that was edible, he made those offerings to the Supreme Lord, and accepted the remnants of Lord\u2019s offerings. He found himself in a perfectly happy, contented, peaceful, ecstatic state! But\u2026there\u2019s always a \u2018but\u2019. Have you noticed? There is always s \u2018But\u2019?<\/p>\n One early morning he went to Gandaki River, took his abhishek morning bath, sat by the side of the Gandaki River, and began to chant his morning Gayatri. On the opposite side of the river, there was a pregnant deer. The pregnant deer had come to the river to take water to drink. The pregnant deer was looking in different directions, fearful, drinking some water, raising her head to again look around in all directions. All of a sudden there was a loud \u2018Rrrroooarrrr\u2019! When she hear the loud lion\u2019s roar, she was startled and she jumped. Prabhupada explains in pregnancy women should avoid experiencing trauma or some kind of sudden fear or excitement. Were that to happen, there is chance of a miscarriage. However it happens biologically, miscarriages sometimes take place when a surge of fear enters the heart of a pregnant woman. That\u2019s exactly what happened. The deer had a miscarriage. At the same time she leaped forward, in response to the lion\u2019s loud roar and she landed in the river. The river was moving very swiftly and she got carried to the side of the river and dragged herself into a cave and died. This drama left this little baby deer, a fawn, born from the pregnant mother who had disappeared downstream. Watching all of this happen was the emperor of the whole world sitting on the river bank.<\/p>\n So what did he do? Ksatriyas protect their citizens. That\u2019s what kings do. So although he was retired from that service of being the king, he entered the river and rescued the fawn. He brought the fawn to his side of the river and recognized \u201cNow I have to take care of this deer. Because the deer doesn\u2019t have a mother or a father, by divine arrangement I am now the mother and the father and the friend and the provider.\u201d As he started doing like that, he started making some conscious choices. I am tempted to read his inner contemplations, but in short he made a big mistake. He didn\u2019t make a mistake in rescuing the deer; he made the mistake of reposing his sense of compassion exclusively upon the body, to the exclusion of the well-being of the soul, and in turn he forgot Krishna! And as he forgot Krishna, he got more and more absorbed into an intense material attachment to the deer, to the point where he even forgot his devotional practices. Here he was way up there spiritually, I mean way up, almost at the stage of perfection of love of God. But he fell! Our acharyas, particularly Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur, ask this question \u201cHow is this possible? How someone at such an elevated position fall?\u201d Because when you engage devotional service what happens? Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita what happens. aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah<\/em><\/strong>. Even a little devotional service done can eliminate the reactions of all previous sinful reaction. Bharata Maharaja was fixed! So it wasn\u2019t a karmic reaction that came upon him. So what was it? Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur reasons that Bharata Maharaj consciously chose to leave Krishna and his devotion to Krishna in favor of reposing his compassion upon the bodily necessities of the deer. Because of that mistaken choice, he lost his Krishna consciousness. Not only did he lose his Krishna Consciousness, but instead of thinking of Krishna at the time of death, he thought of the deer at the time of death and he became a deer in his next life. Several times over and over, in different ways in that section of Srimad Bhagavatam, this point is reiterated, because it\u2019s very important. Prabhupada explains how we should repose compassion. The well-being of the soul should be at the center of our contemplations, even if a particular requirement of service requires attention for the welfare the body or mind of others \u2013 maybe our family members or others outside of our family. For the well-being of the soul, for the upliftment of the soul to the spiritual platform, there are so many things we may do to assist \u2013 just like in parenting. Those of you that have children or will have children, the service of mother and father according to scripture is to deliver the soul from the cycle of birth and death. And to do that there are so many things we also have to do: we have to feed the child, keep them in suitable clothing, and teach them proper etiquette. So many things! But all those are for one ultimate end, namely for liberation of soul from the cycle of birth and death. If that objective is lost, that perspective or that goal is lost, then you lose your spiritual standing. You no longer have spiritual standing. And that\u2019s what happened with Bharata Maharaj.<\/p>\n Now I am going do something a little subtle so you have to pay attention, sorry. (Audience Chuckling). But it\u2019s nice, if you pay attention. Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur explains \u201cOne can understand what happened with Bharata Maharaj in either one of two ways\u201d. This is in terms of Prarabdha Karma. Prarabdha Karma means Karma that is happening now. Like \u2018Ouch that hurts.\u2019 Or at the opposite end of the spectrum \u201cHere\u2019s some good fortune.\u201d Whether good fortune or ill fortune, Prarabdha Karma means something that is happening now.\u2019 (Phone from the audience rings and Maharaj jokes) \u201cThat is Prarabdha Karma.\u201d (Audience laughing). There is another term, something that is just about to happen. This is Kutastha, it\u2019s just about to happen. A third category of karma is that which is just beginning to sprout. Then, not fully manifest yet. The forth is a seed, or Bija. There are terms for these different stages. But Prarabdha means happening now. So Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur says there is auspicious and inauspicious Prarabdha Karma, Subha and Asubha. Just like Krishna says subhasubha-phalair evam moksyase karma-bandhanaih<\/em><\/strong>. So the inauspicious is for those who are not in the shelter of the internal potency, namely those who are not devotees. For the non-devotees, there is both action and reaction. When reactions become mature, that is Prarabdha Karma. Such karma is inauspicious. It can even be good Karma that\u2019s reacting, that\u2019s also inauspicious because it constitutes bondage to the material world. When you do an act of material charity, you get back a material body. You can get a good body, with beautiful features and good intelligence and abundant wealth \u2014 but that is also bondage. It\u2019s Prarabdha Karma. That\u2019s inauspicious. So what\u2019s the auspicious kind of Prarabdha Karma? This is the subtle part. Listen carefully. For a devotee, we also have actions we performed in the past, just like Bharata Maharaj who was a king. That\u2019s what he did in the past. In the current path of our lives, often something arises which resembles something from our past life. We tend to make the same choice. Instead, however, we can choose \u2018Let me surrender unto Krishna\u2019. While you may do so<\/u> many things when functioning in the position or mood of surrender unto Krishna ~ but one thing is, you don\u2019t forget Krishna. Bharata Maharaj had that precise opportunity. He could have just surrendered and saved the deer and somehow or another arranged for the deer to be with other deer so he would be taken care of by other deer or something like that. But he didn\u2019t to that. He took the false ego position \u201cI am the protector of the deer\u201d and left aside Krishna. When we have situation come up in our lives ~ maybe not a pregnant deer having a miscarriage and a baby deer falling in the river ~ but some other situation comes into our life where it\u2019s a re-run from something in our past life and here comes the replay ~ how are we going to act? The circumstance provides an opportunity, an auspicious opportunity, to take shelter of Krishna. Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam<\/em><\/strong>. When you adopt that response, that\u2019s the auspiciousness! Why? Because real auspiciousness is the doorway to the spiritual world. When that doorway opens and we enter, the entanglement of the material world closes. That\u2019s auspicious, distinct from the worldly Prarabdha Karma. In Bharata Maharaj\u2019s case he consciously chose \u201cnot Krishna\u201d. Even in the spiritual world there is freewill. So what to speak of within the Bhava or Prema Bhakti stage. Or our present stage, the Sadhana Bhakti stage, we likewise have free will. We can chose Krishna or not Krishna. Every moment we can make that choice. So as we are moving along the path practicing devotion, cultivating devotion in our life, things are going to come our way along that path. Have your lights on! Consciously chose surrender to Krishna.<\/p>\n For example, surrender to Krishna may mean take care of the baby deer for some period of time ~ but don\u2019t leave you spiritual practices! Whatever are the service requirements that come before you in the course of your life, never place the spiritual priority of taking shelter of Krishna in the secondary position and put something else in the primary position. That was the mistaken conscious choice that Bharata Maharaj made. Make sure you have your spiritual priorities in the proper position. Whatever you do that\u2019s in the secondary position, let it be aimed at pursuing the primary principle of life. Mam ekam saranam<\/em><\/strong>. Then those duties become beautified ~ like these very nice decorations or that chandelier, maybe that\u2019s easier to see. There are nice crystals and lamps suspended within the chandelier, like \u2018hanging decorations\u2019. Yet all are suspended from one little point of connection at the top. And from that one connecting point at the top, so many nice embellishments are there. Likewise, all other forms of dharma are suspended on one thing, if they are being done properly: mam ekam saranam<\/em><\/strong>. Ekam, \u201calone\u201d,<\/em><\/strong> doesn\u2019t mean you neglect everything else. Don\u2019t take care of your family, don\u2019t take care of being a good citizen, be sloppy, don\u2019t be clean. Mam ekam saranam<\/em><\/strong> doesn\u2019t mean that. Rather, you do all those duties in pursuance this one thing. And when you do those other duties in pursuance of that one thing, that\u2019s auspicious. That\u2019s what Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur is describing. Events which are happening in your life ~ Prarabdha, presently ~ in response to which you are consciously choosing Krishna and then the next one, Krishna, and the next one, Krishna. And one after the next is Krishna Krishna. You whole life is Krishna. This is true auspiciousness! Where are you going? You are going to Krishna. By choosing Krishna in this manner, you will make the best impact on the others with whom you life comes in contact. You will able to serve your family members better, society better. Everything becomes better, because of that singular spiritual focus. Purity and potency are a natural byproduct. Accordingly, a theist\u2019s conduct places secondary dharma behind the primary dharma. Or, as Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur says \u2013 this is also subtle \u2013 when Bharata Maharaja was in meditation within the Bhava stage he understood the presence of the Lord within his heart. In fact he had a personal prayer that he offered. \u201cYou are the Supersoul situated in the heart of every living being. You come into the heart of all conditioned souls because they desire enjoyment apart from you. Knowing that they have that desire, you are situated within their heart and you give them the intelligence by which they can try to fulfill those desires. But that simply further entangles them and therefore my prayer to you is please protect me from that intelligence. Please give me the other kind. Dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te<\/em><\/strong>. Give me that kind.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Bharata Maharaja sincerely prayed like that, nonetheless he made this other conscious choice: \u201cNo to Krishna and yes to everything else.\u201d Knowing his sincerity, Krishna fulfilled that prayer by giving him the opportunity to never make that same mistake again. When he became a deer, Bharata Maharaja was awarded the facility of living an entire lifetime remembering that during his previous life he was king of the entire planet, now in the body of a deer.<\/p>\n He took birth in the body of a deer in some distant mountain range and came back to Pulaha ashram and \u2018hung out\u2019, where many sages resided. He would hear their discourses and take remnants of their prasad. In this way he lived out a full duration of life as a deer. In his next life, additional very unique features were given to him. Besides getting remembrance of his past life while living as a deer, in his next life he became a Brahmana, with full remembrance of both his previous life as a deer and the life before that as Bharata Maharaja. Very unique! He was determined not make the same mistake again. In the life of Jada Bharata, he didn\u2019t make the same mistake again. He achieved spiritual perfection. And that\u2019s one full story too. But the message I wanted to share is, it\u2019s very important as practicing devotees to be absolutely clear where to repose our compassion. In short, place compassion upon the soul. The attainment of such a pervasive spiritual focus within all activities of life is true self-compassion. All the worldly expressions of compassion may continue, but spiritual compassion starts here. \u201cLet me orient my life in such a way that I become fixed upon the soul\u2019s ultimate attainment of Krishna\u2019s shelter.\u201d All the other things that I do with my life \u2013 my words, my mind, my actions, my senses, my energy, my life air, my service \u2013 all follow behind this committed focus. \u201cLet my life be dedicated towards the objective of always keeping Krishna as my shelter and my all-in-all.\u201d<\/p>\n In my social and service interactions with others, some persons are more ready than others are for being directed to Krishna as their only shelter. So let me discriminate carefully how to best engage with others. The purpose of interacting with others may sometimes be just leaving people with such nice impression they say \u201cOh, the Hare Krishna people are nice.\u201d That may be the most some people can do. If people can do even that much service to Krishna, that\u2019s great. Some people are just like grumpy and cranky and they can\u2019t appreciate anybody. At least some persons can appreciate the Hare Krishna people are nice. That\u2019s a nice service for them. When this occurs, that soul made a little spiritual progress.<\/p>\n Whatever it is that\u2019s appropriate according to the time, place and circumstance for the other individual, we serve accordingly. Our service meditation should be to act as Krishna\u2019s instrument. \u201cLet my efforts be for their spiritual elevation, assisting their coming to the spiritual platform. However I can do that.\u201d Any service we may do for others should be in pursuit of that principle.<\/p>\n One last comment is from Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, as well as from our Srila Prabhupada. Within the contemporary situation of modern society, people are expecting religious organizations to do the work of the government, namely social welfare work. That is a government job, but many people expect spiritual organizations to have this as a major focus their gift to the world at large.<\/p>\n I was once in Mayapur with a group of several hundred devotees, visiting the holy places of Mayapur. We were taking prasadam in the large Gada Prasadam Hall. After I sat down, right next to me another guest sat down, a person I had never met. He wasn\u2019t part of our group; he was just a visitor to Mayapur. After he sat down he looked at me like this\u2026(making a condescending face). I thought \u201cOh boy.\u201d (Laughing). A businessman type, that was his vibe. The first word he said was \u201cSooo\u2026\u201d, like a challenge. That was the first sound vibration. \u201cSooo. What do you do to help people?\u201d \u201cGive me a break\u201d (Everyone laughing loudly). So I just got right down to it. \u201cI know what you are thinking. You\u2019re thinking bodily welfare work. So I will tell you what the bodily welfare work is that we do.\u201d He didn\u2019t even let me finish and he said \u201cDon\u2019t tell me you educate people. Don\u2019t tell me you open temples and get people to go and worship God and things like that. Tell me what you are doing to help people.\u201d \u201cOkay, I was just about to tell you how we help people. But you cut me off.\u201d I described Food for Life. \u201cPrabhupada said within ten mile radius of Mayapur, no one should go hungry. So have a large pavilion where so many days of the week anybody and everybody can come and we serve free prasadam.\u201d He said \u201cOh that\u2019s very good. You are helping people. That\u2019s very nice.\u201d You get the point. But it\u2019s not just, if we help people by serving food, it\u2019s creating prarabdha karma for them and for ourselves. No. One of the things that they do before they take Krishna prasadam is they learn about chanting. They chant together and they hear a verse from Bhagavad-Gita and they then take prasadam. Then they are invited to go see the deity in the temple. The objective is to awaken their spiritual consciousness, not just they are hungry and we want them to not have empty belly and so we give them something to eat. Whatever actions we take in life should be for Krishna. yat karosi yad asnasi yaj juhosi dadasi yat yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurusva mad-arpanam. <\/em><\/strong>Everything should be done as an offering unto Krishna, including helping others, ourselves as well, thereby come to the spiritual position.<\/p>\n Thank you Very much. Srila Prabhupada ki Jai.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Persons who are \u201cspiritual\u201d are expected to be compassionate. Different people in this world have very diverse ideas of what compassion means, and how it should be expressed. Commonly, the worldly notions of compassion are far from what we understand compassion to really mean, and how it is best displayed. What kind of indication do we have from scripture, and from our acharyas, and from our spiritual teachings, about compassion? How we should repose the soul\u2019s natural tendency for compassion, on the spiritual platform?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48835"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48838,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48835\/revisions\/48838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Hare](\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/1KvimVK.jpg\")
By Romapada Swami<\/strong><\/p>\n