Tasting Pleasure in Distress

In the Srimad Bhagavatam 2nd Canto, 8th Chapter, Text 6 it is stated:

dhautatma purusah krsna-
pada-mulam na muncati
mukta-sarva-pariklesah
panthah sva-saranam yatha

"A pure devotee of the Lord whose heart has once been cleansed by the process of devotional service never relinquishes the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, for they fully satisfy him, as a traveler is satisfied at home after a troubled journey."

This choice verse reconfirms the all-blissful nature of Krishna consciousness. Even if the Lord's devotee has to undergo all sorts of distressful circumstances, he finds great pleasure by doing so, if by undergoing them he can please the Lord. He can tolerate all disturbances, just as a traveler tolerates an arduous journey to reach the safety and comfort of his home.

Answers According to the Vedic Version

Question: Is the Absolute Truth Impersonal?...

Of late I've come across many swamis and gurus in India who establish that the Absolute Truth is impersonal and what Sripada Sankaracharya has philosophized is the essence of Vedanta.

This has bewildered me, and I'm now in a fix as the philosophy of ISKCON, which I follow, is against this . Kindly guide me as it is troublesome to focus in devotional life with such questions.

Yours sincerely,

Bhakta Harish

Answer: God Cannot Be Formless...

Sripad Shankaracharya presented a distorted version of Vedanta Philosophy as a preaching tactic to attract the Buddhists back to Vedic culture. He was so successful at doing this that Buddhism, although started in India, is almost completely non-existent in India.

There is not much difference between the Buddhist "all is zero" philosophy and the impersonal "all is one" philosophy because both of them are impersonal. But then after defeating Buddhism that same Shankaracharya instructed his followers:

bhaja govindam bhaja govindam
bhaja govindam mudha-mate
samprapte sannihite kale
na hi na hi raksati dukrn-karane

"You intellectual fools, just worship Govinda, just worship Govinda, just worship Govinda. Your grammatical knowledge and word jugglery will not save you at the time of death."

He instructed them to give up impersonalism and take to the real path of bhakti. But unfortunately they did not agree to follow their guru's instructions.

Mayavadi philosophy says that God has no form. They say that Krishna's form is Maya. This is why we refer to them as Mayavadis, because they hold to the principle that Krishna's form is Maya.

But this philosophy is absurd. How can the original source from which all forms are coming be formless? Can we extract gold from a goldless mine?

No.

If gold comes from the mine, the mine must possess gold. Similarly, since all varieties of forms emanate from God, God cannot be formless.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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