The Merciful Nature of the Vaisnavas
In this material world everyone is suffering in the ocean of birth and death. They are being constantly smashed by that ocean's waves upon the rocks of the threefold miseries. The devotees of the Lord are very much pained to see everyone in such a suffering condition. Therefore they fully dedicate their lives for spreading the science of Krishna consciousness all over the world. My spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, very much encouraged me to always be in this mood of compassion for those who are thus suffering.
Lord Krishna and Balarama, in a mood of intense compassion, have appeared in this world as Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda to relieve the drowning souls from their misery by blessing them with the transcendental science of Krishna consciousness. In this connection it is stated:
vande sri-krsna-caitanya-
nityanandau sahoditau
gaudodaye puspavantau
citrau san-dau tamo-nudau
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Krishna Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauda to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all."
--Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi Lila 1.2
idam te natapaskaya
nabhaktaya kadacana
na casusrusave vacyam
na ca mam yo 'bhyasuyati
"This confidential knowledge may not be explained to those who are not austere, or devoted, or engaged in devotional service, nor to one who is envious of Me."
Basically, only Krishna's devotees may read from the Gita, and hear its infinite wisdom. Yet, you travel the world telling every man and his dog about Krishna.
I understand in the very next text it says:
ya idam paramam guhyam
mad-bhaktesv abhidhasyati
bhaktim mayi param krtva
mam evaisyaty asamsayah
"For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me."
This following text speaks highly of discussing the glories of God, however it ONLY applies to discussing it with his devotees... only his devotees may hear or read the knowledge contained within the Gita.
God would rather people come to Him on their own accord, this is his benevolent nature and His gift to us of free will and free choice. So why ignore this message which came directly from God Himself? Why do you preach?
I look forward to your reply
Haridhan
na buddhi-bhedam janayed
ajnanam karma-sanginam
josayet sarva-karmani
vidvan yuktah samacaran
"Let not the wise disrupt the minds of the ignorant who are attached to fruitive action. They should be encouraged not to refrain from work, but to work in the spirit of devotion."--BG 3.26
It is in the light of the above statement that we must understood what may appear to the uninformed observer to be the Lord's restriction of not explaining Bhagavad-gita to the ignorant. If you read carefully the Lord's prohibition you will see that it is not a prohibition against the spreading of Krishna consciousness. Rather it is prohibition against spreading the more confidential aspects of Krishna consciousness to the general ignorant population. Just as children are introduced to mathematics at the elementary level of "one plus one equals two" not on the advanced level of calculus, which would merely confuse them, similarly the general population should introduced to Krishna consciousness from the beginning point, not it's more confidential aspects, which will only confuse them.
In obedience to the Lord's instructions I always tailor my lectures to make them suitable for the particular audience. If the people are newcomers to Krishna consciousness, I speak to them in an introductory non-confidential fashion, and if they are already devotees, I can go deeply into the amazingly sweet confidential aspects of Krishna consciousness. However, if according to the Lord's order we engage even the newcomers in acts of devotion, they can quickly become purified and become qualified to hear about the more confidential aspects of Krishna consciousness. The easiest way to engage the ignorant in acts of devotion is to let them enjoy the sweet sound of Hare Krishna kirtan. Everyone enjoys some nice rhythmic and melodic musical sounds. So if we can satisfy their desire to hear nice attractive music by making attractive kirtan, they quickly become qualified to hear more advanced spiritual topics.
This is why we always precede our lectures with enlivened kirtan to uplift their hearts of our audience before we begin speaking. Even I have traveled to the Muslim world and introduced Hare Krishna kirtan in a public meeting. The people were so enlivened by the kirtan that they became very eager to learn more about the transcendental process of Krishna consciousness. When the people become attracted and eager to hear more and more about Krishna this means that they have been transformed into devotees by the magical power of the kirtan and are now qualified for more confidential knowledge.
In the ultimate analysis, everyone is at heart a devotee of Krishna because everyone was originally with the Lord in the spiritual world before falling into material existence. Therefore explaining Bhagavad-gita philosophy to the devotees ultimately means explaining Bhagavad-gita to everyone. But because the general ignorant population may become offensive or belligerent if explained the confidential aspects of spiritual knowledge, the preacher applies careful discretion regarding what he reveals and to whom he reveals it. He only gives them so much as they can accept in a joyful positive way. He does not give them that which will cause them confusion. This is the real meaning of Krishna's prohibition of not explaining confidential knowledge to the ignorant.
You have stated:
"God would rather people come to Him on their own accord, this is his benevolent nature and His gift to us of free will and free choice. So why ignore this message which came directly from God Himself? Why do you preach?"
You are saying that God would rather have the people come to Him, but you are ignoring the most basic and obvious fact that Krishna Himself took the time and trouble to come to us by appearing within this material world to deliver the message of the Bhagavad-gita. To reconfirm this principle of the absolute necessity of spreading Krishna consciousness Lord Krishna reappeared 500 years ago as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and ordered us to tell everyone we meet about the teachings of Lord Krishna.
Lord Krishna is unlimitedly compassionate, and so are His devotees. This is why they do not remain silent while the ignorant masses are continually being smashed by the repetition of birth and death. When there is an epidemic, compassionate doctors rush to the scene to inoculate everyone to save their lives. Similarly the Lord and His devotees manifest compassion upon the ignorant masses by broadcasting widely the transcendental teachings of the Bhagavad-gita.
You are saying, "Why disobey God's orders?" One should not disobey God's orders. Lord Caitanya has ordered that everyone who has taken birth in the holy land of India should make their life perfect and spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. If you were born in India and are not spreading Krishna consciousness, I could thus ask you why you are disobeying God's orders.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Lord Krishna and Balarama, in a mood of intense compassion, have appeared in this world as Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda to relieve the drowning souls from their misery by blessing them with the transcendental science of Krishna consciousness. In this connection it is stated:
vande sri-krsna-caitanya-
nityanandau sahoditau
gaudodaye puspavantau
citrau san-dau tamo-nudau
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Krishna Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauda to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all."
--Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi Lila 1.2
Answers According to the Vedic Version
Question: Why Disobey God's Orders?...
Why must we spread Krishna consciousness? Why preach the glories of the Gita to the world? Did Krishna not himself say:idam te natapaskaya
nabhaktaya kadacana
na casusrusave vacyam
na ca mam yo 'bhyasuyati
"This confidential knowledge may not be explained to those who are not austere, or devoted, or engaged in devotional service, nor to one who is envious of Me."
Basically, only Krishna's devotees may read from the Gita, and hear its infinite wisdom. Yet, you travel the world telling every man and his dog about Krishna.
I understand in the very next text it says:
ya idam paramam guhyam
mad-bhaktesv abhidhasyati
bhaktim mayi param krtva
mam evaisyaty asamsayah
"For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me."
This following text speaks highly of discussing the glories of God, however it ONLY applies to discussing it with his devotees... only his devotees may hear or read the knowledge contained within the Gita.
God would rather people come to Him on their own accord, this is his benevolent nature and His gift to us of free will and free choice. So why ignore this message which came directly from God Himself? Why do you preach?
I look forward to your reply
Haridhan
Response: Why are You Disobeying God's Orders?...
You are saying that it is an act of disobedience to the instructions of the Lord to preach the message of the Bhagavad-gita all over the world. You have misunderstood the point that the Lord is making because you have taken it out of context. This statement must be understood in context with the Lord's other statement that all the ignorant people of the world should be engaged in devotional service. He makes this statement in the following verse of the Bhagavad-gita:na buddhi-bhedam janayed
ajnanam karma-sanginam
josayet sarva-karmani
vidvan yuktah samacaran
"Let not the wise disrupt the minds of the ignorant who are attached to fruitive action. They should be encouraged not to refrain from work, but to work in the spirit of devotion."--BG 3.26
It is in the light of the above statement that we must understood what may appear to the uninformed observer to be the Lord's restriction of not explaining Bhagavad-gita to the ignorant. If you read carefully the Lord's prohibition you will see that it is not a prohibition against the spreading of Krishna consciousness. Rather it is prohibition against spreading the more confidential aspects of Krishna consciousness to the general ignorant population. Just as children are introduced to mathematics at the elementary level of "one plus one equals two" not on the advanced level of calculus, which would merely confuse them, similarly the general population should introduced to Krishna consciousness from the beginning point, not it's more confidential aspects, which will only confuse them.
In obedience to the Lord's instructions I always tailor my lectures to make them suitable for the particular audience. If the people are newcomers to Krishna consciousness, I speak to them in an introductory non-confidential fashion, and if they are already devotees, I can go deeply into the amazingly sweet confidential aspects of Krishna consciousness. However, if according to the Lord's order we engage even the newcomers in acts of devotion, they can quickly become purified and become qualified to hear about the more confidential aspects of Krishna consciousness. The easiest way to engage the ignorant in acts of devotion is to let them enjoy the sweet sound of Hare Krishna kirtan. Everyone enjoys some nice rhythmic and melodic musical sounds. So if we can satisfy their desire to hear nice attractive music by making attractive kirtan, they quickly become qualified to hear more advanced spiritual topics.
This is why we always precede our lectures with enlivened kirtan to uplift their hearts of our audience before we begin speaking. Even I have traveled to the Muslim world and introduced Hare Krishna kirtan in a public meeting. The people were so enlivened by the kirtan that they became very eager to learn more about the transcendental process of Krishna consciousness. When the people become attracted and eager to hear more and more about Krishna this means that they have been transformed into devotees by the magical power of the kirtan and are now qualified for more confidential knowledge.
In the ultimate analysis, everyone is at heart a devotee of Krishna because everyone was originally with the Lord in the spiritual world before falling into material existence. Therefore explaining Bhagavad-gita philosophy to the devotees ultimately means explaining Bhagavad-gita to everyone. But because the general ignorant population may become offensive or belligerent if explained the confidential aspects of spiritual knowledge, the preacher applies careful discretion regarding what he reveals and to whom he reveals it. He only gives them so much as they can accept in a joyful positive way. He does not give them that which will cause them confusion. This is the real meaning of Krishna's prohibition of not explaining confidential knowledge to the ignorant.
You have stated:
"God would rather people come to Him on their own accord, this is his benevolent nature and His gift to us of free will and free choice. So why ignore this message which came directly from God Himself? Why do you preach?"
You are saying that God would rather have the people come to Him, but you are ignoring the most basic and obvious fact that Krishna Himself took the time and trouble to come to us by appearing within this material world to deliver the message of the Bhagavad-gita. To reconfirm this principle of the absolute necessity of spreading Krishna consciousness Lord Krishna reappeared 500 years ago as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and ordered us to tell everyone we meet about the teachings of Lord Krishna.
Lord Krishna is unlimitedly compassionate, and so are His devotees. This is why they do not remain silent while the ignorant masses are continually being smashed by the repetition of birth and death. When there is an epidemic, compassionate doctors rush to the scene to inoculate everyone to save their lives. Similarly the Lord and His devotees manifest compassion upon the ignorant masses by broadcasting widely the transcendental teachings of the Bhagavad-gita.
You are saying, "Why disobey God's orders?" One should not disobey God's orders. Lord Caitanya has ordered that everyone who has taken birth in the holy land of India should make their life perfect and spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. If you were born in India and are not spreading Krishna consciousness, I could thus ask you why you are disobeying God's orders.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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