Unlimited Beautiful Colors

As a college student I studied so many different philosophers: the Greek and Roman philosophers, the medieval and renaissance philosophers, and the modern ones as well. But after wading through all of that philosophical verbiage I found that I was still not even one step closer to understanding the truth. These were supposed to be great authorities for understanding what is reality. But yet they were themselves so much in the dark. How could they possibly lead us out of the ignorance? But then by the grace of Lord Sri Krishna I came into contact with a bona fide spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who clearly revealed to me in no uncertain terms what is reality and what is illusion. Simply by hearing from this great teacher everything became crystal clear. Now by his grace I am no longer confused. There are no more shades of gray. By seeing clearly the black and white distinction between reality and illusion now I can experience the unlimited beautiful colors of eternal existence.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Which is Most Important: Service, Pastimes, or Philosophy?

One of my associates has a doubt. He wants to know which is more important: Krishna's pastimes, Krishna's teachings, or service to Krishna.

If a person doesn't know Krishna's pastimes, how he can develop love for Krishna?

If he doesn't know the philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita, how can he understand the goal of life?

And, if he doesn't do any service, how will he ever develop the mode of surrender?

Among the devotees here there are some who work very hard to do services like cooking, cleaning, etc. They do not know so much philosophy or about Krishna's pastimes.

And there are those who know more philosophy and who are always read for kirtan and dancing, but are not ready to work hard.

What is the most important?

Your humble servant,

AGD

Answer: All Three, But Especially Service is Important

In the ultimate analysis service always wins. Bhakti yoga means devotional service. If we do not develop a taste for doing service to Krishna we must remain in this material existence birth after birth. Krishna says to give up everything else and dedicate yourself fully to serving Him 24 hours daily. But to understand the philosophy and pastimes of Krishna are also equally important, because without this knowledge and inspiration it is difficult to give one's entire life to serving Krishna. Therefore, the answer is that all three of them are the most important, but if you can only do one of them, service should always be given the first consideration. One who develops a good service mood can dive the most deeply into the unlimited ocean of Krishna's teachings and pastimes. Those without a service mood can only skim the surface of that unlimited ocean of transcendental bliss.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari