A Devotee Has No Enemies

A devotee is not inimical towards anyone, even those who are inimical towards him because he sees that everything is acting, working under the arrangement and sanction of the Lord. Therefore his mind is always peaceful, even under the most trying of circumstances. He sees that everything has been directly arranged by His all-merciful Lord for his deliverance back to the transcendental kingdom of God as soon as possible. In this connection there is a wonderful verse in the Srimad Bhagavatam as follows:

titikṣavaḥ kāruṇikāḥ
suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām
ajāta-śatravaḥ śāntāḥ
sādhavaḥ sādhu-bhūṣaṇāḥ

"The symptoms of a sādhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime."
--Srimad Bhagavatam 3.25.21

The beauty of this process of Krishna consciousness is that even if one is the most degraded ruffian, if he will sincerely follow the path of bhakti, he will in due course of time become a great personality possessing all saintly qualities as described in this verse.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sharing the Secrets of Bhakti in Riga, Latvia--5 April 2009

Sharing the Secrets of Bhakti in Riga, Latvia--5 April 2009

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Abandoning Non-Devotee Association?

In verse #3 of the Nectar of Instruction Srila Rupa Goswami lists the six favorable principles for the successful execution of pure devotional service. The fifth principle is abandoning the association of non-devotees. In order to become successful in devotional service one has to give up the association of unwanted persons. This includes karmis, jnanis and other non-devotees. Sri Caitanya defines a Vaisnava as someone who gives up the association with worldly people. What does this mean? How does it apply?

In what of the nine stages of bhakti would I fall under, if any, and if I didn't, would that mean you will have to no longer associate with me?

Your eternal servant,
Buddy

Answer: Transform Them Into Devotees

Don't worry. I will never want to give up the association of such a sincere soul as you. Giving up the association of non-devotees means not to take shelter of their association. It does not mean to stop being a merciful, loving person. Lord Caitanya has ordered His devotees to liberally associate with everyone for the sake of giving them the ultimate shelter of Krishna consciousness. To do this is genuine loving kindness.

The point is that instead of associating with non-devotees and engaging with them in non-devotional activities, the devotees associate with the non-devotees for the purpose of engaging them in devotional activities and thereby gradually and naturally transforming them into devotees. Therefore there is no one more loving and kind than the devotees.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Little Sparrow Who Conquered the Ocean

Image
In his purport to Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 6, Text 24 Srila Prabhupada wonderfully teaches us the power of determinations by telling us the story of the little sparrow who conquered the ocean: "As for determination, one should follow the example of the sparrow who lost her eggs in the waves of the ocean. A sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean, but the big ocean carried away the eggs on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal. So the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean. She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuda, the gigantic bird carrier of Lord Visnu, heard it. He became compassionate toward his small sister bird, and so he came to see the sparrow. Garuda was very pleased by the determination of the small sparrow, and he promised to help. Thus Garuda at once asked t
Read more

Heart Melting Reunion with Amarendra and Gayatri

Image
On Friday 26 June 2015 I was blessed with the greatest good fortune of meeting with two of the dearest devotees of my entire life, His Grace Amarendra Prabhu and his good wife, Srimati Gayatri devi dasi. I am eternally indebted to these great souls for how much they helped me in my spiritual life when I was a young devotee. When I was young brahmacari monk in 1973 I joined with the two of them in Gainesville, Florida. We were a three person preaching center, and they were just like a mother and father to me. I had so many wonderful Krishna conscious experiences in their association that I can hardly begin to describe them here. But at least may it suffice for me to say for now that Gayatri taught me what it means to be a soft-hearted devotee of the Lord and she gave me my first cooking lesson, teaching me how to make cauliflower pakoras, and Amarendra taught me the art of how to preach strongly, intelligently, and coolly to defeat opposing arguments. Recently Gayatri almost died. But
Read more

Misguided Fools Say that Masturbation is Healthy

Image
Foolish modern day materialists recommend masturbation as follows: "Masturbation is a common activity. It’s a natural and safe way to explore your body, feel pleasure, and release built-up sexual tension. It occurs among people of all backgrounds, genders, and races. Despite the myths, there are actually no physically harmful side effects of masturbation." They are wrong. To get a proper understanding on this this topic read the question and answer section below. Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom Question: What are the Ill Effects of Masturbation? Since you answered questions related to understanding the real need of sex in a human being's life, so I also request you to please enlighten us with the knowledge about semen conservation, it's importance, and the consequences of frequently releasing it thorough sex or masturbation. Since today most of the youth are indulged in mansturbation and they think it to be good in comparison to doing sex with some female for
Read more