Warning: Do Not Look at Govinda

As quoted by Srila Rupa Goswami, one gopi warned her gopi girlfriend:

"My dear friend, if you still have any inclination to enjoy material society, friendship, and love, then please do not look at the smiling face of Govinda as He stands on the bank of the Yamuna at Kesighat. Casting sidelong glances, He places His flute to His lips, which seem like newly blossomed twigs. His transcendental body, bending in three places, appears very bright in the moonlight."

This is reverse psychology. This gopi is giving the greatest encouragement to her gopi friend to go and behold the most beautiful smiling face of Govinda by advising her not to go. It is a fact that once we get a taste of Krishna's sublime beauty we will never again be attracted to or satisfied by the so-called attractive things of this world.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Govinda on the Bank of the Yamuna River

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Survival Without Making Money?

I totally agree that this material world is a place of bad association and that our consciousness is affected by our many hours of daily association at our jobs with the materialists.

You said, "Your life should not be centered around earning your livelihood. It must be centered instead on awakening the dormant Krishna consciousness, which is currently sound asleep within your heart. This will give you a life of unbelievably stimulating happiness."

I am earning my livelihood by working, but my mornings and evenings are spent at least in doing some devotional services like chanting, taking care of the altar, cooking prasadam and offering it to the Supreme Lord etc. My question is: If we give up the aspect of earning money for our livelihood, how can we survive?

Your servant,

Lakshmi

Answer: Survival Depends on God, Not Money

I do not say that you should give up making money. Money is a necessary medium of exchange in today's society. I simply say that making money should not be the center or purpose of your life. Rather, your life should be centered on life's ultimate goal, namely to go back to home, back to Godhead. It is only by seriously adopting this purpose that you will attain genuine happiness. This is the only lifestyle that makes sense, because God is the actual provider of all your necessities, not your job. If there were no food, air, and water supplied by God, do you think that you could survive even for one moment by the money you earn at your job? We cannot breathe money, drink money, or eat money. Therefore money is always of secondary importance, while serving God is of primary importance.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari