As the Ganges Flows to the Sea

Just as a river is flowing constantly to the sea, the devotee's heart is always flowing closer and closer to Krishna. In this connection Queen Kunti has prayed as follows:

tvayi me 'nanya-viṣayā
matir madhu-pate 'sakṛt
ratim udvahatād addhā
gaṅgevaugham udanvati

"O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else."
--Srimad Bhagavatam SB 1.8.42

In this way Krishna consciousness is never stagnant. It is ever-increasing, dynamic, and ecstatic.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sunset over the River Ganges Mayapur, West Bengal, India

Sunset over the River Ganges Mayapur, West Bengal, India

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Desire for Profit, Adoration, and Fame

My dear Srila Gurudeva,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to You! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Our past acaryas have mentioned that there are 3 weeds that grow well along with bhakti (due to nama aparadha) and choke the devotional creeper:

1. Desire for profit
2. Desire for adoration and worship
3. Desire for name fame, fame, distinction, prestige..

Like lust, anger and greed, can the above bad qualities also be used in Krishna's service in order to become purified? Or should a devotee try to cut them out completely from the root?

Your servant,
Bhaktivinode das

Answer: Only for Krishna, Not For Ourselves

For Krishna's sake we can desire unlimited profit. If we can acquire millions and billions of dollars, we can use this to push forward the Krishna consciousness movement. But we should not collect a penny for our own sense gratification. For ourselves we should accept only what is necessary to keep body and soul together and nothing beyond that.

We want to see that everyone adores and worships Krishna, but we should not desire any adoration or worship for ourselves. In this way all name, fame, distinction, and prestige should be offered to Krishna. It is natural that someone who preaches the glories of Krishna all over the world will become famous. Such fame should only be utilized for awakening the fallen, conditioned souls to Krishna consciousness. It should never be utilized for one's sense gratification. If it is thus misused, the preacher will lose his Krishna consciousness and fall back down again into material existence.

Srila Prabhupada taught us by his ideal example how not to be carried away by fame. Whenever he was glorified for his amazing accomplishment of spreading the Krishna consciousness movement all over the world, he would never accept the credit for this. He would always say that it was by the mercy of his Guru Maharaja and that if he had any credit at all, it was only that he always obeyed his spiritual master's instructions.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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