Always Serve the Devotees

If you want to be a devotee of Krishna, you must first become the devotee of the devotees of Krishna, otherwise He will not accept that you are devoted to Him. From Srimad Bhagavatam 9.4.68 we can understand why it is like this:

sādhavo hṛdayaṁ mahyaṁ
sādhūnāṁ hṛdayaṁ tv aham
mad-anyat te na jānanti
nāhaṁ tebhyo manāg api

"My devotees are always in My heart, and I am always in the heart of My devotees. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anyone else but them."

Just see how dear the devotees are to Krishna. Therefore if you neglect them and try to approach Krishna, He will neglect you. But when you please them by loving service, Krishna is exceedingly pleased with you and showers His unlimited blessings upon you.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Lecture at Anantara Center--Kaunas, Lithuania--16 October 2014Sankarshan Das Lecture at Anantara Center

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: Is Material Pleasure False or Real?

Dear Guru Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada

I have heard in Bhagavad-gita classes that "this world is a reflection of the spiritual reality, just like the reflection of a tree on a river bank. Instead of enjoying the fruits on the real tree we are hankering after the fruits in the reflection and simply banging our head on the rocks because there is no fruit at all in the reflection." But, we do get some enjoyment in, say, eating some nice sweet. Everyone tastes its sweetness. Its not that someone finds it illusory and hence does not eat any sweet. So, my question is that is the enjoyment in this world completely false and illusory like a mirage in a desert, or is there some tangible amount of water present in the desert?

Please clear my confusion and teach me the right understanding.

Your servant,
Sushant

Answer: Real But Totally Insignificant and Inconsequential

The pleasure of this material world is very puny and insignificant just like a drop of water in the desert. Just as that water drop cannot save the life of a man dying of thirst in the desert, in the same way all of the pleasures of this material world even up to the point of becoming Lord Brahma, the predominating demigod of this universe, cannot give genuine satisfaction to the living beings. So there is a such a thing as material pleasure. But it is so insignificant and inconsequential that it is not even worth giving it any serious consideration.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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