Serve Your Senses or Your Guru's Mission?

In this material world we are all inclined due to heavy conditioning since time immemorial to serve our material senses. In Sanskrit language this is called indriya-seva. Indriya means senses, and seva means service. Although superficially this indriya-seva seems very pleasurable, the end result is most inauspicious because it intensely reinforces our false identification with our material bodies and thus paves our pathway to hell. Hell means an animal body in our next birth.

If instead of serving our senses we serve the mission of our spiritual master to make this world Krishna conscious, our lives will be most glorious now in our present bodies and forevermore in our eternal spiritual bodies. Therefore the sincere disciple always prays that he can be fully absorbed body, mind, and words in serving his spiritual master's mission 24 hours daily. Such a disciple will taste the highest bliss at every moment and will be constantly in the direct association of Krishna.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Srila Prabhupada Walks With His Disciples

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: Why in Vedas Demigods are Described as Supreme?

In Devi-Bhagavatam it is said that Durga devi is the origin of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Even in the Shiva Purana Vishnu is made lower than Lord Shiva. There are stories describing this. Why Lord Vishnu is made subservient in the scriptures which are in the tamasic or rajasic mode? How to properly explain this when speaking with devotees of Lord Shiva or Durga Devi.?

Yours in service
Vishnu C.

Answer: Different Level Lessons for Different Level Students

An arithmetic teacher may tell her beginning students when first teaching them subtraction that one cannot subtract a number from a number smaller than itself. In other words, you can subtract four from five, but you cannot subtract six from five. She instructs them like this because on the beginning level the students will not be able to understand what is a negative number. But later on when the students are more advanced, the teacher will tell that them you can subtract six from five with the result being a negative one.

In a similar way the Vedic scriptures sometimes teach those who are still materially attached that a certain demigod is the Supreme God. This is for the purpose of making them strong in their faith to that particular demigod so that they will strictly follow regulative principles at that level for gradually coming to the transcendental platform on which they desire to become free material desires and liberated from this material existence. At this stage the actual truth is revealed that Vishnu or Krishna is truly the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari