“Some people, who are puffed up due to wealth, knowledge, education, beauty, etc., judge others by their material skills. But Lord Krsna and His devotees do not judge people by material results.”

Welcome to the KrishnaSoft’s Electronic Newsletter. This is the September 1999 issue entitled: “No Material Qualifications Are Needed to Serve Krsna!.” WEB: http://www.krishnasoft.com; EMAIL: krishna@krishnasoft.com or vdayal@castle.net.

This newsletter now goes to over 1100 people who either have an interest in Vedic science and/or spiritually entertaining multimedia technology.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: (1) No Material Qualifications Are Needed to Serve Krsna! (2) Vedic Astronomy Simulation (3) Feedback: Miscellaneous (4) Editorial Policy and Product List

1. NO MATERIAL QUALIFICATIONS ARE NEEDED TO SERVE KRSNA!

[The following is the tenth of a series of articles to present to the benefits of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The multimedia Krsna CDROM published by Krishnasoft presents the summary of the 10th Canto with parts from the 5th Canto of this great spiritual masterpiece.]

In the August 1999 issue, we discussed how devotional service is never lost and is the ultimate goal of life. It’s also important to note that one need not be well-educated or have some big qualifications to engage in devotional service:

“The Personality of Godhead may not be present before one’s eyes, but if one is sincere in wanting such guidance the Lord will send a bona fide person who can guide one properly back home, back to Godhead. There is no need of material qualifications for making progress on the path of spiritual realization. In the material world, when one accepts some particular type of service, he is required to possess some particular type of qualification also. Without this one is unfit for such service. But in the devotional service of the Lord the only qualification required is surrender. Surrendering oneself is in one’s own hand. If one likes, he can surrender immediately, without delay, and that begins his spiritual life. The bona fide representative of God is as good as God Himself. Or, in other words, the loving representative of the Lord is more kind and more easy to approach. A sinful soul cannot approach the Lord directly, but such a sinful man can very easily approach a pure devotee of the Lord. And if one agrees to put himself under the guidance of such a devotee of the Lord, he can also understand the science of God and can also become like the transcendental pure devotee of the Lord and thus get his liberation back to Godhead, back home for eternal happiness.” (Bhag. 2.7.46)

The main point is to receive our devotional service from the disciplic succession or from Lord Krsna and become fixed in this service. Some people, who are puffed up due to wealth, knowledge, education, beauty, etc., judge others by their material skills. But Lord Krsna and His devotees do not judge people by material results. The material skills or material position may or may not be present.

“Sri Ramananda Raya was a self-realized soul, although outwardly he belonged to a caste lower than the brahmana in social status... Still, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted him as a liberated soul on the strength of the high order of his realization of transcendental knowledge... The Lord’s ONLY CRITERION was the standard of devotional service of the particular person. He was not concerned with the outward dress of a man; He was concerned only with the inner soul and its activities.” (Bhag. Intro)

Once a south Indian brahmana was ordered by his spiritual master to read the Bhagavad-gita although he was illiterate. So he just carried out the order of his spiritual master without wasting time getting a formal education. And Lord Krsna made up for his lack of education and the brahmana attained the ultimate goal of studying all the scriptures. Although some people may think that a person who is well-educated has a better shot at understanding spiritual life and the scriptures, this example proves that the only thing required is surrender to the instructions of Lord Krsna as received through the bona-fide spiritual master:

“If one has unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord and the spiritual master, the essence of all Vedic knowledge is revealed to him.” (Bhag. 5.1.6)

So knowledge is also automatically attained by engaging in devotional service. There is no separate endeavor needed for acquiring knowledge. Whatever knowledge or material assets one already has one can use in Lord Krsna’s service but no new material assets are needed to serve Lord Krsna. In fact, desiring high education and material assets usually makes one proud and impedes one’s spiritual progress:

“My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.” (Bhag. 1.8.26)

“It is said in the sastras that by once uttering the holy name of the Lord, the sinner gets rid of a quantity of sins that he is unable to commit. Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually, the Lord’s holy name has such powerful potency. But there is a QUALITY to such utterances also. It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great material satisfaction cannot be so sincere.” (Bhag. 1.8.26)

Lord Krsna is more interested in the quality of one’s devotional service or love and devotion rather than the quantity or the material results:

“The almighty God is thus conquered only loving service and nothing else.” (Bhag. 1.8.45)

Lord Krsna is self-sufficient; He does not need anything to be done:

“The Supreme Lord Krsna is described herein as atmarama. He is self-sufficient, and there is no need for Him to seek happiness from anything beyond Himself. He is self-sufficient because His very transcendental existence is total bliss. He is eternally existent; He is all-cognizant and all-blissful. Therefore, any presentation, HOWEVER VALUABLE it may be, is not needed by Him. But still, because He is the well-wisher for one and all, He accepts from everyone everything that is offered to Him in pure devotional service. It is not that He is in want for such things, because the things are themselves generated from His energy.” (Bhag. 1.11.5)

For example, Duryodhana made a large feast to offer to Lord Krsna but he had ulterior motives rather than that of serving Lord Krsna. So Lord Krsna took a simple meal with Vidura instead. Similarly, He accepted the chipped rice of the brahmana Sudama, although it was not up to the standard of what a person of the royal order would accept. Since the pure devotee’s interests are one with Lord Krsna, a pure devotee also accepts the devotional service of the person rather than the material results. For example, Srila Prabhupada published earlier editions of his books with ‘mistakes’. So he accepted the devotional service of the editors although there was room for improving the service. But he never hired people and paid them to make professional versions of his books because the results are not as important as the devotion. When one refuses to perform his devotional service unless he is paid, it means the devotional service is not as important to him

© CHAKRA 22-Sep-1999

Go to the “Resources Page”