Hare Krishna ! All glories to Shrila Prabhupada !
I had a question and would be grateful if someone would answer it.
Lord Krishna is our eternal well wisher therefore He gives us only what we need (i.e devotional service) and not what we want(i.e material attachments that take us away from Krishna). This gives so much satisfaction because there may be so many attachments which can take us away from Krishna but since Lord Krishna does not give what we want and gives only what we need so I feel safe on this path.
However there is a contradictory statement in Prema Vivarta which is as follows-
"O Sanatkumara, my dear spiritual master, kindly enumerate the different offenses to the holy name. Chanting the holy name is the prime duty and religious practice of the jiva and his ultimate shelter. Caution must be taken that the aspiring devotee is not thrust down into maya due to offenses. Offenses can misguide the devotee into believing that chanting is a mundane activity. In this way, he ends up with meagre material benefits from chanting, depriving him of real benediction."
Here it is clearly stated that Naam Prabhu gives us everything that we want and not necessarily what we need therefore it is adviced here to be very careful by asking only for love of God. I really request if someone could could guide me with these contradictory statements.
Sincerely,
Mihir.
Replies
Hare Krishna,
If you read the purport on chaturshloka in Srimad Bhagwatam by Srila Prabhupada, there it is mentioned if you are in bhakti then Krishna will like you to have his form. His form consists all opulents. Even though we cant be as opulent as Krishna, but the spark comes to his devotees. Its like if you take a cloth near fire, the heat burns the cloth and so the cloth gets the property of fire. Its true that even in Bhakti you will get opulence based on the designation that has been given to you by Krishna.
Krishna takes away everything when he loves some one temporarily....think of Srila Prabhupada. But what you see in the end Srila Prabhupada established a multi billion dollar institution called 'ISKCON'. Krishna's spark caused such a big empire. But he has gone through difficulty temporarily.
Hari Bola.
YS
my humble obeisances dear Devotees, All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
The question was answered nicely.
But still wanted to write for my own purification.
If Krishna used to give me what i wanted then maybe i would be completely other person or even not a person but animal...so sad. Because i do not know future, past and present even. I do not know what is correct and what is not by my own. But Krishna knows.
Because my senses are imperfect i may commit many mistakes even in selecting some desires to be fulfilled.
Also we have to be attentive in our life. Krishna maybe already is giving what we are asking but because of our inattention we do not see them. Yes, Krishna might be giving all that what we desired but problem might be in our own ignorance - dark covering which is covering the light to see.
So we have to be sensitive. But Krishna might give but at the same time He might not force us to take...He keeps some other details to us also. For example, mother feeds her baby with her hands selecting the best part of the food but it is the duty of a child to open his mouth and chew that, isn't it?!
Your servant,
Dear Mihir Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Here is what I know..
If devotee is sincere and endeavors to chant purely, then Krishna will only give devotional service and will not fulfill those desires that could take us away from Krishna.
As you probably know, there are 3 stages of chanting: namaparadha (offensive), namabhasa (trying to avoid offenses) and suddha nama (pure chanting). Suddha nama only gives devotee pure love for Krishna. Namabhasa can bring devotee to pure chanting. But namaparadha will not give so much progress in devotional service, though it can fulfill different material desires.
So it depends on the sincerity of the person. Krishna does not force anybody to serve Him and love Him. If devotee maintains different attachements and material conceptions while chanting, it means he is on the level of namaparadha, and Krishna may give them material benefits, but not love for Him, because they do not really want it. But if a devotee is sincere about achieving pure devotional service, he will endeavor to avoid offenses, and Krishna will reciprocate accordingly by bringing them gradually to pure devotion.
Hopefully this helps you in some way
Your humble servant, Mldd