Hare Krishna,
BG2.47:
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
SB1.7.7:
Simply by giving aural reception to this Vedic literature, the feeling for loving devotional service to Lord Krsna,the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire of lamentation, illusion and fearfulness.
Now if the results mentioned in SB1.7.7 is not happening, then we can say that chanting/hearing was not submissive. Will these tests violate BG2.47 instructions ? Is looking for results (like love for God, peace of mind, get rid of frustration etc.) against BG2.47 ? Or can chanting/hearing be categorised as prescribed duty if done as routine work ?
Replies
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
What we need to do is differentiate between material hankering and spiritual hankering. If you have read the pastimes of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He was forever in bhaav, Krsna where are You and becoming unconscious. Isnt that hankering? That hankering is required and that is what we should aim for. That hankering is for love of God.
Results like peace of mind is more on the impersonal platform, where we simply want to to get rid of our material problems. Peace of mind does not mean attaining Godhead. In fact, there was no peace of mind for the gopis, mother Yashoda or Radharani. They willingly traded that peace of mind for the pain that love brings (in different rasas). Bhakti is not peace of mind prabhuji, it involves all emotions. The only difference is - all emotions are for Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Get rid of frustration is a by product of both peace of mind and love of God.
Chanting/ hearing is the yuga dharma. It is what every jiva has to do. By prescribed duty, we mean that duty as per our varna ashram - like being a student, being a grihasta working in an office or having a business - that karma is normally referred to as prescribed duty. Its more on the bodily platform, whereas hearing/ chanting is on the spiritual platform.
Pls read Instruction 3 of Nectar of Instruction - it mentions utsah, dhairya and niscaya - enthusiasm, patience and determination as the 3 qualities required in a devotee.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
Thank you very much mata for your kind words. With this, I got some idea towards setting my aim against yuga dharma.
- Hare Krishna!