Question: You gave an example of Vyasadeva, who compiled the Vedic literatures and Narada Muni said it was all useless because it didn’t have a connection to the Supreme Lord, so is there any use of propagating Ayurveda, Yoga and things like that, to attract people or better we should represent pure devotional service?
His Holiness Bhakti Bhringa Govinda Swami: We should always represent pure devotional service. There’s no question about that. We’re not here to teach people how to make money. We’re not here just to teach people how to be healthy. We’re not here to teach people how to become fertile and have more children. We’re here to teach people how to become devotees of Krishna.
You see, but there are some aspects of Vedic culture which people do find attractive. So therefore will show those to people in order to attract them.
It’s just like in Gita Krishna tells Arjuna, He says “In the beginning of the creation I sent forth the generations of demigods and sacrifices to be performed.
He said “Be thou happy by the performance of sacrifice”
But this is not necessarily what Krishna wants us to do that we would perform Vedic sacrifice. Ultimately what does Krishna wants us to do? Can anyone remember the verse from the Bhagavad-Gita that will read last night?
Krishna wants full surrender, exactly.
Krishna doesn’t want that we just do some yajna so that we could go to material heaven. Krishna wants full surrender, so that we can come into a relationship with him.
Like we see the examples of Krishna’s great devotees. We see the standard of sacrifice they are willing to perform. The sacrifices that they perform that’s illuminated in the shastra. So we should understand that a high level of sacrifice is required if we wish to enter into a relationship with God.
Like the sacrifice of the happiness of family or material society, or material friends, or material wealth and all those different things. So a very high level of sacrifice is required.
But still Krishna says then you should do some yajna and by the performance of the yajna you will be happy. What is the psychology attached to that? That if you perform yajna you will associate with the learned people or Brahmans. And even though you are performing some ritual – the Brahmans will give you a higher instruction.
So we can give some instruction in yoga, we can teach people about ayurveda, because it is the natural way by which people can heal themselves, but we will always try to get people to chant the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, taking Srila Prabhupada’s books.
See we have to remain focused on that, otherwise it just becomes mundane. Unless we are focused on preaching and giving Krishna Consciousness – it becomes mundane. And then we see that we become materialistic, devotees just become progressively more and more materialistic and they forget the process that “I’m here to make a sacrifice”.
Anything we can use in Krishna’s service, but we will use these things to attract people and engage people in the Lord’s pure devotional service.
Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=65054
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