The paro dharma or loving devotional service to Supreme Lord Adhoksaja should be done in an unmotivated manner and without any interruptions. Such unconditional service is not dependent on the type of ashram one is situated in. In previous offering we saw how the type of profession we are occupied with is not a hindrance to spiritual progress as long as we do with devotion.
We found a wonderful piece of treasure in Maharaj's diary which is originally taken from an article by H D G Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur about the transcendental qualities of Sri Krishna as exhibited in the 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.
But mature understanding of activity means to take it as our occupational duty. That is to say, suppose I am established as good carpenter, then it will be foolish if after some time I am thinking, "Oh, I have done this cutting of woods so many times, now it is becoming boring and uninteresting, therefore let me become a doctor,"
Srila Prabhupada in one of his letter to his disciples on January 2 1972 very nicely mentions the difference between the competitive spirit in the material world and that in the spiritual world. His Divine Grace writes...
There are so many obstacles which Mother Ganges faces on her way to the ocean. But she never gets stuck anywhere and she just keeps moving on steadily to the ocean. Likewise we must also not get stuck by unfavourable people or circumstance around us and remembering our ultimate goal just proceed on with bhakti.
It is the duty of every responsible Indian to broadcast the transcendental message of Srimad-Bhagavatam throughout the world to do all the supermost good as well as to bring about the desired peace in the world.
Today one devotee shared a very nice story with us. Once there was a man who was traveling from one place to another. On the way, he had to cross a forest. As he was very tired, he wanted to rest under a tree. While resting he could see a wolf with broken legs sitting under another tree.
Prescribed duties and devotional service goes hand in hand. Kapila Muni goes on to explain how we should regularly perform devotional service and engage in deity worship.
Let us try to meditate on some of the important lessons which we can learn from this verse. His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada mentions nicely in the purport that a devotee must execute his prescribed duties.
Become My devotees by hearing and chanting about Me and offering Me prayers, for these are certainly meant to award benedictions to all living entities.
By the unlimited causeless mercy of our spiritual masters, Srila Prabhupada and the Supreme Lord, many of us have either deities or pictures of the Lord at home and we have the fortune that first thing in the morning, we are having darshan of the Lord.
This straying away of the calves, being allured by green grass can be compared to the living entities who stray away from Krishna looking for pleasure in sense gratification.
You are devoting to work and that is 'devotee'. Because that is your main duty. And prescribed duty must be over-coated with this thinking of others and doing your duties immaculately well.
This is how Indian people work. I remember there is a corner shop in England near the tube station wherein they sell sweets, ciagrettes, newspapers etc. There would be daily customers and if the customer on his way to catch the trains, shouts from outside - "Hey Patel, I want newspaper".
Suppose you work very carefully for 12 months or 2 years or 4 years, then you may have Krishna's mercy and get some amount at your disposal, so that amount will help you to get Krishna book and you read for one year. You leave the job and read for one year.
On the back of tortoise, the whole of Mandara mountain was put because nobody was able to carry the Mandara mountain. When the demons and demigods wanted to carry the Mandara mountain, they were crushed under it.
To remember the Lord, there is one very nice verse which tells us how we should meditate on Him. We have full idea that He has ten main incarnations. And those ten incarnations are given in one verse.
You go on reciting daily and that is direct association of Krishna. Bhagavatam is about Krishna and since it is about Krishna, it is non-different from Krishna.
Ours is a preaching society. We don't sit silent. We speak about Krishna to anybody. And when you speak, you realise your own knowledge more correctly.
Do you have temple there? How many temples are there? (Devotee replied that there is farm community, temple in the farm community and one in the city) In London also we have temple in the city and one in the farm as well.
But you need so much time to think about it. And then we have to derive the practical instruction from the gopis. Because unless you derive practical realisation, then it will be just speculation.
This is biphale sevinu - without any serious consideration of whom to apply the glorification, we just apply to the wrong person and here Prabhupada insists in purport that glorification must go to Krishna and we remember one verse in 10th Canto about the jaya - glorification.
Devotional service, which is based on the foreground of full knowledge combined with detachment from material association and which is fixed by the aural reception of the Vedanta shruti, is the only perfect method by which the seriously inquisitive student can realize the Absolute Truth.
The thing is there are living cells in our body. Crores of living cells. Millions and millions of living cells. This body has so many living entity already staying in it. This, we don't have a idea at all. We don't even know what we are carrying with our body.
The first thing that troubles us is kshut - hunger. We have eaten so much food, we don't know how many trucks of rice we have digested so far - This is kshut.
One of the duties of a brahmana is to consume other people's sins, just like an incinerator. If he doesn't do anything to eradicate the accepted sin, the brahmana will fall down.
The dharma shastras says that if we offend another person unjustly, for example by faultfinding him or lying to him, and also in the case of mistreating a guest, our stock of good karma goes over to to the person injured by our offence, while at the same time his bad karma is transferred to us.