The subtle workings of

Date: 2002-08-19 Author: Devakinandana das

Hare Prabhus and Matajis! Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Gurudev!

Gurudev lectures that how bhakti actually works in our lives and purifies us is mysterious and subtle - somehow or other we cannot perceive it but it works on us.To this effect, Gurudev quotes 1.5.18 of Srimad Bhagavatam:

tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ tal labhyate duḥkhavad anyataḥ sukhaṁ kālena sarvatra gabhīra-raṁhasā

Persons who are actually intelligent and philosphically inclined should endeavor only for that purposeful end which is not obtainable even by wandering from the topmost planet (Brahmaloka) down to the lowest planet (Patala). As far as happiness derived from sense enjoyment is concerned, it can be obtained automatically in course of time, just as in course of time we obtain miseries even though we do not desire them.

Gurudev stated that the last line of this verse, in the transliteration, is significant because the words "gabhira ramhasa " mean "subtly" and "progress" - this is how bhakti devoid of sense enjoyment works on the living entity - subtly and in time "kalena".

Prabhupada gave this nice story:

"There was a thief who heard the description of Krsna and how richly decorated He was with all the different kinds of jewels when He goes to tend His cows. So the thief thought that he should go after this boy and steal His jewels. He went to Vrndavana, all the time meditating on one objective "I must see the boy. I must see the boy." When he saw Krsna, he began to sweet talk and flatter Him and asked baby Krsna for His jewels. Krsna acted like a child, so He said, "No.My mother will scold Me." So like this for the whole day the thief tried to persuade Krsna. AT the end of the day, Krsna suddenly turned and told the thief, "Here take the jewels now!" By then , the thief had become purified somehow or other by Krsna and he became a devotee instead of a thief!"

Prabhupada points out that the thief's qualification was his eagerness to see Krsna. Then when He saw Him, he became purified.

That is the subtle way association with Krsna i.e devotional service penetrates our lives! Elsewhere in C.C Madhya lila 20:63, Prabhupada states that Krsna, "...staying in the heart of everyone, works very gravely. No one can understand how He is working, but as soon as the Lord understands the sincere activity of a person in devotional service, He helps him in such a way that the devotee cannot understand how things are happening. If the devotee is determine to serve the Lord, the Lord is always prepared to help him...."

"...Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is telling Sanatana how merciful the Lord is. Sanatana Goswami was a minister in service of Nawab Hussain Shah. He was always mixing with people materially inclined, particularly meat-eaters. ALthough he was in intimate touch with them, by Krsna's mercy he came to find such association distasteful. Therefore he left them. Krsna enlightened Sanatana Goswami in such a way that he was able to give up his exalted post as minister...." This is the import of "gabhira ramhasa" - the subtle effects of bhakti on the living entity - and the mercy of our spiritual master for revealing this to our dull and materially inclined minds!

Your servant, Devakinandana das