Qualification for Devotional Service - Part 1 Date: 2015-03-13 Author: Narahari Krishna das Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. The Lord clearly states in the Gita and Bhagavatam that He can be understood only by devotional service. Any amount of material qualifications without devotional service cannot please Him. At the same time, if a person has unalloyed love for the Lord even if he does not have any material qualifications, the Lord is very pleased with Him and showers His grace for the devotee to reach Him. This is stated by the great devotee Prahlada Maharaja in Srimad Bhagavatam verse 7.9.9 as follows: manye dhanābhijana-rūpa-tapaḥ-śrutaujas- tejaḥ-prabhāva-bala-pauruṣa-buddhi-yogāḥ nārādhanāya hi bhavanti parasya puṁso bhaktyā tutoṣa bhagavān gaja-yūtha-pāya Prahlada Maharaja continued: One may possess wealth, an aristocratic family, beauty, austerity, education, sensory expertise, luster, influence, physical strength, diligence, intelligence and mystic yogic power, but I think that even by all these qualifications one cannot satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, one can satisfy the Lord simply by devotional service. Gajendra did this, and thus the Lord was satisfied with him. Srila Prabhupada explains in the commentary to the verse, "In a prayer to Krishna expressing her feelings, Srimati Kuntidevi called Him akincana-gocara. The prefix a means "not" and kincana means "something of this material world." One may be very proud of his prestigious position, material wealth, beauty, education and so on, but although these are certainly good qualifications in material dealings, they are not necessary for achieving friendship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who possesses all these material qualities is expected to become a devotee, and when he actually does, the qualities are properly utilized." As our beloved spiritual master HH Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj says, "If you have material qualifications, please use them in Krishna's service. If you don't have any, don't worry. Just forget about everything and run towards Krishna." But it is difficult to gain faith in this statement. Because we usually see that devotees who have better material qualifications or material situation do more service or usually their service is, 'more visible', than the service rendered by devotees who have low material profile and who struggle in their lives. So usually devotional service is judged in terms of external success which are mostly related to one's material qualifications. This may be true from the worldly point of view. But from the Supreme Lord's point of view, the real success is in terms of the love we have developed for the Lord which may or may not be reflected in one's external success. But when we look only at external success and become enamored by it, then in the pretext of praying for sincere bhakti, we usually start praying for better material qualifications/situation so that we can perform better bhakti. Srila Rupa Goswami in his prayers called Padyavali says as follows: vyādhasyācaraṇaṁ dhruvasya ca vayo vidyā gajendrasya kā kubjāyāḥ kim u nāma rūpam adhikaṁ kiṁ tat sudāmno dhanam vaṁsaḥ ko vidurasya yādava-pater ugrasya kim pauruṣaṁ bhaktyā tuṣyati kevalaṁ na ca guṇair bhakti-priyo mādhavaḥ If the Supreme Lord would can be pleased with only good occupation, then where is the good occupation of Dharmavyadha (the butcher). If age is the qualification for pleasing the Lord, then where is the age of Dhruva Maharaja (who was only five)? If material knowledge is the qualification for pleasing Him, then what knowledge Gajendra possessed? If physical beauty is the qualification to please God, then what beauty Kubja possessed? If the Lord can be pleased only by wealth, then what wealth Sudhama possessed? If the Lord can be pleased by the persons born in high class families, then what high birth Vidura had? If the Lord can only be pleased by great physical power then what prowess Ugrasena had? Lord Sri Madhava, who loves devotional service becomes very pleased with a person who takes shelter of Him at His lotus feet with pure devotion, not by the adorable material qualities of a person who does not engage in devotional service. In this prayer, Srila Rupa Goswami lists seven different devotees who were disqualified in different ways and still attained the Lord's grace by devotion. Krishna willing, we will see about these devotees in some detail in the subsequent offering. Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva, Narahari Krishna das Chennai. Qualification for Devotional Service - Part 2 Date: 2015-03-14 Author: Narahari Krishna das Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Gurudeva. This is in continuation of the previous topic titled, "Qualification for Devotional service", wherein we saw how devotional service alone can satisfy the Lord and even if a devotee does not have material qualifications, he can satisfy the Lord by devotional service. 1. Occupation:- It is not required that one has to do a very high end occupation to please the Lord. The Varaha purana talks about the life of a hunter by name Dharmavyadha. He was a hunter by birth and he was taught that profession by his elders. But still he could become a successful devotee of Lord Vishnu and he composed the famous Vishnu Stuti (Prayer to Lord Vishnu) which is recorded in the Varaha purana. 2. Age:- Dhruva Maharaja attained the Lord's vision just at the age of 5 years. Usually people say the spiritual life is meant only for old people. Dhruva Maharaj and Prahlada Maharaja proved that age is not a qualification for bhakti. Dhruva Maharaj also had mixed motives in performing his bhakti and he just followed the instructions of Narada Muni (his spiritual master) and within 6 months he could see the Lord in person and be touched by His conch shell to attain transcendental knowledge. 3. Knowledge:- Gajendra (elephant) did not have any material knowledge. But by the dint of his devotional service in his previous life as King Indradyumna, He was blessed by the Lord to recollect the prayers he learnt in his previous life and he chanted it with sincerity and the Lord came in person and awarded him a spiritual body. 4. Physical beauty:- Kubja was a lady living in Mathura and she used to prepare sandalwood paste for Kamsa. Since her body was bent she was called Trivakra (one who had three bends in her body) and was ugly looking due to these bends. When Lord Krishna and Lord Balarama entered the city of Mathura, they asked her to give sandalwood paste for them. She gave the best sandalwood paste and the Lord applied it on His body. He was very pleased with this offering and freed her body from the ugly bends. 5. Wealth:- Sudama (Kuchela) was quiet learned in the Vedas but he was materially very poor and was struggling to maintain his family. But the Lord blessed Sudama washed his feet and proclaimed to the world that Sudama is His dear friend. 6. Aristocratic birth:- Vidura was born to a maid servant by the blessings of Vyasadeva. He was constantly insulted by Duryodhana as dasi-putra (son of a maid servant). But when Lord Krishna came to Hastinapura as the messenger for the Pandavas, He went to the house of Vidura (please by the devotion of Vidura) and accepted the food offered by him and He refused to take food in the palace of Duryodhana. 7. Physical prowess:- Ugrasena was imprisoned by Kamsa and he could not fight with Kamsa due to his lack of physical prowess and advanced age. But he was eagerly waiting for Lord Krishna's appearance in this world. The Lord appeared in this world, killed Kamsa and released Ugrasena from prison. In addition, the Lord made him the King again and served him as his minister without considering his lack of prowess. All the above devotees attained the Lord's mercy in spite of their material disqualification since they had sincere devotion. Now the next question is what is the qualification to attain sincere devotion? If we say by material qualification one can attain devotion, then it would mean that only those who have these qualifications are eligible for bhakti and others are not. This would in turn mean that the Lord is partial and accessible to those who have those qualifications and not to others. This will make bhakti a material activity which requires material qualifications. The acharyas state and explain the only qualification needed for bhakti and Krishna willing we will see that in the next offering. Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Gurudeva, Narahari Krishna das Chennai. Qualification for Devotional Service - Part 3 Date: 2015-03-15 Author: Narahari Krishna das Hare Krishna prabhujis and matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. This is in continuation of the previous topic titled, "Qualification for Devotional service", wherein we saw that no material qualification is necessary for doing devotional service. Now we shall see what is the single qualification required for bhakti. The acaryas explain that sincere and intense desire to serve the Supreme Lord is the only qualification for bhakti. Srila Prabhupada states in the commentary to verse 5.19.7, "One's devotion and sincere desire to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead are the only qualifications. Rupa Goswami has also said that the price for achieving God's favor is simply one's sincere eagerness to have it (laulyam ekam mūlyam)." Srila Rupa Goswami states this as tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate.