Attaining Success - The Perfection of Devotional Service
Society constantly drives individuals to pursue success in the form of wealth, fame, and power. However, Vedic philosophy reveals that any achievement ending at death is ultimately a failure. Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings redefine the concept of achievement, explaining that attaining success means perfectly reviving our eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, through the sublime process of devotional service.
The Illusion of Mundane Achievement
Worldly people, and even some transcendentalists, measure success by their ability to control material nature. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that whether one accumulates vast wealth or achieves miraculous mystic powers (like becoming lighter than the lightest), these successes are temporary and ultimately binding. A pure devotee recognizes this illusion and has absolutely no interest in making plans for mundane success.
- A pure devotee has no plans other than those for the Lord’s service. He is not interested in attaining success in mundane activities.
- A yogi can attain miraculous successes in material achievements, such as anima and laghima, by which one can become more minute than the minutest or lighter than the lightest, or one may achieve material benedictions in the shape of wealth and women.
- Sometimes visayis pose as disciples of a reputed spiritual master just to cover their activities and advertise themselves as advanced in spiritual knowledge. In other words, they want to attain material success.
- A gross materialist, whether he be an empiric philosopher, a scientist, a psychologist or whatever, cannot attain such success (in mystic perfection and merging of oneself in the activities of the soul and Supersoul) through blunt efforts and word jugglery.
The Necessity of Scriptural Guidance
Success in spiritual life is not achieved by inventing one's own path. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphatically states that acting whimsically, without regard for the Vedas or the spiritual master, guarantees failure. To cross the dangerous ocean of material existence, one must submissively follow the established rules and regulations handed down through the authorized disciplic succession.
- He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination. One who does not strictly follow the terms of the Vedic injunctions never attains success in life or happiness.
- It appears from the talks of Lord Caitanya that a person who cannot keep his faith in the words of the spiritual master and who acts independently cannot attain the desired success in chanting Hare Krsna.
- One should follow the principles of saintly persons, scriptures and the spiritual master. In this way one is sure to attain success in life.
- Doubtful persons have no status whatsoever in spiritual emancipation. One should therefore follow in the footsteps of great acaryas who are in the disciplic succession and thereby attain success.
Historical Proof of Perfection
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is filled with historical accounts proving the efficacy of devotional service. Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently cites Emperor Ambarīṣa, who attained complete perfection by engaging all of his senses in the nine processes of bhakti. However, the process is so powerful that other great personalities attained the exact same success by dedicating their lives to just one single item of devotion.
- Emperor Ambarisa adopted all the nine items (of devotion), and he attained perfect success. It was he who engaged all the energy of his life in executing the services of the Lord without in the least desiring his own sense gratification.
- There are instances in history of great personalities, including sages and kings, who attained perfection by this process (of bhakti). Some of them attained success even by adhering to one single item of devotional service with faith and perseverance.
- Akrura: The commander in chief of the Vrsni dynasty and a great devotee of Lord Krsna. Akrura attained success in devotional service to the Lord by the one single process of offering prayers.
- Hanuman (Mahavira), the famous nonhuman devotee of Lord Sri Ramacandra, attained success simply by carrying out the orders of the Lord.
The Supreme Method for the Modern Age
In previous ages, sages performed thousands of years of severe austerities to realize the Absolute Truth. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that such methods are impossible in the degraded Age of Kali. Fortunately, the Lord has provided the easiest and most sublime method: the chanting of the holy names. By chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra without offenses, anyone can instantly attain the highest platform of success.
- Spiritual life means tapasya. Formerly great, great saintly persons, they underwent very, very severe tapasya for thousands of years, hundreds of years. Then they attained success. In the Kali-yuga it is not possible to undergo such severe tapasya.
- According to Sri Sukadeva Gosvami, this way of attaining success (hearing the holy name of God) is an established fact, concluded not only by him, but also by all other previous acaryas. Therefore, there is no need of further evidence.
- If one chants the holy name even once without committing an offense, he attains all success. During the chanting of the holy name, the tongue must work.
- If one simply continues to think that he is an eternal servant of Krsna, even without performing any other process of devotional service, he can attain full success, for simply by this feeling one can perform all nine processes of devotional service.
Conclusion
In conclusion, attaining success is not defined by the temporary accumulation of material assets or mystic powers, but by the permanent reawakening of one's loving relationship with the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches us that by abandoning mental speculation and submissively following the scriptural path laid out by the great ācāryas, any conditioned soul can achieve perfection. In this age, simply by chanting the holy names without offense and engaging in unalloyed devotional service, one is guaranteed to reach the ultimate limit of life's goals and return back home, back to Godhead.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Attaining Success. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience the teachings in their direct, verbatim form.