Glorifying Devotees of God - The Supreme Satisfaction of the Lord
The path of devotional service is deeply personal and reciprocal. While materialistic people envy the success of others, pure Vaiṣṇavas find immense joy in celebrating the qualities of their peers. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is so profoundly attached to His pure devotees that He derives greater pleasure when they are glorified than when He is praised directly. Therefore, learning to properly appreciate and broadcast the glories of the devotees is the perfection of spiritual life.
The Supreme Lord's Preference
Kṛṣṇa and His devotees are ontologically inseparable. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that because the Lord is entirely conquered by the love of His servants, anyone who wishes to please Kṛṣṇa must first learn to glorify the Vaiṣṇavas.
- Glorifying the Lord and glorifying the Lord's devotees are the same. Or, rather, glorifying the devotee is more important than glorifying the Lord directly.
- If we glorify the devotees, the character of the devotees, before the Lord, He's more pleased than to glorify Himself, directly.
- Krsna and His unalloyed devotees cannot be separated, and therefore glorifying the devotee means glorifying the Lord and vice versa.
- The Lord is satisfied more when His pure devotees are glorified, and therefore Bhismadeva has not only glorified the acts of Arjuna, his immediate object of attraction, but has also remembered the gopis.
The Perfection of the Senses
The human body is equipped with senses meant for spiritual engagement. Śrīla Prabhupāda cites authorized Vedic scriptures to prove that the ultimate utility of the tongue, eyes, and touch is to appreciate the rare and sublime qualities of pure devotees.
- It is said in the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (13.2): O devotee of the Lord, to glorify your qualities is the perfection of the tongue, for it is very rare to find a pure devotee like you.
- The tongue is meant for glorifying your qualities because in this world a pure devotee of the Lord is very difficult to find.
- Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu continued, "By seeing you, by touching you and by glorifying your transcendental qualities, one can perfect the purpose of all sense activity. This is the verdict of the revealed scriptures."
- My dear Vaisnava, seeing a person like you is the perfection of one's eyesight, touching your lotus feet is the perfection of the sense of touch, and glorifying your good qualities is the tongue's real activity.
The Divine Orchestration of Fame
The Lord actively intervenes in the material world to ensure His devotees are properly recognized. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that Kṛṣṇa intentionally places His pure servants in challenging situations, or empowers them to perform massive sacrifices, solely to establish their eternal, glorious reputation.
- As described in this verse (of Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.22.29-30), hardly anyone could survive such a test, but for the future glorification of Bali Maharaja, one of the mahajanas, the Lord not only tested him but also gave him the strength to tolerate such adversity.
- Bali Maharaja endured all these severe tests and austerities is the mercy of the Supreme Lord. The Lord certainly appreciates the devotee's forbearance, and it is recorded for the future glorification of the devotee. This was not an ordinary test.
- Lord Sri Krsna caused three well-performed Asvamedha-yajnas (horse sacrifices) to be conducted by Maharaja Yudhisthira and thus caused his virtuous fame to be glorified in all directions, like that of Indra, who had performed one hundred such sacrifices.
- Krsna appears in the dynasty of Maharaja Yadu, His great devotee, just to glorify Maharaja Yadu. Thus Krsna is still known as Yadava, the descendant of Maharaja Yadu.
The Complete Knowledge of the Bhāgavatam
True spiritual literature does not present God in isolation. Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly points out that the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is complete and perfect precisely because it permanently records the intertwined glories of the Supreme Lord and His eternal associates.
- The glories of the Lord and the glories of His devotees, combined together, comprise the complete knowledge of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
- Srimad-Bhagavatam describes the glories of the Lord and His devotees. Because the whole subject matter is the glorification of the Lord, naturally the glorification of His devotees automatically follows.
- Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became very happy just to speak of the glories of His devotees. Indeed, when He spoke of their glories, it was as if He had five faces.
- There Narada addresses King Yudhisthira while the King is appreciating the glories of the character of Prahlada Maharaj. A devotee always appreciates the activities of other devotees.
Conclusion
In conclusion, glorifying the devotees of God is not an optional or secondary practice in spiritual life; it is the very heart of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. As Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully reveals, because the pure Vaiṣṇavas dedicate their entire lives, breath, and energy to serving Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord dedicates His own energy to ensuring they are eternally praised throughout the three worlds. By engaging the tongue in singing the glories of personalities like Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Bali Mahārāja, and the Pāṇḍavas, a practitioner perfectly utilizes their senses and deeply pleases the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, studying the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and learning to genuinely appreciate the sublime character of other Vaiṣṇavas is the guaranteed path to fulfilling all spiritual desires and returning 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 Glorifying Devotees of God. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience the teachings in their direct, verbatim form.