Wanting to Engage Simply in the Service of the Lord
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that activity is the fundamental symptom of life. Because we are not dead stones, we constantly want to engage in something. The crucial difference between material life and spiritual life lies in the object of our engagement. While the conditioned souls want to engage their senses in fleeting worldly pleasures, the pure Vaiṣṇava has discovered the ultimate, eternal engagement. By completely rejecting all selfish motives and dedicating every action to the Supreme Lord, the devotee attains the perfection of existence.
The Necessity of Positive Engagement
Spiritual life cannot be based simply on restrictions. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that merely telling people to avoid illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling is not enough. The living entity must have a positive alternative because everyone inherently wants engagement. While materialistic parents strive to engage their children in economic development and family attachments, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement provides the highest, most joyful engagement to save society from rotting in material life.
- We simply don't say that: "No illicit sex, no intoxication, no, no..." Simply negative is no meaning. There must be something positive. Because everyone wants engagement. That is because we are living entities. We are not dead stone.
- We don't simply say, "No illicit sex," "No intoxication," and so on. Mere negativity has no meaning; there must be something positive, because everyone wants engagement. That is because we are living entities, not dead stones.
- A materialistic father and mother want to engage their sons in begetting children, striving for improved economic conditions and rotting in materialistic life. They are not unhappy when their children become spoiled, useless citizens.
- If one wants to engage in yoga at home, then he has to make certain that his other engagements are moderate. He cannot spend long hours of the day working hard to simply earn a livelihood.
Rejecting Material Benedictions
A true devotee has zero interest in the standard material goals of religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, or liberation. Śrīla Prabhupāda cites the examples of Uddhava, Prahlāda Mahārāja, and King Kulaśekhara to illustrate this pure standard. Even when offered immense material opulence or the chance to merge into the Brahman effulgence, these great souls refused. A pure Vaiṣṇava simply wants to engage in the perpetual service of the Lord without considering their own personal benefit.
- A pure devotee wants simply to engage in the service of the Lord and does not consider his own personal benefit.
- A pure devotee as Uddhava refuses to accept all such (success in religiosity, economic development or sense gratification) facilities. A pure devotee wants simply to engage in the service of the Lord and does not consider his own personal benefit.
- In the Mukunda-mala-stotra, King Kulasekhara, author of the book, states in his prayer: My dear Lord, I don't want any position of sense gratification within this material world. I simply want to engage in Your service perpetually.
- In the Narada-pancaratra it is stated: I do not want any one of the four desirable stations. I simply want to engage as a servant of the lotus feet of the Lord.
Serving the Servant
The highest echelon of devotional service is not directly approaching the Lord, but wanting to engage in the service of His pure devotees. When Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva offered Prahlāda Mahārāja any benediction, Prahlāda rejected all bhukti (sense gratification), mukti (liberation), and siddhi (mystic perfection). Instead, he prayed to engage as an apprentice under the shelter and guidance of a pure Vaiṣṇava, proving that the highest perfection is to become the servant of the servant.
- Prahlada Maharaja rejected bhukti, mukti and siddhi; he simply wanted to engage as an apprentice under the guidance of a pure devotee.
- Prahlada Maharaja was offered all the blessings of an opulent position in the material world and even the liberation of merging into Brahman, but he refused all this. He simply wanted to engage in the service of the servant of the servant of the Lord.
- Prahlada wants to engage in the service of a devotee, and therefore he prays to Krsna, "My dear Lord, kindly give me the shelter of Your very dear devotee so that I may engage in his service and You may then be pleased."
- Nrsimhadeva offered Prahlada Maharaja all kinds of benedictions, but Prahlada Maharaja did not accept any of them, for he simply wanted to engage in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord.
The Law of Perfect Reciprocation
Śrī Kṛṣṇa is absolutely impartial; He provides the exact facilities the living entity desires. If one wants to engage in material sense gratification, the Lord provides one of the 8,400,000 species of material bodies. However, if one sincerely wants to engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the Lord's internal spiritual potency takes charge and offers a suitable spiritual body. The only blunder a soul can make is trying to engage Kṛṣṇa for their own service, rather than offering themselves for His.
- When he (the living entity) wants to engage in Krsna consciousness, a suitable body is offered to him by the internal potency, the spiritual energy of the Lord, and when he wants to satisfy his senses, a material body is offered.
- There are 8,400,000 forms of life, and if one wants to engage one's senses in a particular type of body, Krsna will give one the chance: - Come on. Here is the body you want. Take it.
- If anyone wants to engage himself fully in devotional service, the Lord gives him full facilities, and the devotee enjoys the results. The Lord is therefore known as karma-phala-prada.
- You can serve Krsna in any capacity-provided you want to serve. And if you want to engage Krsna for your service, that is blunder.
Conclusion
In summary, Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the innate desire to engage in activity is the eternal characteristic of the soul. The tragedy of the conditioned state is that this active principle is misdirected toward temporary, frustrating material endeavors. Realizing this, a sincere person prays, "Dear Lord, I have been serving all these rascals and I am not satisfied. Please engage me in Your service." Whether by preaching to the innocent, practicing as a humble apprentice under a pure Vaiṣṇava, or following the spontaneous love of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, the ultimate goal of life is to completely abandon selfish desires and want nothing more than to engage simply in the service of the Lord.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Wanting to Engage. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.