Purity Of Krṣṇa Consciousness

There is no ambition or motive in pure Krsna consciousness. Every other transcendental function or mode of worship is backed by a motive: someone wants salvation, someone wants material prosperity, someone wants to go to a higher planet, someone wants to go to Krsnaloka. These ambitions should not be there. A pure devotee has no such ambitions. A pure devotee does not even desire to go to the supreme abode of Krsna. Of course, he goes, but he has no desire. He simply wants to engage himself fully in Krsna's service.

There are different kinds of salvation. There is salokya liberation, to live on the same planet as the Supreme Lord. The residents of the Vaikuntha planets live on the same planet as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sarsti liberation means to have almost the same opulence as Narayana. The liberated individual soul can appear just like Narayana, with four hands, the four emblems, almost the same bodily features, the same opulence, the same ornaments, the same buildings, everything. Sarupya means to have the same form or features. Samipya means never to be far away but always to be associated with the Supreme Lord. For example, just as we are sitting together, so we can associate with the Lord. This is called samipya-mukti, the liberation of being nearer. Pure devotees, however, do not accept these various forms of liberation. They only want to be engaged in Krsna's service. They are not concerned with any kind of liberation. Those who are actually Krsna Conscious achieve the association of the Supreme Lord, but they do not desire it: their only ambition is to be engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The highest perfection of devotional service or Krsna consciousness is exhibited when a devotee refuses to accept any benediction or profit from the Supreme Lord. Prahlada Maharaja was offered whatever he liked, he had only to ask for it, but he said, "My Lord, I am Your eternal servant. It is my duty to serve You, so how can I accept any benefit from it! Then I would not be Your servant; I would be a merchant." He replied in that way, and that is the sign of a pure person. Krsna is so kind that He fulfills all the desires of a devotee, even if he wants material benedictions. If at the bottom of his heart there is some desire, He also fulfills that. He is so kind. But the sublime position of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, is that a pure devotee refuses to accept the five kinds of liberation, even if offered by the Supreme Lord.

If one has material desires or motives within himself, and for fulfillment of such desires he engages himself in devotional service, the result will be that he will never get pure love of God. If one is thinking, "I am engaged in Krsna consciousness, in Krsna's devotional service, because I want such and such an opulence," that desire may be fulfilled, but he will never get such unalloyed love of Krsna as the gopis had. If one has a motive, even though he discharges his devotional duty, he still will not be able to reach the stage of pure love of Godhead. In a verse from Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Rūpa Gosvami says, "As long as one desires some material benefit [bhukti] or even if he wants salvation [mukti] then he must take those ghostly representations." As long as that maya exists within one's heart, how can one enjoy the spiritual bliss which is derived from pure love of Godhead? In other words, if one has material desires, or even a desire for salvation, he cannot attain pure love of Godhead. Pure devotion is devoid of all desires-it is simply to render loving service for its own sake.

There is a nice example in the life of Rūpa Gosvami. Rūpa Gosvami and his brother, Sanatana Gosvami, were living separately in Vrndavana and going on with their bhajana, devotional service. Rūpa was living in the forest, and there was no facility for cooking nice food or begging from the village for a capati to eat. Rūpa Gosvami was the younger brother, and he thought, "If I could get some foodstuffs, then I could prepare nice dishes and offer them to Krsna and invite my elder brother." He had that desire. The next moment, a nice girl about twelve years old came and delivered an abundance of foodstuffs-milk, flour, ghee, etc. That is the Vedic system: sometimes householders present foodstuffs to mendicants and sages in the renounced order of life. Rūpa Gosvami was very glad that Krsna had sent so many things and that he could now prepare a feast. He prepared a feast and then invited his elder brother.

When Sanatana Gosvami came, he was astonished. "How have you secured such things? You have prepared such a nice feast in this forest. How is it possible?"

So Rūpa Gosvami explained, "In the morning I desired for it, and by chance Krsna sent me all these things. A nice girl came, and she offered it to me." He was describing the girl: "A very nice girl."

Then Sanatana said. "This nice girl is Radharani. You have taken service from Radharani, the Lord's eternal consort. It is a great blunder." That is their philosophy. They would not accept service from the Lord. They simply wanted to render service. But Krsna is so clever that He also wants to serve His devotee. He looks for an opportunity to serve His devotee. This is spiritual competition. A pure devotee does not want anything from Krsna; he simply wants to serve Him. And Krsna also looks for the opportunity to serve His devotee. Krsna is always as anxious to please His devotee as the devotee is to please Him.

This is the transcendental world. On the absolute plane, there is no exploitation. Everyone wants to serve; no one wants to take service. In the transcendental world, everyone wants to give service. You want to give service to me, and I want to give service to you. This is such a nice attitude. This material world means that I want to pickpocket you, and you want to pickpocket me. That's all. This is the material world. We should try to understand it. In the material world, everyone wants to exploit his friend, his father, his mother, everyone. But in the transcendental world, everyone wants to serve. Everyone has Krsna as the central point of serving, and all the devotees, either as friends or servants or parents or lovers of Krsna, all want to serve Him. And at the same time, Krsna also wants to serve them. This is a transcendental relationship; the main function is service, although there is no necessity of service, for everyone is full. There is no hunger, there is no necessity of eating, but still everyone offers nice things to eat. This is the transcendental world. Unless we attain the stage of simply serving Krsna or His devotee, we cannot relish the transcendental pleasure of service. If we have any motive, then that sense will never be awakened. Without a motive, without desire for personal sense gratification, service should be rendered to the Supreme Lord and His devotees.