old lady collecting firewood

Imported quote 18341

So a devotee is not very much anxious for mukti because a devotee is always mukta. He is already mukta. Why should he... Suppose if you have got millions of dollars, why should you hanker after ten rupees? So bhakti is such a nice thing. But what is that bhakti? That bhakti is animitta bhagavati. That bhakti should be animitta, not with a motive that "I shall go to the temple and serve Krsna for this purpose." Krsna can fulfill any purpose you desire. It is not very difficult for Him, because He is almighty, full with all opulences. So if you want something, material happiness, from Krsna, it is not very difficult for Krsna. He can give you mukti even. But to ask from Krsna anything else than bhakti is foolishness. That is foolishness. My Guru Maharaja used to give this example: just like if you go to a rich man and he says, "Now, whatever you like, you can ask from me. I shall give you," then if you ask him that "You give me a pinch of ash," is that very intelligent? Similarly, to... There is a story, that one old woman in the forest... I think it is in Aesop's Fable or somewhere. So she was carrying a big bundle of dry wood, and somehow or other, the bundle fell down. It was very heavy. So the old woman became very much disturbed, "Who will help me to get this bundle on my head?" So she began to call God, "God, help me." And God came: "What you want?" "Kindly help me to get this bundle on my head." [laughter] Just see. God came to giving benediction, and she wanted to "Give this bundle again on my head." (More...)

So we are doing the same thing. When we go to God we ask Him, "Kindly give me the bundle on my head. My family become..., may happy. I may have a large amount of money to enjoy material things." We ask that. That is our foolishness. Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us, therefore, that actually, if you want something from God, that should be only begging for His service. This Hare Krsna maha-mantra means addressing God, "Krsna," "Hare," and His energy Hara, Srimati Radharani or Laksmiji, Hare: "O this internal potency of Krsna..." Hara is Krsna's internal potency. The external potency is Durga, and the internal potency is Radharani. Jaya Radhe. So this is daivi-prakrti. Mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakrtim asritaḥ [Bg 9.13]. (More...)

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