Compassion is essential Some of the points that especially struck me: - Without compassion there is no religion - that is Srila Prabhupada's main contention in conversation with religionists - Bhagavatam begins where every other religion stops - What does God do for Himself? The concept of "lila" is unique to the Vedic description of God - Ref. VedaBase => SB 8.8.21 - Compassion is what every spiritual teacher sets as a standard and it is the standard which hardly anyone achieves - Compassion is truly real when it is grounded in understanding the spirit soul - Each religion teaching it but who actually follows it? - All the rules regarding food in all religions [kosher, halal, fasting] concern meat (not oranges or carrots) and can be followed most easily in a vegetarian diet - Even a stone can practice ahimsa but that is not enough for a human being, we are supposed to be bhuta-sauhrdam, [actively] friendly to all living entities - Dadhici explains: every inch of our body is meant for the benefit of others. There is nothing in the body that we do not owe to others. We are born in debt and we spend our lives to repay the debts - Preaching has to be done not for me, selfishly, but with this feeling of compassion and concern for the other - Narada Muni's preaching is always 'student-centered', adapted to the person he is preaching to. His first instruction to Mrigari is "Kill the animals fully" - Every single Vaisnava quality is connected to compassion - "Who is this person in front of me" - this is the meaning of /bhuta-sauhrdam/ for us as devotees; and we see this quality exhibited by Srila Prabhupada so beautifully - When we see the need of a person to whom we are preaching, that is /bhuta-sauhrdam/, that is the softness of a devotee's heart - Srila Prabhupada has dedicated the whole purport to this first line, about compassion - Why we do not develop the taste? - Rasa, just like in a drama, depends on the quality of all three - the actors, the contents and the spectators - Which is more important, Krsna-katha or bhuta-sauhrdam? - They are like two sides of the same coin; real bhuta-sauhrdam is not possible without Krsna-katha (it will be merely on the bodily platform or at most it will be selfishly oriented, even if we love the whole world the center is me - we have to put Krsna in center); and if we truly love Krsna, we will love also the living entities - this is the point Laksmi is making here, that dharma without bhuta-sauhrdam is empty - a devotee is a friend to all living entities without forgetting that Krsna is the true "suhradam sarva bhutanam", friend of all, and he connects them to Krsna (unlike emperor Bharata). A fall-down happens when we put ourselves in the center, it is a very important and subtle distinction www.vedabase.com/en/sb/8/8/21
Hare Krishna Thank u much for this incredible explanation, ,prabhu you said each one of these words have profound meaning,which lecturer I should hear to know that
Compassion is essential
Some of the points that especially struck me:
- Without compassion there is no religion - that is Srila Prabhupada's main contention in conversation with religionists
- Bhagavatam begins where every other religion stops
- What does God do for Himself? The concept of "lila" is unique to the Vedic description of God
- Ref. VedaBase => SB 8.8.21
- Compassion is what every spiritual teacher sets as a standard and it is the standard which hardly anyone achieves
- Compassion is truly real when it is grounded in understanding the spirit soul
- Each religion teaching it but who actually follows it?
- All the rules regarding food in all religions [kosher, halal, fasting] concern meat (not oranges or carrots) and can be followed most easily in a vegetarian diet
- Even a stone can practice ahimsa but that is not enough for a human being, we are supposed to be bhuta-sauhrdam, [actively] friendly to all living entities
- Dadhici explains: every inch of our body is meant for the benefit of others. There is nothing in the body that we do not owe to others. We are born in debt and we spend our lives to repay the debts
- Preaching has to be done not for me, selfishly, but with this feeling of compassion and concern for the other
- Narada Muni's preaching is always 'student-centered', adapted to the person he is preaching to. His first instruction to Mrigari is "Kill the animals fully"
- Every single Vaisnava quality is connected to compassion
- "Who is this person in front of me" - this is the meaning of /bhuta-sauhrdam/ for us as devotees; and we see this quality exhibited by Srila Prabhupada so beautifully
- When we see the need of a person to whom we are preaching, that is /bhuta-sauhrdam/, that is the softness of a devotee's heart
- Srila Prabhupada has dedicated the whole purport to this first line, about compassion
- Why we do not develop the taste? - Rasa, just like in a drama, depends on the quality of all three - the actors, the contents and the spectators
- Which is more important, Krsna-katha or bhuta-sauhrdam? - They are like two sides of the same coin; real bhuta-sauhrdam is not possible without Krsna-katha (it will be merely on the bodily platform or at most it will be selfishly oriented, even if we love the whole world the center is me - we have to put Krsna in center); and if we truly love Krsna, we will love also the living entities - this is the point Laksmi is making here, that dharma without bhuta-sauhrdam is empty
- a devotee is a friend to all living entities without forgetting that Krsna is the true "suhradam sarva bhutanam", friend of all, and he connects them to Krsna (unlike emperor Bharata). A fall-down happens when we put ourselves in the center, it is a very important and subtle distinction
www.vedabase.com/en/sb/8/8/21
Great notes - will give them a peruse - thank you
Thank you so much for the notes. Hare Krishna
Sublime and essential lecture by His Grace Radhika Ramana - have downloaded it and will listen to it a few more times . . .
This is fantastic eventhough I am half way through will be listening entire lecture
Hare Krishna Thank u much for this incredible explanation, ,prabhu you said each one of these words have profound meaning,which lecturer I should hear to know that