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Platform of devotional service (Lectures)

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Expressions researched:
"platform of bhakti, devotional service" |"platform of devotional service" |"platform of pure devotional service"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase research query: "platform of devotional service"/7

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Activity on the platform of devotional service, without expecting any result for his personal satisfaction, means on the platform of liberation.
Lecture on BG 4.20 -- Bombay, April 9, 1974:

That is explained in the Second Chapter also. Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra karma-bandhanaḥ. If you don't act for Kṛṣṇa, then you will be entangled by the resultant action. But if you do it for Kṛṣṇa, then you will not be entangled. Your everything will be taken as devotion. Everything. Everything will be taken on account of devotion. And devotion means you are making progress.

māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
(BG 14.26)

So activities on the platform of devotional service, without expecting any result for his personal satisfaction, means on the platform of liberation. Thank you very much.

Any system of religion, if it does not lead you to the platform of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is defective.
Lecture on BG 4.24 -- Bombay, April 13, 1974:

Sarva-dharmān means there are so many system of religion. But any system of religion, if it does not lead you to the platform of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is defective. Therefore Bhāgavata says, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). That is first class system of religion. What is that? Which teaches one how to become unalloyed, unflinching devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is first-class. All others, they are defective.

Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura was in his previous life, elevated to almost prema-bhakti, highest platform of devotional service. But there is always chance of falldown. So somehow or other he fell down.
Lecture on BG 6.46-47 -- Los Angeles, February 21, 1969:

There is an instance of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura. Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura was in his previous life, elevated to almost prema-bhakti, highest platform of devotional service. But there is always chance of falldown. So somehow or other he fell down. And next life he was born in a very rich family as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe (BG 6.41). So he was born in a rich brāhmaṇa family, but he became, naturally as rich boys become attached to woman-hunter. So it is said that his spiritual master instructed him through his prostitute. At the right moment, his spiritual master said through that prostitute, "Oh, you are so much attached with this flesh and bone. If you had been attached so much with Kṛṣṇa, how good you could have achieved." Immediately he took to that position. So that responsibility is for the spiritual master. But we should not take advantage of that. That is not very good.

If one is on the platform of devotional service, anyone who is serving Kṛṣṇa without any motive, without any alloy, pure devotional service, he's already liberated.
Lecture on BG 16.8 -- Hawaii, February 4, 1975:

"Anyone who is engaged in My devotional service without any adulteration, pure..." Pure devotional service means anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam: (Brs. 1.1.11) no other desire, no duplicity, pure—"I am servant of Kṛṣṇa, and it is my duty to serve Kṛṣṇa," not, "I am serving Kṛṣṇa with a motive. As soon as I get the opportunity, I shall utilize." That is not pure devotion. Pure devotion means without any motive: "Kṛṣṇa is my Lord. I am His eternal servant. It is my duty to serve"—no motive. That is pure devotion. So if one is on the platform of devotional service, māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate (BG 14.26). Anyone who is serving Kṛṣṇa without any motive, without any alloy, pure devotional service, he's already liberated. Māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate, sa guṇān samatītya etān (BG 14.26).

For coming to the platform of devotional service one has to make some sacrifice. That is called tapasya.
Lecture on BG 18.67 -- Ahmedabad, December 10, 1972:

One can become tattva-darśī simply by devotional service. So for coming to the platform of devotional service one has to make some sacrifice. That is called tapasya. Tapasya means voluntarily accepting some difficult things. That is called tapasya. Therefore those who have not taken to that, those who have taken Bhagavad-gītā as a table talk, they cannot understand. Not Bhagavad-gītā should be preached amongst them. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is warning: idaṁ te na atapaskāya nābhaktāya. Idaṁ te nātapaskāya nābhaktāya kadācana: "Never describe, never described this Bhagavad-gītā." Kṛṣṇa said in the previous verse... People will not be able to understand. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). This simple fact cannot be understood by any man who has not undergone some austerities, penances, and who has not become a devotee. It is not possible. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is warning: "Don't speak to these nonsense. They will not understand." But a devotee of Kṛṣṇa tries to make them devotee.

If you engage yourself in unadulterated, avyabhicāreṇa, devotion, then you become immediately situated on the platform of nistraiguṇya. Simply cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness ānukūlyena, favorably. Bhaktir uttamā. That is the highest platform of devotional service.
Lecture on BG 18.67 -- Ahmedabad, December 10, 1972:

If you engage yourself in unadulterated, avyabhicāreṇa, devotion, then you become immediately situated on the platform of nistraiguṇya. Sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. So pure devotional service means anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (Brs. 1.1.11). Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam. Anyābhilāṣa. We have got so many desires, all material desires. So one should be free from all material desires. Jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167). Jñāna, nirbheda-brahmānusandhanaḥ(?). This is generally understood as jñāna. And karma means to be elevated to the higher planetary systems, heavenly planets. So anāvṛtam. We should not be touched with jñāna and karma. Neither we have any material desires. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam. Simply cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness ānukūlyena, favorably. Bhaktir uttamā. That is the highest platform of devotional service.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Unless you come to the platform of bhakti, devotional service, there is no question of śānti.
Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- Vrndavana, October 18, 1972:

But we are after śānti. We are not for aśānti. Therefore in the previous verse it has been explained, yayātmā suprasīdati, yenātmā suprasīdati. What is that? Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). Unless you come to the platform of bhakti, devotional service, there is no question of śānti. That is not possible. After all, everyone is hankering after śānti. So if for achieving śānti we follow some path which is full of aśānti, how we can get śānti? Therefore Bhāgavata says, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra (SB 1.1.2). I am searching after śānti, but I am accepting, say, for karma... Karma, ordinary karma, a person is working hard, day and night, going here and there. Where is śānti? But because he's a fool, therefore working very hard, when he gets some money, he thinks it is śānti. He thinks it is śānti. But it is not śānti, because to get that money he has to undergo so much aśānti. But because they are flatterers, they, the modern civilization, they want śānti, and if somebody is chanting or is engaged in bhakti-yoga, they do not like it. They say, "They're escaping."

Do not think that a devotee, who is on the adulterated platform of devotional service, can remain without knowledge. He's full of knowledge.
Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- Vrndavana, October 18, 1972:

Anyone who is engaged in pure devotional service, under the lotus feet of Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, he's already liberated. He doesn't require liberation; he's already liberated. "How he can become, become liberated? He has not studied Vedānta. He has no sufficient knowledge. We see that he's illiterate, and he cannot read, write. What kind of liberation he has got?" The question may be. But because such questions are raised by atheist class of men, they cannot understand that how a so-called illiterate man also elevates himself to the highest platform of knowledge. That is explained here: janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca. Do not think that a devotee, who is on the adulterated platform of devotional service, can remain without knowledge. He's full of knowledge.

As soon as you come to the platform of devotional service, the two inferior qualities, namely rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, they become finished.
Lecture on SB 1.2.19 -- Calcutta, September 27, 1974:

So when one comes to this conclusion, bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī... Bhakti where? Not that bhakti to this god, that god. No. Bhagavati, unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī. Naiṣṭhikī, without any disturbance. Tadā, at that time. Tadā... What is the result? Rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ... There are three bhāvas: rajo-guṇa-bhāva, tamo-guṇa-bhāva and sattva-guṇa-bhāva. So as soon as you come to the platform of devotional service, the two inferior qualities, namely rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, they become finished. Simply sattva-guṇa remains. Because there are three guṇas. If two guṇas are finished, no more useful, then the other one is there.

Liberated stage means to remain fixed up in devotional service. You can stand liberated on the platform of devotional service.
Lecture on SB 1.2.21 -- Vrndavana, November 1, 1972:

So when one is actually in the liberated stage... Liberated stage means to remain fixed up in devotional service, bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ... Otherwise it is not possible. Evaṁ prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ (SB 1.2.20). You can stand liberated on the platform of devotional service. As soon as you deviate from devotional service, immediately the māyā is standing. She'll capture you. You can see practically. There is sunshine, and just next to the sunshine, there is darkness or shadow. So little deviation from the sunshine there is shadow. And little deviation from the shadow, you go to the sunshine. Both things are side by side, māyā and Kṛṣṇa. Māyā means absence of Kṛṣṇa. Shadow means absence of light, sunshine. So if you always keep in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no shadow of māyā.

If you want to become above the material platform, then you have to take to the platform of devotional service.
Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Bombay, December 25, 1976:

The animals, they are in the tamo-guṇa. Then gradually they are elevated by the evolutionary process to the rajo-guṇa, and then we are elevated to the sattva-guṇa. That is the brahminical qualification. And we have to surpass the sattva-guṇa also. Not that coming to the platform of sattva-guṇa we become perfect. No. There is chance of falling down from the sattva-guṇa. We have got practical experience in this age, Kali-yuga, many persons have fallen down from the platform of brahminical qualification. The brahminical qualification is the platform of sattva-guṇa: śamo damo titikṣava ārjavaṁ jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). This is the brahminical culture.

So if by coming to the platform of brahminical culture, one is sure, that is not possible. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Sometimes sattva-guṇa is overpowered by rajo-guṇa or rajo-guṇa is overpowered by tamo-guṇa or sattva-guṇa is overpowered by tamo-guṇa. In this way, topsy-turvy it is going on. That is material world. But if you want to become above the material platform, then you have to take to the platform of devotional service.

"That type of religion is first class which elevates one to the platform of pure devotional service to the Absolute Truth."
Lecture on SB 6.2.12-14 -- Allahabad, January 17, 1971, at Kumbha-mela:

Actually, religion does not mean to improve your material condition. That is not religion. Śrīmad-Bhāgavata therefore says that sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje: (SB 1.2.6) "That type of religion is first class which elevates one to the platform of pure devotional service to the Absolute Truth." That is religion. People are not attracted to the bhāgavata-dharma, or the religion. Bhāgavata-dharma is actually sanātana-dharma. Sanātana-dharma does not mean that one must have a certain type of religious life. Sanātana-dharma means the eternal religion. Sanātana-dharma is applicable for all living entities. A living entity is eternal, God is eternal, and there is an eternal abode also. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). So the religious principles which promote a follower to the highest platform of serving the eternal, supreme God, that is called sanātana-dharma. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). That is first-class religion.

If you keep yourself rigidly on the platform of devotional service, then you are pure goodness. And as soon as you are slack, immediately the other two base qualities will attack you.
Lecture on SB 7.6.9 -- Vrndavana, December 11, 1975:

In the material world there cannot be anything good. It is bad. If there is real goodness, that is spiritual world, śuddha-sattva. Sattva-guṇa. In the material world there are three guṇas. Of these, sattva-guṇa is accepted as very good—the modes of goodness. But above this mode of goodness there is śuddha-sattva, pure goodness. "Goodness is goodness"—no. This goodness is polluted with ignorance and passion. Therefore we see in the material world a person very good But yesterday morning we were discussing about Brahmā: very good, but sometimes he is also polluted. Therefore it is not pure goodness in this material world. Even there is goodness, it is not pure. There is always chance of becoming polluted by the other base qualities, ignorance and passion.

Therefore here cannot be pure goodness. Pure goodness is Kṛṣṇa consciousness platform, devotional service. If you keep yourself rigidly on the platform of devotional service, then you are pure goodness. And as soon as you are slack, immediately the other two base qualities will attack you. Therefore it is very difficult to keep pure goodness.

As soon as you have become infected with the Māyāvāda philosophy, it will take millions of years to come to the platform of devotional service. It is so dangerous.
Lecture on SB 7.6.10 -- Vrndavana, December 12, 1975:

And the vedāśraya nāstikya-vāda, the Māyāvādīs, they do not say there is no God, because in the Vedas there is God. So they do not say directly, but they say, "Yes, there is God, but He has no head, no leg, no hand. He cannot talk, He cannot eat." Then what remains? He is making zero, God, zero, by negative definition—"He has no head, He has no... And he has no leg." So both of them are zero, advocate of zero. But one directly says, "No, there is no God. Everything is zero." And these Māyāvādīs, nirviśeṣa-vādi, they say the same thing—zero—but in a different way. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that these Māyāvādīs, zero-vādis, they are more dangerous than the bauddha. Vedāśraya nāstikya-vāda. All these Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, they are very learned, but they'll never accept that God has form. They say it is kalpanā, it is imagination. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu has designated them very, very dangerous, these Māyāvādīs. He has therefore strictly forbidden, māyāvādī-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa: (CC Madhya 6.169) If you hear this Māyāvādī speaking, then your future is doomed. You are finished. Because as soon as you have become infected with the Māyāvāda philosophy, it will take millions of years to come to the platform of devotional service. It is so dangerous. Māyāvādī-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa. Sarva-nāśa means everything is finished when you become godless, or you think yourself as you are God. The Māyāvādīs do that. They accept God, Kṛṣṇa, as God, but Kṛṣṇa's body is māyā. He has assumed a form, with a body which is created by māyā, just like our body is created by māyā.

Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "No, nothing of these items can help you to be promoted to the transcendental platform of devotional service. Nothing, only bhakti."
Lecture on SB 7.9.9 -- Mayapur, February 16, 1976:

So bhagavad-bhakti is not dependent on any material possession. Material possession, the description is fully given here. If one is very rich, dhana, he cannot think that "I can become a devotee of the Lord," because Hiraṇyakaśipu possessed the riches of the whole universe, but he could not become a devotee. So this is misconception, that "Because I am very rich, I am very beautiful, I am very intelligent, I am a great scholar, I am very prestigious person," and so on so on... There are so many things. But Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "No, nothing of these items can help you to be promoted to the transcendental platform of devotional service. Nothing, only bhakti."

Page Title:Platform of devotional service (Lectures)
Compiler:Labangalatika
Created:26 of Jul, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=26, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:26