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Heavy task

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

Yogamāyā was requested to attract Saṅkarṣaṇa, Baladeva, from the womb of Devakī to the womb of Rohiṇī, and this was a very heavy task for her.
SB 10.2.9, Purport:

In regard to Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance in the womb of Devakī, Brahmā played a part also because on the bank of the milk ocean he requested the Supreme Personality of Godhead to appear. A part was also played by Baladeva, the first expansion of Godhead. Similarly, Yogamāyā, who appeared as the daughter of mother Yaśodā, also played a part. Thus jīva-tattva, viṣṇu-tattva and śakti-tattva are all integrated with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and when Kṛṣṇa appears, He appears with all His integrated parts. As explained in previous verses, Yogamāyā was requested to attract Saṅkarṣaṇa, Baladeva, from the womb of Devakī to the womb of Rohiṇī, and this was a very heavy task for her. Yogamāyā naturally could not see how it was possible for her to attract Saṅkarṣaṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa addressed her as śubhe, auspicious, and said, "Be blessed. Take power from Me, and you will be able to do it." By the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, anyone can do anything, for the Lord is present in everything, all things being His parts and parcels (aṁśa-bhāgena) and increasing or decreasing by His supreme will.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Madhya-lila

The Supreme Personality of Godhead gives credit to a devotee who performs any heavy task perfectly.
CC Madhya 16.65, Purport:

For instance, on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, Śrī Kṛṣṇa provoked Arjuna to fight because all the warriors on the battlefield were to die by Kṛṣṇa's plan. Kṛṣṇa Himself did not want to take credit; rather, He wanted Arjuna to take credit. Therefore He asked him to fight and win fame:

tasmāt tvam uttiṣṭha yaśo labhasva
jitvā śatrūn bhuṅkṣva rājyaṁ samṛddham
mayaivaite nihatāḥ pūrvam eva
nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savya-sācin

"Therefore get up. Prepare to fight and win glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy a flourishing kingdom. They are already put to death by My arrangement, and you, O Savyasācī, can be but an instrument in the fight." (BG 11.33)

Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead gives credit to a devotee who performs any heavy task perfectly. Hanumānjī, or Vajrāṅgajī, the servant of Lord Rāmacandra, serves as another example. It was Hanumānjī who jumped over the sea in one leap and reached the shore of Laṅkā from the shore of Bhārata-varṣa. When Lord Rāmacandra chose to go there, He paved the way with stones, although by His will the stones were able to float on the sea. If we simply follow Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instructions and follow in the footsteps of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement can advance, and even more difficult tasks can be performed by the preachers remaining faithful to the service of the Lord.

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

The social system is coming to such degraded position. In Europe and America I have seen, very few men are family men, you see, because it is botheration. They think it is botheration or it is very heavy task. Actually, in their country it is very heavy task by so many laws and so many conventions.
Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Visakhapatnam, February 20, 1972, At Ladies Club:

Inferior quality means in this age there is practically no brāhmaṇa; all śūdras. Kalau śūdra sambhavaḥ, actually also it is so, because people in this age, if he gets one nice service, master, he is satisfied. One wife, one service, then his life is dākṣyaṁ kuṭumba bharaṇam. In this age if one can maintain his wife and few children, ah, he is very expert. He is to be considered dākṣa, very expert. You have no more to make any sacrifice. Simply if he is somehow or other able to maintain a wife, that is... That has also become impossible. The social system is coming to such degraded position. In Europe and America I have seen, very few men are family men, you see, because it is botheration. They think it is botheration or it is very heavy task. Actually, in their country it is very heavy task by so many laws and so many conventions. So they avoid marriage. So therefore, in the symptoms of Kali-yuga it has been stated, dākṣyaṁ kuṭumba-bharanam. Kuṭumba means family. If one can maintain his family, he is to be considered as very successful. No, he hasn't got to make dākṣa-yajña, or naradeva-yajña, or so many yajña. No. That he has no means. This is the position. Mandaḥ sumanda-matayo (SB 1.1.10). And if anyone wants to accept something for spiritual, that is sumanda-matayo, something bogus. He will accept something bogus which has no spiritual, I mean to say, reference. He will accept, "I have... I have got this religion." Mandaḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā. Because they're all unfortunate, and upadrutāḥ, and always disturbed and anxious by so many external affairs.

Just like when you pass through the streets of Australia, we go daily, morning walk, big, big skyscraper buildings have been constructed, and people are making plans, designs, working very, very hard, lifting so many heavy things. These are very heavy tasks, but they are thinking, "It is very happiness."
Lecture on SB 6.1.6 -- Sydney, February 17, 1973:

So Parīkṣit Mahārāja addressed Śukadeva Goswāmī as mahā-bhāga, the most fortunate. Because he's perfect Vaiṣṇava, therefore he addresses, "My dear, the most fortunate," mahā-bhāga. Adhunā, "Now," yathaiva narakān naraḥ, "these people are suffering in the hellish condition of life. How they can be rescued?" Nānā ugra-yātanān. Very severe punishment they are undergoing. People cannot see. They have no eyes to see, you see? They suffer in great calamities, and still they cannot see that "I am suffering." Just like when you pass through the streets of Australia, we go daily, morning walk, big, big skyscraper buildings have been constructed, and people are making plans, designs, working very, very hard, lifting so many heavy things. These are very heavy tasks, but they are thinking, "It is very happiness." (laughter) They are thinking, "We are making progress, we are making progress. We are bringing stones and irons on head and putting together, and it is progress. We are very happy." (laughter) This is going on. This is called varāta māninaḥ(?). They are enamored by the external energy of the Personality of Godhead. These material things are products of the external energy of the Lord.

According to the Vedic system, there is prāyaścitta. So prāyaścitta, that is also very heavy task. In this age nobody can perform prāyaścitta.
Lecture on SB 6.2.7 -- Vrndavana, September 10, 1975:

So yena tena prakāreṇa. If you chant without any committing any offense the holy name of the Lord, then you become liberated. This is the purpose of this Ajāmila upākhyāna. Ayaṁ hi kṛta-nirveṣaḥ. Nirveṣa means atonement. If you commit some sin, then you should atone for it. Otherwise you have to carry the reaction of your sinful life to the next life. Therefore, according to the Vedic system, there is prāyaścitta. So prāyaścitta, that is also very heavy task. In this age nobody can perform prāyaścitta. And even one is able to perform prāyaścitta, then he..., there is possibility of again falling down unless one is clear consciousness, and that, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Unless one is Kṛṣṇa conscious, there is every chance of falling down.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Expertness is you just try to do which is easily performed by you. You don't accept anything heavy task because Kṛṣṇa does not want that you have to do this heavy task. Whatever you know, you just apply it.
Room Conversation -- July 16, 1968, Montreal:

So a sawman was cutting wood by the saw. So at the end of business it was half cut so he pulled down a, I mean to say, a plug so that next day he will come and he'll again begin sawing. So went away. So one monkey came. So monkey sat down there and began to pull on the plug because monkey's business is simply mischievous. So he did not know that his plough (?) and some portion of his thigh was within the hole and when he took out this plug it was, (claps) I mean to say, clipped, and he could not get out and died. So the instruction is that... 'Khila pārthiva vānaraḥ, vyāpare suvyaparam. Avyāpara means a occupation, an occupation which is not fit for you. That is avyāpara. Avyāpara-suvyaparam. And one occupation which is not exactly fitting you, you do not know how to do it, so avyāpare suvyaparam yo kartu... If one wants to act in a business in which he is unable to do, then he is killed just like this fool monkey. Avyāpare suvyaparam yo naraḥ kartum icchati, sa-mulo hanyate. That foolish person is killed just like this monkey. The monkey's business was not to imitate the sawman, but he wanted to imitate. The result was that he was killed. So that is not expertness. Expertness is you just try to do which is easily performed by you. You don't accept anything heavy task because Kṛṣṇa does not want that you have to do this heavy task. Whatever you know, you just apply it. You dovetail it in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa does not say that you have to become like this, like that, like that, then you can serve Him. Does not say.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

We are inviting them, "Come here." Why do they not come? And that is difficult for them. To chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and dance, oh, it is very big, heavy task for them. They will not come.
Morning Walk -- June 29, 1975, Denver:

Prabhupāda: No, we are inviting them, "Come here." Why do they not come? And that is difficult for them. To chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and dance, oh, it is very big, heavy task for them. They will not come. The most difficult thing is that as soon as they come and they know there is no tea, no liquor, no meat, no cigarette, "Oh, so many no's? Oh." That draft man said? That one draft man came to inquire that some of the boys, to escape from the draft man's call, they joined this Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. "So what is the comfort there? They joined instead of going to..." So when he studied that there is no meat, there is no liquor, there is no smoking, there is no gambling, so he said, "It is more difficult. Still, they come." It is more difficult than to go and fight. So how it is wonderful. Actually, for the karmīs, it is very difficult job. Even Lord Zetland he said, "Oh, it is impossible to do this." And actually, it is impossible. That is the adoration of Professor Judah, that "These drug-addicted boys, how they have become Kṛṣṇa conscious?" That is his wonderful thing. You can say that "We are escaping this horrible condition of life: meat-eating, drinking, and intoxication. We are escaping that, these thing, not escaping happiness. You are escaping happiness."

Correspondence

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

I am a Sannyasi and as duty bound I have attempted this heavy task for benefit of all human beings and I am seeking your valued cooperation.
Letter to Appeal to Vaisnava Sect -- Delhi 13 March, 1964:

I am therefore appealing to the Vallabha Vaisnavites specifically to help me in this mighty project. I am a Sannyasi and as duty bound I have attempted this heavy task for benefit of all human beings and I am seeking your valued cooperation.

1969 Correspondence

Certainly this is heavy task but by the Grace of Krishna, it does not depress me. I feel encouraged to act so busily day and night. But the body sometimes does not allow me to do so. So I have to sleep about 4 to 5 hours.
Letter to Jayagovinda -- Hawaii 30 March, 1969:

Your sympathetic expression about my magnitude of work with which I am pressed here is undoubtedly very much encouraging to me, and certainly I am pressed with heavy work. I am receiving letters about 12 daily, from different centers with different problems and then at the same time I am just trying to write my books, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Nectar of Devotion, and Krishna, and lately Vedanta Sutra. So certainly this is heavy task but by the Grace of Krishna, it does not depress me. I feel encouraged to act so busily day and night. But the body sometimes does not allow me to do so. So I have to sleep about 4 to 5 hours. But in comparison to our predecessors, the Goswamis, this engagement in insignificant. These Goswamis used to work almost 24 hours. They used to sleep not more than 2 hours, and they produced immense literature. Of course, it is not possible to be in their level of activities, but as far as possible, we should everyone of us try to work as hard as possible for Krishna's satisfaction. This material body can be adjusted with practice. If we adjust these bodily activities towards Krishna's side, then the labor is fruitful, but if we adjust towards maya's side, then the labor is useless. A little labor done for Krishna is never lost. But the greatest labor done for Maya is simply waste of time. So I think by the Grace of Krishna you are feeling nice now. Please try to work hard for Krishna, and your life will be glorious.

If all problems come to me, even personal problems, then it becomes a heavy task for me.
Letter to Brahmananda -- Columbus, Ohio 15 May, 1969:

If all problems come to me, even personal problems, then it becomes a heavy task for me. I received your letter, full of problems; Gargamuni's, full of problems; Rayarama's, full of problems, and similarly Iskcon Media's, full of problems. If everyone's problems are sent by me, then who will solve my problems? I have divided these departments to solve problems, but if in the end they are all sent to me and I have to tackle, then just imagine what is my position. The best thing would be to stop all activities and simply chant Hare Krishna. Regarding the Doubleday book stores, we do not like to give on consignment, but if some very big stores will take our literature only in that way, then we must make concession.

1971 Correspondence

Do everything nicely and combinedly because we have got a heavy task before us. This Krishna Conscious movement is a revolutionary process for making the godless world drop back to their original consciousness, although it is not expected that we shall be able to turn everyone to Krishna Consciousness.
Letter to Gurudasa -- Nairobi 5 October, 1971:

I am glad to know that Ksirodakasayi has gone there already to take charge of his respective duties. So do everything nicely and combinedly because we have got a heavy task before us. This Krishna Conscious movement is a revolutionary process for making the godless world drop back to their original consciousness, although it is not expected that we shall be able to turn everyone to Krishna Consciousness. But if some of the leading men only can take to this understanding, tremendous good will follow for the people in general. I am glad to know that you are contacting some of the leading men in Delhi. So deal with them very cautiously because these men are not Krishna Conscious and are very much brittle like china clay dishes. Once broken it cannot be joined together. That means spoiled. So as we handle the china clay dishes with little care, similarly try to handle them carefully and try to induce them gradually to the platform of Krishna Consciousness. You are all very intelligent boys and girls and I have full faith in you for pushing on this movement all over the world.

We have got a very heavy task before us. Together we have to push on this Krishna Consciousness movement for a revolutionary change all over the world.
Letter to Jayapataka -- Nairobi 5 October, 1971:

So far purchasing adjacent land is concerned, that is also my opinion that if they are available at reasonable price we should purchase. So with the consultation of the lawyer and Mr. Sarkar do the needful. We have got a very heavy task before us. Together we have to push on this Krishna Consciousness movement for a revolutionary change all over the world. It is not our manufactured movement but it was ordered by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and we are simply carriers of his shoes. So let us do this duty carefully so that our life may be successful, although our attempts are not as great as they should have been.

Page Title:Heavy task
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Laksmipriya
Created:16 of Feb, 2009
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=1, CC=1, OB=0, Lec=3, Con=2, Let=5
No. of Quotes:12