After Akrūra visited Hastināpura and reported the condition of the Pāṇḍavas to Kṛṣṇa, there were further developments. The Pāṇḍavas were transferred to a house which was made of lac and was later set ablaze, and everyone believed that the Pāṇḍavas, along with their mother, Kuntī, had been killed. This information was also sent to Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. After consulting together, They decided to go to Hastināpura to show sympathy to Their relatives. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma certainly knew that the Pāṇḍavas could not have been killed in the devastating fire, but in spite of this knowledge They wanted to go to Hastināpura to take part in the bereavement. On arriving in Hastināpura, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma first went to see Bhīṣmadeva because he was the chief of the Kuru dynasty. They then saw Kṛpācārya, Vidura, Gāndhārī and Droṇa. Other members of the Kuru dynasty were not sorry, because they wanted the Pāṇḍavas and their mother to be killed. But some family members, headed by Bhīṣma, were actually very sorry for the incident, and Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma expressed equal sorrow, without disclosing the actual situation.
Show sympathy
Expressions researched:
"show a superficial sympathy"
|"show actual sympathy"
|"show any sympathy"
|"show sympathy"
|"show them some sympathy"
|"show your sympathy"
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 3
A person who is condemned by a brāhmaṇa or is always fearful to other living entities is not favored either by those who are already in hell or by those in the species in which he is born.
A practical example of a condemned species of life is the dog. Dogs are so condemned that they never show any sympathy to their contemporaries.
A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, a devotee of the Lord, is always compassionate. He is not satisfied that only he himself is a devotee, but he tries to distribute the knowledge of devotional service to everyone. There are many devotees of the Lord who faced many risks in distributing the devotional service of the Lord to people in general. That should be done.
It is also said that a person who goes to the temple of the Lord and worships with great devotion, but who does not show sympathy to people in general or show respect to other devotees, is considered to be a third-class devotee. The second-class devotee is he who is merciful and compassionate to the fallen soul. The second-class devotee is always cognizant of his position as an eternal servant of the Lord; he therefore makes friendships with devotees of the Lord, acts compassionately toward the general public in teaching them devotional service, and refuses to cooperate or associate with nondevotees. As long as one is not compassionate to people in general in his devotional service to the Lord, he is a third-class devotee. The first-class devotee gives assurance to every living being that there is no fear of this material existence: "Let us live in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and conquer the nescience of material existence."
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Message of Godhead
The leaders therefore must know that the real disease of the people in general is their aversion to serve the almighty Godhead, Viṣṇu. So if, instead of treating the people's inherent disease—atheism—the leaders simply show a superficial sympathy for the disease's symptoms, certainly there will be no benefit whatsoever for suffering humanity. The real remedy for this disease lies in partaking of the remnants of offerings made to Godhead; this is the ideal diet for the spiritual patient. And the medicines include hearing and chanting and remembering the glories of Godhead, worshiping the transcendental form of Godhead, offering Him transcendental service, accepting Him as one's supreme friend and, lastly, surrendering unto Him in all circumstances. The leaders should therefore arrange for this diet and these medicines—if they really want to dissipate the sufferings of humanity.
Learned men perform all their activities for transcendental results and thus direct all their activities toward the transcendental service of the Personality of Godhead. These genuinely purified souls actually control all their sensory activities and also master their true, spiritual self. Such spiritualized persons alone can show actual sympathy to the fallen in terms of the individual, the place, and the time. And in spite of performing apparently material activities, such spiritualized persons are free from the bondage of work. This process is explained in the seventh verse of the fifth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā: "Householders who perform their work with a view to transcendental results, out of sympathy for all others, are really eligible to become public leaders. All others who claim to be public leaders are mistaken."
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Even children fight, cats and dogs fight, birds fight, ants fight. We have seen it. So why not human beings? The fighting spirit is there. That is one of the symptoms of living condition. Fighting. So when that fighting should take place? Of course, at the present moment, by the ambitious politicians, they fight. But fighting, according to Vedic civilization, fighting means dharma-yuddha. On religious principles. Not by whims of political ideas, ism. Just like now fighting is going on on two political groups, the communist and the capitalist. They are trying to avoid only fight, but the fighting is going on. As soon as America is in some field, immediately Russia is also there. In the last fighting between India and Pakistan, as soon as President Nixon sent their Seventh Fleet on the India Ocean, Bay of Bengal, almost in front of India... This was illegal. But very puffed-up, America. So sent the Seventh Fleet, maybe to show sympathy to the Pakistan. But immediately our Russian friend also appeared there. And therefore, America had to come back. Otherwise, I think, America would have attacked on behalf of Pakistan.
So this is going on. Fighting you cannot stop. Many people, they are thinking how to stop war. That is impossible. It is nonsense proposal. It cannot be. Because the fighting spirit is there in everyone. That is a symptom of living entity. Even children, who has no politics, no enmity, they fight for five minutes; again they are friends. So the fighting spirit is there. Now, how it should be utilized? Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is there. We say, consciousness. We don't say, "Stop fight" or "Do this, do that, do that," no. Everything should be done in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is our propaganda. Nirbandha-kṛṣṇa-sambandhe. Whatever you do, it must have some relationship with the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. If Kṛṣṇa is satisfied, then you act. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Ndian man: I am very much thankful to you for giving this divine knowledge to our crippled people, who are suffering in this material world. But... And I'm also convinced by this of kīrtana. I am somewhat surprised and I feel very much grateful about... Or the world, it is not grateful for Kṛṣṇa consciousness(?). And there were many Kṛṣṇa devotees in that part of the world which is now called Bangaladesh. And millions of Kṛṣṇa devotees, all sons of Kṛṣṇa, are being butchered by the..., and butcher of their family or... I'm talking about west Pakistan. What is your answer to this sort of the genocide or greatest man-made disaster.
Prabhupāda: That is going on since the creation. How can you stop it? The history repeats itself. This butchering, this attack by one country by another or by one king to another, that is going on. This is the nature; therefore it is called duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). This is a place simply for suffering. Therefore everyone's business is how to get out of it. You cannot stop what is going on in Bangaladesh. It may be in Bangaladesh or it may be in Vietnam or it may be in some other places—this is nature's law; it will go on. You cannot stop it. The best thing is to get out of the scene. That is your business. You cannot stop it. Even if you show sympathy, that is useless. Because this is the way of nature. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). Paritrāṇāya sa... vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. The vināśa is there. The two things are going on: maintenance and dissolution and creation. So you cannot stop the process. And in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, yaṁ hi na vyathayanty ete puruṣaṁ puruṣarṣabha. All these ephemeral things which come and go, if one is not disturbed by all these things, then he is the right candidate for liberation.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: Yes. Actually we say actually everyone is suffering. Anyone who is under the condition of material nature, he is suffering. That is real love. Patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo. Vaiṣṇava is described as the deliverer of all the fallen souls. Patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ. Vaiṣṇava... Just like why have you taken sannyāsa? You are going... Why, what is the meaning of preaching. You are not going to preach for earning some money. Money you can earn. Just like Mukunda, when he was here he could not earn, now he is earning some money. So not for money you have taken sannyāsa, but for sympathy of the others. Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, they took sannyāsa, gave up. Government said, "Why?" Out of love for the mass of people. Lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. Being compassionate to the poor fellows, those who are simply wasting their time like cats and dogs, just to show them some sympathy, the sannyāsa order is there. Just to inform them that "This is not your life. Here is life: be Kṛṣṇa conscious." This is sympathy.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: There is poverty. And "We are..." The same thing: "Mother, everything is all right. Simply there is no cloth, there is no food." You don't want to die. Nobody wants to die. Why you are dying? That is the real poverty. From the śāstra we understand, na hanyate hanyamāne śarī... (BG 2.20). Why I am under this tribulation?
Yogeśvara: So they may challenge, "Do you mean to say that you can feed the whole world without meat?"
Prabhupāda: We don't say; you are saying. We don't say. We say that you must be punished without food. You are dying without food. That is your proper justice. We say that. We are not anxious to this daridra-nārāyaṇa-sevā. We are not. We give. Whatever we have got, we distribute prasādam. That's all. We are not concerned about their daridra-nārāyaṇa-sevā. That is not our business. Suppose there are so many persons, they are without food in the hospital. Doctor has prescribed, "No food." What you can do there? Can you show your sympathy? "Oh, so many persons are lying without... Let us give." Then you'll be beaten with shoes.
Yogeçvara: Because you haven't understood the purpose.
Prabhupäda: If you go with sympathy that "So many hungry persons are here," then you will be beaten with shoes. That we know, That we should not disturb the arrangement of the hospital. We are saner. But you are disturbed. "Oh, so many people are starving. Let me give him some." You are rascal.
| Page Title: | Show sympathy |
| Compiler: | Matea, Lavanga Manjari |
| Created: | 10 of Nov, 2009 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=2, CC=0, OB=3, Lec=3, Con=1, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 9 |