Dena prem lena kam Govinda Radhey,
lena dena donon vyapar bata dey.
(Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on December 8, 2009, in Bhakti Dham, Mangarh, India, explaining this new kirtan verse)
In the world, there are only three kinds of people. Those who only give, those who only take, and those who give and take.
Those who only take we consider selfish or self-centered and we call such people all kinds of derogatory names. They also commit all kinds of sin because they have only one goal: to take from others.
Those who give and take we consider humane. They don’t just take, they also give in return. For example, we all behave appropriately with our relatives. If we didn’t act properly with them, then they would behave the same way with us. If your relative became sick and you ran to get everything he needed, gave him medicine and stayed up all night taking care of him, then he would do the same for you if you became sick. This is called ‘social behavior’. The majority of people who come in this category are not extraordinarily selfish.
Shopkeepers are not causelessly gracious, but they do behave nicely with their customers. They open their shops in morning, clean and sweep, turn on the fans, and make a nice place for their customers to sit. If someone stands in front of the shop, they warmly invite them to come inside. That person may say, “Why are you calling me?” The shopkeeper will ask, “Do you wish to buy something?” If the person says, “No, I’m just looking.” His response will be, “Oh.” In one second , the shopkeeper becomes neutral towards that customer.
If that customer remains outside his shop a bit longer, he will try again, “Look, why don’t you come inside and have a closer look?” If the customer enters and says, “I want a sari,” he will spread out ten or twenty saris before that customer. “I only need one sari!” The shopkeeper will say, “Of course, take only one, but at least have a look.” The shopkeeper is clever. He knows that if the customer sees so many saris, he will end up liking one or the other. If the customer likes one, he also knows he can add an additional 10 rupees to the price. This is called give and take. The customer gives money in exchange for the shopkeeper’s goods. The whole world operates on this basis. Every government operates this way. If the balance of give and take is disturbed because someone is taking more, than conflicts begin.
The third category is to give and only give. Only the one who has true spiritual knowledge is able to give. He desires divine love, true spiritual happiness, God’s divine bliss. He is taught a new lesson: to give to God and Guru, but not to the world. With the world it is only give and take. With God and Guru it is only give and give. God and Guru don’t desire anything from us; it is we who desire something from them. The form of giving we do in relationship to God and Guru is selfless love.
Almost all the forms of devotion that are being practiced in the world nowadays are for fulfilling one’s own selfish desire. People go to great lengths to visit pilgrimage places with one aim,”Oh, Lord! Please fulfill my desire!” In other words, they give 1% and take 99%. This doesn’t work in the spiritual field and that is why we don’t advance in devotion. Our devotional love doesn’t increase through this, nor is our mind purified. This is the state of so-called faithful people who have practiced a lot of devotion. But when they don’t have any understanding of spiritual philosophy, what kind of devotee could they be? If they want something divine, they must first have correct understanding of spiritual philosophy.
Is there happiness in the world or not? “No, there isn’t.” Then why are you asking for the world from God? If you understand the first chapter of spiritual philosophy, that there is no happiness in the world and the happiness you desire is in God, then your worldly desires would end. Then this “taking” mentality would also end. If “taking” is there, then conflict is bound to come. No one can be saved from this. Even if there is no conflict today, it will certainly be there in the future.
For example, a boy and girl marry and say to each other, “I can’t live without you. I will will always stay with you, and we will die together!” Ten years later they get a divorce. What kind of love is this? The kind where each wants to take from the other. Both are saying, “Give me!”
Surrender to God and Guru means to not apply the intellect. When we apply our intellect, we are in opposition to surrender. Even if a person had uncountable Gurus and remained with his Guru twenty-four hours a day, he would receive nothing. We had the association of Saints uncountable times. If we didn’t attain our aim, it was for this very reason – we secretly committed sins and thought against the Guru. We never considered the limitation of our own intellect. Such a person will be never be fully surrendered.
If we learn how to give and only give, then even if the God or Guru exhibit contrary behavior, our love for them won’t reduce. Therefore we should learn how to give and perfect this through practice. We have practiced taking since eternity. Therefore it will take some time to learn how to give.
Krishna explained this same point to Arjuna in the Gita (6/35). We have to practice. When we were infants, we were unable to even turn over. With practice, we were able to do this. Afterward, we had no knowledge of how to sit. We accomplished this with practice. We learned how to stand through practice. We learned how to walk with practice. We learned the alphabet and whatever we studied through practice. Without practice we can’t accomplish anything in this world. So then to attain a goal related to God, we must practice. This won’t happen in one second. We have to learn how to give and we need to practice this. We should not ask for anything from God or Guru. What could we ask for? The world? We have already determined there is no true happiness here. If we have a nature to ask, then we should ask God and Guru for their divine love, divine vision, and divine bliss. Most of all, we should keep the understanding of these three philosophies of giving and taking in mind and keep moving ahead.
© Radha Govinda Samiti and Bhakti Bliss
thank you