Kṛṣṇa declares that he is subordinate to the love of his devotee. Bhakti is so powerful that the supreme controller of all controllers finds the greatest pleasure in being controlled by the love of his devotee. But to realize that love requires Kṛṣṇa's grace.
Śrīla Prabhupāda gives an example: when we talk of the oneness of a nation, it doesn't mean everybody merges into a nation. There may be millions of individuals, but the oneness of a nation is that we are united on the higher principle of the nation, the interests of the nation. When we speak about one family, it's not that everybody in the family becomes, you know, like the filling in a samosa—we all get smashed together. The oneness of a family is when the interest of the family is the higher principle that we are all united on, and that's actually oneness.
Śrīla Prabhupāda describes that this is the idea of Kṛṣṇa consciousness: that we are all conscious of Kṛṣṇa. We all have our diversity, we all have our natures, we all have our experiences, we all have our individual, unique struggles in life. But there's a higher principle that we unite on: saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam—what will please Kṛṣṇa. And in our life, we know what will please Kṛṣṇa is what will please Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Variegatedness, or diversity, without appreciating the higher principle that we've been brought together to represent, could create envy and division. But in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, variegatedness actually creates deeper appreciation for each other with our differences, and that is a test of actually if we're Kṛṣṇa conscious.
When we see the wonderful associates of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there's so much variegatedness. In ordinary society of that time, these people would probably have nothing to do with each other. But they were so loving and so gentle; they actually loved each other, not just the austerity of not fighting, because they were seeing each other according to the higher principle.
Mahārāja Pratāparudra was a king, an undisputed king called Gajapati of the empire of Orissa. He had palaces, incredible treasuries, armies. And then there was Kolavecā Śrīdhara. He was so simple and poor; he would sell the leaves of bananas just sitting on the side of the road. And he was so simple; he dressed in rags because that's the only clothes he had. He had a simple little straw house that was one room with a dirt floor, and when it would rain, the rain would come in because it was just a little straw roof. He was so thin because he hardly had money. But whatever he earned, before spending anything, he would donate half for the worship of Mother Gaṅgā, because she was the energy of the Lord, purifying and giving mercy and blessings to all beings without discrimination of who was fit or unfit. Whether you're rich or poor, whether you're of one caste or one color or one sex or one community, still, Mother Gaṅgā is flowing and purifying you, even if you're a buffalo, or an elephant, or a snake, or a lizard. Mother Gaṅgā is flowing for everyone.
So Kolavecā Śrīdhara was living so simply, but yet, when he would come to Purī, he didn't think of the king as a gross materialist living in his palace, "King, you are in māyā. Look, you have all of this!" He had the highest regard and appreciation for King Pratāparudra, because he was using what he had in God's service. And King Pratāparudra would sometimes think of giving everything away and becoming like Kolavecā Śrīdhara, a beggar, because whatever little he had, he was giving in God's service.
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To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/
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Add to your wisdom literature collection:
https://iskconsv.com/book-store/
https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/
https://thefourquestionsbook.com/
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