Sunday, October 22, 2006

Dhanesvara Prabhu, Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.9.48

"Thereafter, Maharaja Yudhisthira at once went to his capital, Hastinapura, accompanied by Lord Sri Krishna, and there he consoled his uncle and aunt Gandhari, who was an ascetic."
Even advanced personalities require consolation in the case of the death of a close relative.
When he was in a plane that had a malfunctioning motor, he kept thinking "If it crashes, who will take care of my kids?", although he knew that ultimately Krishna will take care of his kids.
To console people we help them understand the actual situation because in their distress they see if from their own limited perspective.
We tend to take shelter of our property, social position, and relatives, and when we lose them we experience loss. As devotees, this is a test for us to see if we will take shelter of Krishna in that situation, for at the time of death, if we take shelter of Krishna, we can attain the eternal spiritual world.
One devotee practiced devotional service nicely for seven or eight years, but left the association of devotees for much of the rest of his life. Then he got some incurable disease and took up his devotional practices again. His disease was so painful he had a grimace on his face most of the time. Then at one point he got a smile on his face, looked around the room at the devotees present and exclaimed, "Prabhupada has not cheated us!" and left his body.
Natural superiors should encourage their subordinates to be the best persons they can be. To do this they must be free from envy (malice). We can best serve our subordinates by freeing ourselves from false ego and attaining the brahma-bhuta platform.