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EDITORIAL  Inquiries Into The Absolute: Digest 35 BY HIS HOLINESS ROMAPADA SWAMI MAHARAJA EDITORIAL, Jun 7 (VNN) — Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja Modes of material nature Q.1) Why did Dronacarya take revenge to acquire a kingdom from Drupada even though he was a brahmana? Answer: Dronacarya was trained in martial skills along with Drupada. Shortly after Drupada became king, Dronacarya approached him in a friendly spirit but was treated unkindly. Dronacarya was pained to see this attitude of his friend soon after ascending the throne; he also wanted to reinstate his friendship with Drupada, but the only apparent way he could do so was to gain equal footing with Drupada. So he took away Drupada's kingdom through Arjuna's help, and gave back Drupada half of the kingdom so that now, as the masters of equal kingdoms, he could solicit Drupada's friendship again. Dronacarya was not personally aspiring lordship over a kingdom; Drona's main motivation was that Drupada had promised him his lifelong friendship and to uphold his promise and teach his friend a lesson, he acted the way he did. Devotional service Q.2) Once in Krishna Consciousness or devotional service, do we have to offer food and water to forefathers periodically? If not, then why did Caitanya Mahaprabhu go to Gaya for sraddha ceremony? In one purport, Srila Prabhupada says that if offerings to forefathers are stopped, generations of family members remain in hell. Is this true for devotees also? Answer: When one seriously takes up practice of Krishna consciousness under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, then by dint of one's service to the Supreme Lord, all of their other obligations are automatically fulfilled. And automatically their forefathers are greatly benefited and liberated (Please refer Bg. 1.41 purport). The pastimes of Lord Caitanya and their inner meanings are very mysterious, as the author of Caitanya Caritamrita, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraj Gosvami himself describes. However, one of the external reasons why Lord Caitanya went to Gaya is as follows. At that time Lord Caitanya had not yet manifested His sankirtana pastimes and His ecstatic mood of pure devotion. He was playing the part of a learned brahmana and pandita, and in that role He meticulously carried out all the prescribed duties of a householder brahmana, in order to set an ideal example for householders. One of the internal reasons of His journey to Gaya, on the pretext of performing sraddha ceremony, was to actually meet His spiritual master Isvara Puri. It was in Gaya that Mahaprabhu first revealed His ecstatic devotion when He saw the lotus footprints of Lord Vishnu and then upon meeting His spiritual master, He was completely transformed. By this pastime, He also taught that however learned or qualified one may be, one can attain pure devotion only by contacting and taking shelter of a pure devotee. Q.3) When one has a goal of becoming a mature sadhaka in Krishna Consciousness, what exactly should we think of? Answer: Here are some preliminary thoughts on this wonderful question. In addition to keeping your devotional practices intact with fixed regularity, here are some specific qualities that a mature devotee will exhibit. 1) One measure of maturity is how equipoised and balanced we remain in response to difficult or averse circumstances. See story of Brighu kicking Visnu. [Dhira means remaining undisturbed even in the face of provocation (Cf Sri Isopanisad, Mantras 10 & 13).] 2) Another measure of maturity is to be able to maintain proper respect and social decorum in the midst of multiple social relationships. A mature devotee is ALWAYS sensitive to social propriety even in complex circumstances, and acts appropriately. 3) A major measure of maturity is the degree of one's internalization of living our life in genuine devotion to guru and Krishna; immaturity is to accept and act externally only, flickering in our 'being in a mood of devotion' depending on time and circumstance, OR exhibiting shallow bhakti without connecting with our natural deeper core of feelings of devotion. In a word, a mature devotee is steady in their execution of devotional service. (Cf-SB 1.2.6, 1.2.18). A common example of immaturity is to use the philosophy of Krishna consciousness as a stick to beat upon others who are not obeying the tenents of devotion as much as I am. Another example is to feel pride and superiority for one's meager attainments in Krishna conscious life. 4) A mature devotee carefully deliberates FROM A SELFLESS AND SPIRITUAL PLATFORM what will be the outcome or consequences of my actions upon OTHERS, BEFORE I act. ["Do the right things, in the right way."] 5) A mature devotee consistently sees others with love and compassion, wanting to be of some service to them in a meaningful way. Our contacts are: Email : iskcondc@prastha.com Web Address: http://www.iskcondc.org Postal: 10310 Oaklyn Drive, Potomac, MD 20854 Contact VNN about this story  Send this story to a friend
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