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EDITORIAL February 2, 1999 VNN2951 Friendships In Krsna Consciousness BY NARASIMHA DAS EDITORIAL, Feb 2 (VNN) — Following the noble principle displayed by the Supreme Lord Sri Ramachandra and Sri Sugriva, many valuable friendships and cooperative arrangements have been achieved, even among persons of diverse qualifications and backgrounds. When Lord Ramachandra met Sugriva, King of the Monkeys, they both appreciated the same Vedic customs, although Sugriva was not from the same caste or race as Lord Ramachandra. Due to common bond of Vedic culture and devotion to truth, Sugriva and Rama confided in each other and shared each other's grief and burden. On this basis they made a pact to help each other fulfill the other's requirements. A neophyte devotee, or even an advanced devotee, may sometimes require something seemingly material in nature. The Supreme Lord can easily supply the needs of His devotees, but He may sometimes test our faith and patience. He may also appear to be in need of some service from His devotees or friends, just to engage them more intensely in devotional service. Sugriva made the ultimate sacrifice by agreeing to fight Ravana, and Lord Rama made sure--even by adopting an extreme measure-- that Sugriva's apparently mundane and embarrassing problem was solved. The nature of the neophyte devotee's relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is similar to business dealings in the beginning, but by remaining true to his vows, the sadhaka quickly evolves to a higher level of devotion. Those who are followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu or Srila Prabhupada will naturally want to associate closely with other devotees of the same realization and mood. Yet even among devotees who are sincerely dedicated to the mission of the Lord, disparity, jealousy or mistrust may arise. This is due to our past or present dealings with impure or motivated persons. It is useless, however, for sadhu friends to distrust each other or plot against each other for the sake of some apparently "higher" purpose. Such association is useless--it has no spiritual value but rather is detrimental to sadhana-bhakti. For spiritual development, Srila Prabhupada and Srila Rupa Goswami recommend association with like-minded friends. There is no need to create or maintain impersonal institutions that breed emnity and politics. When Sugriva and Lord Ramachandra understood each other and came to appreciate and trust each other's basic integrity and devotion to the principle of friendship, they made a vow to one another and walked around the sacred fire. From that day forward, their interests became one and the same. The ceremony Sri Rama and Sri Sugriva observed is similar in principle to the Vedic ceremony of marriage. At the time of marriage, the welfare and interests of two individuals become identical, or harmonized. Because marriage is such a fundamental institution in human society, and because it is specifically ordained by the Supreme Lord, it is powerful and effective. Marriage is so essential that no human civilization could endure without it. Friendships, also important for obvious reasons, are often neglected or abandoned for petty causes. Someone may ask, "Why talk of friendships? Even marriages and parent-child and other fundamental relationships are strained these days." We have clear guidelines for these relationships because human society is set up for maintaining these relationships. Close family relations are often the most difficult to harmonize, for a number of reasons. This is another broad topic, and it always receives far more discussion and attention than the issue of maintaining proper friendships. Without real friendships, however, other important relationships will be similarly strained. Srila Prabhupada said the basis of our dealings with other devotees should be love and trust. Srila Rupa Goswami has listed sadhu-sanga, or the association of devotees, as one of the most important items in cultivating sadhana-bhakti, and he has given clear guidelines for this association. Such loving relationships should be the basis of all our interactions. If we neglect or suppress the development of genuine friendships, or we sacrfice this ideal for the sake of politics, we create mundane associations, easily corrupted by envy and intrique. It is said that the Six Gosvamis and their intimate associates used to come together on a regular basis for istaghosthi. At such times they would eagerly ask for guidance and correction from the assembled sadhus. Srila Jiva Gosvami, for instance, once accepted severe and seemily unfair chastisment from Srila Rupa Gosvami without the slightest protest. It is not possible for one sadhu to guide or correct another sadhu unless they already have a relationship of love and trust. Without love and trust, we achieve no substantial spiritual benefit through forming sangas, reform groups, or other associations. Just before the battle of Kurukshetra, Lord Krishna met with Karna. Krishna told Karna for the first time that he was the oldest Pandava brother. The Supreme Lord then told Karna that if he would join the Pandavas, everyone would support him as the rightful emperor of the world. Karna declined this offer from the Lord on the basis of sastric principles. Siting Vedic authorities, Karna told Lord Krishna that ingratitude towards a friend is the worst kind of sin. Karna wasn't willing to risk this sin even for the sake of being installed as World Emperor by Lord Krishna Himself. Because Duryodhana had supported Karna when no one else would do so and had given him facility to perform his duty as a warrior, he remained loyal to Duryodhana for life. Lord Krishna was pleased with Karna for his dedication to the principle of gratitude and friendship. Without such dedication among friends, nothing wonderful can be accomplished and our dealings quickly degrade to the level of hellish chaos. The present crisis in iskcon and many of our problems in trying to fix it are directly related to our negligence in developing proper friendships in Krsna consciousness. Without mutual respect and trust among sadhus, and more specifically, without real relationships based on common aims and objectives, spiritual missions are very difficult to organize or maintain. Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9902/ET02-2951.html
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