Prabhupada 0499 - Vaisnava is very Kind-hearted, Merciful, Because He Feels for Others

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Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Hyderabad, November 21, 1972

Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). At that time, you can feel that every living entity is exactly like you. It doesn't matter whether he is a learned brāhmaṇa, whether he's a dog, whether he is a caṇḍāla, whether he's an elephant.

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne

brāhmaṇe gavi hastini

śuni caiva śva-pāke ca

paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

(BG 5.18)

That is required. That is spiritual vision. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ. Therefore a devotee is first-class paṇḍita. A devotee. Because he's sama-darśinaḥ. Sama-darśinaḥ means he's feeling for others. A Vaiṣṇava... Para-duḥkha-duḥkhī, kṛpāmbudhir yaḥ. Vaiṣṇava is very kind-hearted, merciful, because he feels for others. He feels for others in this sense that he knows what he is. He sees every living entity as part and parcel of God: "Now, here is a part and parcel of God. He would have gone back to home, back to Godhead, and danced with Him, and lived very nicely, eternally, blissfully. Now he's rotting here as a hog, or as a human being, or as a king. The same thing. It is for few years only." So a devotee therefore tries to take him out of this illusion. Therefore, he's called para-duḥkha-duḥkhī. He's actually feeling others' distressed condition. Not these political leaders or social... What they can do? They make their own fortune. That's all. Or what is that fortune? That is also misfortune. If somebody thinks "I have got some money. I am very fortunate." It is, actually it is not fortune. Real fortunate is he who is advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He is fortunate. Otherwise, all are unfortunate. All are unfortunate.

So in this way, one should come to the spiritual understanding, and the symptom is he's not disturbed by the material upheavals. Yaṁ hi na vyathayanty ete puruṣaṁ puruṣarṣabha, sama-duḥkha-sukham (BG 2.15). The symptom is sama-duḥkha... Because he knows this is dreaming. Suppose you are dreaming. So either you suffer in the presence of a tiger, or you become a king in dream, what is the value? It is the same thing. There is no difference. After all, it is dreaming. Therefore sama-sukha-duḥkha. If I become very happy because I have become a king or some big man, that is also dream. And if I think that "I am so poor, Oh, I am suffering, I am diseased," that is also the same thing. Therefore Kṛṣṇa has in the previous verses said: tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata (BG 2.14). "Just little practice to tolerate. Do your own business, Kṛṣṇa consciousness." Yudhyasva mām anusmara (BG 8.7). The, our real business is, as Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). "Always think of Me." So this practice should go on. Never mind I am so-called distressed or happy. Here... In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said, 'dvaite' bhadrābhadra-jñāna saba 'manodharma', 'ei bhāla ei manda' ei saba 'bhrama'. Dvaite, in this dual, the world of duality, here, in this material world, the, "This thing is very good, this thing is very bad," it is simply mental concoction. Everything here is bad. Nothing good. So this is our mental creation only. "This is good, this is bad." We are doing that. Just like in political field. "This party is nice. This party's bad." But any party goes in the power, your condition is the same. The commodities price are increasing. It has no decreasing, either you change this party or that party. So these are all concoctions.