Prabhupada 0641 - A Devotee Has No Demand
Lecture on BG 6.1 -- Los Angeles, February 13, 1969
Devotee: Chapter six. Sāṅkhya Yoga. Verse number one. "The Blessed Lord said, 'One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and works as he is obligated, is in the renounced order of life and he is the true mystic. Not he who lights no fire and performs no work.'" (BG 6.1) Purport. In this chapter the Lord explains that the process of the eightfold yoga system is a means to control the mind and the senses. However, this is very difficult for people in general to perform, especially in this age of Kali. Although the eightfold yoga system is recommended in this chapter, the Lord emphasizes that the process of karma-yoga or acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is better. Everyone acts in this world to maintain his family and their paraphernalia, but no one is working without some self-interest, some personal gratification, be it concentrated or extended. The criterion of perfection is to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and not with a view to enjoy the fruits of work. To act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the duty of every living entity because we are constitutionally parts and parcels of the Supreme. The parts of the body work for the satisfaction of the whole body. The limbs of the body do not act for self-satisfaction but for the satisfaction of the complete whole. Similarly the living entity, acting for the satisfaction of the supreme whole and not for personal satisfaction, is the perfect sannyāsī, the perfect yogi.
"The sannyāsīs sometimes artificially think that they have become liberated from all material duties, and therefore they cease to perform agni-hotra yajñas, fire sacrifices."
Prabhupāda: There are some yajñas to be performed by everyone for purification. So a sannyāsī does not require to perform the yajñas. So by stopping that ritualistic performance of yajña, sometimes they think that they are liberated. But actually, unless he comes to the standard platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no question of liberation. Go on.
Devotee: "But actually, they are self-interested because their goal is to become one with the impersonal Brahman."
Prabhupāda: Yes. There is demand. The impersonalists, they have got one demand, that to become one with the supreme impersonal being. But a devotee has no demand. He simply engages himself to serve Kṛṣṇa for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. They do not want anything in return. That is pure devotion. Just like Lord Caitanya says, na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye: (CC Antya 20.29, Siksastaka 4) "I do not want any wealth, I do not want any number of followers, I do not want any nice wife. Simply let me be engaged in Your service." That's all. That is the bhakti-yoga system. When Prahlāda Mahārāja was asked by Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, "My dear boy, you have suffered for me so much, so whatever you want, you ask for it." So he refused. "My dear master, I am not doing mercantile business with you, that I will take some remuneration from you for my service." This is pure devotion. So yogis or the jñānīs, they are demanding that they should become one with the Supreme. Why one with the Supreme? Because they have got bitter experience by the separation of material pangs. But a devotee has no such thing. The devotee remains, although separate from the Lord, he is fully enjoying in the service of the Lord. Go on.
Devotee: "Such a desire is greater than any material desire. But it is not without self-interest. Similarly the mystic yogi who practices the yoga system with half-open eyes, ceasing all material activities, desires some satisfaction for his personal self. But the person acting in…"
Prabhupāda: Actually the yogis want some material power. That is the perfection of yoga. Not perfection, that is one of the procedures. Just like if you are actually practicing the regulative principles of yoga, then you can get eight kinds of perfection. You can become lighter than the cotton swab. You can become heavier than the stone. You can get anything, whatever you like, immediately. Sometimes you can even create a planet. Such powerful yogis are there. Viśvāmitra yogi, he did it actually. He wanted to get man from palm tree. "Why man should be begotten through the, ten, living ten months within the womb of mother? They'll be produced just like fruit." He did it like that. So sometimes yogis are so powerful, they can do. So these are all material powers. Such yogis, they are also vanquished. How long you can remain on this material power? So bhakti-yogīs, they do not want anything such. Go on. Yes.
Devotee: "But a person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness works for the satisfaction of the whole without self-interest. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has no desire for self-satisfaction. His criterion of success is the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. And thus he is the perfect sannyāsī or perfect yogi. Lord Caitanya, the highest perfectional symbol of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, prays in this way: 'Oh almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor to enjoy beautiful women. Neither do I want any number of followers. What I want only is the causeless mercy of your devotional service in my life, birth after birth.'"
Prabhupāda: So a devotee does not want even salvation. Why Lord Caitanya says "birth after birth"? The salvationists, they want to stop, the voidists, they want to stop this material way of life. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, "birth after birth." That means He is prepared to undergo all kinds of material pangs birth after birth. But what He wants? He simply wants to be engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the perfectional. I think you can stop. Stop here.