Digest 365: February 4th, 2012. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami
Maharaja
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Conduct and Qualities of a Devotee
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741) What type of conduct is expected of a Vaishnava? How should the
conduct of a Vaishnava be any different from others?

Answer: Lord Caitanya, when asked this same question, replied "asat-sanga
tyaga ei vaishnava acara". This means that a Vaishnava is not attached to
impermanent things (asat); he is also likewise disinterested in grossly
materialistic persons who are absorbed in impermanent pursuits. This does
not mean a Vaishnava shuns people and things of this world. He deals with
them from a position of knowledge of their proper relationship with the
Lord, and therefore without personal attachment and without intimate
dealings with worldly-minded individuals.

Externally a Vaishnava may conduct their life as any other honest and
virtuous person. The only way their conduct is expected to be different
from others is one of qualitative difference, i.e. in their steadfast
cultivation of compassion, honesty, humility,  equanimity, non-violence,
simplicity, cleanliness etc -- consistently with an internal cultivation of
doing all of this for the satisfaction of Krishna or Vishnu, as an offering
of oneself and one's life to Him.

A Vaishnava also chooses a lifestyle that reflects his/her faith and
respect towards the Supreme Lord and His devotees - they are naturally
attracted to chanting the Holy Names, respecting the Deities, observing the
holy days, eating only sanctified food (Krishna prasadam), dressing simply
etc - but how these principles manifests in their outward appearance and
conduct depends on each individual devotee.

742) What exactly are/should be the attributes of a Krishna conscious
devotee? How can a devotee be identified, by his behavior, actions, or
intents, or all of them?

Answer: Lord Krishna discusses this particular question at length in many
places in the Bhagavad-gita -- Ch 2 Verses 54-70 and Ch 12 Verses 13-20 in
particular. The intent of another person is very difficult to discern,
especially within short period of time, but a devotee can be identified by
how they speak, how they act, and particularly by how they respond to
trying situations such as success/failure, honor/insult etc, and how they
choose to act in their leisure. Note that these are the 4 questions asked
by Arjuna (BG 2.54)

Ultimately, Krishna alone knows the heart of every individual, and it is
not easy to judge who is a genuine devotee simply by external traits or
circumstances alone. However, Krishna describes these symptoms to give us a
guideline how to identify and appropriately serve persons at different
levels of Krishna conscious development.

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Digests 1-364 are available with subject classification at
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Digest 1-242 are included as a PDF file at:
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Brief biography of His Holiness Romapada Swami:
http://www.romapadaswami.com/?q=HHRPS_bio
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