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Forever after

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 December 2012, Durban, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 12.6.40)

Eternal love

I was listening to a lecture of Srila Prabhupada and Prabhupada made a point and said, "Love is for Krsna." We think we love so many things but all that love is not going to last. The only love that can last is love for Krsna; no other love can last no matter how deep it may be experienced now.

Just like between parents and children, such a deep love but then how long are the souls together. Bhagavatam looks at it from the bigger picture; from the bigger perspective of time and is pointing out to us that life-after-life, the living being is going through so many births in the material world and for a moment, like two straws floating together on the river of time, just for a moment these two straws are floating together until the waves will separate them. So our material love, even for those who are so dear to us, time will separate us!

But that doesn't mean that once we have assimilated this philosophy that now we must become cold, and that in this world there is no meaning to human relationships and affection and so on… No, we can remain affectionate but we must understand that those feelings of love only become meaningful if we connect them to the Supreme Lord because then the eternal element comes into the relationship. Then, in that relationship of affection, there is eternal spiritual advancement.

If we are not giving Krsna consciousness to our loved ones then there is no love at all! Then it is just illusion. For a moment, I love you so much then it all disappears again. There is no such thing as eternal love in the material world.

Eternal relationships

Sometimes, some souls stay together for a number of lifetimes in different relationships. It depends; they may not always be husband and wife. They may change roles – the husband may become the wife and the wife becomes the husband, or one may become a child. So many varieties of karmic relationships may be there, changes may be there but some souls may be connected for a while, then time will separate them. But between vaisnavas, eternal relationships can be established. They exist when vaisnavas engage together in glorification of the Supreme Lord. Then everything becomes eternal… relationships become eternal and continue in the spiritual world. That is even possible for devotees to continue their eternal relationships in the eternal realm.

Also, the relationship between Guru and disciple is described to be eternal. But the question may be raised, does that mean that the relationship was already there before!? Eternal means ever after but also ever before! This is a topic that has been debated many times and there are opinions. And it is not so (clear)… we don't have so much clear indication. Some have said yes, eternal means ever after and ever before! Others have said, eternal means from now on forever. That if a relationship develops here is this world that it continues forever. Whatever may be, the most important focus for us is that it is forever…

The full class may be downloaded by clicking here.

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