From: Tejasvi Krishna Dasa
Dear Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.
Amongst the loving exchanges between devotees, Rupa Goswami states in Bhakti-rasamrita sindhu that one should reveal one's mind in confidence, or in other words share one's inner thoughts and realizations with another devotee. These confidential relationships are absolutely necessary for our well-being. This is also confirmed by Kapila Muni in his instructions to Devahuti, 3.29.17.
mahataam bahu maanena / dinaanaam anukampayaa
"The pure devotee should execute devotional service by giving the greatest respect to the spiritual master and the acaryas. He should be compassionate to the poor and make friendship with persons who are his equals, but all his activities should be executed under regulation and with control of the senses."
maitryaa caivaatma tulyeshu / yamena niyamena ca
Srila Prabhupada says in the purport to above verse, "A devotee shows compassion to those poor souls who are wanting in spiritual knowledge by enlightening them in order to elevate them to Krishna consciousness. That is one of the duties of a devotee. He should also make friendship with persons who are on an equal level with himself or who have the same understanding that he does. For a devotee, there is no point in making friendship with ordinary persons; he should make friendship with other devotees so that by discussing among themselves, they may elevate one another on the path of spiritual understanding. This is called ishta-goshthi. In Bhagavad-Gita there is reference to bodhayantah parasparam, "discussing among themselves." Generally pure devotees utilize their valuable time in chanting and discussing various activities of Lord Krishna or Lord Caitanya amongst themselves. There are innumerable books, such as the puranas, Mahabharata, Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-Gita and Upanishads which contain countless subjects for discussion among two devotees or more. Friendship should be cemented between persons with mutual interests and understanding. Such persons are said to be sva jaati, "of the same caste." The devotee should avoid a person whose character is not fixed in the standard understanding; even though he may be a Vaishnava, or a devotee of Krishna, if his character is not correctly representative, then he should be avoided. One should steadily control the senses and the mind and strictly follow the rules and regulations, and he should make friendship with persons of the same standard."
If the aspect of loving exchange is somehow lacking in our lives we find ourselves feeling lonely. Feeling lonely, devotees will be restless and find it difficult to stay fixed in their ashram. This suffering condition can be avoided if a devotee has access to an abundance of meaningful and personal exchanges with his fellow devotees by speaking confidentially his heart's realizations in reading the Srimad Bhagavatam, and in turn lending his ears to his friend's Bhagavatam outpourings. We do actually not get closer to another living entity than what we experience by sharing the immortal nectar of transcendental sound vibration. Let us not forget that shravanam kirtanam is our main business! The Lord Himself indicates this in the Bhagavad-gita 10.9
mac-cittaa mad-gata-praana / bodhayantah parasparam
"The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me."
kathayantash ca maam nityam / tushyanti ca ramanti ca
With this in mind, it may be said that if there is genuine concern and compassion in a society of devotees, the members will feel compelled that no one goes without the personal and confidential association of the Lord in His transcendental sound representative Srimad Bhagavatam, and that no one goes without the opportunity to share the realizations from such association within confidential and loving relationships with fellow devotees. Therefore the intimate study and discussion in Srimad Bhagavatam is for everyone because it is the only true shelter amidst the illusory shelters of the material world. Queen Kunti confirms this in Bhagavatam 1.8.36, "O Krishna, those who continuously hear, chant and repeat Your transcendental activities, or take pleasure in others' doing so, certainly see Your lotus feet, which alone can stop the repetition of birth and death."
I sincerely pray at the lotus feet of Gurudev, Srila Prabhupada that I have friendly relationship with all the Vaishnavas.
Thank you very much,
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Tejasvi Krishna das
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