Category:Anxious Devotees of God
Theme Analysis
In the realm of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the nature of anxiety is completely transformed. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that a genuine Vaiṣṇava is never anxious about their material maintenance. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally promises to carry the necessities of His devotees, a practitioner simply engages in devotional service without worrying about basic survival. Conversely, a pseudo devotee is characterized precisely by their anxiety to achieve material gains; because the Lord knows their ulterior motives, such individuals cannot attain spiritual perfection.
Just as they reject material worries, pure devotees also reject the anxieties associated with standard spiritual goals. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that devotees are not anxious to attain the heavenly planets. More profoundly, they are not even anxious to stop the cycle of birth and death or to achieve kaivalya (merging into the existence of the Lord), a destination they consider as good as hell. Even when Mahārāja Pṛthu addressed the Lord as the master of liberation, he was not expressing an anxiety to merge.
Instead, the anxiety of a pure devotee is defined by an insatiable eagerness for divine association and service. Vidura exemplified this when, fully satiated with mundane political topics, he became deeply anxious to hear transcendental topics about Lord Kṛṣṇa. Devotees are always anxious to know more about the Supreme Lord, to associate with one another, and to see God. However, mirroring the mood of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, even if a devotee is broken-hearted by not seeing the Lord, they accept His supreme will without demanding immediate gratification.
The historical accounts in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam feature many exalted devotees exhibiting specific, beautiful anxieties. Mother Devakī was anxious about how others would perceive her divine child, while Queen Kuntī became intensely anxious at the prospect of Kṛṣṇa's physical absence, an emotion that paradoxically made His presence in her mind even more intense. Furthermore, pure devotees experience deep anxiety on behalf of others; Mahārāja Parīkṣit became anxious out of compassion after hearing about the hellish conditions of sinful souls, and Mother Ganges worried about how she would counteract the burden of sins deposited by the masses. The Supreme Lord always reciprocates these pure emotions, presenting His beautiful forms specifically out of compassion for His anxious devotees.
- Freedom from Material Need: A pure devotee is completely free from anxiety regarding daily maintenance, trusting the Lord's promise to provide all necessities.
- Rejecting Liberation: Unlike jñānīs, devotees have no anxiety to merge into the Lord's existence or to artificially stop the cycle of birth and death.
- Spiritual Eagerness: True devotional anxiety is the intense eagerness to hear about Kṛṣṇa, know His energies, and associate with other pure Vaiṣṇavas.
- Loving and Compassionate Anxieties: Exalted devotees exhibit beautiful, transcendental anxieties rooted in pure love for the Lord (like Kuntīdevī) or deep compassion for suffering humanity (like Parīkṣit Mahārāja).
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Anxious Devotees of God - The Divine Eagerness for Kṛṣṇa.
Pages in category "Anxious Devotees of God"
The following 17 pages are in this category, out of 17 total.
A
- A devotee is always anxious to see God, but He (Caitanya) said that - I am not qualified. So even I become broken-hearted not seeing God, still Krsna is My Lord. I may see, or may not see. That is His mercy
- A pure devotee is not anxious to stop the repetition of birth and death, but is always eager to associate with other devotees who are engaged in chanting and hearing about the glories of the Lord
E
- Even mother Ganges feared the sinful reactions of the people in general and was anxious about how she would counteract the burden of these sins
- Everyone is ready to give something to a Vaisnava, and if a Vaisnava is completely engaged in devotional service, he need not be anxious for his maintenance
H
- He (Arjuna) was very anxious to see who the leading persons present on the battlefield (of Kuruksetra) were. BG 1972 purports
- He (Maharaja Pariksit) did not disbelieve (sufferings in hellish condition of life). He believed. Because he is Vaisnava, he knows. And he is disciple of Sukadeva Gosvami, so he has thorough knowledge. Now he is anxious
K
- Krsna says, yoga-ksemam vahamy aham: (BG 9.22) “I personally carry all necessities to My devotees.” Why should one be anxious about the necessities of life? The principle should be that one should not want more than what is absolutely necessary
- Kuntidevi is very much anxious, thinking that Krsna will be absent, but the actual effect of Krsna's physical absence is that He becomes more intensely present within the mind of the devotee
T
- The devotees are always anxious to know more and more about the Supreme Lord, the master of all energies
- The pseudo devotee, who is anxious to achieve material gains, cannot attain the highest perfectional stage because the Lord is in knowledge of his motive
- The pseudo devotee, who is anxious to achieve material gains, cannot attain the highest perfectional stage because the Lord is in knowledge of his motive. One merely has to become sincere in his purpose, and then the Lord is there to help in every way
- The yogi should then meditate on the lotuslike countenance of the Lord, who presents His different forms in this world out of compassion for the anxious devotees