Category:Considerations of a Devotee of God
Theme Analysis
Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals the unique, transcendental worldview and psychological disposition of a pure Vaiṣṇava. The considerations of a pure devotee are completely antithetical to those of materialists and impersonalists. For example, a devotee considers impersonal liberation (kaivalya) to be hellish because it eradicates the individual identity required for eternal loving service. When faced with material distress or reverses, a devotee never blames the Supreme Lord, but humbly considers it the Lord's special mercy, recognizing it as a minimized reaction to their own past misdeeds. Furthermore, an advanced devotee is characterized by profound humility, constantly considering themselves lower than a straw in the street and unqualified for liberation. Instead of seeking heavenly opulence, their highest consideration and most valued treasure is the association of other pure devotees.
- Rejecting Impersonal Liberation: A pure devotee considers merging into the Lord's effulgence to be hellish, as it destroys the individual identity necessary for loving service.
- Seeing Mercy in Distress: When faced with material suffering, a devotee humbly considers it a blessing, acknowledging it as a minimized reaction to their past sinful activities.
- The Supreme Value of Association: A devotee considers even a moment's association with another pure devotee to be far superior to any material opulence or heavenly elevation.
- Absolute Humility: Despite their exalted spiritual position, advanced devotees naturally consider themselves utterly unqualified, lower than a straw, and simply the servant of the servant of the Lord.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: The Humble Considerations of a Devotee of God.
Subcategories
This category has the following 9 subcategories, out of 9 total.
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Pages in category "Considerations of a Devotee of God"
The following 97 pages are in this category, out of 97 total.
A
- A bhakta always wants to retain his individuality in order to render service to the Lord. Indeed, he considers promotion to the upper planetary systems to be no better than a will-o'-the-wisp
- A devotee is especially adverse to merging into the existence of the Lord and losing his individual identity. Indeed, a devotee considers oneness with the Lord to be hellish
- A devotee should always consider that Krsna does not appear as an ordinary human being or ordinary beast; His appearance as Varaha-murti or a horse or tortoise is an exhibition of His internal potency
- A devotee's senses are not attracted by material enjoyment. And even though the material world is full of misery, the devotee considers this material world to be also spiritual because everything is engaged in the service of the Lord
- A highly advanced Vaisnava devotee is a friend to all living entities, and consequently he is a friend to his enemies also. In fact, he does not consider anyone to be his enemy
- A pure devotee considers a moment's association with another pure devotee to be far superior to residing in a heavenly planet or merging in the Brahman effulgence
- A true devotee of the Lord always considers these sufferings (becoming diseased, impoverished, or disappointed by life's events) to be due to past sinful activities, and thus without becoming disturbed he patiently awaits the mercy of the Supreme Lord
- A Vaisnava can accept a bona fide disciple from any part of the world without any consideration of caste and creed and promote him by regulative principles to the status of a pure Vaisnava who is transcendental to brahminical culture
- Actually Rupa Gosvami did not belong to a lower caste. He was from a highly aristocratic brahmana family, but due to his association with the Muslim Nawab, he was considered fallen and was excommunicated from brahmana society
- Although a pure devotee's standard is above all, he still considers himself to be in the lowest stage of life
- Although mental speculators may be renowned all over the world as great authorities, actually they are not. Such leaders are themselves conservative & not at all liberal. However, if we preach this philosophy people will consider Vaisnavas very sectarian
- Although Ramananda, out of his meek and gentle behavior, considered himself to be born in a lower sudra family, Lord Caitanya nonetheless considered him to be situated in the highest transcendental stage of devotion
- Although the King (Indradyumna) was not at fault, Agastya Muni cursed him, and when this happened the King considered it to be due to his past misdeeds. Tat te 'nukampam susamiksamanah (SB 10.14.8). This is a practical example of how a devotee thinks
- An advanced devotee does not distinguish between happiness and distress. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (SB 10.14.8): When a devotee is in a condition of so-called distress, he considers it a gift or blessing from the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Arjuna considered that rather than kill his own kinsmen for political reasons, it would be better to forgive them on grounds of religion and saintly behavior. BG 1972 purports
- Arjuna considered that the other party might be blind to the effects of such a challenge. Arjuna, however, could see the evil consequences and could not accept the challenge. BG 1972 purports
- Arjuna did not have to consider the order of the Lord; he had only to execute His order. BG 1972 purports
- Arjuna was in the beginning not willing to fight. That was his personal satisfaction. He was considering in terms of his personal satisfaction. But later on, the same Arjuna, he wanted to satisfy Krsna, and he fought and he became a great devotee
- At any moment all one's material opulence can be finished; therefore a devotee is never proud of such opulence. He is always humble and meek, considering himself lower than a piece of straw. Because of this, he is eligible to return home, back to Godhead
B
- Bali Maharaja considered that Sukracarya was no longer to be accepted as a spiritual master, for he had deviated from the duty of a spiritual master
- Bharata Maharaja considered himself most unfortunate, for due to the animal's absence, there was nothing auspicious for him in the presence of the sun
- But how could He (Krsna) have pulled down the trees? Who had actually done it? Where was the source for this incident? Considering all these astounding things, the cowherd men were doubtful and bewildered - SB 10.11.3
D
- Devotees consider such goals (kaivalya and promotion to the heavenly planets) to be worthless phantasmagoria
- Dhruva also considered that he was not personally the Supreme. Therefore, if Krsna fulfilled his desires, only then would it be possible. Krsna could immediately understand his mind, and He told Dhruva that his mother was also going with him
E
- Even the other day, neither Krsna nor any of His playmates died from the falling of the two trees, although the children were near the trees or even between them. This also is to be considered the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead - SB 10.11.26
- Even though saintly persons are always aloof from society, out of mercy and compassion they consider how the citizens can peacefully execute their rituals and follow the rules and regulations of varnasrama-dharma
F
H
- He (a devotee) considers that dangerous condition to be due to his past misdeeds and takes it as an opportunity to pray to the Lord and offer thanks for having been given such an opportunity
- He (Arjuna) did not consider such killing (of his kinsmen) profitable simply for the matter of temporary bodily happiness. After all, kingdoms and pleasures derived therefrom are not permanent. BG 1972 purports
- He (Balabhadra Bhattacarya) was also advanced in Krsna consciousness; therefore he was considered appropriate for accompanying the Lord (Caitanya) as a personal servant
- He (Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami) considers himself unqualified, lower than the worms in stool, and more sinful than Jagai and Madhai. A pure Vaisnava actually thinks of himself in this way
- He (Maitreya) considered the company of Vidura most desirable because such association can accelerate one's dormant propensities for devotional service
- He (Parasara) considered, "Demons are so made that they devour living creatures, men and animals, but why on that account should I withdraw my brahminical qualification of forgiveness?"
- He (the devotee in dasya-rati) considers the Lord to be a worshipable object, and this means that his attachment for the Lord increases. Thus dasya-rati is characterized as bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra ca - SB 11.2.42
- He (the pure devotee) considers promotion to heavenly planets (tridasa-pur) just another kind of phantasmagoria
I
- If one hears and chants without trying to give up offenses, one may consider Vaisnavas in terms of birth, thinking one a brahmana Vaisnava, another a sudra Vaisnava, another a mleccha Vaisnava and so on
- If one is destined to remain in the Lord’s impersonal effulgence, he misses the opportunity to render service to the Personality of Godhead. Therefore devotees consider remaining in the impersonal Brahman effulgence a kind of punishment
- In pure Krsna consciousness, without knowledge of the Lord's opulences, a devotee considers Krsna his friend or son. Therefore this devotional attitude is praised even by Sukadeva Gosvami and Vyasadeva, the supreme authority
- It is a mistake to consider Prakasananda Sarasvati and Prabodhananda Sarasvati the same man
K
- Krsna is always neat, clean and opulent and does not need to be washed, bathed or dressed, yet mother Yasoda, because of affection, considered Him her ordinary child and did her duties to keep her son brilliant
- Krsna is kind to the nondevotees also. Whatever he wants, He will give him. But the necessities of the devotee is the first consideration for Krsna
N
- Nescience is due to the bodily conception, and Jada Bharata was not affected by this false conception. Out of his natural humility, he never considered himself a great devotee, and he agreed to suffer the results of his past karma
- Nothing connected with Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is material. A devotee who considers all this is always situated in spiritual activities, and therefore he is no longer attracted by material activities - param drstva nivartate - BG 2.59
O
- O devotees, please do not consider my offenses in this regard. Your lotus feet are my only shelter
- On the platform of parental love, the devotee considers himself the Lord's maintainer
- One should not consider a Vaisnava a member of a particular caste or nation. Nor should a Vaisnava be considered material. All this is offensive
- One time, having seen the great disturbances in Brhadvana, all the elderly persons among the cowherd men, headed by Nanda Maharaja, assembled and began to consider what to do to stop the continuous disturbing situations in Vraja - SB 10.11.21
- One whose faith is not very strong, who is just beginning, should be considered a neophyte devotee
- Out of his natural humility, Prthu Maharaja never considered himself a great devotee, and he agreed to suffer the results of his past karma
- Out of humility, a devotee considers himself unfit to be transferred to the spiritual world. He always thinks himself contaminated by the modes of material nature. Nor is there any need for a devotee to ask to be freed from the modes of material nature
P
- Pariksit considered that less intelligent men might find the personality of Kali to be very powerful, but that those who are self-controlled would have nothing to fear. The King was powerful like a tiger and took care for the foolish, careless persons
- Perfect servitors of the Lord are considered His personal associates, whereas devotees endeavoring to attain perfection are called neophytes
- Prahlada Maharaja was engaged in pacifying the Lord, and therefore he did not consider himself equal to the Lord. He defined his position as a servant and offered respectful obeisances unto the Lord
- Pure devotees are better known as vicelords according to revealed scriptures. The sincere disciples of a pure devotee consider him equal with the Lord, but the pure devotee always considers himself to be a humble servant of the servant of the Lord
S
- Sakama devotees immediately pray to the Lord as soon as they are in difficulty, but they are regarded as pious because they consider themselves fully dependent on the mercy of the Lord
- So far your telling me that some devotees consider that because there may be some grammatical discrepancies in my Srimad-Bhagavatam, first canto, then they may also be allowed to translate with errors accepted, that is just like imitating Raslila
- Some devotees consider dedication of the body to the Lord to be atma-nivedanam, and as stated in the book known as Bhakti-viveka, sometimes dedication of the soul to the Lord is called atma-nivedanam
- Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has instructed that an unalloyed devotee should consider himself a servant of the servant of the servant of the Supreme Lord. In Vaisnava philosophy, one should not even become a direct servant
- Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura sings, tumi ta' thakura, tomara kukura, baliya janaha more: "O my Lord, O Vaisnava, please consider me your dog." One must become the dog of a Vaisnava, a pure devotee, for a pure devotee can deliver Krsna without difficulty
- Srila Rupa Gosvami has said that the position of a devotee is so superexcellent that a devotee does not consider any material opulence worth having
- Srila Sukadeva Gosvami continued: After Garga Muni, having instructed Nanda Maharaja about Krsna, departed for his own home, Nanda Maharaja was very pleased and considered himself full of all good fortune - SB 10.8.20
- Sudama Vipra was born in a family of brahmanas, and he was a learned scholar and a class friend of Krsna’s, yet he considered himself unfit to be strictly called a brahmana
- Svarupa-damodara Gosvami says that anyone who is eager to understand the Mayavada philosophy must be considered insane. This especially applies to a Vaisnava who reads the Sariraka-bhasya and considers himself to be one with God
T
- The advanced Vaisnava is always situated as the spiritual master, and the neophyte is always considered his disciple
- The devotee does not consider himself the proprietor of any occupation. The devotee always thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the proprietor; therefore the results of his business are offered to the Supreme Lord
- The devotee is considered to be one of these (three principal) energies (of the Supreme Lord), never the energetic. The energetic is always the Supreme Lord. The energies are related to Him for the purpose of eternal service
- The glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are studied through the three Vedas, the Upanisads, the literature of Sankhya-yoga, and other Vaisnava literature, yet mother Yasoda considered that Supreme Person her ordinary child - SB 10.8.45
- The King of the elephants (Gajendra), in his condition of danger, decided to seek shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. After considerable thought, he intelligently arrived at this correct decision. Such a decision is not reached by a sinful man
- The knower of the Absolute Truth knows that his material condition of life is under the supreme control of the Lord; consequently he is not disturbed by all kinds of material reactions, which he considers to be the mercy of the Lord. BG 1972 purports
- The pure devotee never thinks that he is fit for liberation. Considering his past life and his mischievous activities, he thinks that he is fit to be sent to the lowest region of hell
- The source of all incarnations has the emotions of a superior when He considers Himself the master, and He has the emotions of an inferior when He considers Himself a devotee
- The special qualification of the pure devotee is that he is always thinking of Krsna without considering the time or place. There should be no impediments. He should be able to carry out his service anywhere and at any time. BG 1972 purports
- The words apanara sama indicate that Advaita Acarya considered Himself to belong to the smarta-brahmanas, and He considered Nityananda Prabhu to be on the transcendental stage with pure Vaisnavas
- The working devotee must always be mindful so that the creeper which has so grown will not be cut off. He should be mindful of the following considerations
- Therefore he (Arjuna) considers himself fit to go to the forest to live a secluded life of frustration (he was reluctant to kill his enemies). BG 1972 purports
- These considerations (who had done all this? and how could these events have happened in such a wonderful way?) were some of the reasons they (the cowherd men) were agitated and bewildered - by seeing two trees fallen beside Krsna without smashed Him
- They (inhabitants of Vaikuntha) consider glorification of the Lord more important than their own sense gratification. In the Vaikuntha planets there is no question of sense gratification
- They (Nanda Maharaja and all the cowherd men, after seeing the gigantic body of Putana in Vrndavana) began to consider where such a body had come from, whether it had dropped from the sky, or whether, by some mistake or by the power of some mystic yogini
V
- Vaisnava sannyasis never think of themselves as being one with the Lord; they always consider themselves eternal servants of Krsna, and they want to see everyone in the world become Krsna conscious
- Vaisnavas do not consider the jagat to be mithya; rather, they regard everything as reality in connection with the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Vallabha was a great devotee of Sri Ramacandra; therefore he could not seriously consider the worship of Radha-Govinda according to the instructions of Sri Caitanya. Yet he directly accepted Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as an incarnation of the SPG Ramacandra
- Vasudeva considered: By delivering all my sons to Kamsa, who is death personified, I shall save the life of Devaki - SB 10.1.49-50
- Vasudeva had been imprisoned by Kamsa, and therefore, although present in Mathura, he was unable to see Nanda Maharaja for many years. Therefore when they met again, Vasudeva considered this meeting to be another birth
- Vrtrasura was considered a demon, but actually he was more than qualified as a devotee, or maha-paurusya. If one somehow becomes a devotee of the Supreme Lord, whatever his position, he can be brought to the position of a perfect person
W
- We can see this to be true (considering dangerous conditions to be an opportunity to pray to the Lord and offer thanks) from the example of Gajendra, who anxiously prayed to the Lord and thus received an immediate chance to return home, back to Godhead
- Whatever they (Vaisnavas) do, after full consideration, is meant just to lead everyone back home, back to Godhead
- When a devotee becomes like a person haunted by a ghost, he laughs and very loudly chants about the qualities of the Lord. Sometimes he sits to perform meditation, and he offers respects to every living entity, considering him a devotee of the Lord
- When a devotee lives in this way (considering his dangerous condition to be due to his past misdeeds and takes it as an opportunity to pray to the Lord), his salvation - his going back home, back to Godhead - is guaranteed
- When opulence is very prominent, love of Godhead is somewhat crippled. According to kevala devotion, however, even though the devotee sees the unlimited potency of Krsna, he considers himself equal to Him
- When something very wonderful happened because of Krsna's activities, the inhabitants of Vrndavana - the cowherd men, the cowherd boys, Nanda Maharaja, Yasoda and the others - were surprised, but they never considered their son Krsna, the SP of Godhead
- When suffering reversed conditions, the devotee always considers that the reverse conditions are the Lord's concessions. He is never angry with his master; he is always satisfied with the position his master offers
- When the devotee is further advanced, he has nothing to fear. He considers the Lord and himself on an equal level
- When the two brothers Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami went to Vrndavana, they decided to live there. Following Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s example, they did not climb the hill because they considered it nondifferent from Krsna, the SP of Godhead