Devotees often disagree on different philosophical points, and of course, when disagreements appear, the different parties try to settle the disputes by researching passages from the scriptures. The problem is that almost always such discussions are inconclusive. There are a multitude of passages in the scriptures that can be used to support different points of view, and texts can always be misinterpreted. A small grammar misunderstanding can often completely invert the meaning of a specific verse.

This is nothing new. Our acaryas also had to deal with such discussions. The fact is that except for the Buddhists, everyone in India traditionally debates based on the Vedas. Everyone, from the Mayavadis to the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, uses different passages from the Vedas to sustain whatever philosophy they propound. There are personalists, impersonalists, worshipers of Lord Shiva or Shakti, worshippers of different demigods, and even atheists, and everyone has different viewpoints based on different passages from the scriptures. Different passages from the Vedas can be used to maintain that Krsna is God, that Vishnu is God, that God is ultimately impersonal, that there is no God and matter organizes by itself, that there is a God but he is subordinate to Karma, that everyone is God, that Shiva is God and so on.

Since all these different philosophical systems can be sustained with passages from the Vedas, how can we find the truth? Srila Jiva Goswami went to great lengths in discussing this pint in his Sat-Sandarbhas. As well known, these are six books that he wrote based on verses left by Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami. Srila Jiva Goswami found the incomplete manuscripts and decided to complete the work, by carefully going through it, organizing the different ideas, rewriting parts that were lost, expanding different arguments, adding additional references, and so on. In this way, the Sat-Sandarbhas are a joint work of these two exalted acaryas. As Sri Jiva wrote:

Although Srila Prabhupada described devotee communities as the future of our movement, this is an area where we are somehow lagging. There are a few successful communities around the world, but in most cases, our communities are not exactly the most eloquent examples of prosperity. Often there are just a few dozen families struggling to make ends meet, or communities that work as tourist spots. We are somehow still a little far from the ideal of sustainable communities that Prabhupada was speaking about.

The idea of sustainable communities goes in the direction of something else that is important in spiritual life, that is stability. This is something important when we speak about developing the mode of goodness that is so important for our spiritual development. As long as we are dependent on the regular society for our basic maintenance, we will be intrinsically connected with all the crises it goes through. If on the other hand, we can produce the basics and just trade on the surpluses, our existence becomes much more stable. This is especially important when we speak about the long term.

One of the reasons for this lack of development in our communities is that although we have a good amount of Brahmanas, as well as good-natured devotees willing to work, we historically have a lack of good managers (Ksatriyas) and especially of pious Vaisyas.

In Teachings of Lord Caitanya (chapter 21), Srila Prabhupada says: “When one takes to this process of transcendental devotional service leading to love of Godhead, he relishes his relationship with Kṛṣṇa directly, and from this reciprocation of relishing transcendental dealings with Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa gradually becomes a personal associate of the devotee. Then the devotee eternally enjoys blissful life. Therefore the purpose of the Vedānta-sūtra is to reestablish the living entity’s lost relationship with the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, to describe the execution of devotional service, and to enable one to ultimately achieve the highest goal of life, love of Godhead. The Vedānta-sūtra describes these three principles of transcendental life and nothing more.”

Here Prabhupada uses words like “reestablish” and “lost relationship” to describe the relationship with the soul with Krsna. Everyone agrees that the relationship with the soul with Krsna is eternal in the sense that when the soul attains love for Krsna, he doesn’t come back to this material world, as Krsna Himself describes in the Bhagavad-Gita, but Prabhupada goes a step beyond that, claiming that the relationship of the soul with Krsna is eternal not only in the sense of a hypothetical future but eternal in the full sense, meaning also the past. Taking the term in this sense, he uses the word ” lost” to indicate that although this eternal relationship is currently forgotten, it existed in the past, and will be “reestablished” as soon as we again agree to serve Krsna.

This ” lost” relationship of the soul with Krsna is very directly described in Srimad Bhagavatam 4.28.52-55, where Krsna Himself (in the form of the Supersoul) takes the form of a Brahmana and speaks to King Puranjana in his next life as the daughter of King Vidarbha:

The Vedas give great importance to the syllable oṁ, which is considered the sound representation of the Lord. All the Vedic mantras start with oṁ, and this is actually what gives them value. As Prabhupada mentions, “the Vedic mantras or hymns have transcendental value because they are prefixed by the syllable oṁ” (TLC 20). The syllable oṁ is so important that it has even His own symbol in the Devanagari alphabet, ॐ. By the way, Srila Prabhupada insists on referring to oṁ as “He”, not only using the personal pronoun, but with an uppercase H, indicating that it is not an ordinary sound, but a direct incarnation of the Supreme. Just as Krsna comes as Lord Nrshinha, Varaha, etc. He also appears in this world in the form of the sacred syllable oṁ.

Being the sound incarnation of the Lord, the omkara is just like a deity of the Lord. Just like we perform ceremonies in front of the deity, or in the presence of the fire (in a fire ceremony), the same functions can be performed by just pronouncing the omkara. In Srimad Bhagavatam (9.20.16), for example, it is described how Mahārāja Duṣmanta married Śakuntalā in the forest by just pronouncing the omkara. It’s described that this process is also practiced by the Gandharvas in the celestial planets. By pronouncing the omkara, one invokes the Supreme Lord to sanctify the marriage, just like when one performs a fire sacrifice.

Devotional service is based on the idea of voluntarily sacrificing something for Krsna, be it our time, money, intelligence, or any other asset. By definition, devotional service must be voluntary, it must be out of love.

In Jaiva Dharma, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura mentions that free will is precisely what differentiates living souls from inanimate matter. Material objects have no free will, they are just manipulated by superior forces. Souls on the other hand have free will and this is what makes relationships and rasa possible. It’s not possible to have a relationship with an inanimate object: relationships can be cultivated only with living beings. From this, we can understand why Krsna is so careful in respecting the free will of the souls.

Love can’t be imposed. If someone would put a gun in my head, I would surely say that I loved him, or anything else he wanted to hear, but this would not be true love. This brings us to another point: Krsna Consciousness and service to Krsna can’t be imposed. We can’t force anyone to love Krsna, such love can only by inspired through our personal example. If one were forced to serve in a temple or group, this could hardly be called devotional service.

In a letter to Karandhara (22/07/72), Srila Prabhupada wrote some interesting advice about leadership:

“… our leaders shall be careful not to kill the spirit of enthusiastic service, which is individual and spontaneous and voluntary. They should try always to generate some atmosphere of fresh challenge to the devotees, so that they will agree enthusiastically to rise and meet it. That is the art of management: to draw out spontaneous loving spirit of sacrificing some energy for Krishna.”

One important point to understand in order to become eventually free from this material world is the relationship between the soul and the mind. Although I’m a spirit soul, I have a body, and I have a mind. Just like I’m not the body, I’m also not the mind. In the case of the body, it’s easy to understand since we assume a new body at each birth, but the relationship with the mind is much more intimate, and it’s thus much harder to spot the difference. Different from the body, the mind doesn’t change at each birth, we have the same mind for as long as we are in this material world, and this mind not only stores desires and sensations but is the very tool that allows us to experience and enjoy the world.

In the story of King Puranjana narrated in the 4th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, the material mind and intelligence are amalgamated in the figure of the queen, to which the king is very strongly attached. In many explanations, the mind and intelligence are explained separately (in the Bhagavad-Gita, for example, Krsna says we should use the intelligence to control the mind), but in this case, they are combined because when one is just enjoying materially, the intelligence becomes subordinate to the desires of the mind and work in combination with it. We can see that in the analogy the King follows the queen in all her steps, and thus enjoys and suffers together with her:

“When the Queen drank liquor, King Purañjana also engaged in drinking. When the Queen dined, he used to dine with her, and when she chewed, King Purañjana used to chew along with her. When the Queen sang, he also sang. Similarly, when the Queen cried, he also cried, and when the Queen laughed, he also laughed. When the Queen talked loosely, he also talked loosely, and when the Queen walked, the King walked behind her. When the Queen would stand still, the King would also stand still, and when the Queen would lie down in bed, he would also follow and lie down with her. When the Queen sat, he would also sit, and when the Queen heard something, he would follow her to hear the same thing. When the Queen saw something, the King would also look at it, and when the Queen smelled something, the King would follow her to smell the same thing. When the Queen touched something, the King would also touch it, and when the dear Queen was lamenting, the poor King also had to follow her in lamentation. In the same way, when the Queen felt enjoyment, he also enjoyed, and when the Queen was satisfied, the King also felt satisfaction.” (SB 4.25.57-61)

Apart from the four general principles we follow, there are several recommendations for our spiritual practice, that although not mandatory, can help us a lot in terms of both spiritual progress and general well-being. One of the most important of these is to wake up early.

It’s certainly tempting to stay awake until late at night and then sleep until 8:00 or 9:00. There are always many interesting things to do at night, both in devotional and non-devotional circles, but this comes with a series of problems.

To stay awake until late and then sleep until late morning is something that stimulates the mode of ignorance, which is the main cause of not only difficulties in our spiritual practice, but also of depression, diseases, and other problems. All of us are conditioned by a certain combination of the three modes, and it’s often not possible to radically change from one to the other overnight. However, if we can gradually reinforce the mode of goodness and reduce the influence of ignorance, this can bring us many benefits. Going earlier to bed and waking up earlier is one of the strongest factors in favoring the mode of goodness.

On SB 9.21.25, Srila Prabhupada gives some interesting details about the life of Sukadeva Goswami.

Both Vyasadeva and Sukadeva are far from being ordinary persons. Vyasadeva is an incarnation of Krsna, who comes to restore Vedic knowledge when it’s almost lost at the end of Dvapara Yuga, while Sukadeva is considered to be an incarnation of the parrot of Srimati Radharani, who came especially to speak the Srimad Bhagavatam, illuminating thus the age of Kali. Being such an exalted soul, Sukadeva had a very profound understanding of spiritual relationships and was thus elected as the speaker of the Srimad Bhagavatam, even though both Vyasadeva and Narada Muni were present at the assembly.

The first interesting fact is that even a great personality like Vyasadeva didn’t get a pure son like Sukadeva Goswami automatically. Both he and his wife practiced austerities for many years before Sukadeva Goswami came as their son. There are other similar cases, like Vasudeva and Devaki practicing austerities as Sutapā and Pṛśni with the goal of obtaining Krsna as their son. Although great personalities like Vasudeva and Vyasadeva are already perfect, still they give us the example. Authorized austerities are a way to get a spiritually inclined son.

The second fact was that Sukadeva Goswami played the role of a Brahmavadi while inside the womb, showing fear of the material energy and thus refusing to come out. In total, he stayed inside the womb for 12 years, coming out only when Krsna Himself reassured him that he would not be captured by Maya. Even then, he immediately ran away from home, going immediately to the forest to live as a renunciant. With great difficulty, Vyasadeva was able to bring him back for a short period to listen to the Bhagavata Purana, which Sukadeva later expanded in the form of the Srimad Bhagavatam he spoke to Maharaja Pariksit.

It’s said that devotees on the Uttama platform see everyone as a servant of Krsna, and thus they consider everyone as superior to themselves. This may sound difficult to understand since most people are not really serving Krsna at the present moment, but this is due to the material covering of the pure soul. In our current state, when we look at a person we don’t see the soul at all, we just see the material covering, but for an Uttama devotee it’s the opposite: he sees the soul instead of the temporary nature.

For us, it may be very difficult to understand how this works, but the nature of the soul transcends space and time. Although now conditioned, the soul is an eternal servant of Krsna, and it is this eternal nature that an Uttama devotee can see. Currently, this eternal nature exists simultaneously with a temporary, material nature, but a devotee who is exclusively concentrated on the transcendental platform doesn’t notice it. Instead, he sees the transcendental reality.

This point of a spiritual and a material identity existing simultaneously is something that can be very relevant when we speak about relationships with other devotees, which are frequently stranded by human imperfections such as anger, envy, negligence, or even dishonesty.

In his Tattva Sandarbha, Srila Jiva Goswami gives a detailed description of the history of the Vedas, as a way to prove the validity and relevance of the Puranas. This is especially important for us since we accept the Srimad Bhagavatam as our main book of knowledge.

All the Vedas were originally spoken by Lord Brahma, who receives this knowledge directly from Krsna. Sometimes, the Vedic knowledge is stolen by certain demons, and Krsna comes to kill such demons and deliver back the Vedic knowledge to Brahma. One may question how a demon can steal the Vedic knowledge since knowledge is not a physical object that can be moved from one place to another. The point is that as we go to higher levels of existence, there is nothing “physical”, higher beings deal with subtle energies. When we take this into consideration, it’s not difficult to imagine that certain powerful subtle entities can steal the Vedic knowledge from Brahma, making him forget it. When this happens, Lord Vishnu intervenes, killing such demons and delivering the Vedic knowledge back to Brahma.

Srila Jiva Goswami describes that Brahma originally spoke the Puranas with one billion verses. In other words, the Puranas were originally much more extensive than the books we have access to nowadays. This original version of one billion verses is still studied on the celestial planets, but understanding that people in this age would have short memories and very little inclination or capacity to study such long treatises, Vyasadeva compiled the 18 Puranas by taking out only the most essential descriptions from the original Purana. This abridged version contains just 400,000 verses, but it still conveys all the original meaning.