Renunciation of Cowards and Misers

One time, a devotee came here from Vrindavan on the day of ekadasi. He reached in the evening and, after taking bath in the Ganges, attended the kirtans, danced, circumambulated the temple and so on. Then, I asked him whether he would take any anukalpa. He replied, 'Generally, I do not take anything, but if you like, then, of course, I must take anukalpa. Your will is greater than my fasting.' That was his decision.

My Guru Maharaj (Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur) always wanted maximum energy: you should take good food and do good service. That was his maxim. Krishna is not a liquidated party: take full prasadam and do full service. Do maximum service and take whatever is necessary for that. You are to take it for the cause of Krishna, not for your own cause. You are Krishna's, so if you grow weak, His service will be hampered. Both you and Krishna will be losers thereby. 'My soldiers will be well-fed and well-working.' That was our Guru Maharaj's principle. Napoleon said, 'One full-fed soldier is equal to ten half-fed soldiers.'

So, prasad-seva: if it is service, then it must be taken in a serving mood, of course. But, at the same time, the individual position of a devotee should be taken into consideration. Sahajiyas do not fast on ekadasi at all: 'Oh, we are in Vrindavan, and there is no fasting in Vrindavan.' But Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Prabhupad did not like that – it is sahajiya (imitation) if you go on feeding your senses in the name of Krishna-bhakti (devotion to the Lord). For the service to Krishna, it is necessary to keep up the body and to provide nourishment to it, so we must take what is necessary for service. We do not like it if by fasting a loss of energy is effected. If fasting does not hamper your service, you may go on fasting – perhaps, your gurudev wanted that...

For service, we must accept what is necessary to make us physically fit so that we can render more service. So, accepting material things is not objectionable. It is fruitful, not detrimental. Rather, it produces something of pure character, which helps everyone. This is how a disciple receives and accepts things. At that same time, he may even blame himself, 'I cannot go on with my worldly life without the help of this or that!' He will blame himself, but the underlying spirit must be, 'If I do not take it, I shall be unfit – I will not be able to do my bit of service to the Lord, to my gurudev. Moreover, by taking up renunciation, I will be a loser. I will incur a loss for myself, for the world, and my guru's service will be hampered.' In this spirit, devotees are to take everything. For the cause of Krishna, for the cause of their guru, they will accept anything.

Suppose there is a very miserly karmachari (manager). When some difficulty comes up, because he does not want to spend money, he may not attain a particular result, losing the opportunity. This manager will then be held responsible by the proprietor: 'Why did you not spend money? Why are you afraid to spend the money from my store? Because of your miserly habit, the opportunity has been lost! Why should you not spend my money for my interest?' So, to render service to Krishna, to our gurudev, to Vaishnavs, to the world, to everyone, we must keep up this mundane body, and we are entitled to take something for that.

Miserliness is mayavada; it is the renunciation spirit. It mars Krishna's interest. What we need is yukta-vairagya: we shall take from the store of Krishna to keep ourselves fit and to do service. It is Krishna's account, and if we do not do that, we will be separatists, mayavadis, renunciationists. We must render maximum service to Krishna, so we must take without any hesitation whatever is necessary to make ourselves fit for the service; otherwise, we shall be punishable.

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Read more:

• The All-Auspicious Name of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

• A Fugitive's Plea

• Service to Gaura-Gadadhar

• Soul's Svakiya and Parakiya

• Overthrowing Anarthas

• Self-Purification

• Srila Svarup Damodar Goswami: Master Acharya

• Exclusive Conception of Srila Prabhupad's Line

• Life beyond Renunciation

• Scope of Sacrifice

• Journey from Misguidance to Absolute Guidance

• Renunciation of Renunciation

• Renunciation of Cowards and Misers

• Maya's Test

• 'You Are Mine'

• Be Courageous

• Soul-Deep Cultivation

• Path to Progress