“In the Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, verses 32 and 33, of Srimad-Bhagavatam the Lord further instructs Uddhava, “My dear friend, the profits derived from fruitive activities, austerities, the culture of philosophical knowledge, renunciation, the practice of mystic yoga, charity and all similar auspicious activities are automatically achieved by My devotees—those who are simply attached to Me by loving service. These devotees have everything at their disposal, but they desire nothing outside of My devotional service. If ever a devotee should desire some material profit, like promotion to the heavenly planets, or some spiritual profit—to go to the Vaikunthas—by My causeless mercy his desires are very easily fulfilled.”
Actually, a person who is developing Krishna consciousness and still has some attachment to material enjoyment will soon be freed from such a tendency by regularly discharging devotional service under the instruction of a bona fide spiritual master.
Srila Rupa Gosvami, then, recommends that one should not be attached to material sense enjoyment, but should accept everything enjoyable which is in relationship to Krishna. For example, eating is necessary, and one wants some palatable dishes to satisfy his sense of taste. So in that case, for the satisfaction of Krishna rather than for the satisfaction of the tongue, some palatable dishes may be prepared and offered to Krishna. Then it is renunciation. Let the palatable dishes be prepared, but unless they are offered to Krishna one should not accept them for eating. This vow of rejecting anything which is not offered to Krishna is actually renunciation. And by such renunciation one is able to satisfy the demands of the senses.
The impersonalists, who try to avoid everything material, may undergo severe austerities, but they miss the opportunity of being engaged in the service of the Lord. Thus their renunciation is not sufficient for perfection. There are many instances where, following such artificial renunciation without any contact with devotional service, the impersonalist again fell down and became attracted to material contamination. There are many supposed renouncers even at the present moment who officially become sannyasis, or renouncers, and outwardly claim that spiritual existence is truth and material existence untruth. In this way, artificially they make a show of renunciation of the material world. However, because they cannot reach the point of devotional service, they fail to achieve the goal, and they again come back to material activities, such as philanthropic work and political agitation. There are many examples of so-called sannyasis who gave up the world as untruth but again came to the material world, because they were not seeking their real repose at the lotus feet of the Lord.
One should not give up anything which can be utilized in the service of the Lord. That is a secret of devotional service. Anything that can be utilized in advancing Krishna consciousness and devotional service should be accepted. For instance, we are using many machines for the advancement of our present Krishna consciousness movement, machines like typewriters, dictating machines, tape recorders, microphones and airplanes. Sometimes people ask us, “Why are you utilizing material products if you condemn the advancement of material civilization?” But actually we do not condemn. We simply ask people to do whatever they are doing in Krishna consciousness. This is the same principle on which, in Bhagavad-gita, Krishna advised Arjuna to utilize his fighting abilities in devotional service. Similarly, we are utilizing these machines for Krishna’s service. With such sentiment for Krishna, or Krishna consciousness, we can accept everything. If the typewriter can be utilized for advancing our Krishna consciousness movement, we must accept it. Similarly, the dictating machine or any other machine must be used. Our vision is that Krishna is everything. Krishna is the cause and effect, and nothing belongs to us. Krishna’s things must be used in the service of Krishna. That is our vision.
This does not mean, however, that we should give up the principles of discharging devotional service or neglect abiding by the rules and regulations prescribed therein. In the neophyte stage of devotion one must follow all the principles, regulated by the authority of the spiritual master. The acceptance and rejection of things should always be in pursuance of the devotional principles; not that one can independently manufacture some idea of what should be accepted or rejected. The spiritual master as the visible manifestation of Krishna is necessary, therefore, to direct the devotee on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The spiritual master must never be carried away by an accumulation of wealth or a large number of followers. A bona fide spiritual master will never become like that. But sometimes, if a spiritual master is not properly authorized and only on his own initiative becomes a spiritual master, he may be carried away by an accumulation of wealth and large numbers of disciples. His is not a very high grade of devotional service. If a person is carried away by such achievements, then his devotional service becomes slackened. One should therefore strictly adhere to the principles of disciplic succession. ~
Nectar of Devotion OR Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindhu, Ch 14, Devotional Qualifications
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