{"id":830,"date":"2025-07-18T23:17:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T15:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/?p=830"},"modified":"2025-07-18T23:17:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T15:17:56","slug":"%e6%88%91%e4%bb%ac%e9%9c%80%e8%a6%81%e6%95%91%e8%b5%8e%e5%90%97%ef%bc%9f%e6%9c%aa%e7%bf%bb%e8%af%91","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/?p=830","title":{"rendered":"\u6211\u4eec\u9700\u8981\u6551\u8d4e\u5417\uff1f[\u672a\u7ffb\u8bd1]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do We Need Salvation?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

2024-01-11 heyumapati<\/a>  Hare Krishna<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re doing it wrong,\u201d said Joan,  a Christian neighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I  took a deep breath and rolled my eyes upwards. \u201cNot again,\u201d I thought. I  had heard this from Christians a million times before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOffering incense and ghee lamps to Krishna,\u201d she went on. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to earn your salvation. But Jesus has done it for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t argue with her. Not that she was right. She wasn\u2019t. But Krishna Consciousness follows a different concept. I have tried to explain it to these people, but well, maybe I should try to explain the French conception of the subjunctive to my neighbor\u2019s cat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I don\u2019t mean to criticize the teachings of Jesus. They are faultless. But I find this blind spot in many of his followers, like Joan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell me Joan,  Don\u2019t you sing \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d? Don\u2019t you kneel and take the  wine-dipped wafer between your lips? Fine. But then you go and  commit the very fault that you accuse me of. You stick your hand out for payment.You say, of course, that Jesus has already paid the price. So why should I work to earn what has already been paid?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me tell you about something better, Joan.   We call it pure love, and it only wants one reward: the love itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I offer incense to Krishna. And my payment? \u201cDear Lord Krishna, please let me offer more incense tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll explain more. But first, let\u2019s jump into my time machine and go back some years, to 1966.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hot summer sun  beats  down on Manhattan\u2019s Lower East Side as I stroll past where a store used to sell candles and ashtrays and handkerchiefs. \u201cMatchless Gifts\u201d says the sign painted over the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now something new has moved in. \u201cLectures on the Bhagavad-Gita\u201d says the  signboard in the streetside display window. I also see two pictures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture on the left, Krishna\u2019s mother Yasoda Devi holds her little son in her lap and smiles as she puts a sweetmeat in his mouth. In his left hand Krishna holds a string attached to a toy horse on wheels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yasoda sees Krishna not as God but  as the baby she gave birth to.  She has never found out that the babies were switched while she slept after the birth. So she feeds Krishna, she bathes him and dresses him and hugs him and gives him toys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But she never asks for a reward, not even salvation. How can a little boy offer salvation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Krishna says,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Mother sometimes binds Me as her son. She nourishes and protects Me, thinking Me utterly helpless. (Sri Chaitanya Charitamrta Adi 4.24)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

All well and good,\u201d you say. \u201cKrishna is Yasoda\u2019s son, so she takes care of him.  But Krishna is not my <\/em>son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you can think of him as your son if you want.  You don\u2019t have to think of him as your father as some do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur father which art in Heaven,\u201d pray the Christians, \u201cgive us this day our daily bread.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why not follow Yasoda and think of God as your son? \u201cIf I don\u2019t give God his daily bread, he\u2019ll starve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Srila Prabhupada elaborates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Therefore God consciousness does not mean any motive to take from God, something from God. That is not God consciousness. You give everything to God. That is God consciousness.Just like the conception of accepting God as child. That is [a] better conception [than] to accept God as father, because from father we simply take away: \u2018Father, give me this, give me that, give me that, give me that.\u2019 And if you accept God as child, then you have to give everything. (lecture April 10, 1973)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And again:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

So real love begins when you try to give [to] God. Everyone is trying to take from God, \u2018O Father, give us our daily bread.\u2019 This is not [a] pure devotee. This is good, because he has approached God, but this is not devotion.It is not devotion, it is business: \u2018God, give me something, then I will love You.\u2019 Is it not? (conversation September 19, 1973)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So in the Hare Krishna temples, instead of asking for our bread, we give the  bread to Krishna. We start by waking him in the morning with  sweetmeats and fruit drinks, then through the day with vegetables and soups and flatbreads and rice and desserts, and then to bedtime with a snack of sweetened milk and cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empty ritual, you say. How do we know Krishna really eats it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because he says so:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I will accept it. (Bhagavad-Gita  9.26)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You can do it too. You can feed Krishna. Maybe you don\u2019t know how to fry an eggplant in ghee or how to roll a whole-wheat flatbread or how to  soak fermented dough twists in heavy syrup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But  that\u2019s all right. Krishna says a leaf, a fruit,  a flower, or water. So then offer Krishna an apple and a glass of water. But don\u2019t forget the love and devotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But another question comes up. If we don\u2019t ask for anything back, does that mean we don\u2018t get any pleasure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this brings us back to the display window on the Lower East Side, to the other picture. It shows people dancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who? What?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, sometimes Krishna wonders if his devotees might not feel more pleasure in cooking candies and  fudge for him than he himself feels in eating it.  So  he comes into this world as Lord Chaitanya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he lives the life of a Hare Krishna devotee. He chants Hare Krishna and dances.  That\u2019s what\u2019s happening in the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, when Krishna lives as a devotee, he does it perfectly. Remember my friend Joan, who thinks salvation is the ultimate goal? Here is what Lord Chaitanya says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Oh almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth. (Siksastaka 4)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait,\u201d you say.  \u201cThis quotation says nothing about salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh no?  What about \u201cbirth after birth\u201d? Lord Chaitanya will be  happy to take birth in the material world again and again as long as he can serve Krishna. He thus waves away the idea of salvation. Yes.  \u201cBirth after birth\u201d means staying in the material world, as birth does not happen in the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salvation? Lord Chaitanya does not ask for any reward at all:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me broken-hearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally. (Siksastaka 8)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Christians could also learn  something about loving God from those words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d you say, \u201cbut this is Krishna. He doesn\u2019t need salvation. But what about someone like me or you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The great devotee Satyavratya Muni answers this question in his poem \u201cDamodar\u201d about Krishna\u2019s childhood in a place called Gokula Vrndavana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

My Lord, by Your own childhood pastimes You continually immerse the residents of Gokula in pools of ecstasy.You reveal to those who are attracted to Your majesty and opulence, that You are only conquered by the love of Your pure devotees. Again I offer my obeisances with love and devotion hundreds and hundreds of times. (verse 3)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

O Lord Damodara, although You are able to give all kinds of benedictions, I do not pray to You for liberation, nor the supreme goal of eternal life in Vaikuntha, nor for any other boon.My only desire, O Lord, is that Your form as Bala Gopal [child Krishna] in Vrndavana may constantly remain in my heart. I have no use for any other boon besides this. (verse 4)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Your supremely enchanting face, encircled by shining locks of dark blue [black] curling hair, resembles the fully blossomed lotus, tinged with a reddish luster, due to being kissed again and again by Mother Yasoda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May this vision of Your lotus face, with lips as red as bimba fruit, remain forever in my heart. Millions of other benedictions are of no benefit to me. (verse 5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Srila Prabhupada sums it up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

When we attain that stage of love of God, we will find that everything is full of pleasure; God is full of pleasure, and we also are full of pleasure. (Path of Perfection 3)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Well? Still worried about salvation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2053Umapati Swami, January 11, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eternally touching my head to the floor at the lotus feet of my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, for showing me this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTES:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any organization or any other person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scriptural passages \u00a9 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo top: Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy (Jishnu Das)<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Write to me: hoswami@yahoo.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Umapati Swami 2023<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Srila Prabhupada<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the teacher who brought Krishna Consciousness from India to the West and then to the rest of the world. He is the founder of the worldwide Hare Krishna Movement as well as the author and compiler of many works of Vedic knowledge. He left this world in 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Umapati Swami<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the first American devotees of the Hare Krishna Movement, he became Srila Prabhupada\u2019s disciple in 1966. Since then, he has preached Krishna Consciousness in many countries and is the author of \u201cMy Days with Prabhupada,\u201d available from Amazon. Now 86 years old, he has started this blog to share what he has learned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do We Need Salvation? 2024-01-11 heyumapati&n… \u7ee7\u7eed\u9605\u8bfb \u6211\u4eec\u9700\u8981\u6551\u8d4e\u5417\uff1f[\u672a\u7ffb\u8bd1]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=830"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":835,"href":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions\/835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.umapatiswami.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}