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Krishna says to Arjuna in the Adi Purana that unless we are the devotees of His devotees that cannot be His devotees. Therefore to please Him we must always be devoted to His devotees. We should never disrespect or be offensive to any of His devotees. To do so is known as Vaisnava-aparadha. Even if there is some disagreement with a devotee, this must always remains a respectful disagreement. If we are offensive to Krishna's devotees, this Vaisnava aparadha is called hati mata, a mad elephant, because this will completely destroy our devotional creepers, just as an elephant will destroy a small plant if he steps on it. Therefore we must always carefully guard ourselves from this offense by always being devoted to Krishna's devotees in all circumstances.



Sankarshan Das Adhikari
 

Question: If an Advanced Devotee Heavily Suffers?

My questions is: If an advanced devotee suffers heavily in his life, can it be said that he has not truly and fully surrendered to Krishna?

Thank You.

With Regards,

Mukesh D.
 

Answer: He Becomes More Glorious

There is no question of being an advanced devotee if one has not truly and fully surrendered to Krishna. Such advanced devotees sometimes appear to suffer very heavily. One example is Namacharya Haridas Thakur, who was severely beaten in twenty-two market places by  the order of the Muslim Kazi. The advanced devotee accepts such suffering as a blessing from Krishna to help him to become even more surrendered to Krishna. Just as a soldier becomes more decorated when he is wounded in battle, the Lord's devotees become more decorated and glorious by undergoing all varieties of sufferings in the Lord's service.

In this connection Srila Prabhupada explains in his Srimad Bhagavatam purport as follows:

"When something is arranged by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should not be disturbed by it, even if it appears to be a reverse according to one's calculations. For example, sometimes we see that a powerful preacher is killed, or sometimes he is put into difficulty, just as Haridas Thakur was. He was a great devotee who came into this material world to execute the will of the Lord by preaching the Lord's glories. But Haridas was punished at the hands of the Kazi by being beaten in twenty-two marketplaces. Similarly, Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, and Prahlada Maharaja was put through so many tribulations. The Pandavas, who were direct friends of Krishna, lost their kingdom, their wife was insulted, and they had to undergo many severe tribulations. Seeing all these reverses affect devotees, one should not be disturbed; one should simply understand that in these matters there must be some plan of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Bhagavatam's conclusion is that a devotee is never disturbed by such reverses. He accepts even reverse conditions as the grace of the Lord. One who continues to serve the Lord even in reverse conditions is assured that he will go back to Godhead, back to the Vaikuntha planets. Lord Brahma assured the demigods that there was no use in talking about how the disturbing situation of darkness was taking place, since the actual fact was that it was ordered by the Supreme Lord. Brahma knew this because he was a great devotee; it was possible for him to understand the plan of the Lord."
--from purport to SB 3.16.37

I hope that this fully clarifies your understanding.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari
 

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