Perfection of Desire - Serve Kṛṣṇa

The living entity is sentient and active; therefore, to exist is to desire. While many spiritual paths advocate the suppression of desire to achieve peace, Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the soul's true nature is to be active in service. This article elucidates his teaching that the perfection of yoga is not the absence of desire, but the presence of the supreme desire: the unmotivated, uninterrupted longing to serve Kṛṣṇa.

Vitality of Spiritual Desire

It is often misunderstood that spiritual life requires the cessation of all desires. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because the living entity is eternal, their propensity to desire is also eternal. He notes that a "dead" stone has no desire, but a living soul must wish for something. According to His Divine Grace, the process of purification is to transform "artificial" material desires into the "real" desire of serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

• It is the nature of the living entity to desire; it is not possible to be desireless. If one is desireless, he is dead. Desirelessness means purifying one's desire, and desire is purified when we only desire the service of Krsna.
• No desire does not mean no desire for serving Krsna. That is real desire. Other desires are artificial. That is material. But the desire to . . . that is called Krsna consciousness. When all our desires are for serving Krsna.
• The bhakta, is beyond the karmi and the jnani. The karmi has many desires, and the jnani tries to get rid of all desires, but desirelessness can be possible only when we desire to serve Krsna. Otherwise it is not possible to get rid of desires.

Overflooding Method

How does one remove deep-rooted material attachments? The method recommended by Śrīla Prabhupāda is dynamic, not passive. He advises that a devotee use their intelligence to plan various engagements for Kṛṣṇa. This active planning creates a powerful current of service that acts like a flood, washing away the stagnant waters of material enjoyment. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that this purification through active engagement is the essence of true tapasya.

• A devotee with intelligence plans so many things for the service of the Lord in Krsna consciousness that stagnant material desires become overflooded by the desire to serve the Lord.
• That requires tapasya. Tapo divyam (SB 5.5.1). Tapasya means to purify the desires. Tat paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). Therefore if you simply keep your desires to the service of Krsna, you become purified.
• One must have no desire within his heart other than to serve Krsna. On the basis of such a conviction, one can cultivate Krsna consciousness. This is confirmed in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu - 1.2.200.

Liberation in Any Condition

Śrīla Prabhupāda states that a person who desires only to serve Kṛṣṇa transcends the duality of heaven and hell. He explains that such a devotee is not interested in dry liberation or escaping birth and death; their only ambition is to preach the glories of the Lord and convince others of Kṛṣṇa's supremacy. This sincere desire to serve marks one as liberated, even while apparently situated in the material world.

• In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu it is said that although one who has a sincere desire to render loving service to the Supreme Lord is situated in the conditional state of material existence, he is to be considered liberated.
• He (a pure devotee of Lord Krsna) is not very interested in stopping the repetition of birth, for he simply desires to serve the Lord, even in hellish circumstances.
• Anyabhilasita-sunyam (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.11). If one has no desire other than to serve Krsna and His devotee, then his life is successful. This is explained by Narada Muni (in SB 7.15.73) through this practical example from his own life.

Universal Reciprocation

According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, the desire to serve Kṛṣṇa is the only qualification required to receive divine intelligence. He emphasizes that Kṛṣṇa is not the property of any specific group; He belongs to everyone. His Divine Grace assures us that if a living entity, regardless of their background, sincerely desires to serve, the Lord within the heart provides the intelligence and opportunity to do so.

• Krsna is not for the Indians or for the Americans. He's for everyone. Anyone who desires to serve Him, He'll give him intelligence.
• If we desire this (be engaged in Krsna's service birth after birth), Krsna will give us the opportunity. After all, Krsna is everything. He is brahma-jyotir and Paramatma also.
• The intelligent person simply surrenders unto the Lord or he desires to serve the Lord, and that is his greatest opportunity.

Conclusion

Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the ultimate test of spiritual advancement is the quality of one's desire. While the materialist plans for sense gratification and the impersonalist strives for the death of desire, the devotee achieves the perfection of life by desiring to serve Kṛṣṇa. As Śrīla Prabhupāda explains, this single shift in consciousness—from self-interest to Kṛṣṇa-interest—overfloods the heart with spiritual bliss, cleanses all material contamination, and secures one's position as a liberated soul.

Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani

Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Desiring to Serve Krsna. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.

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