Page 30 - History of Tirupathi Balaji and comparison of Sri Vaishnava

you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My
understanding. (Bg 11.54)
Vedavati engages in real tapasya (austerity)
Austerity is any discomfort one may feel in performing genuine service for
the pleasure of God. There is austerity of the body, speech and the mind as
explained by Lord Krishna.
“Austerity of the body consists in worship of the Supreme Lord, the
brahmanas, the spiritual master, and superiors like the father and mother, and
in cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy and nonviolence. Austerity of speech consists
in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, benefi cial, and not agitating to
others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature. And satisfaction, simplicity,
gravity, self-control and purifi cation of one’s existence are the austerities of the
mind. This threefold austerity, performed with transcendental faith by men not
expecting material benefi ts but engaged only for the sake of the Supreme, is
called austerity in goodness. (Bg 17. 14-18) Vedavati did not perform tapasya
for her material benefi t. She sincerely wanted to serve Lord Vishnu without any
consideration of personal gain.
Another example of real tapasya is Arjuna. He felt great discomfort fi ghting
in the terrible battle of Kuruksetra. He didn’t want to fi ght against his own
revered family members. Arjuna foresaw the terrible carnage the fi ghting would
cause in terms of human suffering and loss. Yet, he realized that it was the desire
of Lord Krishna that he defend the principles of “Dharma” (righteous principles
of spirituality). After hearing the entire Bhagavad-gita from Krishna, Arjuna
abandoned his own personal considerations of gain and loss and began to act
only for the purpose of satisfying the desire of the Lord.
In the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita (Bg 1. 32-35), Arjuna was suffering
from a deluded state of mind in which he thought spiritual activities and worship
of God were meant for personal gain. He addressed Krishna as Govinda because
he wrongly thought that this exalted name of the Lord meant that Krishna is the
order supplier for the satisfaction of Arjuna’s material desires. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada writes in his purport to this verse, Arjuna has addressed Lord
Krishna as Govinda because Krishna is the object of all pleasures for cows and the senses.
By using this signifi cant word, Arjuna indicates that Krishna should understand what will
satisfy Arjuna’s senses. But Govinda is not meant for satisfying our senses. If we try to
satisfy the senses of Govinda, however, then automatically our own senses are satisfi ed.
Materially, everyone wants to satisfy his senses, and he wants God to be the order supplier
for such satisfaction. The Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they
deserve, but not to the extent that they may covet. But when one takes the opposite way —
namely, when one tries to satisfy the senses of Govinda without desiring to satisfy one’s own
senses — then by the grace of Govinda all desires of the living entity are satisfi ed. When
we approach God to serve Him without any desire for material benefi t, we enter
into the spiritual reciprocation of devotion and transcendental experiences of
pure love with the Lord.
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