Q. “In short, sinful activity cannot be brought under the purview of ‘offering everything to Krishna.'” (Narada Bhakti Sutra 35)
Could you please elaborate on the above? Because so many devotees say that whatever you do, you should offer it to Krishna. For example, suppose I am a software engineer, if I develop some software and it is used for something sinful in the first place, then how can I offer it to Krishna? But devotees recommend offering it.
Answer by Romapada Swami: Yes, it is true that one cannot expect to dedicate to Krishna the results of sinful or forbidden activities. When Krishna says “Whatever you do, do that as an offering to Me,” it is just as much as when He indicates to us to first offer to Him whatever we eat. One who actually loves God would make the effort to know what He will accept and offer Him such pure foodstuffs only, as recommended by Him in scriptures.
Similarly, we are recommended to act and live purely – that is, to live by theistic conduct, within the codes of religious principles and more specifically under the guidance of saintly devotees. When our life is regulated in that way, then we can begin by offering whatever we do to Krishna. The Lord stresses in the Bhagavad-Gita that “One should therefore understand what is duty and what is not duty by the regulations of the scriptures. Knowing such rules and regulations, one should act so that he may gradually be elevated.” (BG 16.24) And yet, doing the prescribed activities according to rules and regulations is alone not sufficient; one must do them with the conscious meditation of dedication to the Supreme – this is the import of “offering whatever we do to Krishna.” Such work will elevate us; otherwise, we will be implicated.
To deliberately continue involvement with sinful activities thinking that it can be adjusted or purified by devotional service constitutes a great offense and will adversely affect one’s devotional progress.
Srila Prabhupada underscores this understanding of how we should work: “One should, however, note that after doing something whimsically he should not offer the result to the Supreme Lord. That sort of duty is not in the devotional service of Krishna consciousness. One should act according to the order of Krishna. This is a very important point. That order of Krishna comes through disciplic succession from the bona fide spiritual master. Therefore the spiritual master’s order should be taken as the prime duty of life. If one gets a bona fide spiritual master and acts according to his direction, then one’s perfection of life in Krishna consciousness is guaranteed.” (BG 18.57 p) Therefore, it is so crucial to have the close guidance of the spiritual master in making important decisions in one’s life such as choosing one’s occupation.
An aspiring devotee who wants to dedicate their work to Krishna should make efforts to carefully avoid overtly sinful professions and try to choose some virtuous occupation as far as possible. For example, one would certainly not want to be involved in developing a technology meant for improving lethal weapons or slaughterhouses. Thus, if your occupation is such that it is directly opposed to religious principles, it would be wise to consider alternatives. (We have also discussed similar questions from different perspectives in Digests 61 and 177 )
The narration of Lord Caitanya’s disapproval of Gopinatha Pattanayaka is very instructive in this regard. (Cc Antya Chapter 9.) Gopinatha Pattanayaka was a devotee of Lord Caitanya and was engaged as a tax collector in the government, but he apparently misappropriated some funds from the treasury and was about to be punished by the king. When the devotees appealed to Lord Caitanya on behalf of Gopinatha Pattanayaka, Lord Caitanya was not at all happy to hear that the property of the government was misappropriated, and he refused to support Gopinatha Pattanayaka’s position, notwithstanding the fact that he and his entire family were all very dear and devoted servants of the Lord. Thus, Lord Caitanya taught us unequivocally that we should conduct our life exemplifying religious principles even in our ordinary worldly dealings, and not compromise them on the grounds that we are serving the Supreme Lord.
Having said that, it should be mentioned that in the present age, given the way society is setup, it is not very easy to not be involved in sin. Due to the loss of varnashrama society, just by our living in a predominantly non-theistic society we become involved in many sins, and virtually any action performed by us contributes in some way to sinful activities. Nonetheless we cannot merely take a helpless or indifferent attitude, thinking there is no alternative, because such adverse activities do implicate us and are not favorable for the cultivation of bhakti. Rather a sincere devotee feels very regretful (as in the example of Rupa and Sanatana Goswami, as discussed in Digest 177); and they look for ways and means to progressively move towards a more favorable engagement and live an increasingly pure life dedicated to Krishna and His mission.
In the meanwhile, with the understanding that one’s engagement is not the ideal, one should act under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, for the spiritual master is competent to engage the disciple and appropriately dovetail the results of their work in service to Krishna and to progressively help them become disentangled from capricious and unfavorable activities.
