We cannot claim any favor from the Supreme unless we are in love. So love means...there are six principles of loving. What is that? dadati pratigrhnati guhyam akhyati prcchati bhunkte bhojayate caiva sad-vidham priti-laksanam

Expressions researched:
"We cannot claim any favor from the Supreme unless we are in love" |"So love means . . . there are six principles of loving. What is that"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

You have to make friendship with Kṛṣṇa. Just like if you want to go to see somebody very great, then somehow or other, you have to make some connection with him, something. You have to introduce yourself in a way, in a friendly way, in a loving manner. Then it is possible to make connection with great personality. So if we want to transfer ourself to that supreme planet, Kṛṣṇaloka, then we have to prepare ourself how to love Kṛṣṇa. Love of God. If you are intimately in touch with God by love . . . we cannot conquer with all . . . we cannot claim any favor from the Supreme unless we are in love. So love means . . . there are six principles of loving. What is that? dadāti pratigṛhṇāti guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ prīti-lakṣaṇam.

661214 - Lecture BG 09.24-26 - New York

You have to make friendship with Kṛṣṇa. Just like if you want to go to see somebody very great, then somehow or other, you have to make some connection with him, something. You have to introduce yourself in a way, in a friendly way, in a loving manner. Then it is possible to make connection with great personality. So if we want to transfer ourself to that supreme planet, Kṛṣṇaloka, then we have to prepare ourself how to love Kṛṣṇa. Love of God. If you are intimately in touch with God by love . . . we cannot conquer with all . . . we cannot claim any favor from the Supreme unless we are in love. So love means . . . there are six principles of loving. What is that? dadāti pratigṛhṇāti guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ prīti-lakṣaṇam (Upadeśāmṛta 4) How one can understand I love you, or you can understand that I love you? There is . . . there are six kinds of reciprocation, six kinds of exchange, reciprocation. What is that? Dadāti. One whom you love, you must give something. And you must take something from him. Dadāti pratigṛhṇāti. Bhuṅkte bhojayate: You must give him something to eat, and you must accept also what he gives to eat. And dadāti pratigṛhṇāti bhuṅkte bhojayate, guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati ca: you must disclose your mind, and you must hear him. If your lover is also in some difficulty, he discloses his mind. So these six things, dadāti, giving, and pratigṛhṇāti, accepting, and bhuṅkte, to offer foodstuff and accept foodstuff, and disclose your mind and hear him also, these things . . . So we have to deal with God in that way. Therefore, if you want to offer something . . . the beginning is offering. Offering. We must offer something. So what is that offering? If you . . . if somebody says that "I am very poor man. I cannot offer anything . . ." Because in India, of course, offering to the demigods, offering to some deity . . . that is very expensive job. There are list of goods. Now, suppose a poor man, he wants to offer something to God. Then what he has to offer? He . . . here is a prescription given by the Lord Himself which can be offered even by the poorest man. What is that? Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam. A, a little bit of tulasī leaves or any leaf; puṣpam, a little bit of flower; patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalam, a small fruit; and toyam, a little water. Now, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam, these four things can be available universally. Nobody is so poor that he cannot collect a leaf of a tree or a small fruit or a small flower and little water. It is universal; nothing expensive. So anyone, in any country, in any place, he can offer Kṛṣṇa these four things. There is no bar. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam. Four things: a small leaf . . . you can have any. There are so many trees. If you take one leaf, even if you are forbidden, if you ask that "I am going to offer this leaf to God," anyone will offer it. Patraṁ puṣpam, a little flower, and a small fruit and little water. So Lord says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). The real thing is love. "Anyone who is offering Me these four things in love," tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam, "because he is . . . he has brought these four things with love and devotion," then God says, Lord says, tad aham aśnāmi, "I eat. I eat," bhaktyā prayatātmanaḥ, "because with devotion, with faith and with love he has brought." God is full. We should not think that "God is depending upon my this little flower or fruit. He is very hungry. When I shall offer this fruit and He'll satisfy His hunger." No. He's pūrṇam. But the qualification is that offering should be in love, in devotion. That He accepts. He accepts your devotion and love. So patraṁ puṣpam. So anybody can worship Kṛṣṇa. This is universal. Patraṁ puṣpam . . . these four things can be . . . but one thing you should remember, that if we want to cheat Kṛṣṇa—"Oh, Kṛṣṇa wants only patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam, so let Him have this patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam, and for myself, let me eat very sumptuously, the best thing"—that is cheating. Kṛṣṇa can understand. This is for the poorest man. But if you have got very nice things to offer to Kṛṣṇa, just offer. Any give it now, your . . . your love means you should offer to Kṛṣṇa the nicest, the choicest, the best thing. Because everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. So when you offer something best, choicest, that is your love only. Suppose you offer a fruit to Kṛṣṇa. Can you manufacture fruit? Oh, it is manufactured by Kṛṣṇa. It is God's gift. But if you place before Him some choicest fruit, some choicest flower, some choicest, I mean to say, thing, then that is your token of love that you think . . . And in this material world . . . suppose there is a very nice rose flower. Somebody takes it, "Oh, it is very nice rose flower. Oh, I shall take it and offer my girlfriend or boyfriend." That is sense gratification. That is sense gratification. The same flower, if you take it and think, "Oh, it is very nice flower. I shall offer to Kṛṣṇa," that is your service to the Lord. The flower is there. Simply change of consciousness. This is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The flower is there. You are there. The consciousness is there. This offering is there. Simply you have to change. That's all. You have to change. If you utilize things for sense gratification, then you go to the darkest region of this material atmosphere. And the same thing, if you offer to Kṛṣṇa, it becomes spiritual. Now, after offering Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is not taking it away. You are take . . . you are taking the prasādam. That means the whole thing becomes spiritualized. So in this way we can spiritualize the whole world, whole world, simply by changing our consciousness. We are . . . we are anxious for peace. This is the process of peace: you change your consciousness.