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Vaisnavism must teach Universal Love. We must emphasize this point because bhakti is the unique school of love. For example, simply avoiding Vaisnava aparadha is for neophytes. This instruction is made so as not to fall down, but if we really want to go ahead we must increase our love for everyone as Sri Krsna says in the Bhagavad Gita, twelfth chapter. Mahaprabhu also taught 'amanina manadena': to give honor means to give love. Mahaprabhu is not thinking of superficial or diplomatic honor, He is thinking of real love. Bhaktivinode Thakur also said in his song to Gurudeva: Only when I am able to honor everyone will I be able to enjoy the name with real purity.

Recently, an important Vaisnava said in a class:

"When Mother Yasoda went into Krsna's room at night, He pretended to be asleep. He wanted her to go away so that He could meet with the gopis. This is the superiority of the gopis' love. Their love and affection is totally for Krsna.

Mother Yasoda also has love and affection for Nanda Baba, and she has many duties, but the gopis have nothing to do. They have left their husbands - they have left everything. They only have one pointed love and affection for Krsna.

Krsna's queen Rukmini has ten sons and one daughter, and therefore her love and affection is divided into twelve parts.

... The Queens of Dvaraka cannot fully love Krsna, but the gopis, who also have husbands, could easily reject them and give their full love to Krsna. They left everyone, even their mothers and fathers, and they have no love and affection for anyone other than Krsna."

I cannot agree with this point. I think that a person who has love for Krsna will have great love for everyone. To love Krsna means that you will have the ability to love every living being as Krsna Himself does.

I think that the gopis have love for all of Vrndavan; they don't want to leave it. Mother Yasoda left Krsna aside to attend the milk because, as other gopis, she knows that better than to love Krsna is to love His tadiyas. If we really learn how to love Krsna, automatically we will learn how to love everyone else.

When we speak about detachment, it doesn't means that there is no love for others. Detachment means that love for Krsna is in first place. If there is some conflict between relative and absolute, we must take the absolute and reject the relative, but it doesn't mean that there is no love for others.

As Vaisnavas we must teach how to love everyone in a pure way, we must teach a God centered love.

Krsna taught the brahmana's wives to return to their husband's side and take care of their children. Mahaprabhu also told Kurma vipra not to leave home.

I think only Vaisnavas can do this task of teaching others how to love.

I heard that marriage in Krsna consciousness has a great percentage of divorce, most probably because we are not teaching how to love others in the right way.

We saw how Iskcon was destroyed because of this lack of love. Srila Prabhupad foretold that Iskcon could be destroyed only from the inside, only through envy and politics, only if there was no love between devotees.

Gurus must enthuse love.

We learn from His Divine Grace Sridhar Maharaj that when one devotee was in conflict with another, Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur would call this devotee and ask him to speak about some good qualities of the devotee he was criticizing earlier. In this way, he was fighting against politics and envy, and he was enforcing his disciples to truly appreciate each other. To love Krsna will increase our loving capacity and will extend this to the whole world, even to our enemies, as Prahlad Maharaj's example teaches us in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Sri Krsna is the only way real, universal love will reach us.

I don't think that the gopis have no love for their husbands and children. How is it possible that a mother will not love her child? How can we accept this as a nice thing? How can I accept that in the Land of Love there is no such kind of love?

When Lord Brahma took the children and cows, and Krsna took their place, their mothers noticed that now they loved their children even more, but this does not mean that they did not love their own children before. Sukadeva Goswami explained that because Krsna is in everyone's heart, love between everyone is possible. Sridhar Maharaj said that Vrndavan is the Land of our Gurus.

Everybody there is our Guru, so, I think that Guru must be loved. I don't think it proper to say that a better devotee is one who only loves Krsna and nobody else. I think we must teach how to love everyone through Krsna consciousness.

The gopis said to Krsna: tava kathamrtam tapta-jivanam. bhurida janah, 'those who are talking about Your glories are the most compassionate.' Mahaprabhu Himself came in the mood of Radharani and He preached sankirtan to save all fallen souls. Vasudeva datta and all Vaisnavas are great examples of compassion.

I think that the Vaisnava world needs to emphasize the need of a more mature love. Vaisnavas not only must love other Vaisnavas and Vrndavan, they must learn and teach how to love everyone, even enemies, as Jesus Christ did. If we cannot go up to this level but instead are fighting between ourselves with no recognition of the service of others, then we are far below those Christians who are really struggling for universal love.

We live in a world full of problems, where more and more new problems are coming. Only real love can solve these difficulties. Our Srila Prabhupad made the effort to ask us to create a fully Krsna conscious society. I humbly think is time to make a strong effort ourselves to increase our commitment to preaching and to helping others by loving them and giving them this precious message.

Hare Krsna.

Falling at the feet of all Vaisnavas, I ask to remain as your servant.
Atulananda das.