By Ananta Gopal Das | Head Pujari (Priest) at Bhaktivedanta Manor
I was returning from the airport with a few friends, driving in an electric Tesla car. It was a hot day, so we decided to stop at the next service station to charge the car batteries and buy a few cold drinks. After we parked in the station next to the charging area and plugged the car in, we walked to the shops. Less than ten minutes later, as we returned, the car was charged.
“It charged faster than the phone!” I said, surprisingly.
In the shops, only a few staff members worked, and we scanned our purchases ourselves. Cameras were strategically placed in every corner to catch any attempts at cheating.
As we returned to the house of a devotee, we noticed the robot vacuum cleaner moving around, quietly cleaning the house. A few days prior to that, whilst returning from a European trip, I saw a robot lawn mower cutting the grass dutifully without any complaints.
As “perfect” robots gradually take over jobs, devaluing human skills, and artificial intelligence relieves us of the need to think, write, or memorise, all that remains in humans that can’t be taken away is the heart.
While robots can’t take our hearts away, we often forget that we have one! The duty of saintly people, therefore, is to travel around and remind everyone of what they have forgotten.
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā 8.39: “It is the general practice of all saintly people to deliver the fallen. Therefore they go to people’s houses, although they have no personal business there.”
Pure saintly people speak from the heart the message of Godhead and are therefore able to awaken that which is hidden in everyone’s heart, namely love for Lord Krishna.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.13.10: “Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.”
As we navigate through life and deal with the challenges and responsibilities thrown upon us, we should not forget to look into our heart. Behind the layers of envy, greed, lust, desire for fame and prestige, and other unwanted things, deep inside we will also find a natural inclination to serve Lord Krishna, and as we progress, we will also develop the desire to remind others to re-establish their own relationship with Lord Krishna.