Pracodayāt: The Art of Encouragement in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness | HG Vaisesika Dasa | ISV | 22 May 2013

So, encourage means that one's heart has to be situated in confidence that Kṛṣṇa is supporting me. In many, many ways, Kṛṣṇa is sending encouragement to us. There is a word in the Guru Gāyatrī, in which the word prachodayāt also appears in the Gāyatrī mantras. This word prachodayāt comes from the Sanskrit root word chud. Chud means to encourage or to impel forward. And so, pra is an intensifier for the word, and then it gets declined in different ways. So prachodayāt means encouragement. A sādhaka is someone who performs sādhanā. Similarly, there is prachodaka. You take the word prachodayāt, and then you say prachodaka. A prachodaka is the person who is the encourager. The spiritual master is meant to be a prachodaka. This is what the verse at the end of the Guru Gāyatrī is saying, prachodayāt. We meditate on the spiritual master giving encouragement, and we meditate on how Kṛṣṇa is encouraging me from within the heart. It's important to meditate on these encouragements that Kṛṣṇa is sending. As Śrīla Prabhupāda points out in the last purport of the 15th chapter in the Bhagavad Gītā, we have to overcome weakness of heart in order to advance in devotional service. Weakness of heart is attachment to the material world, this inclination to give up the service of the Lord and become attached to matter, to give in to the weakness of the senses. The second stage is to become more and more attached to the material world. We must be encouraged to, as I said before, asaṅga-śastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā, we have to cut down the tree of the material world. Sometimes that's a scary prospect because I feel like I'm part of this material world. I have a fear that if I give up my protection of the body and surrender to Kṛṣṇa, what will happen to me? What about my stake in the material world? I'm going to lose it. Kṛṣṇa is encouraging us, don't worry , "Mā śucaha." A very nice devotee, writing me letters from prison, says he loves this verse, mā śucaha. He keeps saying, "You know, mā śucaha, mā śucaha." Don't worry. Just don't worry. Kṛṣṇa says, "Don't worry." To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: iskconsv.com/book-store/ www.bbtacademic.com/books/ thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soun…ti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe    / @fanthespark   For the latest in SoundCloud: @fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualquestions #spiritualquestionsanswered #trendingspiritualtopics #fanthespark #spiritualpowerofmeditation #spiritualgrowthlessons #secretsofspirituality #spiritualteachersonyoutube #spiritualhabits #spiritualclarity #bhagavadgita #srimadbhagavatam #spiritualbeings #kttvg #keepthetranscendentalvibrationgoing #spiritualpurpose