(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 04 August 2012, Stockholm, Sweden, Bhagavad-gita 11.8)
A devotee is not only interested in seeing Krsna himself. Of course, a devotee wants to see Krsna, but he also wants everyone else to see Krsna. He wants the whole world to see Krsna. Therefore, Yudhisthira, the elder brother of Arjuna, performed the rajasuya sacrifice. It was a sacrifice that could be performed by a powerful king and it meant the coronation of that king as the emperor. So Yudhisthira performed that sacrifice but he used it so that Krsna was glorified as the Supreme Lord, in the presence of everyone. That was his real purpose for that sacrifice, so that the whole world could hear, ‘Yes, Krsna is the Supreme Lord.‘So this is the nature of a devotee. A devotee wants the whole world, everyone, to know the glories of Krsna.
The pure devotee is para dukha dukhi. He is feeling the suffering of other living beings. He is compassionate and he understands that in the absence of Krsna, there is only suffering – sugar-coated suffering and straight suffering, but suffering nonetheless. Suffering from acute agony or suffering from emptiness.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Can you point out anything that is not right?”
“No.”
“Then why are you not happy?”
The emptiness of a life without Krsna is also suffering. So in this way, we see sugar-coated suffering or suffering in its raw form. The pure devotee in compassion wants others to know Krsna because nothing else can satisfy the heart.
