Hare Krishna,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupad.
I was asked this by a lady at the temple the other day. She has been KC for some time and believes in Krishna, chants , is vegetarian etc ...
she asked me at what point can one call themselves a devotee of Krishna ?
My understanding is that if a person believes in Krishna as the supreme personality of Godhead, and if they are actively involved in service of krishna - whether it be chanting or helping at the temple - to some degree then they are a devotee..
I would be interested in hearing opinions on this from others though, especially since my knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita and KC is still quite small.
Many thanks
The moment when.......
I think the moment you allow chanting and serving krsna to enter your life you are a devotee. That moment in your heart when your ready to give up all your past material joy's you become a devotee. The moment when only pleasing krsna matters you become a devotee.
who is a Vaisnava
> My understanding is that if a person believes in Krishna as the supreme personality of Godhead, and if they are actively involved in service of krishna - whether it be chanting or helping at the temple - to some degree then they are a devotee..
Yes. Chanting the holy name even once with faith already makes one a devotee. See Harinama Cintamani, ch. 2,4.
Still, out of humility a Vaisnava always considers himself unqualified to be called Vaisnava and prefers to call himself a servant of Vaisnavas.
Hope this helps. Hare Krsna.
ys Jan
The original position of
The original position of every Soul is to be the Devotee of Lord Sri Krishna. So everyone is a Devotee , its only that some people recognise/realise their original position and duty ( love and service to God ) and many others dont.
I think 'devotee' is not a static position, it is dynamic..at every moment we have the choice either to recognise ourselfs as devotee (& act according to God's will ) or not recognise that we are devotee (and act according to our will ).
So i think being a Devotee is .. the Soul recognising itself to be a Devotee and acting according to God's will.
Hare Krishna !