Indore (Madhya Pradesh): His Grace Gaur Gopal Das in an exclusive interaction with Free Press shared his personal life, experiences and insights on simple things in life.
Following is his wisdom on questions from our team:
What does His Grace Gopal Das lack in his 100?
Das: What do I lack in my 100 is… How can I become better at what I do? The better is what I lack in my 100. If I am able to reach a hundred thousand people then how can I reach more people is the question. If we don’t feel that something is missing, how will we become passionate about what we do?
What if you are working as much as others, but fail to succeed?
Das: The more you are looking at other’s plate, the more frustrated you will feel. The only reason for frustration is taking focus away from your plate to another person’s. But if you look at other’s plate, take up something good from it and apply it to yourself then it is beneficial. If you plant mustard seeds, then you will get flowers in 5 days. If you plant a coconut tree, then you will get coconuts only after 25 years. There is a process for everything. You cannot rush it. If you have planted coconut and mustard, then know that their journey is different. If you are working hard and things aren’t working for you, but working for someone else, it’s natural to feel frustrated. You can feel frustrated, but to get out of it and try again is life…
ANANDSHIVRE
What is the concept of good luck or fortune?
Das: Pie has a fixed value. Just like that, some things have a permanent value. You cannot change it, no matter what you do. You must remember that the equation also has a variable ‘x’. You can work on the variable, so focus on that.
How to deal with misfortune?
Das: Suppose a lighter is the passion inside you. However, sometimes what life does is that it drowns you. The pending debts, problems, divorces, illness, etc. are things that will drown the passion in your lighter. It’s normal that the light in your lighter or your passion will fade away. It doesn’t light up anymore. The spark goes away, so how and where can you get the spark back? The spark can come back but with someone’s help. Someone can help and bring the spark back. So, build such relationships and be with such people, who can bring spark back for you. Remember the story of Lord Hanuman, who was also depressed. He didn’t want to go to Lanka or do anything. Jamvant had to motivate him. Arjun didn’t want to fight the Mahabharata war, Krishna had to motivate him.
5 qualities for success, peace & bliss from Krishna
1. To have the maturity to know when to speak and when to keep quiet. We speak when we are supposed to stay quiet and become quiet when it’s a must to speak. You can learn from the Narayanastra story, where Krishna forces everyone to lie flat because sometimes that’s the only way to win.
2. Try to have complete detachment from power. Krishna brought justice without being power-thirsty.
3. Learn and try to have the ability to understand the people whom you lead. Krishna knew what Arjuna needed and what Sudama needed to fight the war. He gave knowledge to Arjun and means to Sudama.
4. Krishna being a person of immense stature was still very humble. You can learn to be humble like him. Despite being capable of everything, he became a charioteer for Arjuna in the war. When you are a charioteer in the war, then the rider kicks you to instruct where to go. It’s the only way!
5. Be like Krishna, Krishna is someone who values feeling and intention rather than the thing itself. Recall when Sudama brought simple poha in a bag for Krishna, Krishna feasted on it more joyously than any other lavish meal.
