What does the Supreme really want?

[markandeya 108 dasa]

Pranams

There are so many aspect to God, how can we with our intellects understand and prison him within that limited sphere. He is All, All is He, nothing is outside of itself, nothing is missing, its complete.

Does the Supreme have any want or need, how could this be anything other false, or how could he then be Absolute. or perhaps He also has an Absolute need.

For the sincere he is always with us guiding is in unlimited ways, manifesting to us in all splendor, can we limit this part of His motion.

The most profound and simple understanding of Sr kRishna Bhakti within our practice, is that He is the Most Attractive, and displays in all His Transcendental Majesty that He can be form and still remain unlimited and beyond all form as we know now, this is God, this is Supreme, all aspect of God are fully complete.

Ys

Md

[Anirudh]

Namaste Marga mana das ji,

Thank you very much. I didn't ignore your message but due to oversight I missed it. I am not spiritually knowledgeable enough to compare different philosophies. I am in preliminary stage of Vishistadvaita. Your explanation helped me to get closer to the truth rather my quest.

I must admit that Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya chose me than me selecting it. Is Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya very different from Sri Vaishnavam?

I will continue my quest with the explanation provided by you.

Thanks again

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam

Since your reply has been inserted late, I have just noticed it.

-The philosophy of The Madhvas and that of the Gaudias is the same. Both explain that we are the eternal servants of God.
Simply the Madhvas ephasize one aspect - duality, and the Gaudias' focus is on that we are both one with and different from God.
Hare Krishna.

I am sorry, who you trying to kid, these are two different school of thought, similarity has no value if you are deviating from the original and that was the point.
It is pointless arguing this point here, if you must you can reply here, thread created by uttam
http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=8727, see if you can refute the point raised by him.

Jai Shree Krishna

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam

...continuing from previous post:
----

He explains in 14.27 how He is the basis of the impersonal brahman feature of the absolute truth:-----
Hare Krishna.

BG 14.27

brahmano hi pratisthaham
amrtasyavyayasya ca
sasvatasya ca dharmasya
sukhasyaikantikasya ca

Can you please explain to me, where in this verse the word impersonal appear!

Jai Shree Krishna

[Marga mana das]

Namaste Marga mana das ji,

Thank you very much. I didn't ignore your message but due to oversight I missed it. I am not spiritually knowledgeable enough to compare different philosophies. I am in preliminary stage of Vishistadvaita. Your explanation helped me to get closer to the truth rather my quest.

I must admit that Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya chose me than me selecting it. Is Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya very different from Sri Vaishnavam?

I will continue my quest with the explanation provided by you.

Thanks again

Namaste Anirudh ji,

I am glad you found my post helpful.

I must admit that I do not know Sri Vaishnavism much. We of course worship and serve the same Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu - or Krishna.
The most visible difference is that they worship the Supreme Lord in His form as Vishnu, whereas we mainly focus on His form as Krishna. Vishnu and Krishna is the same Supreme Person - only in different roles and features.

The Vishnu bhaktas worship Him in dasya rasa - in the mood of reverence. The gaudias also worship Krishna in reverance in the beginning stages of bhakti, but in the more advanced stages reverance is gradually replaced by an intimate relationship - as His friend, as His parent or as His lover - just like the inhabitants of Vraja did when Sri Krishna was present 5000 years ago. Krishna very much enjoys wrestling with His friends who don't see Him as God, but rather as their best friend. So there is an intimacy and sweetness in that relationship that the gaudias very much relish. The Sri's of course feel that their mode of worship is the most fulfilling.

Gaudia Vaishnavism is very much influenced by the impulse that was brought by the appearance of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the yuga-avatara in our age - Kali-yuga, in our sampradaya. His appearance is predicted in Atharva veda, Sama veda, Krishna upanishad, in 13 different puranas and other scriptures (please see: http://gaudiyahistory.com/shastric-e...ne-appearance/ )

He came to establish the yuga-dharma, which is Harinama-sankirtan - the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord, especially the Hare Krishna mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. So our devotees travel all over the world to spread this message and teach the message of pure devotion to the Lord.

We have temples and centers all over India, so if you are interrested, you could visit one of these centers and experience for yourself the spirit there, and discuss with the devotees there. (Here's a list of Iskcon centers in India (Iskcon being a branch of gaudia-vaishnavism): http://www.iskconcenters.com/india/ ). Or you can visit this web-site and learn more about the philosophy and culture of Krishna-consciousness practiced by gaudia vaishnavas: http://iskcon.org/

Best wishes! Hare Krishna

[Marga mana das]

Pranam




BG 14.27

brahmano hi pratisthaham
amrtasyavyayasya ca
sasvatasya ca dharmasya
sukhasyaikantikasya ca

Can you please explain to me, where in this verse the word impersonal appear!

Jai Shree Krishna

Namaste Ganeshprasad,

Brahmano in this verse refers to the impersonal brahmajyoti.

brahmanah--of the impersonal brahmajyoti; hi--certainly; pratistha--the rest; aham--I am; amrtasya--of the immortal; avyayasya--of the imperishable; ca--also; sasvatasya--of the eternal; ca--and; dharmasya--of the constitutional position; sukhasya--happiness; aikantikasya--ultimate; ca--also.

His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta swami is recognized throughout the world for his scolarship and accepted as a great authority on the gita. Few people know the gita, both in form as well as in its purpose, better than him. He is a living example of that devotee that Krishna in so many verses proclaims to be very dear to Him.
I'll quote a few reviews from professors who praise his edition of the gita (a lot more can be added, if wanted):



"I am most impressed with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's scholarly and authoritative edition of Bhagavad-gita. It is a most valuable work for the scholar as well as the layman and is of great utility as a reference book as well as a textbook. I promptly recommend this edition to my students. It is a beautifully done book."

Dr. Samuel D. Atkins
Professor of Sanskrit, Princeton University



"...It is a deeply felt, powerfully conceived and beautifully explained work. I don't know whether to praise more this translation of the Bhagavad-gita, its daring method of explanation, or the endless fertility of its ideas. I have never seen any other work on the Gita with such an important voice and style....It will occupy a significant place in the intellectual and ethical life of modern man for a long time to come."
Dr. Shaligram Shukla
Professor of Linguistics, Georgetown University



"...As a successor in direct line from Caitanya, the author of Bhagavad-gita As It Is is entitled, according to Indian custom, to the majestic title of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The great interest that his reading of the Bhagavad-gita holds for us is that it offers us an authorized interpretation according to the principles of the Caitanya tradition."
Olivier Lacombe
Professor of Sanskrit and Indology, Sorbonne University, Paris

"I have had the opportunity of examining several volumes published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and have found them to be of excellent quality and of great value for use in college classes on Indian religions. This is particularly true of the BBT edition and translation of the Bhagavad-gita."

Dr. Frederick B. Underwood
Professor of Religion, Columbia University



"There is little question that this edition is one of the best books available on the Gita and devotion. Prabhupada's translation is an ideal blend of literal accuracy and religious insight."
Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins
Professor of Religion, Franklin and Marshall College



"The scholarly world is again indebted to A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Although Bhagavad-gita has been translated many times, Prabhupada adds a translation of singular importance with his commentary...."
Dr. J. Stillson Judah,
Professor of the History of Religions and Director of Libraries
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California

What is your authority on the gita?


Hare Krishna.

[SanathanaDharma]

Dear Friend,

First of all , an excellent question has been put forward by you...

"Does the Supreme really want our offerings or our devotion? "

please note that what you have asked although is in a single line question, the answer is very complicated....so this post is going to be a really long one...there are so many branches that come up when we discuss such a question...
but its practically not possible to write everything..its more easier to have a conversation....anyway here is a humble attempt to answer your question...

Understanding the "Supreme" is probably "The most difficult thing" in this Universe....
Playing with words, its probably easy to "realize the Supreme" than "understanding the Supreme"...

you have put forward three important terms "want" , "offerings" , "devotion"...

lets try to understand them one by one

the question of "want" exists
- when there is a "requirement" of something...
- when there is "lack" of something....
- when something is "exhausted"...
- when something is "spent or perished"....

Our sacred scripts use the following words to define the Supreme
Avyaya , Akshara and Akshaya and numerous similar terms...
Although its very difficult to translate these words into English,
a very rough meaning would be imperishable...inexhaustible....something that can never have a need as its always complete

He who never requires anything is the Supreme or Paramam....
If at all there is any requirement, then that actually negates the definition of Supreme....He being the source of everything does not need anything from the dependents, who exist because of the source, and who need everything from the source...
A source is called a source only because it gives and not because it takes

most importantly, when we are talking about Paramathma....one thing gets very clear....he is beyond the materialistic universe...
so coming to your question, does the Supreme really want our offering....now that we know there is no requirement for Him as He is the source, lets see what can we "offer"....

we as part of this materialistic universe, have only materialistic entities to offer to Him...but then the Supreme is beyond materialistic
universe and most importantly He has no need or requirement....

well...at this interesting point, lets see what Sri Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita....this really gets interesting here...

9.27
yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

very rough translation
"whatever action you do....whatever you eat or consume....whatever you give or offer....whatever austerities you perform do all all of them as an offering to Me"

now it gets really interesting......Sri Krishna, who is Paramaathma[Ultimate Supreme Soul] says whatever you do or eat or give...offer
it to me.....if the Supreme does not "want" anything...why is Sri Vaasudeva asking us to offer everything to Him....

lets understand it in detail here....what does "offering" mean?

we prepare delicious food, once its ready, Sri Krishna says we must offer it to Him...The Supreme...so what does that mean? should we not eat it?
should we cook everything and keep it at some place...wait for Him to come and eat the food? what should we do if He does not turn up to eat? should we just allow the food to perish and throw away in case He does not turn up to eat? should we stay hungry because He says whatever we eat should be offered to Him?

in order to really understand what is meant by offering, we must first find out "why we should offer?"

The Parabramha[Ultimate Supreme Soul] swaroopi[form] Sri Maha Vishnu tells us whatever work we do...whatever duties we perform...whatever deeds we do everyday....whatever food we eat daily...whatever we offer into the yagna[no english translation]...whatever we offer to Gods, temples, etc...whatever we do as daana[charity]...whatever we do as the tapas[mind, body and speech]...whatever this human body does, one must do it as a humble offering to Him...sarwam Sri Krishnaarpanam astu[everything is offered to Sri Krishna]...everything that we are compelled to do due to the duties prescribed for us, everything we talk about, everything we think about, everything we experience using this body and senses, everything our mind, intellect makes us do...everything this prakruthi[cosmic world] in which we exist makes us do...everything must be offered to Him alone....

again please note this offering is "not done because He needs them" from us, but this offering is done because

Sri Vaasudeva very beautifully says in Bhagavad Gita 9th Chapter, 28th verse

śubhāśubha-phalair evaḿ
mokṣyase karma-bandhanaiḥ

very rough translation....

you will be freed [moksyase] from the auspicious and inauspicious results, which are bound to the actions you perform....

We need to offer everything to Him only because by doing so, "we can free ourselves from the results of whatever deeds we have performed"....this is such an important part which needs complete understanding....

every single second every individual in this universe always performs some action...one cannot stay without performing action....even "inaction" is a type of action where the action is to not do anything.....as the law of karma is very clear...every action[karma] will have a relative result[phala]...
if the actions are good then the results are good and if actions are bad then the results are bad...
sukarma[good actions] has shubha phala[auspicious results], kukarma[bad actions] has ashubha phala[inauspicious results]

when we talk about life, the good and the bad deeds, the results, the materialistic happiness and the sadness associated with the results, the compulsion for everyone to enjoy or suffer the results of our deeds...the way people enjoy the happiness..the way people suffer...when all of these things are put together, one is "bound" by the result oriented life...one is completely bound by everything infinitely...this is because as we cannot live without performing any activity, hence, we always performs some or the other activity, but at the same time if we perform any activity, we are then automatically bound to the results of the activity...and as we are bound by the result, we have to take birth again to either enjoy or suffer the results of the previous activities....and while either enjoying or suffering, we again will be doing some activity, thus falling back again to cycle of life and death....again and again and yet again.....

so the most important point now is how does one free oneself from the results of the actions?

Paramaathma is so merciful...He is the infinite ocean of mercy...He gives us a way here...."whatever action we do, do it as an offering to Him...."
He gives us a hack here...to come out of this materialistic action-result cycle.....that, my dear friend is why we have to offer everything to Him....


getting back to the "offering" term...we understood why we should offer everything to Him...but now lets get back to "what is meant by offering"

in order to understand that, we must again dig deep....when we use the term enjoying or suffering the results...who exactly is the enjoyer or the
sufferer...what is enjoying and suffering....how is it related to action.....

well...its all in the mind....its all in the intellect...its all in the consciousness... [although the real enjoyer of everything is Him alone..a topic for another day ]

the Jeeva which is embedded in a materialistic body, under the influence of the divine illusion[maaya], considers itself as the body....it forgets that only "Aatma" is the reality and real identity....Under the influence of illusion on Jeeva, the identity of a Jeeva becomes an individual one[vyakta]...when a Jeeva disassociates its identity from Aatma due to illusion...it gets into the game of karma and phala....the Jeeva starts to slowly perform each and every action for the sake of itself[under illusion]....

the Jeeva completely forgets the "fact" that the real identity is "Aatma"....every Jeeva starts to think that it is an individual entity and its identification is with respect the materialistic body.....at this point, when the Jeeva is in a particular body, under false identity, performs actions at every second... the results which are produced by the Prakruthi around it will directly influence this Jeeva and the Deha[body] in which it is embedded....as the Jeeva strongly
starts to create its own identity, two interfaces are provided for it to experience the results of the actions
- directly to mind
- indirectly from body to mind

all the good and bad things, at the end of the day are experienced by the mind, directly or indirectly....with the false understanding that Aatma is not the actual identity...

results like praising and insulting, satisfaction and desperation, happiness and sadness...etc ...all of these are directly experienced by mind....

results like physical growth and disability, physical pain and physical pleasure, disease and health...etc...all of these are indirectly experienced by mind present is a particular body

now, a Jeeva which has mind, which is embedded in a deha,along with Aatma, actually considers itself as the enjoyer and sufferer of the results because whatever actions are performed by the Jeeva, the results produced in Prakruthi appear to influence the Jeeva....now....all this occurs mainly because of the following
- mistaken identity of a Jeeva
- Jeeva performing actions under this mistaken identity which makes the results bound to the action influence the Jeeva

now at some point, due to the loads of good actions a Jeeva has performed and by the grace of Paramaathma, the Jeeva slowly starts to realize the path to reality.....at this point although the Jeeva has started to take its first step towards reality, it still continues to perform actions and hence needs to enjoy or suffer the results....now Sri Vaasudeva says...offer everything to Him....which means when a Jeeva performs every action....instead of performing it for the so-called "itself"...it has to perform the action as an offering to the Supreme....which means slowly the false identity should shift...


example...talk to a well settled materialistic person who has lots of money, property, status and everything.... if you tell him to offer everything to
Paramaathma, he will be shocked to even think about it...because he thinks of himself as an identity and he thinks everything "belongs" to him...
he thinks all the results he is enjoying are because of his actions...and he is entitled to the results...and offering everything to Paramathma gives him a shock...

now as discussed earlier, does offering mean taking all the materialistic stuff ...keeping them at some place...wait for Him to appear...collect them?

no...its the false sense of "I am the enjoyer" that needs to be removed...."offering everything to Him" is the hack to get out of this infinite cycle...
when we cook delicious food...closing our eyes and "offering it to Him" in our mind is all He is asking for....removing the pseudo-ownership
is the intention here.....He is not at all bothered about what you are going to offer Him....

what use will be anything thats available in this universe , to Him....Sri Vaasudeva says in Bhagavad Gita
9.26

patraḿ puṣpaḿ phalaḿ toyaḿ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

very rough translation...
a leaf ..a flower...a fruit...or water...who ever offers with "bhakthi"

lets now get to the third term in your question..."bhakthi"...

now...this term bhakthi is such a beautiful creation of Paramathma in this Universe....its probably the best thing that the Supreme has
created here....what to say about bhakthi....Sri Vaasudeva when having a conversation with Uddhava [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.23,24]
says about a person who is filled with bhakthi ...a real bhaktha [devotee] will
"have his eyes filled with tears...his hair standing with excitement, his heart melted with love, his voice chocked....his mind filled with divine bliss"
when he thinks about Paramaathma

that, my dear friend is bhakthi...when you are in a state where your mind, intellect, your consciousness, your thoughts everything is immersed
in Him...when there is nothing other than Him in your heart....in that complete state of bhakthi, offer everything to Him....remove the illusion that
the actions done by you are for yourself...remove that illusion that everything is for you....get into the reality .....experience the bliss of offering
everything to Him.....

9.26 continues....
tad ahaḿ bhakty-upahṛtam
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
...whatever is offered with complete bhakthi...that I will accept from that pure soul....

if you see the common factor here...its not the materials that we have to offer...its the bhakthi which we need to develop...its the detachment from this materialistic universe which is the goal here....its removal of "mine" thats the objective here....
its that purest form of devotion which links this Jeeva with Paramaathma...its the bridge between the lost Jeeva and the ever Supreme Lord...
again this bhakthi is needed for the up-liftment of the Jeeva and has nothing to satisfy the Paramaathma

there is so much to talk about bhakthi, karma, jnaana, that it cannot be written.....

when you realize that He alone resides everywhere in everything.....actually there will be nothing left to offer to Him also.....

[Anirudh]

Namaste SanathanaDharma

This is the kind of answer I had been looking out for quite some time. Thank you very much.

May I ask you few questions (because I am suppose to offer all of my actions along with results to Sreeman Naaraayan) that came up while reading your reply?

If you think this is not related to OP kindly PM your reply.

1) Few scriptures instructs us to follow some procedure while praying, for eg, some invocatory slokam to chant at the beginning and at the end of Sundara Kaanda Paaraayanam. Some other instructs us to do Sandhya Vandanam every day. If the devotee doesn't know them should he aspire to learn them and follow or simply do what he is aware of? If I am suppose to learn and follow them, then it is meaningless to say offer every and it is accepted, if I don't have to learn then why those procedures are in first place?

2) If there is a unavoidable necessity to lie (hide facts) in a sales deal or punish an employee because company has decided to sack him, Should we seek HIS mercy or be satisfied that all actions are offered to HIM along with the results.

3) If an evil thing has happened or happening, and if one has the resources to correct it (say a police personal or a judge or a head of the family or the affected party) should he allow it to happen or take actions to establish justice.

If I Anirudh decide to take action against an EVIL, then am I doing the right thing or wrong thing. Am I interfering with Sreeman Naaraayan's activity to install justice.

4) To survive in this world we need resources, so how can we perform an action without expecting positive expectations. Assume my loved one is fighting for life in a hospital, should I pray "Hey Sreeman Naaraayan, do what ever you think deemed fit or plead HIM for lovedone's well being.

I have read in the past "Work without faith and prayer is like an artificial flower without fragrance" (Swami Chinmayananda Quote)


My questions could be senseless or invalid. If so, kindly accept my sincere apology.

[SanathanaDharma]

Dear Friend,

"My questions could be senseless or invalid. If so, kindly accept my sincere apology."

your questions make a lot of sense and are definitely valid....the only way one can move forward is by asking questions...

I hope if i answer in this thread, its not an issue...in case it is, the thread creator or the moderators, please let me know...this can be deleted from here...

1) Few scriptures instructs .....

A couple of examples will be used to answer your questions....understanding the actions which we must do, which we must avoid and which we must never do is quite tricky...

there are some people who have achieved the highest ground breaking materialistic inventions in their lifetime...these great "materialistic scientists" can be categorized into two sections
- one set of people who have done their schooling, after completing that, they went to college, then they got a graduation degree, and then the did research and post-graduation and after years of further research, they were able to invent or discover something really good...
- second set of people are school or college drop-outs...they have no formal graduation or post-graduation, yet after doing good research for years, they were able to invent or discover something really good...

now the question is..."should one follow the standard procedure of going to school, college etc or should one do research right away?" whats right and whats wrong?
well..the answer is very simple...it depends on how intelligent you are...

on the similar lines, there are few scriptures which define some procedures to follow, some shlokas to be learnt, some nitya kriyas[daily duties] like sandhya vandanam to be done...with all these one must have highest amount of bhakthi to attain Him...
its all left to the spiritual advancement your mind and intellect have achieved in all the previous lives...some need all the procedures to attain Him...some spiritually advanced people attain Him directly...

so the question of what is right and what is wrong does not apply here....

2) If there is a unavoidable necessity to lie (hide facts) in a sales deal or punish an employee because company has decided to sack him, Should we seek HIS mercy or be satisfied that all actions are offered to HIM along with the results.

Seeking His mercy is something we must do always...Irrespective of what the situation demands, one who sticks to "dharma"[righteousness] is always dearest to Him....if the unavoidable necessity to lie is under dharma or if punishing the employee is under dharma, then fear not...go ahead.....Sri Krishna says the same when Arjuna was about to kill Karna...Karna at that point was not armed, had his chariot wheel stuck in mud, if he was fighting on the side of dharma, he had the right to be spared...but karna was fighting for adharma and hence there are no rules defined when you fight against adharma.....but if you are trying to lie or punish just because the situation demands so..its outright adharma...never do that...as Sriman Narayana is Dharma personified...He will be there with you as long as you adhere to "dharma".... even with this knowledge, please do offer your actions to Him...He knows whats best and will make sure that whats right always rules...

3) If an evil thing has happened or happening, and if one has the resources to correct it (say a police personal or a judge or a head of the family or the affected party) should he allow it to happen or take actions to establish justice.

These questions which come to every person are one of the prime reason why we have history in the form of Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharatha...please do understand that you and me are not the first persons in this universe experiencing good and bad things here....millions of trillions have done it already and its always good to read history to avoid mistakes...lets take the infamous game of dice in Mahabharatha...the greatest warrior Bheeshma was sitting right in the palace where kauravas were cheating pandavas...Bheeshma had the power and authority to stop what was happening there...but did not....he regrets about it till almost the end of his life about that...while having a lengthy conversation with Yudhistira [after the war in Shanthi Parva] he very clearly explains to Yudhistira that one must always act according "dharma" when one has the opportunity to do so....Sriman Naarayana comes to earth mainly because He wants to establish dharma...so its very important...we must act always to establish justice...

If I Anirudh decide to take action against an EVIL, then am I doing the right thing or wrong thing. Am I interfering with Sreeman Naaraayan's activity to install justice.

you definitely are going to do the right thing ...but please understand properly if the "evil" you are referring to is really "evil"...one has to first of all understand "dharma" very clearly in order to decide what is evil and what is not...once, only on the basis of dharma, if you very clearly see evil...then my friend, if you have the ability to stop it, please do that, again as an action offered to Him...

4) To survive in this world we need resources, so how can we perform an action without expecting positive expectations. Assume my loved one is fighting for life in a hospital, should I pray "Hey Sreeman Naaraayan, do what ever you think deemed fit or plead HIM for lovedone's well being.

first and foremost, no where in any of the scriptures[unadulterated ones] has Sriman Naarayana told us to plead...He never says, plead me for something..only then I will grant you...
we are under an illusion that only when we ask Him, He will look at us...no..its not the case..He is always there witnessing everything we do..sitting right in everyone's heart...He for One surely knows whats happening...we, unaware of this fact try to look onto Him only when we need something from Him...
in Bagavad Gita He very clearly mentions...18.58
"mac-cittaḥ sarva-durgāṇi
mat-prasādāt tariṣyasi"
very rough translation...
"Be completely immersed in Me, all types of difficulties will be cleared by My grace"

when you start expecting results, the following options open up...
- till you get the result, your mind is focused on the result...your thoughts are full of options...you will be immersed in fear and anxiety...
you mind will be restless...you will be planning as to what needs to be done if the results are good...what to be done if the results are bad...
there wont be an iota of peace of mind...the anxious state of mind slowly starts to doubt Sri Hari also...what if He has not heard your prayers..
will He really come to your rescue...if He doesn't come..does He even exist?... all these pop up in your mind...
- if the results are successful, then if you are grateful to Him , your expectation level increases multi-fold....everytime you need anything, you
will start asking Him for positive stuff...so the relationship between you and Him becomes more and more materialistic..and thats one of the first steps
of total downfall...and if the requests are not met with success for some reason...faith is lost...as this faith is built on materialistic result and not bhakthi
- if the results are not successful at some point, you slowly start to loose faith...faith built on materialistic results will never last long...faith must be
built on bhakthi...when that great devotee Prahaladha was thrown from the cliff top, he was not worried if Sri Maha Vishnu will save him or not...
all he had in his mind was the divine name of Sriman Naarayana...

most importantly, when you are result oriented, your mind, thoughts and your consciousness are immersed in the result and not in Him...
but when you are not result oriented, when you know that He does everything for a reason...when you know that everything that you are enjoying or suffering is "mainly" due to your good or bad deeds, your focus shifts from the result...you will not be bothered if the result is good or bad...
all you will be interested will be in Him...and nothing else.... and that my dear friend gives you the lasting peace of mind....

[Anirudh]

Thank you very much SanathanaDharma ji. I am sure your detailed reply will help many beginners like me to evolve.