Gaura Vani: Teachings of Sri Guru and Gauranga
Some people say that everyone is equal. Are they correct? Lecture by His Divine Grace Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada How can the honest and dishonest, devotee and nondevotee, pious and impious, literate and illiterate, demigod and Supreme Lord, chaste and unchaste, religious and irreligious, light and dark, constitutional and conditional, as well as devotional and nondevotional service be equal? Everything seems easy to those who are unaware of internal objects or who cannot enter more subtle understandings of them. A foolish boy may claim that his illegible writing has meaning because the writing of an intelligent person has meaning. If illegible writing and meaningful writing are considered equal, foolish people will think that anyone trying to make a distinction between them is guilty of sectarianism or partiality. If we appeal to those who have no understanding of the Supreme Lord Hari to discuss topics about Hari and their conclusion, they will say that to reveal the conclusion would be sectarian. Then they would say that refuting an improper conclusion amounts blasphemy. They think
Gaura Vani: Teachings of Sri Guru and Gauranga that because we don't know everything, better to balance the account by calling everything equal. In this way, everyone will be pleased and we will have created no enmity. But truth and falsehood, devotion and non-devotion are never one. For those devoid of devotional sentiment, who feel no necessity to serve the Supreme Lord, who do not want actual benefit, and whose life's goal is material enjoyment and fame, devotional service and pseudo devotional service appear one.