Prabhu: Why sādhana-bhakti is described as obligatory, so what is the difference between that and fear?

HH BVPS Mahārāja: What is the difference between obligatory and fear? Fear means, means, you have the positive... Fear is negative in that you think that if I don't do this or if some situation is not there, an activity is not there or a goal or something is not attainable, that is lost, then there is loss. Hmm, that didn't quite... Wasn't a complete sentence, was it? Okay. "If I don't do this I will lose, or, so by doing this I will gain." Right? That is the principle fear is working on. Obligatory means is that there is... But it is not necessary, you are not looking at the relationship in fear because you have separated relationship: that is what fear means, you cut yourself off from relationship. But obligatory means you are looking at the relationship, it is an obligation, there is a relationship there, so, therefore, in that relation with the other person you need to do this. But it is vaidhi, it is not spontaneous. So it works, it establishes relationships, so if you act on duty you have relationships. If you act on fear you have no relationships, right, because you only do it because you are going to lose something.

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Means, something is going on, the wife behaves in a certain way, husband gets upset and that, and then out of fear the wife then starts to be nice, pleasant, do this, do that, will do all the things she should do because she is afraid of the loss. But it is not that she is thinking the positive of the relationship or the obligation, she is just thinking of her loss. Otherwise then it would just be performance of duties, whether she wants to or not. But because she acts when she wants she does it, when she doesn't want she doesn't do it, therefore then there is the opportunity, the possibility of loss if the husband somehow or another there is a little bit of detachment where... Or there is at least repulsion then there will be loss, then one follows, rather than: "No, this is the duty, so like it or not, it is done," then the relationship is maintained. Do you understand? So does that make some sense?

So that is why Kṛṣṇa is always saying, "Perform your duty," because then there is a relationship. But otherwise, he is leaving the battle out of fear of loss. It seems very nice that he is going and giving up, and compassion, and going to the forest, but it is actually fear of loss because what he is afraid of losing is the nice family relationship. So if he doesn't fight, goes in the forest, the family remains, he could at least remember about it, right? You could think back and see, "Yeah, we used to do this, we used to do that," but if he has the battle, all those people are gone. So, therefore, out of fear then he is giving it up, and the symptoms of fear are there, though they manifest as something else.

Means, there is only, basically speaking, there is a few chemicals in the body, and when those dump into the system, you always get the same symptoms, though the mind, depending on the situation interprets them differently. Right? Adrenaline dumps into the system, you get butterflies, you know, there is disturbance in the shoulders, there is the feeling of everything repressed or coming at something is there. So that happens when you walk down a dark alley and something makes a noise. It also happens when the boy touches the girl. But one is considered, "Oh, this is this," the other one is of the specific that. It is the same exact experience, physically. Does that make sense? So it is just a matter how it is interpreted, so it is a matter of you perform the duties, then it functions, relationship is there. You function out of fear, no relationship is there, even though it seems you are doing the same thing. "Oh, I did," but that is only based on justice, "Okay, they have done this much, if I really calculate, yeah, the guy did do all these things, and so, therefore, it deserves five minutes of smiling and doing this," so then they do it. But it is still working out of fear, it is not based on relationship.

Relationship is: this is my duties in this relationship, this is their duties in the relationship, we both do it, then it works. So Arjuna is a warrior, therefore it is his duty to fight, and then other warriors on the battlefield, then they will also feel that kṣatriya mood, that chivalry and the relationship will be there. If he leaves then where is the relationship? It is lost, you know. So that is why it is considered irreligious, because the relationship is lost. You can transform a relationship, you can't lose a relationship.