Once a woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard.
She did not recognize them.
The Invitation
She said, “I don’t think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat.”
“Is the man of the house home?” they asked.
“No,” she replied. “He’s out.”
“Then we cannot come in,” they replied.
The Husband’s Return
In the evening, when her husband came home, she told him what had happened.
“Go tell them I am home and invite them in!” The woman went out and invited the men in.
“We do not go into a house together,” they replied.
“Why is that?” she asked.
The Introduction
One of the old men explained: “His name is Wealth,” he said, pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, “He is Success, and I am Love.”
Then he added, “Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”
The Discussion
The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. “How nice!” he said. “Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!”
His wife disagreed. “My dear, why don’t we invite Success?”
Their daughter was listening from the other corner of the house.
She jumped in with her own suggestion: “Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!”
“Let us heed our daughter’s advice,” said the husband to his wife. “Go out and invite Love to be our guest.”
The Invitation to Love
The woman went out and asked the three old men, “Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.”
Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him.
Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success, “I only invited Love. Why are you coming in?”
The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would have stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!”
Moral of the Story
The word “Love” is often used loosely in today’s misguided civilization. The point is that love is present, but it is often a perverted form of love. Why? Because this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world, and everything is topsy-turvy and not eternal. This does not mean that we don’t know how to love or what to love.
Pure Love for Krishna
In Caitanya-cartitamrta (Madhya 22.107) it is said, “Pure love for Krishna is eternally established in the hearts of living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, the living entity naturally awakens.”
The Path to Pure Love
Nectar of Instruction, Text 4, shows the right path:
dadaati pratigrhnaati / guhyam aakhyaati prcchati bhunkte bhojayate caiva / sad-vidham priiti-lakshanam
In this verse, Srila Rupa Gosvami explains how to perform devotional activities in the association of other devotees. There are six kinds of activities:
- Giving charity to the devotees
- Accepting from the devotees whatever they may offer in return
- Opening one’s mind to the devotees
- Inquiring from them about the confidential service of the Lord
- Honoring prasada, or spiritual food, given by the devotees
- Feeding the devotees with prasada
Srila Prabhupada’s Guidance
Srila Prabhupada, in his wonderful purport, says: “The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has been established to facilitate these six kinds of loving exchanges between devotees.”
He further adds: “The life of the Krishna conscious society is nourished by these six types of loving exchange among the members; therefore, people must be given the chance to associate with the devotees of ISKCON because simply by reciprocating in the six ways mentioned above, an ordinary man can fully revive his dormant Krishna consciousness.”
Whom Should We Invite?
The answer is we must invite Krishna. Will He come by just mere utterance of invitation? No. We have to invite with LOVE. The only way is by sincerely calling out:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
This is the only way to purify our existence.
