From All Walks of Life

By His Divine Grace
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham
19 June 2013, part 2

I am not trying to discourage anyone. People take initiation from Gurudev, they give everything up and come here. There are four types of people who come to Krishna consciousness—arthah, artha-arthi, jijnasuh, jnani. In each case, if these people practise Krishna consciousness, they can succeed, and if they do not practise, then not...

Artha means poor people—they see a nice building, a nice place and hope to get something here; artha-arthi—people who seek money; jijnasuh are people who want to understand, to know something; and jnani want to know, "What is there?" This how I came to the temple—I came wondering, "What is there?" and, once I came, I could never leave.

One morning, I took my toothbrush and started walking (you have seen outside people do it sometimes). I came to Gauranga Setu bridge and saw the domes of the temple. I wanted to see the temple, so I came to the gate and began to wait and observe. I came early in the morning and stayed there all day—I had not eaten anything the whole day until 3 p.m. (I was very hungry) when some devotee noticed me and took me in. By the evening I was 'brainwashed' in such a way that I could not leave after that—my father, mother, friends, I left them all behind at home and eventually threw the key from my house into the Govinda Kunda (at that time there was no temple in Govinda Kunda; it was only a pond, and people used to fish and pass stool here). When I came, I did not know who devotees were, I did not know what a temple was, how people lived in a temple, who lived in a temple, whether there were dogs, cats or wolves there—I did not know anything, my head was blank. I came eager to know what was the temple about and after they 'brainwashed' me I did not want to leave.

So, these four kinds of people come to the temple, and if they practise, they can succeed. Practice is the abhidheya, the process how to attain the goal. Wherever you stay—if you want, you can stay in a bathroom, even there you can practise. If you want, you can stay in a pond, you can live in a thatched house, you can stay in a jungle, you can stay anywhere, but it is necessary to practise. Practice is the main thing; it is necessary to practise.

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