(5/6) Live in Sadhu-Sanga

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar, 9 February 2019, part 5
Translated from Bengali

Who is called a sadhu? How can you understand if one is a sadhu? 'If one grows dreadlocks and pretends to be a renunciate or even becomes a big grihastha, this is not what is called a sadhu.'

You can see many so-called sadhus grow big beards and worship Lord Siva, and they say, 'Siva smoke ganja, so we will smoke it too.' When I went to South India, I saw a group that Srila Sridhar Maharaj called 'devils' – even when I saw them, I felt scared. We were in Vijayawara, where Lord Pana Nrisimha and Laksmi Nrisinghadev are worshipped. Our train came late, at midnight, and when the train finally came, I saw a group of people getting off. They were wearing black lungis, black shirts, black turbans, etc. – all their clothes were pitch black. I asked a local man, 'What is this?' The man did not understand Bengali, so I asked him again in English, 'Whose devotees are they?' The man told me those were devotees of Ayyappa. Do you know what Ayyappa means? You can understand what kind of apa-sampradaya this is... It is mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam, and you must have heard about it also, that when Lord Siva asked Krishna to show him His Mohini form, Krishna turned into a girl. Siva ran behind Her, and as soon as he caught Her, She turned again into Krishna, and Siva and Krishna merged into one and became a Deity (Harihara). Krishna can turn Himself into a girl, He can do everything, but He is actually the only male in the world. So, those naughty people say that when Siva caught Mohini, they had a child. It is an offence to say this. Krishna is always a brahmachari, He is not under the control of lust, but they say that Mohini had a child, and the child was named Ayyappa. So, those people say that they are all Siva's sons. What is this? There are thousands of people in that group, and they say they are all sons of Siva! What will you say?

'If one grows dreadlocks and pretends to be a renunciate or even becomes a big grihastha, this is not what is called a sadhu. A sadhu is a person who is constantly absorbed in Krishna consciousness (Hari-katha); a person who is constantly busy with the service of the Lord; a person whose every effort is for Krishna, whose every effort is for the service of the Lord.' A genuine sadhu is the one who always remembers the Lord and who is always busy serving the Lord.

What is the path of real spiritual benefit? 'As long as the jiva soul does not become inclined to serve the Lord, it will not have the consciousness of Krishna, which means the pastimes and teachings of Sri Gaurasundar will not enter its heart. Our only duty is to serve Krishna and Krishna's devotees. We will be cheated for as long as we are not able to realise this. When will we be released from our foolishness? When we sincerely, leaving all deceit, embark on the path of devotion to Krishna. Although the sun is very far, its rays come near us and give us light; in the same way, although the Lord is very far, His devotees come to us and tell us about the Lord.'

The sun is very far from us, but its rays come close to us and give us light and heat. In the same way, the Lord's associates (genuine sadhus) come to this material world to tell us about the Lord. If we can hear what they say, we can get genuine benefit.

'If we follow and hold the hand of those who worship the Lord, they will open our eyes and we will be able to have the darsan of the Lord. Those who constantly try to practise Krishna consciousness serve the Lord at every step – without service to the Lord they do not use anything, do not do anything. Service to such pure devotees can give us pure Krishna consciousness for Krishna is the ultimate goal of all goals. Krishna, in His form of sankirtan, destroys Agha, Baka, Putana, et al. within the hearts of extremely unqualified people. We have no other engagement except for service to Krishna. Gaurasundar, who is Krishna Himself in the garb of a devotee, taught in so many ways that one must only practise Krishna consciousness.'

Putana came to kill Krishna because she was wicked (her intelligence was bad), but she was able to get the Lord. Even though she had a bad mind, the Lord rescued her. We are all fallen, lowly souls that do not know anything, but if we live in sadhu-sanga, if we live following what sadhus say, that will destroy all the demons (Putana, Aghasura, Bakasura, etc.) that live within us and we will be able to come to the Lord. This is the meaning of what is written here (Guidance 3, '108 Questions and Answers').

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 17.8 Mb
Length: 36 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Primary Realisation
2) Plain and Simple
3) Through Trials and Tribulations
4) Illusion and Delusion
5) Live in Sadhu-Sanga
6) Material Quirks