Primary Realisation
"What is the difference between those previous birds' and beasts' bodies and
this human body? Krishna has sent us to a human body and He is examining us,
He wants to see what we do after that. Some may see no difference..."
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Our Mission
"What message have I come to give you? I want to try to give you the message
of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, of our
Gurudev and our Guru Maharaj. I want to give you the Hidden Treasure of the
Sweet Absolute."
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Enjoyer, Controller,
Provider
"Everything in this world exists for the Lord's enjoyment. Because of our ego
we think these things are my things. Nothing in this world is yours. If you
think that everything belongs to you and enjoy with everything, it means that
you are attacked by Maya Devi."
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Chalking Out the Path
"Neither heaven no hell is our permanent, proper place. We come from the Lord
and we should go back home—back to home, back to Godhead. Through the service
to the Lord, to the Guru and Vaishnavs, you can go to your real place, which
is Goloka."
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Help Yourself and Help
Others
"You have twenty-four hours a day, but these twenty-four hours are not for
you. When you join Krishna's family, you can engage yourself twenty-four
hours a day for the Guru. Those who have initiation should not only chant
themselves, but they should also preach."
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Making Offering: Have Heart,
Follow Rules
"Service means you must arrange everything, then it will be proper service.
You may have a good heart, but it is necessary to know some rules and
regulations. When you make an aparadh you have to suffer for it."
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Primary Qualities of
Devotee
"If you go door to door but you do not practise properly, householder people
will not give even one rupee to you. You must practise properly, behave
properly—you must become a devotee. 'Devotee' means following Mahaprabhu's
teaching. We come to Krishna consciousness to please Gurudev—not to please
ourselves."
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Purpose of Surrender
"You think, 'I am suffering from so many problems, so I must surrender to the
Lord'—this is not devotion. You should surrender with heart and soul, with
the devotion. You must surrender to the Lord to love the Lord."
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Always Chant the Holy Name
"Mind is always naughty, it always wants something. When your mind is
disturbing you, loudly chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, then your mind
will concentrate on the Lord."
•
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Learn and Practise
"How will you serve the Lord? Come to the dearmost servitor of your Guru and
surrender to that kind of Vaishnav—he can give you proper guidance. Read the
books, pray to the Lord, and in that way you can remember the Lord. The best
practice is sravan and kirtan."
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4 January 2019 (South Indian preaching tour)
At Mangalagiri (1)
"After Mahaprabhu took darshan of Nrisinghadev, He sat here at this
place—you can see here the footprints of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur established this place. We are very
fortunate to have come here."
•
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At Mangalagiri (2)
"We come to preach Krishna consciousness in South India because Gurudev
wanted this preaching in South India. We have visited some places here today,
but actually we have no eyes. How can I see Lord Nrisingha, Pana Nrisingha or
Laksmi Nrisingha?"
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4 January 2019 (Evening class in Vijayawada, South
India)
Appreciating Worship
of Nrisinghadev
"Actually, you are very fortunate souls because you live near Laksmi
Nrisingha, Pana Nrisingha temples. You should understand how much devotion
Prahlad Maharaj has, and what his devotion, his desire and mood of devotion
are like."
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Proper Care
"If we do not practise properly, we will forget our service, we will forget
our practising life. We have to be careful—Maya Devi always sits near us and
she can attack us at any time; she can take us away from the service of
Krishna and use for her own service."
•
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Learning to Surrender
"Your mind always thinks, 'Shall I jump or not? Shall I jump or not?' but you
must throw your mind into Krishna consciousness life, then you can understand
everything. Mind is always naughty, but you have intelligence, sumedha."
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Triumph of Life
"We are swimming in an ocean of illusory environment and we do not understand
which way we must go, but we have finally got this human body; we must
understand what is our duty in this human body—only sleeping, eating and
enjoying like cats and dogs?"
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Crooked Service (1)
"We all—all over the world—are sons and daughters of the Lord, and we always
serve or want to serve the Lord, but do we want to serve to fulfil our own
desire or to fulfil Krishna's desire? You can understand this from the
example of family life also..."
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Crooked Service (2)
"'What is devotion? What do you want—do you want to please yourself? Is this
devotion?' You can see what is called vaishnavata (qualities of a
Vaishnav) and how Vaishnavism is practised. We want to learn from great
Vaishnavs."
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Who Is a Real Disciple?
"Srila Prabhupad teaches us that we do not discriminate who is a
grihastha, who is a brahmachari, and who is a sannyasi.
Those who are dearest to Gurudev, those who can serve Gurudev properly, who
can follow his instruction properly, they are the real devotees."
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Flunkies of Flesh
"...Still, you are not running under the guidance of Guru and Vaishnavs—you
are running under the guidance of your body. You are attached to your family
life, but that kind of attachment should come to Lord Krishna, Gauranga
Mahaprabhu, and Gurudev. Search for Sri Krishna Reality the Beautiful! Search
where you can get real devotion!"
•
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A Heartfelt Appeal
"O Vaishnav Thakur! I surrender to you, only you can control my mind, and
through your association my mind can get some service to you. When I see
everything in this world, I feel very afraid. Please, Prabhu, take me. I want
to go with you! Please take me from the illusory environment and engage me in
your service!"
•
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Nityananda Prabhu's
Campaign
"You have no attachment to Nityananda Prabhu, to Gurudev! You are a sinner,
you only come and go, come and go, how will you ever get relief? You do not
understand how much you are suffering..."
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5 January 2019 (Visiting Sri Godavari, the place where
Mahaprabhu meets with Sri Ramananda Ray)
Hari-Katha in Sri Kovvur
(Godavari): Part One
"We are very fortunate to be able to come here for the first time, to be able
to visit this place. I have no qualification, I am a very fallen soul, but by
the mercy of devotees, I have come here with you all and I can pay obeisance
such a great place as this..."
•
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Hari-Katha in Sri
Kovvur (Godavari): Part Two
"Today we are briefly reading the chapter that describes the meeting of Raya
Ramananda and Mahaprabhu. Listen to it properly, it is the highest
conception. 'Mahaprabhu was bathing and chanting the Holy Name, and at that
time Ramananda Ray came—he came very gorgeously, with a band and party.'"
•
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Hari-Katha in Sri Kovvur
(Godavari): Sri Ramananda Sambad
"Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ordered Ramananda Ray, 'Recite a verse from the
revealed scriptures concerning the ultimate goal of life.' Ramananda replied,
'Devotion to the Lord is the execution of the prescribed duties of one's
social position'..."
•
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Path to Purification
'It is not every day that we get an opportunity to hear Hari-katha, to hear
what Krishna told us. Moreover, we cannot hear Krishna's message and
Mahaprabhu's message properly because our minds and other instruments
(senses, etc.) are always busy with their own service.'
What Is Good
Association?
'How can you get good association? Who should you associate with? If what
somebody is saying is in favour of devotion, you must accept this person's
advice; and if somebody is saying something that is not in favour of
devotion, you should not accept it – even if it is your own relative, you
must always avoid their association.'
Stay Engaged in
Service, Not Maya
'We must always engage ourselves twenty-four hours a day in service to our
guru and Vaishnavs. Do not waste your time on nonsense talks, nonsense
work, nonsense things. Maya is always searching for a gap. Maya is always
waiting when you stop chanting Krishna's Name, when you want to retire from
your service – as soon as she sees it, she will attack you.'
Escape Ratty Life
'When you were born, you did not bring anything with you, and when your body
falls dead, you will not take anything with you either. So, I do not know
what for you are doing so much for your life here. Do not waste your
time.'
Loud and Loving Call
'When you call your son, you must call him loudly; otherwise, your son will
not be able to hear you. There are so many jiva souls who are also
calling Krishna's Name – unless you call Krishna with heart and soul, with
love and affection, Krishna will not give attention to your call.'
Transcending Bodily
Existence
'What are you doing? Those who have not come to Krishna consciousness must
understand this. We are living in this world, but we are killing millions and
billions of living entities every single day to stay alive! How can you
overcome and get relief from this kind of situation? Srimad Bhagavatam
and Srimad Bhagavad-gita give an exact solution to this problem.'
Why Do We Suffer?
'You may think, "I have no money, that is why I am suffering," but people in
rich countries have a lot of money, even here in India there are many
businesspeople who have a lot of money – do you think they are not suffering?
They are also suffering, and because they have so much money, they are
suffering even more than us. Why?'
Srimad Bhagavad-Gita's
Message
'Even when you drink a glass of water, you must think that this water comes
from Lord Krishna. You may think that you are drinking this water because
this water is for you, but it is not so. Sometimes we cannot make a proper
offering, but we have to take something (drink some water, for example) –
even at that time we must offer it remembering Krishna, remembering
gurudev, then we can take it. If you do not do this, it means you
steal Krishna's things.'
Fulfil Your Quest
'Do you understand what I am telling? What is necessary to do now? Surrender
to the Lord, surrender to a proper guru and chant the Holy Name. Does any of
you want to again become cats, dogs and rats? Do you want that? Time is very
short. Your land is already fertile, so put the holy seed in your hearts
now.'
History of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat
Math (1)
"You all know ISKCON, but some devotees do not actually know about Sri
Chaitanya Saraswat Math. When Chaitanya Math had not yet been established,
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad stayed in Kolkata and
preached from there..."
History of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat
Math (2)
"Gurudev (Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj)
always went to Kolkata for preaching, and at that time he stayed at the house
of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad at Ultadanga Road. Srila
Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and our Gurudev, Gaurendu Brahmachari, both lived
in that house..."
7 January 2019 (Evening class in Vijayawada, South
India)
Jail of Maya
"There are some few persons in this world who are free from the jail of
maya—persons who have got liberation. Such liberated souls worship
Krishna, and they think, 'This is not our house. We live at a temporary
address.' How many percent of us think like this?"
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Benefactors
"You have come to Krishna consciousness, and you must not only keep the
wealth you have got from your Guru for yourself—you must also distribute it.
Sometimes, when you come to distribute these things, people will not want to
listen to you, they will tell you bad nonsense things, but that is also good
for you."
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Your Heart Is the
Commodity
"Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu want devotees' hearts. They do not care who
has property, who has money in this world. You can see that you live in a
simple house, but you have a heart to serve devotees, to serve Vaishnav."
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The Price of Mercy
"...She got mercy of Mahaprabhu through service—she has no education, no
money, she did not even know how to read, but she got the mercy of
Mahaprabhu. Mukunda also got mercy of Mahaprabhu through his faith. It is
necessary to have the strongest faith."
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Acme of Service
"Mahaprabhu experienced the same feelings that Radharani felt when Krishna
left Vrindavan. Such separation should come to you also through your service.
Following the guidance of a bona fide guru, through the service to Vaishnavs,
you can get liberation, and through that you can go to your real home."
•
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Follow Mahaprabhu's
Conception
"Sadhus, Gurus, and Vaishnavs are very kind—they come to you house
because you suffer birth after birth. There are so many bad material elements
in your heart, but through the association that sadhus give you you
can clean the mirror of your heart."
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8 January 2019 (Last class in Vijayawada, South
India)
Astonishing Service
Mood
"I have seen your service mood, and the most important thing is that you do
not do something externally—you do everything internally, with heart. I am
quite astonished to see your service mood. You must continue practising in
this way every day."
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Maintain Your Practice
"We do not have a centre here, but you can all make a programme once a week:
one week in one house, another week in another house—it will make you
stronger and give you so much enthusiasm. Practice makes perfect. This is the
essence of our sangha."
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A Life Worth Living
"This life is so temporary, and not only that—so much danger, so many
problems come in this life. We do so many things, we go through so many
austerities, but what do we do it for? The only way out for us is to take
shelter of the Holy Name and continue with our job."
•
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Our Great Fortune
"Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj was selected as the acharya,
or preacher, by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and both you and I
are very fortunate that we have got a Guru recognised by Srila A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad and Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar
Dev-Goswami Maharaj."
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On Vaishnav Aparadh
"There are four types of Vaishnav-aparadh, thirty-two types of
seva-aparadh, ten dhama-aparadhas, and ten
Nama-aparadhas. Read what these offences are and try to avoid them.
Sometimes, although we have read about these offences, we may consciously or
unconsciously make some offence, that is why we should always ask for
forgiveness."
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Download / listen to the audio (5.5 Mb, 16 min) [Includes Sripad B.A. Paramarthik's speech in Bengali at the end.]
Keep Trying
'If you serve the Lord, He will arrange everything. To cross the River, you
must leave all shame, all shyness when it comes to our Lord. We must leave
everything and go. It is necessary to make an effort towards the Lord.'
Highest Realm of
Devotion
'Always remember Mahaprabhu's conception. Those of you who have taken
initiation must understand that we are not devotees of Krishna. Whose
devotees are we?'
Bribing and Increasing
Stool
'There is Jesus in Christianity; there is Buddha in Buddhism; there is Allah
in Islam; but in Hinduism, there is Laksmi, Kali, Ganesh, Durga, Krishna,
Siva, Parvati, Kartik and many others! Why is it like that?'
What Is a Soul?
'It is very popular to say, 'Do jiva-seva! Serve others!' People give
food, money, clothes to others and call this service to jiva souls.
But neither Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, nor Mahaprabhu
did that.'
Service with Faith and
Love
'Whatever you see in this world is not created to make you happy – everything
is created to love the Lord. When you worship the Lord, you must do it out of
love for the Lord, out of desire to serve Him. You must serve holy Deities of
the Lord with faith, with love, not for your own enjoyment.'
Core of Devotion
'When Mahaprabhu took sannyas and came to Puri, He told Srila
Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, who was the head of the Jagannath Temple, that He
wanted to travel to some places around India. Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya
told Him, "Prabhu, there is another devotee like You living in South India.
When You go there, You should meet him. His name is Ramananda Ray."'
Set Your Heart for
Govinda
'Why does Govinda rest in devotees' hearts? Because devotees want to serve
the Lord to bring Him satisfaction, not for their own happiness. They serve
the Lord for the Lord's happiness. Always do what is favourable to devotion
and reject what is unfavourable.'
Think and Learn
'You must remember these things by heart. I will die one day, and if what I
am telling you goes in one ear and out the other, then what is the use? You
must listen carefully and try to understand these things. Listen with your
heart. If you listen, listen and listen, then one day devotion to Lord
Krishna will come to you and you will be able to serve the Lord.'
Think about Your Soul
'You must think about the benefit of the soul! You must not think only about
this body. I and this body is not one and the same thing – this is what we
must think about. First understand, "Who am I?" and "What is this body?". I
am not this body. Remember this.'
Sadhya-Sadhan-Tattva
'We forget that we are eternal servants of the Lord. Sadhus,
guru and Vaishnavs travel place to place and speak Hari-katha to
remind us about that. We must come to them and listen to what they say. What
is the highest end? How can it be attained? Mahaprabhu and Ramananda Ray
discussed all these questions.'
With Faith and
Surrender
'If a piece of iron is very rusty, a magnet will not be able to attract it.
In the same way, Krishna attracts us, but because our hearts are so dirty and
rusty, we do not feel that attraction. We think that we have understood so
many things, that we know so many things. The problem is that we have no
surrender.'
Surrender and Learn
'Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that the Lord sends His own associate to this
world as a guru, so we must come to him, surrender to him and learn
everything from him. We must always remember this. We must live in
this way.'
Bhakta-Seva Pravritti
'Why must we serve or worship the Lord? Why must we take shelter in the Lord?
We must understand this. Our main goal is to take shelter in our Gurupadpadma
and enter the family of the Lord to serve Him. But if you do not understand
what it means to serve devotees, how can you get devotion?'
See Good and Do Good
'We must always live engaging ourselves in the service to the Lord. It is not
that you will only chant the Holy Name and not trouble yourself with anything
else. The Lord has given you hands, legs, ears, nose, and everything else –
you must use everything in service!'
See Through It
'We go from one birth to another, from one family to another. A father raises
his daughter for twenty years and then arranges her marriage – after the
wedding, when she is taken away to her husband's house, the girl cries so
much leaving her parents. Our situation is also like that. This is a
temporary life, a temporary family, but we cannot leave the attachment to
this illusory family – we always have a soft spot for it.'
'Lord Exists for
Those Who Have Devotion'
'Kirtans are not chanted for others – you chant kirtan for
yourselves. The world of vision exists for those who have the sight;
the world of sound exists for those who have ears – in the same way, the Lord
exists for those who have devotion.'
12 January 2019 (Ganga Sagar, morning class, Temple
Anniversary Programme)
Power of Mindful
Service
'There are sixty-four limbs (practices) of devotion, how is it possible to
practise all of them? They are not practised all together simultaneously.
At the same time, it can also be possible...'
Service Is All About
Mood
'There are many religions in this world, but Srimad Bhagavatam says
that all these religions are mere cheating. That is why you must listen most
attentively, listen with your heart. Satisfying the whims of your mind is a
show of service, it is not service.'
Help Yourself and
Others
'We are not going to be in this world for a long time. People live here for
sixty, seventy or eighty years, but even a mosquito that lives for fifteen
days or a month thinks, "I will live a long time!" Some of us live sixty,
eighty or even a hundred years, but no matter how long you live, this life is
temporary.'
Beyond Body and
Bondage
'Just like other species, we are called humans, and we have some names that
we are called by. But all this is the identity of the body – you get a name
when you come to this world. What was your previous identity? You are a soul,
so where was your soul before that and where will it go after this life? Have
you ever thought about this?'
Do Not Cheat Yourself
'Lord Siva said, "In this world, there are many gurus who come to
steal your wealth, but there are very few gurus in this world who come
to remove your three-fold misery." There are many gurus roaming this
world, but if we can take shelter of a bona fide guru and practise
Krishna consciousness under his guidance, we will get supreme benefit.'
Your Life, Your Escape
'The Lord sends food and all facilities for us. But if you take something
without giving it to the Lord, then you will be stealing and eating – you
will be eating sin. We pray, "Gurudev, Please hijack me, please take me out
of this illusory world and let me join service to Lord Krishna!"'
Keep Internal Purity
'It is our great fortune to have come to all these gurus and to have
taken shelter in them. It is impossible to come to Gauranga bypassing the
guru. We must always think about this. If we cannot live holding this
within our minds, we will not be able to attain anything.'
Embrace Devotion to
Lord Krishna
'I told you yesterday about santa-rasa, dasya-rasa devotion,
the same things that Mahaprabhu told many times. If we look at what
Mahaprabhu said, we will find that He rejected many lower stages, but when it
came to santa-rasa, dasya-rasa and sakhya-rasa, He accepted it
as real devotion.'
Know Where You Belong
'They say, "Become a devotee of Krishna!" but first learn to serve devotees
of Krishna's devotees, then only can you think of being a devotee of Krishna.
We are all servants, lowly menial servants, but we forget this and think that
we have become devotees of Krishna!'
Result of Sadhu-Sanga
'Getting sadhu-sanga does not mean to just be in close proximity to a
sadhu; otherwise, mosquitos can be also staying close to a
sadhu, but they are only disturbing and biting – this is not
sadhu-sanga. Sadhu-sanga means hearing what the sadhu
says and living your life following it.'
Clean Your Heart
and Cultivate Devotion
'When Mahaprabhu travelled around India, He once met a sanodiya brahman who
asked Him, "Prabhu, there are many sannyasis staying in this place,
they know Vedas and Vedanta, but why does the Holy Name never come out
of their mouths?"'
Seva-Dharma and
Mano-Dharma
'Why do you take initiation? When you take initiation, you must take it with
a promise, "I am taking initiation to serve gurudev and the Lord." We
do not take initiation to get any benefit or so that some auspiciousness
comes to our lives. Initiation is taken out of desire to serve
gurudev. What is called service to gurudev?'
Strive for Spiritual
Subsistence
'If you do not practise these things, anaratha (unwanted elements, ill
thoughts and behaviour) will come to you – anarathas will slowly come
and start pressing you down. It means that desires will be growing in your
heart. Once anarathas come, you will be dismissed, or removed, from
the line of devotion to the Lord.'
Where There Is a Will
There Is a Way
'We study and learn so much but end up becoming asses. Unless you get true
knowledge, all your learning is useless. I do not prohibit anyone to study,
but when you study, you must also learn true, transcendental knowledge.
Otherwise, you take birth as a human, but there is no humanity in you.'
Excreting Visaya
'If you are holding on to the material world and have attachment to it, you
will suffer very much. Do you know how you can remove anarthas (evil
tendencies, bad elements)? I am teaching how you can do that. Always remember
and follow this.'
Live in Domain of
Mercy
'"I have suffered a lot in my life, but when I took shelter at the holy feet
of the Lord and gurudev, all unhappiness was gone." Therefore, as far
as it is possible by you, keep yourself away from any offence to Vaishnavs.
You must give respect to everyone. There is one thing you must think about.
Listen carefully...'
The Side-Tracked and
the Drowning
'We want to leave visaya (material world and everything in it), but
visaya does not want to leave us. There are groups that preach
misconception scattered all over the world, but you are very fortunate to be
in Mahaprabhu's land. Nobody knows where you will go in your next birth, but
you still have time now, so practise Krishna consciousness!'
Servants' Wealth
'We have not come here to become managers or temple masters. We do not have
any titles or big names. We must always think that we are simple servants of
the temple. We are not masters of anything in this world. Nothing belongs to
us here. What is the most important thing for me is that the Lord is
mercifully taking my service, nothing else.'
Live Thinking about
Lord
'We are tiny souls – humans are the same as mosquitos – but if, by the mercy
of the guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord, the Lord gives you the right to
do some service, that is the most important thing. You should leave
everything to the Lord and rely on Him – whatever the Lord wishes, He will
arrange everything.'
Turtle Consciousness
'People do not feel happy, do not feel enthusiastic to serve the Lord... If
you only stay here to sleep and eat, then you are not staying at a
math – you are staying in a kamath (turtle's shell). A
math is where there is service to the Lord, where devotees speak about
the Lord; but if people gossip and talk about other things, this is not a
math, not a house of devotion, it a house of rotten householders.'
Learn and Practise
'You must always chant the Lord's Name and the Lord's kirtan
(glorification). Do you think that you have learnt two kirtans and you
have got everything? You must listen and learn more. Wherever we are, we must
always practise Krishna consciousness, we must always serve and worship the
Lord.'
Sadhu's Duty
'We must always only think about the Lord, about practising Krishna
consciousness. We are always busy worrying about money, food and other
material things, but we must practise spiritual life. Where there is a will,
there is a way. There is one more thing I want to tell you all...'
Internal Asuddha
'If we want to do something for our own happiness, we are not afraid to even
commit a sin. For example, somebody can say, "Oh, I am asuddha
(impure), so I will not water Tulasi tree today." Only when something happens
to Tulasi, then they will think, "Oh, I do not want to make a sin," and come
to water it (thinking about themselves). Many people do like that.'
18 January 2019 (Preaching programme in Sundarpur)
Basis of Mahaprabhu's
Conception
'You think that you are practising Krishna consciousness and what I am saying
is very harsh. But there is one thing you must understand and remember.
Before you do anything, you must know who you must worship and why you will
worship the Lord or practise Krishna consciousness.'
Learn the Ropes
'In the scriptures, there is such a thing called adhikar, right. If
enter somewhere where you have no right to enter, you will face great danger.
It is necessary to earn the right first. First enter the qualification, the
right to worship Krishna, then you can do it.'
Watered Down Conception
'Outside people cannot understand all these things, but there are many people
among us also who do not understand anything about practising Krishna
consciousness. If you do not know the conception, you will not get anything.
These are all basic matters, but if you cannot follow these basic things,
then you will not be able to practise Krishna consciousness properly.'
Become a Good
Practitioner
'This mood and feeling must come from your heart; it is not about anything
external. If you look at a sadhu's external behaviour, you will not
understand anything – it is necessary to hear and follow what the
sadhu says. You must learn from sadhus. It is described in Srimad
Bhagavatam who a genuine sadhu is.'
Spiritual Selfishness
'We are always busy trying to take care of the body, making sure that the
body gets all benefit, but we should instead be selfish. All devotees of the
Lord are selfish – what does 'selfish' mean? Why are devotees selfish?
Because they think about the benefit of their 'self'. Being selfish means
thinking about your own soul.'
Do Not Overstep
'We must know the established customary practices of Krishna consciousness.
How should you practise? This is what I have explained to you just now. If we
do not practise Krishna consciousness twenty-four hours a day, what will
become of our lives? We will have to live an extremely miserable life...'
Internal and External
Devotion
'Saying, "I have seen Krishna" is nothing. I have not seen Krishna, but I
know that I am going down the path towards Him. I do not know how long more
there is left for me to walk, but I know that I am on the right path. And if
you can walk on this path, you will see Krishna one day, too.'
Step Forward
'You must not wait when gurudev comes – you must come to
gurudev yourself. You must search, "Where is gurudev?" and try
to find him. "Where is Krishna?" You must search for Him. If you sit idle
hoping that Krishna will come to you, this is not how it works. You must make
the first step, then Krishna will make ten steps towards you.'
We Are Servants, Not
Devotees
'He thinks he has become a devotee (bhakta), but he has forgotten that
he is first of all a servant (das). You have not been able to become a
maidservant of Krishna yet, but you have already become a Vaishnav! There
must be no ego. The only ego we can have is that we are maidservants of
Radharani.'
Learn Proper Meaning
'Do not look at what others say – read Bhagavatam. If you talk about
merging with impersonal Brahman, it means that you want to become God. Man
can never become God. First become surrendered, then you can understand these
things. You must study properly.'
Come to Nirguna Plane
'The Lord gives life to every entity, so the Lord is the master, the owner.
Understanding this, if you reject the fruit thinking that it does not belong
to you, you become a false renunciate, but if you offer the fruit to the
Lord, then you become a servant.'
18 January 2019 (Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class)
Do Not Become Sahajiya
'How do you become Krishna-bhakta? This is Mirabai"s style. She said, "I have
got Krishna! I have got Krishna-prema!" But even Mahaprabhu, who is the Lord
Himself, said, "I have not got anything! I am only a servant of a servant of
devotees. I have not got even a speck of Krishna-prema!" And here you have
Mirabai saying, "I have got Krishna-prema!" This is a sahajiya
conception.'
Sincere and Selfless
Service
'We come to the temple to practise Krishna consciousness, so we try to serve
the Lord whenever we can. When somebody serves the Lord, the Lord does not
throw them into any difficult situation – such people do not struggle, do not
suffer so much. It is those who live in another way that suffer.'
Think What You Are
Doing
'On this path of devotion, obstacles do come from time to time – we must be
careful to always remove them. We must overcome dangers, obstacles and
whatever miseries Maya Devi sends us to remove us from the Lord's service.
Why does Maya Devi attack us? Because we become weak in our spiritual
life.'
Sprout of Deviation
'You say proudly, "Oh, I have taken initiation from gurudev!" but what
did you take it for? Taking initiation means serving the guru. If you
cannot serve your guru, what is the use of such initiation then?
Service to the guru does not mean washing his feet; service means
following what gurudev says.'
Love Others
'We must throw away our own happiness to help others. What does it mean to
help others? Does it mean giving people money or clothes? This is all
temporary help. Love means caring and loving the other person. This is the
most important ingredient in service. We must serve the Lord with heart and
soul, with love.'
Dearth of Hari-katha
'There is no lack of food in the world – the Lord has sent you to this world,
and He has also arranged for your food. Even a dog roaming the streets gets
food – does anybody have to provide it? It finds food itself and survives
anyhow. The only shortage in this world is the shortage of Hari-katha. Until
and unless this shortage is fulfilled, all other shortages will never be
fulfilled.'
Follow without
Imitation
'Do not imitate other missions – follow what Srila Prabhupad and Mahaprabhu
told. Nityananda Prabhu told everyone to worship Gauranga Mahaprabhu. He did
not tell anyone to become devotees of Krishna. We must follow what Nityananda
Prabhu told us. Is that not so?'
Higher Conceptions
'Our line is service to devotees. Even when one becomes an acharya and
takes disciples, he must not think that the person who taking initiation from
him is his disciple. There should be no acharya-abhiman. Always
remember this. This is the highest conception.'
Pursuit-Free Devotion
'You can give up everything in this world, but this subtle desire is
impossible to give up. Such thoughts can come one's mind, but Srila Prabhupad
says that even all such thoughts must be given up. You must do service with
the mood that "I am only a servant, I do not know anything."'
Dasya-Abhiman, not
Prapya-Abhiman
'Service and worship must be done sincerely, without deceit, and selflessly,
without desires. It is not necessary to want anything from the Lord – you
will get whatever is written in your destiny. No matter how hard you work,
you will only get as much as it is written in your destiny.'
Servant's Stance
'We did not come here to become Vaishnavs – we came here to become servants
of Vaishnavs, to serve them. This mood must be there. None of us has come to
become a devotee of Krishna – we are only servants of Krishna's devotees. If
we can serve His devotees, that is our greatest benefit.'
Internal and
External Mood of Servants
'Do not go to discuss the highest things so much. This is beyond our
qualification. We are simple servants. We only serve Nitai-Gaura and offer
bhoga to Them. Mahaprabhu can say to this, 'This is external, go
further,' but we offer whatever we have to the Deities, take prasad,
preach about the Lord. We speak about simple things.'
Highest Vaishnavs
and Pseudo Vaishnavs
'One does not become a Vaishnav just by adopting some external insignia. They
are always humbler than blades of grass, more tolerant than trees, and they
always give honour to others. These are the signs of a Vaishnav. Vaishnavs
always try to give honour to others, try to show love and affection to
others.'
Example of Vaishnav
Quality
'Such was Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, and such are Vaishnavs of the
highest qualification. We do not think about their examples – instead, we
think that we have become Vaishnavs. People do not understand these things. I
am telling you all this so that you can learn something about how we should
serve our guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord.'
Action and Reaction
'This is how we survive in this world, killing millions of living entities.
We do all these actions, but do you know what kinds of reaction we will have
to reap as the result? Nothing but hell. For those who live like this, there
is no other way but to go to hell. There is a solution though.'
In Search of Reality
'Param Guru Maharaj's commentary on Srimad Bhagavad-gita is called
"Hidden Treasure" – if you read his interpretation, you will discover the
hidden treasure. He also has another book called Search for Sri
Krishna. In this world, you can see a beautiful girl, a beautiful tree or
mountain, but Krishna possesses the highest beauty. So, search for Sri
Krishna, Reality the Beautiful.'
Cutting Illusory
Bondage
'Remember this. I want to pull you out of your bondage and engage you in
service to Radha-Govinda and Gaura-Nitai. This is my purpose, and it is for
this purpose that I have take so much trouble to come here.'
Love for Lord, Love
for Yourself
'When you live in Krishna's family, you use everything in His service, so
whatever you do, you do it for the Lord. Did Arjuna not kill all his
relatives? Krishna Himself says, "Arjuna, I have already killed them," but we
see that actually Arjuna did that – it was done through him. So, if you love
the Lord, you must be ready to do anything for Him.'
Come to Serve Devotees
'Please come and do the dham parikrama. Come for a few days, do some
service there. Coming for a festival means engaging yourself in service. If
you do not serve pure Vaishnavs, you cannot become a pure Vaishnav; if you do
not serve devotees, you cannot become a devotee. Remember this.'
Self-Realisation
'You have been chanting kirtan here for so many years, but, having
heard that kirtan, how many people are genuinely practising Krishna
consciousness, tell me? Until and unless we realise within our brains that I
and my body are not one and the same thing, we will not be able to understand
what brings benefit to the soul.'
Seek Soul's Solace
'The Lord has provided us with everything (all tools and senses) to live and
work. We must use these facilities to think about the benefit of our souls.
How can our soul be benefitted? Scriptures explain very nicely how the soul
can be benefitted, but before you understand this, you must know your own
identity – you must understand who you are.'
'Why Am I Suffering?'
'Human beings have the highest power of consciousness, and as humans we can
think about the Lord. But instead, we only think about these bodies and about
the pleasure of our senses. We only think about our own happiness, but we
forget Him who has given us life, who has given us our souls. That is why we
are suffering.'
Relief from Reaction
'What is the goal of life, the highest attainment? It is the abode we have
come from. Conditioned souls, we are struggling, floundering in this ocean of
material existence. This here is not your home. You have lost your address!
The place where you live now is not your home – you are only a guard
here.'
Escaping Life of Sin
'How can we give up this life of karma (life of action and reaction)?
We can leave karma if we can enter Krishna's family and do everything
for the Lord. One may work, one may run a business, one may steal, one may
kill, one may do any wrong, but if they do it for the Lord, then there is no
wrong with that.'
Highest Attainment
'Where does this Krishna live? He lives in Goloka Vrindavan. This is also
where we belong to. Coming from that land, we have now fallen into this ocean
of material life as humans and many other kinds of species. To avoid that, we
must practise practise Krishna consciousness. That is why Mahaprabhu comes in
Kali-yuga...'
Learn to Love Lord
'We must think, "I do not know anything. Gurudev, I am only following your
order and serving you out of love for you. I do not know how much love I can
have, but I am serving you because I love you. What will become of me, what I
will get – I do not care about it."'
From Hell to Heaven and
Back
'Sadhus do not want even heaven because they know that both heaven and
hell are within the fourteen worlds of this material universe. When you
accumulate a lot of piety, you go to heaven and stay there for as long as
your piety lasts. Once that piety is finished, you will have to come down
here again.'
Sadhus' Clothes and
Sadhus' Hearts
'We are neither enjoyers nor renunciates. Looking at my clothes, you may
think, "Oh, Maharaj is a renounced person." But I am not a renunciate. Those
who live a renounced life are false renunciates. Such people externally show
renunciation to impress others, but internally, they have subtle material
desires.'
Genuine Gurus'
Mission
'We can attain such great things (we can come to the holy feet of Govinda!),
but we are not trying to attain anything because cannot give up small things.
Please think about all these things carefully, then you will understand what
we are trying to say.'
Money Does Not Buy
Devotion
'What is the use spending millions of rupees? You will not come to the Lord
even if you practise for millions of lifetimes. Why? Because there are too
many offences. Paid people cannot chant kirtan, just as paid people
cannot be servitors.'
Higher and Highest
Devotion
'When you water your devotion, watch out that you do not pour too much
water – do not enter where you have no right to go. Always speak about the
subjects that are suitable for the level (rasa) of the audience in
front of you.'
Learn the Conception
'We must learn this conception. We are not devotees. If we can become
servitors of devotees, that is sufficient for us. Please practise Krishna
consciousness in this way. Please serve the Lord and think about the benefit
of your own soul.'
Start Practising
Sincerely
'We must preach in this world what we have got from our guru. How can
you help others? If you share what you have got from your guru with
others, you will be doing great help to them. First you must serve the Lord
Krishna yourself...'
Make Effort
'Listening to Hari-katha from them, taking shelter in them, we must make
sincere effort. I did not know that it was wrong, but when I came to the holy
feet of a bona fide guru and learnt about these things, I gave it up. I had
taken a lot of beating, a lot of orders from Maya! But now all that misery is
gone after I accepted my Master's holy lotus feet.'
Cure from Material
Misery
'There are two things in this world, sreyo and preyo.
Preyo means that which is pleasing to you, and sreyo means that
which brings benefit to you. Why do you sometimes not like to hear what is
beneficial?'
Live for the Lord
'It is not enough to only know something – you must practise yourself. You do
not need to sing any nice tune or anything like that. The Lord does not want
to hear nice tunes. When you chant kirtans, you must call out to the
Lord, that is all there is to it. It is necessary to realise the meaning of
what you chant or read.'
Course of Life
'A bad day is not a cloudy day. A bad day for us is the day when we go astray
from our service to the Lord and Hari-katha. Whenever we cannot hear the Holy
Name of the Lord, that day is a bad day for us. You must remember what I am
going to tell you. What I said yesterday was actually only an
introduction.'
Special Arrangement for
Kali-Yuga
'The duration of human life continues to slowly decrease. So, Lord Krishna
thought, "How can people who live for only such a short time in this age come
to Me? It is very hard for them. They do not have time to practise
meditation, sacrifices or Deity worship... I must make some arrangement for
them."'
Beyond Religious
Bigotry
'Somebody asked me, "Maharaj, it is the Boishakh month now, so we do
Nama-kirtans in every province, going house to house – we do
four-prahar and eight-praharkirtans. But why does it
not bring any benefit to our village?" I explained why.'
Innermost Desires
'We must become humbler than a blade of grass, we must have more tolerance
than a tree, and we must respect others. This is what Mahaprabhu taught, but
can we do it? Can we be humble, tolerant and give honour to others? We are
always busy thinking about ourselves...'
Fortune, Faith and
Frauds
'Whatever your situation is, chant the Holy Name. A genuine guru will
never encourage you to do what is bad for you. A genuine guru will
guide you down the right path: he will show and explain to you nicely how you
can come to the Lord, which path you must take.'
Think about Your Real
Self
'If we are born as humans but behave like animals, then we waste this
opportunity. Animals only sleep, eat, fear and procreate. I am not saying
that you must not eat and sleep, but what you must understand is that life is
not only for eating and sleeping!'
Come to Krishna's Family
'What problem is there for you if you use your life to serve Krishna's
family? What problem is there? Do you think that if you turn your family into
Krishna's family, then Krishna will take away all your family members? If you
make your family Krishna-centred, you will get relief from all
sins.'
Seek Out Eternal
Shelter
'You think that those who have millions of rupees must be living a happy
life – you think that if a person is a chief minister, they live a very happy
life because they travel everywhere by plain. But even the chief minister
worries, "What if I do not get elected next year? What will happen then?"
They are nagged by worries, too, so much so that they cannot sleep. What is
the way out of all this suffering?'
Proper Surrender
'You should leave everything to the Lord and rely on Him. At the same time, I
am not saying that you must leave everything to the Lord and sit idle. It is
necessary to have faith, but you must not challenge the Lord. The first and
foremost quality is surrender. Only those who have surrender can actually see
that the Lord is providing everything.'
Misdirected Worship
'Your debt to your father, mother, sages, demigods – all debts are cleared if
you serve the Lord, and if you worship Krishna, all demigods are
automatically worshipped. That is why we should be worshipping Krishna. And
if you are to worship Krishna, you cannot worship Him directly...'
Deepest Faith
'It is first necessary to have faith. Faith comes as the result of
sukriti (not everybody has the fortune of coming in touch with
sadhus and getting faith). Once sufficient sukriti is
accumulated, faith comes. There are four kinds of faith...'
Beyond Illusory World
'If you want to reach this attainment, it is necessary to give something, to
sacrifice something. There are some rules. We are not tell you to do so many
things, you all know the rules and regulations, but you still cannot leave
your attachment.'
Turn Home
'You must always chant, "Krishna, Krishna" and always follow the four
regulative principles I have told you about just now. We can give up
everything. Please have some faith in the Lord. If you can chant the Lord's
glories and Names, I will be extremely happy.'
Gross and Subtle
Cheating
'If I make up my own teachings or conception (which is not found anywhere in
the scriptures) and go about telling others about it, how will that work? How
can any random idea be accepted as a path? There are scriptures, and we must
follow what is prescribed by the scriptures.'
Watch for Milestones
'If you progress down the path of spiritual life, you will be able to
understand how long there is left for you to go to reach the Lord. How will
you understand it? If a boy studies at school, he has to take exams, then he
can progress to the next grade. But here, you yourself can examine
yourself.'
Come Home with Me
'If you come with me, you will be able to come there. Hearing this, you
think, "Oh no! My wife and son will now go with him!" No. I am not telling
you to physically come with me – I am saying that you must leave Maya's
family and come to Krishna's family.'
All That Glitters Is Not
Gold
'I told you that there many gurus roaming in this world, just as there
are many doctors roaming in this world. Some doctors will give you medicine
and say, "Eat whatever you want," but will your disease go away like that?
Tell me.'
Do Not Cheat Yourself
'People say many things. If you pour water on a seed, the seed will spout and
grow, but if you pour too much water on it, it will rot. If we try to enter
where we have no right to enter – if we want to know more and more – the
sprouts of our devotional seeds will be destroyed. Remember this.'
Soul's Plight
'There are 60,000 jiva souls standing in a queue to get a nice body at
every moment, and only one of them gets a human birth. Everybody gets a body
according to the result of their actions.'
Eternal
Transformations
'What question of men can there be anyway? It is said in the scriptures that
Lord Krishna is the only male, and everybody else is female. It is only for
His pastimes that He creates all the men and women...'
Origin of Hinduism
'Every single soul has a religion: every single soul is an eternal servant of
Lord Krishna and is meant to serve Krishna eternally. We are not Hindus,
Christians, Muslim or Buddhists. We neither believe in such differentiation,
nor do we preach any Hinduism.'
Pig's Life, God's Life,
Devotee's Life
'If you sincerely pray to demigods, you will get whatever you want. Everybody
gets it. You, too, can get whatever you want from them. But we must not want
anything. The path of devotion is for those who have no desires.'
We Forget Ourselves
'Actually, everybody is following properly what Gurudev, Guru Maharaj and
even Prabhupad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj told. That is good for
everybody, but the question is how many percent of people follow the proper
conception and practise Krishna consciousness properly? That is the
problem.'
Practise and Succeed
'Always chant the Holy Name, do not talk so much about other things, do not
gossip and have other nonsense talks. If you can chant without offences,
Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart and you will be successful in your
spiritual life.'
FEBRUARY 2019
Early February 2019 (Vaishnav-seva programme in Begampur,
Hooghly)
Your Sreyo Must
Become Your Preyo
'There is one thing that Srila Prabhupad said that you all should remember.
He said that until and unless you become liberated from this world of Maya,
you will not be able to serve Sri Nam Prabhu.'
Joy in Sadness
'Our biggest sadness, or unhappiness, is separation from devotees. Then why
do we say that this separation brings us happiness? You have seen it written
in the Gaudiya calendar or have heard during classes that we say, "Sri
Gurupadpadma's subha avirbhav" and "Sri Gurupadpadma's subha
tirobhav". Why do we call it "auspicious" (subha)?'
Who Will Understand?
'You know that when the founder of ISKCON, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Maharaj, whom everybody calls "Prabhupad", used to stay at Ultadanga Road in
Kolkata, our Gurupadpadma, together with Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj,
lived at his house...'
Vaishnavs' Dignity
'We say that our Gurupadpadma is a great personality, but if he is a great
personality, then what he says is also great and we must follow it. It is not
possible to practise devotional life without chaste submission to the
guru. No matter how much you chant kirtan, no matter how many
places you visit, if you do not have chastity to your guru, this is
not devotion.'
Read and Absorb
'I wrote in the new book (Guidance, Volume 3) that is coming out soon
about astakala, about home-interest and temple-interest, about
provincialism in service, about the argument between householders and
renunciates. If you read this book, you will understand. It is written in a
little difficult language, so you will have to read it carefully.'
Sincere
Self-Realisation
'We always think about our bodies and we identify ourselves with our bodies.
Until and unless you realise who you are, you cannot practise spiritual life.
We must understand this. This is the knowledge of the self – you are not this
body. You must not only say this lip-deep; you must realise this.'
Mahaprabhu's
Conception
'You know, we all come to this line, we practise Krishna consciousness, and
we think that we are better than those who do not practise Krishna
consciousness because we think that we are doing something good. Is this not
pride? Tell me, who of us has been able to give up this pride?'
Gist of Spiritual
Life
'It is said that even if you give up everything, there is something you
cannot give up. It is anaratha (unwanted elements within) and
paramartha (spiritual wealth). What is real spiritual life? Srila
Prabhupad explains it very beautifully.'
Prison of
Misconception
'The Lord has given us twenty-four hours in a day, saying, "These twenty-four
hours belong to Me. You cannot forget Me even for a moment. You cannot stay
away from Me even for a moment. Whatever you do always remember Me. Do not
forget Me even for a moment!"'
Learn and Live the
Ideal
'Such people lose mercy and their sukriti becomes destroyed. You must
not cross the line. Srila Prabhupad also said that even 100 out of 100 people
will not practise Krishna consciousness living as slaves to lust and anger,
you must not become disheartened – you must continue practising Krishna
consciousness.'
Service Alertness
'Our Gurupadpadma was always alert to serving devotees. He always made all
arrangements so that all Vaishnavs would be able to take prasad
nicely. I tell you about this all the time – never think that you are a
Vaishnav. Everybody must pay obeisances to each other, everybody must treat
everybody as their gurus. If you do not have this service mood, you
will not be able to understand anything.'
Be Attached and
Detached
'We think that everything is created for our pleasure, and we feel proud, but
as the result, we will only have to enter this material world again and
again. If you want to get relief from this agony, the only way is to
understand that everything is meant for Govinda's service. We have not come
here to enjoy anything or to renounce anything and become false renunciates.
The main focus in our lives is service.'
9 February 2019 (Evening programme at the Tarakeswar
temple)
Primary Realisation
'The souls that are attacked by illusory environment do not understand this,
but when they get the association of sadhus, they can gradually
understand this. Once they understand it, they get supreme benefit.'
Plain and Simple
'Offering some incense, blowing the conch, etc. – this is not devotion. When
we offer worship or do any service, we must do it with heart and soul and
with faith. If we can do that, we will get the highest benefit. It does not
take much: it is not necessary to go out of your way or do anything
grand.'
Through Trials and
Tribulations
'We consider that taking shelter in the service of the Lord is the only duty.
Fortunate are those who serve the Lord. You must hear about the Lord,
practise spiritual life and remember the Lord despite all difficulties. I
have nothing else to offer you except this.'
Illusion and Delusion
'How does Maya work? What is a show of service? Mundane people say that
service to others means opening schools and hospitals, but Srila Prabhupad
explains that this is the conception of impersonalists. They do not even come
close to Gaudiya Math.'
Live in Sadhu-Sanga
'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.'
Material Quirks
'The whole world is running like this. This world is something amazing. What
else will you say? It does not say anywhere in any scriptures to do this, but
people do this... Some desire comes to your mind and you make religion out of
it – this is how it appears. This is something that your mind wants.'
10 February 2019 (Vasanta Panchami; evening programme at the
Tarakeswar temple)
Conquering the
Conquerer
'Before Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He stayed in Nabadwip. His name was
Nimai or Vishvambhar at that time (after sannyas, His name became Sri
Krishna Chaitanya). One day, a great scholar Digvijayi Pandit came to
Nabadwip after having conquered Kasi with his erudition...'
Two Phenomenal
Personalities
'We must pray at Sri Vishnupriya Devi's holy feet with all our hearts, "O
Devi, you have got an opportunity to serve Mahaprabhu – please give us your
mercy so that we can also get to serve Mahaprabhu and Mahaprabhu's devotees."
Today is her appearance. It is also the appearance day of Srila Raghunath Das
Goswami Prabhu.'
Srila Raghunath Das
Goswami's Pastimes
'When Mahaprabhu told Srila Raghunath Das Goswami to go back to his house and
stay there, he asked the Lord, "Prabhu, if I go back there, my parents will
never let me come to You." Mahaprabhu assured him, "Do not worry. When time
comes, Krishna will show you how you can come. Nobody can stop those who have
got His mercy."'
Mukunda's Faith
'One day, Mahaprabhu sat on a simhasana and started calling out
everybody's names one by one, blessing each devotee, "You will get mercy",
"You will get mercy", "You will get mercy", and so on. Although Mukunda
Prabhu's name was not mentioned, he had a very strong faith.'
Sri Raghunandan Thakur
'When Srila Raghunandan Thakur was a very small boy (perhaps, eight years
old), his father, Mukunda, and his mother needed to go to the market one day.
In those days, the markets were not always nearby, so they had to walk quite
far to get there...'
Remembering Lord's
Associates
'We must serve the Lord, our guru and Vaishnavs. This is our life and
soul. When you see appearance and disappearance days mentioned in the
calendar, speak Hari-katha, glorify them. "Singing the glories of the
Vaishnavs rescues and protects the jiva soul – I heard this from the
mouth of sadhus and my guru."'
Devotees' Wealth
'Why should we become devotees? What is wrong with being a non-devotee? How
can one become a devotee? Why is it said that the paths of karmis,
jnanis, yogis, etc. are wrong? What is the difference between
karmis and devotees?'
Do As You Please
'Do you know who has the right to chant the Holy Name? Who is able to hear
these things? How should we spend this human life? What is enjoyment and what
is renunciation? Is the mind the same as the soul? If, by great fortune, you
are anxious to serve the Lord, then it will enter your ears.'
Remember Great Souls
'Practise Krishna consciousness. Serve the Lord. Mahajano yena gatah sa
panthah: follow the footsteps of great personalities. They are great
souls, our great friends, great Vaishnavs. If you remember them, you will
remember everything.'
11 February 2019 (Evening class at the Tarakeswar
temple)
Spiritual Rules Are Not
Rituals
'People in this world make up their own rules and live following their own
ideas. Srila Prabhupad said that a hundred out of a hundred people live like
that, but seeing that, you must not be disheartened: you have your service,
so carry on doing your service.'
Join Service Activities
'We must always remember the Lord, we must always chant the Holy Name and
serve the Lord. Cooking, washing the dishes, wiping the temple, making
garlands, etc. is also service to the Lord. Everything is service to the
Lord, and you can utilise yourself to participate in the Lord's service.'
Wise Up
'If you waste your time speaking about all kinds of other things, when will
you speak about Krishna? The Lord has sent you now to this human birth, but
do you have time to talk about all those material matters, family matters,
etc.? Our time is very short!'
Hear, Chant and Remember
'There should be no other thoughts except thoughts about Krishna. We must
always think about the Lord, we must always think, "I want to practise
Krishna consciousness." We must always try to engage ourselves in service,
then we will get supreme benefit.'
Surrendered Service
'Those who serve the Lord know no want of anything. I have always seen this.
The Lord has tested me many times like that, and I never had any problems.
The Lord has been taking care of everything.'
Service Disturbances
'Always rely on the Lord, always remember Him, then you will attain great
benefit. Those who have the qualification (the right) to do service must do
their service according to their capacity. What is the problem? There is no
problem at all. I cannot do anything behind servitors' backs.'
14 February 2019 (Sri Ekachakra Dham)
Remembering Our Fortune
"We have come here by the mercy of Gurudev, by the mercy of Lord Nityananda
Prabhu. Without their mercy we cannot be present here. Out of His mercy,
Nityananda Prabhu has given us some small place at his birthplace where we
can stay."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 7 min)
Place of Pivotal
Pastimes
"Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj was empowered to protect and distribute
Sri Rupa-Raghunath line. He came here in Sri Ekachakra Dham before starting
to take disciples, and every year he would send some small donation for the
service of Nityananda Prabhu."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 8 min | 14 February 2019)
First Memories of Sri
Ekachakra Dham
"I had heard Ekachakra's name before and wanted to come here many times, but
when I told about it to Gurudev, he said, 'What will you go there for?'
Later, in 2004, Gurudev finally allowed it—he said, 'You can go with devotees
and do some parikrama there.'"
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.9 Mb, 6 min)
His Mercy Is Essential
"Nityananda Prabhu's mercy is essential in our lives. Mahaprabhu showed that
it is not so easy to find this kind of personality, but Mahaprabhu found Him
easily because They are very intimate."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.8 Mb, 6 min)
His Service Is Essential
"We must be humble, tolerant and we must give honour to others. It is
necessary. Chant with heart and soul—it is necessary to serve Nityananda
Prabhu with heart and soul."
•
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Servant or Merchant?
"Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that instead of serving Gurudev,
Nityananda Prabhu, Krishna, we make Them serve us—we must not make Nityananda
Prabhu, Gurudev our servants. Do not make Guru and Krishna your servant, a
bribe-taker."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1 Mb, 3 min | 14 February 2019)
15 February 2019 (Morning class at Sri Ekachakra
Dham)
Serve Nitai without
Deceit
"By the mercy of Gurudev we have got an opportunity to serve this
place—Nityananda Prabhu's appearance place—we must take advantage of this
opportunity. We must understand how necessary it is to serve Sriman
Nityananda Prabhu and His devotees."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min)
Nitaichand: Spotless
Moon
"It is said that if someone cannot understand the character of Sriman
Nityananda Prabhu, then they are making so much offence—because of that
devotion can be removed from her or him."
•
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Nitaichand: Our Eternal
Shelter
"We cannot conceive of it, but Guru-Nityananda is our eternal shelter.
Gurudev is the eternal shelter of our life. Unless we can understand what the
reality is, there is no other way for us to get relief from suffering."
•
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Nitaichand: Our Only Hope
"Our only hope is Sri Guru-Nityananda—if we serve Their lotus feet, we can
increase our devotion, our spiritual life. That is the main thing about
Nityananda Prabhu."
•
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Beware Imitation
"If you follow Narottam Das Thakur's advice, this is good, but if you think
you want to do what Narottam Das Thakur did, if you want to become Narottam,
then it is a very big problem. Do not imitate Nityananda Prabhu."
•
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Householders' Hypocrisy
"People think, 'If I become a sannyasi, I may fall down later, so
better I become a householder!' Those who are interested in spiritual life do
not live like that. One can never prosper or develop their spiritual life by
hypocrisy."
•
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Bhakti Siddhanta Vani
"'How can we get qualities of a Vaishnav?' Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati
Thakur told that many people do not want to be servants of Vaishnavs, but
they want to be Vaishnavs—he said it is impossible to become a Vaishnav
without service to a Vaishnav's servant."
•
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Eternal Rememberance
"When you remember devotees' pastimes, your heart becomes clean in this
way—and this must be eternal. Sincerity is necessary. The main thing is
'kirtana prabhave smarana haibe'—you can remember the Lord's and the
Lord's devotees' pastime through kirtan."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 5 min)
Engage Yourself In
Service
"Why are you afraid of me? If somebody is making some offence inside or doing
something wrong, they will be afraid of me, otherwise no one should be afraid
of me. I am sometimes angry with those who do not follow properly, but other
than that I am not an angry man."
•
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15 February 2019 (Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class)
Worship Nityananda
'You have arrived at the holy abode of Lord Nityananda Prabhu as the result
of great fortune. If you discuss what Srila Narottam Das Thakur, Srila
Vrindavan Das Thakur and Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami wrote, you will
see how they describe the qualities and pastimes of Nityananda Prabhu, and if
you study these things, you will understand how necessary Nityananda Prabhu
is in our lives.'
Immerse Yourself
in Exclusive Worship
'Do not follow your mind. What we practise is not the kirtan you find
in this world – it is not the kirtan that is chanted to please your
mind and the minds of others or for the sake of flowery words; this kind of
kirtan cannot bring your highest benefit.'
Fill Your Heart with
Kirtan
'If you do not want to fall prey to Maya, if you do not want to live in
Maya's bondage, then you must always chant kirtan. Not only once a day, not
only one time! You must always chant. We must genuinely hold onto Nitai's
feet. It will not do if you just clasp His feet and then sit aside.'
Mahaprabhu's Caution
'How necessary Nityananda Prabhu is in our lives! We must understand it. We
must know why we worship Nityananda Prabhu. Seeing His external behaviour and
clothes, people called Nityananda Prabhu "avadhut". Externally,
"avadhut" is a person who does not follow any rules, who is beyond any
standards or rules of this world; and internally, "avadhut" means He
who can clean dirty, bad things – who can rescue and clean the fallen.'
Adjust Your
Aspiration
'Many of us want to become Vaishnavs, but we do not know how one becomes a
Vaishnav. Many want to become Vaishnavs without serving Vaishnavs, but Srila
Prabhupad says that without service to Vaishnavs, you can never become a
Vaishnav.'
Meaning and Value of
Fortune
'When Srila Raghunath Das Goswami fell at Nityananda Prabhu's holy feet in a
prostrate obeisance, and Nityananda Prabhu put His feet on Raghunath Das
Goswami's head. Nityananda Prabhu also kicked Sivananda Sen! He also sent
Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, an elderly brahman, to Vrindavan. What
does it mean?'
Have You Found
What You Are Looking For?
'We have lost our address, but the Lord is searching for us everywhere. There
is a book called Loving Search for the Lost Servant: we are the Lord's
lost children, but we have lost our Lord, so we are now searching for the
Lord, and the Lord is also wandering everywhere, looking for us.'
Follow and Preach
'It is not necessary to think about the water of a whole ocean – you can
drink a glass of water and your thirst will be satiated. So, when we have our
gurudev, Vaishnavs, the Lord and Nityananda Prabhu, what else do we need
then?'
Our Real Necessity
'In this world, there is much greed, lust, etc. for many things, but if we
can leave this greed aside and practise Krishna consciousness, if we can
serve devotees, if we can serve Nityananda Prabhu, then we will get the
highest benefit. There are some spiritual things in this world, and if we
come in touch with those things, then we will understand what the main gist,
the main essence is.'
Seek Soul's
Fulfilment
'The mind and the soul are not the same. The soul is a particle of the Lord –
what does the soul want? The soul wants to serve Paramatma, and the soul
knows what the Lord wants – the mind does not know it. The soul is a particle
of the Lord, but the mind is not (the mind is not related to the Lord).'
Stay on Right Track
'Unless you practise Krishna consciousness, you can never get rid of
anarthas. When other thoughts come to your mind, when bad thoughts
come to your mind, when you are anxious because of some trouble, always
loudly chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and kirtan. Sing loudly,
strongly. If you do this, all evils within you will diminish.'
16 February 2019 (Morning class in Sri Ekachakra Dham)
Genuine Advice of
Genuine Guru
'We are in great danger – we have fallen into this ocean of material
existence. Wake up! Wake up! Do not waste your time! You must think about
Nityananda Prabhu, you must think about your guru, you must think
about your service. There is no time at all for all those other things. We
must always talk only about Krishna.'
Sincere, Firm and Ardent
'Faith (the strongest faith) is the most important thing in our spiritual
life. We must ardently pray at Nitai's feet and always remain firm. You must
love with your heart. External show of love is not love! We must love our
guru with our hearts, we must have sincere love for Nitai's holy feet.
Such love must come to us.'
Immerse Your Life in
Kirtan
'You have heard glorification of Nityananda Prabhu, and you must also chant
these kirtans yourself. You think, "You all sing, and I will listen."
It will not do. You must sing yourself. If I eat, will your stomach be
full?'
16 February 2019 (Gayatri initiations in Sri Ekachakra
Dham)
Gayatri Initiation
'I am giving you initiation now, and I do not want to ever hear that you
behave like chandals in your speech and actions. Even if somebody
tells you something, you must tolerate everything.'
16 February 2019 (Pre-sannyas talk, Sri Ekachakra
Dham)
The Holy Sannyas Order
"You are all already serving Gurudev, and I am only helping you by giving you
this sannyas. I know you took initiation and shelter from Gurudev many
years ago and you have been doing much service in his mission, but now the
time has come to take more and more service."
16 February 2019 (Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class; adhivas
of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu's holy appearance)
Students' Chastity
'If you want to get Nityananda Prabhu's mercy, you have to put up with some
austerity. The Lord is testing your tolerance. This king of material world is
a place of examination for devotees. We all must pass this examination.'
Parikrama Outline
'Remember these things. You must grasp them and keep them in your hearts. You
must not listen to Hari-katha with your mind – you must listen to it with
your hearts. It must get through your ears to your hearts, and when
you later speak about these things, they should come out of your hearts to
your mouths, then it will be sravan and kirtan.'
We Cannot Ignore
Nityananda Prabhu
'If we ignore Nityananda Prabhu, all our spiritual life, all our practices
and attempts will become as false as a mere dream. Nityananda Prabhu is so
very necessary in our lives! If we cannot understand this, then all our
attempts, all our spiritual life is a dream-like farce – there is nothing
left then. We want Nitai's mercy!'
Reaching Out to
Nityananda Prabhu
'You have been living in your family your whole life, wasting time. We ended
up in this world because we chose to live in Maya's family, but we must try
to come out of it and become members of Krishna's family. That is why we must
cry, "When will Nityananda Prabhu take pity on me? When will this illusory
environment let go of me?"'
Dasya-Abhiman
'This is not something that we say only with our mouth – we must always serve
the Lord with heart and soul. Many of us do not know these things. We say
that we have taken initiation from our gurudev, but our initiation is
just a show. That is why we cannot become genuine servitors of our
gurudev and cannot serve our gurudev properly.'
Be Sincere and Serious
'We must live following gurudev's instruction. You are always thinking
about your own interest, about material world, but is there time left for all
that? A few more days, and your time will be up. How long do you think you
will live in this world? You can leave this world at any moment. There is no
time! We must aways practise Krishna consciousness.'
Worship Nitai!
'There will be another festival next year and you will be thinking about
Nityananda Prabhu, but you must not think about Nityananda Prabhu only a year
later. Even when you go to your houses, you must always call out to Him,
"Doyal Nitai! Doyal Nitai!" Will you do it? Call out to Him and cry, shed
tears. We need Nityananda Prabhu's mercy. If you serve Nityananda Prabhu, I
will always stay with you.'
Illusion of Devotion
'Service to devotees is the root of devotion. If a tree has no root, it
cannot live; in the same way, without service to devotees, there can be no
hope to come to the Lord or to even know the Lord. Many people sing
kirtans, but how many people actually practise what they sing, tell
me?'
Vaishnavs' Qualities
'Many people want to become Vaishnavs without serving Vaishnavs, but it is
not possible to become a Vaishnav without service to Vaishnavs, just as it is
not possible to become a devotee without service to devotees. When you serve
devotees or Vaishnavs, you become a devotee or a Vaishnav yourself.'
Who Are You Serving?
'We live in this world as servants and maidservants of Maya! By the mercy of\
the guru and Krishna, some fortunate souls get the seed of the
devotional creeper. But there are many gurus and sadhus roaming
this world to satisfy their own senses and desires – they never think about
your benefit.'
Learn to Appreciate
Service
'How can you get the right to serve Krishna? Whom does Krishna belong to? He
belongs to Radharani, and Radharani is non-different from the guru, so
it is only the guru who can give you the right to serve Lord
Krishna. We must learn what genuine Krishna consciousness is. Krishna
consciousness is not something you do for one day – it is necessary to have
sincerity.'
Lesson for
Householder Devotees
'I am telling all the householder devotees that you must learn how to live a
proper life. Learn from the example of Srivas Pandit's devotion. Mahaprabhu
told all householder devotees, "Make sure that not a single day passes
without chanting the Holy Name and without vaishnav-seva." How do you
do vaishnav-seva? Does it mean feed Vaishnavs every day?'
Covering Up
Prejudices
'These are all misconceptions; these are the things going on in this world.
If these things did not exist, how would the guru business run then?
If everybody was to hear Srila Prabhupad's teachings of Gaudiya Vaishnavism,
then all this would go away – they would not be such people in this
world.'
Devotion to Devotion
'Real grihasthas are not devoted to their homes – they are devoted to
Krishna. Real sannyasis are those who do not renounce Krishna and
kasna (servant of Krishna) – they live as members of Krishna's family,
or they are attached to the house of the Lord and His devotees.'
17 February 2019 (Sri Ekachakra Dham, morning class; Holy
appearance day of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu)
Approaching
Nityananda
'I am very low! I am lower than Jagai, Madhai, outcasts and Muslim people! I
do not have any qualities. I have committed too many sins in my life, that is
why Nityananda Prabhu will not give me His mercy!'
Ardent Appeal
'If you can understand the meaning of what we have been singing just now, you
will like it very much. Take Sri Nityananda Mahimarita with you and
read these songs – sing them every day at home. Singing them just once will
not do; you must sing them every day.'
How to Attain Mercy
'Not everybody can find Him. Nityananda Prabhu is a very hidden, esoteric
personality. Everybody is looking for the treasure of divine love, but not
everybody finds it – everybody finds treasures of lust, treasures of Maya,
but it is not so easy to find the treasure of divine love.'
Nityananda Prabhu's
Campaign
'Nityananda Prabhu would embrace and give divine love to the untouchable, the
worst kinds of people. He never considered who is high and who is low – He
rescued everything. Today is the appearance day of this Nityananda
Prabhu...'
Varahadev's
Appearance
'Today, the Lord appeared as Varahadev, assumed the form of a boar. Lord
Varahadev is actually Lord Narayana or Vishnu. The original form of Lord
Narayan or Vishnu is four-armed. I told you earlier that the body of the Lord
is one but it manifests itself as two forms...'
Vishnu, Krishna and
Nitai
'If you understand this, nobody will be able to defeat you. Otherwise, people
will say, "Oh, Vishnu and Krishna are the same", or, if you go even lower,
people say, "Oh, Kali and Krishna are the same!" What kinds of things people
say!'
Raghunath's Release
'Srila Raghunath Das Goswami tried to come to Mahaprabhu again and again, but
he could not come to Him. Only having got Nityananda Prabhu's mercy could
Srila Raghunath Das Goswami finally get service to Mahaprabhu.'
Flow of Nityananda
Prabhu's Mercy
'There was one more person who received Sriman Nityananda Prabhu's mercy in a
very wonderful way. That person is Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami.
Although he had never personally met Sriman Nityananda Prabhu, he received
Nityananda Prabhu's mercy. How?'
Shower of
Nityananda Prabhu's Mercy
'If somebody ever says anything about Nitai behind His back, they will have
no relief in this world – there is nobody in this world who can save them! Go
and be careful, and tell everyone what you have heard from Me.'
18 February 2019 (Last evening class at Sri Ekachakra Dham
Annual Festival)
Capture Nityananda Prabhu's
Heart
"We must remember this Nityananda Prabhu's appearance festival every day—not
only every day, but at every every moment. We can only try to serve
Nityananda Prabhu's devotees, Nityananda Prabhu's servitor. That is our only
hope. We must understand that this is the only way how we can please
Nityananda Prabhu."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min)
Hope of the Hopeless
"We are fallen souls, we do not know so much about the culture, the rules and
regulations, we do not know so many mantras, we do not do anything properly,
but we have Nityananda Prabhu—we have hope that if we fully surrender to
Nityananda Prabhu, then everything will be revealed."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.9 Mb, 6 min)
Purifying Shelter
"We are here now by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, and we always pray to
Him, "I am a fallen soul, I have no quality and qualification, I am always
making offence. Please forgive my offence, please take my service. Please
give me shelter at Your lotus feet."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 7 min)
20 February 2019 (Hooghly District, evening preaching
programme)
Sadhus' Approach
'We must ask ourselves, 'Who am I? What is the meaning of this human birth?
Why was I born as a human? What is my duty as a human being?' Because many do
not know this, sadhus go begging house to house to tell you about
this. So, if you want to know what is a holy place and who you are, you must
come to sadhus and learn about it from them.'
Help Yourself and
Others
'Whatever happened, is happening or will happen, everything is good –
everything is by His will. Birth, death, old age and disease happen by His
will. The problem is that we enjoy all things, but we forget whom they belong
to. We only think about what is good for our bodies; we do not think what is
good for our souls.'
Wasteful Living, Low
Thinking
'Do you think you have time? Do you think there is time to think about this
body? You have lived in this world worrying about your body for so long – you
have wasted so much time! You plunge yourself into material life, but your
life is finishing. You do not have time to call out to the Lord!'
Immerse Yourself in
Service
'You must always remember about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His teachings.
Always keep yourself engaged and immersed in His service. Always think about
Him. Always chant Nitai-Chaitanya's glories. Practise Krishna consciousness
in this way, think about the Lord, offer bhoga to the Lord. You can
serve and worship the Lord even living in this world or in your family.'
Clear-Cut and
One-Pointed
'Disciples are those who place their guru's order on their heads and follow
it unswervingly. It is not necessary to think about anything else, to
practise meditation, and so on. Gurudev has said this, and this is the
final word for us. It is not necessary to look this side, that side or in any
other direction.'
Sincere Devotion
'It is necessary to practise (cultivate, develop) devotion. You offer
some incense, ring the bell and think that this is devotion, but it is not.
Devotion comes from the heart. You must serve the Lord and call out to the
Lord with all your heart and soul.'
Hari-Kirtan Adhikar
'Ringing the bell and offering some incense is not devotion. You must know
Hari, you must understand who is Hari, and you must serve Hari, then only can
it be Hari-kirtan. Everything else is not Hari-kirtan. Only if you serve
Hari, worship Hari and love Hari with your heart can you engage in what is
called Hari-kirtan. What everybody else is doing is not Hari-kirtan.'
Devotion to Gopis
'We must always remember, and never forget, this devotion to the
gopis. We never think that our death is sitting next to us. We can
leave this world at any moment. So, what must we do? Our only duty is to
remember our gurus, Vaishnvas and the Lord and serve them. We must spend our
days serving them.'
Student Means Studying
'You must search for the Lord, you must try to know the Lord. We have all
these books that can help you. People do so many things, enacting and
imagining various pastimes, but this is nothing but their own
sense-gratification. I have written here (in Guidance, Volume 3)
everything; if you read it, you will understand everything.'
Read and Learn
'Read these things carefully, then you will understand what is what. You must
read it carefully, taking time to understand what is written here. The book
is written in a little difficult language, but you must read it
carefully.'
21 February 2019 (Hooghly District, noon preaching
programme)
Step Forward
'You can see in this hell that so many insects, bugs, flies, beasts, birds,
worms, pigs, dogs are eating all kinds of stool and urine – filthy things. If
you want to save yourself from such a fate, then come to the Lord and live a
spiritual life.'
Be Content and
Focused
'If you go here and there following the cravings of your tongues, you will
not come to Krishna. Be happy with whatever the Lord arranges for you,
whatever He puts you through. The Lord runs this whole world, He is managing
everything, then why do you want to be a manager yourself? We cannot manage
anything. The manager is He, and He is already doing everything.'
Pursue Eternal
Wealth
'We think that if we had a lot of money, we would live a happy life, but
everything depends on our fate and fortune. Even rich people suffer from the
three-fold miseries. The only way one can get relief from this suffering is
to take shelter at the holy feet of the Lord.'
My Appeal to You
'We always worry about ourselves, thinking, "What will I eat?", "Where will I
sleep?", "What will I wear?" There is a person above everybody – the Lord –
just leave everything to Him! He does everything; everything that happens
happens by His will. We must always remember this.'
Lord Vamanadev's
Appearance
'These are the things we hear the Lord always imparting. He has personally
come many times, assuming various forms, to protect His devotees, to take His
devotees' service. But many people cannot understand this...'
Bali Maharaj's
Sacrifice
'Nobody could stop Bali Maharaj, not even his guru. He actually
rejected his guru at that time. People say that once you take a
guru, you cannot reject him, even if the Lord Himself comes, but here
you can see that Bali Maharaj did it. Prahlad Maharaj also rejected his
father, and Bharath Maharaj rejected his mother.'
Lord Vamandev's Gift
'"So, Bali!" Vamandev said. "You have said one step of land, two steps of
land, what about the third step? Where are My three steps of land? I have
already made two steps – where am I to make the third step?"'
Rusted Souls' Solace
'You must not only say it. You sing this kirtan, but do you actually
keep the words from gurudev's holy mouth in your hearts? It is
necessary to keep what gurudev says in our hearts and never forget it.
I am praying to you all: please do not forget what I am telling you; always
remember the Lord!'
Read and Remember
'Always practise Krishna consciousness properly. Always read the calendars.
You sing in the kirtan about subjugating the six urges and correcting
the six defects, but what are these urges and faults? You must read and
remember it. Read about all this in books, it will be very good for you.'
Accept Guidance
'If you want to practise real Krishna consciousness, you must take shelter of
bona fide guru and serve under his guidance, then you will get supreme
benefit; otherwise, all we will reap is offence – we will only be practising
Maya consciousness. Always remember this.'
Devotional
Propriety
'Sometimes you cannot come to our temple on this day, so you go to some other
places to celebrate this day, and I have written here what you should speak
about on this day. Read these things carefully. I did not make up these
things myself.'
23 February 2019 (Hooghly District, noon preaching
programme)
Eternal Servitude
'The Lord stays at the house where devotees serve Him daily, eternally, where
devotees chant His Names every day. "Eternally" means every single day: it is
not like you will do service one day, and then you will not do it. The Lord
will not come just for one day. The Lord says, "If I come, I come to
stay."'
Morning Tells the Day
'Do not waste your time. If you want to practise Krishna consciousness
properly, then practise Krishna consciousness properly. Until and unless you
become drawn and attached to the Lord, you will not be able to hear or feel
these things.'
Real Milk – Real Benefit
'When you drink milk, you get nourishment; but if a venomous snake touches
that milk with its mouth, the milk will still look the same as normal milk,
but if you drink it, you will have to leave the body and this world. So, we
must make sure that we do not drink milk touched by a snake. You must think
where real milk is.'
Sins and Animals
'There is one more thing you should always remember. Always listen carefully
to what I am telling you. It is necessary to listen with your heart – these
things do not just enter ears; you must listen with your heart.'
Remember Your Promises
'You say, "Oh, I do not have time to do it," but how long does it take? Do
you have no time or do you have no desire to do it? Is it that we cannot
chant the Holy Name or we do not want to chant the Holy Name? Our problem is
that we do not want to do it. I do not believe that anybody cannot chant the
Holy Name. I do not buy it.'
Core of Krishna
Consciousness
'Many of you practise wrong things. Why be like that? This is how you must
call out to the Lord and this must be your attitude to the Lord; and this
kind of mood must come from within your heart.'
Relief from Miseries
'Another thing is that you cannot chant the Holy Name until and unless you
give up anarthas (unwanted elements, bad habits). If you are to chant
the Holy Name of Lord Krishna, you must leave anarthas. How can you
get rid of anarthas?'
Toxic Life
'Just as iron burns everything with the power of fire, Maya Devi also turns
everybody into her menial servants. That is why we spend twenty-four hours a
day, seven days a week, worrying about our children, wives or husbands. From
the moment we wake up in the morning until the moment we fall asleep at
night, we only think about ourselves; we do not have time to think about the
Lord.'
Keep Your Charge Up
'We must serve the Lord every single day, then we will get supreme benefit.
Maya is where there is darkness – there is no Maya where there is light. We
must always remember this. We must live remembering this and chanting the
Holy Name.'
Brahmans' Trade
'You do not worship the Lord in exchange for a few rupees. This is not
worship. This is only a trade – people do this to earn money. If you are to
worship the Lord, you must do it yourself. Just as you feed your children
yourself, you must also feed the Lord yourself.'
Greed Is Sin, Sin Is
Death
'There was once a grihi-guru (a householder guru) who would go
house to house begging. He had many disciples, so at the end of each year, he
would visit every house to collect rice and money. When the guru became old,
his wife told him...'
Seeking Happiness and
Peace
'One cannot become a guru without first becoming a disciple; but many
do not understand it. There are such gurus roaming this world – there
is no point in taking initiation from them; rather, it is said in the
scriptures that such gurus must be given up.'
24 February 2019 (Appearance Day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prahupad)
Srila Prabhupad: Universal
Benefactor
"This is how Prabhupad started preaching the proper conception in this world,
and it is owing to him that we are here now, that we can preach now. That is
why we must glorify Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.4 Mb, 7 min)
MARCH 2019
14 March 2019 (Sri Nrisingha Palli evening class)
Sri Gaura Purnima: Our
Main Festival
"In the age of Kali, this is the main and the biggest of all festivals—the
appearance day of Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu shows us what is called
separation and we must hanker for that, we must understand and realise this.
We must come to this level."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 4 min)
Importance of Service
Mood
"'I will serve; service is our life'—until and unless this desire, this mood
comes to us, Krishna-katha will not enter our ears. At any time—whether I am
thinking, sleeping, or eating, I always think, 'What is the next service?
What is the next service?'"
•
Download / listen to the audio (1 Mb, 3 min)
Sri Godrumdwip Bhajan
"When Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur was staying in Godrumdwip, he wrote a song
about Gurudev. When I read it, I was very pleased. This book is sold for ten
rupees in the bookstore, but I thought, 'The price of this book is ten
million dollars.'"
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.4 Mb, 10 min | Includes kirtan)
Power of Purity
"Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that we have taken initiation
from Gurudev, but have we actually become disciples of our Gurudev? That is
the main question. When we take initiation, not everybody becomes a
disciple."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.2 Mb, 4 min)
Service with Heart
"We should realise, we should understand the places Gaura visited, the
pastimes that are going on in each of those places and we should keep
everything in our heart. Service should be coming from the heart. Remove bad
elements from your heart and give some space for your worshippable
Deity."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.1 Mb, 3 min)
Sri Madhyadwip
"Actually, there is one more dwip (island) nearby where we never go—it
is Madhyadwip. Before, when we stayed at Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Kolerganj,
we also did not go there, and this year we are thinking to go there..."
•
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The Right to Serve
"Who can give the right to serve to Srimati Radharani, or Krishna also?
Krishna is the property of Srimati Radharani and Srimati Radharani is
non-different from Gurudev. So, if we properly surrender to the Guru, Gurudev
can give us the permission, Gurudev can give us the right to serve the
Lord."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min)
15 March 2019 (Evening Bengali class in Sri Nrisingha
Palli):
"They Come Running to Do
Parikrama"
"In some places you cannot wear tilak and neck beads openly, cannot
chant kirtan openly, loudly, but people, being attracted by
Mahaprabhu, are coming even from such places to hear about Him—they are
coming to do the Nabadwip Dham parikrama with you all."
•
Download / listen to the audio (4.2 Mb, 12 min | Bengali)
Forget Yourself In
Kirtan
"Please get ready tomorrow for Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. It is some
austerity, but I will give you a very good medicine how to do this
parikrama. If you take this medicine, you will see that everyone can
do it. "
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.4 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)
The Gift of the Golden Lord Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj's speech in English during the evening
class: "We always think about how this is happening—how this celebration has
now become famous around the whole of the world. It is not a question of some
Bengali function, it is not some local celebration, but rather this is a
celebration of the whole universe. Everywhere in the universe this day is
being celebrated as the most auspicious day."
•
Download / listen to the audio (6.4 Mb, 18 min | English)
Hear It With Your Heart
"When Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur stayed in Godrumdwip, he would sing one song.
Listen carefully with your heart and try to remember it. We are now here in
Godrumdwip and the practice here is kirtanam—it is necessary to
practise kirtan."
•
Download / listen to the audio (0.6 Mb, 2 min | Bengali)
Evening kirtans • Gurudev bada krpa kari' • Sri Krishna Chaitanya daya kari more • Ohe
Vaishnava Thakura • Nitai-pada-kamala • Emana durmati • Jaya Radha Madhava
• Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
•
Download / listen to the audio (10.2 Mb, 29 min)
Admirable Service Mood
"This is an example for us. You must think about it, and it should make you
feel shy. The more we can give to the Lord, the more the Lord will love us.
How much can we give to the Lord? You should learn from these devotees."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.9 Mb, 8 min | Bengali)
Undaunted and
Undeprived
"I do not think about earning money, I only always think about the Lord,
about service to Gurudev and devotees. Anyone who wants can come. The Lord
provides and makes sure we have no lack. Gurudev also gave his blessing and
told me many times that...."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 8 min | Bengali)
Revise Your Priorities
"I am telling it for your benefit. I am constantly only thinking about your
benefit—day and night, sometimes foregoing eating and sleeping, I go
everywhere and make so much effort just so that you may have some love and
attachment to the Lord, to the Lord's service."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.1 Mb, 9 min | Bengali)
One-Pointed Hearts
"There is no scarcity of visaya-vistha (stool of material world). If
you eat all those other things, do you think you will get the taste for the
Lord? If you eat outside food, listen to outside kirtans, this is hodge-podge
devotion (panchmisali bhakti)! We do not want to behave like
prostitutes—we do not go this side, that side, that side; our conception is
one direction, our heart must be one-pointed otherwise we can never get the
Lord."
•
Download / listen to the audio (5.3 Mb, 15 min | Bengali & Kirtan)
16 March 2019 (Morning class at Sri Nrisingha Palli)
Lying and Bribing
"We have made a promise to the Lord that we will serve Him, but we have not
been able to keep our promise. Instead, we always want something from the
Lord, we always expect the Lord to serve us, but we do not want to serve the
Lord."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 8 min | Bengali)
A Rare Quality
"Unless we leave these acquired habits and change, we will never be able to
get anywhere. And we pray to you so you may try to change. It is necessary to
have Vaishnav qualities..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)
Exclusive Attention
"One does not become a Vaishnav just by putting tilaks and wearing
Tulasi beads. We do not want to hear all this—we do not want to hear what the
Guru is telling us. When you listen to your Guru, you must listen with
one-pointed attention, with your heart."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.9 Mb, 11 min | 16 March 2019 |
Bengali)
Core Conception
"Just as you do not need a whole sea to satisfy your thirst, you do not need
to read an ocean of books. It is not necessary to know so many things. Our
main goal is that our life is only for the service of the Lord and we must
serve the Lord with sincerity, determination, following proper behaviour and
practice."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 5 min | Bengali)
Guidance 3: "Get This Book and Read It
Always"
"Read this book. Buy this book and take it home. What this book contains is
not my words: I wrote many examples from Bhagavatam,
Chaitanya-charitamrita, examples of what Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami
Maharaj, Srila Prabhupad, Srila Gurudev and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur say. I
am only taking the remnants of what Gurudev has chewed and giving it to you,
writing about it for you."
•
Download / listen to the audio (6.6 Mb, 19 min | Bengali & Kirtan)
16 March 2019 (Evening class, adhivas of Sri Nabadwip Dham
Parikrama)
"I Will Always Be With
You"
"I see how much energy you get despite all austerities and difficulties, and
I feel very happy—it is on the strength of your energy, on the strength of
your love and affection that we are going to start our Nabadwip Dham
parikrama from tomorrow."
•
Download / listen to the audio (7 Mb, 20 min | Bengali)
Beginning of Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj's speech in English during the evening
class: "We feel we are very insignificant but very fortunate at the same
time to be among you all, fortunate souls who are participating in this
festival, who are present here on this historic day and at the festival
celebrating the campaign of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His
associates."
•
Download / listen to the audio (4.6 Mb, 13 min | 16 March 2019)
Parikrama Is Not
Sightseeing
"We have come here to serve the Lord, we have not come to see the Lord
or the Lord's things—when such mentality comes to you, then it will be the
parikrama of the holy abode, then it will be the darshan of the
holy abode. The very dust there is not ordinary dust..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | Bengali)
There Is No Shame In
Service
"All happiness and sadness comes and goes like cold and heat. Actually,
happiness and sadness is not our line. Gopis ran behind Krishna having
left all their shame, fear, everything—then what should we be ashamed of?
What should we be afraid of? We must not be cowed down."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min | Bengali)
Abode of High Thinking
"We have got this place by the mercy of Nrisinghadev, and we take it as our
debt, so even if we sleep here on the bare ground, it is still our
fortune. This is what we have come for. Gurudev has given us this place,
always remember this."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)
Evening kirtans • Gurudev Bada Krpa Kare • Kabe Sri Chaitanya more daya kare • Nitai
gunamani amara • Jaya Radha Madhava • Hare Krishna maha-mantra • Hari Haraye
Nama Krishna.
•
Download / listen to the audio (8.6 Mb, 24 min)
17 March 2019 (Sri Nabadwip Dham
Parikrama, Day One)
Lord Nrisinghadev's Morning Arati A recording of His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya
Maharaj chanting at the morning arati of Sri Sri Laksmi Nrisinghadev and Sri
Prahlad Maharaj at Sri Nrisingha Palli on the first day of Sri Nabadwip Dham
parikrama.
•
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Commencing Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama: jaya dhvani and
kirtan His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj recites
the 'jaya dhvani' and chants 'Gurudev krpa bindu diya' and 'Udila aruna'
inaugurating thus the grand day-long kirtan of the first day of Sri Nabadwip
Dham parikrama.
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 7 min)
At Sri Subarna Bihar Gaudiya
Math
"Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur established this temple here. In
Satya-yuga, the king of Gaura Mandal was King Subarna Sen. This king Subarna
Sen had some sukriti from his previous lives, so one day he got to
meet with Narad Muni..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (4.9 Mb, 14 min | Kirtan & Bengali)
At Srila
Bhaktivinod Thakur's Samadhi-Mandir
"By the mercy of Gurudev, by the mercy of all the devotees of Chaitanya
Saraswat Math, we have come with our Chaitanya Saraswat Math parikrama
here, at the samadhi-mandir and bhajan-kutir of Srila
Bhaktivinod Thakur. This is a very important place."
•
Download / listen to the audio (4.8 Mb, 14 min | Includes Kirtan)
At Sri Surabhi Kunja
"Today, as every year, we have come to Surabhi Kunja. It is located in
Godrumdwip. Godrum Dham is a place of kirtan, and Srila Bhaktivinod
Thakur started the sankirtan movement and preaching about Sri Nabadwip
Dham from this place."
•
Download / listen to the audio (8.1 Mb, 23 min | Bengali & Kirtan)
SONG:
Bara sukhera khabara gai |
বড় সুখের খবর গাই Srila Bhakti Vedanta Avadhut Maharaj, the servitor manager
of Sri Surabhi Kunja Math, chants Sri Surabhi Kunja kirtan on request of Om
Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj. "I am singing about the greatest news! A marketplace of the Holy Name has
opened at Surabhi Kunja, and its proprietor is Nitai! This is such great
news! You can buy the pure Name at this market place at the cost of
faith."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 8 min)
17 March 2019 (Bengali evening class)
Weak and Illusioned
"Everyone in this world is attracted by Maya. Maya gets her power from the
Lord and, making us her servants and maidservants, keeps us far away from the
service to the Lord. The problem is that we do not have faith and are always
controlled by material desires."
•
Download / listen to the audio (7.7 Mb, 22 min| Kirtan & Bengali)
Bitter Pill to Swallow
"Many are doing this parikrama, but how many people actually, truly
serve the Lord? People shed floods of tears, but who of them actually knows
what is the real practice of Krishna consciousness? Who is called a
disciple?"
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.9 Mb, 8 min | Bengali)
Vaishnavs' Care
"Leave giving honour to Vaishnavs, we cannot even learn to give honour to
others in an ordinary way. Why do we have to be like this? If, having got
this body, I have not been able to use it for the service of Govinda, what is
the use having a beautiful body then?"
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)
Highest Perfection
"When you hear about Krishna consciousness, you should then preach to others,
but we are not able to do this because we cannot convert our own selves, we
cannot practise properly ourselves. Therefore, always be surrendered, always
take shelter of the Guru and Vaishnavs."
•
Download / listen to the audio (9.8 Mb, 28 min | Bengali & Kirtan)
18 March 2019 (Sri Nabadwip Dham
Parikrama, Day Two)
At Sri Nandan Acharya
Bhavan
"You all know what place we have come to. This is Sri Nandan Acharya Bhavan,
it is a very important place. What happened at this place? Who revealed this
temple here? Try to remember this sambandha-jnana (knowledge of
relation)."
•
Download / listen to the audio (6.8 Mb, 19 min | Class & Kirtan)
At Sri Madhai Ghat
"Continuing our parikrama, we have now come to Madhai ghat. We have
never come to this place before, but because we crossed the Ganges earlier
today we are able to come here. The Ganga used to flow here—if you go a
little further, there will be Barokona ghat and then Yogapith."
•
Download / listen to the audio (5.7 Mb, 16 min | mostly Bengali &
Kirtan)
At Sri Yogapith
"By the mercy of Srila Gurudev, we have come here to Sri Yogapith. This is
the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This place is in Antardwip. The
whole of Nabadwip is an eight petal lotus flower—there are eight islands
situated on outside as petals and Antardwip is in the middle of the lotus as
its core."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.9 Mb, 8 min | Bengali)
At Srivas Angan
"Some of you are thinking, 'Oh, all temples are now closed because we have
come late,' but this is not so—when we come, we come to pay our obeisance,
and the Lord can understand, the Lord can see that we have come to pay
obeisance at His feet..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.2 Mb, 9 min | Bengali)
At Sri Chaitanya Math
"Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur brought this spotless moon, Srila Prabhupad, to
this world, and to this day, Prabhupad's disciples and the disciples of his
disciples are preaching about the Lord all over the world, they go begging
door to door to rescue fallen souls like us."
•
Download / listen to the audio (5 Mb, 14 min | Bengali & kirtan)
Kirtan at Sri Jagannath Mandir (Mayapur) His Divine Grace chants 'He deva bhavantam vande' and kirtan during the
arati of Lord Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra at Sri Dham Mayapur.
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | Kirtan)
18 March 2019 (Sri Nrisingha Palli, evening class)
Future Vision
"You have now done the parikrama for two days. Actually, I have been
thinking about something for a long time already... I have been thinking
since last year that I shall extend the parikrama to five days, then
there will not be any problem."
Happiness amidst
Sadness
'You must understand one thing. The line of devotion is one thing and being a
big business man is another thing. I want to forget my own happiness! I want
to do some good for everybody. I am trying. What can I do?...'
Smooth Parikrama Day
'Every year I see during our parikrama that when we come to some
place, there are other parties there and we do not get a proper place (for
example, in Yogapith or Chaitanya Math), but this time everything was quiet,
so we could sit and talk briefly...'
Chad Kazi Purified
'When Nimai heard Chad Kazi's mouth uttering the Lord's Name while describing
those complaints, He was very pleased. He touched Chad Kazi and told
everybody, "He has pronounced the Names of Hari, Krishna, Narayan, so all his
sins and offences have been removed!"'
Meaning of
Vaishnav-Seva
'What did Mahaprabhu tell all householder Vaishnavs? He told, "Make sure that
not a single day passes without vaishnav-seva and chanting the Holy
Name." But you may wonder, "Where will I find a Vaishnav when I go
home?"'
Sole Sustenance: Sravanam, Kirtanam
and Smaranam
'You talk and talk and lose energy as the result, that is why you do not get
energy to chant the Holy Name after that. The less you can speak, the better.
The more you speak, the more wrong you do because when you talk a lot, it
means you are talking nonsense. Always speak little. Instead, always chant
the Holy Name – may our tongues be always taking Krishna's Name.'
Sincerity vs. Excuses
'We do not get time to chant the Holy Name. We are so busy with our material
lives and material problems that we do not find time to think about the Lord.
We are very unfortunate. I do not believe in such things.'
19 March 2019 (Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Three)
Always Think of Gaura
Mandal
'If you hear about the pastimes of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, your heart will
become clean. Once you hear the Holy Name of Gauranga, all material desires,
all bad elements will go away from your heart. Those who always think about
Gauda Mandal will go to Goloka Vrindavan – they will not have to suffer from
birth, death, old age and disease anymore.'
Samudrasen's Trick
'When King Samudrasen saw Lord Krishna, he was very happy and began to cry.
He prayed to the Lord to see His Nabadwip pastimes and he got the
darshan of Mahaprahbu's pastimes. After that, the Lord
disappeared...'
At Sri Chapahati
'Continuing our parikrama, we have come to Ritudwip. This place here
is known as Chapahati, or Champahati. All six seasons (spring, summer,
monsoon, autumn, late autumn, winter) exist here all together. A
brahman called Dvija Vaninath lived here...'
At Sri Vidyanagar
'The place we have come is known as Saradapith (an abode of Saraswati Devi).
All rishis and munis took shelter of avidya (ignorance)
here. 'Avidya' means everything that is not transcendental knowledge
(para-vidya), not devotional line...'
How Knowledge Attained
Mercy
'One time, Upanisads stayed in a garden in Vidyanagar called Upavan and
worshipped the Lord. They prayed, "When will Gauranga come in Kali-yuga?"
Satisfied with their worship, the Lord appeared before them...'
Sarvabhauma
Bhattacharya's Plan
'Having heard that Mahaprabhu was going to make His advent in Mayapur, the
guru of demigods, Brihaspati, left King Indra's assembly and took birth as
Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. He knew that Gaurasundar would come in Kali-yuga,
so he thought...'
Sarvabhauma
Bhattacharya Converted
'Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya lived in the house together with his wife and
brother-in-law, Gopinath Acharya. When Mahaprabhu was brought to their house,
Gopinath Acharya spoke to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya...'
At Sri Jahnudwip
'So, passing Srirampur, the abode of Lord Ramachandra and Ayodhya, we have
come to Jahan Nagar, or, in Vaishnavs' language, Jahnudwip. One time, seated
on the bank of the Ganges, Jahnu Muni was offering arati to the
Ganges...'
At Saranga Murari's
Temple
'One time, there was a brahman called Saranga Thakur who served the
Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda and Mahaprabhu. Eventually, he became very
old and could not serve his Deities properly, so he prayed to the Lord one
day...'
Vrindavan Das Thakur's
Sripat
'We have come now to the last place of our parikrama today. This is
the birthplace of Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur. Prabhupad Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati Thakur established this temple here in Mamgachi within
Modadrumdwip, a place of dasya-rasa (transcendental servitude to the
Lord), the mood that we must always think about.'
19 March 2019 (Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Three;
evening class)
Main Guru of Our Line
'Yesterday was the disappearance day of Srila Madhavendra Puripad, the main
guru whose line we have joined. We always speak about Srila
Madhavendra Puri when we come to Govinda Kunda in Vrindavan. It is of
paramount necessity for us to speak about his character.'
Madhavendra Puri Meets
Gopal
'When Srila Madhavendra Puri drank that milk, he became overwhelmed with
divine love for the Lord. Gradually, he regained his senses and wondered,
"The boy must have forgotten to come for the pot, but where do I find
Him?"'
Answering the Call
'You go for the parikrama, and I take care of all your needs and
facilities, but you cannot follow one simple order. What is called Gurudev's
sadhu-sanga? Gurudev's and sadhus' order is to do
service. This is what is called sadhu-sanga.'
Remembering Chapahati
'I began telling you about a brahman's service and the result of
service. There was a brahman in Dvapar-yuga who would serve the holy
lotus feet of Radha-Govinda with champa flowers...'
Modadrumdwip's Ardent
Brahman
'One time, there lived a great brahman devotee of Lord Rama in
Modadrumdwip. When Mahaprabhu appeared at the house of Jagannath Misra, he
was present at his house. When he saw the festival arranged in honour of
Gaura's advent, he thought, "My Lord Ramachandra must have secretly appeared
at the house of Jagannath Misra!"'
Esoteric Glory of
Modadrumdwip
'The island of Modadrumdwip is Ayodhya. In the past, when Lord Rama lived in
exile, He came with Laksman and Sita Devi to this island. He constructed a
house beneath a tree and stayed there for some time. One day, seeing various
places of Nabadwip internally, Lord Raghunandan smiled gently...'
Madhavendra
Puri's Pastimes in Odisha
'When Madhavendra Puri came to Odisha to collect Malaya sandalwood for the
Lord, he first went to Lord Gopinath"s temple to offer his obeisance. Seeing
that the Lord was offered sweet rice, he thought, "If I could try it, I would
be able to make this sweet rice for my Gopal." But then he thought, "No, I am
just greedy for food!" He quickly left the temple and quietly sat
outside.'
Be Unwandering and
Unwavering
'Our home is there. The place that you think is your home here is not your
home: we always take what is not true to be true. This place here is not your
home! You have lost your address. Your address is where the Lord is. This is
where we must go. What for do we struggle and work so hard now?'
Build Good Habits
'When we were young, we acquired so many bad habits, that is why we have many
bad habits now: we cannot chant kirtan, we cannot talk about the Lord,
we feel sleepy most of the time. Why do we get sleepy? Because you have not
waken up! You do not do service all the time...'
20 March 2019 (Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Four)
Praying to Buroraj Siva
'This Koladwip island is aparadh-bhanjan-pat, a place where all
offences are forgiven. Coming to the temple of Buroraj Siva, we must offer
our obeisances and pray, "Prabhu, may I be able to stay in the dham,
may I be able to serve the dham. You are the guardian, the protector
of the dham, so please allow me to come to this dham
again."'
Esoteric Nature of
Koladwip
'We are present now in Koladwip, Kuliya Pahar. "Pahar" means a hill,
and this Koladwip is also known as Govardhan Hill, and our Kolerdanga Math is
known as the Gupta Govardhan (Hidden Govardhan) temple. If any of you who
cannot do the parikrama of Vrindavan, you can circumambulate this holy
abode and get the same result as circumambulating Sri Vrindavan Dham.'
Vasudev's Worship of
Varahadev
'There is a pastime that happened in Satya-yuga here. Please listen to it.
There was a young brahman called Vasudev who again and again served Lord
Varahadev. He worshipped a Deity of Sri Varaha with various paraphernalia and
always prayed to Lord Varahadev....'
Buroraj Siva's Worship
'The Deity of Lord Siva at this temple is called Buro Siva, or "Old" Siva,
and some people can think that Lord Siva who is present here has now gone
old. But this Deity is actually very old – it existed here even before
Mahaprabhu's times, and Mahaprabhu Himself came here during His
pastimes.'
Vishnupriya Devi's
Viraha-Bhajan
'We have now come to the house of Sri Vishnupriya Devi's
sevita-vigraha. She served this Deity from her childhood – when
Mahaprabhu left to take sannyas, she was only fourteen years old. When
Mahaprabhu left, Sri Vishnupriya Devi felt devastated with pain...'
Learn to Be One-Pointed
'We have now come to the house of Sri Vishnupriya Devi's
sevita-vigraha. She served this Deity from her childhood – when
Mahaprabhu left to take sannyas, she was only fourteen years old. When
Mahaprabhu left, Sri Vishnupriya Devi felt devastated with pain...'
Coming to Merciful
Vaishnav Thakur
'Taking shelter in Lord Sri Krishna, who came to Nabadwip as Gauranga
Mahaprabhu, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj stayed here in Nabadwip to
reveal the pastimes of Mahaprabhu in this world. He stayed here in a small
hut...'
Srila
Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj's Pastimes
'There are many things that can be said about Srila Babaji Maharaj. He
worshipped the Lord in a very determined way (with very much nistha).
I have told you in many lectures about his Vaishnav qualities....'
Service Is Not for Your
Pleasure
'If you lose patience, you cannot get the Lord. You took initiation a long
time ago, but you think, "Oh, I do not see the Lord," so you lose patience
and begin to slacken (you forget all about Hari-katha and kirtan).
What does slacken mean? It means you practise and practise Krishna
consciousness but end up serving Maya instead.'
20 March 2019 (Sri Gaura Purnima Adhivas; evening
class)
The Sick, the Slick and the
Trick
'The main thing is that you must serve the Lord. If you follow many rules and
regulations and become sick, then it is wrong. Gauranga Mahaprabhu's
followers, who genuinely follow His teachings – who not only preach about His
conception but also follow it – are very great devotees.'
Where Are You Rushing?
'Many of you took prasad today in the afternoon and wanted to leave. I hid in
my room and locked the door because I could not imagine that they would leave
immediately as soon as the parikrama finished...'
Limited but One-Pointed
Life
'How can you get good association? You do not get the association of saints
by staying or sleeping at the same place with them. You must read saints'
books. If you read their books every day, if you watch and listen to their
programmes (lectures) every day, it will bring you much benefit. This is how
you must live.'
Exclusive
Discipleship
'If somebody takes sannyas from another temple, it means that they
have left, giving up Srila Sridhar Maharaj's line – Gurudev said that such
persons cannot be considered members of Chaitanya Saraswat Math. This is what
I wanted to tell you today.'
21 March 2019 (Sri Gaura Purnima Day; morning class)
Eternal Faith, Eternal
Patience
'Have faith in the Lord, He will look after everything. If you have no faith
in the Lord, then where will you get patience? After you take initiation, you
must wait day after day, day after day. This is the meaning of being a
disciple. You cannot think, "Oh, I have come to take initiation, so
gurudev will be sitting and waiting for me." I am not such a
guru!'
Service Is Privilege
'Everybody should try to serve according to their capacity, according to
their service qualification, or right. Satisfying the whims of your mind on
pretext of practising spiritual life is not what is called spiritual life. If
something comes to your mind and you do it, this is not spiritual life.'
Service Insight
'Devotees know what gurudev needs, so they try to supply that. This is what
service is. You must always remember this. You can do so much with just some
simple small service. It is not necessary to do something big.'
Service Mishaps
'If you want to do service, even a small thing is sufficient – the main thing
is that you must supply what is required and when it is required. If you do
something for your own pratistha or for your own benefit, this is not
service.'
Listen and Follow
'If you have faith in your guru, if you have firm devotion to your
guru, then all those nonsense talks will not even enter your ears –
you will not even think about material life or any material things; you will
only think about Mahaprabhu, about spiritual life, you will only serve the
Lord. If you follow this in your life, you will get benefit.'
Irreconcilable
Difference
'People come from all temples, but that Math people always go to the temple
over there. They do not come here. That is why I also offer obeisance to them
from far. As Srila Janardan Maharaj said, "If somebody does not like Gurudev,
if somebody does not like Gurudev's line, I will offer obeisances to them
from ten thousand miles away."'
Entering the Right
Current
'I will take two–five minutes more to address those who are going to take
initiation, and when you come upstairs, I will give you the beads. Please
listen carefully to what I will say. We must remember our line.'
Keep Your Vision
Straight
'You must always avoid criticising and disrespecting Vaishnavs. I have heard
many people speak like that, and I have heard somebody say this today, too.
It reminded me of one time when one of Gurudev's godbrothers came to Gurudev
and complained about me.'
My Happiness
"Despite everything, you are still following Gurudev's instruction. It my
great happiness that we can go on this parikrama together, that we can
celebrate Sri Gaura Purnima festival together. That is happiness for me."
My Hope
"When all the devotees are with us, when all the devotees' mercy is with us,
we have nothing to worry about. I promise to all of you that as long as I am
alive I will not run away. We hope that by Srila Gurudev's mercy, this
problem will be solved soon and it will be overcome."
Birds of Feather Flock
Together
"You can see also now that all those who are Gurudev's enemies—who were
rejected by Gurudev, who Gurudev got pain from, all those who were ousted
have now come together. It is their karma and they will get the result
for that."
Eagerness for
Connection
'Many people took initiation today – they take initiation and think, 'I have
become a king!' They do not keep in touch with their gurudev after
that. They never call and speak to their gurudev. It is necessary to
keep connection. You must make an effort.'
Join Service
Connection
'You cannot stay alone. You will get association if you keep connection with
me. You have taken initiation and will go back each to your own village. If
each of you arranges a programme in your own village and calls me, I will
come. This is connection.'
21 March 2019 (Sri Gaura Purnima Day; evening class)
Acquire Transcendental
Vision
'Many say, "I have understood gurudev, I know gurudev!" but the
glories of Sri Guru are sung by all Vedas – only those whom Sri Gurupadpadma
has given his mercy can know his glory. You can never understand the
transcendental, supramundane glory of Sri Guru with your fleshy body and
fleshy eyes.'
Emerging from Visaya
'"I am practising Krishna consciousness so much, but why is the Lord giving
me so much unhappiness and pain?" We commit so many sins and we think, "Why
does the Lord make me do all these sins?" If you want to find answers to all
these questions, you must read holy books.'
Future Is Now
'There is some method how you can attain the highest destination. This method
is constant chanting of the Holy Name. You must practise spiritual life all
the time. You must think about Krishna all the time. "How can I serve
Krishna? How can I come to the holy abode of the Lord? What will happen to me
after I leave this body?"'
Learn and Practise
'You can come to the temple and learn properly all the rules and practices.
It is necessary to learn these things. If you want to preach, you must
practise what you preach. Practising means you must listen to what your
gurudev says and live following his instruction. If you do not follow
gurudev's words, nobody will listen to you.'
Scriptural
Evidence of Mahaprabhu's Advent
'There is much evidence in various places, beginning from Mahabharata
and Srimad Bhagavatam, that the Supreme Lord (Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu) comes in the Age of Kali. If we see those sources, we can
understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally makes His
advent in Kali-yuga.'
Mahaprabhu's Esoteric
Nature
'Why is the Lord called Triyuga? In various ages, the Lord appears in various
forms and colours, but this does not happen in Kali-yuga: the Lord manifests
Himself as a hidden incarnation in Kali-yuga. He comes secretly as a
devotee.'
Attaining the
Unattainable
'Intelligent people will give up bad association and keep good association.
By listening to the guidance of sadhus, they will break off the
bondage of material desires that oppose devotion.'
APRIL 2019
7 April 2019 (Speaking online to the devotees in Sao Paulo,
Brazil)
Spiritual Mockery
"Actually, we took initiation from a Guru, but it is not a real initiation—we
only pretend to be disciples. The temple that Srila Guru Maharaj made and
that Gurudev served is not for enjoyment—it is for service."
•
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Painful Day
"Our Gurudev's disappearance festival is very soon, that day is coming soon,
next dvadasi. It is a very sad day for me. It is the most painful day in my
life, and this very painful day comes every year..."
•
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16 April 2019 (Disappearance day of Srila B.S. Govinda
Dev-Goswami Maharaj; festival in Tarakeshwar)
The Worst Day
"Today, my Gurupadpadma Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami
Maharaj's tenth disappearance festival, tirobhav-tithi. I had never thought
that this day when Gurudev leaves would come in my life one day. I lost the
dearest personality in my life on this day..."
•
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MAY 2019
26 May 2019 (Speaking online to the devotees in Sao Paulo,
Brazil)
Think Deep and Tell
Everyone
"This is what we must tell everybody. It is necessary to think about this
deeply. If anyone joins the programme, hears some kirtan, Krishna-katha from
devotees, their heart will be clean and offences will be removed—if they
chant the Holy Name without offence, with a clean heart, they will get a real
great benefit."
•
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Learn Proper Conception
"Sometimes we can unconsciously make an offence, but through good association
we can hear and understand the proper guidance, proper etiquette. If we do
not know it, then no matter how much we practise, how much we chant and how
much service we do, we can still sometimes be doing some aparadh."
•
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Inconceivable Nitai
"Who can understand Nityananda Prabhu? One day, I remember I read in Sri
Chaitanya-bhagavat, Sriman Nityananda Prabhu came to Srivas Pandit's
house..."
•
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Devotees' Nature
"Always take prasad, that will be good. Do not buy outside food, it is
not good. Practise from a young age. If you dream about another world now, it
is not good—you must remove material desires from your heart. Tolerance,
patience should be devotees' nature."
•
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29 May 2019
Learn from Gurudev
"Sometimes, I remember how Gurudev would give all his life to the temple, he
would give all his energy to the devotees, to the service of the devotees.
This is a great example for us all. We must understand what is Mahaprabhu's
conception and nature, what is Gurudev's nature, Guru Maharaj's
nature..."
•
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Service Etiquette
"Gurudev always told us to serve devotees—rather than serve Krishna it is
better if you serve devotees. The temple is for the service to devotees. If
there are no devotees staying in a temple, then Deities do not stay there,
only dolls stay there."
•
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Learn to Give Honour
"Without thinking, we write something, we do something, we think something,
and we consider that what we think is the highest. This is Vaishnav
aparadh. You must learn to give honour to others. Even if the person
is junior, even if they do not know anything, we must learn to give honour to
others."
•
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29 May 2019
Glory of Srimati Tulasi
Devi
"Even those who have not taken Vaishnav initiation can have Tulasi at their
home. Even if you cook fifty-six items, none of it will be accepted without
Tulasi. Why? There is a story behind it, and you should know it. I am
going to try to summarise it for you."
•
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JUNE 2019
2 June 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in Kharkiv,
Ukraine)
On
Association: Rotten Potato and Secular Affairs
"We must avoid bad association, we must remove bad thoughts from our heart.
Sometimes, externally, we have to give respect to devotees, it is necessary,
but there is one thing you must remember. This is something we must be
careful about..."
•
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A Line Not to Be Crossed
"We can see another lesson in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. There
was Sri Vallabha Acharya who knew Srimad Bhagavatam and all
Vaishnavism and was very proud of that. Mahaprabhu would
give him respect, but this is how He removed Vallabha Acharya's ego."
•
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Questions and Answers • Can we offer the Tulasi leaves that have touched the ground? • Were the
kirtans in Jagannath Puri and Srivas-angan the same? • Does Lord Krishna
always help those who get the blessing from their Guru? • Are we expected to
do anything besides only desiring the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu?
•
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2 June 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in London,
UK)
Fundamentals of Service
Life
"When we do something based on the ideas of our mind, it may not be service,
so we must think what will make Gurudev happy. Time is very short in our
life, so be careful with time. Every moment is meant for the service of the
Lord, so do not use this life for anything except service to the Lord."
•
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2 June 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in Medellin,
Colombia)
Great Fortune and
Great Responsibility
"You are fortunate that the Deities are coming to your centre. I am telling
to everybody: anyhow, whatever comes, be it in rain or in storm or whatever
other problem comes, you must do your service with nista, sincerity.
This is my humble request to you all."
•
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Take Care of Deities
"Being a pujari is a very responsible service—the Deities are like
their small son and daughter—how will They survive without Their mother? You
must be careful with this service. The Deities you have got are very
special..."
•
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Arati of Sri Gaura Nitai
"The Deities are Gaura Nitai, so sing some Gaura Nityananda songs in the
morning, at noon and in the evening. Which songs to sing is up to you, but
sing this arati minimum in the evening."
•
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Questions and Answers • How can I establish myself in the real faith in Guru? • How can a
devotee develop real devotion and real saranagati to Gurudev and Krishna? •
What activities would you like us as a community to do with the children to
ensure their spiritual progress? • How should we treat devotees coming from
another line?
•
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7 June 2019
Do Not
Compromise with Maya
"So many problems came in their time, and they did not back off—they spoke
the truth; but we are ready to compromise our principles—we compromise what
Mahaprabhu teaches us with other things. Srila Sridhar Maharaj saw a big
dream that Mahaprabhu's proper conception would be preached all over the
world by Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and that is happening now. We must not
surrender to maya."
•
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8 June 2019
Mahaprabhu's Attempt
to Go to Vrindavan
"When Mahaprabhu decided to go to Vrindavan, King Prataparudra helped Him a
lot. He set off from Puri and crossed the Chitrotpala River. Visiting
Cuttack, Panihati, Kumarhatta, Kuliya, and Ramkeli, Mahaprabhu went back to
Puri thinking, 'I must go to Vrindavan alone.'"
•
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Purpose of Pilgrimage
"Material people think Vrindavan is a place for their enjoyment. They go to
Puri, they bathe in the sea and see it as a place for enjoyment, but this is
wrong—Mahaprabhu did not teach this, it is completely against Mahaprabhu's
teaching."
•
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Mahaprabhu's Arrival In
Vrindavan
"That same year, Mahaprabhu became determined that He would go to Vrindavan
after Ratha-yatra alone. Ramananda Ray and Svarup Damodar requested
Ballabhadra Bhattacharya to go with Mahaprabhu. Mahapabhu would roam around
listening to the talks of parrots. He was very, very happy to come to
Vrindavan."
•
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Mahaprabhu Returns to
Prayag
"One time, when Mahaprabhu was bathing in the Akrur ghat, He submerged
Himself into the water and had not re-emerged for a long time. Becoming
concerned, Ballabhadra Bhattacharya decided to take the Lord from Vraja
Mandal to Prayag..."
•
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9 June 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in Caracas,
Venezuela)
A Miracle. A Joy.
"It gives me so much happiness, so much enthusiasm, and so much energy to see
you all. You are adamant to take shelter of Gurudev, to take shelter of
Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurachandra—what can I say? If I say it makes me glad,
it is not sufficient to describe the joy I feel. You are showing a miracle to
the whole world."
•
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Embarking On Surrendered
Life
"You are a very fortunate soul—having got good association, you have come now
to surrender yourself to the Lord. You are also fortunate because you have
not run away—you are staying there and tolerating so much, doing
service."
•
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15 June 2019 (Annual Festival of Srila Raghunath Das
Goswami in Sri Panihati)
Grand Festival in
Panihati
"Here in Panihati, near this place, is where Srila Raghunath Das Goswami made
the festival of flat rice and yoghurt, mango, jackfruit, etc. on the order of
Sriman Nityananda Prabhu... Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math preaches in this way
also every year at this festival."
•
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Haridas Thakur's Purity
'When Haridas Thakur came to Puri, he stayed in Siddha Bakul, a small place
near Gambhira. Every day, he would chant 300,000 Holy Names, and until he
finished chanting the Holy Name, he would not touch any food or even drink
any water...'
Haridas Thakur's Desire
'Haridas Thakur caught Mahaprabhu"s hand and pulled Him to sit down next to
him on his bed. Then, he said, "Prabhu, I have never asked You for anything,
but I want to ask You for something today. Will you give it to me?"'
Jagadananda Pandit's
Nature
'Jagadananda Pandit was very straightforward with Mahaprabhu. Such was his
nature. He was a very good cook, so he would sometimes cook and forcefully
feed Mahaprabhu. He would also sometimes fight with Mahaprabhu, but he was a
extremely dear to Mahaprabhu.'
Jagadananda Pandit's
Service
'When Mahaprabhu took sannyas and came to Puri, Jagadananda Pandit
came together with Him. Wherever Mahaprabhu went, Jagadananda Pandit stayed
near Him and always thought about service to Mahaprabhu, always making sure
that Mahaprabhu did not suffer from any inconvenience.'
1 August 2019 (Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's
disappearance festival)
"They Cannot Steal Our
Hearts"
"People in this world want money, things, this, and that, they always search
for material things, but we are not like that. They want to enjoy Krishna's
things, but devotees always enjoy their practice. That is the main
thing."
•
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Brief History
"Soon after Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's disappearance
in 1937, Srila Sridhar Maharaj also left Chaitanya Math in Mayapur,
empty-handed, wearing only his clothes. Feeling very sad, he went to
Vrindavan and stayed in Pavan Sarovar..."
•
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Pure Rupanuga-Dhara
"Actually, anyone can manage a temple, but who did Srila Prabhupad make his
acharya (successor) from within his heart? Who could preach the pure
conception? Who was the pure Rupanuga-dhara?"
•
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At Ultadanga and
Godavari
"When Srila Sridhar Maharaj joined in 1926, Srila Prabhupad was staying at
Ultadanga. Srila Sridhar Maharaj had passed his Bachelor degree and got
admitted to a law college, when one day he got some message that a great
sadhu was giving lectures at Ultadanga."
•
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Supreme Fortune and
Earnest Prayer
"I am praying to Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Gurudev, 'Wherever you are, you
can see all the situation. What is your desire? Your desire is not that they
occupy the building, your desire is to preach Sri Rupa-Raghunath katha all
over the world, but how will you fulfil your desire?'"
•
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15 August 2019 (Sri Baladev Purnima)
Sri Baladev Prabhu: Krishna's
Merciful Alter Ego
"What is the glory of this pastime? It shows that Balaram ploughs and
cultivates (karsan) and at the same time also attracts, pulls towards
Him (akarsan). In other words, Baladev, or Gurudev, removes all bad
elements from the hearts of practitioners."
•
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Baladev Lila: "Can We Be
Friends?"
"I want to tell a little bit about Baladev's lila from what is written
in Srimad Bhagavatam. You have all heard that Kamsa sent so many
demons to kill Krishna and Krishna killed them all, but Srimad
Bhagavatam describes how Baladev killed Pralambasur."
•
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Lord's Keen Kindness
"We must engage ourselves in the service of the Lord, and the Lord is very
merciful. He who owns everything in this world comes to beg! This shows how
eager the Lord is to give an opportunity to His devotees to do some
service."
•
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23 August 2019 (Sri Krishna Janmastami, brief address in
English)
Sri Krishna Janmastami
Message
"Good things are coming to us in the future. All devotees should stay
together—we must all together celebrate this Janmastami vrata maha-mahotsav,
serving Krishna's devotees with tolerance, humility and giving honour to
others."
•
Download / listen to the audio (0.8 Mb, 2 min)
23 August 2019 (Sri Krishna Janmastami, evening class in
Bengali)
Precious Human Form
"Sivji Maharaj said, 'Of all types of worship, the worship of Lord Vishnu is
the best.' And Lord Krishna Himself says, 'I have many pastimes in this
world, and of all these pastimes, My pastimes in the human form is the best.'
Therefore, it is a greatest fortune for a jiva soul to get a human
body."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 6 min | Bengali)
"Raise the Anchor, Sir!"
"In the devotional line, this body is compared to a boat, and the helmsman of
the boat is the Guru. If we can stay aboard the boat that Gurudev is sailing,
then we can cross over the Viraja River and come to stay with Krishna in
Goloka Vrindavan."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 8 min | Bengali)
Gopal's Pastimes
"When Kamsa got the news of the child's birth, he was astonished that it was
a girl, Maya. When he killed her, she rose in the air and said, 'He who will
kill you already lives in Gokula.' After that, Kamsa began his atrocities.
Who did he send first? Putana."
•
Download / listen to the audio (6.3 Mb, 18 min | Bengali)
Lord's Stealing and
Rewarding
"There are many other pastimes that Lord Sri Krishna performed. There was
also a funny pastime at Chir Ghat. This pastime has a deep meaning. Many
think this is funny, but actually it is not—this pastime is all about
self-surrender."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min | Bengali)
Mercy Incarnate
"By a great mercy and fortune, we have got the darshan of
sadhus, Guru and Vaishnavs in this lifetime. Having got their
darshan, we have got everything! By getting their darshan,
hearing Hari-katha from such Vaishnavs, hearing about such Vaishnavs'
qualities purifies the heart."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)
Fall at the Lord's Feet
"It is my prayer to you all—please, always chant the glories of the
Vaishnavs, Gurudev, and the Lord. We also pray to the Lord that you may all
always engage in service, in Hari-katha, in the kirtan, and that not a
single day may pass in your life without it..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.9 Mb, 6 min | Bengali)
29 August 2019 (Evening class in Kolkata)
Preaching—Heartbeat of Krishna Consciousness
"It is necessary to preach, I cannot sit in one place. Sometimes people say
that it is not necessary to make a temple, but if you go to preach outside in
this age of Kali, where will people go to serve with full surrender, full
renunciation?"
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min)
Sri Radhastami and Sons
of Nectar
"If we want to see a beautiful life, a beautiful mood, beautiful character,
and a happy life, then we should serve our Guru properly. It is necessary to
have chastity. Without chastity, how can we assert that we are servitors of
Gurudev and Guru Maharaj?"
•
Download / listen to the audio (10.2 Mb, 29 min)
31 August 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in Caracas,
Venezuela)
Devotional
Transformation
"When the Pancha-Pandavas lost their kingdom, they had no house, no food,
nothing, but even at that time they were happy. This is the mood of Krishna
consciousness, this is the mood of devotion. Whatever situation comes, we
must have chastity to our Gurudev."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min)
Religions and Practices
"If you read my book (Guidance 3), you can see there a chapter called
'Householders and Renuciates', then you can understand it. I am going to read
only one-two words from it..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.5 Mb, 10 min)
6 September 2019 (Sri Radhastami, Siliguri)
Sri Radhastami: World
Beyond Lust
"The lectures are recorded and going to be sent all over the world that is
why it is necessary to say something in English. People write so much about
gopis and Radharani and they enjoy with that, but what they write
about Radharani and who Radharani is, is worlds apart."
•
Download / listen to the audio (6.4 Mb, 18 min | English and Bengali)
On the Bank of the
Yamuna
"One must be ignorant to worship only Madhav. If you worship only Krishna,
Gopal, it will only bolster your ego, 'Oh, I am worshipping Krishna! Who is
Radharani? I am better than Radharani!' Never take association of such people
who do not have any regard for the Guru."
Pure Hearts Run Behind
Krishna
"If you have ego, you will never get any result. We must sweep and wipe and
clean these things out of our hearts, and this does not happen
externally—this dirt is removed by hearing Hari-katha. If someone poses as a
Vaishnav but talks gramya-katha, then they can never be a Vaishnav."
Banishing Poisonous Ego
"Kaliya-nag had ego, 'This is my place, nobody can enter it!' So, because of
his poison, all birds, beasts of Vrindavan died when they came close to the
Yamuna—even the cows did not go there to drink water. This is when Krishna
showed His pastime..."
Service Consciousness
"These are Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's words, listen to what he says! You may
be abused and humiliated hundreds of times, but you must not leave Krishna
consciousness. As soon as you leave Hari-kirtan, you will be attacked by some
circumstances."
Sri Radhastami Kirtans [শ্রীশ্রীরাধাষ্টমী কীর্ত্তনগুলো ] • Vadana • Sri Guru-charana-padma • Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu daya kara
more • Ohe Vaishnava Thakura dayara sagara • Nitai-pada-kamala • Emona
durmati samsara bhitare • Radhe jaya jaya Madhava dayite • Radha-bhajane yadi
(with purport) • Radhika-charana-padma •
Radha-kunda-tata • Radhe Radhe Govinda • Varaja-vipine yamuna kule (with purport and a word of caution) • Jaya Radhe jaya
Krishna (with purport) • Sri Radhastakam • Jaya
Radha Madhava • Hare Krishna maha-mantra and Sri Radharani's kirtan.
•
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শ্রীরাধিকার আবির্ভাব (৬ সেপ্টেম্বর ২০১৯)
শ্রীশাস্ত্র থেকে পড়তে পড়তে এবং কীর্ত্তন করতে করতে ওঁ বিষ্ণুপাদ শ্রীল ভক্তি
নির্ম্মল আচার্য্য মহারাজ সৌভাগ্যবান উপস্থিত বৈষ্ণব ও ভক্তগণের সম্মুখে শ্রীমতী
রাধারাণীর আবির্ভাব লীলা শ্রীগুরুতত্ত্বের সম্পর্কে পাঠ করে শুনান । "শুনতেই সহজ
কিন্তু কান দিয়ে দর্শন করতে হবে—হৃদয় দিয়ে শুনতে হবে ।"
[Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj reads an
extensive description of the appearance of Srimati Radharani from holy
scriptures and speaks about the Guru-tattva. A Bengali noon class on Sri
Radhastami.]
•
Download / listen to the audio (17.8 Mb, 60 min | Bengali)
11 September 2019 (Appearance of Srila Bhaktivinod
Thakur)
Gift of Saptam Goswami
(1)
"Today is a very auspicious day in our Gaudiya line—the appearance day of the
main personality who has started the sankirtan yajna, the guardian of our
Rupanuga line, the giver of the proper conception. It is Srila Bhaktivinod
Thakur's appearance day today."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3 Mb, 9 min)
Gift of Saptam Goswami
(2)
"Dhama-dam. Everybody told that Mahaprabhu's place had been submerged
by the Ganges. Ganga Devi first hid it and then gave this land back, but who
recognised and discovered that land? It happened by the mercy of Srila
Bhaktivinod Thakur. He was staying at that time in Godrumdwip,
Svananda-sukhada Kunja..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min)
Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's Kirtans • Gurudev bada krpa kari' • Nadiya-godrume nityananda mahajana • Emana
durmati samsara bhitare • Amara jivana sada pape rata • Gaya gora madhur
svare • Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
•
Download / listen to the audio (8.7 Mb, 24 min)
Early Pastimes of
Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur
"Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's family actually came from Odisha. His father's
name is Ananda-chandra Dutta. He was a very pious, religious man, and he got
married here in Nadia district to a daughter of a big landlord..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.4 Mb, 10 min)
12 September 2019 (Disappearance of Namacharya Srila
Haridas Thakur)
Namacharya Srila Haridas
Thakur (1)
"Today is a very auspicious day—a grand festival in honour of Srila Haridas
Thakur's disappearance day. How great his glory is! Haridas Thakur was
Mahaprabhu's companion in the preaching of the Hare Krishna
maha-mantra."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.5 Mb, 10 min)
Namacharya Srila Haridas
Thakur (2)
"When prasadam came from Jagannath temple, Govinda would serve it to
Mahaprabhu, and every evening, when Mahaprabhu went to bed and Svarup
Damodar, Ray Ramananda returned to their own places, Govinda would take that
prasadam for Srila Haridas Thakur. That was the routine every day. One
day, however..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (5 Mb, 14 min)
Srila Bhaktivinod
Thakur's Early Association
"Once, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur met a siddha Raghunath Das Babaji
Mahasay. Raghunath Das Babaji did not like to mix with Srila Bhaktivinod
Thakur and also told others not to mix with him, however later he understood
who Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur was..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.2 Mb, 4 min)
16 September 2019 (Speaking online to the devotees in
Spain)
Always Think, Always
Hanker
"Time is very short, and time is very valuable. We must remain within the
service to Gurudev, the service to the devotees, service of the Lord at every
moment. That is our duty. We must think in this way, and we must continue in
this way ourselves."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 4 min)
"My Heart and Soul's
Desire"
"Everybody is now busy with their computers, iphones, tweeter, facebook, and
youtube, but everybody must engage themselves in service and go for
preaching, go for sankirtan, go door to door... At this moment, I want
the blessing from the devotees all over the world because I
need to go to the Nabadwip temple."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 6 min)
Inner Circle Initiation
"Actually, in this age of Kali, the only way to get to our real home, to get
our real benefit is chanting of the Holy Name properly, but for some more
intimate service, like cooking and puja, it is necessary to have the
second initiation."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1 Mb, 3 min)
20 September 2019 (Evening class in Kolkata)
Sri Guru: Embodiment of Lord's
Mercy
"We can make some friendship with our sister, with our parents, it is also a
relationship, but it is not the same as the relationship that exists between
the Divine Master and the disciple—this relationship is transcendental."
•
Download / listen to the audio (4.6 Mb, 13 min)
Sri Guru: Exclusive
Benefactor
"Gurudev is always in the presence of the Lord—he always serves the Lord,
always thinks about the Lord, about his Guru and the service to his Guru,
and he always engages others in the service to the Lord."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min)
Sri Guru: More Than Only
Shelter
"Sri Gurupadpadma not only gives shelter to a soul that surrenders to him—he
gives them the Name, the mantra, and the teachings. Gurudev engages the
surrendered soul in service life and takes care of the progress in their
spiritual life."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.2 Mb, 4 min)
Sri Guru: Constant Worship
"The worship of the Guru is not same as the ordinary worship done by common
people. The scriptures say that Gurudev must be served at all times, wherever
one may be. The worship of Gurudev is not some one-day worship—Guru must be
worshipped constantly."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min)
22 September 2019 (speaking online to devotees in São
Paulo, Brazil)
Atyahara
"I used to think before that atyahara means eating too much, but here
Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur explain it very nicely. If
you translate the word 'atyahara', it means 'eating too much', but it
is not only that."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 5 min)
Wrong Endeavour
"Proper devotees pass their time with Krishna-katha, and at all other times
they chant the Holy Name or think about their service, about spiritual
things. A person may be doing some pious activities, but it is not devotion.
Bhakti means doing service to the Lord under the guidance of a
guru."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.1 Mb, 3 min)
Surrendered Soul's
Appeal
"A jiva soul is greater than Maya because it worships the Lord, but
Maya is very powerful as she gets much power from the Lord. So, sometimes a
jiva soul that is covered by the illusory environment gets caught in
the net of Maya..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 4 min)
Mano-Dharmi'ness
"We must understand what is unfavourable to our devotion because if we keep
those unfavourable things in our hearts, it will gradually cause a big
problem for us. Actually, we do not know what is good for us, that is why we
sometimes become mano-dharmi..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.9 Mb, 5 min)
Devotion Is Not a Show
"We do not want to be like Ekalavya—we do not show that we are great
devotees. We sometimes hear somebody say, 'Oh, he is doing so much
tapasya!'; demons also do so much tapasya—even more than
demigods—but they are not devotees."
•
Download / listen to the audio (0.9 Mb, 2 min)
Guru-Bhakti, Guru-Drohi
"You must always go behind the Vaishnavs—do not cross the line. You have your
limitation, and if you cross the line and exceed your limit, that will be a
big problem for you. Devotion means living under the guidance of a
Vaishnav."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.6 Mb, 7 min)
22 September 2019 (speaking online to devotees in
Colombia)
Keep Good Association
"You must always keep good association. Even if somebody is doing pious
activity or any good works—if they are not a devotee, always avoid their
association. On the other hand, somebody can be a great sinner doing some
wrongful works but if this person is a devotee, you can accept their
association."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1 Mb, 3 min)
Steadying Your Life
"Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu says there are six obstacles in our spiritual
life. Among those six obstacles, there is laulancha, having a very
unstable mind, being greedy and having many material desires. Sometimes your
heart or mind can be unsteady, and sometimes your intelligence can also be
unsteady. This is very bad for us."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 6 min)
On Humility and Patience
"Those who have no patience cannot be successful in any kind of life,
spiritual or material. A practitioner of Krishna consciousness must have
patience—through patience the person can control not only himself, but also
the whole world, the whole universe."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 4 min)
Be Straight and Open
"Sometimes Sriman Mahaprabhu also explained what is called vaishnavata,
qualities of a Vaishnav. Their mind will always be simple, their heart will
always be open—that is Vaishnavata. It is not good to have a crooked
('zigzag') mind or heart."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 6 min)
24 September 2019
The Only Truth
"Sri Prahlad Maharaj says, 'Surrender to Vishnu, surrender to the Lord is the
only truth, and everything else in this world is false, everything is
perishable—everything else will pass and finish.'"
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.2 Mb, 3 min)
Mahaprabhu's Teaching
"Mahaprabhu told householder devotees—serve the Lord, serve devotees, always
chant the Holy Name. Whatever naturally comes to you in your spiritual
practice (sadhana), you must be satisfied with that. Always chant the
Holy Name, always avoid the ten offences."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min)
Mahaprabhu's
Instruction to Vairagis
"Commonly, when we are attracted to someone, we consider them our shelter. In
the material world, people take shelter of so many material things and
people, but there is only one main perfect shelter—Krishna."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.8 Mb, 7 min)
28 September 2019 (Sri Vyasa Puja Adhivas; Speaking online
to devotees in Ecuador)
"I Want to Be a Good Follower of
My Gurudev"
"I have never wanted to be a Guru, and to this day I still do not think that
I am a Guru. I always think that I want to be a good disciple of my Gurudev—I
want to be a servitor of Gurudev's devotees, I want to be a good follower of
my Gurudev."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min)
Guru-Disciple Bond
"You must understand purely what Gurudev needs, what is his connection, what
Gurudev wants, what his heart wants and you must always fulfil his desire.
That is what the relationship between the Guru and a disciple is."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.1 Mb, 5 min)
28 September 2019 (Sri Vyasa Puja Adhivas; Speaking online
to devotees in the USA)
My Sole Aspiration
'Gurudev has made me his offering to the Deities – he has used me as an
offering to the Deities and his Guru Maharaj; and all I want is to be that
proper offering to my guru, nothing more than that. I want to be crazy
about my guru, I want to be crazy about the service to the Lord.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.8 Mb, 6 min)
29 September 2019 (Sri Vyasa Puja of His Divine
Grace)
Remembering Early Days
"Today's day is accepted as the day of my birthday. I do not know by what
pull I have come here. "Krishna is my mother, Krishna is my father"—I knew
that from my childhood, I had such sukriti. Since my childhood I have
always been inspired to read Srimad Bhagavad-gita."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.6 Mb, 10 min | Bengali and English)
Sri Guru: More than Lord
"Guru is called a holy embodiment of the Lord's mercy. You all worship or
serve the Lord, but you will not get direct love and affection from the Lord.
Because the Lord cannot give you direct mercy, He sends His close associate
in the form of a Guru to this world."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.6 Mb, 10 min | Mostly Bengali)
Intimate Service Mood
"Many are scared to speak to Gurudev, but what is there to be scared about?
Are you afraid of the one whose shelter you have taken? Gurudev is called the
centre, the very heart of the disciple. This is our line."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)
On Lord's Order
"Whatever austerity comes, throw your happiness away, forget your own
happiness or sadness and serve the Lord. The Lord has kept me alive, and you
have all come here, you are giving me your blessing, then I am getting one
more year of life."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.8 Mb, 5 min | Bengali)
Unswerving Devotion
"I will tell you some examples of Guru-seva. There cannot be anything more
important in your life than this. You must always remember this, then you
will get supreme benefit. I always pray to the Lord that you may get relief
from the illusory environment and come to serve the Lord."
•
Download / listen to the audio (4.8 Mb, 14 min | Bengali)
Great Advantage of
Guru-Seva
"There are sixty-four devotional practices, and Prahlad Maharaj said
among all those devotional practices Guru-seva has more importance. You must
listen to what I am saying carefully. Remember it."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min | Bengali)
Laws of Spiritual
Kingdom
"When you aspire to enter Vrindavan's kingdom, you must apply for the visa at
Radharani's lotus feet. When you get Her stamp of approval, then you can get
the darshan of Vrindavan; and Radharani is Gurudev himself, so when
you get his seal, then you can enter that domain."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 4 min | Bengali)
Service to Guru: Abode of
Benediction
"Those who fail to practise various devotional practices very quickly attain
all perfection just by serving their Guru. Those who are fortunate can
embrace this in their hearts—if you are always busy trying to make your Guru
happy, you can attain perfection in this very life."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min | Bengali)
Supreme Desire of Supreme
Lord
"You want to enjoy so much, but the Lord wants to enjoy with you all together
and His desire is millions times stronger. That is why the Lord sends His
associates to this world who come to engage you in the service of Lord and
send You back to the Lord. We sit here amidst illusion and think, 'I want
more,' But how much is your capacity to enjoy?"
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min | Bengali)
Entering
Gurudev's Family
"Gurudev stretches his hand to you, but why do you not accept his hand?
Gurudev calls out, 'Come, come! Come to my family!' Unless you enter this
family, your anarthas will never leave you even if you chant millions
of Holy Names with offences."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)
Trade Secrets of
Krishna Consciousness
"If one is to come to Vraja Krishna, one must imbibe the mood of Vraja. What
does it mean to get the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu? If you can attract and
give joy to Nitaichand with your kirtan, then you will feel taste and
joy chanting kirtan—then you can get Radha-Krishna."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.6 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)
Exposing Core of
Disciple's Heart
"You do not enter into a relationship with the Guru just by taking a mantra
from him. If you have love and affection for your Guru, then you have some
relationship with your Guru, then your journey up the ladder of devotion has
begun."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 8 min | Bengali)
Core of Mission's Heart
"If you take life away, is there any value in the body? The same is true for
our spiritual life—if you remove Guru from your spiritual life, you remove
life from your body. If you remove service to the Lord from a temple, this
temple loses its very life."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)
29 September 2019 (Speaking online to the devotees in
Caracas, Venezuela)
No Excuses
"We are always afraid of austerity, but we must accept any austerity, any
unhappiness for the service to our guru. It is not a problem for us.
Spiritual life depends on tolerance and on following the guru's
instruction—always."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1 Mb, 3 min)
Sri Guru's Grace
"Gurudev is the embodiment, or incarnation, of the Deity. We sometimes make
some mistake in the service to the Deities, and the Deity will not chastise
you, but the Deity's main servitor (Gurudev) can always chastise you. That is
his mercy."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 4 min)
29 September 2019 (Speaking online to the devotees in
Johannesburg, South Africa)
Heed Your Call
"Spread Krishna consciousness. Spread Mahaprabhu's, Gurudev's and Guru
Maharaj's message door to door in South Africa. Even if somebody kicks you
out from their door, you must go there again and beg, 'I have come to you to
give you real benefit, please take it.'"
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 4 min)
9 October 2019
Qualification of
Disciple and Guru
"In transcendental life, it does not matter who is whose disciple, who is
senior, who is junior. These things matter in material life. In material
life, you say you have worked for thirty years in a company, but this does
not matter in Krishna consciousness. In Krishna consciousness, seniority
depends on devotion, on reality, chastity."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 4 min)
Niti and Priti
"It was Ramachandra's vijay utsav yesterday, and we would like to
clarify some things about Rama-tattva and Krishna-tattva. In Rama-lila, rules
and regulations are the highest, and love and affection go down, but this is
not the highest ideal..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.7 Mb, 9 min)
Laksman's Grudge
"Sita Devi was crying so much, and Laksman could not bear the thought of
doing it, but because Ramachandra was his worshippable Lord and his elder
brother, he had to do it—but Laksman could not forget the kind of pain he got
at that time..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 4 min)
Balaram's Character
"Baladev may be elder, but He is a servitor—He is seva-vigraha, a
worshippable embodiment of service. Balaram removes all problems. He always
does everything for the service to Krishna. He always protects Krishna, He is
always with Him."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 4 min)
Balaram and Nitai:
Seva-Vigraha
"Baladev Prabhu thinks, 'I am the gatekeeper, and if any disturbance comes, I
will plough it out and finish it at once. I will do whatever it takes to make
sure no disturbance comes to Krishna's happiness.' That is why Baladev Prabhu
is known as seva-vigraha."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.9 Mb, 7 min)
Mind's Trap
"You do not know whether your life is getting better or worse, that is why
whatever the situation is, it is always safe to follow the Guru's
instruction. Devotional life is another world—you cannot get any devotional
property without the Guru."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 3 min | 9 October 2019)
Ekadasi: Main Focus Is
Service
"We always observe Ekadasi. One time, when somebody asked Gurudev about the
glorification of Ekadasi, Gurudev showed that it is not necessary to hear the
explanation or glorification of Ekadasi—Gurudev tells you to follow Ekadasi,
and we must do that."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min)
Ekadasi: Historical
Background
"Previously, after Mahaprabhu, there appeared so many misconceptions and
there were so many rules and regulations at that time. In those days, it was
a common custom that if somebody's husband died, then they were told to fast
on Ekadasi..."
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On Chastity and Rules
"When you do archan, puja, etc. you must follow the viddhi-marga, but the
main difficulty is that we can be following so many rules and regulations,
but we may not be following Gurudev's instruction, we may not be loyal, not
chaste to our Guru..."
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10 October 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in Salt Lake
City, Utah, USA)
Thirst for Service
"Our duty in this life is to as much as possible be surrendered to Gurudev's
lotus feet and preach Gurudev's message. The main thing is what kind of
service Gurudev wants and to what extent you can make him happy, to what
extent you can make Vaishnavs happy."
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Service Relation
"The relation between a Guru and a disciple is not like the relation between
a shopkeeper and a customer. We think that since we have taken the mantra we
have become a disciple, but it is not correct. It is necessary to take
initiation, but it is more important under whose guidance you are doing
service after that."
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Service Is Disciple's
Heartbeat
"You have your service—do not waste your time on sleeping, eating, and
enjoying, do not use this life for your own enjoyment. You must always think
how to serve your Guru. The Guru is the center of the disciple's heart. You
must use your whole life for service."
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Love Your Service
"The main thing is that we must do the service that the Guru and Vaishnavs
want me to do and engage me in. The Guru and Vaishnavs tell us to do
something, we may feel unhappy doing it, but we must not leave the service
because of that."
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Always Ready, Always
Eager
"We must be like soldiers—we must be always ready to serve the Lord, to serve
Gurudev's mission. We do not come to judge who is a Vaishnav and who is not a
Vaishnav—we cannot understand it, neither is it our duty to do it. Our main
question is how much we can do for the service to our Guru and Vaishnav."
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Disciple's
Sambandha, Abhidheya, Prayojan
"The relation between a disciple and the guru is eternal. You must understand
this relation and you must understand that this relation is eternal. If you
want to surrender properly, you must give your body, soul, mind,
ego—everything—to your Guru."
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Pure Kirtan Comes from
Pure Heart
"Kirtan is not singing. Kirtan means making the Lord happy. You
must be a proper, honest disciple. Your heart must be open. If you have
something in your heart, if your heart is dirty or there are many obstacles
in your heart, then you will not be able to hear Gurudev properly—it will go
into one ear and out the other."
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13 October 2019 (Beginning of Niyom-Seva Month)
Month of Service—Life of
Service
"Today Kartik-vrata, or niyom-seva, starts. Our temple observes it from
purnima to purnima, and some other temples do it from
dvadasi to dvadasi. One day I asked Gurudev what
niyom-seva meant..."
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14 October 2019
Religion of Jiva Soul
"When the jiva souls is attracted by the illusory environment, it
cannot easily remember what is its duty or who it is—the soul cannot
understand it because the real things become hidden inside the soul."
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Mature Service Life
"Through sravan and kirtan, all your bad elements will go
away—after that, you will get attachment to doing your service properly every
day. We must be steady and firm. If you practise every moment and every day,
then it will be good for you—in this way, your devotional life will go the
proper way and to the proper place."
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Purify Yourself
"When you stay with Gurudev, you should not only stay with your body and
mind—you must stay with Gurudev with your heart and soul. It is necessary to
have chastity to your Gurudev. We should not try to purify others—first we
must purify ourselves through sravanam and
kirtanam."
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15 October 2019
Watch Out
"Sometimes, we can be distributing preaching in the proper way, but we
ourselves cannot reach our destination. This happens because of our mind.
Practitioners must be always careful. We must always stay attached to our
service and to our practice."
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Authorised Service
"There can be different kinds of service. It can be anything—any way you can
fulfil the desire of a Vaishnav is service; any way you can fulfil the desire
of your Guru is service."
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Internal Initiation
"Many practitioners only take the mantras from Gurudev and then do not recite
them, otherwise if they recite it daily and properly how can they forget it?
Devotees arrange big plates, but actually it is necessary to give your
heart—other things are external."
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Six Faults
"Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu says that there are six obstacles—atyahara,
prayascha, prajalpa, niyamagraha, laulancha, janasangancha—and these six
elements, six faults destroy one's devotion."
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Six Qualities
"Those who have enthusiasm for chanting the Holy Name, for doing service and
other devotional activities, who like to serve devotees in various ways, they
will gradually get devotion to Krishna."
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Do Not Overstep
"Just as you cannot compare Ganges water with any other water, in the same
way you cannot compare a devotee to a non-devotee—the difference is vast. If
a devotee has some fault, Krishna will remove it."
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Service Is Above Rules
'For us, the main thing is service. If you think, "I will stay the whole day
fasting, I will not eat anything, and I will not do any service – I will only
stay silent and do nothing the whole day," it is wrong. It is wasting time
and being lazy. We must take what is necessary for the service of the
Lord.'
Unconditional
Servitude
'Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Prabhupad said that the niyom-seva month
rules are actually for those who live without following any rules
(aniyom). The main thing is that we must always practise sravan
and kirtan.'
27 October 2019 (Adhivas of Sri Govardhan Parikrama)
Parikrama Is Not a
Walk
'Your gurudev is sitting here, but you go to another place, hang out
with others, sit and tell each other stories, do this, that, etc. Do you
think you can get the darshan of Vrindavan like that? If you want to
have the darshan of Vrindavan, you must do it with your heart.'
He Is Not a Sham
'When you do not have anything to do at home, you call your family and ask
them how they are, etc., but when you die one day, they will take your body
to the cremation ground. They are all temporary family who will leave you,
but the Lord will never leave you. But you must make an effort...'
Be Headstrong
'You have come to this holy abode now – please practise Krishna
consciousness. Do the parikrama nicely. And when you go back to your
homes, do not slacken your practise, then your coming here would be fruitful.
Coming to Vrindavan brings so much benefit! But you must remember...'
Govardhan: Sevya and
Sevak
'Govardhan manifests Himself as an object of service (sevya) and a
servitor (sevak). He is the Lord Himself, who comes to take service,
and, at the same time, He is also a servant – as Govardhan, the Lord is
taking service from others and also serving Himself.'
Evening kirtans Sri Guru charana-padma, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu daya kara more, Ohe
Vaishnava Thakura dayara sagara, Nitai-pada-kamala, Emona durmati samsara
bhitare, Mayura-mukuta Pitambaradhari, Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
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28 October 2019 (First day of Sri Govardhan
Parikrama)
Three Chambers of Heart[Evening class]
"Actually we do not have any capacity to do the parikrama—if
Radharani, Gurudev give their mercy, then only can we circumambulate their
holy abode. Do you think everybody can do it? Everybody says they are going
to Goloka, Vrindavan, but instead they go to serve Maya."
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Evening kirtans Gurudev bada krpa kari, Ei-bara karuna kara Vaisnava Gosai, Akrodha
paramananda Nityananda Raya, Yadi Gaura na ha'ta tabe ki ha-ita, Jaya
Radha-Madhava, Radhe Jaya Jaya Madhava, Sri Damodarastakam, Siksastakam
kirtans.
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29 October 2019 (Sri Govardhan Puja; the second day of Sri
Govardhan Parikrama)
Sri Govardhan Puja (1):
Sevya and Sevak
"Today is a very auspicious day—today is Sri Giriraj Govardhan Puja. By the
mercy of Gurudev, we are present here in Govardhan. Gurudev writes that
Giriraj assumes the form of both sevya and sevak..."
Sri Govardhan Puja (2):
Seva-Adhikar
"Krishna Himself said, 'I am Govardhan!' Sometimes people say that
worshipping Govindaji and worshipping Govardhan is different, but this is a
misconception. You must serve Govardhan with sincerity and following all
rules of service."
Sri Govardhan Puja (3):
Full Service
"I have told you before that it is not necessary to know any mantra to
worship the Lord—it is necessary to have a clean heart. Also, service is
necessary, but service must be full. You start something and then leave it
half-way—not like this."
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Sri Govardhan-astakam
His Divine Grace reads Sri Govardhan-astakam composed by Srila Raghunath
Das Goswami Prabhu.
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At Sri Radha Kunja-Bihari
Gaudiya Math
"By the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, we have come today to Sri Gaudiya Math
established by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. You know that Srila
Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur is the founder acharya of Sri Chaitanya
Math and all Gaudiya Maths..."
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Crushing Pride
'You all know what this place is. This is the place where Kaliya-nag used to
stay. He had so much poison that nobody could drink from this part of the
Yamuna river, and whenever cows came to drink water here, they would die
immediately...'
31 October 2019 (Evening class in Sri Vrindavan
Temple)
Darshan of Transcendental
Abode
"Actually, we do not have the eyes to have a darshan of a holy place.
If we can clean our hearts through kirtan, if we can clean our
character and mind through the service to the Guru, Vaishnavs, and the Lord,
then we can truly do dham parikrama."
Eternal Stumbling Block
"Mathura or Vrindavan is not a place for doing business or enjoyment. This is
a place of service. If you want to stay here to serve, if you have service
mood, then you have the right to stay here. We must not come to Vrindavan to
always think about ourselves."
Neither Judge, Nor
Imitate
"We cannot see anything, that is why we must always take shelter of a bona
fide Guru. That is why it is very difficult to stay in Vrindavan. If you try
to practise such raga-marga, you will become a sahajiya."
Symptoms of Disciple
"Only exclusive and dear servitors can have the right for Gurudev's wealth
and property. Gurudev's wealth and property is not some temple, a great
building, etc.—Gurudev's property is Krishna-prema, his heart, his love. We
must become real disciples."
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10 November 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in
Durban)
"Come to Learn, Come to
Serve"
"If you can come and join these parikramas, it will be good for you.
You can learn more and more, you can engage yourself in the service of the
Lord. Always engage yourself in Krishna consciousness and also always avoid
illusory environment."
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"Preach for My Guru"
"My desire is that you preach for my Guru. Make some books, brochures,
distribute prasadam, and go for sankirtan in the street from
time to time. Preach. Continue preaching. You may not have a temple now, but
you can make a programme in devotees' houses. Continue your programmes, that
will be good for you yourself."
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13 November 2019 (Speech at a public gathering in
Purulia)
Our Identity
"I am very fortunate to come here, and one thing I want to say is that we
always speak about peace and harmony, but we must understand—do we only say
it with our mouth or do we say it from our heart? What is your identity?"
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Shed Your Raincoat
"You are trying to create peace and harmony in this world, but we cannot
leave our ego, we cannot sacrifice our life, we cannot give up anything,
however small it may be. How much dedication do we have? Dedication means
love and affection. First you must think who you are."
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Education Uplifts, Not
Degrades
"Even a donkey or a monkey knows, 'This is my son,' 'This is my mother'—but
people kick their own mothers out of her house and she becomes a street
beggar! What is this? What sort of education is this? Education teaches very
high things, it teaches one to think what they are doing."
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16 November 2019
Our Fortune
"We are suffering too much in this age of Kali, but we have got the mercy of
Gurudev—the Lord Himself comes as a Guru and tells us who we are, what is our
duty, what we have got the human body for. We must know that, and we must
follow that."
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Disciple's Dedication
"You will get so many gurus in this world, but you will not find a proper
disciple so easily. If you only wear a dhoti, put tilaks, wear
the kanthi-mala, these are external things; initiation is about
devotion and it comes from the heart."
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7 December 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in Costa
Rica)
"You Will Be Successful"
"I am very happy to see you and to hear that you are trying to preach, it is
very nice. Try to preach there little by little, and it will be even more
successful. Try to preach about Gurudev, about Gaura Nityananda, and I will
be very happy."
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8 December 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in Orizaba,
Mexico)
Our Reality
"Gurudev is actually the disciple's heart, so we must worship Gurudev very
carefully and follow his instruction properly. We exhaust ourselves spending
this life on ourselves, but you must think about Him who does everything for
you, about our controller. We must think about Him and we must chant His
Name. That is our reality."
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Chastity—Core of Devotee's
Heart
"We must be humble, tolerant and give honour to others; we must not see
others' faults, we must not see who is doing what—they can do anything they
want, but we will practise properly. We must follow Gurudev's instruction,
follow what Gurudev told—that is our vision, that is our chastity."
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On Deity Service
"I am very happy to see that your proper service to the Deities. What does
Deity service mean? It is not necessary to know so many mantras—if
your heart, mind, everything is for the Deities, it is sufficient."
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8 December 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in Quezon
City, the Philippines)
Self-Centred and
Guru-Centred Life
"To be a proper disciple, it is necessary to have a proper
character, to follow your guru's instruction properly, and to serve Deities,
devotees, and Gurudev your whole life. And our most important duty is to
preach Gurudev's conception, to preach what Gurudev told us."
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Our Interest
"You have been working for your own pleasure your whole life, earning money
and filling a bank account, but you will leave everything when you go to the
cremation ghat. Why then do you not think of death and of what will
happen to your body and soul?"
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8 December 2019 (Speaking online to devotees in
Colombia)
Transcendental Gift
"We must chant the Holy Name, and we must chant it properly. If we chant the
Holy Name of Krishna in good association, offences will be removed from our
hearts and then Bhakti Devi, who always wants a clean place, will sit in our
hearts."
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Disciple's Service Mood
"The problem is that we are not very fortunate souls. If we were fortunate
souls, then we would join this Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math service and we
would get a great benefit for our spiritual life..."
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Beyond Body
Consciousness
"We should not be busy with our body—we should keep ourselves busy with
service to our Guru and Vaishnavs. Life is very short, so do not waste your
time on laziness, etc.—it is not good. We must spend time on the service to
Gurudev."
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Practitioners' Problem
"The problem is that we do not think, 'We are doing this service for the
Lord, we are not doing it not for ourselves.' Sometimes, you keep on doing
something wrong, and you think that since the temple manager is not doing or
saying anything, it is not a big matter..."
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Golden Time for Golden
Purpose
"I know you have taken initiation from Gurudev, I know you are serving
Gurudev eternally (strictly every day without fail), you are worshipping the
Lord eternally, you are chanting the kirtans eternally, but are you
using your golden time to serve the Lord or to do something for your own
self?"
Emerging from Darkness
"Sixty thousand sages did a sacrifice for one thousand years(!), but even
then they did not feel happy at heart. In the end, Sri Suta Goswami came
there and explained that happiness was possible only through chanting the
Holy Name. You must always keep this as the object of your eternal
meditation."
Leaving Maya's Shelter
"If some fortunate soul can come to take shelter at the holy lotus feet of
Sri Guru severing the illusory bondage and keeping themselves in Guru's
service, then they are very fortunate. There is no one in this world more
fortunate than them."
Sitting on Two Chairs
"There are gurus in this world who say, 'We do not prohibit anything. Eat and
do whatever your soul pleases.' First know who you are, then do what your
soul wants. Always remember this. But what is the use saying all this?... How
long I have been telling you all this..."
Deep Chastity
"No matter what you do and how much you do, if the Guru is angry, nobody can
protect you. I must understand, 'I have taken shelter in a person, and as
long as I stay in that shelter, even the Lord cannot do anything to me.'
Remember what I am telling you all the time. Become surrendered..."
Accept and Appreciate
"Whatever the Lord wishes, this is what will happen. You must always leave
everything to the Lord. However the Lord keeps you, whatever situation the
Lord creates, you must accept it. Do you understand it? Nothing is in our
hands. We are only His servitors."
Join Service Festival
'What does it mean to get gurudev's mercy? To come to a festival, take
prasad and go away? Offering some flowers to gurudev's picture?
This is not how you get gurudev's mercy. You must join the festival to
do service. There are many kinds of services, and you can do any kind of
service. There is no end to service activities.'
Meaning of Chastity
'Always remember this. This is the example Guru Maharaj told me. I still
remember this. From this example, I understood which line I must follow and
how I must follow it. If gurudev does not like something, we will
never go there.'
Leave Bargaining
Mentality
'Gurudev knows what is good for me – if he says, "Do this, it will be
good for you," then it must be so. It is not necessary to want anything else.
We must not try to cheat gurudev – if you try to cheat your
guru or the Lord, that means that you have other desires. We must
never be like that.'
Appreciate and Care
'You must have the answer. The Lord will say, "I have sent you to this human
body, but you never tried to hear about Me – you did not speak about Me, you
did not care to know Me. Even after taking shelter of a bona fide guru, you
still wasted your chance."'
Who Is Your Own?
'The scriptures say it very strictly. Be it your son, wife, daughter or a
friend, until and unless they can help you in Krishna consciousness, you must
keep away from their association. People like pratistha and
flattery...'
Spiritual
Determination
'We have take initiation from gurudev, and we must always wait, "When
will gurudev tell me to do something?" This is when you will get
mercy. Service is the main goal in our life. Wherever you are – whether you
live in a temple, in a house or in a forest – the only goal in life is to
make the Supreme Lord happy, to make gurudev happy.'
Spiritual Progress
'Even honouring prasad and taking rest can help you progress in your
spiritual life. It is also necessary to rest, to sleep, to take
prasad, and so on. All these things are necessary, too. You cannot
omit anything. We are not told to become yogis or false
renunciates.'
Service, Submission and
Purity
'Krishna's thirst for enjoyment is unlimited, that is why He wants to enjoy
together with everyone. But how much is your capacity to enjoy? Although
Krishna can enjoy in an unlimited way through His senses, you cannot offer
Him dirty things. It is necessary to remove shortcomings, otherwise one
cannot enter Vaikuntha and be used for service.'
29 December 2019
New Year Message:
"Service Is Our Life"
"Whatever problem comes, we will not go to any other line, we will not leave
our line—we will follow that line which Gurudev shows us. That is our
intention, that is our determination, and that is our promise. Whatever
situation comes, let it come, we are always ready for it."
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'Every year we make this festival together, and we must promise on this
day: Gurudev is giving us life for one more year, and for one more year we
will engage ourselves in service to our Guru.'