vacho vegam manasah krodha-vegam
jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat

"A sober person who can tolerate (1) the urge to speak, (2) the mind's demands, (3) the actions of anger and the urges of the (4) tongue, (5) belly and (6) genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world."

(Sri Upadesamrta, 1)

Srila Rupa Goswamipad said, "The urge to speak or to control one's speech is the biggest obstacle on the path of devotional practice." People say whatever comes to their mind; they say whatever they see; they gossip about whatever they have heard—this leads to destruction of devotion. Those who cannot control the urge of speech, the urge of anger, the urge of stomach and the urge of genitals, can never attain success, even if they practise Krishna consciousness. Listening about the Lord, speaking about the Lord, glorifying the Lord, worshipping and paying obeisance to the Lord—these practices bring a certain result. If you follow all these devotional programmes, then firmness, taste, attachment, feelings and love arise, but if you cannot control the urge of speech, the urge of anger, the urge of lust, the urge of stomach, not only will you not get any result—whatever you earn will be all destroyed. If you keep water in a pot that has holes, all water will fall down; in the same way, if you practise Krishna consciousness but have holes, everything you do will fall through those holes. If you have not overcome the six enemies, you have no self-control, then the result of your spiritual practice will fall through these holes. Prajalpa (idle talks, gossiping) is the main thorn on the path of devotion. Everything except Hari-katha is nonsense talk. If you cannot control your urge to speak and insult, criticise and gossip about others, you can never progress on the path of devotion. Those who discuss others' character, will get no spiritual benefit—they will not advance on the path of devotion.

kahare na kare ninda, 'krsna krsna' bale
ajeya chaitanya sei jinibeka hele

"Those who do not offend anyone and always chant the Holy Name of Lord Krishna conquer unconquerable Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.10.312)

If you criticise others, you will not be able to conquer Chaitanya. At the same time, it is easy to get Him. Sri Chaitanya does not give mercy to those who offend others and the universe. You say whatever comes to your mind; you say whatever you have heard; you say whatever you have seen—but you chant the Holy Name. You can chant twenty-five thousand Holy Names, fifty thousand Holy Names, or a hundred thousand Holy Names, but if you criticise somebody with this same tongue, you will not get any result. Criticising others destroys devotion and invites a total ruination of one's devotional life. When you eat rice, your stomach becomes full, your health stays good. In the same way, criticising others may be pleasing to the tongue. You like to hear about others' holes or to see others' holes, but you will never get spiritual benefit because of this. You will only keep going in circles—whatever you get by practising hearing, chanting, etc., will be spoilt. Seeing others' faults destroys everything. Great souls never criticise others, rather they praise Vaisnavs. Great souls never tell Vaisnavs' faults, even if they hear or see some fault, they never speak about it. Those who themselves suffer from lust, are hen-pecked, mix freely with women and extremely uncontrolled, are themselves in a big trouble; they see others' faults and speak out loud about them. Those who cannot see their own innumerable faults, see many holes in others. Camels eat thorns—their tongues bleed, but they do not stop eating. In the same way, people come to practise Krishna consciousness, but cannot stop criticising others, insulting others—they will never get any spiritual benefit. Practitioners must proceed on the path of devotion very carefully. If you cannot heed this warning and roam around criticising others, then you are chopping off your own leg. Hole-searchers and fault-finders happily walk around criticising others left and right. Many say, "We see that he is stealing prasadam. I am telling the truth, what fault is there in saying it?" The fault is in telling this truth—the fault of speech. Who ate it will get the result, but because you go around telling about his fault to everybody, you will be harmed even more. If such fault-finders take shelter of a bona fide guru and keep good association, they will not get the result—they will just go in circles, ending up in the middle of nowhere. They become cheated, deceived in their life. You must not see others' faults, you must not hear about others' faults—and even if you see or hear about somebody's faults, you must not speak about it. Somebody steals food from the storehouse. Are you the controller? "I saw him steal, I have told the truth, what is my fault?" The fault is in telling this truth—this is what leads to ruination and the downfall of the practitioner. Whatever good thing you do, no matter how much you chant the Holy Name with this tongue, you will get no benefit. You will only move forward down the path of inauspiciousness, trouble, and death. Those who do not heed this warning are very unfortunate.

If you take shelter of an ancestral guru or a false guru, then there is nobody who can save you from the hands of inauspiciousness. However, a bona fide guru gives a danger signal—he gives the right advice at the right time. If you listen to the advice or guidance of your guru, you will be benefitted. Those who do not listen to it, fall down. Suppose lust, anger arise in your mind and you become disturbed—no matter how much you practise devotional activities, you will be falling down. You can see how many good qualities one has, how much service one does, but if you criticise others, the result will be your falldown. If you speak about another person's hole, that fault will come to you and it will be a hundred times stronger. Be very careful. Never search for faults in others. Even if somebody does something bad, it is your fault that you see it or speak about it—it brings about ruination. If you do not actually rectify yourself having heard all this caution, you will suffer birth after birth. Many practitioners have good qualities but they cannot progress on the path of devotion. The impression of the actions of those who criticise and abuse others strikes Gurudev's heart heavily. Striking a great soul does not bring any benefit.