One time, there started an annual festival at Sri Gaudiya Math. Many preachers of exclusive genuine religion, exemplary sannyasis and brahmacharis came to the temple from all over India. Many invited respectable gentlemen and ladies also came to the festival, yearning to hear about the nectarean devotion to the Lord. Endlessly jubilant and endowed with sincere service mood, all selfless, pious servitors were ready to enrich everyone—the invited, the uninvited, devotees, non-devotees, materialists, and strict renunciates who are averse to service—through Hari-kirtan (glorification of the Lord). There was Krishna-katha heard everywhere, and everyone's hearts rejoiced and soared to hear narrations about Krishna, to hear the songs extolling Krishna's qualities resounding all around them. Even surprised passers-by, attracted by the festival, became stunned and forgot where they were going.

At this time, somebody had the guts to come and ask me, "Oh, listen here! When are they going to give food for beggars here?" What must I reply! Ah, hearing this question, I as if lost myself. I looked within my own heart, and started to reason with it.

Oh, listen here, foolish mind! Let's see the truth: What kind of a beggar are you? What do you lack? What do you want? Alas! You seem to only wish to gratify your material senses; you feel you lack the capricious pleasures and happiness that your senses have a wayward, mischievous hunger for; and, not being able to attain that sufficiently, you consider youself a beggar! Is that not the truth? "When will they give food for beggars; when will I be able to enjoy with various auspicious paraphernalia and first-class ingredients?" This is all you are looking for! You have come to a very ripe and beautiful juicy fruit, but you end up searching for a ripe amla [Indian gooseberry, very sour]! You know it; your tongue is cheated by amla's sweetness. You thought that your hankering would be satisfied by that—you thought the appetite you had lost because of sickness would go away and as you ate amla, you would slowly recover, but you are wrong! This is a great mistake! Do you not think that this unhealthy bitter juice of amla will only erode your teeth, and you will become even sicker—you will not be able to get the taste of any other foods, you will die! If, overcome by the desire to enjoy, you see maha-prasad as just some food meant to bring you enjoyment or happiness, then you will only get the result of eating! Foolish mind, your search for the end of your poverty is futile here! What you beg for is available even on the street—even animals enjoy that; why do you need to come to the temple for that? Yes! Do the great servitors surrendered to Krishna call you to this temple, a great place of pilgrimage, invite you to this temple, to satisfy your material senses with material flavours? To feed her child the medicine that will cure the disease, a clever loving mother will entice the child with a laddu (sweet ball), but is it about the laddu? It is not, it is really not! The main substance is hidden within it! Here too, that which permeates the maha-prasad food (bhojan)—the nectar from the holy mouth of Sri Gaura—that is found here, in this holy abode of the Supreme Lord, this greatest place of pilgrimage, is the spiritual life in service (bhajan) to Mahaprabhu! This is the main thing for the entire world, the main necessity! So, I am telling you: come, dear mind, come—if you want to get benefit, come—come not as a beggar for food (bhojan), but come as a beggar for spiritual life in service to the Lord (bhajan), and roll at the holy feet of the supremely merciful devotees of the Lord, taking on your head their feet dust, the water that has washed their feet, and the remnants of their food:

ভক্তপাদধূলি আর ভক্তপাদ-জল ।
ভক্তভুক্ত-শেষ তিন সাধনের বল ॥

bhakta-pada-dhuli ara bhakta-pada-jala
bhakta-bhukta-sesa—ei tina sadhanera bala

"The dust of the devotees' feet, the water that has washed the devotees' feet, and the remnants of devotees' food—these three are the sole strength of one's spiritual life."