Become Attached to Sravan and Kirtan

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli—Ecuador, online programme,
1 April 2021, part 2

Question: How can I become more sincere to practise real Krishna consciousness?

You must accept Gurudev's conception seriously through good association. Always keep good association. Always practise sravanam (hearing) and kirtanam (chanting). These are the most important aspects. It is necessary to practise sravanam and kirtanam every day—not only one day or once a week. You must mainly become attached to your service and sravanam-kirtanam, then you will become more sincere. Sriman Mahaprabhu also told for all householder devotees that they must make sure that there is not a single day in their lives without sravan and kirtan, without Vaishnav-seva. I also give a class online every Sunday at 7:30 p.m.—you should join this class every Sunday, it will be good for you.

Question: How can I recognise good association, who is a real Vaishnav and who is not?

Actually, a senior Vaishnav always recognises Vaishnavs. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad said that after him, only Srila Sridhar Maharaj could tell Rupa-Raghunath conception and tell what Srila Prabhupad had told devotees and all over the world. Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad also told that if anyone wanted to get shelter, they had to come to Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj himself told to everybody—to all foreign devotees and all Indian devotees—that they could take shelter of our Gurudev, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. In his lifetime, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj also indicated this, you all know about it, I do not want to mention it again. So, devotees always mention these things.

Other than that, when somebody follows Gurudev's conception properly, you can recognise this person as a Vaishnav. You can also observe whether what somebody is saying aligns with what they are doing—what a Vaishnav preaches and what a Vaishnav is practising must be the same. Only preaching and not practising is not good, it is not a Vaishnav's quality. Also, Vaishnavs' qualities is that they must be always humble, tolerant and give honour to others.

Question: When I travel away from home, I sometimes cannot keep connection with the devotees during this time. What should I do in this situation?

You can take some books (scriptures) with you and read them. Association does not means to be always staying with the devotees or sleeping with them on the same bed. Association means following the order of good association, the order of a good Vaishnav. For example, I am in India, and you are so far from me, then how will you get my association? You must follow my instructions, you must read my books, listen to my lectures and so on. I always explain what rules and regulations there are and give some instructions—you must follow that. This is what good association is. Association does not mean eating from the same plate or sleeping on the same bed. This is not association. Mosquitos and ants also sleep in our bed, but they do not get our association—they come to disturb us. Therefore, association does not mean staying physically close; association means following the instruction of a supreme, proper Vaishnav.

I would like to finish here. Dandavat. It has been very nice to see you. We will meet with you all next Sunday.

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