Pray and Practise

19 January 2013

I have told many times that life is very short. We are losing our friends one by one, and we must preach more to increase devotees, to increase our society. More preaching, more sankirtan...

Question: Could you give us some inspiration about vanchha-kalpataru, devotees being like 'wish-fulfilling trees'?

Vaishnav is like a vanchha-kalpataru, a benedictine tree, krpa-sindhu (ocean of mercy). What kind of tree is that? He can give you everything—anything you want. Vaishnav is like that, and Vaishnav, as well as Tulasi, is always installed—it is necessary to install a Deity, but it is not necessary to install a Vaishnav. If you pay obeisance and surrender fully to a Vaishnav, he can give you all mercy, he can give you what you want and even what you do not want. That is vanchha-kalpataru.

Question: How can we get strength and inspiration to chant japa?

If you have material desires, you will not get that strength. First remove offences, remove material desires, and through service, through surrender, you will get the energy to chant. You can look at me. I use myself twenty hours a day—I go to rest only for four hours from twelve to four. Energy will come automatically.

Question: We hear that the Guru does everything and we do not do any service, but we find that some devotee does service better than the others. Why is it that one devotee is successful and another devotee is not?

If that is so, they will fall down. If somebody does something for their own enjoyment, their own self, their own pratistha, then their devotional life will not last.

Question: How can we avoid material desires?

It is very difficult...

kabe nityananda more kari' daya
chhadaibe mora visayera maya

When will Nityananda be compassionate to me and relieve me from the mundane illusion?

("Kabe habe bolo se dina amar" by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

"When will Nityananda Prabhu give me some mercy?" Always cry to Nityananda Prabhu, always pray to Him.

Practise properly and material desires will be removed. If you think that some material desire is coming, you must immediately remove that poisonous root from your heart. You must remove the root, the beginning of it from your heart.

You can see yourself also. When you do something, does your mind go to service or does your mind go to some other job? Do you like doing some good service, or do you like doing other things? You can examine, or test, yourself. If the material desire tree becomes very big, it is very hard to remove that poisonous root, that is why you must think: does your mind go to do some other job or does your mind go to do some service? Are you gradually increasing or decreasing your spiritual life? You can think about it yourself.

Anyhow, you must be always careful and watch when you do not practise properly, when you do not serve properly. You should count how many hours a day you do service and how many hours a day you talk nonsense. There are twenty-four hours in a day—how many hours are you busy eating, sleeping, enjoying, and how many hours are you busy serving? You must give more time to service.

Sometimes devotees go to work and spend eight-ten hours a day outside, but still your mind should always be surrendered to the Lord. You work for some money that is necessary for your maintenance, for the Deity maintenance, but your mind, your heart must think about the Lord, about Gurudev's service. OK? Do like this and you can gradually remove material desires from your heart.

Sri Guru: Medium and Shelter

Sri Ekachakra Dham, 24 February 2013

Do you know why you want to take initiation?

—I have been going to the temple for a couple of years, and have come here to meet you and take initiation...

I mean do you know what you take initiation for? It is actually a question not only to you, but to everybody. You must know who the Guru is, what the meaning of the Guru is, who should be the Guru. Many scriptures describe the Guru, and many scriptures describe the Guru in many ways.

Some scriptures say that the Guru is actually saksad-dharitvena (nondifferent from Krishna), some scriptures say that the Guru is kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya (the dearmost of the Lord). So, there are different kinds of activities and different kinds of expressions, just as there are different kinds of devotees and different kinds of expressions. Some devotees also say, "My Guru is nondifferent from Radharani." Who is Nityananda? Who is Radharani?

Krishna can attract everyone and everything, but who can attract Krishna? Who can make Krishna happy? Who has that much beauty, that much glory? Who can give that kind of joy, happiness, that kind of ecstasy and paramour love to Krishna? Radharani. Krishna said, "I am forever indebted to Radharani. I bow my head at Radharani's lotus feet." That is why we can say that sometimes Krishna cannot manage someone, but Radharani can find a way to take them to Krishna. With asraya vigraha (shelter of Gurudev) you can 'manage' Krishna.

Actually, what is the Guru's duty? The Guru is nondifferent from the Lord and brings a message from the Lord. Krishna cannot always come in this age, but He send His message to the fallen souls like us with His associates. What should we pray to the Guru for? If I surrender to the Guru, I should not pray for my own interest, for my own enjoyment, but if we ask something earnestly, the Guru can bring and express Krishna's message to us.

Just as when you make some paneer rasa, there is only the rasa (juice) on top, but all the paneer and subji is down—when you scoop it and take the subji out, then you get a good taste. So, Gurudev's duty is like that. The Guru sends our prayer and desires to the Lord.

So, for all these reasons, we take shelter of the Guru...

Recognising Guru: What Is Your Obstacle?

Sri Ekachakra Dham, 24 February 2013

How shall I recognise the Guru? The Guru is always recognised by the great Vaishnavs, great Gurus.

Our line comes from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev, and so on in this way. In his lifetime, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur did not declare anybody the next acharya, but in another way when he was showing his asustha-lila, showing some sickness, he wanted to hear the Rupa-manjari kirtan from Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and by that he indicated that his successor would be Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

Also just today I was telling about 'baba badha radha'. Bhakti Vinod Thakur never thought Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was his son, and Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also did not think Bhakti Vinod Thakur was his father—he thought, "He is my spiritual master."

It is the age of Kali—we sing, "Krsna mata, Krsna pita, Krsna prana-dhana: Krishna is my father, Krishna is my mother, Krishna is my parent," and still say, "baba", "mata" ("father", "mother"). It is material attachment.

When Bhakti Vinod Thakur saw how much misconception was going on—all the aul, baul, etc. and so much Nama aparadha—he prayed to Gaurachandra, Mahaprabhu, he prayed to Bimala Devi, "Please send someone who can preach! Send someone who can preach the pure Krishna consciousness conception, who can preach about You!" Then externally he got a son, but actually Krishna, Lord Gaurachandra sent His own associate to the womb of Bhakti Vinod Thakur's wife.

Also, if we look at it from the material point of view, Bimala Prasad (the childhood name of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur) had a brother Lalita Prasad. Bimala Prasad preached so much and had so many followers, but Lalita Prasad was very jealous, "I am also my father's son, why do I not get so many followers?" That is why Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur wrote, "Baba badha Radha." He wrote to his brother, "Brother, you see Bhakti Vinod Thakur as your father, but I do not see him as my father, I see him as my spiritual master. That is the difference. What you see is a father (baba), and that is the bondage, the obstacle (badha) that prevents you from getting Radharani (Radha)."

Mahadvadasi

15 July 2012, speaking online to Caracas

Question: What is the meaning of mahadvadasi?

Mahadvadasi means two tithis (lunar days) coincide on one day. Sometimes in one day there can be also three tithis (ekadasi, dvadasi and trayodasi). Such days are important for us. If somebody can follow ekadasi on both ekadasi and mahadvadasi days, it is good, and if they cannot, then they can fast only on one day, on mahadvadasi, because mahadvadasi is more important than ekadasi.

udila aruna purava-bhage
dvija-mani gora amani jage

"As the sun arises in the east, the jewel of the brahmans, Sri Gorachand, awakens..."

"Aruna" means the sun, "udila aruna" one hour thirty-six minutes before the sunrise. If before that time one tithi (ekadasi) touches another tithi (dvadasi), it is then called mahadvadasi. When our astrologer makes the calendar, he looks very carefully at these things and shows properly when is ekadasi and when is mahadvadasi, that is why you should always follow our calendar.

Question: What is the real importance of mahadvadasi? We see yesterday was ekadasi, and today is mahadvadasi, are they different? Is it important?

Yes it is. Mahadvadasi is always important. What did I just tell you? Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and all our Guru-varga say that when two tithis are together, or when three tithis are together, it is important to fast on such days, it is auspicious. Ekadasi is auspicious, and mahadvadasi is even more auspicious, that is why we observe it.

Question: Some people do not sleep the whole night and do not eat all day on ekadasi. Is it right to do it?

It is not a problem. If they do nirjal ekadasi (eat nothing all day), it is not bad. If they can fast more, it is OK, but if they fast and sleep all day and do not do any service, it is not good. You can do a full fast on the ekadasi day, but you must also do more service—cooking, cleaning, making subji, and so on. You must do every service for the Deity, do not allow your Deity to fast. I have seen some brahmacharis in the temple doing nirjal ekadasi: they do not eat anything and stay all day in the room—they do not think about the Guru, about the temple and the Deities. This is not our conception.

In old days in Bengal, girls were married at the age of 13-15, and if after marriage their husband died, they became widows (our Srila Sridhar Maharaj's sister, Rama Didi and Sankari Didi also became widows when they were about 13-14 years old). The rule in the villages is such that widows must fast for three days—one day before ekadasi, on the ekadasi day, and on the dvadasi day also. The widows can never get married again, but they are young girls and must control their sex urge, that is why there is so much punishment for them, and this is what they do. It is actually a bad and nonsense rule. When I visit villages, I ask them, "When someone's husband dies, women do ekadasi, but why do men not do ekadasi when their wife dies?”

Before, there was so much samskara in India. For example, when the husband died, the wife also had to go to the burning ghat and they would forcefully put her into the fire with the husband. It is very bad…

These rules still exist in Bengal. I have been to many villages and the ladies who are not initiated, who are not devotees, do not do ekadasi at all because they think that ekadasi is only for widows and if they do ekadasi their husband will die. When we go on preaching we tell them the proper conception: whether you are eight or eighty-eight, unless you are sick, you must fast on ekadasi. Even Mahaprabhu first taught His mother that she had to follow ekadasi...

Seize the Day

12 March 2013

Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He has sent us all, everybody, to distribute the Holy Names all over the world. If we do not do it, we must understand that we have got this human body but at any time we can die.

It is told in Srimad Bhagavatam that when the demons and the demigods were fighting, the demigods won the war. They became very happy and said to a Vaishnav called Khatvanga Maharaj who was there at that time,

"Maharaj, please ask us for some boon. We can give you anything you want.”

"I will ask for a boon later, first tell me how many more days is my lifetime?"

"You lifetime is only one moment..." (One moment means forty-eight minutes according to the Vedic calculation.)

"Only one moment? Then I will not ask you for anything. I will not waste a second, at this very moment I am surrendering myself at the lotus feet of the Lord.”

Khatvanga Maharaj is fortunate, he knew his life was only forty-eight minutes more, but we do not know if our lifetime is even one or two minutes more. By the mercy of the Lord, by the mercy of the Guru, we got this human body, but what have we got it for? If we cannot use this body for the service of the Lord—if we cannot chant properly, cannot serve—then this body is useless.

Srimad Bhagavatam said also another thing. We have a head on our shoulders, but what is this head for? What is it necessary for? We have this head so that we can bow down at the lotus feet of the Guru, Vaishnav, Bhagavan. What are our eyes for? To see the murti (the divine form) of Krishna, of Gurudev—always. What have we got a mouth for? Only to talk, gossip, and eat? No! We have got a mouth to chant the Holy Name, to chant the Lord's glories. What are our legs for? We have legs to go to holy places, to go to the place of Krishna's pastimes, Gurudev's pastimes, to do Tulasi parikrama—for that. What are our ears for? To hear Krishna-katha, Guru-katha, Govinda-katha. That is what Srimad Bhagavatam says.

GLORY OF KALI-YUGA

Now is Kali-yuga, the age of Kali. There are four ages—Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapar-yuga, and Kali-yuga. In Satya-yuga, the lifetime was 100,000 years and people practised meditation. In Treta-yuga, the lifetime was 10,000 years and they did fire sacrifice. In Dvapar-yuga, people lived for 1,000 years and did archan (deity worship). And now is Kali-yuga when the lifetime is 120 years.

In Dvapar-yuga, once Krishna was sitting under a tamarind tree and meditating. Suddenly He saw His reflection in the Yamuna, and thought, "Oh, I am so beautiful... Radharani is always crying for Me, but why? Why does She always chant My Name? Why does She cry? I want to taste it." Krishna Himself wanted to come and He made a promise at that time that He would come in Kali-yuga as a devotee.

This is how Krishna Himself came in this age of Kali. He came for two reasons: He wanted to know what kind of taste Radharani gets, and He wanted to supply His own Name to the world. Krishna's Name, beauty, and pastimes are nondifferent from Krishna, that is why Krishna Himself comes in the form of the Holy Name.

So, Krishna appeared as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and He went door to door with Nityananda Prabhu, telling everyone, "You have lost your address! This is not your permanent address! You have left Me, and now I have come to take you back to your home. Back to God, back to home!”

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said,

prthivite ache yata nagaradi-grama
sarvatra prachara haibe mora nama

"This Name will be distributed all over the world—in all the villages, towns, and cities that there are in this world."

Mahaprabhu only said it, but who distributed the Name in practice? Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and our Gurupadpadma, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. They did what Mahaprabhu said in practice.

ENTERING ANOTHER LIFE

This Holy Name comes from Goloka Vrindavan through a Guru-parampara (a succession of spiritual teachers). It came from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev, then Madhvacharya, and so on. In this way our line came to Madhavendra Puri, from Madhavendra Puri to Ishwar Puri, and from Ishwar Puri to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also took initiation, and you may ask me, "Why did Lord Himself take initiation?" He took initiation because He is an acharya—an acharya means one who practises and gives advice. So, after that, the line continued and eventually came to Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, then Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and then our Param Gurudev, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and Gurudev, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

In his life, on his last birthday, Gurudev told everybody, "If anyone wants to take initiation, he will be my successor," and he told my name. In his life, he said to me also, "If anyone wants to take initiation, if they are sincere seekers and follow the rules and regulations, you can give initiation to them.”

So, you have been getting good association, you have been listening to the lectures, and also I think you follow the rules and regulations (no gambling, no drinking alcohol, no smoking, no eating fish, meat, no illegal sex), you are practising properly, so I think that you are ready to take initiation…

[His Divine Grace initiates the devotee.]

...This is the Pancha-tattva's name. Ask mercy from them. You can say, "I am a fallen soul, I have no quality. Please give me some mercy so that I can chant the Holy Name," then you can start chanting from the big beads. Chant as I showed you sixteen rounds or more. If some day you are busy with service, you can chant less, but not less than four rounds. Krishna will reveal in your heart and you will be successful in your spiritual life. There is also this ten offences book. You must read it and avoid these offences. Chant without offences and you will get the result quickly.

Now chant four rounds, then you can take talk [sic] and take prasadam, otherwise the seed will be dry. Chant now four rounds minimum...

Blessed and Blissful Service Life

12 March 2013

Question: Could you please give some service or some instruction to our two new devotees?

They must chant the Holy Name—always, at any time. It is not necessary to always chant on the beads—when you are working, taking prasadam, going to the bathroom, always chant the Holy Name. That is the main service—the Holy Name, and also Vaishnav seva.

You must not only always chant, but also go preaching, do some sankirtan outside and make programmes from house to house. If you can make a programme every day at a different house, it is good, but you must have a programme once a week minimum. Also, if any time you want to visit India, you are always welcome here. I can give you any service you want.

You are staying in Ukraine, it is good. It is necessary to preach. You should spend most of your time preaching door to door, house to house, distributing books. OK? Proceed in this way. Sometimes devotees can also do sankirtan outside—in this age of Kali, devotees will come to you through sankirtan.

Listen to my lectures and you will get some teaching through that. You can ask me questions and I can give you answer—we can have that kind of conversation. Also, sometimes you can make a skype programme, I will be even happier.

Question: Could you please give your blessings to all the devotees?

Krishna always blesses you. You have got your service, so do that service, try to do it gradually. You have already got the mercy, you are already blessed by the Lord, blessed by Gurudev because you have got service.

My Gurudev's last message was that wherever you are—even when you walk, go to the bathroom, go to the toilet, even when you eat—you must maintain your spiritual life. Do not forget your own home, do not forget your Guru, Krishna, Bhagavan. These are the main things.

Always take prasadam. Cook and offer what you cook to the Lord. It is very cold there and I know it is a very bad situation to arrange Tulasi, but try to have Tulasi plants, try to serve Tulasi. Offer what you cook with Tulasi leaves and take prasad, it will be even more glorious for you.

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu told that there are six bad things that are obstacles in our spiritual life. What are they? (1) First is atyahara. It means you should not eat so much, but devotees do not eat, devotees only take prasadam because they always offer what they cook. Actually, devotees do not cook for themselves, they cook for the Lord, for their Gurudev and the Vaishnavs. (2) Then, there is prayascha. It means you should not keep so much for future, for yourself. (3) You must not talk so much unnecessarily. (4) You will accept what is in favour of devotion, what is necessary for devotion. (5) You will reject what is not in favour of devotion. (6) And the last thing is chanchalya. Chanchalya means the mind always disturbs—today it is here, another day it is there, another day somewhere else, the mind does not have so much chastity—it is bad for us.

Follow these things and you will get the result and go forward quickly. Do you have any other questions?

Question: Could you please give me your blessings? I find that after initiation my life has become very difficult.

What is the difficulty?

—It has become difficult materially and also I feel terrible mental disturbance...

No problem. Chant the Holy name and do not worry, Krishna will be merciful to you. Do not worry about anything. I am very happy with you.

Always chant the Holy Name. It is not necessary to always chant on the beads, you can always chant with your mouth. While you are working, you can chant: "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Doyal Nitai! Doyal Nitai! Doyal Nitai!" He will remove everything, all your worries and difficulties.

Be Conscious

16 April 2013

You must keep the mridanga in front of you, not behind. It is an offence. Mridanga is Nityananda Prabhu Himself, and if you neglect it, it is an offence.

If you think the Deity has no life—it is made of stone, made of wood—it is also an offence. If you think the mridanga is made of clay, brass, and other things, it is a kind of offence. When they give chandan (sandalwood), they first give it to the mridanga, kartal, and the books. When you give 'jay', you say, "Chaitanya bhagavata ki, kol, karatal ki"—why do you give 'jay' to them? Because they have life. Do you understand? We say, "Kol, karatal ki, grantha Bhagavata ki, Chaitanya-charitamrita ki"—they are nondifferent from the Lord.

Krishna's beauty, pastimes, Krishna's Name, virtues, activities, are nondifferent from Krishna, nondifferent from the Lord. But if you think, "Deity is made of stone," "Mridangais made of clay," and so on, it is martya-buddhi (seeing everything as mortal, being ignorant). If you actually chant the Holy Name of Krishna properly, you will get so much energy, life, enthusiasm…

Dogs too have life. When you are going to die, you shout, "Father! Mother!" and the dogs too shout, "Father! Mother!" but we do not understand their language.

There are different types of consciousness: achchhadita-chetan (fully covered consciousness), sankuchita-chetan (closed, subdued consciousness), mukulita-chetan(budding consciousness), vikachita-chetan (blooming consciousness), and purna-vikachita-chetan (fully blossomed consciousness).

How do we know that trees, plants have consciousness? I can give you an example. There is a plant called lajjapati (Mimosa pudica, or 'shameplant'). Lajja means shy—if you touch that plant, it immediately closes up its leaves. There are also plants that can live on a tree, outside the soil and with no roots. I have seen such plants. When I studied biology, they showed me many things…

In this world, you are born as a human being and you have full consciousness, purna-vikachita-chetan, but if you do not utilise that chetan-sakti for the right purpose, then you will lose this life and again have to get another life, and you may not get purna-vikachita-chetan (full consciousness) again...

Protect Your Service

28 July 2013

Krishna is merciful, He always allows us to serve and engages us in service. Gurudev said, "Those who have no service, have no mercy.”

Question: How can we become fixed in our service?

We must follow the rules and regulations. Jagadananda Pandit said (Pv, 17.22) that there is no difference in the devotion of a grihastha and a sannyasi if they practise properly. That is why we must practise properly.

Always avoid what is not in favour of devotion, like atyahara—eating too much, gossiping too much, sleeping too much, and so on. It is also necessary to have enthusiasm. We think we took initiation so many years ago but we are not getting anything, so we start neglecting our service, we do not attend to our service properly. That is why we do not have proper attachment to the service.

We must be careful—there are so many obstacles in our spiritual life. Sometimes sadness and unhappiness will come through service, but we must tolerate it. Through service you will get an interest, keep that wealth—that wealth will destroy all kinds of illusory environment.

We must maintain our spiritual life properly, and to maintain means you should go for the morning mangal arati, then do bhajans, and then go to work. We must also try to avoid all food that has not been offered to the Lord. It is necessary to reject what is unfavourable to devotion and accept what is favourable to devotion, and we must do it.

Always think about your service, think, "How can I make the Guru, Vaishnav, Bhagavan happy through my service?" We will not think about our own interest, we will always think, "How shall I make him happy?" You heard how Mahaprabhu gave Gadadhar Pandit service in Puri, but Gadadhar Pandit wanted to stay with Mahaprabhu, and when he was going to forcefully go with Him, Mahaprabhu asked him, "Do you care for My interest, or do you care for your own interest? Do you want My happiness, or do you want your own happiness?" Devotees want their own happiness and do not think about their Gurudev's happiness. That is the problem.

Also, we cannot follow our mind because the mind is very naughty. Every morning we sing,

aichhana amara mana phire yena andha jana
supatha vipatha nahi jane

"My mind wanders like a blind man who cannot tell the right way from the wrong way."

('Thakura Vaishnava-gana' by Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

Our mind takes us away—it may be right way or wrong way, we do not know it. Only Gurudev can control the mind, so we should think, "My mind is naughty, I must follow my Gurudev's instruction." We always give food to the mind, we listen to our mind, but that is why we cannot do proper service. That is also a problem. Mind is our enemy.

Wherever we stay, we must maintain our spiritual life. You must understand what is necessary in your spiritual life and proceed with the proper practice, then, as Gurudev said, you can stay anywhere and you will be able to maintain your spiritual life perfectly.

Another problem is ego. Even Radharani had some ego. Once She asked Krishna to take Her to the forest, but soon She said, "I cannot walk any further, can You carry Me?" When She said it, Krishna disappeared. Radharani had an ego because She thought She was the strestha, the main among all Vraja gopis. She thought, "Krishna has left all Vraja gopis and serves only Me." This kind of ego came to Her and because of that even She one time lost Krishna…

We are tiny, we are small persons, and we must be careful about these things. We must remember that ego can take us out. We may think we are doing so much service, or we have done so much service, but if this kind of ego comes to us, it can any time remove us from the service. Be careful. Ego takes one out of service.

Healthy Practice

28 July 2013

Question: Why are there still miseries in a practitioner's life despite the fact they practise spiritual life?

You must understand what practising is, what bhaktyanga, or devotional practices, are.

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.124)

It means engaging in service. How? Follow bhakti-anukul (accept what is favourable to devotion), do sadhu-sanga, read books, do Nama sankirtan, Bhagavat sravan, you must come to the mangal arati, come to the morning class, sing morning bhajans, evening bhajans, cook for the Deities, offer the bhog, and so on.

These are all described in the scriptures. You can read Chaitanya-charitamrita (Sanatan-sikha) and see how you should practise Krishna consciousness, what the sadhan-pranali(method) is. Everything is written there very clearly.

Guru-pada-asraya is very important—you must know what Gurudev says and follow his instruction. Practise properly under the guidance of a bona fide Guru and do what is necessary. When you go to a doctor, the doctor gives you a prescription, and you must follow it—you must follow the prescription that Gurudev gives you, must do what Gurudev tells you is necessary to do. That is called sadhya-sadhana-tattva (the way to attain the goal). Without practising you will not get the goal, it is a simple matter.

Actually, material enjoyment like eating and sleeping will always be there in our life, but we have got this human body not for eating, sleeping, and so on. If you make some goodprasadam, you will enjoy it so much, but if you call a pig and give that prasadam to it, the pig will not be happy—it will be happy if you give it a bucket of stool. When we were in a forest or a jungle, we were happy in a tiger's body, or an elephant's body, even a dog sleeping in the street is happier than you are. You must understand that this kind of enjoyment will always be there in your life, no one will take it away.

Question: How to get the determination to do service?

I have already told it—it comes gradually through constant practising.

You should not only enjoy in your life—you must leave your own interest and always think about Krishna, serve Krishna, cook for Krishna, and so on. Practise properly, it is good for you. Too much material enjoyment is not so good for us, we must leave material enjoyment.

Question: Is the medicine not different for each person?

Yes, the medicine is different for each person, and it will depend on the kind of a devotee, on the kind of a practitioner you are and on how many per cent devotion you have. That, in its turn, depends upon sraddha, faith—the kind of devotion you get depends on how much faith you have in your Guru, in practising Krishna consciousness. It is necessary to see that first.

In Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Arjun had some illusory environment, that is why he could not understand what to do. If you are involved with the illusory environment, if you are always covered by the illusory environment, you will not be able to understand things clearly. Then, you should see how much faith you have in your Guru, the devotion you get will depend upon that—"sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari."

You must always avoid offences in your practising life: seva aparadh, jiva aparadh, Vaishnav aparadh, Nama aparadh, dham aparadh. We must avoid these offences.

You can also come here from time to time. You only come for Gaura Purnima, but some time try to come in advance for the Vrindavan parikrama in Kartik, for the Puri Dham parikrama. You can hear the classes, go to the holy places, you will get some association and hear the glorification of the Dham, and this is how you will practise properly—you can always remember the Dham, remember everything. It will be good for you.

—We all want to do that!

Yes, actually you need desire—when you have desire, mercy will come.

Hearing is necessary. Always do sravanam and kirtanam. Through hearing, hearing, hearing material desires, material attachment will be removed from your heart, offences will go away from your heart. Through hearing (sravan) and chanting (kirtan) you can progress and can be benefitted in your spiritual life. And it is necessary to do it regularly—not only once a week when you make a programme, that is not right. You must do it every day!

ye dina grhe bhajana dekhi
grhete goloka bhaya

“On the days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there.”

(‘Suddha-bhakata-charana-renu' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

You must practise every day—at every moment, all the time.

ki sayane, ki bhojane, kiba jagarane
aharnisa chinta krsna, balaha vadane

Whether you are sleeping, eating, or resting, always chant the Name of Krishna.

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat, Madhya-khanda, 28.28)

yadi ama'-prati sneha thake sabakara
tabe krsna-vyatirikta na gaibe ara

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda, 28.27)

Mahaprabhu told everybody, "If you have love and affection for Me, then constantly, without stopping, chant the Holy Name, without stopping do service—then you will get Me." Just as you eat every day, you go to the bathroom, go to the toilet every day, you must also practise properly every day.

Sri Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur also told this. Suppose you suddenly feel you need to go to the toilet, but you are in a car, so you have to wait. Three-four hours pass—you are waiting, waiting, you cannot go to the toilet and feel so much pain in your stomach. When you finally go to the toilet and pass stool, you get so much relief. So, just like this, you must give up, renounce material things, then you will easily feel relief. Always remove material desires from your heart, then you will get relief.

The Wealth of Service Happiness

29 July 2013

If somebody has got seva-sukha-sampada, the wealth of the happiness of service, it will remove all kinds of illusory environment in their heart. "Nasaye avidya duhkha" (Saranagati, 16.4): through service the illusory environment will be destroyed and removed, but it is necessary to do service with full-hearted attachment.

People ask for liberation, but why do devotee not ask for it? Because through their service they get so much happiness, they get the association of the Lord—why would they then ask for liberation? They will not ask for it because liberation is temporary.

There are many kinds of service, and it is necessary to understand it. When Gadadhar Pandit wanted to go with Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu asked,

"I have given you service in Puri, why do you want to come with Me?”

"If I can stay with You, I can serve You, this is also service.”

"Do you want My happiness or your own happiness? Do you want My interest or your interest? What do you want?”

Think about it, this is the main point.

Also, when Sanatan Goswami wanted to commit suicide, Mahaprabhu told him, "You want to leave your body, but it is not your property. It is My property, so why do you want to destroy My property? You cannot do it, it is not your duty. I will use your body for many things, I will use it for service in Vrindavan!”

You must understand what service is.

Service means acting under the guidance of Guru and Vaishnavs. If you are not following the guidance of Gurudev—even if you do sixty-four bhatyanga, if you visit the holy places, you chant, do whatever—it is not Hari-bhajan (worship of Hari), it is not practice of Krishna consciousness; it is mayara-bhajan (worship of maya, illusion) and self-deception, you are cheating yourself. It was said by Srila Prabhupad, and I have asked to place that 'Bhakti Siddhanta Vani' in the Internet. You can understand the meaning clearly.

Mission of Chaitanya Saraswat Math

30 April 2013

Question: What will one learn when they come to Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math?

Chaitanya Saraswat Math teaches Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's conception.

Who is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? He is actually the Lord Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Radha-Krishna came in this world in their combined form as Gauranga Mahaprabhu. His main conception is to be humble, tolerant, and to give honour to others.

trnad api sunichena taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

“One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna.”

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.239)

This is His main teachings.

Chaitanya Saraswat Math teaches simple living and high thinking. Actually we are not this body. The body is the made of different elements: ksitir apas tejo marud vyoma (earth, water, fire, air, ether), but here at Chaitanya Saraswat Math you will learn who you really are. Just as we change our clothes, we always change our body. The lifetime is very short—always changing our body, sometimes we are born as a tree, sometimes as a bird or a beast, etc. but Chaitanya Saraswat Math teaches that we have come from the Lord and belong to one house—we are not Indian, we are not Hindu, Christian or Buddhist, we are servants of the Lord. We have forgotten that, and the devotees of Chaitanya Saraswat Math come to remind you that you are a servant of the Lord.

Question: What does a member of Chaitanya Saraswat Math pray for?

Krishna, the Lord Himself, came in the form of Name, and He teaches us,

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

“Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair.”

In Srimad Bhagavad-gita (18.66) Krishna says, "Surrender to Me." Krishna Himself came in this world, what did He teach going door to door? What did He order the devotees to pray for? He gave the Hare Krishna maha-mantra,

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Krishna's Name, Beauty, Pastimes are nondifferent from Krishna. This maha-mantra is what we should pray. We chant this maha-mantra and do service, and when we do something, we do not do it for our own enjoyment—we do everything for the satisfaction of the Lord. This is the main prayer at our temple Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

Happy Service Mood

Speaking online to the devotees in Turkey
15 December 2012

When devotees practise properly, they are always joyful with Krishna consciousness, always feel very happy with their practising life, with sravan, kirtan. You are happy in your spiritual life, so I think that your practising life is going on properly and you give proper guidelines and teachings to the devotees, so by the mercy of Gurudev everything is going on properly, and your happy service mood makes me also happy.

In this life we have come to Krishna consciousness, we have taken shelter, but we have actually come to please our Guru, this is our goal. If we can please our Guru, that is our real happiness.

I always remember you, remember the devotees' happy mood. Physically you cannot see me there, but I am always with you—my mind, all my heart are always with you.

Question: Is there anything that you would like to advise us, any message?

Actually, I do not want anything from the devotees—the service that they do gives me a lot of satisfaction. Gurudev told me also, "If you want something, you will not get it, but if you do not want something, you will get more than that." So, I am not disturbing any devotees, I am not asking for anything. We must remove that asking desire—the desire to ask devotees for something—from our heart.

Krishna can do anything. You heard this song that we sing in Damodar month, Kartik month,

kuveratmajau baddha-murttyaiva yadvat
tvaya mochitau bhakti-bhajau krtau cha
tatha prema-bhaktim svakam me prayachchha
na mokse graho me 'sti damodareha

“O Lord Damodara, just as the two sons of Kuvera (Manigriva and Nalakuvara) were delivered from the curse of Narada and made into great devotees by You in Your form as a baby tied with rope to a wooden grinding mortar, in the same way, please give to me Your own prema-bhakti. I only long for this and have no desire for any kind of liberation.”

(Sri Damodarastakam, 7)

Two sons of Kuver were cursed by Narad and, although so rich, they got a tree body known as Yamalarjuna vriksa ('twin trees'). By the time it was Dvapar-yuga they had spent many thousands of years in those tree bodies, and when Krishna was a baby, He rescued them. It happened in Damodar month.

We enjoy so much with the material life, but Krishna is very merciful, Guru is very merciful, and they can rescue us from that kind of suffering. That is the only thing that we want, "Prabhu, we are enjoying with the illusory environment, but please give us only such mercy that we become rescued from this illusory environment, from this bondage! Please rescue us from all of that.”

We are fallen souls, but Gurudev rescued us all and gave us his mercy, so we must keep and protect chastity to our Guru.

You go for preaching and from time to time make programmes, give nourishment to the devotees, and that is what I want from you—if you can lead the devotees, give them proper guidance, continuously, then that will be my happiness.

We must think that we can die, can leave any time, life is very short, so if we can practise properly at this very moment, that will be the real benefit for our spiritual life.

Do new people come sometimes?

—Yes, but not today. They come on weekdays.

Do they like listening to Krishna-katha?

—Yes, slowly, slowly.

Good. If you give them first a high dose, they will die. First give them a small dose: firstkarma-yoga, then jnana-yoga, then mukti-yoga, then bhakti-yoga. Karma-yoga means people work, they eat, sleep and enjoy; jnana-yoga is when they become wiser; thenmukti-yoga, they become liberated; and when they are liberated, they can enter bhakti-yoga, devotional activities. Gurudev said, "Those who take initiation from me, are already liberated." So, in this way, slowly, slowly you can give them the medicine, starting from a small dose. In this way we can convert people into Krishna's devotees. This is what is necessary, and you are doing that. It is good.

Fertile Ground

Speaking online to the devotees in Turkey
17 July 2012

Krishna is always merciful, Gurudev is always merciful, he always tries to help us, engage us in service: loving search for the lost servant (premamaya anvesana). Gurudev always said, "In one way or another, some problem will come in your spiritual life, but do not forget and do not wait for the next life.”

I heard and I am thinking that the devotees are enthusiastic, they want to take initiation,bhakti-lata-bij, but I am waiting. Do you know what I am waiting for? You want to put the seed in your land, but that land must be fertile. I told you to wait for two more days you so that you try to make your land more fertile, otherwise if it is not fertile, you will put the seed and the seed will dry up. So, have more association, hear more Hari-katha, cultivate your land, your heart, more. It is heart cultivation. Do that and wait before taking initiation, it is not a problem. When your land is more fertile, when the land is good, you will take initiation and it will work immediately, otherwise if somebody does not know anything about Krishna consciousness and takes initiation, that bhakti-lata-bij, their seed, will die.

You must practise every day. This is an instruction for everybody. Do not think that you just take initiation and you have already reached Vaikuntha, Goloka Vrindavan. It is impossible. I am giving you a seed, and you must take care of it. From time to time you must get good guidance, associate with great Vaishavs, get some good association. This kind of treatment is necessary.

We must understand clearly what the Guru wants to say, what the main things are. If you only take initiation and do not practise, you will not get any result. You have got some previous sukriti, and you may practise for twenty-thirty years, but if you do not follow the rules and regulations and practise less and less every day, then you will fall down—your Krishna consciousness life will be finished. Somebody may practise for even thirty years, but if they stop practising, they will immediately fall down and return to their previous life—eating fish, meat, not following any rules and regulations. Why? It has to do not only with practising, there is also some offence—Vaishnav aparadh, seva aparadh, Nama aparadh, etc. There are so many things. Proper medicine is necessary. If there is some offence and you practise properly, that offence can be removed. Even a saranagata, a surrendered soul, can sometimes make some offence, but that offence is always removed.Srimad Bhagavad-gita said that if somebody is a devotee and unknowingly makes some offence, if they are fully engaged in service and continue their service, Krishna removes that offence—na karaya prayaschitta (Cc, 2.22.138), no atonement is necessary then.

So, engage in the devotional activities,

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.124)

These are the main five practices, it is not much—it is not necessary to practise so many things. If you get even a little bit of association, it is enough to practise until your death. You must practise with sincerity and continuously, every day, then even when you are dying, you will not forget Krishna, you will not forget your Guru.

If you practise this line sincerely, continuing your life steadily under the guidance of your Guru and until death, then it is not necessary for you to come back to this world in any kind of body—neither human, nor animal, bird or any other body—you will be rescued and you will be able to enjoy with the Lord!

Devotion in Motion

Speaking online to the devotees in Peru
13 November 2011

How is the preaching going on there? Nicely?

—Yes!

Good.

sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam
archchanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam

“Hearing, practising (chanting), remembering the Lord, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, serving the Deity, offering obeisances, considering oneself a servant, thinking of the Lord as of a friend, and full surrender.”

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.23)

That is our life.

We have got this human body for sravanam, kirtanam: chanting and dancing. We have got this body, this opportunity now, but this kind of opportunity does not come all the time, so we must use this body for preaching Krishna consciousness. Gurudev told us, "Wherever you live, you must maintain your spiritual life." So, we will not lose our time—when we get some good time, we will use it for preaching, through that we will get sukriti.

Sukriti means using everything for the service to the Lord. If you use everything for the service to the Lord, you will get benefit and those who you use will get benefit, sukriti, through you. It can be any jiva soul—a flower, some fruit, etc. You can offer everything to your Guru, to Gauranga, Nityananda, Krishna, Radharani, and that jiva soul will get sukriti through you. Everybody wants to serve the Lord, but they cannot do it, but if you use them, they will get benefitted.

Then, through sukriti comes sraddha, faith (visvas). There are four types of faith.

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"Sraddha is firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.62)

It is necessary to have the strongest faith. Faith becomes stronger through practising—even if you have a strong faith, it will become the strongest faith through practising.

Next, through sraddha comes sadhu-sanga, good association, then through sadhu-sanga comes sravan, kirtan (chanting and dancing). When your platform, or foundation (faith), is strong, then all bad elements, all bad things, bad material desires and environment will be removed through sravan and kirtan and you will get more taste, ruchi. Next, you will get attachment to your service. Gurudev said, "Everybody does some service, but only few people have attachment to their service." It all depends upon practising, that is why sravan and kirtan are necessary,

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.124)

Mathura-vasa means you must stay in a place where there is Krishna-katha, Bhagavat-katha—you must listen to Krishna-katha.

If you practise in this way, your life will be glorious. Make your house a temple and teach your children and family members how to be a devotee, teach them how to be a devotional practitioner.

I will come as soon as possible. I am always with you. If you preach there—if you give attention to preaching Gurudev's mission, Gurudev's name—it will be even more glorious and I will be even happier.

Service is the main thing, and you must do service without asking for anything—only serve your Guru without any desires, that is the main thing (abhidheya), and you will be more benefitted through this. This is your great fortune.

You should organise preaching and do sankirtan in the street—invite devotees to join, distribute leaflets and prasadam. That is the preaching style. You only need to preach and increase our devotees. You chant the Holy Name yourself and you should give others a chance to chant.

Always chant and dance; through sankirtan everything will be glorious. Just chant and dance, OK? Give more attention to that—if you do sankirtan in the street, outside, it will be good for you.

What Will Your Parrot Say?

Speaking online to the devotees in Russia
10 August 2013

I can see that through good association and because you are practising properly you are day by day increasing your Krishna consciousness mood, and I am very happy to see that.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said in his books, in his lectures that the mind is always fickle, it always goes here and there, but is it possible to control it? Srila Sridhar Maharaj said that it can be controlled only through practising. Bhagavan Krishna Himself also told Arjun, "You can control your mind through practising.”

Srila Sridhar Maharaj says that all substance comes through good association and he gave an example: even when some rain water or some other dirty water enters the Ganges waters, it becomes holy.

When I went to Russia with Gurudev in 2000, I remember one lecture that Gurudev gave there. He told one story from Narada-pancha-ratra.

Once, there was a family: two brothers and parents, father and mother, living all together. When the parents died, the brothers moved apart and started living separately. Before that, they had two parrots in the family and when the brothers separated, the elder brother took one parrot, and the younger brother took the other one.

One day, Narad, disguised as a sannyasi, came to preach in that area. He came to the house of the elder brother house, and when the parrot that lived there saw him, it cried, "Get out! Get out!" Narad became surprised, "What is happening?”

Then he went to another house, and he saw there was also a parrot, and it looked just like the first one. It was the younger brother's house. When the younger brother's parrot saw the sannyasi, it said, "Oh, who is here? A sannyasi has come, please give some asan!" Both birds used to live together, but after they started living in different houses, their character also became different.

So, Narad said, from this story we can understand that the elder brother was not a devotee of Krishna, not a devotees of the Lord—he was a karmi and his character was not good, that is why his parrot also becomes bad. The younger brother, on the other hand, was a good man—he liked sadhus, sannyasis, he liked Krishna's devotees, that is why his parrot also become a devotee.

So, the moral is: good association is necessary for our spiritual life.

Cast Off Prejudice

Speaking online to the devotees in Russia
10 August 2013

In India, people always look at your caste, they differentiate between brahmans, ksatriyas, vaisyas, and sudras. They are proud and criticise, "Oh, I am a sannyasi, you are just a householder." Gurudev told once a story showing that it is not good to do like this, and Jagadananda Pandit also told the same. I can tell you the story that Gurudev told.

Once, there was a fisherwoman who sold fish at the market. One day a brahman came to the market to buy some fish and he saw that the woman was using a using a salagram silaas her scale weight to measure the weight of the fish. The brahman became very angry, "Hey, a salagram sila is the Lord, and you are touching Him to the fish! You are making an offence! Give the salagram sila to me, I will take and worship it properly.”

The brahman took the salagram sila to his house and kept it on his altar. Later at night time, that salagram sila, who is nondifferent from Krishna, appeared to him in a dream and said, "O brahman, why have you taken Me from there and brought Me here? I was playing, swinging on the scales—I was very happy there! Why are you keeping Me here? You are using Me for your own purpose! Take me back to that lady's house.”

So, what we understand is that the lady sells the fish, but she does not eat it, and she used whatever profit she got to buy fruit, and she offered the bhog to the Lord, she worshipped the Lord, while that brahmin did not worship the deity. He kept the salagram sila and used it for his own purpose—he would show the salagram sila to people and ask them for money. So, Krishna did not want to stay with him and went to His devotee's house.

Question: How is it possible that Krishna chooses a devotee who sells fish?

Yes, that is the question! Actually, Krishna always chooses the better devotee. Krishna liked staying at the fisherwoman's house because although she sold fish she did not eat it—it is worse if you eat fish and do not do any service. Maybe that lady was a 50% devotee, not a 100% or 80% devotee, but the thing is that the brahman was a 0% devotee.

One-Way Ticket to the World of Faith

Speaking online to the devotees in Russia
10 August 2013

Question: How to find your own place not under the material sun, but under the sun of love to God?

First you must have sukriti, must have sraddha…

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj told in his lecture that if you have the right kind of ears, then for you there exists a whole sound world—you can hear the sound of the planets and you can enjoy the sound; but if you have no ears, then this sound world means nothing to you. If you have eyes, you can see that the whole world is full of beauty, you can see everything in this way, but if you have no eyes, then you see no beauty, nothing. In the same way, if you have no faith, then you do not have devotion and do not feel the world of devotion. If you have faith, then for you there exists a whole world of devotion, for you there exists the world of the Dham—you can see the chinmaya dham, the transcendental holy dham. Those who have no faith think that the Dham is just another place—they see there are some buildings in Nabadwip and in other countries there also buildings, and they think it is the same; but if you have faith in Nabadwip, then you can understand what Nabadwip is.

You have already got shelter and have already got your own home. You have taken initiation and have already got the passport, but now you need to get the visa. The kind of visa you will get depends upon your service—whether you get a tourist visa, a working visa, a permanent visa, or a business visa, depends upon your service.

Actually, we want to have a one-way ticket. We come to this world and always have a return ticket with us to go back, but what we need is a one-way ticket—we must go back to our own country and not come back. We do not want a two-way ticket…

Path to Bhakti-Rasa

Speaking online to the devotees in Russia
10 August 2013

Question: Gurudev, could you please tell us something about His Divine Grace Srila Govinda Maharaj?

There are many things... He is transcendental and actually I have no quality, no qualification to tell anything about my Guru...

The Guru is always merciful, he always tolerates me. I do not want to drink the bhakti-rasa, I do not want to do Hari-bhajan, but he forcefully keeps me at his lotus feet, at the lotus feet of Lord Krishna—that is his power. These are the main things about him. Only the Guru can do it, and our Gurudev is like that. He is very merciful, he is very soft-hearted, and despite everything he still keeps me, engages me in the service of the Lord... He teaches everyone, and me also, to be humble, tolerant and give honour to others, but we always have ego—we are like bees outside a bottle of honey: we cannot go inside because the bottle is closed, so we do not get the taste, but Gurudev forcefully gives me that kind of bhakti-rasa, that kind of mercy…

There are many stories about him, there are many lessons that we have received, he taught us so many things. Many obstacles will come in this Krishna consciousness life, in your practising life—for example, somebody will criticise you, somebody will tell you bad things, but Gurudev said if somebody criticises you, it is good for you! And I remember one story he told about this.

There were two devotee dogs who once started from Kolkata to Nabadwip. They decided to go on foot, and before leaving they asked somebody how many days it would take them to walk to Nabadwip. They were told that it would take them seven days. So, they started walking early in the morning.

By the time it was evening, they reached some place and thought, "Oh, we are very tired, we must take some rest." They found some place and just as they were about to lie down to sleep, the local dogs came barking at them, "Hey, why have you come here? Get out of here! It is my place!" They started walking again.

They walked on and on all evening, and when the night came, at about eleven o'clock, they thought, "Oh, it is near midnight now and all people must be sleeping, the dogs must be sleeping too. Nobody will disturb us now." They decided to stop and take rest at some village. Just as they were about to get comfortable, the local dogs again came barking at them, "Hey! Get out of here! Why have you come to our place?!" The two dogs thought, "No rest... Again the dogs are disturbing us. We have to continue walking to Nabadwip.”

They walked the whole night and in the morning came to Nabadwip! They thought, "Oh, it was actually good for us. Because the dogs disturbed and barked at us and we did not rest, we made the seven days' journey in one day! We reached our goal quicker!”

So, those other "dogs," the Vaishnava aparadhi, criticise you, but because of that you go faster down the Krishna consciousness line.

Do you have any other questions?

Question: How can we remember Gurudev in our usual life, every day?

Through your service. By fulfilling Gurudev's desire. What is his desire? Protect his mission, preach about Chaitanya Saraswat Math, tell others about Gurudev when you preach. When you preach, you do not preach for yourself, you preach for your Guru and about your Guru, then you will remember him every day, it is not difficult. Like today, I always tell some stories that I heard from Gurudev, and every time I tell Gurudev's stories, I remember him. You can follow my example.

Preaching Guidance: Main Priority

Speaking online to the devotees in Venezuela
13 November 2011

Your preaching is going on smoothly and within the proper line only because of sankirtan.

You must give priority to sankirtan, that will be good for you. Advertise, perform, etc.—through sankirtan you can conquer everything. Take the medicine that the doctor (Gurudev) gave you, and all your material desires will be removed.

Sometimes we do not get taste through sankirtan but that is because we do not take the medicine, and if we cannot make ourselves happy, we will not be able to make others happy also. That is why we all must take the medicine that Gurudev has given us: sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisances, serving as a servant, friend, and complete surrender). That is the process that we must follow. If the doctor tells you to take some medicine three times a day, but we take it only one time, our disease will not be removed and we will not become healthy.

How will our mind become clean? If we take Gurudev's medicine, then all material desires will be removed and the mind will become pure, clear. Only sravan and kirtan (hearing and chanting) is necessary.

Do you know why Caracas is so glorious? Because you only preach, only do sankirtan, that is why you become more and more glorious. Many places are not so glorious because there is a lack of practising. When somebody does not practise properly, they will not get taste—if you do not chant properly, you will not feel taste for chanting.

You all work outside and every Saturday in the evening you come and do some service—you give your energy for the service to Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurachandra—in this way you yourself get benefit and pleasure and give pleasure to others also.

We must remember that life is very short. Everybody knows that. Krishna gave this human body for service to Gaura Nitai, service to the Lord. If we do not use this body for service to the Lord, then next birth Krishna will give us another body, a dog's body or a cow's body for example. Krishna will tell us, "I gave you a human body, but you did not use it properly for the service, so after you leave this body you will get some other body.”

We must be careful. Do not lose your time. Day after day we are losing our time, but we must use it properly—for the service to Guru, Gauranga, and Nityananda.

Preaching Guidance: Keen and Careful

Speaking online to the devotees in Venezuela
13 November 2011

Question: When we are preaching or trying to speak to people at preaching programmes, sometimes we see people do not understand anything that we are trying to say about Krishna consciousness. Shall we worry about this, or shall we try to improve ourselves?...

No, never worry. I can give you an example. One time in 1995, when I was a brahmachari, I went preaching to one village near Kolkata. When I told them about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, they told me that they had never heard the name of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! That is here in India, in Bengal!

You must understand that these people are all in darkness, but when there is a dark place and you keep some light there, all darkness is removed. So, it will come slowly, slowly, do not worry.

They cannot understand now, but it is like a piece of iron that has been kept outside and is now covered with rust. You need to apply some chemical, brush it, then all rust will go away. Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur himself said that if want to make somebody a devotee, you have to shed gallons and gallons of blood. Like, if a patient is going to die and needs blood, you need to give your blood to save them. So, you must give your blood, your energy.

I went to that village where they did not know about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in 1995, and now from that same village every year three hundred devotees come for Gaura Purnima…

Any other questions?

Question: Sometimes when we are preaching or telling others about the pastimes of the Lord, especially to kids, we have to adapt the words that we use so that they understand what we are saying. I am not sure if it is completely correct to do this...

This is not a problem. You must understand that different people have different quality and qualification. When the person has a high qualification, you use high sloka and high preaching at that time, but where there is kamala sraddha, when there is little devotion, when there is not much conception, then you must give little knowledge, not to preach so many big things. You must see what is appropriate.

If you first give many things and say, "Oh, not to do! Not to do! Not to do! Not to do!" people will run away. You tell them, "Hey! Why no tilak? Why long hair? Why pants? Why shirt? Why this? Why that?" They will tell you, "Baba! I do not need this Krishna consciousness, I better go home."

Question: Sometimes when we preach, I tell people that our life is twenty-four hours' service, that Krishna consciousness is the religion of all world, and that you are a spiritual soul. I also try to preach by my own example, although I can commit some mistake or offence...

Yes, this is good. Not so many things are necessary, light things are enough. You need to just give them some sound vibration, sabda-taranga. Tell them, "Chant the Holy Name, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and you will be very happy." Only simple matter is necessary. When they start chanting the maha-mantra, they can easily understand and feet it themselves. If they starting chanting the maha-mantra, it will easily remove their material desires and then they can understand everything themselves, gradually.

You must also tell the new people about Krishne-karmarpan (offering the results of one's activities to Krishna). Tell them they can stay in their houses, and if they do what they are doing but for the Lord, it will be service. They need to understand the difference between service and karma. They do not have to give up their work, give up their business, stop their love and affection for the children, or stop looking after their house—they can do everything, but do it as service. If you think about the Lord, then everything will go to the Lord. This is called Krishne-karmarpan. If you drink some water and remember Krishna, it will be taking prasadam; if you drink a glass of water and remember Gurudev, you will be taking his prasadam. In this way you can use yourself as a servitor.

Preaching Guidance: Angry, Passive, and Challenging

Speaking online to the devotees in Venezuela
13 November 2011

Question: I feel it is difficult for me to preach to the people on the street because many people look very angry. Sometimes I do not feel inspired, I do not want to preach to those people, and I do not know how to preach to them...

Do you know why they are angry? They want something material, they have material desires, and because they do not get what they want they become angry.

If you go to a mental hospital you can see that some people do not want to take medicine. They do not know what their proper medicine is and they become angry, but your duty is to still give them the medicine. They may even bite you, but your duty is to rescue them. They are going to die! They are killing themselves! So, it is your duty to rescue them.

Question: Do people on the street benefit just by hearing the Name of Krishna, hearing that Krishna is God, that we are part of Krishna? Do they get some benefit or connection by hearing these things?

Yes, of course, they get some benefit. If you tell somebody 'Krishna', if you tell 'Hare Krishna', they get some sukriti, of course.

—Is that enough?

Only this is not enough for them. It is not enough to only get some sukriti—if they do not practise properly, how will they get Krishna?

Slowly, slowly people will come…

In your preaching, people will disturb you, many austerities will come to you, you know that even Nityananda Prabhu was beaten by Madhai, but you will see gradually people will come. It is not so easy for a materialistic person to come to Krishna consciousness, but eventually they will come. Among ten million people, there is one wise person, among ten million of wise people, one is a liberated soul, and among ten million of liberated souls there will be one devotee of Krishna. It is not so easy.

Question: When we approach people in the street, sometimes they tell us, "Oh, I know this person, he is a devotee, but he does not follow the rules and regulations." What answer should we give to them?

You can tell them that if somebody does not practise properly, they will get the result. What can you do? Gurudev gives initiation, and some people do practise properly. You can give them an example. If somebody becomes a thief, will you become a thief too? It is not good, so you will not become a thief. If somebody does not follow the line, what can you do? You can say that we try that everybody follows the rules.

If somebody does not follow the rules, does not practise, they cannot preach, but those who follow properly can preach.

You can say also that we all try to follow but everybody can be attacked by the illusory environment, what can we do about that? Not everybody will get to Krishna-loka, not everybody will get proper service, not everybody will get proper mercy. Some people lose their mercy... But we must do our job.

Everybody does some business, but somebody loses their business and somebody's business grows glorious—every business does not run the same. So, everybody does not have the same qualification—everybody has some good qualification and some bad qualification, and we should take their good qualities and reject their bad qualities. We will not see their bad side, we will see good in others.

Somebody is good at preaching, somebody is good at cooking, somebody else is a good pujari—everybody has some good qualification, and we should use everybody for service to the Lord, we should not reject anybody. Five fingers on my one hand are not equal. We are all a family, everybody does not have the same qualification, but we must tolerate, must give honour to them, and give them some advice. This is how we should manage and harmonise our family...

At Stake

19 March 2014

If you take initiation but do not understand properly how to practise and how to do service, then your initiation is nothing.

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

“At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts them as His very own.”

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.192)

To take initiation (diksa) means to receive divine knowledge (divya jnana). When we come to take initiation, Krishna always thinks, "He is My soul." But if we do not understand, do not realise these things, then we cannot proceed in our spiritual life.

We must always remember that at any time we can go away from our service. Deceit (kapatata) does not coexist with humility. If you say one thing and do another, it is called kapatata (deceit, duplicity, insincerity). If you are insincere, then one day you will leave this path... Vaishnavs are always simple-hearted (saral), they have kamala-sraddha (gentle, accommodating faith). We must always keep our mind and heart simple, sincere.

Gurudev often said, "Do not use me. I will use you." We must always remember it. If we can give something for the service of Guru, Vaishnav, Bhagavan, we can get a supreme benefit. We must utilise ourselves properly. What does Gurudev give you? Money, wealth, land, etc. is nothing. Gurudev gives the Holy Name to your heart, but if that Holy Name is not dancing in your mouth, then you can understand yourself whether your bhajan is going forward or backward.

Unwanted elements (kutinati) and bad association (asat-sanga) should go away. We always want to be in good association. Without good association you cannot get anywhere, that is why we need sadhu-sanga, Bhagavat-sanga, and association of the devotees of the Lord. Otherwise there is no way out—if you wash a piece of coal with 50 kg of milk, it will never be white. We must increase our spiritual life.

One devotee of Krishna can save the whole universe, but if you want to be a devotee of Krishna, you must keep the association of devotees. You cannot become a devotee of Krishna without the association of devotees…

In a paddy field there is rice and there are also weeds. If you do not clean the weeds, the rice will not grow—the weeds will grow instead. In the same way, if you have some other material wishes or bad desires (anya abhilasa) in your mind and do not remove them from there, they will slowly increase and grow. If you have some Vaishnav aparadh, some sadhu aparadh, Guru aparadh, etc. in your heart and if you do not avoid it, these bad things will slowly increase and all the good quality that you got from your Guru, from the Vaishnavs and Bhagavan will be removed.

Another thing is that even great Vaishnavs who have so many good qualities, who know so many scriptures fall down for this reason—because of such desires, because of kanak, kamini, or pratistha. They think, "I know everything," but the feeling must come to everybody, "I also should learn from this little boy," "I can learn something from this small brahmachari" or, "There are so many things I should learn from others." If, instead, aham-buddhi, ahankar comes to your mind and you think, "I know so much," "I understand so much," then you will eventually lose your service. We must learn so many things from others, and it does not matter whether somebody is a scholar or not a scholar, you must give respect to everybody—you must give respect even to those who took initiation yesterday only. This is Vaishnav etiquette, this is Vaishnavism, and it is necessary to practise this.

Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also said that we must give honour to everybody because we do not know who comes in front of you—we do not know if Brahma comes, Vishnu, Siva, or even Narad Muni comes. How will we know it? We cannot, so we must respect everybody. You have no enemy in this world—you yourself are your enemy and you yourself are your friend (niji-i nijer bandhu, niji-i nijer satru).

We must understand these things properly and always remember, always think about this. Otherwise there is no other way, no other solution...

Leap Forward

19 March 2014

There are so many people on this earth, but there are very few who truly engage in the service to the Lord. It is said in the scriptures that those who can help you in Krishna consciousness are your real best friends ("sei pita pita non, sei bandhu bandhu non, sei mata mata non…")...

In his last days Gurudev said he was hopeless about the Indian devotees. Thousands of devotees come for parikrama, but they do not understand anything, do not know anything—instead of doing parikrama they make so many offences to the Dham. How do you doparikrama? You come to the Holy Dham, and you must do parikrama on your head, not on your legs. If you come and make offences, you will eventually go away from this line.

visaye ye priti ebe achhaye amara
sei-mata priti hauk charane tomara

"May I have the same affection and attraction to your feet that I now have for material things."

(Gitavali, 4.5, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

You have love for your house, money, for your own property, your children, and so on, but that kind of love, that kind of feeling must come to your Guru and the Vaishnavs. You have love and affection for your mother, but that kind of feeling must come for your Guru's service. Bengali devotees think that first comes service to the parents, to their wife or husband, then only service to the Guru and Vaishnavs. If we feel like this, then eventually we will lose our service and forget everything. Now you have got consciousness, you have got Krishna consciousness, but it will gradually go away because of other desires in your heart. That is why we must be very careful with our service, careful about our position.

Position is actually nothing. "I am an Acharya," "I am a big Guru," "You must worship me," "You must serve me," "You must pay obeisance to me," "You must do arati for me"—if such feeling comes to your heart then it is easy to fall down from this line.

We are foolish, we do not understand this. We have no good brain or intelligence... What is then the main solution in this age of Kali? The scriptures tell it to us many times. If we do not follow the scriptures properly, if we do not get proper association, we will suffer in our life. It is necessary to understand this.

As Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, this feeling must come to us, "No matter what I will never leave the service to the Lord." We must always think about this. There is so much suffering, there are so many problems, but you have heard the story of the Pandavs—the Pandavs suffered so much, but they did not leave Krishna, they always stayed with Him. "Marabi rakhabi, yo ichchha tomara: You can kill me, You can save me—as You wish." You give so many things to Krishna, but you must give yourself to Krishna, to the Lord's lotus feet.

Also do not become envious. If somebody does not want your good, you can ask the Lord for their good. We must have such quality, must learn to be like this. I remember when I was a schoolboy I learned this phrase, "If you are bad, why will I not be good?”

We must understand what is necessary for service.

hari sevaya yaha anukula
visaya baliya tyage haya bhula

"It is wrong to reject something favourable to the service of the Lord, saying, 'It is visaya, material.'"

'asakti-rahita,' 'sambandha-sahita,'
visaya-samuha sakali 'madhava'

“When you become free from material attachment and establish relationship with the Lord, you will see that everything around you is Lord Madhav Himself.”

(Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur)

We must have no attachment, asakti-rahita, and have disinterested nature, but with the relationship with the Lord—everything must be used for the service to the Lord. In this world everything is created not for you—you are not the enjoyer, Krishna is the only enjoyer. You must remember this always and follow this. You must have not only no attachment to other women and men, but even to your own wife. If you think about it, you can easily understand these things.

Service Capacity

19 March 2014

...It happened in Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's times, when Vinod Babu was the manager and Kunja Babu was the secretary (later, after Prabhupad had gone, they took sannyas and became Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj and Bhakti Prajnan Kesav Maharaj). Once, Prabhupad noticed one boy in pants and a shirt walking around the temple. He watched him walk around the temple for three days and finally asked Vinod Babu and Kunja Babu, "I saw a boy walking around the temple, wearing pants and a shirt... Who is he?”

Kunja Babu and Vinod Babu both replied, "He came from a place near Rajshahi [it is near Narottam Das Thakur's place].”

"Why are you not bringing him to me? Why are you not saying anything, not engaging him in service?”

"That boy is useless, he cannot do anything. We tried to engage him in some service, but he cannot do anything.”

"OK, call that boy here.”

The boy came to Prabhupad, and Prabhupad asked him, "Where are you from? Where is your house? What is your eduction?" At that time it was rare to see a graduate—at that time maybe for one district there would be one person graduate, a BA, like in the whole of Nadia district you would find only one person who was a graduate. So, it turned out that the boy was a graduate, and Prabhupad immediately used him at the printing press. That boy became Sundarananda Vidyavinod who published the Gaudiya, who could compose Prabhupad's lectures—no one can do that, only he!

At that time, there were no computers, there was not so much electricity, and when Prabhupad gave a lecture, Sundarananda Vidyavinod would write it down. If you see the Gaudiya, you can see how hard the language that Prabhupad used was; it is very hard for a simple man to understand it. This is the kind of language, and these are the kinds of things that he composed and published in the Gaudiya.

So, you cannot ignore anybody. You can use different people in different ways. Not everybody is qualified to give a lecture, not everybody is qualified to do the goshala seva, not everybody is qualified to do the gardening service or construction service, but everybody has some quality. You should test the person and depending on what quality they have you must use that quality for the service to the Lord, to Guru.

If you tell me, "Maharaj, you must do puja for one year," I cannot do that. I can do puja for one-two days, but not for a whole year. Or if you tell me, "Maharaj, you must cook for for one year," I can cook for five-six days, maximum ten, not more than that—I cannot cook for a whole year, I will burn my stomach, burn my legs, hands, etc. because I am a very fast man... Gurudev understood me, he knew what kind of service was right for me. The first service he gave me was to be a security guard, an Alsatian dog. He understood, "That boy can be an Alsatian dog." After that, when he was giving me sannyas, he said, "You must sometimes control your gear: you must sometimes cool down. Before you used to chastise, beat, etc. others, but now you are a sannyasi and you must understand what is necessary.”

This is how, through love and affection, you can conquer everything...

Sincere Enquiry

19 March 2014

Every day morning we sing this kirtan: "Jivana anitya yanaha sara tahe nana-vidha vipada bara: remember that life is temporary and full of all kinds of danger." Life is always temporary, but how can you during this temporary life attain something eternal? This is what we must all understand. You must search for the eternal things, you must find where the original source is.

We must ask honestly: Who am I? Why do I suffer? What is my benefit? What is the goal? How to attain that goal? We must ask ourselves these five questions. Sanatan Goswami asked Mahaprabhu these questions and got the answers for us—these answers are given in Chaitanya-charitamrita for our benefit. If we cannot understand it, we have no hope…

If we serve the Lord, we will get super benefit. Otherwise life is about janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi (birth, death, old age, and disease). If we do not understand these things and always hear the antithesis, it is bad for us...

Service Target

Speaking online to the devotees in Venezuela
13 November 2011

Question: It is said in the scriptures we cannot attain anything without the mercy of the spiritual master, how can we know that our service or our intention is reaching the heart of Gurudev?

Through practising. You can easily check and understand it yourself. You can ask yourself if you are getting pleasure, if you are getting taste through your service or not, then you can understand easily whether you are proceeding in your spiritual life or not. Practise properly and you will easily understand whether your service is going to the Guru or going another way.

Actually, sincere devotees do not think, "Oh, my service is going to my Guru," "My Guru is happy with my service." It is not necessary to think about this. You have your duty, and your only duty is to do the service. Do not think whether your service is going to the Guru or not, you should only do your service—"Gurudev prescribed me the medicine, and I will take that medicine. He is the proprietor, he is the doctor, so it is his business whether he will cure me or not. I am his servant, I am a patient, it is not my business. My duty is to take the proper medicine at the proper time."

Happy Birthday

11 April 2013

America is the richest country in this world, is it not? I heard some statistics that last year so many people from rich families committed suicide. They have no problem with food, no problem with the house, no problem with money, their society is the richest on the planet, but why do so many people from that society commit suicide? You think that money is everything, a house is everything, or that a family is everything, but they have everything—a good wife, a good house, many cars, so much wealth and opulence—why do so many people then commit suicide? They are number one in the world by the rate of suicide…

It comes through association...

Devotee: It is *** Prabhu's birthday today.

Is it? Good. What does he want on his birthday?

Devotee: I want your blessings.

You will take the blessings, but do you have space to keep it? Is your pot empty or full?

...OK, happy birthday. May Krishna bless you. Take care of your spiritual life, maintain your spiritual life. Life is very short, do not run behind maya, do not run behind money, ladies, and pratistha. These things are very dangerous for spiritual life. Even if somebody does service, their spiritual life can be destroyed through that service if ego comes and you think, "I have done so many things," "I did this, I did this, I did this," etc. This is very bad. If the feeling comes to you that "I do not do anything," it is good for you.

It is very nice, it is your birthday today... Maya is very strong, take care of your spiritual life. If we do not maintain our life properly, we can easily destroy, spoil not only our spiritual life, but this whole manusya-janma, human birth. So many birthdays will come in your life—millions and millions of birthdays will come... Why should we be afraid? Jivatma, the soul, cannot be burnt, cannot be destroyed. So, every year your birthday will come and you will grow and grow, but you must calculate: one year of your life has passed, how much have your proceeded in your spiritual life? How much have you improved your practising life during this year of your life?

On your birthday you can ask the Lord, ask Gurudev only, "Prabhu, please engage me more and more in serving You. I am a fallen soul, I have no quality or qualification, but You can engage me. Yogyata-vichare kichhu nahi pai tomara karuna-sara: through my qualification, I will not get anything, my only hope is that mercy is above justice. I will not get anything through justice, my only sambal [livelihood, asset] is mercy." This is the way to celebrate a birthday—by doing Guru-puja... This is our main duty.

Do you understand now how to celebrate your birthday? Do you understand what your duty is on your birthday? Vaishnav seva! How many Vaishnav have you paid obeisance to today?

—I have invited devotees to my birthday…

You should pay obeisance and give a piece of cake or a sweet ball to everybody, that is your service, OK?

All That Glitters Is Not Gold

22 January 2016

In Bardhaman district, near Durgapur, there is a small town called Mankar. In that town, there was once a brahman called Jivan Chakravarti. This Jivan Chakravarti worshipped Lord Siva.

He had worshipped Lord Siva for a long time when one day Lord Siva appeared to him at night and asked him,

"Jivan, what do you want?”

"My daughter has grown up and I need money to get her married," replied Jivan Chakravarti.

"Where will I get money from? If you want wealth, go to Vrindavan.”

"To Vrindavan? OK, I will go. Who should I see there?”

"You should see Sanatan Goswami.”

So, Jivan Chakravarti came to Vrindavan. He started asking some local people there if they knew where Sanatan Goswami stayed, and somebody told him that there lived Madan-mohan at Dvadasaditya-tila and Sanatan Goswami stayed there. Jivan Chakravarti came there and saw a sadhu sitting and doing mala. He asked him,

"Do you know where Sanatan Goswami stays?”

"It is me.”

“Really??"

"Why? Do you not believe me? Who sent you here?”

"Lord Siva!”

"What did Lord Siva send you here for?”

"He sent me here to get wealth.”

"Where would I have wealth from?”

"I am also thinking about this... At my house I have some silverware, some brassware, but you do not have even that. You wear dirty clothes and have some dirty pots... I better go then, there must be some mistake…"

As he started walking away, Sanatan Goswami called him,

"Hey, listen! A while ago I was bathing in Yamuna and found a parasa-mani, touchstone. I threw it away somewhere at the bank of the Yamuna. You can go there and look for it.”

Jivan Chakravarti went to the bank of the Yamuna but could not find it anywhere. Sanatan Goswami came there soon and said, "OK, let me see... Try looking for it over there." Jivan Chakravarti found the touchstone lying in the middle of some garbage. He was wearing an iron amulet on his arm and as soon as he touched the amulet with the stone, it turned into gold. He was excited at first, but then he thought, "This sadhu has got such a valuable thing, why did he throw it away at the Yamuna? He probably has something even bigger! People throw unimportant things away and keep the great things with them, so sure he must have something else then." He came back to Sanatan Goswami,

"Why have you come again?" Sanatan Goswami asked him. "You have got your treasure, take it. Now you will have everything—you can get your daughter married, you can get a car, a house, lots of money, anything you want. Go!”

"Prabhu, I have one question…"

"What question?”

"What kind of wealth do you have? If you do not consider a gem to be of any value, then I pray at your holy feet to get a piece of the kind of wealth that you have.”

"Will you take that wealth?”

"Yes, I will.”

"Throw this stone away." Jivan Chakravarti threw it away. Sanatan Goswami told him to stretch out his hands and placed a mala in his hands saying, "Stay here in Vrindavan.”

Everything went well at his home and his daughter married well, there was no problem with money. Who arranged everything? The Lord did. The Lord is the Master, and the Lord says, "If you think about Me, I will think about you." So, if you always think about the Lord, then you will see the Lord provides everything...

Proper Detachment

19 December 2010

jaya rupa sanatana bhatta raghunatha
sri-jiva gopala-bhatta dasa raghunatha

"All glory to Sri Rupa, Sanatan, Raghunath Bhatta, Sri Jiva, Gopal Bhatta, and Raghunath Das!"

ei chaya gosani kari charana vandana
jaha haite vighna-nasa abhista purana

"I offer my obeisance to these six goswamis. By doing so, all obstacles are destroyed and all desires are fulfilled."

Mahaprabhu asked Svarup Damodar and Ray Ramananda once about Srila Rupa Goswami, "How is it possible that such a small boy knows so much? How can he understand these things?" Svarup Damodar and Ray Ramananda answered, "By the mercy of the Lord, one can know everything. This mercy comes from above, it is a transcendental power.”

yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadat na gatih kuto 'pi
dhyayam stuvams tasya yasas tri-sandhyam
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

"I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, praising and meditating upon his glory at the three junctions of the day. By his grace, one gains the Lord's grace. Without his grace, one has no shelter anywhere."

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, 8)

Mahaprabhu said, "Do not become crazy, go back to your home!" Do you know whom He said this to? Mahaprabhu told this to Das Goswami Prabhu. Das Goswami was showing so much renunciation, so much vairagya, and Mahaprabhu told him to go back to his home, not to become crazy.

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana
yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

"Do not show your false renunciation to people. Serve accepting material things, but without attachment."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.238)

It is about emotion and devotion. Have you read this chapter in Affectionate Guidance, Gurudev's book, called Emotion or Devotion? Sometimes so many tears come to someone's eyes, but it is not permanent. Here it is said, "Practise! Always practise," and Das Goswami practised so much!

Do you know how Sanatan Goswami practised from his early days? At the beginning, when he came to Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu first of all told Acharya Chandrasekhar and Tapan Mishra to take him to a barbershop and have him shaved. After Sanatan Goswami was shaved, they gave him some new cloth, but he refused, "I do not want this new cloth. If Prabhu has some old cloth, you can give it to me." He took some old torn cloth and tore it into two parts. He would wear one piece and use the second piece as the uttariya; then the next day he would wear the uttariya piece, wash the other piece, then use it as the uttariya.

Sanatan Goswami said to Tapan Mishra and Chandrasekhara Acharya, "I have come here, but I do not want to disturb anyone. I do not want to become a burden for you. Prabhu can stay with you and take prasadam, but why should I take it? I will do madhukari—I will go begging.”

Before going for begging, Sanatan Goswami would come to Mahaprabhu and pay obeisance to Him. Mahaprabhu noticed that he wore old clothes and a very expensive, nice bhet kambal (woolen blanket) and thought it did not look good. When Sanatan Goswami understood it, he immediately went to some old Gaudiya Vaishnav who had an old kantha (quilt).

(In Bengal and Murshidabad, Bahrampur, this culture and custom still exists. When somebody's daughter is getting married, the family of the proposed husband first ask, "Can you make a kantha?" If she cannot, the girl does not get married. <Devotee: Is it the dowry?> Not, it is not dowry. Kanthas are made for the winter season, for a baby, for the family or for themselves. Girls take two-three old torn saris and stitch them together with a needle, and also embroider some lotus flowers or some other nice ornaments on it. That is called kantha.)

So, it is written in Chaitanya-charitamrita that the old Gaudiya Vaishnav was drying his chinda kantha. Chinda means broken, torn. Sanatan Goswami came to him and asked, "Prabhu, can you change your kantha for my blanket?" His blanket was very nice, and the Gaudiya Vaishnav became angry, "Hey, I am an old man, and you are young, have you come to criticise, to joke with me?" Sanatan Goswami explained, "No, no, please forgive my offence! I did not come to joke. Actually, Mahaprabhu does not like my nice blanket. Can you please change with me? I am telling the truth." Hearing this, the Gaudiya Vaishnav agreed and gave him his old torn kantha.

The next day, when Sanatan Goswami came to pay his obeisance, Mahaprabhu asked him, "Sanatan, where is your blanket?" and he told Him the story, "Prabhu, this is what I have done." Mahaprabhu became happy, "Yes! Krishna is very merciful to you! He made you give up your very last illusory environment—you had only one thing, but the Lord made you give up even that. Bhagavan Krishna took away from you the last material thing, the last visaya, you had!”

This is what is called practising, and this is how they practised. Raghunath practised in the same way too.

When Raghunath came to Mahaprabhu for the first time, Mahaprabhu told him,

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana
yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

"Do not show your false renunciation to people. Serve accepting material things, but without attachment."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.238)

'asakti-rahita,' 'sambandha-sahita,'
visaya-samuha sakali 'madhava'

"When you are free from material attachment and establish relationship with the Lord, then you will see that everything around you is Lord Madhav Himself."

('Vaishnav ke?' verse 12)

Asakti-rahita, no attachment, and sambandha-sahita, with a relation. It is a very nice sloka. We must use everything for the service to the Lord. You have got the indriya—chaksu, karna, nasika, jihva, tvak, man, buddhi, ahankar (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, mind, intelligence, ego)—and you must use everything for this purpose: for your Guru, for the Lord, not for your own enjoyment.

Vishnupriya Devi's Sacrifice

13 February 2016

We must remember in our life the sacrifice that Vishnupriya Devi made. This life is not for enjoyment, this life is for service. We should learn from the sacrifice of Vishnupriya Devi: a thirteen-year-old girl, she left everything, but we cannot leave coffee, tea, we cannot leave simple things. Today is the appearance day of Vishnupriya Devi, the daughter of Sanatan Mishra…

If you have no service, you can go to sleep, it is OK, but gramya-katha na baliba, gramya-varta na suniba—do not gossip, do not talk so much. Every day Vishnupriya Devi chanted and kept aside one grain of rice, at the end of the day she gathered the rice she had got in this way, cooked and offered it, and then took that.

I remember once at the time of the parikrama, some Math came to Yogapith and sang there, "Vishnupriya prana-dhana Nadia bihari." A sannyasi from Chaitanya Math was there and, hearing their singing, he told them to get out. I was very happy to hear that.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj changed so many things. For example, "Hari haraya nama yadavaya namaha"—Srila Narottam Das Thakur originally wrote "Sri advaita sita bhagavad gita," but Srila Sridhar Maharaj changed it to "Sri advaita chandra, gaura bhakta vrnda" to avoid any sahajiya. We must understand the style of our Math.

Carried Away

14 February 2016

Once you suffer in the family life, you will understand what it is like. When you start a family, get children, they grow up, etc. it becomes impossible to give up maya... This is not a new thing. Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told a story called "Gitar samsar" ("A Family of Gita”).

Once a man thought, "I do not want to stay at my Guru's temple, I will go away, stay somewhere in Haridwar and read Gita there." He went away. One day when he was reading Gita, he felt tired and fell asleep. While he was asleep, a mouse came and tore his book. The man suddenly woke up and saw that his Gita had been bitten by a mouse. He thought, "I have to finish this mouse off!" To catch a mouse, you need a cat, so he brought home a cat. The cat caught the mouse, but soon it started meowing. What do cats eat? To feed a cat, you need a cow. He got a cow. Soon the cow started mooing. What do cows eat? Who will take care of the cow? So, next he brought home a girl. By and by, he started mixing with the girl and they soon got married and had so many children. He ended up with a huge family.

In the meantime, his Gurudev thought, "How is my disciple doing? I will go and see how his Gita reading is going on. He must have become a big pandit!..." He came and saw that his disciple lived in a big family. He was surprised, "Bah-bah, you have come to Haridwar to read Gita but ended up with a huge family!" One of his children was saying, "Father, I want a car!", another was saying, "I want a house!", and another child was asking him to buy him something else…

Such is our life in this world…

If you have some desire and you do not get free from it, it will grow and become like a poisonous tree... Offences to Vaishnavs are very heavy.

One time Jiva Goswami made an offence to Rupa Goswami Prabhu. What offence did he make? Rupa Goswami Prabhu was writing a book and a senior Vaishnav (Vallabha Acharya) came to him and thought that one of the slokas was written with a mistake, he said, "What you have written is not correct. You have made a mistake." Hearing this, Jiva Goswami thought, "No, my Guru is right!”

When the Vaishnav went to the Yamuna to take bath, Jiva Goswami came there and explained to him that he was wrong and what Rupa Goswami Prabhu had written was correct. The Vaishnav was convinced and came back to Rupa Goswami. He apologised and asked, "Who is this boy? That boy is so clever, he has taught me something!" Rupa Goswami understood what had happened and chastised Jiva Goswami, "You have no qualification to stay in Vrindavan! He is my Guru and you are teaching him?! Go away! Get out of this temple.”

Jiva Goswami went away—he thought, "OK, I will follow the order of my Guru. I have made an offence to a Vaishnav... But Gurudev also told me to stay in Vrindavan and finish writing the Gopal Champu drama that he had started." So, he decided, "I will stay under some tree, and, without any food, fasting, I shall finish composing Gopal Champu.”

When Sanatan Goswami saw Jiva Goswami after a while, he saw he looked like dead—not completely dead, but almost senseless. He was so tired because he had not eaten anything, but he would still carry on writing, hardly conscious. Sanatan Goswami picked him up in his arms and carried him to the Radha-Damodar temple to Rupa Goswami, "What have you done, Rupa?! Why are you showing so much anger to him? He made some little offence, but why are you giving him such a big punishment?" Rupa Goswami had to admit, "Yes, it was my mistake…"

If you make an offence to the Lord, Vaishnavs will remove your offence, but who will remove your offence if you offend Vaishnavs? Who?...

What to Give and What to Take

15 February 2016

"Brihat svartha paite haile, ksudra svartha tyaga korte habe: if you want to get great things, you must avoid small matter." This is what I learned from Gurudev.

nijera posana kabhu na bhaviba
rahiba bhavera bhare

We sing this in a kirtan written by Bhakti Vinod Thakur (Saranagati, 19).

sarvasva tomara charane sampiya
padechhi tomara ghare

"I have offered everything at Your feet and taken shelter in Your home."

"Prabhu, I am placing everything at your feet."

tumi ta' thakura tomara kukura
baliya janaha more

"You are my master, please consider me your dog."

What is a dog's job? "Pratipa-janere asite na diba: I will not let those who are against you, who are against devotion to Krishna, come near you."

bandhiya nikate amare palibe
rahiba tomara dvara
pratipa-janere asite na diba
rakhiba gadera pare

"Tie me up nearby and maintain me. I will remain at Your doorstep. I will not allow anyone who is against You to enter, I will keep them outside."

taba nija-jana prasada seviya
uchchhistha rakhibe yaha
amara bhojana parama-anande
pratidina habe taha

"Whatever remnants your devotees leave behind after honouring Your prasad, I will eat that every day in great ecstasy."

Once a brahmachari got married and came to Prabhupad, "Prabhupad, my wife cooks, and gives prasadam to me first, then she takes it..." Prabhupad replied, "You got married, it is OK, but your wife should go to the market, cook, offer the bhog, and after she has taken the prasad, you must take her prasad.

Devotee: Why?

These are strong words. You should take prasadam after your wife because you should not see your wife as an object of enjoyment (bhoga-buddhi), you must see her as a Vaishnavi (Vaishnav-buddhi). A wife is not just for your own enjoyment. This is a high level teachings of Prabhupad.

Devotee: First the wife takes the Deities' prasad??

Yes, and after that you can take her prasad, then you will not have bhoga-buddhi towards your wife (you will not think she is for your enjoyment). What a consciousness, what a thought—think about it. This is a high level of preaching and such a strong conception.

You must think: my wife is not for my enjoyment, she is a servant of the Lord, and I should take prasad of the Lord's servant,

taba nija-jana prasada seviya
uchchhistha rakhibe yaha
amara bhojana parama-anande
pratidina habe taha

"Whatever remnants your devotees leave behind after honouring Your prasad, I will eat that every day in great ecstasy."

She is a servant of the Lord and if you take her prasad, then you will not have the ego of a master (swami-abhiman). You must not think, "Why would I eat after her?" There must be no bhoga-buddhi, no swami-abhiman. This is Prabhupad's teachings, and it should be accepted…

One time Prabhupad came to a grihastha sadhu's house for a programme. He had not eaten anything except Tulasi leaves and perhaps some water while he stayed there. After three days, he told his servitor to tell the host that he was going to leave. The host was surprised, "But my festival has not finished! Why are you leaving?" Prabhupad said, "I have a lot of service in Mayapur. I have not come here to waste your rice. I could not give you any benefit, so I do not want to waste your rice." Now, however, the guru comes to teach others and says, "Give me money," "Give me car," "Give me this," "Give me pranami," and so on.

You always take, but you must not take, you must give... Do not take—this is the main thing. What can you give? If you have no money, you have your heart, so give your heart. That is the main thing: you must give your heart. You may have nothing, but you have sweet words, you have a heart. It is not necessary to always give money, it is necessary to always give your heart.

This is what a devotee's activities are like.

Loves Me, Loves Me Not

16 February 2016

When you get married, then you will understand what suffering it is…

'samsara' 'samsara' kari' michhe gela kala
labha na ha-ila kichhu, ghatila janjala

"Time has passed as I have been busy in my material life, and I have got nothing—only became burdened."

samsara-davanala-lidha-loka
tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam
praptasya kalyana-gunarnavasya
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

"I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, the ocean of goodness who assumes the form of a cloud of mercy to deliver the souls burning in the blazing fire of material existence."

The three-fold miseries... What people call love is actually enjoyment. Just for their food people work like asses, but they do not want to serve the Lord…

Once, a girl was married off to a military man. The husband had to go for training, and the wife stayed alone at home for several years. In those days there were no mobile phones, so she wrote to him letters every day, always asking him, "When will you come back? When will you come back?”

The husband had a friend at the military camp, and seeing his attachment to his wife, the friend asked him,

"Does your wife love you very much?”

"Yes, very much.”

"Let's test your wife to see how much she loves you.”

“How?"

"When you have a leave and come back home, I will go with you. I will give you a sleeping pill—you will take it and will not wake up in the morning.”

The husband agreed to do what his friend was suggesting, and that morning, his friend came to his room first. He saw that he did not move and did not wake up, so he told everybody that the man had died in sleep. Everybody began lamenting, and the wife began to cry…

They prepared the body and were about to carry it out to the ghat, but he 'died' with his arms spread sideways, so the body could not pass through the door. The wife asked her husband's friend,

"What are we going to do?”

"Let's break the door," suggested the friend.

"My husband is dead now, who will repair the door? No, it is not necessary. Let's cut his arms instead!”

"I cannot cut his arms!”

"If you cannot, let me do it then.”

As she was about to chop her late husband's arms, he woke up and said, "Oh, so this is how much you love me?”

So, that is 'love'... As soon the husband becomes a problem, as soon as he becomes sick, the girl thinks, "I can marry another one. How many men are there like him?...

Sri Ekachakra Dham: History and Glory

17 February 2016

I rented a helicopter to bring Gurudev here, and made the nat mandir big specially so that a helicopter could land there—that was my plan. Also, this room here [at the veranda of His Divine Grace] is very big because I made it for Gurudev. I do not need a big room, I like a small room, but I made it big for Gurudev's veranda. But Gurudev could not come—when I was coming here, I thought, "What can I do?" He did see this building (Sri Hadai Pandit Sri Padmavati Smriti Kunja) with his own eyes, and he was very happy. Now he can see everything from his place... Gurudev ordered me to make this and by Gurudev's mercy, Gaura Nitai appeared here; it is my happiness.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur wanted to make a Gaudiya Math temple here in Ekachakra, but it was not possible in his lifetime. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj came here once, and Gurudev also came here once or twice—he came on preaching in a nearby town Skandi. Later, I got there one place, a small temple, and arranged the service there. Actually Gurudev did not go to so many places in India, only to one-two places, and one of them was Skandi, it about one hour or forty-five minute journey from here. Gurudev told me that he had gone there with some devotees by an old jeep. It was before I joined the mission.

Gurudev told also that Nityananda Prabhu's place is a good place, the only problem is that the local people are sahajiya—the birthplace of Nityananda Prabhu is occupied by sahajiya—that is why Gurudev hesitated a little to make a temple here. I came here for the first time in 2004 with the desire to make a temple, but at that time Gurudev did not agree to make it. Later, when he was in America in 2007, I remember I was in Siliguri at that time, Gurudev called me and said, "Now the inspiration has come to me, and if you can find some good land in Ekachakra, it will be good.”

I was searching, searching, and by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu we got this place. Before there were only crop fields around. Now people are making new buildings in the area and slowly, slowly they are coming closer to our temple. There is also the Pandav tala nearby—the place where the Pancha Pandavs stayed during their exile. I like this place…

Actually construction is a very heavy job. When I was making Govinda Kunda, I lost seven kilograms weight, and here also it was very difficult. When I came here for the first time, after we registered the land, I slept under the Nari-pota tree (in front of the temple, just outside the gate, it is a place of Nitai's playground and the place where the placenta of Nitai's mother was buried). I came in January, winter season, and it was very cold. I went to the market, bought some plastic and put it on the ground. I got inside it like in a sleeping bag, but still I could not sleep the whole night—sometimes I went into the car, sometimes back into that plastic bag.

The next morning I rented three rooms (two for living and one for the kitchen, and there was also a veranda) for 50 rupees per day (1500 rupees per month). Within the next twenty-two hours I made a "family"—I went to Rampurhat and bought everything that was necessary for one family of five-six devotees (gas cylinder, gas, utensils, oil, bedsheets, mattresses, etc.). We always had photographs of Gurudev and Radha Krishna and Mahaprabhu's Deities with us. In the room where I lived, I made a small place for the Deities' room. At noon I gave some money and took prasadam at the Iskcon temple, but in the evening I said, "No, we will cook ourselves. We will cook simple—some mashed potato (aloo siddha) and soya bean potato rasa." So, we cooked, did arati, Tulasi parikrama, and took prasadam. It was a temporary temple created just within one day—within just a few hours!

Then three workers came from Nabadwip and we started the construction at our land. The first building was a small tin shed that was built at the place where the goshala is now. Also, I got one strong man and gave him a responsible service—I told him to take care of the construction. Every seven days or every three-four days when I got time, I would come by car to supervise—I would come, take prasadam, check the construction progress and leave, I did not stay here. Now this devotee is looking after the Nrisingha Palli construction.

After this building (Sri Hadai Pandit Sri Padmavati Smrti Kunja) was finished, we left the rented house where the devotees had been staying and started building the nat mandir and the temple.

Now everything is complete. This year I am not bringing anything from Nabadwip. Every year I have been bringing rice, dal, vegetables—a truck full of bhog—but this year Niriha Maharaj told me he would manage from there, and I told him I would help. He has the capacity to do it, so he is doing it. He was the temple manger in Siliguri before: it is a small temple, but he has got qualification.

Our fortune is very good—we have come to the holy Dham of Nityananda Prabhu. You cannot come here unless you have a great fortune. The glories of Nityanada Prabhu's Dham are unlimited and hidden. "Nitaiyer karuna habe Vraje Radha-Krsna pabe": if you do not have mercy of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, you cannot get mercy of Radha-Krishna.

Our Param Gurudev, Gurudev of our Gurudev, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, was staying in Mayapur (at that time our Math was not there), and when Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, his Gurudev, left, he went to Vrindavan. There Prabhupad sent him a message, "What I have given you, I gave you so that you could preach the teachings of Rupa and Raghunath, and what are you doing? You are staying in Vrindavan, but you must go and rescue everyone." So, he left Vrindavan and came to Nabadwip, to the place where our Math stands now.

Many of his godbrothers wanted to take sannyas from Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and also many devotees wanted to receive initiation from him, but at first he did not accept any disciples. Then, one time he came here, to the birthplace of Nityananda Prabhu. When he paid his obeisance there and begged Doyal Nitai for His mercy, he heard some akash dhvani, "Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur has already given you his mercy. First you must distribute that mercy to others, then ask Me for mercy. When you become empty, I will give you mercy. First distribute what you have got." After that, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj started giving initiations and he received mercy of Nityananda Prabhu…

This place is the eternal abode of Nityananda Prabhu…

andhibhuta chaksu yara visaya dhulite
ki rupe se para-tattva paibe dekhite

"Our eyes are blinded by the dust of the illusory environment. How can we then see the transcendental world?"

Nityananda Prabhu's appearance day is on Saturday... We do not know, we cannot recognise who will join the festival—we do not have that kind of eyes. We do not know who will come, but our duty is to take their foot dust—it is sufficient for us.

Here Nityananda-Balaram performs His pastimes, here nearby is the Pandav tala, there is Nari-pota in front. It is such a beautiful and quiet place...

At Nityananda Prabhu's Feet

Sri Ekachakra Dham, India
21 February 2016

Today in a very beautiful way, we have concluded the celebration of Sri Nityananda Trayodasi, Sri Nityananda Prabhu's appearance maha-mahotsav. It is not all the time, it is not every day that we can come to the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. We must pray at the lotus feet of Nityananda Prabhu.

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva
iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

"Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name, and serve the Vaishnavs. Sanatan, besides this, there is no other religion."

We have no other path except service to the Vaishnavs. We must serve the Vaishnavs, be merciful to all souls, and have taste for chanting the Holy Name. This is how it is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness, and this is what we have taken the shelter of the lotus feet of the bona fide Guru for. Without getting the mercy of Gurudev, you cannot get mercy of the Lord. Besides the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, there is nothing in this world, so we must get the mercy of Doyal Nitai: Nityananda is supremely merciful and He can do anything. He has actually given us Gaura. We sing the kirtan,

yadi gaura na ha'ta tabe ki ha-ita
kemane dharitam de
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima
jagate janata ke?

(Srila Vasudev Ghosh Thakur)

"If Gaura had not come, who in this world would know the glory of Radha?" In the same way, if Nityananda had not come, who would know the glory of Gaura? Nityananda Prabhu preaches the glory of Gaura in this world and we must worship the lotus feet of this Nityananda Prabhu—we must come to His lotus feet and pray.

Every year we do parikrama around Sri Nabadwip Dham of Gauranga, and every year we do parikrama around Sri Ekachakra Dham of Nityananda Prabhu. This kind of fortune is called sukriti—to be able to do these parikramas in this world you first must have sukriti, good fortune. Sukriti means jnata sukriti and ajnata sukriti (conscious and unconscious good fortune). Flowers or trees cannot serve the Lord themselves, but if you use some flower for the service to the Lord, in this way that flower tree can do some service. Everyone can be engaged in the service of the Lord…

Why do we chant the Holy Name? We chant the Holy Name to get the service of the Lord. If we get the service of the Lord it means we get the mercy of Gurudev: if you get mercy of the Guru, it means you get the service to the Guru. We must always remember this and always think about this.

How can we get the mercy of the Guru? By serving and satisfying the Vaishnavs. If you have service, you have mercy: Gurudev gives mercy to those who do service. Always remember it. Gurudev will give you mercy if you serve your Gurudev. Gurudev said, "If you have no service, you have no mercy." We must always remember this and we must always serve under the guidance of the Guru…

So many people around the world do kirtan, but they do not follow a Guru. People practise sixty-four bhaktyanga (devotional practices), but if they do not follow a Guru, then their practices are not service. Practising the sixty-four bhaktyangas means serving your Guru. You can practise all sixty-four bhaktyanga but not get any service to your Guru, not get any mercy of your Guru... You must think about this.

So we pray that we may try to serve the Guru, Vaishnavs, and Bhagavan. Mind is fickle and naughty ("Dustha mana tumi kisera Vaishnava? Naughty mind! What kind of a Vaishnava do you think you are?") "Satisfying the whims of your mind is not bhajan—following Gurudev, serving the Guru, the Vaishnavs and satisfying them is what is called bhajan." You must remember it. Service means acting under the guidance of the Guru and Vaishnav, and this is what we pray for. We must surrender to Gurudev and meditate on what he wants.

It is said in the scriptures,

hari-sthane aparadhe tare harinama
toma-sthane aparadhe nahiko edana

"If somebody offends the Lord, the Lord's Name delivers them, but if somebody offends you, they have no way to be saved."

If you make an offence at the feet of the Lord, Vaishnavs can save you, but if you make an offence at the feet of the Vaishnavs, at the feet of the Guru, who will save you then, tell me? If you make an offence to the Vaishnavs and the Guru, they will not be able to save you. You must always remember it.

Anukul and Pratikul

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
24 February 2016

When you do service, you should chant the Holy Name. Actually, the Holy Name comes to the mouth of those who do service, so if the Holy Name does not come to your mouth, it means that you are an offender of the Holy Name. If you chant the Holy Name, nonsense talks and gossips will not come to your mouth. The Holy Name does not come to the mouth of those who spend their time talking nonsense—if somebody gossips and chants the Holy Name, this is not the Holy Name…

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi' ahankara
vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji' anye karabi palana

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean. Practise tolerance like a tree. Practise tolerance like a tree. Stop ill-treating others and nurture them instead."

"If somebody does something bad to me, I will not do bad to them." "Pratihimsa tyaji' anye karabi palana: stop ill-treating others and nurture them instead.”

We must become free from all other desires and chant the Holy Name, but if you have desire for bhukti, mukti, siddhi (enjoyment, liberation or powers), the Holy Name will not come to you and you will not be able to serve the Lord. Do you understand?

"Brihat ta svartha paite haile, ksudra svartha tyaga korte habe: if you want to get great things, you must avoid small matters." Money, food, clothes, fickle mind, etc. are all small things. You have some sukriti and one day you can do some service, but if you lose it, your service to the Lord will also go away…

Accept what is favourable to devotion and reject what is not favourable. Srila Sridhar Maharaj said that if you do both what is favourable and what is unfavourable, it will not work (the two do not go together). Sravan, kirtan, lectures is what is favourable, and if something is an obstacle, you must become detached from it. If you chant the Holy Name ("Krishna, Krishna") and make Vaishnava aparadh (have no faith in the Guru and Vaishnavs), it will not work. These two do not go together.

You chant the Holy Name and you must believe that the Lord will protect you, the Lord will maintain you. We sing in the kirtan,

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana

"Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord’s guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me'."

The Lord will protect, the Lord will maintain. Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur also tells,

bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"We will accept what is favourable to devotion and we will reject what is unfavourable to devotion." If we do what is favourable to devotion and do not reject what is unfavourable to devotion, it will not work. It is necessary to understand and follow this. Gramya-katha, prajalpa, niyamagraha, laulyancha, jana-sangancha (gossiping, talking nonsense, superficial attachment to rules and regulations, greed, associating with nondevotees). We must always avoid what is unfavourable to devotion, always avoid it—it is very bad, very harmful for our spiritual life. You have heard the stories of Ramachandra Puri and the brother of Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami that show it. Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami wrote Chaitanya-charitamrita, but he did not mention the name of his own brother anywhere...

Managing or Damaging?

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
25 February 2016

If you always serve, bad thoughts will not come to your mind, durbuddhi (foolishness) will not come. Always keep yourself and your mind engaged in service, lectures, kirtan, etc. Also, when you serve the Lord, you must be sincere, must be nistha (fixed, stable). "Sarala hale gorara siksa bujhiya la-ibe: if you are sincere you will understand Gora's teachings." (Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.3)

Why did they call a meeting for service? We already have five-seven managers here. Who are They? Krishna is the first manager—He manages everything; Srimati Radharani helps Him, Mahaprabhu, Gurudev, and Guru Maharaj. There are also Gaura Nitai—They are the security guards, They watch who comes and goes.

There was a big festival in Ekachakra. It was only two days, but 100 bags of vegetables, 40 bags of potato, 50 bags of rice were finished during these two-three days. Who is managing everything? I did not call a meeting…

They gave you the service to go to the market with the devotees, but it is my 100% objection that you go to the market and sit and gossip in a restaurant. Then, they want to arrange for a washing machine—this is not a hotel, we do not come here for enjoyment. My whole life I have washed my clothes by hand, and to this day they are washed by hand. We have not come here to be managers, we have come here for service.

Almost all arrangement for Gaura Purnima is already finished—I am making the pandal, and the bamboo has already arrived, the people who will make it are here, I have already ordered the flowers and two loudspeakers. The day before yesterday I collected dal, sugar, flour—within one hour I got 200 bags. I told them to send everything later, five-seven days before the parikrama, because there is still time, and if they bring it now, it may rot or get spoilt. Also, we were short of pots for distributing prasadam, so I gave an order for twenty pots so that we have fifty pots for the festival. You went with me to Ekachakra on Wednesday, and you saw that on Thursday and Friday I went marketing, and on dvadasi day and on the day before it. Festival went smooth. Was any meeting necessary? Every month I make a big festival, and no big meetings are necessary.

Somebody comes, puts a chair and says, "Do this, do this, do this," who will follow his instruction, tell me? If I come to the Bagh Bazaar Gaudiya Math and tell some brahmachari, "Hey, do this, do this," will he listen to me? If I work, if I serve, then everybody will follow me—this is how it works; but somebody wants to do everything their way, wants to change all system—seva aparadh is the main problem. Be careful. Somebody comes for fifteen days and thinks, "I will become the boss." What kind of mentality is this? Who will follow them?

Gurudev told some devotee, "Go to Vrindavan and manage the temple there, I will be very happy," but he said, "No, everything is OK there, what is the problem? I called them just an hour ago, it is not necessary to go there..." Gurudev became very angry and started breaking things—he threw a chair, a table, a glass, etc. His servitors became afraid and ran to me, "What should we do? Please do something, only you can manage this." I am a simple boy and I have no fear of Gurudev—I went to Gurudev's veranda and Gurudev became peaceful. That day I saw Gurudev's Nrisighadev murti... This is how angry he was…

Too much courtesy is too much craft. If you make a mistake at the beginning, and after that try to do something, what will you get? It is the same as "killing a cow to donate shoes.”

We have all come here because we want to be a servitor—we do not want to become a manager. You see that I got my position through service, Gurudev got his position because of his service. Before, Gurudev was not here: he lived a householder life, but Srila Sridhar Maharaj brought him here and gave him sannyas—he said, "If you do not take the temple, I will break it and give my Deities to my godbrother." That is love and affection. When Gurudev told me to take sannyas, I ran away—I was still at the Math, but I would come to Gurudev, pay obeisance and quickly go away to do my service. I did not want to take sannyas. I came here as a sweeper, and I want to die as a sweeper. It is not necessary to become a manager—being a manager means a big problem, a big ego…

Depend upon Nityananda Prabhu, depend upon Gurudev, depend upon Krishna, and everything will be all right by Their mercy. The day before yesterday when I went for collection, it was already evening and I thought, "Oh Krishna, Gurudev... Will I have to come here again another time for this job?" I thought I would not get anything at that time—the market closes at 6 o'clock and it was already 5:30 p.m., but I collected so much from four-five shops. Everything comes by the mercy of the Guru, but if you make offence to the Guru, what will you get? If you make an offence to the Guru and do different things, it will not work. If, however, you have mercy of your Guru, you will get everything.

Everybody's quality is like this—service. Devotees come here for service—there is not so much luxury here. In Srila Sridhar Maharaj's time there were no buildings, and many western devotees came and lived under a bamboo tree in a big tent. Now by the mercy of Gurudev so many buildings have appeared…

First give yourself, then give service. What is the use decorating a dead tree? If you have already poured hot water on the root of a tree, what is the use decorating the tree branches after that?

I do not want to say anything to anybody. I am only asking Gurudev for one thing, "Gurudev, please give me power to tolerate." I am tolerating so much, and I am only praying to Gurudev to be able to tolerate, I do not want anything else—I do not want to be a manager, I do not want to be an acharya, or a big devotee...

Srila Prabhupad: Embodiment of Mercy

Sri Mayapur Dham, India
28 February 2016

Presenter: We would like to ask Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj to offer worship to Srila Prabhupad with the flowers of Srila Prabhupad's teachings...

[His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj addresses the Vaishnavs at the grand assembly in Sri Mayapur Dham:]

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

"By the mercy of Gurudev, the dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill." First of all I would like to offer my prostrate obeisance to my Gurupadpadma Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj's incomparable lotus feet, praying for his causeless mercy to be able to serve. Then, I would like to offer my prostate obeisance to all the Guru-varga and the feet of the assembled Vaishnavs of the renounced order.

Today is the holy appearance day of Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad, whom we are here to offer prayers to in the assembly of the devotees. I am offering my obeisance to you all. Please forgive my offences.

Today is a very auspicious day, and we have gathered here in the association of Sri Saraswata Gaudiya Vaishnavs. Following the footsteps of Vaishnavs and our Guru-varga we have gathered here today to speak about some of the glories and qualities of Jagad Guru Srila Prabhupad. However we do not have the power to chant his glories; we can only get this power if we get the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma and the Vaishnavs.

There is nothing like the mercy of Vaishnavs,

vaisnavera guna-gana karile jivera trana
suniyachhi sadhu-guru-mukhe

"Singing the glories of the Vaishnavs rescues and protects the jiva soul. I heard this from the mouth of sadhus and my Guru."

('Jayare jayare jaya paramahamsa mahasaya')

You have already heard from the previous dignitary speakers about the writings of Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj about Srila Prabhupad. One time Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj was asked what his favourite line way, and he replied,

krpaya hari-kirtana-murti-dharam
dharani-bhara-haraka-gaura-janam
janakadhika-vatsala-snigdha-padam
pranamami sada prabhupada-padam

"He is the embodiment of Hari-kirtan. He mercifully relieves Mother Earth of the burden upon her. He is an associate of Sri Gaura, and more kind and affectionate than a father. Eternally I offer my obeisance to my master's feet."

He is janakadhika (more than a father). This is the way how Prabhupad would teach others. He is Jagad Guru and what he gave to the world, no one else could ever give.

sri-krsna-chaitanya-daya karaha vichara
vichara karile chitte pabe chamatkara

"If you consider the mercy of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, you will be wonder-struck to realise it."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.15)

Mahaprabhu said,

prithivite achhe yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra prachara haibe mora nama

"My Name will spread to every village and town on this earth."

but after Mahaprabhu left, there came the aul, baul, karttabhaja, neda, daravesa, sani, sakhibheki, jata-goswami, and others—where would we be if Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur had not picked us from this jungle full of thorns? Moreover,

durdaive sevaka yadi yaya anya sthane
sei thakura dhanya tare chule dhari' ane

“If by chance a servant falls down and goes somewhere else, glorious is that master who captures him and brings him back by the hair.”

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.47)

not only did he pick us from there, but he also personally engaged us in the service to Hari, Guru, Vaishnavs!

Once Srila Prabhupad went to Kasim Bazar (Murshidabad) where there was held a programme of kirtans and lectures. He stayed there for three days and during these three days he took only Tulasi leaves. He said, "I have not come here to waste your rice—I could not give any benefit to you, so I do not want to waste your rice." This is what we have heard about Jagad Guru Srila Prabhupad. You cannot be a Guru by flattery. This is Srila Prabhupad's teachings.

"You can give benefit to the souls by serving them (by engaging them in service of the Lord).”

"Satisfying the whims of your mind is not bhajan. Following the Guru, the Vaishnavs and serving the Guru, the Vaishnavs and satisfying them is what is called bhajan.”

These are the teachings that Jagad Guru Srila Prabhupad gave us.

Every day we sing at the arati time:

jayare jayare jaya gaura-saraswati
bhakativinoda nvaya karuna murati

"All Glory, all Glory to Sri Gaura-Saraswati, Of the Line of Bhakti Vinod—Pure incarnate Mercy."

prakasile gaura-seva bhuvana mangala
bhakatisiddhanta suddha prajnana ujjvala

"You revealed Sri Gaura's Service—the world's greatest fortune, Brilliant as the Perfect Teaching, Perfect Truth—Devotion."

Mahaprabhu said that the Holy Name would be in every village, and Srila Prabhupad, after having established sixty-four Maths, said that it is necessary to make a Gaudiya Math in every heart!

Loving search for the lost servant: the Lord is searching for His servants and to find us He also sends His associates,

tava nija-jan kona mahajane
pathaiya dile tumi

You have sent a great soul, Your associate (to rescue me).

daya kari more patita dekhiya
kahila amare giya
ohe dina-jana suna bhala katha
ullasita ha'be hiya

‘Seeing me so fallen and being merciful, he came to me and said, “O humble soul, listen to this wonderful message and your heart will rejoice.’

tomare tarite sri-krsna-chaitanya
navadvipe avatara

"Sri Krishna Chaitanya has appeared in Nabadwip to deliver you."

Srila Prabhupad is not a hired worker (bharatiya sevak). Now, we are hired to read Bhagavatam, we take money for giving a class, we take money for doing some service, we do kirtan for money—we have become hired workers; but Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur never engaged in such low practice—he was never a bharatiya sevak. We must always remember this.

We must always think how we can preach the words of Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur all over the world. Today, it is possible for the whole world to see this Gaudiya Vaishnav assembly, join the parikrama, hear the Hari-katha—there is internet, newspapers, and so on. This is the age of science, and in this way the teachings of Srila Prabhupad can be preached.

Jay Srila Prabhupad ki jay!

I am bowing to the lotus feet of you all, offering you my prostrate obeisance. I am kindly asking you to please forgive me. I would like to finish here.

vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha krpa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

"Again and again I offer my obeisance unto the Supreme Lord's devotees, who are saviours of the fallen, oceans of mercy, and wish-fulfilling trees."

Dedication to Service

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
29 February 2016

See your own fault. Vaishnavs are adosa-darasi: they do not see others' fault. If you think about yourself, the Lord will not think about you, but if you think about the Lord, the Lord will look after you. I say this all the time.

In this body, there are nine doors, and all kinds of bad things (stool, earwax, mucus, urine, etc.) come from these nine doors, but by the mercy of the Lord, by the mercy of Gurudev we are given a tongue to chant the Holy Name, to chant the glories of the Guru and Vaishnavs, but if we criticise others and tell bad things about others, what is then the difference between the mouth and the other gates? It becomes the same…

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that if somebody is a good speaker, they may not be a proper guru. He said so beautifully, "You can give benefit to the souls by serving them (by engaging them in service of the Lord)." "Satisfying the whims of your mind is not bhajan. Following the Guru, the Vaishnavs and serving the Guru, the Vaishnavs and satisfying them is what is called bhajan.”

—Maharaj, I have a prayer to you...

What prayer?

—Could you please give me mercy at Gaura Purnima?

What mercy should I give to you? Do you want to take Harinam?

—Yes...

You should want to serve and must give up other desires...

anya abhilasa chhadi, jnana karma parihari
kaya-mane kariba bhajana
sadhu-sange krsna-seva, na pujiba devi-deva
ei bhakti parama karana

"The topmost process of devotional service is to worship the Lord with body and mind, giving up desires for fruitive activities and mental speculation. One should serve Lord Krsna in the association of devotees without worshipping any demigods.”

(Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 13, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

Kaya-mane—do you understand the meaning? You must give your body and your mind for the service to the Lord. Body and mind. If you give only your body, it will not do.

Sadhu-sange krsna-seva: you must serve in the association of sadhus and give up other desires. You must accept what is favourable to devotion and reject what is not favourable. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur said that if you do what is in favour of devotion and at the same time do what is not in favour of devotion, the result will be nothing. You must leave dharma (religion), artha (money), kama (material desires), and moksa (liberation)...

...When you do service, you must always think, "I do not do anything—Guru, Vaishnavs, Bhagavan do everything." Such thinking must always come to you. If somebody says, "I am doing it," when this sometimes comes to their mind, it leads to seva aparadh. The Lord does everything through me. It is not necessary to become an acharya, it is not necessary to become a Guru, and it is not necessary to become a manager. It is those who do service that can get the Lord.

Sri Krishna vijayate sankirtana (the congregational glorification of Sri Krishna is supremely victorious). It is written in the pranam mantra of Mahaprabhu,

namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-chaitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah

"Again and again I offer my obeisance unto You, Sri Krishna Chaitanya, the supremely merciful, golden form of Sri Krishna, the giver of Krishna-prema."

He is sankirtana-dhara, vadanyaya. Vadanyaya means a great donor (data). Somebody is a donor because they give one million dollars, somebody is a donor because they give ten dollars, but Prabhupad called Mahaprabhu maha-vadanyaya—the greatest donor. Mahaprabhu did not give one million dollars. What did He give? He gave Krishna to us. He is the greatest donor. Guru can give us Krishna—this is Gurudev's mercy. We must always remember this...

Vice of Kali-Yuga

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
1 March 2016

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.18)

"If you ask the Lord for some other things, Krishna will give that to you and make you happy, but He will withdraw devotion from you." You cannot do what is unfavourable to devotion. I told it yesterday also.

Today I got a letter from a devotee—he sent his son for good training, to learn in the devotees' association, but his son had become addicted to marijuana and now the father wants some advice from me. He sent the boy to stay under the guidance of a sannyasi, but that sannyasi said, "Yes, it is no problem, you can take marijuana," and now he is writing to me... What kind of advice am I to give? Even for a nondevotee, smoking is very bad for health.

I remember when I was fourteen, my uncle found out that his son (my cousin who was about sixteen at that time) had started smoking. When he heard about it, he wanted to see if it was true or not, so one day he hid somewhere to watch his son. My cousin was in his room and said he was going to the bathroom. The bathroom was in an open place in the garden—the territory of our house was large, like the area of the temple. He went to that garden and had a smoke. When my uncle caught his son smoking, he tied him with a rope to a tree and beat him for half an hour to remove the smoking habit. I can still remember that. That was the kind of punishment.

Also our school was a coordinated school, and if some twelve-sixteen years old boy told something bad to a girl—even if a boy said to a girl something like, "I love you"—you cannot imagine what kind of punishment he would get for that. Near the school there was a field—they would take an empty coconut shell, make a hole in it and put the boy's foot inside, he had to stand on that foot and have the other foot in the air and look at the sun for half an hour. This is the kind of punishment we had at school. It was very strong.

The Kali-yuga's people are now addicted to ganja, addicted to drinking whiskey, addicted to smoking, it is a very difficult situation…

When I was twelve years old, I did not even know that tea was hot. One time I went to some wedding ceremony, I was a school boy at that time, twelve-thirteen years old, and at the wedding they gave everybody tea. I drank it like water (pouring into mouth without touching to the lips) and burnt my face and spilled it all over myself. This was the first and the last time I had tea. I never take tea. I do not know how to play cards, I have never seen marijuana or ganja in my life: I heard about and have seen people smoking cigarettes, beedi, but I do not even know what colour ganja is.

People are ruining their lifetime...

Chastity: Disciple's Virtue

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
1 March 2016

Very fancy, luxury food is not necessary. Mahaprabhu told Raghunath Das Goswami,

vairagira krtya—sada nama-sankirtana
saka-patra-phala-mule udara-bharana

"The duty of a renunciant is to always engage in Nama sankirtan. He should fill his bellies with vegetables, leaves, fruits, and roots."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.226)

Simple things are sufficient...

Atyahara, prayasa, prajalpa, niyamagraha, laulya, jana-sanga (too much eating, accumulating too much, talking nonsense, superficial attachment to rules and regulations, greed, associating with nondevotees). If somebody follows the rules and regulations fully, their practising life can last longer, forever; otherwise if you feel some material desire is starting to take root and you do not finish it at an early stage, it will increase and increase, grow more and more. Sleeping, eating, laziness, and so on—the more you increase it, the more you will want it.

nidralasya hata sukarye virata
akarye udyogi ami

"I am subdued by laziness and sleep. I do not want to do what is good, and I want to do what is bad."

(Saranagati, 5.4)

The same is true about atyahara, prayasa, prajalpa, niyamagraha, laulya, jana-sanga.

This sloka by Srila Rupa Goswami describes what is called pure devotion,

anyabhilasita sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama

"The highest devotion is that which satisfies Lord Krsna, free from the coverings of any pursuits such as action, knowledge."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.1.11)

Anya-abhilasita sunyam—no other material desires.

What is mainly necessary is chastity…

I heard that a devotee went to some place in Mayapur, but we do not go to that temple. Gurudev told me not to go to that temple and I never go there. After Srila Sridhar Maharaj expired, a sannyasi from that tempe came to fight with Gurudev—it happened in front of me. Also, after Srila Sridhar Maharaj's disappearance, many godbrothers left Gurudev and went to take sannyas there... Maybe a month after I joined the temple they sent an invitation to our temple, and Gurudev sent me there to see who was there, but after I went there, Gurudev said, "You gave me the report, it is enough. Do not go there again." And I have never gone there again.

Past two-three years different temples organised Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's festival, but I did not go there. Why? Nobody knows it, but it is because I have Gurudev's instruction inside, and if Gurudev told me not to go to the temple where the festival is held, how will I go there, tell me? Maybe Gurudev said it to me twenty-five years ago, but I will not forget it. He told me not to go to this place, and I will not go there. I want to follow that instruction until my death. This year I went there because the festival was in Srila B.D. Madhav Maharaj's temple, and I have no problem with them, Gurudev has no problem with them. That is called chastity.

Even for my disciples I will not allow these kinds of things. One time a devotee went to a sahajiya temple, and I heard he was reading their books. I asked him if it was true, and he admitted, "Yes, I went there. I like their books." Next time he wanted to stay at our temple, I told him, "No, Prabhu. You think you are my disciple, but what is this? If you do not follow my instruction, you are not my disciple." I told him also how Raghunath Das Goswami did not accept a pot that had come from Chandravali's place.

Chandravali wants to serve Krishna, but without Radharani; Mirabai also followed Krishna, but without Radharani. Raghunath Das Goswami showed that they did not accept that kind of conception—he threw his buttermilk away. Why? Just because the pot was coming from Chandravali's kunja. Chandravali wants to serve Krishna bypassing Radharani—she does not follow Radharani, that is why Raghunath Das Goswami thought, "If I take that buttermilk, it will be an offence to Srimati Radhika. Have I come to Vrindavan to make offence to Radharani or to serve Radharani? What have I come here for?" That is why he did not accept that pot, along with the buttermilk.

This kind of mentality should come. There are so many things that are good for us to know and understand...

A Humble Heart

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
3 March 2016

Do you understand that I want your good? It is necessary to give honour to others. We pray to Gurudev, "Sakale sammana karite sakati deha natha yatha yatha." Do you understand what it means? "Gurudev, please give me power to give respect to everyone." If you eat wood, you will pass coal in the stool: as you sow, so you reap.

We must understand that the Lord can remove, can forgive all offences. Madhai beat Nityananda Prabhu, and Mahaprabhu could not forgive it, but when Nityananda Prabhu gave His mercy, then his offences went away.

We must realise why we chant kirtans. Somebody says, "I will not sing!" But, "Aparadha-phale mama chitta bhela vajra-sama:" if you make so many offences, your heart becomes as hard as a thunderbolt, and as a result, kirtan, chanting of the Holy Name will not come to your mouth. This is the condition that comes if you always make offences. If you make offences to the Vaishnavs, to the Guru, then even the Lord Himself will not save you.

Look at Ramachandra Puri's example. Madhavendra Puri had two disciples, Ishwar Puri and Ramachandra Puri. What offence did Ramachandra Puri make? He used to criticise Mahaprabhu behind His back. One time Mahaprabhu was invited to take prasadam at some house, and Ramachandra Puri went there secretly to see what kind of prasadam Mahaprabhu was given and what He was eating. When he saw it, he said, "Oh, He is a sadhu, but eats so much!" Mahaprabhu heard about this and said to the devotees, "From tomorrow do not invite Me again." All the devotees went to Jagannath and said, "Please remove this person from here!" And Jagannath did.

Another time, before that, Ramachandra Puri saw that there were ants in Mahaprabhu's room. Ants can easily come anywhere, but he said to Mahaprabhu, "What is this, O sannyasi, O sadhu? You are a new sannyasi, are You taking too many sweets?" Mahaprabhu thought, "Everybody says he is criticising Me behind My back, but today he is doing it openly in front of Me." Mahaprabhu replied, "Yes, yes, Prabhu. My tongue is always very naughty, what can I do? My tongue wants to taste sweet things, so now I am eating sweets." What was Mahaprabhu to say to him? This was Ramachanda Puri's offence.

hari-sthane aparadhe tare hari-nama
toma-sthane aparadhe nahika edana

"If one offends the Lord, the Lord's Name delivers him, but if one offends you, one has no salvation."

If you offend a Vaishnav, this offence goes to Mahaprabhu, then to the Lord. You must always remember this.

As I was saying the other day, we have nine 'doors' in the body. Through one door urine passes, through one door stool passes, through another door spit passes, and so on, but out of their mercy, Gurudev and Krishna gave us a tongue, and Krishna lets us chant the Holy Name with it. If, instead of chanting the Holy Name, we criticise others, what is then the difference between your mouth and the other doors where urine and stool come out of? It is the same. Guru ninda, Vaishnav ninda are like urine and stool—if you criticise, chastise or say bad things about the Guru and the Vaishnavs, this is what is coming from your mouth. The Lord gave you the tongue to chant the Holy Name.

karitechchha upakara yate para upakara
labhe jiva sri-krsna-sevaya

"You are giving great benefit by helping other souls get service of Lord Krishna."

If you chant the Holy Name, you will get the great benefit; if you do service, you will get the benefit; and if I do service, I will get the benefit. Just as when I take prasadam, my belly is full—will your belly be full if I take prasadam? No. Out of anger, you say, "I will not chant!" If you do not chant, what is the problem for others? It makes it difficult for you—if you do not chant, it is demotion for your spiritual life. You are angry with somebody and say you will not chant the kirtan, you will not take prasadam, but what will you get by that?

"Tosamod kori kokhon guru haite pari na: you cannot become a guru by flattery." If it is my godbrother, I can say, "Please stay, do not go away," but if it is my disciple, I will not—if somebody cannot tolerate my chastisement, then they can go somewhere else, no problem. If you are my disciple, you must tolerate my chastisement because I am chastising you for your own benefit.

I tell how much Gurudev chastised me as an example for everybody. He chastised me so much and I am happy about that. Now I am sad because now no one chastises me, but when Gurudev chastised me I was very happy—I laughed and came again. I did not worry about it. Everybody was afraid to go to Gurudev, but I was not—he is my everything, why will I be afraid of him? He would tell me to get out, but I would come closer to him. I did the opposite. This is the relationship that I have with my Guru, and now I can understand how much he is supporting me—he is removing all kinds of dirt, all kinds of obstacles.

We must always think about these things. Nija sukha bhuli, sudina-hrdaya: we must forget our own happiness and have a very humble heart.

Parikrama: Benefit and Benefactor

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
4 March 2016

sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi yeba jane chintamani
tara haya vraja-bhume vasa

"Those who always think about Sri Nabadwip Dham, reside in Sri Vrindavan."

Who writes this? Narottam Das Thakur.

gaura amara ye-saba sthane
karala bhramana range
se-saba sthana heriba ami
pranayi-bhakata-sange

"In the company of loving devotees, I behold all the places my Gaurasundar roamed during His ecstatic Pastimes."

[Addressing newly arrived devotees:] You are fortunate that in your old age you have come for Nabadwip Dham parikrama. We do not know when we will leave our body, but we have joined Nabadwip Dham parikrama, and even if you go by rikshaw, you will get benefit. When Gurudev was eighteen years old, he wrote a poem about Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Gurudev wrote, "Aya aya tvara kari..."—if somebody is old or lame and cannot do the parikrama, if they see devotees doing the parikrama and pay dandavat to them, they will also get some real benefit. We cannot stop death—we can die any day, but we will do parikrama…

Also, when I see some eighty-year-old lady walking before me and faster than me, then I get so much energy from them. When I see that, I become surprised. They get strength through chanting of the Holy name—this is the kind of change that comes. If you chant the Holy Name, the Holy Name will take you [on parikrama]. When Hiranyakasipu's people threw Prahlad Maharaj into water, he did not know how to swim, but still he floated. That is the power of the Holy Name.

When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu chanted, through His chanting, through the power of the Holy Name, a crocodile got its previous body—a dev-sisu, a child of demigods, got his body back. He was a demigods' son, but he made an offence in Kamyavan, Vrindavan. A small and childish boy, he cut the sikha (jata, dreadlocks) of Durvasa Muni, and Durvasa Muni gave him a curse. He said, "You are a very naughty boy. You have cut my jata! You will become a crocodile (nakra) and be a crocodile for the next four ages!" The boy began to cry so much, "You have given me your curse, what will happen to me now?" As the boy cried so much, Durvasa Muni then said, "OK, I have already said it, it has come out of my mouth, so I cannot change it, but I can tell you something: when Sri Krishna becomes Gauranga Mahaprabhu, He will go to the lake where you will live, and He will chant the Holy Name on the bank of that lake. You will hear the Holy Name from His mouth and get your previous body." Mahaprabhu came to that place (on the third day of the parikrama we pass that place and tell this story at that time) with His associates, chanted the Holy Name and the boy got his previous body—the crocodile body finished.

"Niraparadhe Nama laile pabe Krsna-prema-dhana: if you chant the Holy Name without offences, you will get the wealth of divine love of Krishna." (Cc, 3.4.71) Gurudev said, "Hate pele satya, Harinama satya": what you have in your hands, is true, and the second thing that is true is Harinam...

Gift of Service

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
5 March 2016

Janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi come to everybody: birth, death, old age, disease happen—this kind of problems comes to everybody. "Vrddha-kala aola, saba sukha bhagala, pida-vase ha-inu katara: old age came, and all happiness fled—subjugated by diseases, I became distressed" (Saranagati, 6.3). Every year we are growing older, and day by day becoming more and more tired…

anyabhilasita sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama

"The highest devotion is that which satisfies Lord Krishna, free from the coverings of any pursuits such as action, knowledge."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.1.11)

anya abhilasa chhadi, jnana karma parihari
kaya-mane kariba bhajana

"The topmost process of devotional service is to worship the Lord with body and mind, giving up desires for fruitive activities and mental speculation."

(Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 13, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

Kaya-mane karibe bhajana: we must serve with our mind and body.

sadhu-sange krsna-seva, na pujiba devi-deva
ei bhakti parama karana

"One should serve Lord Krsna in the association of devotees without worshipping any demigods."

(Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 13, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

It is written about Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur,

karitechchha upakara yate para upakara
labhe jiva sri-krsna-sevaya

"You are giving great benefit by helping other souls get service of Lord Krishna."

You must engage everybody in the service of the Lord—everything that exists in this world is to be used for the service of the Lord.

In Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's times, educated people were rare. Once, a boy came to Chaitanya Math and wanted to join the mission. Prabhupad observed him for a few days and saw him walking around the Math, here, there. Finally, he asked the temple manager,

"I see one boy has been coming here for the past few days... Why is that boy not doing any service?”

"That boy is useless, he cannot do anything," replied the manager, and Prabhupad said, showing his anger,

"You are foolish, that is why you cannot engage that person in service. It is not his fault, it is your fault that you cannot engage him. Bring that boy to me.”

Prabhupad met the boy, asked him many questions, and finally gave him a great service. The boy turned out to be highly educated, so Prabhupad told him, "When I am giving a lecture, you must write the lecture down." At that time there were no computers, no typewriters, nothing, so he would write it down by hand. This is how the Gaudiya magazine was published. The magazine came out every month, and each twelve months he made it into a book. Now we have fifty-two books like that. He was always with Prabhupad—when Prabhupad went on preaching tours, gave lectures, he would be there, writing his lectures down and then he would publish it in the Gaudiya magazine. His name is Sundarananda Vidya Vinod. He came from Bangladesh, from the same area as Narottam Das Thakur.

kuliyate pasandira atyachara kaila ya'ra
ta sabara dosa ksama kari'
jagate kaile ghosana 'taroriva sahisnuna'
hana 'kirtaniyah sada harih'

"You forgave all the atheists of Kuliya village, despite their bad behaviour. Loudly you proclaimed to one and all: one who is more tolerant than a tree can always chant the glories of Lord Hari."

Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur gave to us so much, he gave us Srila Prabhupad—if he had not come, how would we get Guru Maharaj, Gurudev? Actually we cannot see Gurudev properly,

andhibhuta chaksu yara visaya dhulite
ki rupe se para-tattva paibe dekhite

"Our eyes are full of dust, how can we see the eternal things, the perfect things?"

aprakrta vastu nahe prakrta-gochara
veda-puranete ei kahe nirantara

"Spiritual substance is never within the jurisdiction of the material conception. This is always the verdict of the Vedas and Puranas."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 9.195)

It means you cannot see the transcendental things with your material eyes. You must have the eyes to see it. You have other eyes in your heart, and through those eyes you can see everything.

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj writes, "Prakasile gaura-seva bhuvana mangala: you have manifested the service of the Lord all over the world."

A great desire is necessary, if you have a great desire, you will be able to serve. If you have a strongest desire, you will serve your Lord, serve your Guru, and Krishna will take your service, Guru will take your service—mercy comes through desire.

In His conversation with Ramananda Ray, when discussing karma-misra bhakti, Mahaprabhu said, "Eho bahye, age kaha ara." Jnana-misra bhakti—"Eho bahye, age kaha ara." Jnana-sunya bhakti—"Eho bahye, age kaha ara." Then they came to Lord Krishna's paramour love, Krishna-prema bhakti—the highest conception. Gopis' prema, gopis’ service mood are the main things for us in our spiritual life. Gopis do not think about themselves at all; they never think about themselves.

"Kise bhala haya kabhu na bujhinu": what will be good for me, what will be bad for me—I do not know anything, it all depends upon you, Gurudev. When I came to you, I bowed down to you, I surrendered to you heart and soul, that is all I know, and other things—what I get, what will be good—that is up to you. I do not know what is service, what is karma, I do not know anything, but I can try to follow your order, I can try to follow your advice. That is what we can do.

If we forget our duty, forget our service, forget what I am here for, what I got the human body for—now we know that, but if we forget it—if there comes even a little distance from our service, Maya is always ready. Maya is always searching for a hole. Just as a snake is going everywhere searching for a hole where it can enter and rest, Maya is also searching for a hole where she can take rest. As soon as she gets some place, gets a chance, you will be immediately attacked by Maya. “Nikatastha maya tare japatiya dhare: [When souls become averse to Krishna and desire enjoyment,] nearby Maya seizes them." (Pv, 6.2) Maya is always around you and always searching for an opportunity, always wants to get a chance to catch you. So, we should try to engage ourselves in the service…

Rest is also necessary—for service, then it is not a problem; but not as an excuse for laziness. Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur told,

nidralasya hata sukarye virata
akarye udyogi ami

"I am subdued by laziness and sleep, averse to performing good deeds, and eager to perform sinful deeds."

(Saranagati, 5.4)

Nidralasya hata: nidra means sleeping, and alasya means laziness. Sukarye virata akarya udyogi ami: we always avoid the good activities and always go to the bad activities.

pratistha lagiya sathya-acharana
lobha-hata sada kami
e hena durjana sajjana-varjita
aparadhi nirantara

"I engage in deceitful behaviour in pursuit of prestige. I am ruined by greed and constantly covetous. Such a sinner as I is shunned by devotees, and is a constant offender."

(Saranagati, 5.4-5)

We are always offenders...

Effective Service

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
5 March 2016

"Satisfying the whims of your mind is not bhajan." If your mind wants to go somewhere or to do something, it is not service. Srila Sridhar Maharaj told Gurudev, "Do not follow your mind. What I am telling you, that will be service." If I tell you to read Bhagavatam, then that is service.

I have told also many times how once Srila Goswami Maharaj, Srila Madhav Maharaj, Srila Jajavar Maharaj and others gathered at the same place. Madhav Maharaj was reading a newspaper, and Goswami Maharaj asked Jajavar Maharaj, "Maharaj can you pass me the newspaper?" Jajavar Maharaj was chanting on his beads, so he took the newspaper in his left hand and gave it to Goswami Maharaj, crossing his left hand with the newspaper in it over his right hand with japa mala. Goswami Maharaj chastised him, "What Vaishnav tells you, that is service. You cannot do both things. You must stop chanting on your beads and give the newspaper. What you did is not proper etiquette.”

Somebody asked me last year why the fountain in front of the samadhi-mandirs and the brahmachari asham does not run. I gave them the answer: there is no mercy from Gurudev because I made that fountain without his permission. I repaired the whole (one-storey) brahmachari building, and Gurudev was happy because it was very old at that time and snakes lived there, but Gurudev said he did not like that I made a fountain there. I had tried to run the fountain many times, but it did not work—somebody would steal the whole motor, or the motor would break, or somebody would steal the fountain piece... Finally I understood that Gurudev was not happy with it, so there was no mercy of Gurudev and it would not work. After that—no more trying. It is important to understand this.

We must always try to engage ourselves in service. Through service you will also get good association.

One time, Nityananda Prabhu told Krishna Das Kaviraj Das Goswami in a dream, "Do not stay at this house with your brother. Do not be afraid, come to Vrindavan." Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's brother made an offence to the lotus feet of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu. He was a follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but he had no faith in Nityananda Prabhu. Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's brother and Gunarnava Mishra arranged a big festival, but when Nityananda Prabhu's servitor, a brahmin called Ramdas Minaketan, came there, they did not give him proper respect.

If you are doing puja, arati, worshipping Deities, and at that time your Guru or some great personality, a Vaishnav comes, you must stop your puja and pay obeisance to him, give him respect; after that you can continue the puja. That is what is said in the scriptures. When Gunarnava Mishra was doing puja and Ramdas Minaketan came there, he did not even say anything to him. He thought, "I am a follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and he is a follower of Nityananda Prabhu, why should I give him respect?" Ramdas Minaketan went to Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami and, with his hair standing on end, told him what had happened. Later, when Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami chastised his brother, he said his behaviour was ardha-kukkuti nyaya (half hen logic). That same day Nityananda Prabhu appeared in front of him at night.

Ardha-kukkuti nyaya means a hen gives eggs from one side, and from the other side it only eats; you like the backside because you can get something from it (eggs), so you cut the hen into two parts, take the backside and throw away the head, thinking it is useless. But when you cut the back side of the hen, the whole hen will be dead—will you get any eggs the next day? No. Nityananda Prabhu and Gaurachandra are one whole, two limbs of the same body. You cannot accept one side and not the other.

Vaisnav Ke? An Appeal to Your Mind

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
6 March 2016

You should always reject nirjan bhajan.

Pujyapad Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also wanted to stay quietly in Vrindavan, and he did live in Vrindavan, at Pavan Sarovar, but Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told him that this was not our conception.

Sometimes we do not like crowds, we do not like so many people, and we want to live alone. We do not want to stay in the temple because there are so many rules and regulations in the temple—we have to take prasadam at a certain time, go to mangal aratiat a certain time, give class at a certain time, and so on—everything has to be maintained at a certain time, and if you live alone, nobody will tell you anything, but you will be losing your devotional activities. This is what we do not understand. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that nirjan bhajan is just self-deception.

pratisthara tare nirjanera ghare
tava harinama kevala kaitava [1]

"If you stay alone at home for your own fame and name, your chanting of the Holy Name is nothing but cheating."

Vaisnava ke?

(By Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur)

dusta mana ! tumi kisera vaisnava ?

"O naughty mind! What kind of a Vaishnav are you?"

You say you are a Vaishnav, but how is it possible? Your mind is naughty.

pratisthara tare nirjanera ghare
tava harinama kevala kaitava [1]

"You stay alone at home for your own fame and name—your chanting of the Holy Name is nothing but cheating."

You do not go for the arati, do not come to the class, do not sing kirtans, do not maintain your service; you only sit alone and do bhajan on your own—for your own name and fame you go to some secluded place and think you are chanting the Holy Name, but it isvanchana, kevala kaitava, simply cheating, deception.

jadera pratistha sukarera vistha
jana na ki taha mayara vaibhava ?

"Material name and fame are pig's stool. Do you not know that it is a part of maya, illusory environment?"

What is pratistha? You are a Ph.D., you are a Doctor, you are a great scholar, you teach so many people, but it is stool of a pig: it is all external illusory environment.

kanaka-kamini divasa-yamini
bhariya ki kaja, anitya se saba [2]

"Your days and nights are filled with worries about money and women, but what is the use? It is all temporary."

Money, wife, and so on—all this enjoyment is temporary.

tomara kanaka bhogera janaka
kanakera dvare sevaha madhava

"Your money is the source of enjoyment, but you must use money to serve Madhava."

You get some money and you must serve the Lord, serve your Guru with that money.

kaminira kama nahe tava dhama
tahara malika kevala yadava [3]

"You hanker for women, but they are not meant for you. Their only proprietor is Yadava, Krishna."

pratisthasa-taru jada-maya-maru
na pele ravana yujhiya raghava
vaisnavi pratistha tate kara nistha
taha na bhajile labhibe raurava [4]

"When Ravana fought against Raghava (Lord Ramachandra), he could not get the tree of name and fame in the desert of material illusory environment. Worship with sincerity the glory of Vaishnavs because if you do not, you will go to hell."

When somebody gets some name and fame through their practising, we can accept that.

hari-jana-dvesa pratisthasa-klesa
kara kena tabe tahara gaurava
vaisnavera pachhe pratisthasa achhe
tata kabhu nahe anitya vaibhava [5]

"Hating devotees, always suffering from the desire for name and fame—what is so glorious about that? Pratistha runs behind the Vaishnavs, and there is nothing temporary in that—Vaishnavs's fame is eternal."

se hari-sambandha sunya-maya-gandha
taha kabhu naya jadera kaitava

"Those who have a relation with the Lord, who do not have even a scent of illusion, never engage in material cheating."

Vaishnavs are related with the Lord—some great Vaishnavs get name and fame through their practising—for example Narottam Das Thakur, our Guru-varga, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Gurudev, Guru Maharaj, Haridas Thakur, and so on. Everybody knows them, and their fame is not temporary—it is eternal.

pratistha-chandali nirjanata-jali
ubhaye janiha mayika raurava [6]

"The nets of living alone are just like the fame of a female dog-eater—both are hell of maya."

kirtana chhadiba pratistha magiba
ki kaja dhundiya tadrsa gaurava

"You give up kirtan and seek prestige and position, but what is the use of seeking such glory?"

You leave kirtan and always hanker for name and fame, but what will you get by such practice?

madhavendra-puri bhava-ghare churi
na karila kabhu sadai janaba [7]

"Always remember that Madhavendra Puri never did anything for his own sense pleasure (lit. never stole from the house of this senses)."

You must understand that Madhavendra Puri ran away from pratistha. He thought, "If people find out that Gopinath has stolen khir for me, everybody will come to me, and I will become famous. I must run away from here." He decided to run away to Puri, but before he could reach Puri, name and fame were already there.

tomara pratistha sukarera vistha
tara-saha sama kabhu na manaba

"Your fame is pig's stool. Never think it is one and the same [as the fame of great Vaishnavs]."

Vaishnavs' fame and your fame are not the same. You may be a minister, a president, a prime-minister, a king, but it is not the same as Madhavendra Puri's position. Do not compare with him.

matsarata-vase tumi jada-rase
ma'jechha chhadiya kirtana-sausthava [8]

"You sink to endless jealousy and enjoyment of the material world, giving up the greatness of kirtan."

tai dusta mana nirjana bhajana
pracharichha chhale kuyogi-vaibhava

"O naughty mind, you want to practise in a secluded place, but actually on pretence of preaching you engage in a foul practice."

Your mind wants to go to some secluded place for bhajan, but it is not bhajan—it is pretending, cheating.

prabhu sanatane parama yatane
siksa dila yaha, chinta' sei saba [9]

"Mahaprabhu took so much care to teach this to Sanatan Goswami, always remember this."

sei duti katha bhula' na sarvatha
uchchaihsvare kara harinama-rava

"Wherever you are you must not forget these two topics [false renunciation and proper renunciation] and loudly chant the Holy Name of the Lord."

You must always remember about the phalgu-vairagya (false renunciation) and yukta-vairagya (pure, or proper renunciation). What should you renounce? Bhog tyag, tyag tyag: renounce enjoyment and renounce renunciation. Who will you renounce for? Nothing is your property, so actually you cannot renounce anything.

phalgu, ara yukta, baddha ara mukta
kabhu na bhaviha 'eka-kara' saba [10]

"Whether you are a conditioned soul or a liberated soul, never think that false and proper renunciation are one and the same."

We are interested in yukta-vairagya, not phalgu-vairagya, not 'lok-dekhana vairagya'. I often tell you,

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

"You show the world you serve Gora simply by wearing tilak but secretly you misbehave. Gora will catch you, you thief!"

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7)

“gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

"Just saying, 'I am Gora's! I am Gora's!' does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

Yukta-vairagya and phalgu-vairagya are not the same. You can see people do something in their house and people do something in the temple, but do the people do what they are doing at the temple just to get some food? No, they do everything for the Lord's service, for the satisfaction of their Guru and the Lord.

For example, here you take care of and serve the cows, the cows give milk, and with that milk you cook sweet rice for the Lord. In this way the cows also serve the Lord. Do the cows serve the Lord at the people's houses? People keep cows and take milk for their own belly, but here the cows serve the Lord.

People have flowers at their homes, and we have flowers here, but they are not the same—our flowers are for Govinda. Somebody cooks for himself, and somebody cooks for the Deities—it is also not the same. Srila Prabhupad said that we must not think these are the same. This is the difference between phalgu and yukta vairagya. You can make a family, but your family must be for the Lord.

kanaka-kamini pratistha-baghini
chhadiyachhe yare, sei ta vaisnava
sei anasakta sei suddha bhakta
samsara tatha paya parabhava [11]

"Those who give up money, women, and fame the tigress, are the true Vaishnavs—they are detached, they are pure devotees, and they can defeat the whole material world."

Those who can give up money, who can give up women, who can give up fame the tigeress, are Vaishnavs. They are anasakta, have no attachment to these things; and those who have no attachment to these, can defeat maya.

yatha-yogya bhoga nahi tatha roga
anasakta sei, ki ara kahaba

"Those who take only what is necessary, have no disease and are truly detached. What more can I say?"

If you eat too much, disease will come. Whatever is necessary for your maintenance, that is sufficient. It is not necessary to fast too much or eat too much (prayascha, atyahara, prajalpa, niyamagraha, laulancha, jana-sangancha). You should not overdo, thinking, "I will eat more, and more.”

When an ant gets into a container of molasses, it thinks, "I will eat more, and more, and more." After it eats so much, it becomes very heavy and cannot come out, so it dies in the molasses. If you leave a pot of molasses open, you will see so many ants there.

What is necessary for your maintaining spiritual life, that is sufficient. You must maintain your family, but your family is like Krishna's family, so whatever is necessary to maintain your family, that is sufficient for you.

asakti-rahita sambandha-sahita
visaya-samuha sakali madhava [12]

"When you are free from material attachment and establish relationship with the Lord, then you will see that everything around you is Lord Madhav Himself."

You must have no attachment to other things, and have relation with the Lord.

se yukta-vairagya taha ta saubhagya
tahai jadete harira vaibhava

"Those who practise such proper renunciation are extremely fortunate—they become an extension of the Lord in this material world."

It is necessary to practise proper renunciation. If you think, "I will stay in silence, sit at home, and do nirjan bhajan," it is phalgu-vairagya (false renunciation). Gurudev gives you service, "Look after my temple, look after my devotees, look after my Deities," but as soon as some problem comes you decide to run away and stay in Haridwar. This is useless.

kirtane yahara pratistha-sambhara
tahara sampati kevala kaitava [13]

"If somebody does kirtan (chants the Holy Name, preaches, etc.) for their own name and fame, then the result is nothing but cheating."

What do I do kirtan for? I must purify myself, that is why I must sing songs, I must practise, must engage in Hari-katha, Krishna-katha—for my own purification, not for name and fame.

visaya-mumuksa bhogera vubhuksu
du'ye tyaja mana, dui avaisnava

"Some want liberation from the material world, and some want to enjoy—dear mind, renounce both, for they are both not Vaishnavs."

You must avoid both those who are averse to the material world and those who are after enjoyment. For example, somebody is a temple manager, and to maintain the temple they get some money—they can say, "No, I will not touch money, it is visaya" (or, "I will not be the manager because I do not want to handle money"), or they can be attached to money. You must avoid both such people—those who always hanker for money, who always think about money, and those who always avoid money. Both are avaishnav (non-devotees).

krsnera sambandha aprakrta skandha
kabhu nahe taha jadera sambhava [14]

"What is related to Krishna and the transcendental world has nothing to do with the material world."

You can handle money if it is for service of the Lord.

mayavadi jana krsne-tara mana
mukta abhimane se ninde vaisnava
vaisnavera dasa tava bhakti asa
kena va dakichha nirjana ahava [15]

"Mayavadis, impersonalists, who are averse to Krishna and have the ego of being liberated offend Vaishnavs. O mind, if you are a servant of Vaishnavs and aspire for devotion, why are you then crying and fighting for solitude?"

ye phalgu-vairagi kahe nije tyagi
se na pare kabhu haite vaisnava

"Those who engage in false renunciation and call themselves taygi, can never become a Vaishnav."

Why are you going to a quiet, secluded place?

Gurudev sent me village to village, Gurudev wrote a poem in which he said, "Call people for the parikrama!" I went door to door, and Gurudev was very happy with that, he said, "Vinod is going to so many places and bringing people here for the Dham parikrama. But for him, how would so many people come for Gaura Purnima?" But I remember somebody once asked me, "Why do you invite so many people? It is too crowded, we cannot tolerate it”...

Those who practise false renunciation and say, "I am a tyagi, a complete renunciate," are not Vaishnavs.

hari-pada chhadi' nirjanata bari
labhiya ki phala, phalgu se vaibhava [16]

"You leave the lotus feet of the Lord and stay alone at home, but what will you get by that? The result will be false."

rada-dasye rahi chhada bhoga-ahi
pratisthasa nahe kirtana-gaurava
radha-nitya-jana taha chhadi mana
kena va nirjana-bhajana-kaitava [17]

"If you stay with Radharani's servants, giving up the snake of enjoyment, for your own name and fame, it is not the real glorious kirtan. O mind, you leave the eternal associates of Radha, what is the use cheating with your solitary practice?"

When you live with Radharani's associates, when you live with Gurudev's associates, why would your mind go to a secluded place? It is all kaitav, all vanchana—cheating.

vraja-basi-gana pracharaka dhana
pratistha-bhiksuka tara nahe saba
prana achhe tara se hetu prachara
pratisthasa-hina-krsna-gatha saba [18]

"The devotees of Vraja are treasure among preachers. They ask for no prestige that is an attribute of dead bodies: as long as they have life in their bodies, they preach and glorify Krishna without any desire for recognition."

sri-dayita-dasa kirtanete asa
kara uchchaihsvare harinama rava
kirtana-prabhave smarana haibe
se kale bhajana nirjana sambhava [19]

"Praying to be able to do kirtan, Sri Dayita Das loudly takes the Holy Name. Chanting of the Holy Name (kirtan) arouses remembrance (smarana), and at that time it becomes possible to practise nirjan-bhajan."

Nirjan is when you go to a secluded place. Param Guru Maharaj (Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj), Gurudev (Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) did it. Once, Gurudev was in hospital and as he was taken to the operation theatre, he sang, "Nitai-pada-kamala, koti chandra-susitala, ye chhayaya jagata judaya." He sang it and chastised us, "Why are you crying?" In his last two years Srila Sridhar Maharaj would always say, "Nitai Gour haribol, Nitai Gour haribol." That was his kirtan.

Srila Prabhupad said, "Kirtana-prabhave smarana haibe": through your kirtan you can see the face of Nityananda Prabhu; when you are singing the glories of Srila Gurudev, you can see his lotus face in front of you—at that time it is possible to go to a secluded place. If you go to a secluded place before that, what is it for?

You have come here and you are the messenger of Mahaprabhu's and Krishna's vani (message). You are only a messenger and your duty is to distribute to the fallen souls the message that you have got from your Guru. If you go to do nirjan bhajan now, it will be kaitav, vanchana...

Knock, Knock!

Sri Nabadwip Dham
28 February 2012

When Srila Guru Maharaj (Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) was a young boy, he wrote one poem about Gaura Purnima:

AHVANA
(An Appeal)

(The poem is translated into English by Sripad B.K. Tyagi Maharaj)

jagate nikhila tamasavrta supta jagata-jana
samudita aji gauda gagane gaudiya-darsan [1]

Sri Gaudiya Darsan has appeared today in the sky of Gauda to awaken all the sleeping souls of this world who are covered in darkness.

chhute aya ore santira dake abala-vrddha-nari
abhimana sudhu maya-bandhana osudha enechhi ta'ri [2]

"Hey! Come running!" Sri Gaudiya Darsan peacefully calls to the young and the old, the men and the women alike. "False egotism is the sole cause of bondage under Maya. We have brought the medicine to deliver you.

Ego is attachment with the illusory environment, and Nabadwip Dham parikrama is the medicine for this material bondage.

Srila Guru Maharaj wrote this when he was eighteen years old, a very young boy. It is a very nice poem.

svarupa tomara nitya-chetana paramananda-maya
hada-mamsera thali ki kakhano tahara adhara haya? [3]

"Your true self is eternal, conscious and supremely ecstatic. How can this bag of flesh and bones ever be its proper place?

You do not know who you are—your svarup (true self) is an eternal servant of the Lord; you are not jada-vastu—you do not belong to the world of material things, you are eternal. Guru Maharaj writes, "I am not a bag of bones and flesh. I am a jivatma, spiritual soul." You must understand this.

deha paribara sonara samsara rabe nako chira-dina
saba chhede tor yete habe ore tabe kena mati-hina— [4]

"Your body, family, and 'golden' household life will not remain forever. Eventually you will have to leave all of it and move on. Hey! Why you are you unmindful of this?

"Why are you waiting to go to another place? Why do you have no intelligence, no brain? You think that family life is 'sonar samsar', a golden life, but one day you will have to leave your family, your body, etc. Why are you are waiting for the next day? Why is your mind disturbed, why does it need to go to some other place?" Gurudev was eighteen years old when he wrote this!

sudhu ghuma-ghore, svapanera bhare amara amara kari—
vrtha jada rase kataicha kala maya pisachire bari' [5]

"Simply dreaming drowsily, proclaiming, 'Mine! Mine!', You are spending your time engrossed in vain mundane pleasures, bound by the witch Maya.

When you are sleeping, you see many dreams, but it is all almost false. You are dreaming, and you do not want to wake up—you think, "These are my things," "Those are my things", everything is "my"—you are wasting your time.

kanta ke tora? preyasira rupe vaghini siyare jage
putra ke tora? rakta susichhe 'baba' bali anurage [6]

"Who is your wife? She is a tigress awake beside your head in the form of a lover. Who is your son? He affectionately calls you 'father' but simply sucks your blood.

Who? Who will rescue you from yourself? You think this kind of family can rescue you? Do you think your father, mother, children, wife can rescue you from yourself? They are bhagini (tigress): they are always eating you. Who is your son? Your children call you, "Father", "Daddy", "Dad", etc. but they are taking your blood. You get children, the children grow up, marry, and then kick you out of your own house…

bandhava nahe dasyu danava saba udyama lute'—
nihsva korechhe haya vanchita! tabu ki re chokha phote [7]

"They are not your well-wishers. They are a thief and a demon who have stolen all of your energy and left you destitute. Alas! You have been deceived! Yet you do not open your eyes!

Who is your friend? Those who always tell you pleasant things are not your friends—they are robbers, dacoits. If somebody tells you that they are your friend and give you something, some material benefit, how can you call them a friend? They are not your friends. Now you are helpless, you are empty—you have no brain and your eyes cannot see transcendental things because they are not clean.

kata ghumaibi pisachira kole moha tamasara ghore
chira-janamera bandhu re tora bhikharira vese dvare— [8]

"How long will you sleep in the lap of the witch Maya under the spell of her dark illusion? Your eternal friend is now at your door in the dress of a beggar.

Who is your friend? Your friend has come to your house as a beggar and prays to you for something. What he is asking for? "Krishna bolo, sange chalo! Please chant the Name of Krishna! Come with us! Please leave this!" Just like a beggar he comes to you, prays to you, but you cannot recognise him.

ai dake son akula parane—aya—dese phire aya
ghumabara ara nahi re samaya kramasah-i bela yaya [9]

"'Listen,' he calls with an eager heart, 'Come! Come back to your homeland! There is no more time to sleep! Gradually time is passing.

Do not sleep now! Time is passing!

There is a famous temple of Lala Babu in Vrindavan, and you know, that Lala Babu used to eat a lot of fish. One time he went to the market to buy some fish. He chose a huge fish and started talking to the seller. He went on and on, and the seller said in the end, "Babu, the sun is setting, I need to go home! Please give me the money." Suddenly Lala Babu's mind changed, his brain changed and some intelligence came to him, "My sun is also setting, I also need to go home... My time is passing, what am I waiting for? I have to go to Vrindavan!" He immediately left everything and went to Vrindavan.

e bhava sagara ha'te habe para akula pathara-maya
yemani tarani hok tabu, ami kandari—nahi bhaya [10]

"'We must cross the boundless expanse of this ocean of material existence. Let your boat (your body) be as it may. Regardless, I am your captain—have no fear.

soka bhaya tapa vidurita kari prajnanaloka diya
karma-jnanera moha vinasiya rakhiba svarupe niya— [11]

purnananda chinmaya-dhame, labhibe apana dhana
gandhe yahara sajjana-gana mugdha-pagala hana [12]

"'I will drive away all of your lamentation, fear, and suffering with the light of transcendental knowledge. I will destroy the illusion of the pursuits of worldly enjoyment and liberation. I will establish you within your true self and take you to the supremely ecstatic spiritual abode. There you will realise your own natural wealth, the scent of which astonishes and maddens the sadhus.

krsna-charana kamalera madhu niravadhi pana kari
anande nachibe svajanera sane mukhe bali hari hari [13]

"'There you will perpetually drink the honey of the lotus feet of Sri Krishna and dance in ecstasy in the company of your true friends, calling out, "Hari!" "Hari!"'"

This is Gaura Purnima parikrama...

Hijack Scheme

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
10 March 2016

By the mercy of Gurudev you are here in India, in a holy place—Nabadwip Dham. This is Koladwip, aparadh-bhanjan-pat. Only the fortunate souls can come to Nabadwip—those who are not fortunate souls cannot come here. "Nabadvipa hena grama tribhuvane nei": there are so many villages, so many cities, so many towns all over the world, but this is not an ordinary place. You are living in the age of Kali, and in this age the Lord appeared in this village—the Lord comes with Goloka Vrindavan itself and acts in a human body, going door to door,

sri-krsna-chaitanya-daya karaha vichara
vichara karile chitte pabe chamatkara

"If you consider the mercy of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, you will be wonder-struck to realise it."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.15)

He went door to door, calling the souls

jiva jaga, jiva jaga, gorachanda bale
kata nidra yao maya-pisachira kole

Sri Gorachand calls, "O souls, awake! O souls, awake! How long will you sleep on the lap of the witch Maya?"

"This is not your house, this is not your address! After death your body will stay here, but where will you go? You must think about it. Previously you got a cow's body, before that maybe a monkey's body, and so on (as you saw, so you reap), but after that you have finally got a human body. If you do not do what this human body is meant for, if you do not hear any good teachings, then what will you do after death? What will you get? After you lose this human body, you will get another body." Do you understand what I am saying? Who is saying this? Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said it.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also said,

prithivite achhe yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra prachara haibe mora nama

"My Name will be preached all over the world." Mahaprabhu only said it, but who distributed this Name? Our Guru-varga: Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. They preached and went door to door, telling you, "You have lost your address! You have lost your house! This place where you are living now is a temporary address. You are renting a place, paying rent, but one day the rent term will finish and you will have to leave this house. Neither your friends, nor your father, mother, or any relatives can stop you.

So, what is necessary for this age? You must chant the Holy Name. Krishna appeared in the form of the Name,

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

"Only chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name—there is no other way, no other way, no other way."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 7.76)

Chant Hare Krishna, and through your heart you can get a connection with the Lord through a mahanta-guru—then you can practise Krishna consciousness. Whether you are a brahmachari, a householder, a vanaprastha, or even a sannyasi, you can practise Krishna consciousness and maintain your spiritual life wherever you are. You can stay in the householder's life, no problem, but you must maintain your spiritual life—follow the rules and regulations, and also reject obstacles to Krishna consciousness, reject what is not favourable to Krishna consciousness.

If you practise Krishna consciousness in this way, you will get a real life, you will get pleasure. Everyone is searching for pleasure, ananda. Do you want happiness? Do you want pleasure? Who does not want to play football with Krishna? Do you want to play football with Krishna? Then you can join Krishna consciousness and you can play football and do so many other things—you can enjoy with the Lord. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and whatever kind of enjoyment you want to have, you will get that.

jivana anitya yanaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada bara

"Remember that life is temporary and full of all kinds of danger."

Life is very short, Prabhu. So much danger is coming in your life, and you can leave your body at any time. In the meantime, we must not misuse our time.

We are always surrounded by Maya, we are always in the cage of Maya, illusory environment, but if you pray to her, pray to the Lord, if you surrender to the Lord, then the Lord will come to you, and when you come in touch with the Lord, if you are a surrendered jiva soul, then slowly, slowly Maya will be removed from you—Maya will run away from you.

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva
iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

"Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name, and serve the Vaishnavs. Sanatan, besides this, there is no other religion."

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that people make millions of hospitals, but we are not patients with a material disease, we are patients with an eternal disease. Who can remove that disease? You must go to a proper doctor who can remove our eternal disease—he will give you some good advice, and through that good advice your material desires will be removed. Material desires means bhukti-, mukti-, siddhi-kami: you want to have some liberation, some enjoyment, some powers, and so on. This kind of disease can be removed through the advice of a bona fide Guru, a bona fide associate of the Lord.

You can understand this all easily yourself. First you have to understand and ask yourself, "Who am I am? What is my duty? What am I suffering for? We are suffering so many kinds of miseries—adhibhautik, adhyatmik, adhidaivik—but what for? What is our duty? How can we get a real connection with the Lord?" These are the main things.

tava nija-jan kona mahajane
pathaiya dile tumi
daya kari more patita dekhiya
kahila amare giya

“You have sent a great soul, Your associate (to rescue me). Seeing me so fallen and being merciful, he came to me and said…"

We are fallen, conditioned souls, but if we surrender to our Guru, surrender to the Lord, then the chaitya-guru (the Guru that we have in our heart) will take us to the bona fide Guru who will then tell you:

You do not know, but Krishna Himself has appeared in this world as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, a combined form of Krishna and Srimati Radharani. Gauranga Mahaprabhu came in this world and told everybody, "Do not sleep! You are sleeping so much!" Sleeping means you are now sleeping on the lap of Maya, on the lap of illusory environment.

If we can continue spiritual life, we can become a member of Krishna's family—and when we join Krishna's family, we will see everything clearly. At present, we are members of Maya's family, and the Guru comes to hijack us from from Maya and keep us in Krishna's family, make us a servant of the Lord. This is the Guru's duty, and this is what I am doing now. I am here to hijack you.

It is Gurudev's duty to hijack the jiva souls, conditioned souls—we do not hijack your money, your gold, your wealth or property, nothing like that—we hijack you from the illusory environment and bring you to Krishna's family, give you service. This is our scheme; but you must have some desire. I think you have that desire, otherwise why would you come to me? You have some desire to know something about Krishna consciousness, and I am telling you about it, that is my service—Gurudev gave me this service to hijack people from the illusory environment.

Digesting Gurudev's Love

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
11 March 2016

It is very difficult to get service. If you get some service, you must try to do it with sincerity.

Mahaprabhu told Gadadhar Pandit, "Seva chadi', amaya dosa lage: If you leave your service, it will be My fault." Gadadhar Pandit wanted to leave his service and stay with Mahaprabhu, but Mahaprabhu did not allow him to do it. He said so many bad words to Gadadhar at that time: "You want to stay with Me because people will give Me good prasadam and you will also take it," "You will get so much honour if you stay with Me, that is why you want to go with Me," and so on. Gadadhar Pandit said, "No, I am not going with You! I am going to see Ai (Sachi Mata)!" Gadadhar Pandit is very clever. When Mahaprabhu told him, "You must remember that you have service here," he said, "If I see Your lotus feet just once, it cannot equal ten million of Gopinath service." Hearing this, Mahaprabhu said, "Stop your mouth.”

It is fortune. Many cannot digest that kind of love and affection…

I remember 1994... Krishna Mayi Didi, Guru Maharaj's permanent servitor and a pious lady, was living in the house that is now inside the ground floor of the Centenary Museum (Govinda Dham). After Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj expired, she did not want to see anyone's face, and she always kept herself inside that room, she did not come out. Only her servitor would come to her. But what result did she finally get?

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj told: "Who will not follow Govinda Maharaj, I will drag them out, I will reject them from my heart.”

I served as a security guard in those days. That day I was on duty until midnight, and nothing had happened. After midnight, when I went to bed, she left with two more people... When Gurudev came back from his tour, he asked me,

"Do you have the key from that room?”

"Yes, I have.”

"Can you open it?”

I went there and opened the room (at that time, this Seva Kunja building had not been built). I never saw in my life Gurudev crying, only once I saw some tears coming from Gurudev's eyes, but when he went inside that room, I saw Gurudev's face and eyes…

They cannot understand how much love and affection Gurudev has for them. They think Gurudev loves his disciples but not his godbrothers and godsisters, and that is why they left...

Courtesy and Affection

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
12 March 2016

There is some culture, or etiquette, that we follow here in India. What do we do? When some householder devotee arranges a programme in their area and invites me and a few hundred devotees for Vaishnav seva, we glorify them at the programme because those who have arranged the Vaishnav seva festival programme are very fortunate and their family members are also fortunate. That is the etiquette, the main things, and it is necessary to do that. When we come for some program, I will give jay to the host—it can be Gurudev's disciple or even my disciple, what is the problem? It is the culture, it is necessary to do that. "I am very happy with those who invited me, who arranged this programme," "I am getting so much honour, and I owe that to you," etc.—if you give this kind of glorification, what is the problem?

Every day we sing, "Sakale sammana karite sakati, deha natha yatha yatha." What is the meaning of it? "O Gurudev, please give me some power, give me some energy so that I can give some honour to everybody." I am also praying to my Guru, "Gurudev, please give me some power, some sakti so that I can tolerate more and more." That is the main, basic things.

Question: Maharaj, to tolerate is one thing, but how at the same time to give affection?

Those who have a great fortune can understand this. I have told many times in my lectures—try to understand that Gurudev did not give me this position here all at once. Gurudev did not immediately make me the temple manager, he did not immediately make me the secretary. He had tested me so much before that.

Gurudev always said, "I can chastise and use bad language only with one person." He would tell me, "Get out of here! GET OUT!"—it did not happen one time only, he said it to me many times—I thought Gurudev was very upset, angry with me, that I had made some mistake and I would leave, but half an hour, ten-fifteen minutes later I would come again, "Gurudev, I need some money to pay the workers." That is why Gurudev said, "You see this boy? I tell him to get out, but he comes again." This is how it comes—by tolerating, tolerating everything. It is actually mercy to me—when Gurudev told me to get out, it was Gurudev's mercy (kripa) to me.

Now I can understand easily how much Gurudev supported me, how he was always behind me. I passed every kind of exam, that is why I can easily understand this.

I am not the kind of person who will run away. If I die, I will die here—from a disease, by a bullet, anything, it is not a problem because I have given everything to my Guru. I do not want to do nirjan bhajan: leave everything, go alone to Vrindavan or Haridwar and do some tapasya (penance, austerity)—this is not my duty, Gurudev did not give these kinds of things to me. I am the kind of person who will go forward no matter what bad things are ahead. Like an army captain, I will go in the first row and fight. This is the kind of man I am. "Oh, I do not like this, I will withdraw, I will run away from here"—I am not that.

After Gurudev's final declaration, he sent me to Australia, and when I came back, he held my hand and asked me, "So many problems will come, will you run away?" I said, "No." I will fight as long as there is even one drop of blood in my body. How can I leave? That is why I must have patience…

You must practise properly, then you will get the result.

Prabhu, Krishna, the Lord Himself, gave you this tongue, gave you this mouth not only to eat and to gossip. The Lord has at last given us a tongue, and by the mercy of the Lord, by the mercy of Gurudev we have got this mantra, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. With this mouth you say, "You are a disciple of another sannyasi, another Maharaj, I do not like you," but this is not the courtesy, this is not our religion.

You heard what happened with Gunarnava Misra—he did not give respect to Ramdas Minaketan, because Ramdas Minaketan was a follower, and also a servitor, of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu and Gunarnava Misra did not like Nityananda Prabhu—he followed only Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. What happened to him after that? Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's brother arranged that festival, but we do not even know his name because Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami thought, "I am shy to write my brother's name in my book.”

This body has nine doors. Some bad white things come from the two eyes, some bad things come from the two ears, some bad things come from where we pass stool, some bad things come from where we pass urine, and some spit, cough and other bad things come from the mouth. By the mercy of Gurudev we have got this mouth—we have got it for chanting the Holy Name. If instead of that you criticise others with this mouth, what is then the difference between your mouth and the place where you pass stool from?

I am telling hard words...

Receiving and Transmitting

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
12 March 2016

Question: We can give only something that we have... How to be a proper recipient?

Through Hari-katha, through Krishna-katha, through good association. When your dust is removed, the magnet will immediately catch you; but when there is a lot of dust, the magnet will not work. You should listen to Hari-katha, Krishna-katha—and you must listen properly, with your mind, speech, and body.

Questions: What is the right way to preach to non-devotees?

You should tell them simple matters, simple things.

I remember when I went to Russia with Gurudev for the first time, there was a big meeting. I did some kirtan, spoke a little bit, and after that Gurudev came. One very educated boy, a mathematician asked Gurudev a question, "Why should we leave Jesus, leave our religion, and follow your Krishna?" I heard Gurudev's answer, and sometimes I also tell that. Gurudev asked him,

"Can you see Jesus?”

“No."

"Can you ever play football with Jesus?”

“No."

"But if you practise Krishna consciousness, if you follow the rules and regulations, then you can play football with Lord Krishna, you can take food with Him, you can play with Him.”

"Is it true?”

"Yes, it is true.”

"Then I will join.”

"Yes, come and join.”

The next day he shaved his head and beard and followed Krishna consciousness. Now he has become a good devotee and says, "Now my life is very happy.”

It is not necessary to tell so many Bhagavatam slokas, not necessary to tell so many Prapanna-jivanamritam slokas, it is not necessary to be so well-versed in so many scriptures. Tell them simple things, little, little stories, tell it to them properly…

Question: You have to have so much affection towards every living being to be able to inspire people to do something great by just some words. This is very difficult...

You must give love and affection to everybody, but at the same time you have to also kill some mosquitoes. During his management time, Gurudev told me, "To be a manager is a very critical position—it is not necessary to bite, but sometimes you must show your hood."

Tackling Mood Swings

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
12 March 2016

Question: How should we deal with different moods? Sometimes you have a good day and you are in a good mood, everything is nice, you are affectionate to others, but the problem comes when it is a bad day and you are in a bad mood, then nothing seems to be working out. How to stay positive in such circumstances?

Actually it depends upon the practitioner, on the kind of practitioner and on the level of their practice.

For example, what happened today? Every time I go to Nrisingha Palli, I first pay obeisance to Lord Nrisinghadev and give some daksin, or pranami, to Him, but when I went there today, the Iskcon parikrama came and it was too crowded in the front, so I could not see the Deity. I paid obeisance behind the crowd, but I did not pay any daksin and could not see Lord Nrisinghadev's face.

After that, I went to look after the construction, and my mood was very bad because I cannot tolerate lazy work—today the workers were very lazy and did everything very slowly. I said, "They are so lazy, I will not stay here further. I cannot tolerate that.”

I came back to the car and as we started driving away, I thought, "Oh, I have not seen today the face of Lord Nrisinghadev properly, I have not given any daksin to Him—it is my bad day today. No, I must return and go there again." So, the car returned to Nrisingha Palli and I went to see Nrisinghadev through another door (not the front one). I paid obeisances, saw Lord Nrisinghadev's face, gave some panami to Him and took one Tulasi leaf from His Lordship. After that, my mood changed. Do you see?

It comes through practising. Some day your mood is not good, but you should chant the Holy Name, chant and practise more and more. You should think, "Why is my mind not good? Why is my mood not good? I must do more service, I must practise more. More is necessary." In this way you can easily handle it…

Mind is always naughty, it always takes you to so many places, taking you away from service, but you have intelligence, and with that intelligence you can control your mind, "I must do my service.”

Sri Vishva Vaishnava Raja-Sabha

Sri Jagannath Mishra Ananda-mahotsav
24 March 2016

Today is the festival of Sri Jagannath Mishra—Jagannath Mishra ananda maha-mahotsav. Yesterday the Lord Himself was born and today Jagannath Mihra is making the festival. By the mercy of Gurudev, I have arranged today for the devotees to take prasadam early today, at 10:30-11:00 a.m. because at 11 a.m. a lot of people will come from the local area.

Everybody has some service, everybody has some duty, and we must follow it. I told last night that we would have the morning programme here, and we must open our hearts. Do you understand? We must not show something outside and have some other things inside, it is not good. In our spiritual life, it is always necessary to give up deceitful devotion. If you are not simple-hearted, you cannot become a devotee, so we must be simple-hearted. This is the main thing.

I also told yesterday that at the Jagannath Mishra's festival we would together do the Vishva Vaishnav Raja-Sabha here. I am also sick, but by the mercy of Gurudev, today I have got some of my voice back and I have got the chance to say something.

I must make this programme here in this area in this way. It is not necessary to hide anything, we must tell everything directly and openly, and also we must speak together—we must give chance to every language. Somebody cannot understand Bengali, somebody cannot understand English, it is OK—they can speak Russian language, Spanish language, Chinese language, Portuguese language, etc., no problem. Everybody can speak their own language, everything is possible. We have come here to be together, and everyone can speak their own language—if it can be translated into English and Bengali, that is good for the mission.

Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur said we would be chanting and dancing together. You might have heard that some mission does a separate parikrama for the Western devotees, but what happens? Now the Western and the Eastern devotees of that mission are fighting. So, we must make the programme together and each can speak their own language. I am not a scholar, I know only one language, so I do not have any qualification, but if all the devotees come and speak together, that is good.

Also, as I said, I am sick, but Gurudev told me, "The day after Gaura Purnima, you will sit together at Vishva Vaishnava Raja-Sabha," and it is my duty to do that, but how will I sit here without the Indian devotees? The Indian devotees are also a part of the mission, and I cannot leave them.

Gurudev has gone to the Western countries many times, but he did not get time to preach in Bengal. I only remember that in 1990 he went to Kandi, one time Srila Sridhar Maharaj sent him to Medinipur (the birthplace of Sripad Bhakti Sharan Shanta Maharaj), and another time devotees took Gurudev to Sirakala, Tajpur. So, in 25-26 years, I saw Gurudev went to Bengal only three times, but he gave me the responsibility to preach in Bengal and I am preaching, that is why you can see now how many devotees have come for this Nabadwip Dham parikrama, and day by day, year by year, the number of the devotees is increasing.

They are happy to sleep in the pandal, they are happy to sleep in the goshala, they are happy to sleep in the staircase, they are happy to sleep on the veranda—you can see how much austerity they are getting. For these reasons I cannot leave them, I cannot tell them I am going to speak only for the Western devotees. I must meet with them, I must talk with them, give them some time, so I cannot spend so much time speaking English now, but there are so many English speaking preachers here, and if it can be translated into Bengali, that is good.

Today is Srila Jagannath Mishra's ananda utsav, and this is a very good day. Today, we must tell something about Jagannath Mishra. How can we serve the Lord? When I was making the Ekachakra temple, I asked Gurudev and he told me to fist make the guest house because without devotees you cannot serve the Deities. He said to me, "When you make a temple, first make the guest house." This is important to understand. You see that I have started building the Nrisingha Palli temple, and I am renting a whole guest house there for the devotees to stay in. Also, we are making a temple in Tarakeshwar, and first I made a guest house there. This is Gurudev's order.

When I made the guest house in Ekachakra, I asked Gurudev, "What will be the name of the guest house?" and Gurudev gave the name, "Sri Hadai Pandit Sri Padmavati Smriti-kunja." So, without Hadai Pandit, without Padmavati how shall we get Sriman Nityananda Prabhu? If we not do not get first Yasoda Mayi, Nanda Maharaj, we will not get Krishna, and in the same way if we do not serve Jagannath Mishra, Sachi Mata, we will not get Lord Nimai. So, we must serve Jagannath Mishra...

My Grief

Sri Nabadwip Dham, translated from Bengali
22 March 2016

Today, by the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, by the mercy of Gaura Hari, you have successfully, beautifully and without any obstacles completed Sri Nabadwip Dhamparikrama. Every year we do this parikrama and this year two thousand people have completed Dham parikrama. Without the mercy of the Guru, of the Dham, of the Dham basi, of Vaishnavs, Dhameshwar Mahaprabhu's mercy, Nityananda Prabhu's mercy, you cannot complete this parikrama. Not everyone can do the parikrama. Always remember this.

Today is the adhivas day (eve) of the appearance of Gaura. It is a very happy, joyful day, but at the same time it is also a sorrowful day. Why?

You have done this parikrama with Vyasadev Goswami, Sukadev Goswami, Brahma, Siva, and others—along with all the devotees, with Gaura Hari (the Golden Lord), Nityananda Prabhu, with Gurupadpadma, with Vaishnavs, with so many demigods—but no one can understand this, and we too cannot understand this. How many demigods and demigoddesses come from Svaraga-loka (heaven) to do this parikrama—Brahma comes from Brahma-loka, Siva comes from Siva-loka, Vyasadev Goswami, Sukadev Goswami, and so on. They all come to do this parikrama, they come to circumambulate the land of the pastimes of the Lord(!), but we cannot understand this, we cannot see it with the common eyes.

The saddest thing about it is that you do this Dham parikrama and you think, "When am I going back?" Many people have left parikrama without finishing it—they had done three days of the parikrama and today, when only one day was left, they went back home…

After Nabadwip Dham parikrama, after Jagannath Mishra's ananda mahotsav, Prabhupad would always say, "You are going to cross the Ganges and go back to the illusory world." Prabhupad felt so much pain. You must understand that he is a real, bona fide Guru. On the day when everybody was leaving, everybody wanted to see Prabhupad before going, give him obeisances, say they were leaving, but Prabhupad was nowhere to be seen—he was sitting behind a door, hiding and crying.

Everybody started looking for him, "Where has Prabhupad gone?" He was not in his room, but somebody noticed his bathroom door was open, and they found him sitting behind that door—he was crying in so much sorrow. They brought him into the room, seated him on a chair, and Prabhupad said, "One day you have come here and done the Dham parikrama, and I have entered into a relationship with you, but you forget it. You have become a member of Krishna's family, but you are again going back to the illusory world—falling into the bondage of maya. We send devotees door to door to bring you from this material world and make you a member of Krishna's family, but you are again going to this material world, forgetting the Lord, forgetting me. You have a relationship with me, but you will forget this relationship!”

This connection is life after life. In this world father, mother, brother, sister, all this connection is a two-day connection, but when you enter a relationship with your Guru, this connection is life after life. Those who cannot understand it, cannot be a real Guru, cannot be a real disciple. You must always remember this and must know, must understand this relationship. We cannot understand or know it with our material vision.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also said that people come to do the parikrama, and they go back home, but how painful it is that the people leave that relationship with Prabhupad! Then, you can realise what Prabhupad said, what intimate, internal words (antaranga sambadha) these are. Common people cannot understand this—they do not understand this connection. This is what is called viraha, separation...

Over Service Hurdles

Sri Jagannath Mishra Ananda-mahotsav
24 March 2016

When we came here, we did not know anything, we did not know anything about Krishna consciousness—when I joined the temple I also did not know about Krishna consciousness, but everything comes by the mercy of Gurudev. Tolerance and patience are necessary.

Actually, I do not know what love and affection is: Gurudev mostly, 99-100%, gave galagal to me (chastised). Maybe 1% of the times he told me something good, but he always chastised me. He told me maybe a hundred times to get out of here. Would you be able to tolerate this? But for me this was his love and affection to me.

In 1996, I saw that Gurudev had a very small veranda, and when Gurudev was leaving for a world tour, I asked him if I could repair his bathroom, and in this way, cleverly, I took the bathroom and the room keys from him and expanded Gurudev's veranda (at the place where Gurudev is sitting now, there was Gurudev's bedroom). When I did it, somebody phoned Gurudev and said to him, "Oh, Vinod has broken your house." Gurudev became upset. He asked me if it was true, and I said, "Yes, I have broken something..." When Gurudev came back, we were giving him some reception, doing kirtan, but Gurudev did not speak to me because he was upset that I had broken his house. At first he did not enter his room, but he saw that his veranda had been expanded and thought, "What has happened? How did he expand the building without breaking it?" Then he said, "OK, I will go inside." He was very surprised, "How is it possible to do this?" and finally said, "What you have done is very nice.”

Also, before there was no prasadam hall behind, instead there was a goshala. There were many cows there but not so much space for them. I spent very much money on it, and the treasurer always complained to Gurudev that I was spending so much money, but when Gurudev saw the goshala he was very happy.

Later, the nat mandir was also small, there used to be rooms on the ground floor, and I broke those rooms to expand the nat mandir, and somebody complained at first too…

I have always, from my very beginning at the temple, been facing so many problems from Gurudev's godbrothers... Sometimes I told Gurudev about it, and he said, "I am keeping an Alsatian dog for my protection, and one morning, when I am going for a walk, an enemy attacks me and the Alsatian dog jumps on my shoulder and cries, 'Please protect me, please protect me!'" From that day, I never complained to Gurudev about anything that was going on downstairs—I managed everything.

You can see so many problems have come, so many sannyasis have left—somebody has left because of money, somebody has left to become a Guru on their own—but my duty is to protect my Gurudev, and it is my desire, my hope to protect Gurudev's mission.

...Actually, I am requesting the devotees, if anyone wants to serve here, wants to spend a few months in India, you are always welcome. Come serve here.

Some austerity will come, but it is necessary to have tolerance. I too have some experience about that. When my temple age was seven days, I got a chance to serve prasadam, but I did not know which devotee liked what kind of prasadam. That day we finished Chaitanya-charitamrita class in the evening and I went to serve prasadam, but I gave more subji to one brahmachari and he took the spoon from my hand and hit my finger with it. My finger started to bleed, but I removed the blood and continued serving prasadam.

After this happened, Gurudev asked me, "When he beat you, why did you not beat him?" At that time I did not know so much conception about Vaishnavism and I said something using the language of my jada vidya (material knowledge), "If a dog bites me, why will I bite the dog?" Gurudev said, "It is also an offence because you are comparing a devotee, a Vaishnav, to a dog. You cannot do that, even if they beat you.”

Gurudev teaches us so many things. Another time (I have told you this story many times), Gurudev was going out to see something. I stood in front of his car and he asked me, "Will you go with me?" At that time, I had not closed my office and I had some service there (I was waiting for some guests to arrive), so I asked, "Where to?" Gurudev's mood changed and he became angry, "Come with me! You are foolish because you are asking me, 'Where to?' You do not have 100% chastity! You must learn more." So, we must learn so much tolerance, must learn to be patient—I learnt these things from Gurudev.

Once Gurudev sent me to Hapaniya—at that time there were some repairs, some construction, going on in the kitchen. I know something about construction, so when I saw that the worker was giving less cement (like, he was mixing sand with cement 10:1), I told him it was not the way to build and asked him why he was doing it. The worker replied it was the order of temple manager. When I came back to Nabadwip, I gave the news to Gurudev, and Gurudev was very unhappy to hear that. He spoke to the manager and stopped supplying money for that construction. The manager was very angry, and when one day later Gurudev again sent me there, that brahmachari closed all doors of the temple and tried to kill me—he beat me and put me into a sack. When this happened, I started calling out, "Radha Gopinath! Radha Gopinath!" and fifty boys jumped in over the wall and saved me…

This is how I got tolerance—I have experienced so many things. So, when you stay in a temple many problems will come, but you must not leave your service.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

Dog Stories: Fortune and Perseverance

Sri Jagannath Mishra Ananda-mahotsav
24 March 2016

For the Ratha-yatra last year, I bought only two hundred train tickets to Puri for the devotees, but soon after that I got some news from the devotees, "We want to go," "We want to go," so I bought fifty more tickets. Soon the news came to me again that more people wanted to go, so I bought a hundred more tickets.

When I went to the Howrah railway station, I had 350 tickets with me, but when I got there, I saw 400 devotees had come to go to Puri, so I went and bought fifty general tickets. Then, five minutes before the train's departure, three more people came up to me, but I told them I had not time to go buy the tickets because the train was leaving—I told them they could go with me without the tickets. They were educated people and did not want to go without a ticket, so they left the Howrah station.

When I entered the train station to get on the train, however, I saw some police officers beating two dogs. I asked them why they were beating them, they said the dogs had not ticket. I told them I would buy the ticket for the dogs. So, I gave them some bribe and they did not beat them, they allowed them in. This is how those two dogs went to Puri with us.

So, those who have fortune, who have faith, can do the parikrama with the devotees—even those who have no money can do the parikrama with the devotees.

I can also give another example. Once two dogs wanted to go for Nabadwip parikrama from Dharmatala (Kolkata). They wanted to go by bus, but the bus driver kicked them out of the bus. The dogs thought, "OK, we will walk then.”

They started walking, thinking, "How many days will it take us? It may take us seven days to reach Nabadwip..." They started from Dharmatala and by the evening came to Barasat. Tired, they could not walk any more, "Oh, we have been walking the whole day today, we need to take rest." They came to a local barber shop, but there were so many dogs there that started barking, "Why have you come here? This is my place! Get out of here!" They thought, "Oh, we are getting disturbance... We better walk on." They continued walking and by midnight came to Ranaghat. There, they saw a sweetshop, and there were no buses, no people around, so they thought, "This is a quiet, peaceful place, we can happily sleep here." As they lay in front of that sweetshop to rest, the local dogs again came barking, "Why have you come here? This is our place! Get out of here!" They said, "OK, we will continue walking…"

The next day, when the morning came, they suddenly found themselves in Nabadwip. They said to each other, "You see? We thought seven days would be necessary, but so many disturbances came and we have reached Nabadwip in one day! Now, we can happily stay in the Dham, we can see the Deities for six days more.”

So we can understand from this story that if some problem comes, if some disturbance comes, it can help us proceed in our spiritual life. You can think that when some problem comes, some bondage comes in your spiritual life, it is good for your spiritual life.

Whatever problem comes, we will not leave our Guru, we will not leave our temple, we will not leave our seva.

tomara sevaya, duhkha haya yata,
seo ta' parama sukha

"All the distress I encounter in Your service is also my greatest happiness.”

(Saranagati 16.4)

"Some unhappiness can come, but it is my happiness."

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

Be Wise

Sri Nabadwip Dham
28 March 2016

Householder people, working people earn money to maintain their family life and they keep some money aside in case they cannot work tomorrow or maybe they get sick. In service also, you must also save some time for the Lord. You cannot use all your time to maintain the family—just as you save some money for your family, you must also save some time for the Lord. These are the main things.

You are born, then you spend childhood studying, then you get married, have children, have grandchildren, grandsons, granddaughters, in this way your whole life you waste time. When will you get time for the service to the Lord? If somebody cannot serve the Lord from the beginning, then they should serve the Lord after retirement, after sixty years old, otherwise what answer will they give when they leave their body?

We have got everything from the Lord—we got money, we got property, we got honour, we got sons, daughters, we got a wife—but after getting it, we forget who we have got it from, then what is the purpose of us getting all this? This is our main mistake.

Fortunately, our Guru-varga, great Vaishnavs always remind us about these things: "Do not forget Krishna," "Do not forget your Guru," "Always serve your Guru," and so on—they are very merciful to us. Guru and Vaishnavs always want to engage us in service, but still we do not do our service properly…

Actually, my Gurudev was very kind to us.. I remember before I took sannyas, my family did not know where I was, they thought I had died, but after I took sannyas they got the message that I was there. They thought, "Oh, he has already taken sannyas, so he will not come back," so they sent a message to me saying, "You are our brother and you can get some property from your family. Come take it, you can sell the property and take the money.”

I went to take permission from Gurudev,

"Gurudev, can I go there to sell the land?”

"How much money is that land worth?" Gurudev asked me.

I told that its value was 60,000 dollars at that time, and then Gurudev asked,

"How many days are necessary?”

"Minimum seven days, maximum ten-twelve days.”

"It is too much time to get that money. If I give you that money tomorrow, is it then necessary to go to that place?”

I got shy and did not give any answer…

I thought that Gurudev saved me—he did not allow me to go to maya (to my previous parents, family). Can you see how merciful he is?

When I came here and joined the temple, I had 250 students, and in the morning they came to my class, but they saw the door was locked. They began to search for me, but could not find me—I was here. I left everything at that time.

After that, devotees gave me some advice and maya also gave me some advice, but I did not accept maya's advice. The real sadhu gave me some advice, some inspiration to stay here although Gurudev was not here at that time. Actually what you do—what you accept and what you reject—depends upon you. You have some intelligence, and that intelligence comes through association: if you keep good association you will have good intelligence, if you keep bad association you will get bad intelligence. It is said in the scriptures that you must accept what is favourable and reject what is unfavourable, but you cannot do what is favourable and also do what is unfavourable—you cannot take both milk and tobacco.

Odds and Ends (5)

Compiled on 31 March 2016

Several excerpts that were not included in the main posts:

"He will arrange" | 13 November 2011

No one can stop service. If the cook runs away, if the pujari runs away, it is not a problem—Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurachandra will arrange devotees for Their service. We have ego and say, "Oh, without me the service cannot run," "Oh, without me, the puja cannot run." We have this kind of ego, but Krishna always breaks this ego—Krishna always eats our ego...

Initiation & Sisya's karma | 17 September 2012

Yesterday fifty people came to Ekachakra to take initiation, but I only gave one initiation. I told them, "First cultivate your land, make your land fertile, then come." After one-two months, I will come and choose among them—I will see who is practising and who is not. When Gurudev gave initiations, he said, "My health is not good today because I have been giving initiations." Gurudev takes all previous karma of the sisya and so many problems come—if the disciple does not follow properly, does not practise properly, then all burden, all bad karma comes to the Guru.

No Beads in the bathroom | 24 February 2013

While you are constantly busy with your service, you can also chant with your mouth—always chant with your mouth, and you can chant anywhere, even in the bathroom, even in the toilet. You cannot take your beads to the bathroom, but you can chant with your mouth in any place. If you chant in this way, Krishna will reveal in your heart and you will be successful in your spiritual life. Also there are ten offences of the Name, you must read these offences and avoid them—if you chant without offences, you will get the result quickly.

Prerequisite for initiation | 10 August 2013

Question: If a person is two-faced, not honest, can they take initiation?

Yes, that is not a problem, but they must surrender first. They can come to good association and surrender. Krishna says in Gita ("Api chet suduracharo...", 9.30) if somebody is dishonest, if somebody is very bad, the worst person, but they surrender, Krishna will remove all their offences and again use them for the service to the Lord.

Acharya Board's function | 10 August 2013

Question: Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur wanted his mission to be ruled by a board of acharyas. What is your vision regarding this matter?

Yes, there are the acharyas. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur made those who can preach Krishna consciousness acharyas, and our Gurudev also made an acharya board and made me his successor. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur made the power transmission to Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj (transmitted the main Rupanuga sampradaya power to him) and he also had many sannyasis whom he madeacharyas and who followed him. This is how the Gaudiya line is going properly—it is good and it is more preaching. What is the problem? Srila Sridhar Maharaj also explained his vision of the acharya board as that of "a group of exemplary devotees who meet to clarifysiddhanta and organise the publication of scriptures."

Prasadam like nectar | 1 March 2016

Do you like jackfruit subji? I do not know if they can cook it or not... You must boil it first, but here they first fry it. What is this? If you fry it first, it becomes like chip stones. They think, "I am cooking for the Deities and the Deities are like dolls—They cannot tell me anything.”

I always pray to Gurudev, "Gurudev, send me one man for cooking who will listen to my advice..." I know how to cook, but I have no time to cook every day for a hundred people. If I tell somebody how to cook and they follow my instruction, if they think, "Radharani, You are doing everything. You are cooking, I am only an instrument," then automatically the cooking will be very nice, then all kinds of prasadam will be like nectar.

They think, "I am cooking," "I am cooking for cats and dogs..." The man goes to the tea shop, goes to watch TV—that is why I do not have any inspiration to take his food. I take prasadam at all other temples I go to, but I do not take prasadam from them...

Deceit-free service | 1 March 2016

Serve devotees without any deceit and Krishna will come and serve you. Whether a devotee cooks or steals, they do everything for Me [the Lord]. "Yat karosi yad asnasi...: you can do karma, but do it for Me; you can practise meditation, but do it for Me; you can do yoga, but do it for Me—whatever you do, do it for Me." Do everything for Me [the Lord].

bhukti-mukti-sprha bihina ye bhakta
labhaite tan'ka sanga anurakta

"I yearn for the company of that devotee who is completely devoid of all desire for worldly enjoyment or liberation."

("Manasa deha, geha...", Saranagati)

Who knows Gurudev? "Aham vetti, Suka vetti, Vyasa vetti na vetti va." "Suddha bhakta-palana suska jnana-tadana, chala bhakti-dusana-rama: He drives away dry empiric knowledge which obscures the beauty of pure devotion. He is the protector, maintainer and constant guardian of His pure devotees." Give up deceitful devotion. "Sarala hale gorara siksa bujhiya la-ibe" (Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.3): it is necessary to be simple-hearted, then you can understand the teachings of Gora.

A change of dress | 1 March 2016

I have seen some sannyasis change their sannyas dress and get "suited-booted," wearing a coat, a tie, etc... Since I joined the temple, I have never changed my dress—only after one month I changed my colour, from white to saffron.

I remember when I worked as a teacher, I changed my clothes three times every day. You can imagine what fancy clothes I used to wear, but I left everything when I came to Gurudev, without much thinking.

When Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's cloth tore, he did not throw it away—he would patch it with a needle and thread. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said about him, "Sridhar Maharaj will never change his style."

No tilak—burning ghat | 3 March 2016

When Mahaprabhu was giving a lecture, a small boy came there without the tilak. Mahaprabhu said, "Your forehead is like a burning ghat." The boy went back home, put the tilak on and came back.

This is not my teaching, it is Mahaprabhu's teaching, and I must preach that. We are only messengers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we do not tell other things what our mind says. We tell the examples.

Depend upon your Guru | 3 March 2016

I was sitting today in the staircase and thinking, "Oh maybe the next court date will be on a parikrama day. What can I do? One parikrama day will be lost, I will not be able to go... There will be disturbance." But suddenly I remembered, "Why am I thinking about this? My Guru is doing everything. No, no, I must not think about this." They did not tell me the next date, so I went away to settle some other matters. Later in the afternoon I got a phone call, "Maharaj, the next date is 29 March." It means after Gaura Purnima. Do you see how much Gurudev helps me? Every time the court tells to come every three-five days (for example, last date was 29 February, and next one was today, on 3 March)…

If you depend upon your Guru, if you depend upon Krishna, He will take care of you. I have told it many times: if you think about Krishna, think about your Guru, then Krishna will think about you. It is not your job to worry about this. Whatever deficiency you have—food, lodging, etc.—He will take care of all your necessities. He will.

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