All Glory to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga

GUIDANCE

Issue #24

A compilation of holy discourses emanating

from the holy lotus mouth of

His Divine Grace

Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru

Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj

published from Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

at SCSMathInternational.com during July-September 2020

CONTENT

Asadhu-Sanga Saps Spiritual Strength

Be Responsible for Your Spiritual Life

Turn Your House Into Temple

On Ego and Envy

Emotion and Devotion

Applying Intelligence

Waning Values

Abode of Highest Pastimes

Sri Guru Purnima: Remembrance Day

Sri Guru Purnima Address

Will-O'-the-Wisp of Worldly Wishes

Eternal Priorities

Questions and Answers

Price of Mercy

Disciples' Plight

Plane of Adherence

'How much do you hanker in your heart?'

No Hopscotchy Devotion

Simple Service, Earnest Heart

Debunking Proximity Complex

Devotees' Humility

Relation With Guru: Watch Out

Maintaining Gurudev's Legacy

Worshipful Stance

Emotion and Devotion

Exclusive Devotional Vision

Kali-Yuga's Saviour

Our Programme

Sanctity of Initiation

Cooking: Integral Part of Practising Life

Adjustment of Consciousness

Royal Road to Success

Reaching Devotees' Hearts

Perfect Result Comes Through Perfect Practice

Step Your Service Up

Disciple's Core Quality

On Cows and Baladev-Tattva

Sweeter Than the Sweetest

Prasadam—Pivot of Practising

Clear Conception

Ideal Service Mood

Festival of Sheltered Souls

"I Am Very Proud of You"

Blossomed Relationship

Realm of Inconceivable Pastimes

Primary Advice

Service, Karma, and Devotion

Recommendation

Proper Line—Proper Success

Prayerful Meditation

Misconceptions about Lord Krishna's Appearance

Entering Another Plane

Thorns of Spiritual Life

Surrendered Existence

Practising Deficiency

Do Not Get Swayed

Priorities in Spiritual Life

West London Temple: Auspicious Day

Spiritual Sustenance: Association and Service Mood

Spiritual Sustenance: Exclusive Mood

Fruits of Inconceivable Mercy

Absorbed in Service

Corrupted Life

Worshippable Sita Thakurani

Service Succession

Appearance of Universal Guru

Online Assembly of Dham-Bhusana Vaishnavs

Proper Service Life

Glories of Srila Haridas Thakur (1)

Glories of Srila Haridas Thakur (2)

Glories of Srila Haridas Thakur (3)

Glories of Srila Haridas Thakur (4)

No More Wasting Time

Guru-Varga's Prasad

Devotion to Devotees

Supreme and Inconceivable Glories of Sri Guru

Entering Transcendental Plane

Purposeful Preaching

Devotees' Core Principle

Sustaining Mahaprabhu's Line

"I Am Proud, I Am Astonished, and I Am Very Grateful"

Ekadasi Struggle?

Redundant Rituals

Primary and Paramount Necessity

Continuing Service Movement

Keep Your Guru In Your Heart

Unparalleled Vairagya

Pillars of Devotional Life

Best Behaviour

Repository of Nectar

Awkward Medicines and Health Issues

Adjusting with Others and Yourself

Asadhu-Sanga Saps Spiritual Strength

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 June 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Om Vishnupad Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj ki jay
Sachchidananda Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur ki jay
Sarvabhauma Sri Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham Sri Nabadwip Dham Sri Vrindavan Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Tandiya sakha Math samuha ki jay
Sri Mather sevak vrinda bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Ananta-koti Vaishnav vrinda ki jay
Sri Gaudiya Acharya vrinda ki jay
Tridandi-pad-gan ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhaktir vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Sri Sada-Siva Gangadhar Giriraj Govardhan ki jay
All the Eastern and Western devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Samagata sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
All the sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all. I can see you all every week and I am getting inspiration to chant the Holy Name, preach Krishna consciousness and do some service to the devotees. It gives me enthusiasm. That is why it is always necessary to meet with devotees and keep good association (sadhu-sanga). Good association is always very good for us. Through good association, we will get more energy to chant the Holy Name, to practise Krishna consciousness. Association is the main thing in our spiritual life. Always stay within sadhu-sanga, within good association; always chant the Holy Name; always talk about the matters related to Krishna consciousness; always talk about Krishna's pastimes, about His beauty, about Gurudev's pastimes, Gurudev's glories. If we all can always share these things with devotees, it is good for us all and it will give us more energy. In this current situation, we cannot meet each other physically, but thanks to science, thanks to electronic progress and electronic movement, we can reach everybody. We have got a very good opportunity in this age.

I am very happy to see you all, to see your smiling faces, to see that you are practising, you are doing service, you are getting energy, and passing your time in a good way every week. This is good for us, and this is what is necessary for all devotees.

We always criticise devotees, we always hear, we always listen to devotees' faults and discuss it—this is not good at all for our practising life. Even if we see some fault in somebody, we will not discuss it so much with others—rather, it is better if we keep quiet. If we keep quiet, it will do us good. Gurudev told once: suppose you see or you know that somebody is stealing prasadam from the kitchen, and you tell about it to everybody—the person who steals prasadam will get the result, but you too will get the result for it because you discuss somebody's fault with everybody. You may think, "No, what is the problem? I saw it, it is bad, and I will tell everybody about it." This is not good at all for our practising life. Even if you chant Harinam one thousand times every day, you will get no result because that same very tongue criticises others. It is called para-charcha (পরচর্চা, criticising or discussing others).

Sometimes, you hear about somebody's fault, you smile and stay to listen some more, you feel interested. I wrote about it in Guidance 4 [Chapter 'Srila Rupa Goswami's Siksamrta', page 118]. If you eat some chanachur (some salty food, like potato chips), you get some pleasant taste in your mouth, but your stomach will not be full; if, on the other hand, you take some chapati, rice, subji, your stomach will be full. This is called mukharochok (মুখরোচক, pleasant to the taste). In the same way, if you discuss bad things with others, if you discuss somebody's faults or you listen to that, you may feel it is very tasty, but it is actually bad for your stomach (just as if you eat too much chanachur, you will suffer from acidity). Discussing others is unfavourable to devotion; it is not favourable to devotion, it is not good.

I have told you many times—suppose you are making a fire sacrifice, if you put one drop of ghee into the fire and then one drop of water, your fire sacrifice will not happen because the fire will go out. In the same way, you practise properly, but you also sometimes secretly do something wrong thinking that nobody can see that—but Krishna always sees it, He always observes what you are doing. The Lord and the Guru can always understand what you are doing. We can hide something from a human being or others, but we cannot hide anything from our Guru and the Lord. They will always know what we are doing. They always know it.

So, if there is some fault in our heart, if we do some wrong, we must try not to do it every day. If you think that nobody can see you doing it and continue doing wrong, then it will slowly increase and it will harm your spiritual life. We must always avoid bad things; if we can always avoid that which is unfavourable to devotion, it will be good for us. We can see Mahaprabhu's teaching, we can see so many examples from Mahaprabhu's time, from Srila Prabhupad's time, from our Gurudev and Guru Maharaj's time, we have got so many lessons, especially from Gurudev's time.

So, what I want to say is that we must always avoid bad association—gossiping, talk about others is not good for us, it is not good at all for our practising life. This is how we must continue our practising life.

* * *

Be Responsible for Your Spiritual Life

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 June 2020, part 2

I have told you many times that we are servitors—we did not join Krishna consciousness to become masters. Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math always says this. We must be always servants of devotees—this is a good designation in our spiritual life. We did not join Chaitanya Saraswat Math to be a leader, to be a master, or to be a manager.

At the same time, somebody also has to take responsibility for service. Our Guru and Vaishnavs always see who is a responsible servitor. We must be sincere and secure in our service. We must be responsible for our service, and we must be responsible for our spiritual life. It is necessary to have a proper sense of responsibility, otherwise Guru and Vaishnavs will not be happy. Being responsible for your service is one of the main qualities of a servitor. We must be conscious that our Guru and Vaishnavs rely on me.

Srila Guru Maharaj, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, depended on Gurudev. He chose Gurudev as his successor because he understood that Gurudev was a responsible person and that Gurudev could properly maintain his (Srila Sridhar Maharaj's) mission. And Gurudev did increase Srila Guru Maharaj's mission through his preaching, through his love and affection—he gave everything to devotees. Gurudev gave devotees everything that is necessary. That is why, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj had brought him from his householder life and gave him sannyas. Otherwise, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj did not find any suitable person from his ashram among the brahmacharis. There were many brahmacharis living in the temple at that time, but he knew he could not depend upon them—Srila Sridhar Maharaj chose Gurudev; having brought him from his householder life, he gave him his chair and made him his successor. That is Srila Guru Maharaj's mercy.

Actually, we sometimes think or hope that we will become the manager, we will become the guru, we will become the president, but this is not how it works—attaining such a position depends on the Guru, it comes from above. This opportunity will not come to everybody, but when it does come, even if you think that you are the lowest person, that you have no quality, no qualification, but if Gurudev chooses you, you have to accept the responsibility. We may think that we are not qualified, but if Gurudev has chosen me for a particular service, then I have to do it. This should be our mood throughout. When the Guru and Vaishnavs give you some service, you must always accept it and try to do it.

A perfect guru will always guide you towards your proper benefit. A proper guru always shows the proper line. We must accept such a guru—we must take shelter in him and accept him as our guardian of devotion. Only a proper guru can give you real guidance and advice. This is very important for us, otherwise (if you do not accept the advice and guidance of a proper guru), why is it necessary to take initiation, why is it necessary to take shelter? The main thing is that we must maintain our spiritual life, practising life. Anybody can take saffron clothes, anybody can take sannyas, but everybody must maintain their life properly, whether it is sannyas life, brahmachari life or any other life. It is not easy to maintain a proper brahmachari life. It is necessary to have proper dedication and it is necessary to always accept the advice of your guardian. We should not follow our mind—our mind always tells us something, but we should not follow it. If we can follow all these things, then it can give a proper solution to all our problems.

We stay together, but we always quarrel about so many petty domestic problems. We always think about petty things, but we must think that when big things await us, why will we run so much behind all these petty domestic things? These are all small and simple problems, it is such a small matter in our spiritual life. Sometimes, even senior devotees become very tired of spiritual life, they cannot follow any more, and they cannot adjust themselves properly in small matters. How will we preach Krishna consciousness? How will we run our mission? How will we keep our mission together? We must follow what our guardian, our Gurudev, has told us. Gurudev always told everyone, "Come under one umbrella," but, as one of Australian devotees said, "How, and why, will we all come under one umbrella when everybody has their own raincoat?" This is also correct in the sense that everybody's service is not the same. In Vrindavan, Lalita Devi serves in one way, and Visakha Devi serves in another way—there are different kinds of mood and different kinds of service; but the thing is that there everybody's mood, everybody's goal is to satisfy the Lord. We too may preach in many different ways, but our main point, our main goal should be one—that is, we must make our Gurudev happy.

When we are young, we sometimes cannot understand things and may sometimes go in a wrong way—sometimes, we may not be able to understand something clearly thinking that life is very easy and we may take a wrong decision—but even a small wrong decision can change your life. You can take one small wrong decision and your life will go in a different way. We must think first what we should do. Not only that—if you think first and take some decision yourself, that is also not good because you have a guardian, so you should take advice from your guardian. Your guardian can guide you, can give you some good advice—listen to their advice. It is necessary to have guidance in your life. So, when our guru-varga is waiting to give us advice, then we should ask them what is necessary, what we should do, and follow their advice. These are the main things for our spiritual life.

* * *

Turn Your House Into Temple

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 June 2020, part 3

[Addressing a situation at one of the temples:]

How can a not initiated person do puja? This is not how it is done. A person without initiation cannot be a pujari. It is not good. How will he do puja?

Question: How can we follow the proper guidance when there is no temple in the city?

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."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You can turn your house into a temple. What is a temple? A temple means bhajan (devotional practice). There are nine kinds of devotional processes (nava-vidha bhakti)—sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam: hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission. You can practise all these things in your house. What is the problem? You know the rules and regulations, you know what is done in a temple—wake up every morning, do mangal arati, etc. You can practise all the things that proper householders practise. I see that some householders practise better than even sannyasis—they wake up in the morning, come to the mangal arati, do the mangal arati, sing at the mangal arati, then offer some bhog, do archan, offer bhog again at noon, then they close the altar and let their Deities (Deities or a photograph of Deities) rest, then again wake up the Deities in the afternoon, offer Them some fruit and sweets, then again do arati in the evening, read from Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Chaitanya-charitamrita, Chaitanya-bhagavata, or even some guidance books published from our temple, then they again offer bhog and take prasadam. This is the main procedure.

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."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Your house can be Goloka Vrindavan. What kind of house is that? It is a house where proper practising is going on every day.

Not all our temples in the Western countries are like Indian temples (with the domes, etc.), but every preaching centre must be following proper rules and regulations. Even if only one devotee stays there, even if only two-three devotees stay there, it does not matter. We also have many centres here in Bengal—we have big temples here, but sometimes only two-three or four-five devotees stay there. In some places, one devotee feeds cows, second devotee cooks, and third devotee does puja, and they make programmes in the morning and in the evening, they practise in this way. It is not necessary to make a temple building. If you know what practising life is, you can practise even at your home—your house can be Goloka Vrindavan; your house can be a temple. A temple, an ashram, or a Math means a place where devotees stay and chant the Holy Name. Wherever devotees stay, that place is Goloka Vrindavan. It is not necessary to have a big temple building, to have big Deities—you can get a picture of the Deities and a picture of the guru-parampara and keep them on your altar. You know what the rules and regulations for puja (temple worship) are, and you can follow it properly, then it will become a temple.

I remember when Gurudev was at our Soquel temple in America in 2004, I was invited by another Math to a festival in Siliguri. When I was there, I called Gurudev and asked him, "There are so many devotees in Siliguri, can I make one ashram there?" Gurudev said, "Yes, if you can, you can do." The same day I went and bought one old house. It was not very old, but it looked old and ugly because it had not been used for many years—it had been closed and nobody painted it. Then, I broke the lock, and when we came in, we saw that all house was extremely dirty inside. I hired three-five people and had them clean the house. As our preaching party was preaching in Siliguri, we had a picture of our Deities, a mridanga and some karatals with us—in the afternoon, I bought a loudspeaker, and in the evening we started arati. When devotees heard it and came there, they were surprised—it was an abandoned house, and suddenly some people came there and started kirtan! How did it suddenly turn into a temple over one day? It was not even one day—it took us only a few hours. This is how the temple in Siliguri was started.

Even when our temple sannyasis and brahmacharis go for preaching, they stay at some householder devotees' houses. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "I bring householder people's sons and turn them into sannyasis and brahmacharis, and after that I again send them to householder people to preach—I throw them into garbage, and they clean that garbage and turn people into pure devotees." Do you understand? This is what Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said.

* * *

On Ego and Envy

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 June 2020, part 4

Question: Everyone knows that Srila Bhakti Sundar Dev-Goswami Maharaj gave you the position of the acharya of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, but we see that in some places your picture is not there in the parampara. When they offer bhoga and your picture is not there, is it accepted by Srila Gurudev and Srila Guru Maharaj?

I do not know that. I cannot answer this question.

If somebody does not put my picture, what is the problem? I do not say, "Everyone must put my picture at the altar!" What is the problem? Some devotees keep me in their hearts, that is sufficient for me. Why is it necessary to show a picture in the guru-parampara? They keep me in their heart, that is sufficient. Everybody should keep my picture at their altar—I do not want this. They can keep or not keep, that is their matter. I do not say to anybody, "Why do you not keep my photo there?! Do puja for me!" I am not that kind of person. I am a servant of devotees, I want to serve everybody. I do not want everyone to serve me—rather, I want to serve everybody.

Question: I was reading recently, and you were saying in a talk to the devotees in Venezuela that envy is actually worse than ego...

Yes, of course. There is a kind of ego that is good, for example, you feel, "I am a servant of devotees!" This is also ego, but this ego is good. However, envy was not given any place:

krsna-seva kamarpane, krodha bhakta-dvesi-jane
lobha sadhu-sange hari-katha
moha ista-labha bine, mada krsna-guna-gane,
niyukta kariba yatha tatha

"I will engage lust by offering it in Krishna's service. I will engage anger towards those who are envious of the devotees. I will be greedy to hear the topics of Hari in the association of devotees. I will feel illusioned without achieving my worshipable Lord. I will be maddened while singing the glories of Krishna. In this way I will engage these enemies in their proper places."

(Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 22, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

The scriptures give some place to these five enemies, but matsarya, envy, is not given any place. You can read this verse (above) and understand it.

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)

What does this verse "Krsna-seva kamarpane..." say? Lust or desire (kama) can be used when you think, "I work, but I work for the Lord." Anger (krodha)—you can show anger towards those who criticise devotees (bhakta-vidvesi). Greed (lobha)—you can have greed for maha-prasadam, or Hari-katha; if you are greedy for these things, then it is not a problem. Attachment (moha)—you should be attached to the service of the Lord, to the service to your Guru, service to Krishna consciousness, you should have attachment to Krishna consciousness. However, material attachment, family attachment is not good.

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 are attached to your family, husband, wife, daughter, etc., but you should instead have the same kind of attachment towards the Lord, the Guru, devotees. That is called devotion.

And last is "mada"—ahankar, or ego. Ego can also be good if you think, "I am a servant of devotees." However, envy is much worse than ego, envy is the same as jealousy. It is very bad to be envious or jealous. Somebody becomes a manager, somebody becomes a sannyasi, somebody becomes a guru, and we sometimes cannot tolerate it. This is very bad for us, for Krishna consciousness, and in every other sense. Even in the other life also it gives so much problem—it takes one to a helpless position. If you have envy or jealousy, it is easy for you to go to hell. This is how bad envy is.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur told,

amara jivana sada pape rata
nahika punyera lesa
parere udvega diyachhi ye kata
diyachhi jivere klesa

My life is always engrossed in sin. There is not a trace of piety in it. I have caused others so much anxiety and trouble.

You can read this song, you will find there:

para-sukhe duhkhi sada mithya-bhasi
para-duhkha sukha-kara

I am unhappy when others are happy, and happy when others are unhappy.

If somebody is sad and we are very happy, it is very bad. Somebody achieves a good position, somebody earns good money, gets good things, and we envy them, we cannot tolerate another person's happiness. Somebody earns money and has a good house, and we cannot tolerate that. This kind of feelings are called envy or jealousy. We have no capacity to earn money, and if somebody else earns a lot of money, what is my problem? We must be happy for them. Gurudev always says: if somebody's quality of life becomes good, if somebody lives nicely, I am very happy for them. But some people cannot tolerate it...

* * *

Emotion and Devotion

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 June 2020, part 5

Question: I will graduate at the end of this year and get a doctor's degree. I wanted to know what you need from me...

What do I need from you? I need you to always serve devotees, to Gurudev. Engage yourself as much as possible in the service to the devotees. That is my happiness. My request to you is that you must engage yourself in the service of devotees.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: You are building a temple now, are you not?

[His Divine Grace laughs.] I am always making temples.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Are you building a temple in Mayapur now?

Yes.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: You need help from devotees now, is it not?

Yes... The land that I bought is actually Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's land.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Has the construction started already?

Yes. That place is near the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. We have bought this land from Chaitanya Math, which means it is Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's land. The land was registered in the name of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharvika Giridhari, this is the name of Chaitanya Math's Deities, and I have changed the name to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda-sundar.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: How much more construction is there to finish?

[His Divine Grace laughs.] That I cannot say, Maharaj because I only start, and Gurudev is always with us, so when he sends some money from Goloka Vrindavan, then I will manage. I have full faith, 200% faith, that whenever I need money, Gurudev always sends money from Goloka Vrindavan.

Our new Nrisingha Palli guesthouse will also be big, you can see it next year at Gaura Purnima. Up to two thousand devotees will be able to stay there. That place is Nrisinghadev's place too.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: We all want to help you.

Thank you so much, Maharaj. It is very nice.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: No, no, my dandavats to you.

Dandavats.

Question: If I dream of Gurudev, and Gurudev talks to me in the dream, should I take that as an instruction?

Sometimes, just because a devotee thinks about Gurudev, they see Gurudev in their dream, and sometimes Gurudev can also give some instruction in one's dream. Sometimes, devotees say, "Oh, I have seen a dream, Gurudev is telling this!" But it is actually not what Gurudev says. How can we understand it then? It depends upon the quality and qualification of the devotee; it depends on the depth of one's devotion. This is the main criterion. Pure devotees always get inspiration from their Guru—for example, Srila Sridhar Maharaj got inspiration from Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and Gurudev also said that he sometimes talked with his Guru Maharaj.

Question: You spoke about the sixty-four bhaktyangas last time. One of them is meditation—how should we practise it?

How will you do meditation? For example, we recite the gayatri; this is also a kind of meditation. You can always think about the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani and the lotus feet of Krishna. Always meditate on Their lotus feet, i.e. always remember Their lotus feet. We recite the gayatri mantra—Guru-mantra, Guru-gayatri, Gaura-mantra, Gaura-gayatri, sometimes Krishna-mantra, Krishna-gayatri, Radha-mantra, Radha-gayatri, and also kama-gayatri. Mainly, meditation means meditating on the lotus feet of Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani. Always think about that—close your eyes and think about the lotus feet of the Absolute...

Question: Could you please tell us about Ajita Krishna Prabhu? His disappearance day is observed today...

Gurudev told me about him. He was a good, a perfect servitor in Srila Guru Maharaj's time. He would serve the whole day, he would clean the pots, etc. at the festival time. He would do so much service, especially on the days before festivals (adhivas), and on the festival days (Gaura Purnima, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's appearance day, etc.). He would do his service until two o'clock, and then take a little rest in the store room. He thought, "Why should I go to sleep in my room? I can stay here, in the store room." In the morning, he would take a quick shower outside and go to the mangal arati. He did not even go to his room, he would sleep in the store room during the festival time. He was a proper servitor, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj depended upon him a lot. When he left his body, Srila Sridhar Maharaj was very sad. There was a guava tree at the corner between the temple and the bhajan kutir of Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Ajita Krishna Prabhu saw a ripe guava on the tree and wanted to pick it. He climbed only three-four feet high, but he fell down from there and suddenly died. It is very sad. It was not even so high, only three-four feet, but he fell down... I remember one time when I had left for preaching, our Gurudev's servitor Chinmoy Prabhu climbed the dome of the temple and fell down from there landing on the marble floor—it is ninety feet high, but he is still alive. You see? If Krishna protects somebody, who can kill them? So, it is our sadness that Ajita Krishna Prabhu left—he was a very pure devotee and a perfect servitor...

Are there any other questions from anyone?

Question: How can I transform my attachment to the family into attachment to Krishna and the Guru?

Through practising. Practise, practise, practise, and practise, then attachment will come automatically. Also, it is necessary to have some mercy from Gurudev. Material attachment will change automatically. You need to keep practising. Practise every day sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). It is necessary to always practise this. Also, you must always keep good association,

sadhu-sanga, nama-sankirtana, 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)

Listen to the classes, to Srimad Bhagavatam; always think about the holy dhams; always worship Deities. If you do all this, then attachment will come. When you give birth to a baby, you start taking care of the baby every day—you feed it, you do this, this, this, and you start feeling a very deep attachment to your baby. In the same way, when you worship your Deities every day, when you do the Deities' puja every day, when you serve your Guru every day, then attachment will gradually come on its own.

Question: Why cannot we cry tears in front of Deities?

Anybody can cry in front of the Deities as long as they cry for the Deities. Sometimes we cry for ourselves, and that is not good—in this case, such crying is called emotion, it is not devotion. It is not so easy to shed one drop of water in front of Deities. Sahajiyas always cry, always show so many tears, but this is emotion, it is not devotion. If somebody cries in front of the Deities because they feel deep in their heart, "I am a fallen soul, I cannot serve You! I am very bad!"—this mood can come sometimes, this is humility, and it is not bad.

Question: How can we tell the difference is it is emotion or devotion?

That is easy to understand. It depends upon the devotee, upon their practising life. In Srila Sridhar Maharaj's time, there was one young boy who came to hear Srila Sridhar Maharaj's class—as he was listening to the class, he started crying, and his grandmother said, "Oh, Maharaj, can you see? My grandson is crying, he has so much devotion!" And Srila Sridhar Maharaj replied, "This is not devotion, it is emotion."

So, sometimes we do something emotionally, but it will not last, it will finish quickly—when proper devotion comes, it lasts and makes the person prominent. You can easily understand what is called emotion and what is called devotion. In, India, Bengal, there is so much sahajiyasm—sometimes people cry so much imitating Mahaprabhu. Sometimes people copy what Mahaprabhu did, sometimes people copy what Gurudev said, etc.

Once, when Srila Madhavendra Puripad was crying feeling pangs of separation, his disciple Ramachandra Puri came to him and started giving him advice about Brahma-jnana, "Why are you crying? Everything is Brahman," etc. Madhavendra Puri got very angry with him and told him, "Get out from here! I do not want to see your face! I am suffering so much from separation, and you are coming to make it worse!" That is, Srila Madhavendra Puripad's crying and other people's crying is not one and the same. You can understand that. Madhavendra Puri also cried because he felt much separation, and other people imitate him. You can easily differentiate this.

Practise and practise, and when you make yourself perfect, then it will manifest in your dealings, in your behaviour, in your humility, etc. that you have become perfect—then you can easily understand what is the difference between emotion and devotion.

You must be always frank in everything. Always talk open-mindedly, do not keep anything from your Guru, do not hide anything from your Guru. You must not be afraid to speak your mind. Always converse with each other with an open mind, it is good for devotees. Do not keep anything in your heart, do not hide anything from your Guru. You can speak openly. Saralata-i vaisnavata—Vaishnavism means simplicity.

* * *

Applying Intelligence

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 June 2020, part 6

Question: Is it important to study the meaning of slokas and scriptures?

Yes, it is necessary to understand the meaning of slokas otherwise if you read some sloka and do not understand the meaning, then how will you understand the sloka? It is necessary to read the meaning. Some slokas are written in Sanskrit, like in Srimad Bhagavad-gita or Srimad Bhagavatam, and when you read it, it must be clear to you what you are reading. Not everybody can understand Sanskrit, but the Bengali meaning or the English meaning is there, you must read it. Even when we sing kirtans from our kirtan guide also, we cannot understand all Bengali kirtans, but the meaning is there—if you can read the meaning and understand the meaning, then you can easily take the essence of the kirtan into your heart and understand everything. We sing so many songs, but if we do not understand the meaning, then we will be just singing and singing without understanding.

One time, I asked a Bengali devotee who sings the bhoga-arati kirtan every day, "You sing, 'Yasomati ajna peye Dhanistha anita'—what does 'Dhanistha' mean?" He was surprised. He thought that somebody had got Yasomati's order and brought Dhanistha—he thought Dhanistha was some kind of prasadam. I told him, "No, it is the name of a gopi!" You see? He sings this kirtan every day, but he does not know the meaning of Dhanistha. We may not understand so many words in the songs, so we must see the meaning, then we can easily digest and understand it. We must understand every word. If you sometimes cannot understand the meaning of the word in English or Bengali, you can look it up in a dictionary. You must understand the meaning properly. There is so much meaning in slokas. For example,

tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam, jnaninas tattva-darsinah

"You will be able to attain knowledge by satisfying the divine master with submission, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. The enlightened souls who are learned in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will impart divine knowledge to you."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

What is the meaning of this sloka? You should understand it. Pranipat means full surrender; pariprasna means honest enquiry, asking good questions (there are many types of questions, but it is necessary to make honest enquiry); and sevaya means service temper, it is necessary to have a service temper. If you cannot understand the meaning, then how will you learn?

Question: You always say that we should ask our guardian, but sometimes the guru is not present near us and we cannot ask him directly, and sometimes I also think that I do not want to bother you.

No, there is not bother. Sometimes, if we cannot understand something, we can open our mind and ask our guru. Otherwise, actually we can easily understand what our Guru wants through our service mood. In my own life, I understood what Gurudev wanted through my service. Sometimes, some contradiction would come, then I would ask Gurudev. However, one day, I remember, when some contradiction came and I asked Gurudev about it, Gurudev gave me a very heavy answer. I asked Gurudev, "I am facing a problem, some situation has come up, what should I do?" and Gurudev answered, "I have kept an Alsatian dog downstairs to do its job, but that Alsatian dog cannot do its duty, it does not understand its duty—it becomes afraid and comes to me. What am I to do now?" Then I understood what Gurudev wanted. Such situations can come sometimes. Also, I have seen that Gurudev is durdarsi, he can see from far...

Question: How can we avoid quarrelling and fighting? So many things are happening now here in the USA...

Fighting is not good. That has always been there. We are now in 2020, but we still differentiate who is Italian, who is Chinese, who is Brazilian, who is Indian, who is Pakistani, etc. In our vision, we do not discriminate anyone, we cannot hate anybody—everybody, every living entity has a jiva soul, so we do not come to discriminate who is black, who is white, who is a sannyasi, who is a brahmachari, who is a lady, who is a man. This is not our line. We must always avoid discrimination. Devotees' mood is to always tolerate everything.

In previous times also, there were so many brahmin names—Bhattacharya, Chaterjee, Banerjee, etc. Anyone who had a brahmin thread was considered a brahmin. But if you remove that brahmin thread, what is the difference between that 'brahmin' and other people? People proudly think they are brahmins just because they wear a brahmin thread, but if somebody cannot give up their brahmanical pride, how can they be a brahmin?

Discrimination is not good. We must not see who is Indian, who is Brazilian, who is Japanese, who is Chinese, we must control ourselves. Even here in India, there is some problem with China now—China always possesses Indian land, and India shows tolerance. It is necessary to always tolerate and to speak with each other fairly otherwise if we start fighting, we will lose so many people and so much money. What will we gain by that? Those who cannot understand it always want to fight, want to quarrel with each other, they kill each other, etc. It is very bad. Our line is that you cannot hate any Vaishnav, any devotee. Sometimes we hate devotees, sometimes we criticise devotees, it is all an offence. We should avoid offences, avoid quarrelling. We must always harmonise the situation. If two men are fighting, one man should be quiet, then the fight will automatically stop. If somebody provokes, provokes, provokes, you must always keep quiet, then the person will automatically stop doing it. If you provoke somebody and they provoke you, then hands will join in fight, and when hand is not enough, then sticks will come. Someone should keep quiet.

Question: What if somebody says something bad about my Guru, how can I tolerate that and keep quiet?

If you can stop the person, you can do it, otherwise you must run away from that place. Never listen to guru-ninda or vaishnav-ninda (criticism or offence of the Guru or Vaishnavs). Never. It is very bad for your practising life. We do not associate with those who criticise others, we always avoid their association.

Question: In Sri Guru and His Grace, there is a chapter Initiating Spiritual Masters where it says that there are three classes of devotees, and the first class devotee is the devotee who sees Krishna in everything. So, if somebody speaks bad about our guru-parampara, speaks nonsense, or does nonsense, how do we see Krishna in that?

Those who are pure devotees can see Krishna everywhere—those who are pure devotee cannot hear what the person is saying, that nonsense talk will not even enter their ears.

Question: Once, Srila Prabhupad said that we must not try to become a maha-bhagavata, that we should not try to see Krishna everywhere, we should apply some discrimination.

Of course. But being a maha-bhagavata is not bad. The Guru is a maha-bhagavata, but he comes down to the middle position. There are three classes of devotees—kanistha-adhikari, madhyam-adhikari, and uttam-adhikari. The Guru has to come to the position of a madhyam-adhikari to be able to see that you are his disciple and he is your guru because those who are uttam-adhikari see Krishna everywhere.

yanhara darsane mukhe aise krsna-nama
tanhare janiha tumi 'vaisnava-pradhana'

"When you see somebody and Krishna comes to your mouth, then you should know such a person as an uttam-adhikari."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.74)

When you see a devotee and 'Krishna' comes to your mouth, then you must know that this is a pure devotee. This is the main thing.

* * *

Waning Values

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 June 2020, part 7

Question: How can I avoid feeling the desire to be independent from my Guru, Krishna, and the devotees?

We are not independent. We live under the guidance of our Guru. If you think about something yourself, you can ask others first—some senior devotee is there, you can ask them what you must do that. Why do you think of independence? Independence means svatantrata, and svatantrata is not good. You must live and serve under the guidance of your Guru and Vaishnavs, that is good. Stay under the guidance of Guru and Vaishnavs—that will be good for you.

Moreover, if you live in the temple and you need to go out, you must tell somebody in the temple, "I am going to some place, I am coming back in half an hour, two hours." That is what Gurudev told. You may be the manager of the temple, so you think it is not necessary to tell anybody ("I am the manager, why must I tell anybody that I am going out?")—but the security is there, you must tell the security that you are going out for an hour and you are coming back.

Also, Gurudev taught us that when you distribute prasadam at the prasadam time in the temple, you cannot distribute prasadam for yourself—somebody must give you prasadam, you must wait. You think, "Oh, I am the manger, why must I ask anybody? I will go and take it myself." No, this is not good. You must sit down, and somebody will give it to you. This is the proper way. I am talking now about the rules of the temple life.

Sometimes also, devotees think, "Oh, I have access to the kitchen, I do not like this food, I do not like this prasadam—I will cook for myself!" This is atmendriya-tarpan (sense-gratification). This is not devotion, it is called lust (kama, কাম). Even if you are the manager of the temple, if you think, "I will cook for myself, I do not like this prasadam," this is not good for the temple life. You must sacrifice so many things if you stay in the temple life. I have learned so many things like this when I came to this Mission.

Somebody was asking about Ajita Krishna Prabhu today. Gurudev said that Ajita Krishna Prabhu was a real mother because he would always think about those who had gone out (sometimes devotees would go out and come back at three-four o'clock in the afternoon)—he would always keep some prasadam for them. This is a real mother. Gurudev said that the storekeeper (bhandari, ভাণ্ডারী) or the Math-in-charge (temple manager, Math-raksak, মঠরক্ষক) will be the one who always thinks about everybody. If somebody has gone out to distribute books, to do collection, to buy something or to do some other job, and you know the person is coming back at three-four o'clock, you must think about them and keep some prasadam for them. You must be a real mother. This is what Gurudev always said. But this kind of love and affection is not there any more... There are about ten devotees staying in one temple, and sometimes we fight with each other about domestic things—we hit each other, we beat each other. Our tolerance is already gone. This is not a good situation.

Somebody gets ego, "Oh, I am the temple manager, I will control everybody! Everybody will listen to me, everybody will listen to my instruction." No. You can give others advice, you can give others your love and affection, then you will be the manager. A manager is a great servitor, a manager is a great proper servant. A temple manager in this Mission is a big servant, a big guardian. This must be always our mood. First practise properly yourself, then everybody will listen to you. Behave properly, have proper tolerance, deal with others properly, then everybody will give respect to you...

* * *

Abode of Highest Pastimes

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 June 2020, part 8

Question: Vrindavan is a village, and Dvaraka is a city, but still Vrindavan is superior to Dvaraka. Why is Vrindavan superior aspiration than other conceptions?

Because Krishna's real pastimes, what is called Vraja-lila, madhurya-lila (sweet, ecstatic pastimes), are happening in Vrindavan. That is why Vrindavan, Radha Kunda, Govardhan are the highest places. It is said in the scriptures, "Mathura is higher than Dvaraka, Vrindavan is higher than Mathura, Govardhan is higher than Vrindavan, and Radha Kunda is higher than Govardhan." This is the position of things.

When we say "Krishna's pastimes," we do not mean only His general pastimes—Vrindavan is the place of madhurya-lila, the place of Vraja-lila. We find in Srimad Bhagavatam also that Uddhav Maharaj said, "I want to be a blade of grass in Vrindavan, then I will get all the gopis' footdust on my head." In another way, Vrindavan is also the highest place because all the Vraja-gopis, Mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaj experience the feeling of separation there. This is different from any other place.

There is Vraja-Krishna, Mathuresh Krishna, Dvarakesh Krishna. They are not the same. Moreover, Vrindavan-Krishna never leaves Vrindavan. We see that Krishna goes to Dvaraka, Mathura, but Krishna actually never leaves Vrindavan. He Himself also said it, "I never leave Vrindavan." Therefore, Mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaj always think about Krishna, and Krishna is always in their hearts. Those pastimes of separation are going on there...

That is why Vrindavan is considered the highest (srestha) place; that is why all the goswamis stayed there. Whether it is a village or a city, this is not a question. Actually, now Vrindavan has also become a city—there are so many buildings there now. Vrindavan is made of dvadas-vana (twelve forests, or groves), but where have all the forests gone now? When we come to Vrindavan, we sometimes visit Belvan, other than that, there are only two forests left in Vrindavan—only Nikunjavan and Nidhuvan. All other forests have turned into buildings now—everything has become concrete, stone...

We also see that village people's hearts are often very simple. Somebody lives in a city, in a big apartment in a twenty-storey building, and there are fifty-sixty other families living there, but they do not even know who lives beside them; people have no contact with each other. Villages are not like that. In a village, everybody knows each other from two-three kilometres around them. So, whether Vrindavan is a village or a town, it does not matter. What matters is that Vrindavan is the highest place because, firstly, our guru-varga has said so, and, secondly, because we can see what pastimes go on in Vrindavan. Vrindavan pastimes of Krishna are different from Krishna's pastimes in Dvaraka. Dasya-rasa (servitude), sakhya-rasa (friendship), vatsalya-rasa (parenthood), and madhura-rasa (consorthood) always exist exclusively in Vrindavan Dham.

Are there any other questions from anybody?

Question: How can we recognise pride in ourselves?

Scriptures describe what is called pride. If somebody is very beautiful, they think, "I am very beautiful"; if somebody has much money, they think, "I am very rich," etc. There are so many egoistic people in this world, you can see that yourself. When you come to this practising life and if you can practise the line of Vaishnavism, then you can easily recognise pride. If you think about it carefully yourself, you can easily see what bad elements you have, and pride is one of these elements. It is easy to understand what our bad qualities are, what bad things we do, but if we do not try to understand it, that is another question. We must try to understand it. If we have some bad quality but we cannot see it ourselves, that means that we have some ego—ego prevents us from seeing our own faults.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Sri Guru Purnima: Remembrance Day

Sri Guru Purnima day, Kolkata-Worldwide, 5 July 2020, part 1

Hari bol, dandavat. Please accept my humble obeisance to you all.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Nitai Gaurachandra ki jay
Jay Laksmi Nrisinghadev ki jay
Prahlad maharaj ki jay
Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Sri Sada-Siva Gangadhar Giriraj Govardhan ki jay
All the assembled sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Today is a very good and auspicious day, the day of Sri Guru Purnima (full moon). Gurudev always spoke on this day. You can celebrate this day properly and remember Gurudev. On this day, we can remember, we can come to our Gurudev and pray to him that he may engage us in service more and more, so that we could progress in our spiritual life, so that we could submit ourselves to him as a devotee.

Sometimes, we fall down into Maya. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita tells very clearly why this happens,

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"When the jiva soul makes the mistake of forgetting that it is an eternal servant of Krishna, Maya captures the soul by its neck."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.24)

As soon as we forget that we are eternal servants of the Lord, Maya attacks us. That is the main thing. We must always remember that we are eternal servants of the Lord, that we are servants birth after birth (janma-janmantarer sevak/das). If we forget that we are eternal servants of the Lord, then Maya can attack us any time.

We celebrate this Sri Guru Purnima or any other festival to always remember this. It is like charging your battery. If you use your mobile phone but do not charge it from time to time, after some time the charge will finish and you will not be able to talk, work, use the internet or do anything else with this phone. It is necessary to have a charger and it is necessary to charge the phone. In our spiritual life also, it is necessary to charge your 'battery'—we need sadhu-sanga, good association, we must always talk about Krishna-katha, Guru-katha, Hari-katha, about Krishna's pastimes, Gurudev's pastimes. We must always remember these things, then it will give us inspiration in our spiritual life, we will get more and more energy and we will engage ourselves more and more in service. In this way, we can improve our spiritual life. So, you must always remember this day and other festival days also.

There are so many festivals, but we cannot gather many people in this situation, but we can still try little by little—we can give lectures through video calls and in other ways. In this age of internet, we are able to connect with all the devotees all over the world, and it is very nice for us.

We received very sad news yesterday—one ISKCON guru and acharya passed away, left us... He was acquainted with me personally. His name is Sripad Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj. He was a disciple of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad, and Gurudev told me that he used to come to Srila Guru Maharaj (Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj) also. Later, he bought one land (the Land of Nectar) and gave it to Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. I have seen the deed of that land, it was actually his land initially. Later on, he came back again to his previous mission, to ISKCON. What can we do? But he preached very nicely—he made an ashram in Ujjain, he went for preaching to Bangladesh and so many other countries. We have lost him now in this virus. He was attacked in America, and yesterday he passed away.

"Krsna-bhakta-viraha vina duhkha nahi dekhi para: I cannot see any other sorrow except that of separation from a devotee of Krishna." It is very sad for us because we lost one of the captains yesterday—one of the pillars in our Krishna consciousness society has broken down. It is a great loss for our society. Whenever any Vaishnav leaves, we feel very sad. He may be an ISKCON guru, but we see him as a fighter against maya, so for us, we have lost one of our fellow soldiers (sahayodha) in our Krishna consciousness society...

Everybody has to leave one day, and we do not know when this day will come. Ten years ago, Gurudev also left us, went away from our eyes; now we cannot see him properly... Param Guru Maharaj is gone, Srila Prabhupad is gone. We are losing so many devotees, so many fellow soldiers in our line—Sripad Vaishnav Maharaj, Sripad Tapasvi Maharaj, Sripad Siddhanti Maharaj, Sripad Parvat Maharaj, Sripad Narayan Maharaj from Mauritius, Yudhamanyu Prabhu. It is very sad. And yesterday we also lost Sripad Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj... What can we do? We have to harmonise with this situation because this situation will come and we have to tolerate it. It is very sad for us. What more can I say or do?

So, today is Guru Purnima. We must always remember Gurudev on this day. Actually, we must always remember Gurudev. From the moment we wake up in the morning, we must first of all see Gurudev's face and give obeisance to our Guru (offer guru-pranam). This is one of the main things in our spiritual life.

So, we shall start today with a few songs. It is very important.

Jay Srila Gurudev.

[His Divine Grace then sings "Gurudev krpa bindu diya," "Kabe Sri Chaitanya more karibena daya," "Akrodha paramananda Nityananda Raya," "Sarvasva tomara charane sampiya," and then continues the class.]

* * *

Sri Guru Purnima Address

Sri Guru Purnima day, Kolkata-Worldwide, 5 July 2020, part 2

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

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am giving my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my beloved Gurudev, my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, as well as the lotus feet of all the assembled sannyasi-vrinda, all the devotees, and all the assembled devotees. I am giving my full obeisance to you all. I have no quality, no qualification to serve you all, but I am trying to follow my Gurudev's order and direction and continue in this way. I am trying to serve his mission in this way.

I am very pleased because I know all devotees wait for me to give this programme once a week—all devotees wait to express their opinion, to ask some questions and receive answers. It makes me happy and gives me pleasure and enthusiasm to continue my services. In this way, I am trying to continue my service.

Actually, I know that Guru is the centre of the disciple's heart—I have heard it from my Gurudev and read in Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's lectures. I have some understanding how we should increase our service mood, how we should increase our spiritual life—I have got much experience in my spiritual life because I joined this mission almost thirty years ago, and I have been trying to serve my Gurudev's mission since that time. I have always been trying to do the service that Gurudev gave me, and I am still trying to follow and finish that service. This is how this mission is running.

So many problems, so many quarrels, so much fighting comes. Gurudev told me before also that after his demise problems would come, he knew everything, and he ordered me not to run away. I promised him that I would not run away from whatever situation may come; I promised him that I would always stay with devotees; and I am trying to follow that. I never run away from any problems. Therefore, I want to say that I am always at your service. Any time you think of anything, you can engage me in your service at any time. Any service I can help you with, I will always try to do it, and I will try my best. That is my promise on this Guru Purnima day. What more can I say?

On this Guru Purnima day we also remember that those who can carry out Gurudev's order and who can tolerate Gurudev's chastisement (sasan, শাসন, disciplining), are perfect disciples. We must always be perfect disciples, and a perfect disciple is a person who can tolerate Gurudev's chastisement. This is very important for our spiritual life. Gurudev always chastised me so much, but I never thought that he was chastising me—I always thought he was giving me affection. That is why I did not have any problems. Gurudev would sometimes be angry, sometimes unhappy, sometimes happy, etc.—he tried to test me in many ways, and, perhaps, I passed his test, that is why he chose me as the next successor in his mission. But I am only his dog, and I always want to remain his dog, not more than that. If I can remain his dog my whole life, that is sufficient for me. If I can get some service dust from the place where Gurudev stays and where his eternal service is going on, that is sufficient for me.

All devotees are giving me so much love and affection. I do not know how many phone calls have come today—maybe one thousand phone calls—from all over the world. The phone has been ringing the whole day. I forgot to switch off my phones yesterday, and I am thinking it is the will of Gurudev because I usually always switch my phone off at night, and yesterday I came from Nrisingha Palli in the evening and was tired, so I went to take rest and forgot to switch off my mobile phones. I have four mobile phones and I started getting calls from 4:30 in the morning. Phone calls have been coming non-stop the whole day, only now I have switched it to the silent mode otherwise I will not be able to give the class. After the class I will have to answer the calls again. In this way, devotees' love and affection is giving me so much enthusiasm and happiness in my life, and that is sufficient for me. Actually, I never got in my previous life (purva-ashram, previous family) that which I have got from Gurudev—I have never got that kind of affection anywhere else. My Gurudev is more than a father to me. I have got many thousands times more love and affection from my Gurudev than from my biological father, and I never forget it, I cannot forget Gurudev's love and affection—even when he chastised me, it was his love and affection for me.

This is how I am continuing my service. So many senior devotees want to teach me, and I bow my head down at their lotus feet—I do not think they make any offence to me. It is OK, they can teach me because I am very young by age, I am younger than them. They can tell me anything they want, they can advise me, and I will follow their advice, I do not mind it. I am trying to live in this way. I do not think, "I am the successor, I am the main guru—why will they teach me then?" If somebody wants to teach me, wants to tell me something, I will be happy and I always take their advice and guidance. This is how I am running this mission. I am very enthusiastic and eager to receive any order, any service from the devotees. I am always waiting to serve you—tell me what service I need to do, and I will always try to do that, I will always try to fulfil your desire. This is how I am maintaining this Math.

You all know the situation with the lockdown. Many places are still not open fully, including the courts, so I cannot get my passport and cannot go all over the world now. I was supposed to get my passport in March, but then the lockdown started and I have not got it yet. I do not know when the courts open fully and I get my passport, but if I get it quickly within this year, I will try to visit you all. I will come. My heart is always with you all. Actually, my body is here, but my heart, my mind, my everything is with you. I am always thinking about you, I am always thinking about your good, how you can become better and better, how you can run the mission more and more successfully. This mission is all over the world. I do not think that our Chaitanya Saraswat Math is only in Nabadwip, Dum Dum Park, Ekachakra, London, America or any other particular place—no, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is all over the world, and it is one united, single mission. The master of this mission is our Divine Master Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

Sometimes, some problems come—this is maya. All jiva souls are eternal servants of Krishna ("jiva—nitya Krsna-dasa"), but because we sometimes forget it, maya attacks us and some problems start coming—we start searching who is our enemy, but we must control ourselves, we must always fight with ourselves, not with others. We ourselves have so many enemies—kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (lust, anger, greed, attachment with this material world and material things, illusion, envy). We must fight with all these enemies. That is the main thing for us in our life. Why are we going to fight with others? We must fight against ourselves. We always try to fight against others, but we never think that there are so many enemies inside us. You must fight and defeat your own enemies first, then you can conquer the whole world, but if you cannot defeat your own self, then how will you conquer the whole world? First, you must fight your own enemies—the enemies that you always carry around with you; but you are not trying to fight with them—instead, you are giving nourishment to them. You dream of conquering the whole world, but you cannot even conquer your own self! How will you conquer the whole world? First, fight against your own self. That is the main thing.

Therefore, we must practise and chant the Holy Name continuously. Do more service—serve, serve, serve, and serve. Do not become tired! You think you took initiation twenty years ago, thirty years ago, forty years ago; you think that you have been in Krishna consciousness for fifty years or ten years, that you have been chanting the Holy Name all this time, but you are not getting any result. Do not become tired! You must run continuously, do not be tired. Keep on going. You think the result will come immediately, but no, do not think about the result—you must always serve the Lord, serve your Guru, and whether your Guru accepts your service or not, that is up to his desire, not yours! Whether he will accept your service or not, depends on his desire. We must try to serve him and try to fulfil his desire, and whether he will accept our service or not, that is entirely left to his mood.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Jay Sri Guru Purnima ki jay

* * *

Will-O'-the-Wisp of Worldly Wishes

Sri Guru Purnima day, Kolkata-Worldwide, 5 July 2020, part 3

Question: When we are young, maya often attacks us in a strong way and we think that we will enjoy our youth to the fullest and when we grow old, then it will be the right time to serve Gurudev and surrender to him. How can we change this wrong way of thinking?

If you give Maya chance, then Maya will attack you. It does not matter whether you are young or old.

When Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He was twenty-four years old—He had left everything, His young thirteen-year-old wife Vishnupriya, His mother, He left everybody in Nabadwip and came to Keshav Bharati. All He had with Him was the clothes He was wearing. When Mahaprabhu came, Keshav Bharati spoke to Mahaprabhu the whole night, and I asked Gurudev once, "What did Mahaprabhu and Keshav Bharati talk about the whole night?" Gurudev said, "You want to hear what conversation happened between them?"—and then he started singing very beautifully. Here is what he told me.

Keshav Bharati said, "You are only twenty-four. You have not even crossed the brahmachari ashram! How have You come to me to take sannyas? One is supposed to follow brahmachari ashram from one to twenty-five years old; grihastha life from twenty-five to fifty years old; vanaprastha from fifty to seventy-five years old; and then, at seventy-five you must take sannyas." (And now is the age of Kali—you may not even live to seventy-five!)

Still, Mahaprabhu said, "All right, if you think I am too young, suppose I am fifty now."

Keshav Bharati replied, "It is not possible to take sannyas at fifty because You cannot control the pancha-rasa (rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa—desire to enjoy with beauty, taste, smell, sound, touch). If You cannot control these things, then even if You are fifty, You cannot take sannyas."

Then Mahaprabhu said, "All right, suppose I am sixty."

Keshav Bharati replied, "If You cannot control your six enemes (sad-riru—kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya—lust, anger, greed, illusion, attachment, envy), then even if You are sixty, You cannot take sannyas."

Then, Mahaprabhu jumped to ninety and said, "All right, suppose I am ninety now!"

Keshav Bharati replied, "Yes, You are ninety, but You still do not follow the nava-vidha bhakti (the nine devotional practises) and You have not got through:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning there is (1) faith, then (2) good association, then (3) practising life. After that, (4) the offences gradually go away, (5) faith becomes stronger, (6) taste comes, then (7) attachment, then there arises (8) love and (9) intense transcendental love. This is how love to God comes to those who practise Krsna consciousness."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.4.15-16)

"Then, even if You are ninety, You cannot take sannyas."

Then, Mahaprabhu said, "All right, I am a hundred!"

Keshav Bharati replied, "Even if You are a hundred, You still cannot control Your ten senses (five karmendriya and five jnanendriya). Then, You cannot take sannyas even if You are a hundred." [The five karmendriya (instruments) are feet, hands, rectum, genitals, mouth (pada, pani, payu, upastha, vak); the five jnanendriya (senses) are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin (chaksu, karna, nasika, jihva, tvak).]

Do you understand? It is necessary to control all these things. I told you just a few minutes ago—we must fight against our own selves. Why do you go to fight with others? We will fight with ourselves because we ourselves have so many enemy elements inside us. It does not mean that Maya will attack you when you are young—it depends on the person, it is not always like this. If you try to control your elements, you can control them from a young age. Somebody thinks, "I may not get another life later, so I better enjoy my youth now as much as I can now, and I will join Krishna consciousness when I get old; then Maya will not attack me because I will be old and not beautiful, nobody will like me." People think like this, but if you can control your senses from now, from your youth, then you will not have any problems.

Sometimes, people also think, "Sannyasis are always fearful, 'Will I fall down or not?' So, it is better to become a grihastha, stay in your house, practise and have no fear of falling down." Some people think like this, but at the same time people sometimes live as grihasthas and become deha-ramis (devoted to enjoying the body)—they think, "We live in a big house, surrounded by big cushions; we enjoy, get good food, paneer, chana, rasagulla, etc. We enjoy with our grihastha life!" That is called becoming a deha-rami. People start enjoying so much in their householder life, but proper grihastha life is not like this. Proper grihasthas wake up early in the morning and practise properly.

The day before yesterday I got a phone call from one devotee from Europe. He had joined the Mission in Srila Guru Maharaj's time. He is a good devotee, he is helping me and in Gurudev's time, he helped the Mission very much. He is a very enthusiastic man. When he called me, he cried to me, "Maharaj, my life is gone now! You go to sleep at ten o'clock and wake up at four-five o'clock, but my life is just the opposite—I go to sleep at two o'clock and sleep until nine-ten o'clock! I am doing just the opposite. How have I become so bad? I am not practising properly because I am suffering so much in my family life..." His feeling about himself is that "amara jivana sada pape rata nahika punyera lesa—my life is always engrossed in sin. There is not a trace of piety in it." He said, "I am suffering so much, the whole night I think what I am using my life for, and I am getting so much pain, so much austerity." Such are his feelings.

Yet, "janiya suniya visa khainu—I knew that it was poison, I had heard that it was poison, but still I drank it." You know everything. You were a brahmachari, you did puja, you lived proper devotional life, but then you go to family life and lose your devotional practice, you start slacking and not practise all the time. As soon as you get a weak spot, Maya will attack you. Maya always searches for our weak spots. An ant always searches for a hole and as soon as it finds it, it goes into it—Maya is also like that. She searches for any hole in us and when the time comes, she will attack you. She is always ready to attack you. That is why we must be very careful. Now you say you will become grihastha, but when some years pass, you will regret it. I am not saying that householder life is bad, but I have seen so many brahmacharis in my life who left the temple and went to householder life, and now they think how much austerity there is in householder life. They tell me how much they are suffering, how much they have to work—they work twenty-four hours a day to maintain their family, to maintain their children. They have it very difficult, and they do not get time to come to the mangal arati, etc.

You know the story "Family of Gita" ("Gitar Samsar"). Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told that story. I have told it many times.

Once, a man took initiation from his Guru, and Gurudev told him to read Bhagavad-gita every day. The man agreed and started reading Bhagavad-gita. After a while, he thought, "There are so many people here, it is too noisy! I had better go to the mountains, somewhere to Rishikesh or Haridwar, and stay there reading Srimad Bhagavad-gita peacefully." So, he went to the mountain and started reading Bhagavad-gita there. The problem is that he had left the world and went to live in the mountain, but he had some material desires—he had not left these material desires in the world, he took them with him. So, one day when he was reading Bhagavad-gita, he fell asleep and when he woke up he saw a rat had bitten his Gita and some pages were gone. Angry, he thought, "I will teach that rat a lesson!" Then, he went to search for a cat. He found a cat, brought it there and the rat was gone. Now, the cat was hungry and kept meowing all the time. What will he feed it? He thought it was necessary to arrange for some milk for the cat. So, he brought there a cow. Next is another problem—who will take care of that cow? Who will give food to the cow? So, he arranged for a girl to serve the cow. Soon, he started some relation with that girl and they got married. He started his householder life and ended up with five children. Every time he sat down to read Bhagavad-gita, all the children came after him, "O papa! Give me this!" "O papa! Give me that!" He was very tired of it. Then, one day his Gurudev decided to come and see him thinking, "I want to see that proper disciple of mine—he has left for Haridwar, Rishikesh. I want to see how he is reading Bhagavad-gita there." When he came there, he saw his disciple, his house and so many children—he saw that his disciples had forgotten all about his Bhagavad-gita reading!

This is how Maya attacks you...

* * *

Eternal Priorities

Sri Guru Purnima day, Kolkata-Worldwide, 5 July 2020, part 4

Question: I heard that devotees do not make offences by mistake and that devotees do not go to hell. Could you please comment on it?

Yes, if devotees do not make offences, why will they go to hell? If it is a proper devotee, then they always stay with the Lord, with their Guru. Why will a proper devotee go to hell? Devotees always chant the Holy Name. Everybody can make a mistake—to err is human—but our Gurudev is there, our guru-varga is there, and they can correct us. What is the problem?

Also, we always think that we are offenders, that we always make offences. Consciously or unconsciously, but we make so many offences. How do offences come? There are thirty-two kinds of offences to service (seva-aparadh), ten kinds of Vaishnav-aparadh, Dham-aparadh, Nama-aparadh. There are so many offences (aparadh). We inevitably make offences, but at the same time, offences can be removed through service.

Question: Could you please explain the importance of the books Sri Brahma-samhita and Sri Krishna-karnamrita for our sampradaya?

Yes, Brahma-samhita is one of the main books of our sampradaya. Mahaprabhu found this book in South India, He read it Himself also. Brahma-samhita is a record of Lord Brahma's words. It is necessary and important to read this book, to read all the slokas and understand their meaning.

Mahaprabhu brought two books, Sri Krishna-karnamrita and Brahma-samhita. He found them and brought to Puri, but those who are offenders (ninduk) say that Mahaprabhu had written them Himself. It is not true. Brahma-samhita is what Brahma told, it contains Brahma's prayers and realisations.

isvarah paramah krsnah sach-chid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

"Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes."

(Sri Brahma-samhita, 5.1)

This and other famous and fundamental slokas are found there. Sometimes, when we write books, we also quote different verses from Brahma-samhita. When you read Chaitanya-charitamrita, you will find there a description of how Mahaprabhu brought these two books, there is no elaborate big description—He found these books, brought them to Puri and distributed among devotees. There is no big history about it.

Are there any other questions?

Question: Chaturmasya starts today, could you please explain to us how to observe these four months of Chaturmasya?

Actually, Gurudev said that we cannot follow Chaturmasya properly. The rules of Chaturmasya or niyom-seva month are very strict—you cannot take some kinds of vegetables, cannot take this, cannot take that. So many things are written about it in Hari-bhakti-vilas. Gurudev did not give much importance to Chaturmasya—he always took prasadam.

One time, Sripad Damodar Maharaj was in Kaikhali and one of Gurudev's disciples gave Sripad Damodar Maharaj some patal [a type of vegetable prohibited during Chaturmasya] during Chaturmasya. Damodar Maharaj got very angry—he jumped up and ran to Gurudev's room. It was twelve o'clock, Gurudev was resting, so he sat by his door and waited, waited. When Gurudev woke up at 2:30 p.m., he came to Gurudev and said, "I am going to do a hunger strike if you do not kick this man out! He has given me patal!" And Gurudev replied, "Maharaj, you always see patal, but I do not think that I am taking patal—I think I am taking prasadam."

Do you understand? There are so many restrictions—you cannot take tomatoes, cannot take patal, these things, those things, etc. There are many rules and regulations. During the niyom-seva month also, there are many things necessary to follow, but Gurudev gave some relief for foreign devotees because they cannot follow all these things properly and cannot follow all the very strict rules that the six goswamis followed properly when they stayed in Vrindavan. That is the main thing.

So, whatever vegetable you get at the market, buy it, cook it and give an offering to the Deities, and take that prasadam. That is sufficient for you. It is not necessary to think too much about Chaturmasya, Damodar month, Kartik vrata, Urja vrata, etc. (there are so many vratas). Do not think so much about it; think only about doing your service properly, about practising properly, about avoiding bad association properly—give much importance to all this, these are the main things for your spiritual life.

...The other day, six devotees came to take initiation from me in the morning. The last one was a lady who has her own hotel and restaurant. She told me that they cooked meat and fish in that restaurant and asked me how she should practise. I told her, "You must chant the Holy Name and do not take that meat, fish, etc. They can cook meat, etc. in the restaurant because it is your business, but you must not eat it." She said she had not been eating meat, fish, etc. for many years, but she worried about the smell of the meat, etc. I said, "What can you do? If you can get a better business, do another business, but until you have not got another business, continue running your hotel." In the meantime, I was thinking, "The lady has a hotel, so many customers come to her restaurant, and now she has come to take initiation—maybe she is giving corona virus to me!" [His Divine Grace laughs.]

Question (from a devotee in Colombia): At this time at present that we are all confined in our homes, what is your recommendation for us?

Everybody is at home, but there is a centre there in Paipa and Bogota (Colombia), why cannot you go to the centre? If your house is the centre, then you can call everybody, hold preaching programmes. Start preaching programmes and practise properly. Offer bhoga every day. If there are no lockdown restrictions, devotees can come and join the sankirtan, you can give class, do sankirtan every day. You must do all this. It is necessary to continue the preaching programme. Actually, one day we all will die, and that day is coming, then why are we losing our time? We must practise. We must give lectures, we must preach. It is necessary. I am also doing that.

* * *

Questions and Answers

Sri Guru Purnima day, Kolkata-Worldwide, 5 July 2020, part 5

Question: Sometimes, devotees have some problem, but they try to leave the problems behind, they try to change and associate with other devotees, but after a while they go back to their previous behaviour and do not change. Should we continue associating with such devotees or keep distance?

No, when some devotee is not loyal, not faithful to their Guru, if they disrespect their Guru, then you must always avoid their association. You must avoid their association. You must think whether somebody's association is good or not for you—use your discretion, you have intelligence, and you must think with your intelligence. We always avoid the association of those who are offenders of our Gurudev. Sometimes we may come across them somewhere on the street, we can greet them (How are you? I am OK, thank you. Dandavat) and go away. We maintain some decorum, but we do not mix with them.

Question: How to develop full surrender to our Gurudev?

How to do it depends on the devotee. You must serve with everything you have—with your heart, with your mind, etc. You must give everything to your Guru. You must think you are the property of your Guru, and how Gurudev will use you is his matter.

Everybody wants Gurudev's mercy. They write letters, "Gurudev, give me some mercy!", they tell to his face, "O Gurudev! Give me some mercy! Give me some mercy! Forgive my offence!"—people always do this, but as soon as Gurudev says, "Do this service," they pay dandavat and run away. This is what happens. The main thing is that the relation must be there. You must establish a proper relation with your Guru—through service.

Sometimes, in the Western world the relationship between a husband and a wife is like a house of cards (taser ghar). They fight over simple matters and leave each other (the husband leaves his wife, or the wife leaves her husband), they do not have love and affection for each other. If they had love and affection for each other, then how would they leave their husband or wife? In the same way, some people also change their guru all the time. They change their gurus in the same way that they change their clothes or vegetables—at noon you have one vegetable, at night time another vegetable, and in the morning you have some another food; in the same way, people change their husbands, wives and gurus. Somebody takes a wife or a husband and after three years, after five years they take another husband, another wife...

Question: Could you please tell us more about guru-seva?

When it comes to the service to the Guru, Gurudev used to always say one phrase. "Would you like some luchi (puri) fried in kerosine oil?"—Gurudev told this to me directly. What does this mean? If you bring some complaint to your Guru, it is not good—you must solve the problems yourself. Do not bring problems to your Guru. You must take care of everything yourself, that is good. Sometimes, you can take some advice from your Guru or from your guardian. Getting guidance from a guardian is good.

Question: Can we serve prasadam while the offering is still at the altar?

Yes, it is not a problem. I will give you one example. After Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur left this world, there were so many problems going on in Chaitanya Math, and many brahmacharis and sannyasis came to stay at Srila Sridhar Maharaj's temple. Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave them much love and affection. One day, some devotees had to go to the court (there were so many problems at that time) at ten o'clock and they were coming back later in the afternoon. Srila Sridhar Maharaj ordered the cook, "Cook before ten o'clock—keep some bhoga for the offering to the Deities and then feed the devotees." So, there is some exception for those devotees who are going out for some service. If you stay at the temple and you are not going anywhere, it is not good to take prasadam before the offering. If somebody is going out, then cook something earlier, take out some of the cooked bhoga for the Deities to offer it later at the proper time, and feed those who are going out for service, for collection, etc. properly. This is how you must serve devotees. This is the rule of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's temple.

Question: Do all jiva souls who are in the material body now within this world also have a spiritual body in Vaikuntha?

Those who stay in Vaikuntha, Goloka, Vrindavan also have a body—they are devotees who serve the Lord. There are so many planets—there is Siva-loka, Brahma-loka, etc. There are many Sivas, many Brahmas in the cosmic creation. Besides, if somebody is a proper devotee, their body is also chidananda-maya—transcendental (full of consciousness and bliss). Even if a devotee is present here in this world, their body is always transcendental because one cannot serve the Lord without a transcendental body. So, the body of those who serve the Lord is always transcendental. We think it is a human body, but actually it is not, it is a transcendental body.

Question: If a devotee lives with their family and some of them are not devotees and cook meat in the house, can the devotee conduct programmes in their household and invite others devotees over?

Yes, in India also we go to preach house to house, and I have had so many programmes in such houses where they eat fish, meat, etc. We come there and try to make them devotees. Sometimes, even after many years people cannot give up eating meat, fish, etc., but we still come there. You can also remember Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad. When he went to preach in the West, in his Western pastimes, at the beginning he stayed at one man's house in America—he would make some rice, chapati, etc. in the morning, keep it in the fridge, and go out to preach coming back only in the evening; one day, when he returned, he saw that the man in whose household he was staying, kept beef (cow's meat) in that same fridge. Still, Srila Swami Maharaj tolerated it and he became a great guru. Do you understand?

Jay Srila Gurudev
Jay Sri Guru Purnima ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay

* * *

Price of Mercy

Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 July 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Nitai Gaurachandra jiu ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
All the Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all—to see all the sannyasi-vrinda, brahmachari-vrinda, and bhakta-vrinda. I see your faces and feel happy. Seeing you gives me energy. The most important thing is that we must continuously do our service to the devotees and continuously try to please Gurudev. Our main concern in life is how we can please, how we can make our Gurudev happy. Therefore, I am very glad and I am very happy to see devotees' mood, to see their mood and enthusiasm to do their service. Devotees all over the world are doing so much service.

Actually, you cannot buy what Gurudev has given us in the market. I heard, once Gurudev gave a book to somebody, and that devotee asked Gurudev, "How many rupees should I give you?" Gurudev replied, "You cannot buy everything with money. There are things that money cannot buy." You can never buy love and affection with money. The kind of mercy of Gurudev you will get depends on your devotion, your faith. The more you can make Gurudev happy, the more mercy you will get from Gurudev.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj chose Gurudev as his successor and lastly he promised (I have told about it many times) to Gurudev, "If you do not take the responsibility for this Chaitanya Saraswat Math, I will break this temple and give the Deities to my Godbrother." This is what Srila Sridhar Maharaj said to Gurudev. Gurudev also said, "Guru Maharaj had been waiting for thirty years to give this chair to me, that is why I tolerate so many bad things. How much austerity I am getting sitting on this chair! I am wearing a crown, but this is not an easy crown—this crown is full of thorns! I am getting too much austerity, but I tolerate everything because of my Guru Maharaj—because my Guru Maharaj had waited for thirty years to give this chair to me. I have to tolerate so much austerity, and I have become a guru now, so I cannot say anything to anyone, I cannot beat anyone—I see others' activities and I can neither tolerate it, nor can I beat them because I am the guru, that is why I am 'biting my arms.'" ["bite your arms"—to feel deep regret, frustration; Bengali] Gurudev said it many times, but at that time I could not realise so much what Gurudev was saying, but now I can realise it.

Such is the situation now... The problem is that disciples do not think properly—they always give anxiety to others, they do not take problems on their own shoulders. It is the disciple's duty to always take burden off their Guru. That is the main duty of a disciple. If a disciple always gives too much anxiety to their Guru, then it is not a proper disciple. Whenever any problem comes up, you come to tell Gurudev. No. You must first try to solve the problem yourself—try and try, and if you finally cannot solve it, then you can use your Guru to solve it. First you must try to solve problems yourself. If you immediately come to your Gurudev and give him anxiety and transfer the problem to him, it is not good.

Gurudev told me that in Srila Sridhar Maharaj's time Srila Guru Maharaj would always stay upstairs and Gurudev told him, "You are giving me one thousand rupees per day for the services, and I will manage with that money, and if there is any problem downstairs, I will solve all problems myself, I take all responsibility for it. I will deal with all problems downstairs myself." Never did Gurudev give any anxiety to Srila Guru Maharaj. This is what I heard from Gurudev, and I learned this from him. This is what I also do, but if you always think about yourself, you will not understand it—you always only think about your own happiness, you always think about your own enjoyment, about yourself. If you cannot sacrifice your life properly for the service to your Guru, then what kind of surrender have you done? You must sacrifice your life.

* * *

Disciples' Plight

Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 July 2020, part 2

You must sacrifice your life. If you can save anybody with your life, that is good—but remember that you must give your blood for preaching. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "We have not come to this world to become carpenters." We are not building makers, we are not construction makers, we are not masons, we are not carpenters—we have come to this world only as postmen. Just as postmen distribute letters to every houses, we too must distribute Mahaprabhu's message, Guru Maharaj's message, Gurudev's message door to door. This is the main thing for our life.

Sometimes, we practise, we follow everything but we do not have particular enthusiasm for preaching. Preaching is the main thing. You cannot be eating alone—you must share with others also. If you eat alone, it is not good. You must distribute food to others—what kind of food is it? It is Mahaprabhu's message, Guru Maharaj's message, the message of Krishna consciousness. You must distribute all this to others. If you want to be a big scholar, if you want to be a big pandit, to be very wise, etc., that is another line—if you do not distribute what you have to others, what result will you get? You may be a big pandit, you may be great, but it is necessary to distribute what you have to others. This is what Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told everyone. "You must all together preach Mahaprabhu's message to everyone." This is our duty.

There are so many devotees all over the world—if each of us makes five new devotees a year (converts five new people to Krishna consciousness), then you can count how many more devotees there will be every year. We should promise that from today within one year we will preach to five people—we will change their minds and bring them to Krishna consciousness.

We have all forgotten,

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"When the jiva soul makes the mistake of forgetting that it is an eternal servant of Krishna, Maya captures the soul by its neck."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.24)

We are eternal servants, but we have forgotten it. We must remind everyone only about that. We will tell others, "You are forgetting your position—your position is not that you are a human body, a dog's body, a cat's body or a buffalo's body. Your position is not that. Your position is that of an eternal servant of the Lord. You are a jiva soul!" This is what you must tell everybody. "You are not a man, not a woman, not a husband, not a wife, not a king, not a queen—your only position is that you are an eternal servant of the Lord." Tell this to others. Your first presentation will be like that. Then, tell them, "You are an eternal servant of the Lord, that is your position, but you have forgotten it because of Maya (illusory environment)..."

Krishna has given a job to Maya Devi, and Maya Devi does her job—she always removes us, takes us away from the service of the Lord. Maya always does her job, but we must do ours—we must fight against Maya. Fighting against Maya means you must fight against yourself—not against others. You have so many enemies inside you—kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy), rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa (visual, gustatory, olfactory, auditory, tactile enjoyment), and kanak, kamini, pratistha (money, companions, position). You must fight against all these enemies, then only can you go to fight against others (to try to remove Maya from others). Fight against each and every bad element within you, one by one, and when you defeat them, when you conquer them, then you will become a proper disciple, a proper practitioner. This is very important for our spiritual life.

The problem is that we still have no proper attachment to service. We have taken initiation from Gurudev, but we do not know what the relation between a Guru and a disciple should be like. This guru-disciple relation is always very tight, very intimate, this is not a loose connection. You must understand this relationship between a guru and a disciple. You think you have taken initiation, you will practise something, you will give some pranami (donation), and everything is accomplished, it is sufficient. You will get many gurus like this in this world—you can go and see that many open their society, school, university, college, their mission, and when you go there, they will not let you go back, they will accept you. However, this Gaudiya Mission, Gaudiya Math, Chaitanya Saraswat Math are not like that. You have come here, but you must become a proper disciple. What is a disciple's duty? You think, "Oh, I met Gurudev, he talks very nice, I will take initiation!"—this is all emotion. You must think deeply and realise what kind of relation must come between a guru and a disciple. This is the main thing that we must understand. We know our father, mother, we know our sister, brother, we know our husband, wife, and we have a very vivid relationship with them, but our relation with our guru is much more important, much tighter than that. Disciples must have a proper relation with their guru.

I have told you just now—you must sacrifice your life for your Guru, for devotees, and for the Lord. You must give your life for your Gurudev, for your Gurudev's mission, and your Gurudev's devotees. This is the most crucial point in every disciple's life. If you can give your life for all this, then you can be considered a proper disciple of your Gurudev. We can make thousands of disciples, but how many of them are actual disciples? Gurudev also said during his last days—he asked me, "I have initiated so many people, but can you count who of them have actually become a proper disciple?" Gurudev says that there are very few proper disciples.

Four types of people come to the Mission or to the guru: arta (the distressed), artharthi (the poor), jijnasu (the curious), jnani (the knowledge-seekers). Somebody is poor, and they come to profit, somebody wants to be wise and comes to learn something, etc. When such people come, they do not come as devotees, but if they practise properly, then they can gradually become devotees. Not everybody comes to the Mission as a devotee, many come asking for other things, many come with their anyabhilasa (other desires). Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu said,

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)

Proper devotees have no other thoughts—they do not think about anything, they only always think about service, they think the whole day and night how to please their Guru. "How to make Gurudev happy? I will chant, I will do service, and perhaps there are more ways? Which way? What more can I do to make him happy?" We must always think about this. Always think how you will make our Gurudev happy.

I was telling in Bengali yesterday in Takareshwar that sometimes people suffer so much in their family life—at that time they come to Gurudev and say, "Pleae give me some mercy," "Please, give your blessing." People say this all the time, but what do they ask these things for? Why do they pray to Gurudev? To reduce their austerity in the family life. They do not ask this for their own benefit. What is our benefit? Our benefit is the spiritual benefit. It is very rare to find a disciple who would ask Gurudev, "How can I improve my practising life? How can I improve my Krishna consciousness life? How can I improve my spiritual life? How can I pracise?" People do not say such things.

'sadhya'-'sadhana'-tattva puchhite na jani
krpa kari' saba tattva kaha ta' apani

"I do not know how to inquire about the goal of life and the process for obtaining it. Being merciful upon me, please explain all these truths."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.103)

"What is our main goal? How to practise?" Very few devotees ask such things. Most people come to Gurudev and ask something when their family condition is not good, or when they suffer much austerity, and they want to reduce their austerity. People pray to Gurudev for their own (material, selfish) benefit...

* * *

Plane of Adherence

Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 July 2020, part 3

Two days ago I went to Tarakeshwar, I stayed and gave class there for a few days, and today I returned. Some of the Bengali devotees came and joined the programmes.

Question: Where is it, again?

It is Tarakeshwar. When Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur was passing Tarakeshwar on his way to Vrindavan, he received an order, "Do not go to Vrindavan, go back to Nabadwip." It happened in Tarakeshwar. Also, Tarakeshwar is Lord Siva's place. We have a centre there—Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Madan-Mohan are there. This is where I went. Usually, many devotees come there, but this time only the local devotees came, many of those who live a little far could not come because the train service has not yet started in India, there are only a few buses running, but everyone is afraid to come by bus because buses are crowded, there is no social distance and everyone is afraid of the coronavirus. About fifty-sixty people did join. I told them that I will make the coming Janmastami festival (12-13 August) there.

Does anyone have questions?

Question: Sripad Bhakti Charu Maharaj left his body in a place that is very close to the community of devotees where I live. I am afraid now that it can happen to other devotees too that when they pass away they will be alone without the association of devotees because of the social distance...

Yes, it is a very difficult situation now, and I pray to the Lord that it may not happen to any of our devotees. I pray that it does not happen. We have lost a great sannyasi from Iskcon, and we do not want to lose any more devotees in these circumstances, during the time of this pandemic disease (coronavirus).

Other than that, it is not necessary to be afraid. These things depend upon Krishna. Always leave everything to the Lord—whatever His desire is, that will happen. No one can stop it. So, it is not necessary to be afraid. If we surrender ourselves to the Guru, to the Lord, then we will have no problem. Why must you be afraid of this? You must not. Act as usual, as before, it is not necessary to be afraid. Why will you be afraid? We are doing a great job, we are surrendered to the Lord, we are His sons, we are His daughters, and He will protect us. He will do according to His desire (whatever His desire is, He will do so). Nothing is in our hands. We should understand and always remember this.

Question: Once, Mahaprabhu expanded Himself into seven Mahaprabhus at a Ratha-yatra, and He was present in the kirtan in seven different groups. Could you please tell us about this pastime?

Yes, this happened not only during the Ratha-yatra. When Mahaprabhu started kirtan in Nabadwip and when Chand Kazi tried to stop it, Mahaprabhu told all devotees to form seven parties and start kirtan, and Mahaprabhu Himself joined each of the seven parties. He is Krishna—is there anything that He cannot do? The Lord can be everywhere. There were 16,000 gopis, and Krishna came to the house of every one of those gopis. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu can expand Himself into seven Chaitanya Mahaprabhus. This is achintya bhedabheda tattva (inconceivable oneness and difference). How can it be not possible? It is possible! He can be everywhere. All over the world, thousands and millions of devotees offer bhog to the Lord, and the Lord comes to everybody's house and takes that food happily. It is not impossible—it is possible! We all offer food to the Lord—all devotees are staying in their houses now in this pandemic situation, they offer bhog to the Deities every day, and Lord Krishna comes to their houses and takes this food happily. What is the problem?

Question: Is it possible to reach prema (transcendental love) through viddhi-bhakti (devotion governed by rules and regulations)?

You must first act according to the viddhi-bhakti (practise devotion following all rules and regulations properly), then you can enter the raga-marga bhakti (service out of spontaneous, natural devotion). Yes, raga-marga bhakti gives Krishna prema, but you must first practise viddhi-marga (vaidhi-marga) bhakti, then only can you enter the raga-marga bhakti. You cannot start from raga-marga, otherwise you will become a sahajiya (imitator). First follow proper rules and regulations (viddhi-marga), then, when you become a higher and a highest devotee, can it be possible for you to come to raga-marga bhakti. Gurudev and Guru Maharaj showed during their final moments that they did not chant on their beads, they only kept chanting, "Doyal Nitai, Doyal Nitai"—it is possible for them because they are the highest devotees, they are always situated in their eternal transcendental pastimes (nitya-lila), they always move on the same plane with Krishna and Srimati Radharani. So, we see it as them performing their own pastimes (lila) as they have already entered the raga-marga bhakti. As for us, we must practise viddhi-marga. We must know what viddhi-marga is, and it is necessary to follow it.

Question: Why did Krishna tell Arjuna to ask for Durga's blessing before the battle of Kuruksetra if Arjuna already had Krishna's blessings and presence?

Krishna shows that He has given some service to Durga, Mother Kali and some other demigods. They all have got some service. Durga Devi is always in a fighting mood—she killed many demons (asuras). That is why Krishna told Arjuna to ask for her blessing. Yes, Arjuna already had Krishna, but at that time he had not surrendered to the Lord fully; at that time, under the influence of Maya, he did not think that Krishna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is why Krishna said at first, "First ask Durga for some help." However, when Arjuna fully surrendered to Krishna, when he said, "I have become Your disciple," then Krishna showed him His form and told everything that was necessary to know.

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto, mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi yuktvaivam, atmanam mat-parayanah

"Always think of Me, be my devotee, always worship Me and offer obeisances to Me. Thus offering yourself to Me and taking refuge in Me, you will come to Me."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.34)

First Krishna described karma-yoga, then jnana-yoga, then other yogas. There are so many yogas described in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, you can read it and you will see.

So, basically, the explanation is that because Krishna has given some power to Durga Devi and because Durga Devi also kills demons, then Krishna said Arjuna could get some help from her.

Question: Why does ekadasi calculation differ in our Math and ISKCON?

Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told to follow an Indian panjika (almanac, or calendar) called P.M. Bagchi Panjika, to follow ekadasi according to this panjika, so from that time we have been following Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's line and we have been following the P.M. Bagchi Panjika. Chaitanya Math and all other Gaudiya Maths also follow this calculation. ISKCON says that they calculate the dates in a scientific way, so some ekadasis are different in ISKCON and in Gaudiya Maths.

ADDITIONAL READING:

From a lecture of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj (13 March 2007) on the subject matter of the calendar calculations and disciples' chastity:

asat-sanga-tyaga,—ei vaisnava-achara
'stri-sangi'—eka asadhu, 'krsnabhakta' ara

"Vaishnav's line of behaviour is to always give up bad association. Those who associate with women is one kind of bad persons, and another kind is those who have no devotion to Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.84)

We will follow what our Guru Maharaj follows. We do not want to know who is good, who is bad, who is better, who is worst. It is not necessary to criticise anyone, we will only be chaste to our Guru Maharaj and follow our Guru Maharaj's conception. That is it. This is clear to me, and this is how Guru Maharaj taught us. If we do not understand this, then we will deviate. There are different kinds of opinions, different kinds of conceptions, different kinds of principles, and all this can cause deviation in our mind. We do not want that to happen.

When we try to find a guru, at that time we must consider everything, but once we have surrendered to a guru, surrendered to Krishna, then Krishna conception will be our practising life. That is why it is said that the worship of the guru comes first (adau guru-puja). We are very fortunate that we have got a guru who is very learned and steady in Krishna conception. By the divine mercy of our Guru Maharaj, we have gradually come to understand so many things about our Guru Maharaj, we have got a clear conception, and this is the conception that we will follow.

You know, there must be a hundred panjikas (almanacs, calendars) in this world, but there is one thing that is very important to know. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur was a great and famous devotee here in India. He has got the title 'Siddhanta Saraswati' in Benares for his expertise in the jyotish sastra (astrological scriptures). One time, Srila Prabhupad was debating with a great jyotishi (astrologer) and he defeated him so soundly that the man actually passed stool at the meeting! Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur attacked him by jyotish sastra and he could not answer anything, so he was finally absolutely defeated. I heard that it was at that meeting that Srila Saraswati Thakur got the title "Siddhanta Saraswati." Later, his sannyas name also became Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati. Anyhow, Srila Saraswati Thakur was no doubt a great astrologer, everyone respected him as a great astrologer. Our Guru Maharaj (Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj) was also an astrologer, but he did not show it, so many did not know what a great astrologer he was. One day, Guru Maharaj asked Srila Prabhupad Saraswati Thakur, "We see that this other panjika provides the finest calculation in this age, why do we not follow it?" Srila Saraswati Thakur's answer was a very fanatic one—he said, "Yes, I know this calculation is good, I know it is better than P.M. Bagchi, but Bhaktivinod Thakur follows P.M. Bagchi and we are followers of Bhaktivinod Thakur, so we follow P.M. Bagchi!"

It means that externally, compared to Visuddha-siddhanta, P.M. Bagchi's calculation is wrong, but Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur accepted P.M. Bagchi. This is a very serious topic. When Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur accepted P.M. Bagchi, Visuddha-siddhanta was not there at that time—so, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur followed P.M. Bagchi, Prabhupad Srila Saraswati Thakur also followed P.M. Bagchi, everything is alright, but when Visuddha-siddhanta calculation appeared, it turned out that in terms of calculation it is more accurate than P.M. Bagchi. So, Srila Guru Maharaj asked Srila Prabhupad, "We see that it is better than P.M. Bagchi, then why do we not follow it?" Srila Saraswati Thakur gave a clean and clear answer, "We are followers of neither Visuddha-siddhanta, nor P.M. Bagchi—we are followers of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur! Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur followed this, and I do not care if it is wrong or right. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is a jyotishi, he knows everything about calculations or anything else. We are followers of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur—Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur followed P.M. Bagchi, so I follow P.M. Bagchi too."

Srila Guru Maharaj was very happy to hear that. We cannot judge our Guru. We have no right to do it. Before taking a guru, we have the right to consider, "Am I going the right way or a wrong way? Is this guru good or bad?" But when we become initiated and surrender to the guru, this surrender will not be for show. Surrender must be pure. I always tell our friends, "Chastity and sincerity will give you a supreme position." You may be very bad or very good, this is not a factor—if you have chastity and sincerity, you will win the race! This is a fact. This is backed up by my own feelings, my own experience, etc., and I always tell this to my friends because other than this there is no other way to get Krishna consciousness.

* * *

'How much do you hanker in your heart?'

Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 July 2020, part 4

Question: Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam that if the world politicians and leaders followed the advice of pure devotees of the Lord, it would bring peace and relief to the nations. How can we directly offer this advice of our guru-varga to the politicians and leaders of the countries where we live?

You can try to do it. Why is it not possible? If you can try to preach to ministers, presidents, everywhere, you can try, why is it not possible? I also sometimes meet with some governors, ministers, I give them my advice, and they accept it. On the other hand, you know that politicians are always very clever and they always think about themselves, about their own pratistha, so it is very difficult to preach to them. You can tell them what you know yourself, you can try. What is the problem? Whether they will listen to you or not, that is their matter, but you can try.

Question: How can we remain enthusiastic and avoid pratistha?

It is very difficult to avoid pratistha, but there is good pratistha—"Vaisnavi pratistha tate kara nistha. Firmly establish yourself as a servant of the Lord." When Madhavendra Puri got pratistha, he became afraid of it and ran away from Khirchora Gopinath in Baleshwar to Puri, but that pratistha had already come to Puri before he reached it. So, we should be always afraid of pratistha, but even if pratistha comes, we must not ask for any pratistha ourselves. If pratistha comes on its own, how will you avoid it? We must give respect to 'Vaishnavi pratistha'.

Actually, our duty is to always remember that we are simple souls, we have no quality, no qualification, we are 'trinad api sunichena'—we are lower than a blade of grass. This is what you should always think about yourself. This should be your Vaishnav quality. It is necessary to be simple, to be humble, tolerant, and to give honour to others. This is how you can avoid pratistha, name and fame. It comes through practising. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that pratistha is 'sukarer vistha' (pig stool)—it is very dangerous, and it has a very bad smell. We must avoid it.

In this world, everybody wants to be a guru, everybody wants pratistha, everybody says, "Oh, you must do puja for me! You must wash my feet and drink the wash water!" We see so many gurus like that in this world. They say, "Hey, you must do arati for me every morning and evening. You do the arati for the Deities, and you must do arati for myself also." Or they say, "Why is there not my photo on the altar?! I am the guru!" So many things are going on in this world... But why is it necessary to keep a picture on the altar? The main thing is that you must keep your guru in your heart. You must love and care for your guru, and the guru will also love and care for you, he will always remember you. These are the main things. It is not necessary to show your devotion externally. Always keep your devotion in your heart. "Apana bhajana-katha na kahibe yatha tatha: Do not tell anyone and everyone about your own bhajan, service and practice." We are not going to talk in a public place about how we worship and how we practise. That is why even when we chant on our beads, we always cover our beads with an uttariya (upper body cloth). In some societies, they give beads to even not initiated people, and those people take out their mala, put it in front for everyone to see and chant, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare..." They show their devotion in the front of everybody—this is external, but how much do you hanker within yourself, in your heart? That is the question…

Question: What should we think about at the time of death?

About Guru and Krishna. Chant the Holy Name at that time. If you cannot talk at that time, you must think about Krishna's face and Gurudev's face.

Question: At my work, I am in charge of providing lunch for the employees. I always get vegetarian food for myself, but others are not vegetarian and are not interested in becoming devotees, so they tell me that they want to eat meat. What should I do?

But what can you do? You have to run your factory or some business, you are the boss, then how is it possible to avoid it? If you tell them not to take meat, they may not come to work, and you will have to discharge them. So, you can not fight with them, you cannot discharge them. What can you do? You must harmonise with them. In this world, 99% people eat non-veg, so what can you do? Try to tell them not to take non-veg food—advise them to try veg food, explain to them that their health will be good, etc. Give some good advice, try to tell them to avoid non-veg food, and if they do not listen to it, then what can you do?

Question: We have started a catering service from the temple, so we now deliver prasadam to everyone...

For free?

Devotee: No, we charge some money and use that money for the service of Lord Jagannath here in the temple.

Yes, that is good, do not give for free.

Devotee: We only do free food distribution at the Ganesh temple once a month...

Yes, that is another thing. You can go there for preaching, that is OK. If you distribute free food once a month for preaching, that is another thing. When you give them free prasadam, you must give them some brochure with the address, invite people to come to the temple—they will come, listen to some Krishna-katha, Hari-katha, and they can join the Mission. Do the preaching in this way, alright?

Question: In Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna says, "From Me arises the soul's remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness." Is there any way we can utilise forgetfulness in Krishna consciousness?

Forgetfulness? Not really. In devotion to Krishna, it is not good to forget. Why will we forget? On the contrary, we must always remember. Sometimes, we can forget some things, but Krishna always sees if the devotee is a sincere seeker or not. We sometimes makes some offence, we sometimes forget something, we cannot do things properly, etc. It happens. Yesterday evening, one lady asked me a question, "I am seventy-five years old, and I still do puja five times a day, but sometimes I forget to change my sari five times a day. What should I do?" I told her, "If you forget it willingly, that is one thing, but if you forget it unwillingly, then it is another thing. Try not to forget, but if you sometimes forget something by mistake, Krishna always removes our offences—offences can be removed through service." Sometimes, Gurudev also tells us to do something and we may forget it, but Gurudev is always kind, he is merciful, and the Lord is also kind and merciful—they always forgive us when such things happen, when we forget something by mistake.

* * *

No Hopscotchy Devotion

Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 July 2020, part 5

Question: I was recently talking to one of my family members. She wanted to know more about Krishna—she said she had been very attracted to Lord Siva, she had been to Varanasi, etc. I tried to explain to her that Krishna is supreme, but at the same time Lord Siva is a Vaishnav (we have heard about Sada Siva, who has an eternal position of a servant of the Lord; and I was remembering the sloka that Lord Siva said to Parvati—"aradhananam sarvesam..."). So, I was thinking how to explain these things properly?...

You were going in a very perfect way. You can also tell the story of Hari-Hara Ksetra—how Lord Siva become Hari-Hara (Lord Siva and Krishna together).

What you told her about Lord Siva and Parvati Devi is mentioned in Padma Purana,

aradhananam sarvesam visnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi tadiyanam samarchanam

"Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Vishnu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaishnava."

And there is also another sloka in Padma Purana where Lord Siva himself says, "Water the root of the tree—it is not necessary to water all branches. If you water the root, then all branches, all parts of the tree will be nourished—it is not necessary to water every branch and every leaf separately." So, there are so many gods, many demigods—there are many Sivas in Siva-loka, many Brahmas in Brahma-loka, but Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna is the Supreme Controller, that is why it is good for you if you serve Krishna and Krishna's devotee.

On the other hand, if somebody prays to Lord Siva, worships Lord Siva, it is also good because Lord Siva is Krishna's devotee, he is a great Vaishnav (vaishnavanam yatha sambhu). So, if you practise worship of Lord Siva, it is not bad. You can worship Lord Siva, but you must not become Lord Siva—you must serve Lord Siva. For example, Siva takes ganja, he can digest it—he can also take poison and digest it; but you must not try to take poison and ganja. Do not come to Lord Siva with your material things. In India, many people serve Lord Siva, especially ladies—because they want to get a good husband from Lord Siva. They think Lord Siva is a very powerful man, so they ask him for a good husband. This is wrong.

Lord Siva is a great devotee. He is Gopeshwar Mahadev who entered the rasa-lila of Krishna (the rasa-mancha). Even Laksmi Devi could not enter there, but Gopeshwar Mahadev could.

There are so many things you can tell about Lord Siva. You can explain these things.

Question: What happens if a devotee takes initiation and then deviates from the path and becomes, for example, a Christian and maybe starts eating meat? What happens to that person?

Eating meat? It means the person has fallen down, and he will get the result for what he has done. He became a devotee, but after that left everything: that means that when he came to surrender to Gurudev, it was false renunciation. If somebody comes to Gurudev, takes initiation declaring, "I am an eternal servant of the Lord!" but a few years later leaves everything, goes back to eating meat, etc. and does what he likes—then he will suffer his karma, his karma-phal (result of his actions)...

Question: Sometimes also, people take initiation, but they do not practise at all—they somehow got attracted, received the beads, but after that they do not join devotees, they forget this life. Is that the same situation?

Yes, it is. Actually, this Chaitanya Saraswat Math is like a university, a school, or a college—people are admitted to a school, but if they do not learn anything, if they do not take classes, do not take advice from their Guru, if they do not practise, then what will happen? They will fail. Such people do not belong to our line, they are not members of Krishna consciousness. They were members of Maya's family before and they still go on living in Maya's family—Krishna will not count such people as His devotees, as His own family. Such people do not belong to our family. There are many people like this in India also. That is why Gurudev said, "So many devotees have taken initiation from me, but who of them has become a disciple?"

Question: It is said that lust arises from attachment, and attachment gives birth to anger. How is it that lust arises from our attachment to the family and loved ones? Why does it arise?

The answer is there,

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)

We are attached to our family life, but that kind of attachment should be there for Gurudev and the Lord. I have told you that we sometimes forget our service, we leave our service ourselves or we lose our service, we lose our faith or we do not have a proper strongest faith—at that time Maya Devi enters our life. Maya Devi always tries to take us away from service, that is why we sometimes become attached to our family and sometimes we can be attached to the Lord. This is how life goes. Gurudev also says: everybody does some service, but those who have service attachment are proper devotees. It is necessary to have service attachment.

Question: If I recommend somebody for initiation and that person later deviates from the path, do I get the karma for that?

No, no. That devotee will get the karma, not you. You are trying to serve, you are tying to make him a devotee—what is your fault? Those who do wrong will suffer the kind of karma they deserve.

Question: We were reading Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. In the teachings of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Srila Sanatan Goswami, we find that Mahaprabhu speaks in detail about Lord Krishna's expansions (Vishnu avatars, etc.). Generally, we are focused on Vrindavan, Radha-Krishna, and Their pastimes, so why did Mahaprabhu spend so much time elaborating on all these details about Vishnu-tattva?

Mahaprabhu tells it because we should also know Vishnu-tattva. We worship Vishnu-tattva (the ten avatars of the Lord)—we worship Vaman avatar, Nrisingha avatar, Rama avatar, and others. We give respect, give honour to all incarnations. That is why it is necessary to know also that Krishna expands Himself into all these avatars. We must give honour and worship Krishna's expansions, there is nothing bad about it. Devotees should know everything—we cannot jump immediately to Krishna. Sometimes, we should also know about Vishnu-tattva—about Nrisingha avatar, Vaman avatar, Rama avatar, Buddha avatar, and others. That is why Mahaprabhu told Sanatan Goswami about it. He told him to preach about it also, and Sanatan Goswami accepted it. Those who are expert in the mood of sweet love (madhura rasa) accept Vishnu-tattva. We also do not jump over it—we also practise worship of Nrisingha avatar, for example, it is not bad. Even Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur spoke about Lord Nrisinghadev and Prahlad Maharaj's devotion when he was at Radha Kunda. Moreover, even Vraja gopis themselves say, "We do not have any devotion like that of Prahlad Maharaj." You know this.

* * *

Simple Service, Earnest Heart

Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 July 2020, part 6

Question: As initiated disciples, do we have the right to help the poor people in our neighbourhood without Gurudev's permission?

If somebody helps poor people, I cannot say it is not right—some punya (material piety) will come through that because you do some auspicious work. It is not bad at all because when you distribute prasadam, people can get some devotion or some sukriti through prasadam, so it is not bad.

One time, Gauridas Pandit's disciple Hriday Chaitanya (Chaitanya Das) also invited many people for a festival in Kalna without his Guru's permission—as a result, his Guru ousted him from the temple, but when Gaura Nitai (the Deities) went to him, his Guru again brought him back to the temple. I have seen many examples like that. One time also, Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu made some mistake and Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu told him that he could not stay in Vrindavan—he said, "You have no quality to stay in Vrindavan, you must get out." Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu left the temple, but later Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu brought him back to the Radha-Damodar temple.

Question: When we sometimes face some situations in our life, mostly our first reaction is to run away from the problem. How to change this attitude remembering the teachings of Mahaprabhu?

It is necessary to have the strongest faith. You cannot see everything with your eyes. If we get the result immediately, it is also not good because we must do our job—we must do what our guru-varga says, what Mahaprabhu says, we must follow Mahaprabhu's teachings. We do not think about the result. We will serve Mahaprabhu, we will serve devotees, and we will serve our Guru, and whether they accept it or not, that is up to them. We cannot say, "Oh, I am serving you, I want the result here and now!" This is not good for practising devotees. Wait and see. Always 'wait and see.' It is necessary to have patience and tolerance.

Question: Can you please tell us about the disappearance of Srila Lokanath Goswami Prabhu that is observed tomorrow?

Yes, the day before yesterday it was Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami's disappearance, and tomorrow it is Srila Lokanath Goswami's disappearance...

Lokanath Goswami is a great Vaishnav. He was bhajananandi (preferred solitary practice)—he practised staying in his house and did not preach so much except through his own chanting and practising. We know about Lokanath Goswami owing to Srila Narottam Das Thakur who had come to Vrindavan from Bangladesh. "Lokanatha lokera jivana. Lokanath is the life of all people."

Srila Lokanath Goswami said that he would never accept disciples, but Srila Narottam Das Thakur said, "By hook or by crook, but I will take initiation from Lokanath Goswami!" But how was it possible? It was. When Lokanath Goswami became very old, he would pass stool and urine in a place near his house, and Narottam Das Thakur would secretly go there, remove the stool and urine, and clean that place. He did not say anything to Lokanath Goswami—he did it secretly. One day, Lokanath Goswami noticed it. He thought, "Who is cleaning every day this place where I pass stool? Who is it?" Somehow he got to know that it was Narottam Das Thakur. At that time, it was very rare to see a graduate, an educated person, and Narottam Das Thakur was very educated, he also came from a big family, but he took up this lowest service—that is why Lokanath Goswami was bound to give him initiation.

Srila Narottam Das Thakur took initiation from Lokanath Goswami, and it is owing to Narottam Das Thakur that we know about Lokanath Goswami now because Narottam Das Thakur preached about his guru (a disciple must always preach about his guru). Lokanath Goswami did not use to be famous, but owing to Narottam Das Thakur, Lokanath Goswami became a famous Vaishnav. This is what we know about him.

Question: I have some friends who have been in Krishna consciousness for many years without taking initiation. Should we urge them to come to our Math's programmes and to take initiation in our Math?

We do not force anybody! If the person wants it himself, if the person agrees, then we will give them initiation, but we do not force anybody. First, one must think carefully, practise, then they can think about initiation.

Question: There are so many high pastimes of the Lord and it is said that we should not study them because they are too high for us. If they are too high, why are they there in the scriptures?

Everything that is in the scriptures is not for the same level. There is a gradation among devotees based on their quality—there is are uttam adhikari, madhyam adhikari, kanistha adhikari devotees (highest, middle, and junior levels). Everybody has different kinds of service, and we must give respect to different levels. At the same time, we do not give the respect to everyone. We respect Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad, we respect Srila Sridhar Maharaj, we respect our Gurudev, but this respect is not one and the same, the stature (maryada, মর্যাদা) is different. So, we give respect in different ways. In the same way, there are so many scriptures, and there are so many pastimes described in the scriptures, but some things are very high for us, and Gurudev tells us not to read certain things, then we should not read it because if you read too much, you can become crazy—some problem can come. That is why, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "Bahu grantha na paribe, bahu kalabhyasa na karibe: do not read too many books, do not practise too many artificial things." Simple things are sufficient for us, but some things are there for higher Vaishnavs. For example, we do not have any quality or qualification to read about rasa-lila from Srimad Bhagavatam—Gurudev said that if we want to hear (or, worse, practise) the rasa-lila, we will become pregnant.

Devotee: You have told also many times about watering too much.

Yes, if you give too much water to the root, the seed will rot.

* * *

Debunking Proximity Complex

Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 July 2020, part 7

Question: How to avoid developing too much familiarity with the Guru? Sometimes, when a servitor is too close to the Guru, they become very familiar...

If they become too familiar with the Guru, they can make more offences. It is very difficult to avoid it, that is why Gurudev chooses his servitor. Sriman Mahaprabhu did not chose Sanatan Goswami, Raya Ramananda or Svarup Damodar as His private servitor, but He chose Govinda as His servitor. You can understand something from this. Gurudev does not choose just anybody as his private servitor. We sing in the "Sri Guru-charana-padma" song: "Vando muni sabadhana mate. I carefully offer my obeisance [to the lotus feet of Sri Guru]." We must be always careful. We always give honour to Gurudev very carefully.

Sripad ***: You did not stay always very close to Srila Govinda Maharaj, you were always far...

Gurudev always kept me far, this is the service he gave me. He did not ask me to stay close to him. One time, I saw Gurudev's legs had swollen and I touched his feet trying to massage them, but Gurudev stopped me saying, "This is not your service. I have given you another service, and that is what you should do."

Sripad ***: Some devotees say also that one should not have too much association with Gurudev.

They can associate with Gurudev as much as they want to, it is not a problem. So many mosquitoes also associate with the Guru. Gurudev said also, "Somebody becomes close to me, but then, when devotees come and give me pranami (donation), they are counting how much is there. Those who are dear to me count, 'How many dollars has Gurudev got and how much will I steal from there?'" Otherwise how is it possible that when Gurudev left and the servitors' room was broken open they found so many thousands of dollars in their room? Gurudev spoke the truth. Not only that—servitors would come and give obeisance to Gurudev, but then they watched and counted how many dollars Gurudev was getting from which devotee, they observed who was rich, who gave more donation, and behind Gurudev's back those servitors would ask those 'rich' devotees for money. This is what I was told after Gurudev's disappearance...

Sripad Deva Bandhu Prabhu [Srila Govinda Maharaj's close personal servitor and cook during the final years of his manifest pastimes]: Sripad ***, dandavat. Perhaps, I can say something in this regard as I had been there, very close to Gurudev during his daily activities for a few years. We could see that Srila Acharya Maharaj was actually the closest disciple, the closest servitor to Srila Gurudev. Srila Gurudev all the time followed Srila Acharya Maharaj's activities—he would always get reports from Srila Acharya Maharaj and he would always praise Srila Acharya Maharaj because Srila Acharya Maharaj was doing his own [Srila Govinda Maharaj's] service. So, when people say that Srila Acharya Maharaj was not so close to Srila Govinda Maharaj, we can respond in this way. Also, when Gurudev would be lying down most of the time, he would only rise and become interested when Srila Acharya Maharaj would come or a few of his other disciples and godbrothers like Srila Ashram Maharaj, Srila Janardan Maharaj, Srila Avadhut Maharaj. However, in the whole of Indian service, in the whole of his mission in India, Srila Gurudev repeatedly expressed how happy he was because Srila Acharya Maharaj was preaching everywhere, managing all the temples, doing all the construction, carrying on all the services for Srila Gurudev. Srila Gurudev always closely followed all of Srila Acharya Maharaj's activities . We have heard Srila Gurudev himself also praising Srila Acharya Maharaj in this regard, and how he was his closest friend, his dear servitor, his manager, his everything, and that he is an 'impossible man.' These things can be remembered...

[His Divine Grace then continues:] Association means a heart-to-heart connection. It is not a bodily association. Try to understand it. Gurudev knows everything. If somebody wants to propagate for themselves, if somebody wants to expand their business, expand their guru business more and more, then they will say, "I was in close association with Gurudev!" That is their business what they do. I do not mind it. If they want to do it, they can do it, what will I say? I do not have any problem with that. If somebody preaches about Gurudev, I do not have any objection. I am a little person, I am a very fallen soul, so I only want to be a dog for my Guru, I want to be a proper disciple for Gurudev, and this is what I am still trying to do.

I always ask devotees to help me. You know that I am ousted from the main temple of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math (Kolerganj, Nabadwip), you know what is going on and who is there. One opposition group mixed with those who went against Gurudev and now they run together, and those who are foolish follow them. They must understand what is happening. There are those who Gurudev rejected and ousted from the temple, who left the temple, and they now mix with the opposition group of Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Srila Sridhar Maharaj said, "If anyone cannot follow my instruction, I drag them out from this Math!" So, now those whom Gurudev rejected mix with those whom Srila Sridhar Maharaj had dragged out—and now they become gurus, they become temple managers, they become all in all. Some of our devotees also mix with them for their own interest. This is their matter. I have sold my head, I have sold myself to Gurudev's lotus feet—my head is already sold to my Gurudev's lotus feet, so I cannot give my head to any other place. That is why I pray and cry out to devotees. Devotees are helping me, and I am making another temple, I am doing some construction for devotees' shelter, and so many are helping me—Srila Ashram Maharaj, Srila Janardan Maharaj, Srila Trivikram Maharaj, and many other senior devotees all over the world. Even if somebody can give only one dollar, they are giving one dollar to me, and I am very happy—I am thinking I am getting one thousand dollars from them. I am very happy with those who are giving and helping me. I am getting devotees' love and affection through my Gurudev—they love Gurudev, they have love and affection for Gurudev, and they follow what Gurudev wanted, and I am very happy with that, I do not want anything more than that. Gurudev has given me this service to serve you all—to serve all of Gurudev's disciples, Gurudev's friends, Gurudev's godbrothers—and I want to serve everybody, I pray to all devotees that they may engage me as their dog and allow me to serve them. This is my earnest request to all devotees.

Gurudev's association is not easy. Gurudev's association is a heart-to-heart association. It is not necessary to stay in close proximity. You may be living in Venezuela, you may be living in South America, South Africa, Mauritius or Singapore, but you have a connection with Gurudev. Otherwise, somebody may live nearby but their connection is with money, not with Gurudev. Sometimes, somebody stays close but they never love Gurudev, they only love Gurudev's money, Gurudev's temple, Gurudev's property—they always think about Gurudev's property. They think that the next guru will be the proprietor of all that, but the proprietor is not the guru, the proprietors are the Deities! They do not understand it and think that I am the proprietor now, so they still continue paying money to have me killed. I do not disturb them, I do not say anything to them—I do my preaching, I am making another temple, but they still want to kill me. What of it? If I die from their hands, it is not a problem—I will die for my Gurudev. I have already given my life for my Gurudev, and one day I must die, so if it is Gurudev's will that I will die from their hand, it is not a problem. I am not afraid of them. Those who could not even come to Gurudev to pay their dandavat in Gurudev's time (who were not allowed to enter Gurudev's veranda), are now becoming big devotees...

Anyhow, I am finishing for today. My dandavat to everybody. Please do not be angry—I cannot tell everybody's name and you may think, "Oh, Gurudev told their names, but Gurudev did not tell my name." Do not think like this. Everybody is in my heart, and I am in your heart—this is what ultimately matters. I have seen all your faces, I know all your faces, and I am very happy that you have joined. My dandavat, it has been very nice to see you all. Thank you so much. Gracias.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari Hari bol

Devotee: Jay Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Devotees' Humility

Kolkata-Worldwide, 19 July 2020, part 1

Dandavat. Please accept my humble obeisance.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa-kula-churamani Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham Sri Nabadwip Dham Sri Vrindavan Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Tandiya sakha Math samuha ki jay
Sri Mather sevak vrinda bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Ananta-koti Vaishnav vrinda ki jay
Sri Gaudiya Acharya vrinda ki jay
Tridandi-pad-gan ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
All the brahmachari-vrinda ki jay
Bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Haribol. How are you, everybody? By the mercy of Gurudev, we are all gathered here again after one week, and I am very happy to see your smiling faces and service mood. You always think of yourself as little devotee servants of the Lord, servants of devotees, and that makes me very happy.

Devotees are always humble. Whatever service they do, whatever they do, they always think, "Gurudev is my own"—that is the real connection with Gurudev. We must keep Gurudev in our heart, that is the main relationship. We may sometimes serve Gurudev in our own way and we cannot understand what Gurudev likes (which way he likes us to serve or live). We must serve in that way which Gurudev likes, that is better for us, practitioners. It is very important. We must serve in the way that Gurudev likes.

Krishna always knows what you are doing, how you are practising. He can see everything. Somebody serves Deities and sees that the Deities are made of stone or made of wood, and somebody sees that this is the Lord Himself. It depends on the mood of the devotee. Everybody's mood, everybody's faith is not the same. If you can see the Deities, you can see that the Deity is Lord Krishna Himself—"Vigraha tumi nao, saksad Vrajendra-nandan. You are not an idol, You are the Son of the King of Vraja, Himself." A Deity is not only a vigraha, some idol, a Deity is the Lord Himself. We must try to see that, and we must try to serve in this way.

At the same time, it is much easier to keep connection with Gurudev because we can talk with Gurudev directly, we can give prasadam to him directly, we can talk with Gurudev and ask what Gurudev needs, how we can serve him, how we can help Gurudev. That is why it is very easy to keep connection with Gurudev. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also says that if you send a letter to the Lord, you will not get an answer from Him, but if you give your letter to Gurudev, you will easily get an answer.

Once, a devotee came to Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and said, "Prabhupad, I cannot do proper bhajan. I am not doing anything, I am very lazy..." Srila Prabhupad asked him, "Are you telling the truth?" The devotee replied, "Yes, I am telling the truth." Then, Prabhupad replied, "Then your bhajan is gradually progressing. Your practising life is going on properly." Those who think, "I am a great devotee," "I got everything," "I know everything," actually do not know anything. Those who are proper devotees will never say, "I know everything," "I have so many qualities, so much qualification," "I am senior to everybody," etc. Such thoughts and mood are a symptom of a disqualified or unqualified person. Those who are qualified will not tell anything about their bhajan, about their practising life—they will only think that they are simple persons, they are tiny, small persons who have no quality, no qualification. This is how devotees show their devotion. Do you understand it? Devotees do not like to tell about their practising life openly. They will keep their practising life inside, with them. This is the proper way to practise.

I see that so many devotees, so many new devotees join this mission and they want to know what they should do, how they can practise, how they can avoid bad association; the mind is also sometimes fickle, it goes everywhere, so they want to know how we can control our mind. So many things, so many kinds of questions are coming to me, and I am telling to everybody—yes, the mind is very fickle, the mind is very naughty, it always does its own job, but you can control your mind through your good intelligence and through good association. Our mind always controls everything—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, etc.—but you should give some pressure to your mind through your intelligence and engage your mind in good activities. You must think whether what your mind is telling you is good or not, you can think about it and you will understand it. Avoid bad things. As soon as you feel some bad elements are starting to come, you must stop it from the beginning (nip it in the bud). This is how you can control your mind.

If you keep increasing your bad propensities thinking, "Nobody can see me, so nobody will know whether I am doing wrong or right, nobody can correct me, nobody will say anything to me," so you continue always doing wrong, doing wrong, and the Deities at first tolerate these wrong things that you are doing, Gurudev also tolerates, but we must think—how many days, how many years will they tolerate it? There is some limit to Gurudev's tolerance, to the Deities' tolerance. Therefore, we must think, "Is what I am doing good or not?" We must ask senior devotees for advice, we must always think what is good for us, what is good for our practising life.

I told you last week that you must not fight against the outside world, you must fight against your own self. We have so many elements inside us—lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy (kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya), and we must fight against all this. When you try to fight these elements, then you will understand how hard it is to fight against that. We must always think about it very seriously. Also, you must always avoid para-ninda, para-charcha—criticising others, harassing others. It is not necessary to do such things. Always search your own faults. Vaishnavs always search their own faults, they do not search others' faults. So, we must not search others' holes—we must always search our own holes. That is the main things.

* * *

Relation With Guru: Watch Out

Kolkata-Worldwide, 19 July 2020, part 2

This is our practising life. Sambandha-jnana (knowledge of the relationship) does not come through the mantra. Sambandha-jnana comes through heart, through service. It is necessary to take initiation, to take the mantra, but only mantra is not enough to get sambandha-jnana.

Sometimes, we think we are great devotees—I have seen many of Gurudev's godbrothers had taken sannyas from Gurudev, but after that they started thinking, "I am a sannyasi, and Srila Govinda Maharaj is also a sannyasi. We are equal, I can sit on a chair just like him..." Gurudev gives honour to every sannyasi, but they must think and show respect. Otherwise, they think, "Oh, Govinda Maharaj is my godbrother!"—they do not accept Gurudev as their siksa-guru or Divine Master. That is their disqualification. This is how you lose faith in Gurudev and demote yourself—as a result, slowly, slowly, you become unable to practise properly and think straight. We must listen to this, we must tell about this, and we must understand this.

It is necessary to say these things also because tomorrow is the disappearance day of our beloved Srila Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Everybody glorifies Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj in so many ways, but I want to say that Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's best quality is that he made our Gurudev his successor. Try to understand this. Srila Sridhar Maharaj received so many letters from devotees and even his godbrothers saying so many bad things to Srila Sridhar Maharaj because he had appointed Gurudev his successor. Srila Sridhar Maharaj tolerated it.

Later, Srila Gurudev started preaching abroad all over the world and he made so many branches of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math all over the world—after Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad, Gurudev was the only person who was preaching all over the world and who fulfilled the desire of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and Srila Sridhar Maharaj. That is why Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj himself wrote in Gurudev's pranam mantra, "Gurvvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam. He perfectly fulfils his Gurudev's most cherished desires and is fully adorned with the blessings of his Gurudev's associates." Srila Gurudev fulfilled his Guru's desire. I must tell about his. Therefore, it is Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's best quality that he made Srila Gurudev his successor. Srila Sridhar Maharaj was durdarsita, he could see far into the future. He had many brahmacharis, many sannyasis, but he did not choose any of them—instead, he chose one householder man (Srila Gurudev was a householder at that time), and he forcefully brought him to the temple and made him his successor. That is the best quality of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Gurudev was always very humble—Gurudev said, "I was a very naughty boy, but just as a blacksmith takes a piece of iron, burns it and turns it into a sword, my Guru Maharaj took me and made me a good boy." Gurudev would always say, "I am a very naughty boy, I am unqualified..."

Srila Gurudev gave much honour and much respect to everybody, both his godbrothers and his disciples. However, a disciple should also understand—if Gurudev gives me respect, it does not mean I will now jump and sit on his head. It is necessary for a disciple to understand this. Sometimes, Gurudev gives respect to a disciple, but it is not a joke. Gurudev tells us to sit on a chair, but we must get shy, "Oh, Gurudev told me to sit in front of him on a chair, but he is my Guru, why should I sit on a chair?" One time, I was in Puri with Srila Gurudev. Srila Gurudev went to see Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj, and, when he came there, Srila Puri Maharaj again and again requested him, "Govinda Maharaj, sit on a chair, sit on a chair," but Gurudev never sat on a chair in front of him. I saw it. Actually, Gurudev could not sit on the floor, it was difficult for him, but when Srila Puri Maharaj insisted, "Govinda Maharaj, sit on a chair!" Gurudev said, "No, Maharaj, I am like a disciple to you, how can I sit on a chair in front of you?" That time I learnt something: Gurudev can request me, "Sit on a chair," but I must give respect to my Gurudev's chair—I am not his equal, I must sit on the floor, that is better for me.

This is how Gurudev showed so many things to us for our spiritual life, and we should try to understand these things...

* * *

Maintaining Gurudev's Legacy

Kolkata-Worldwide, 19 July 2020, part 3

I will speak about Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's disappearance tomorrow—I will give a class and speak more and more about Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, about what Gurudev told everybody and told to me also.

In Gurudev's time, when Gurudev left Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Nabadwip, he gave me two keys and said, "This is the key from Guru Maharaj's [Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's] veranda and the key from his almirah." He gave those keys to me, and I know that Gurudev does not like to open Guru Maharaj's bhajan kutir for everybody to go there and disturb Guru Maharaj. So, it is very sad to say this, but now those who live in Chaitanya Saraswat Math open Guru Maharaj's bhajan kutir for everybody. Some devotees go there, touch Srila Sridhar Maharaj's mala, put his mala on their heads and post such pictures in facebook. I have heard about it. They think, "Oh, I have become very powerful because I have touched Srila Sridhar Maharaj's mala and put it on my head! I have got pure devotion!" They do this but they cannot understand how much offence they are making.

Gurudev never allowed anyone to Srila Sridhar Maharaj's bhajan kutir. Only some special devotees could go there, or on some special occasions like Srila Prabhupad's disappearance and appearance festivals, Gurudev would go there himself, otherwise he did not allow everyone to go there. Gurudev always kept that place closed. Those who served the bhajan kutir, it was only one person, they would go there and quietly clean the place and come out, other than that nobody could go and disturb Srila Guru Maharaj's place.

Now they open the place for anyone—even outside people, who are not initiated, who are initiated, everybody can go there, and they earn money from them. Those who are foolish think, "Oh, it is a very nice pastime! I have visited Srila Sridhar Maharaj's bhajan kutir! I have touched his mala! I am a great devotee! I have got pure devotion!" This is foolishness. How much they disturb Guru Maharaj and Gurudev!

We do not understand that those devotees [who stay in Nabadwip now] could never stay in the temple with Gurudev—in Gurudev's time they would always come from behind and they would not even be allowed to enter Gurudev's veranda. Now they have become great devotees and run in this way...

We must understand how to make Gurudev happy, how to follow Gurudev's line, and how to maintain Gurudev's legacy. We must think about these things.

I have written a little bit about the guru-disciple relationship, you can read about it Guidance, Volume 4. I was busy the whole day yesterday, but this afternoon I got some time and read also a little. [His Divine Grace then reads 'Related Vaishnavs are worshippable for everyone' chapter from Guidance 4:]

"Relationship with Gurudev is not created just by taking the mantra from him. If somebody loves Gurudev, for whatever reason, then they have this relationship with him. Whatever one's previously acquired nature is, whatever one's fortune is, for whatever reason it may be, if you have this close, affectionate relationship with Gurudev, then you have started your way along the path of devotion. This is the first step on the stairs of devotional path. If you take Gurudev as your very own, it means you have devotion and love.

"'Gurudev is mine'—if such feeling has not appeared, then your practising life has not started yet. Mother is my mother, sister is my sister—I understand this very well; but that Sri Hari Thakur is my Lord, that Sri Guru Thakur is my Gurudev—I have not learned this yet. Yes, I say 'Jay Guru' and offer many flowers to his photograph. There is nothing wrong in that, but it is necessary to develop a relationship. I love Gurudev, and he loves me—you cannot understand this relationship of the heart by reading scriptures or kirtan books, it comes from within one's heart—then you can progress towards the domain of devotional service very quickly. My Gurudev has two thousand disciples—whether others come to visit him or not, I must go to see my temple and my Lord. They did not cook properly for the Lord today, the Lord is fasting—this will give pain to my heart. If you have affectionate feelings towards the Lord and the guru, then your practising life will be successful—you may still have sins, offences, faults and shortcomings, but they will not be there for long. When you feel this relationship, then everything will float away in the flood of divine love. This feeling of close relation ('he is mine') is so strong—it is so powerful and potent! I have him seated in my heart—when such feeling comes, then the guru's job is successful.

"Those who have got such a relationship are venerable. Those who feel such a relationship—even if it is a little girl or an old man—they are worshippable. Even if they do something wrong, they love Hari Thakur and Guru Thakur, and I offer them my obeisance. Somebody may not know how to sing well or how to cook well, somebody may not have any qualification, but because they love Hari Thakur and Guru Thakur, I offer ten million obeisances at their feet. It can be a very young girl, it can be an incompetent or an invalid person, it can be a person with no good qualities, but they are worshippable and venerable."

We must understand this and such should be our vision.

* * *

Worshipful Stance

Kolkata-Worldwide, 19 July 2020, part 4

Are there any questions from anybody today?

Question: What is the meaning of Srimati Radharani's halo?

This is a very high question. Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave this name—"heart and halo." In Bengali, it is "bhav" and "kanti."

We are fallen souls, so we cannot explain such things with this material mouth. It is very hard because our mouth is not aprakrita (transcendental)—our mouth is prakrita (mundane). We sometimes say bad things, we sometimes criticise others, we have so many bad qualifications, so we cannot explain such highest things with this mouth. There are things that we must understand within ourselves but cannot express to others.

This question is related to gopi-bhav, but not everybody is Raya Ramananda. We do not want to become sahajiyas—we must be very serious and we must always avoid the antaranga-lila of Radha-Krishna (intimate pastimes of Radha and Krishna).

matala hari-jana kirtana-range
pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

"From afar we shall worship the raga-path, the path of spontaneous affectionate service, while we ourselves shall live within the Vedic guidelines."

We chant the Holy Name, we practise kirtan, and we should do that "pujala"—in a worshipful mood. We worship Radha-Krishna's combined form and Their lotus feet. We can only worship Them. We can only worship Radharani's heart and halo, but we cannot express such things in public.

Question: I make a living by selling vegetarian meals. Can I also distribute our books to the customers?

Of course, book distribution is a very important part of preaching. Distribute our books, and you can also give Guidance 3 to them—they can read there what is our Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, what Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj made this temple for. It is written there about it.

...Where is Srila Janardan Maharaj today? Actually, I give Srila Ashram Maharaj and Srila Janardan Maharaj position as my Gurus. I saw in Gurudev's time, they were always with Gurudev, they would always take prasadam together with Gurudev—I was just a little boy at that time, I would always be at the back, and I was very happy. I am still a baby in front of Srila Ashram Maharaj, Srila Janardan Maharaj. Gurudev may have given me the position of the acharya, but not in front of them—in front of them, I am a baby. I keep them in my heart as my gurus. I saw them from the beginning in 1992 when I was a little boy—they were always with Gurudev, and I would watch from far and fulfil whatever instruction Gurudev would give...

Srila Janardan Maharaj: We saw also your activities in Nabadwip—you would be building and building, from the beginning. And Gurudev was very happy with that. Sometimes, Gurudev would say that you were taking money from him without asking and you would use it for building.

Yes, I did that...

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Now we see that Gurudev has given charge to you, and that is enough for us.

Are there any other questions?

Question: How should I deal with envy?

Try to rectify yourself and develop the consciousness that you are not the master, but a servant of your wife. We sometimes use our wife as our servant, we think that we are the boss of the house, but Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj said, "You have got married, it is not a problem, but you will do the shopping, your wife will cook, offer the bhog, and take prasadam first, and after that you will take her remnants." This is how you can give up your envy. You must think that your wife is not your servant—rather, you are the servant of your wife.

Question: Are you doing the festival in Dum Dum Park tomorrow?

Yes, I will be at Dum Dum Park tomorrow and will make some small festival here. We will offer Srila Sridhar Maharaj his favourite 'chaunsa' mango. I will go to the market in the morning and buy it myself.

Question: What other prasadam did Srila Sridhar Maharaj like?

Aloo posta (potato curry with white poppy seeds), kolai dal (urad dal), sukto, anaraser chutney (pineapple chutney), luchi (puri) with aloor dum (potato in rich gravy), aloo bhaji (chips/French fries). I know Srila Janardan Maharaj also likes sukto.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Yes...

But I do not like sukta.

Sripad Shanta Maharaj: You like posta-bara (patties of mashed white poppy seeds).

Yes, I like posta bara.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Do you like aloo-posta?

Sometimes, but now I am not taking potato at all. My doctor told me I had gained three kg weight, so he told me not to eat potato. I never take potato since then.

* * *

Emotion and Devotion

Kolkata-Worldwide, 19 July 2020, part 5

Question: How can we have a devotional life without material attachment and free from material desires?

If you stay with a great sadhu, if you practise properly, if you follow rules and regulations, then your material desires will be removed. I can challenge anyone that it is so. Also, if you think and can promise that you will live brahmachari life, then you can come and join me—if you stay with me and can tolerate my chastisement every day, then you will avoid material life.

Question: What is the difference between a sentiment and devotion?

Sentiment (emotion) and devotion is not the same. Emotion is not lasting—it lasts only a few minutes; but devotion always lasts the whole life. Somebody may say something and you start crying, that is emotion coming. It is not so easy to shed one drop of water from your eye for Krishna, for the Lord—it is very difficult. Emotionally, you can shed a kilo of water from your eyes, but that is emotion. If out of devotion you can produce one drop of water from your eye for the Lord, that is a very high thing.

Devotees search madly, "Where must I go? Where will I find Kanu? Where must I go to get Kanu?" If you read Srimad Bhagavatam and the last part of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita where Mahaprabhu expresses His separation life from the Lord, then you can understand something. Mahaprabhu Himself is Srimati Radharani, and He shows His separation from Lord Krishna. How deep this separation is! Uddhav Maharaj also expressed something in Srimad Bhagavatam. He came to Vrindavan to give some news and nourishment to Nanda Maharaj, Yasoda, and all the Vraja gopis, but when he met them, he became very shy, "What a low person I am! I have no power to tell them anything about Krishna!" Uddhav Maharaj's expression was like that. That is called pure devotion. Also, somebody may feel separation from their Gurudev—when Gurudev disappears and his disappearance day comes, they feel separation from him deep within their hearts. That is also called devotion. Devotion comes automatically through humility, tolerance, giving honour to others, through proper practising—devotion comes through practising life.

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning there is faith, then good association, then practising life. After that, the offences gradually go away, faith becomes stronger, taste comes, then attachment, then there arises affection and love. This is how love to God comes to those who practise Krsna consciousness."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.4.15-16)

Everything comes through practice. First, it is necessary to have sukriti. There are two types of sukriti, jnata sukriti and ajnata sukriti (sometimes we know that sukriti is coming, and sometimes we may not know it). Then, through sukriti, faith (sraddha) comes. There are four types of faith—kamala-sraddha (tender faith), taranga-sraddha (fickle faith), drdha-sraddha (strong faith), sudrdha-sraddha (strongest faith). Then, through faith, good association (sadhu-sanga) comes. Sadhu-sanga is the main thing necessary for our spiritual life. What will you do then, after getting sadhu-sanga? You will practise sravan (hearing) and kirtan (chanting, practising). Then, sincerity (nistha, stableness) comes, then you will get taste (ruchi)—you will not be able to stay without it.

I heard there was one man—he is an engineer and worked in Delhi, but now that there is a lockdown period, he could not get alcohol. You cannot imagine how strong his attachment to alcohol was. He actually broke a window, jumped from his flat and came to the street to get some whiskey, some alcohol. He did not even realise he was jumping out of the window, he did not realise he could die. He ended up breaking his leg and hurting his head. This is how strong his attachment to alcohol is. We too must have such attachment to our Guru and Vaishnavs—we must be so anxious and desperate in our attachment that we should be prepared to jump out of the window!

Srila Janardan Maharaj: I heard also when Srila Govinda Maharaj was giving devotees saffron cloth, the last minute one person said he wanted to take saffron cloth too, but Srila Gurudev told him that it was good to take saffron, but it should be taken by devotion, not by emotion. So, it seems that emotion means satisfying your mind, and devotion means satisfying Gurudev.

Yes, Maharaj, that is right. Emotion is to satisfy your mind.

* * *

Exclusive Devotional Vision

Kolkata-Worldwide, 19 July 2020, part 6

Question: We chant the Holy Name every day, we chant about Gurudev—how can we understand if Gurudev receives it or not?

How can you understand it? You can understand it when you are able to 'enjoy' with the Holy Name because Krishna's Name, beauty, pastimes are non-different from Krishna.

The main thing is that you must chant the Holy Name of Krishna; you chant, you do some service, you offer bhog and take prasadam—practise in this way. Do service, and whether Krishna will accept it or will not accept it, that is His matter. You must serve Gurudev, and whether he will accept it or not accept, this is his matter—it is not necessary for you to understand whether he receives it or not. Do your service, that is the main thing.

Question: In Guidance 2, you say that devotees should have short hair, but we can see some pictures of Sri Advaita Prabhu wearing long hair...

Ladies can have long hair, it is not a problem. As for Advaita Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu is Advaita Prabhu—he is Maha-Vishnu's avatar, an incarnation of Maha-Vishnu—so he can do whatever he likes. In our own devotional life, we must follow our guru-varga—we must follow the instruction of Srila Prabhupad, Srila Gurudev, Srila Guru Maharaj. You cannot compare ordinary devotees with Advaita Prabhu, it is not good. Advaita Prabhu is Maha-Vishnu's avatar. I have told recently also that there are many thousands of Siva-bhaktas in India, and they want to be Lord Siva (they try to imitate him)—Lord Siva can take poison, but if a Siva-bhakta tries to take poison, what will be their position? They will die. So, we cannot imitate—we must follow our guru-varga. Lady devotees can have long hair, it is not a problem, but gents (whether it is a householder, a brahmachari, or a sannyasi) must follow rules and regulations—they must shave their head every purnima (full moon). That is good for us. Sri Advaita Prabhu is an incarnation of Maha-Vishnu, so he can do whatever he likes—yes, he can have a beard, long hair, etc. he can do everything, but our householder devotees (gents) will shave their heads. Gurudev and Guru Maharaj told that we must shave our head every purnima, and we follow their instruction. Sometimes, Gurudev gives some leeway if you work in an office, if there is some problem if you shave your head, etc. Gurudev relaxes the rule in such cases, but those who live in the temple should follow everything. Our householder devotees also follow it—they shave their heads, they apply tilaks, they recite gayatri with tilaks on, etc. This is a part of our practising life. You should understand it. It is not necessary to keep attachment with your hair and looks—"do not wear fancy clothes, do not eat fancy food."

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

"Do not listen to the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krishna, and in your mind serve Radha-Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.236-237)

Mahaprabhu gives this advice to us, and we should follow His advice.

Nityananda Prabhu can do whatever He likes, Advaita Prabhu can do whatever he likes, but we must follow the instruction and ideal that our Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Srila Gurudev have given us. We must follow their instruction. The main thing for us is that we must make our Gurudev happy, so we will not come to pass judgement about what Gurudev has told, we must follow whatever Gurudev says. We will not try to clarify and judge it. This is our line.

* * *

Kali-Yuga's Saviour

Kolkata-Worldwide, 19 July 2020, part 7

Question: Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Govinda Maharaj say that Krishna who we find in Bhagavad-gita and who kills such demons as Kamsa, is not the same Krishna who is with Srimati Radharani and the cowherd boys in Vrindavan. Why is advent of Krishna in Kali-yuga different?

Yes, Gurudev always says that there is Mathuresh Krishna, Dvarakesh Krishna, and there is also Vrajesh Krishna. Vraja Krishna never leaves Vrindavan—He always stays in Vrindavan. The mood of Krishna in each of these pastimes is different, that is why Gurudev says that Krishna who killed Kamsa and who fought together with Pandavas in Dvaraka is not the same Krishna who lives in Vrindavan. For our own devotional activities, we will say that Vraja Krishna is different.

Yes, it is different in Kali-yuga because in Kali-yuga, Krishna becomes Gauranga Mahaprabhu, and Gauranga Mahaprabhu gives love and affection. He promised that in the age of Kali He would not take up weapons—He would ‘fight' with mridanga and kartals. That is why, for example, He did not kill Chand Kazi, although Chand Kazi had anyway got punishment from Nrisinghadev, but Mahaprabhu Himself did not take up weapons. Even when Nityananda Prabhu was beaten by Madhai and Mahaprabhu forgot His promise and called, "Chakra! Chakra!", Nityananda Prabhu reminded Him, "Prabhu, this is Kali-yuga! You have promised that You would not take up arms, that You would not fight—You have promised that You would give love and affection, Krishna-prema." In the age of Kali, it is necessary to give Krishna-prema through chanting of the Holy Name. That is the dharma (religion) of Kali-yuga. It was described in Srimad Bhagavatam many years before that.

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah

"Those of sharp intellect will worship Krishna who appears with a non-black bodily hue, who is armed and surrounded by His associates and servants, and who always chants the Holy Names."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.5.32)

It is described in Srimad Bhagavatam that when the advent of the Lord comes in Kali-yuga, He will come with His associates (Nityananda Prabhu and others), and His weapons will be mridanga and karatals. That is correct, and it should be understood in this way. There are different religions prescribed for different ages—in Satya-yuga the religion is one, in Treta-yuga another, in Dvapar-yuga another, and in Kali-yuga also another. All this was explained long before. Srimad Bhagavatam tells what religion will be in each age, and we must believe what Srimad Bhagavatam says. This is our line. Later in Kali-yuga, Kalki Maharaj will also come and there will be fighting again—He will kill all yavats with His weapons.

Are there any other questions?

Question: Why is there no shadow from the temple in Jagannath Puri? There is a video going around in the Internet...

Do not follow such things. When we go to Jagannath Puri and see the flags of the temple, we must pay obeisance in that direction. Why is there no shadow, why is this, that—there are so many stories in this world, but it is only stories, scriptures do not say anything about it. We must follow scriptures, we do not care what gossips are going on. We do not follow gossips.

Question: If somebody took initiation, but later stopped coming and no longer associates with devotees, should we still invite such people to programmes?

Yes, you must try to preach to them. If somebody does not come, we will try to call them, we will try to preach to them. Try. If somebody is attacked by illusory environment and has fallen down into a hole, it is always our duty to pull them out of that hole. If somebody is an offender of Gurudev, if somebody speaks bad about Gurudev, then we will avoid their association, but if somebody does not come, does not join the programmes, you should try and call them to come and join. Try and try, try and try. 'Loving search for the lost servant' is necessary. We will search for a servant for the Lord, for Gurudev and we will engage more devotees in Gurudev's association, we will try to encourage them, to bring them to Gurudev's programme. That is our main duty. They can also join the Zoom classes every week, they can hear something from me and if they have any questions, any doubts, they can ask questions about Krishna consciousness,

tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam, jnaninas tattva-darsinah

"You will be able to attain knowledge by satisfying the divine master with submission, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. The enlightened souls who are learned in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will impart divine knowledge to you."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

They can place honest enquiry—if they have any service-related questions, I will try to offer them a solution.

...I have given the new guesthouse in Nrisingha Palli a name—its name is 'Bhakti Sundar Angan' (Courtyard of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) And I have also given the name to the guesthouse and temple in Mayapur—'Sachi Matar Angina' (Courtyard of Sachi Mata). This Mayapur land was Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's land, it is near, about one hundred meters from the birthplace of Mahaprabhu, the house of Sachi Mata, that was discovered by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. Last night I had some inspiration and chose these two names. 'Sachi Mata's Angina' is the yard of Sachi Mata where Nimai always plays, and 'Bhakti Sundar Angan' is always Gurudev's place, where Gurudev always chants and dances. We will always remember this in these places.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

So many devotees are present today, I cannot tell everyone's name, but I always remember you all and I know you all. And where is ** Prabhu? Dandavat, Prabhu! You are a very fortunate soul because you are living in Vrindavan, but I live in Kolkata, it is Kali's place...

Sripad ** Prabhu: My mind is very bad...

Why is your mind bad?

Sripad ** Prabhu: Because I want to serve to you only.

Gracias. Muchas gracias...

* * *

Our Programme

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 July 2020, part 1

Dandavat. Please accept my humble obeisance to you all.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa-kula-churamani Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math all the devotees ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
All the sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay

Dandavat to everybody. I am very happy to see you all by the mercy of Gurudev. I am happy to see that all devotees are practising properly... Dandavat, Srila Janardan Maharaj, please accept my humble obeisance.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Dandavat pranam, Maharaj.

Dandavat, dandavat. I am very happy to see you, Maharaj. When I see you, I think that I will stay more and more in this world—I am getting energy from seeing you.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: You are still very young and strong. Nobody can walk as fast as you do in the parikrama!

[His Divine Grace laughs.]

By the mercy of Gurudev, everything is going on very nicely here. Everything is going on smooth, all the temples all over the world send me reports, and I am getting very much enthusiasm to do more service for devotees. Actually, my service is that I want to make everybody happy. This is my service. You are all Gurudev's devotees, Gurudev's well-wishers, Gurudev's friends, that is why I want to serve you all, and it is my happiness that you are engaging me in more and more service.

Now, the Janmastami festival is coming soon, and we will try to do something on Janmastami, after that there is Radhastami, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's appearance day. We will try to celebrate these festivals. The problem is that we still cannot gather many people together because the virus is still increasing day by day here in India—many people are dying, many people are suffering from this disease, from this pandemic situation. Anyhow, we are trying to preach from afar, we are trying to serve devotees from afar as much as possible. Devotees are also serving to the mission here in India properly. Many send donations according to their capacity, as much as they can in this present situation. I know everybody's financial situation is not good at present, but still everybody is helping as much as they can, as much as it is possible. So many devotees are helping me from so many countries, and I feel that mere 'thank you' is not sufficient. You are doing a great service for the Mission.

Owing to your help I am trying to do some construction, trying to make guesthouses in Nrisingha Palli and Mayapur amidst this situation. I would also like to invite everyone for the Gaura Purnima festival next year. I think that before Gurudev's appearance day, before Nityananda Prabhu's appearance day, the pandemic will have finished properly, and everybody will be able to work again as previously, and more and more devotees will be able to come—that is why I am making these guesthouses. I do not like it when devotees stay outside or in somebody else's house or place, Gurudev also did not like it. He used me to make so many big buildings in Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. When I joined in 1992 there were not so many rooms at that time and devotees suffered so much—they would live in tents, etc. That is why, Gurudev made guesthouses, made prasadam hall, and later Govinda Kunda also manifested. Gurudev did all this for devotees. That is why, I am also thinking that I have come out of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Nabadwip, and I do not know when I can go back there, but in the meantime devotees want to come to India, they want to do the parikrama and stay happily. I know they walk so much for three-four days (next year the parikrama will be five days), and if after that they cannot come to their room and cannot get a proper rest, it is not good for them—it is not good for their health also. This is not proper service to devotees if devotees do not get a proper room and a proper rest after they come back from the parikrama. It is necessary to make arrangements, that is why I thought about it and bought a land in Nrisingha Palli and Mayapur to make new guesthouses so that everyone can do the parikrama properly and can take prasadam properly in a prasadam room. Then, everyone can stay during festivals properly.

I am trying to serve devotees in this way, with this purpose. I also think that we need more rooms in Govardhan and Vrindavan. In Vrindavan, I can make six more rooms in the building of Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami. Many Indian and Western devotees come for Vrindavan parikrama, but they do not get a proper room because the temples do not have many rooms, but the number of devotees coming for the Kartik parikrama is increasing every year. For example, I made eight more rooms in the Sevak Bhavan in Puri for the Jagannath Ratha-yatra pilgrimage, and I think that we also need to make more rooms in Vrindavan and Govardhan. One way or another, I will do it, it is also not so expensive.

In this way, I want to serve devotees. This is the situation now. Our minds should be always concentrated on service mood. We must always exist within service mood...

* * *

Sanctity of Initiation

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 July 2020, part 2

Everybody's mood should be service mood. So many problems and obstacles will come in our situation—so many problems, so much bondage, so many obstacles will come in this material world—but we should overcome everything. We will try our best, and whether Krishna accepts it or not, whether Gurudev accepts our service or not, that is their matter; our duty is that we should serve our Guru, we should make him happy. That is our service.

Disciples must always think that when they take initiation, they will give their ego, all their selfishness—they will surrender everything—at their Gurudev's lotus feet. Disciples must give everything to their Guru. Whatever our bad qualities or good qualities are, it does not matter—we must give everything to our Gurudev. "Gurudev is my very own", "Gurudev, I am yours, you can use me in whichever way you want. I am your servant, I am your slave. It is up to you how you will use me"—this should be our mood, this is how we should proceed in our spiritual life.

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)

Atma-samarpan means surrender, or self-surrender; initiation means self-surrender. You must give everything to your Guru—you must give yourself to your Gurudev. Do not keep anything for yourself—you must give your very self to your Gurudev. Give everything—your heart, your mind, etc.—to your Guru. This is how we must serve, then we will be able to proceed and our life will be very perfect. This is the perfect way to practise Krishna consciousness.

Embracing this mood, we must practise sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, archanam, pada-sevanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, worshipping, serving lotus feet, offering prayers, engaging in service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). We will practise sravanam (hearing, listening) and kirtanam (chanting, practising), and we must always remember what for we do kirtan, what for we chant the Holy Name, what for we do service. We do everything—any service, even cooking, even making garlands, etc.—only for one reason, i.e. to make Gurudev happy. Whatever we do, everything must go to Gurudev, to the Lord. That is the main thing. This is the way to serve our Guru. This is the perfect and proper way to practise, and this is what is called initiation.

What is called initiation? What is initiation about? Initiation means self-surrender. Self-surrender is the most important thing. You must have surrender, saranagati.

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord's guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me', engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion."

(Saranagati, 1)

(1) Be humble (dainya), (2) surrender yourself (atma-nivedana), (3) Krishna takes care of you, Krishna looks after you (goptritve varan), (4) Krishna will certainly protect you (avasya raksibe Krsna), (5) accept what is favourable to devotion (bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara), and (6) reject what is unfavourable to devotion (bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara). These are the six limbs of saranagati. First and foremost, it is necessary to have a strongest faith.

How do we increase our faith? Through practising, through remembering, through service. I have told you many times that when your baby is born, you gradually start to take care of the baby—the mother takes care of the baby, the father takes care of the baby—and in this way attachment towards that baby comes. In the same way, when you serve your Guru, when you serve the Lord and the Deities every day, if you take care of your Deities and Guru at every moment as much as you take care of your baby, then service attachment will come. Service attachment comes through practice. If you practise with the same love, affection and care that you take care and look after your baby with, then your faith will increase, your service mood will increase, and your spiritual life will develop in every way. However, if you are becoming lazy and do not practise properly, it is bad for you:

nidralasya hata sukarye virata
akarye udyogi ami

"I am ruined by laziness and sleep, I hate doing good things, I am always eager to do bad things."

Sleeping and laziness. Ahara, nidra, bhay, maithuna (eating, sleeping, defending, having sex)—the more you increase these things every day, the more these things will increase (the more you will be doing it). It is necessary to decrease these things. It is necessary to sleep six to seven hours a day, that is sufficient, but if you sleep more and more every day and do not practise properly, then you will become lazier and lazier. Laziness is very bad. An idle brain is devil's workshop. An active man has no time to waste on evil works. So, we must be active and we must do everything properly. For example, a proper pujari offers bhoga at the altar five times a day. This is like feeding a baby—how many times does a mother give her breast milk to the baby? Do you feed your baby only when it cries? No, you think about it beforehand. You always think about and take care of your baby's food, bath, changing its clothes, etc. You must look after the Deities in the same way. Do you understand it? You must serve the Deities with the same care that you take care of your baby. If you follow this, then your service mood will increase day by day, and you will be successful in your spiritual life. Follow this, these are the main things.

Before all this, it is necessary to take shelter of the lotus feet of a guru ("adau guru padasraya"). Nothing will work without initiation and surrender to a guru. It is necessary to take initiation, it is necessary to have a guru, a guardian. Who will guide me? Who will teach me? Who will give me proper guidance? That is why, it is necessary to accept a Guru and take initiation. We can chant, we can do service and other things, but without proper guidance, without a guru, all our attempts will be unscientific. What is the scientific way? Take proper initiation and then practise properly. Follow this way, it is good for you.

I heard that somebody is taking initiation today. [Addressing a devotee.] Are you taking initiation?

Devotee: Yes.

For what? Why are you taking initiation?

Devotee: I met *** Prabhu two years ago, he has been preaching to me, and I became attracted to Krishna consciousness. That is why I am asking for initiation to do some proper service.

OK. That is good. I am going to tell you all what we take initiation for. Listen carefully.

Initiation (diksa) means self-surrender. "I am yours"—this feeling awakens at the time of initiation. "'Krsna, tomara han' yadi bale ekabara, maya-bandha haite krsna tare kare para. 'Krishna, I am Yours'—if you say it even once, Krishna can rescue you from the bondage of Maya." (Cc. 2.22.33) Independence, ego is given up—one gets a new life at the time of initiation. I am a brahman, I am from a low caste, I am good, I am bad—there are no such feelings. I have now become yours—such mood must awaken. O Krishna! I am Your servant, I am Your slave. Whatever service You want to engage me in, this is the service I want. Whatever ego, pride, requisition (desire to lord over) I have, I must submit everything at the time of initiation. It is necessary to submit yourself at the time of initiation, it means you should give yourself completely. To mould yourself according to His wish, you must throw yourself at His holy lotus feet. He can do with me what He pleases.

"diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, 3.4.192)

Those who want to become a devotee, who want to become initiated into the path of devotion, leave all conceptions and feelings of "I" and "mine," and pray, "Accept me, take me. My happiness, unhappiness, good and bad—all is yours now. Guide me, show me the path." You must surrender to the holy lotus feet of Sri Gurupadpadma without any hesitation. To be initiated means to submit yourself. The more one can submit oneself, the more successful one will be in their life. "Sei kale Krsna tare kare atmasama, sei deha kare tara chidananda-maya. At this time Krsna takes [the surrendered soul] as His own and transforms his body into a transcendental body." (Cc, 3.192-193) "Atma-sama" means 'one's very own'—does it means one gets four arms or six arms? No. Krsna makes one fit for His service, i.e. the more you surrender, the more He hijacks you.

sakti-buddhi-hina ami ati dina
kara more atma-satha

"I have no power, I have no intelligence, I am extremely poor! Please hijack me!"

We sing this every day during the temple and Tulasi parikrama—we tell Gurudev, "Gurudev, I have no power, I have no intelligence! Please hijack me!" Hijack from where? From maya. "Hijack me from this illusory world and throw me at your lotus feet!" That is the meaning of 'hijacking.'

No kind of stiffness, objection, or obstruction will come then. "Diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana—at the time of initiation, devotees surrender themselves fully"—it means devotees leave all materialism, material false ego, material attachments and establish themselves in servitude to Lord Krishna. This is an ideal initiation. To reach such ideal, it is necessary to pay the price. The higher price you pay for it, the more successful you will be. You should be prepared to give what you have. If you want to pass B.A., you get there step by step. One does not attain perfection just by taking initiation. It is necessary to gather the mercy of Gurudev at the time of initiation and practise after that. The more seriously and sincerely you can follow your Gurudev and his desire, the more successful or benefitted you will be.

There is no service, no practising life without initiation. Chanting the Holy Name on some beads, worship Deities, sing kirtans without initiation—this is unscientific. "Adau guru-padasrayah—first, take shelter of the guru." If you take shelter at the feet of your guru, then everything is perfect—this is not so. This is only the beginning. Getting enrolled into a college does not mean passing the final exam, it is only an opportunity to pass it.

What happens after initiation? "Sravana-kirtana-jale karaye sechana. Nourish the creeper of your devotion with the water of śravan and kirtan." (Cc, 2.19.152) It is necessary to practise hearing and chanting, worship Deities and do service. You must serve with love, affection, extracting loving devotion from your very heart. You must always think about what makes Him happy. You must be anxious to make Him happy and always be alert and conscious of His happiness. Sacrifice your selfish interests for His happiness, serve for His happiness. He does not accept service from those who have no initiation and no mercy. Whether He accepts service or not, this is up to Him; from our side, we should sent the application (prayer). Initiation is a method of practising spiritual life. If you do not follow this scientific rule, you will not get any result. Initiation is the first duty in one's spiritual life.

Do you understand, everybody? These are very important things. There are always people who ask why it is necessary to take initiation, that is why I wrote about it here, in Guidance, Volume 4. People say, "We all know the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—we can chant it easily on our own and get our benefit." This is not so. You will not get the benefit—if you do not get a proper seed from a proper guardian, a proper guru, your chanting will not work, no tree will grow from your chanting and you will not get any fruit. That is why you must take initiation from a proper guru, a proper acharya. This is the proper way to start a spiritual life, otherwise you will never get a proper result.

* * *

Cooking: Integral Part of Practising Life

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 July 2020, part 3

Question: Could you please explain the importance of following the four regulative principles?

I always tell about the four regulative principle at the time of initiation. The four regulative principles are dyuta, pana, striya, suna. These are primary, basic, things. Dyuta means gambling. Pana means drinking—do not drink alcohol, do not take marijuana. Striya means illegal sex. Suna means killing animals—do not kill any animals, do not take meat, fish, or any other non-vegetarian food; you must offer vegetarian food to the Deities and always take prasad.

prasada-seva karite haya,
sakala prapancha-jaya

"By honouring the Lord's prasad I conquer all worldly illusions."

(Saranagati, 31.5, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Everybody must follow these four regulative principles. After that, even if we follow these four regulative principles, we still have five diseases—avidya (ignorance), asmita (false identification), raga (misdirected love), dvesa (aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment), and abhinivesa (being unable to give up unfavourable habits)...

We all follow the regulative principles, we take prasadam every day, we do not do any illegal sex, we do not gamble, we do not drink alcohol, we do not even drink tea—but why are we still unable to proceed in our practising life, in our spiritual life? Because even if we follow these things, so many things still come up in our life—there are the five diseases (avidya, asmita, raga, dvesa, abhinivesa), there is attachment to enjoyment (rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa—desire to enjoy with beauty, taste, smell, sound, touch), and there is also kanak, kamini, pratistha (desire for money, companions, prestige). We think we do everything, we follow everything, but the truth is that we are only instruments. We are not doers, we cannot do anything—we are only instruments. Only Krishna and Guru do everything.

So, following only these four regulative principles (dyuta, pana, striya, suna) is a simple matter. Even non-devotees should follow them because these things—killing animals, eating fish, meat, etc.—are not good for one's health, they are not good for one's life. However, only taking vegetarian food is not enough. Sometimes, we buy some food at the market, we buy something from a restaurant, but Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said,

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile, nahe krsna-nama grahana

"If you take food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot chant the Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.278)

We sometimes buy food in a restaurant and eat it, but we do not know who cooks it. Srila Gurudev also says that if you take food from the the hands of a non-devotee, the material desires that the person who cooks has, will come to you. That is what is called,

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile, nahe krsna-nama grahana

"If you take food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot chant the Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.278)

You may take outside food for one or two days if you cannot cook for some reason (for example, you have been working the whole day and did not have time to cook), but if you do it every day—if you work the whole day, go to a restaurant, eat there or get takeaway food, come home, if you do not cook, if you do not offer bhog—that is not right. I know some of our people live like this, I have seen this in many foreign countries—they take vegetarian food, but they eat outside food, they do not cook themselves. If you are doing some service and have no time to cook for some reason, it is OK for one day, but if you do this every day, it is not good for spiritual practice. You must understand this.

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile, nahe krsna-nama grahana

"If you take food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot chant the Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.278)

You cannot set time for chanting, you do not get time for your daily practice—this is not good, try to understand it. You should practise daily, regularly, you should chant on your beads, you should chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra without the beads, you must cook, offer bhog. You must do all this. Try to follow all rules and regulations in this way. Try to understand this and try to follow all the rules and regulations.

I have seen a photograph of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad—when he went to America, he would cook himself. He would cook himself, offer it to the Deities, to his Guru, and take prasadam. I also did that—when I had some problems and had to stay in Park Street, I cooked myself too. When Nakul Prabhu stayed with me for a short time, he would cook, otherwise, when I stayed with Ananda Moy Prabhu, I would cook and Ananda Moy Prabhu would cut the vegetables. I cooked various items, offered everything to Gurudev, and we would take prasadam. We also do this.

You must understand that when you come to practising life, you will get some austerity. I know you work the whole day, I know you come home very tired and only want to go to bed, you have no mood to cook, but still you must try to follow what I am saying. Otherwise, you will get into the habit of going to the restaurant every day. You eat food from a restaurant, but they cook meat and vegetables side by side, you do not know what they mix with what—you buy it, take it home and eat that kind of food. That is,

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile, nahe krsna-nama grahana

"If you take food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot chant the Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.278)

These materialists, people who have material attachments, cook, and when you eat their food, it makes your heart dirty...

You must always practise properly, that is good for you. Try to practise properly. Try to change yourself. This is how you can proceed in your spiritual life. I know it is sometimes very difficult—I know you work the whole day, you come home tired, and sometimes both husband and wife work, they do not have time to cook. I know it is very difficult, but I am telling you—you must still try to follow what I am saying, you must still try to cook, try to serve. That is good for you—you will get more energy for service, you will get more happiness in your heart.

Question: Many devotees do not eat in a restaurant, but they have a maidservant in their house and they take the food prepared by the maidservant every day. Is that the same thing? I know some have been eating such maidservant's food for ten, twenty years now...

In such cases, the maidservant must take initiation. If you have been taking food from the same maidservant for twenty years, can you not preach to her and tell her that she must become a devotee?? You can preach to somebody for fifteen-twenty minutes only and wash their brain, it is easy.

A few days ago, one devotee (not really a devotee, but a new boy) phoned me, and I washed his brain on the phone. After that, I went to Nabadwip (Nrisingha Palli), and on the way I saw him standing on the road—he said he wanted to go with me. I took him to Nrisingha Palli, and now he is a devotee, he is doing much service and doing it very nicely.

Another thing is why is it necessary to keep a maidservant? If you have to have a maidservant to cook, then she has to take initiation, otherwise, if she is not a devotee, it is a problem. In Srivas Pandit's house also there was a maidservant Duhkhi, and she became a disciple of Mahaprabhu, she became a great servitor. I have seen also many families where maidservants became devotees. Why will they not take initiation? They can easily take initiation. What does initiation mean? They already cook and take vegetarian food, so they will just wear kanthi-mala, tilaks and chant the Holy Name. What is so difficult about that? You can tell the maidservant, "I will pay you more salary if you take initiation," or you can say, "If you want to cook here, if you want to work here, you must take initiation." I have seen one devotee from Hungary who has a printing house—he said to them straight that if anyone wanted to work there, they had to take initiation from Gurudev.

Another thing is this. We also sometimes keep some workers at the temple, for example, we keep a gatekeeper or a man for cow seva who are not initiated, but they do not come to the temple to cook—they only do outside work. So, you can keep a maidservant for outside works—she can do the shopping, do the cleaning, etc. But the kitchen service is very special. The kitchen is the Lord's place—the Deities' room and the Deities' kitchen are the highest places in the house or in the temple, so why will anyone without initiation enter it? How can they enter it?

I have seen in some foreign devotee's house that they keep a girl from Indonesia to do the cooking—who knows, she could be Muslim, but what can I do? We tolerate it and take food there also. When we go abroad, we tolerate everything, Gurudev also tolerated everything—but we do it for service and for preaching. When Srila Sridhar Maharaj went to Kashmir, they could not find any pure vegetarian food, so in the end they took some food from a hotel—they got some dal that had onion and garlic in it, but they took it, they tolerated it.

So, you can take outside food for service, but not every day. Why will you tolerate it every day? Try to understand what I am saying.

In Gurudev's time also, during festival time, we saw they hired some Oriyan brahmans (some brahmans would come from Odisha and cook). I heard also that the pandas who cook Jagannath prasad also eat meat, fish, etc. in their houses. I did not see them do it, I only heard it, so we do not know if that is true or not.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Maharaj, when you used to cook together with Ananda Moy Prabhu, what would you cook?

Many things—rice, dal, subji, etc. I know how to cook.

* * *

Adjustment of Consciousness

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 July 2020, part 4

Question: Could you please help me understand the origin of anxiety and how I should properly channel it?

I have told just now that you must place and keep everything—anxiety, selfishness, everything—at Gurudev's lotus feet. Throw everything at your Gurudev's lotus feet. You are the property of your Guru, you are not anybody else's property. So, whatever you have—your anxiety, your heart, mind problems, etc.—give everything to your Guru, place everything at his lotus feet. He will take care of you, do not worry.

Question: Because of the coronavirus, I had to move in with some relatives. They are not devotees, and I do not feel good about living with them.

First you must take care of your own health because the question is not that you moved in with a nondevotee, the main question is that you can be attacked by coronavirus, so if that helps you to cope with the virus, you must tolerate it.

If they are not devotees, you can preach to them, you can practise and chant there. Devotees always practise wherever they go. Others also can see your practice and they can understand something. We also sometimes go for preaching and stay one-two days in some houses. For example, we go for preaching before Gaura Purnima and we stay in some nondevotees' houses—we stay there, do kirtan, speak Hari-katha, and they gradually become devotees.

One time, Srila Bhakti Hriday Bon Maharaj accidentally went to beg in the prostitutes' quarter. He did not know Kolkata and went there by mistake. After that, he came back to the temple crying. Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur asked him what had happened, and Srila Bon Maharaj told the truth, he said, "I am lost! I did a bad thing today—I have been to a prostitutes' quarter!" Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarawati Thakur told him, "What problem is it that you went there? You did not go there for your own enjoyment. You went there for collection and we will use the money that these prostitutes gave for the service of our Guru and the Lord. Tell me, am I also doing wrong? I bring so many brahmacharis and sannyasis—they do not come from the sky, they all come from somebody's house, from the house of some material people. I turn them into brahmacharis and sannyasis and then again send them to the houses of materialists to preach to them. Am I doing wrong too?" Then, Srila Bon Maharaj understood it and he felt very happy to hear that from Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

So, if you are staying with some nondevotees for some purpose, you are not going to stay there for a long time, so you can stay there, but you must practise there—you must chant, etc. You can also talk to those nondevotees, you can try to preach to them. What is the problem?

Question: I am twelve years old, how can I be a better devotee and do more service?

Whether you are twelve or three years old, that is not a question. Narayani Devi got Mahaprabhu's mercy when she was only three and a half years old. Direct mercy of Chaitnaya Mahaprabhu came to her as a result of which she got such a son as Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur—Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur was born from her womb. So, try to practise properly, follow what your parents tell you. Serve in this way. Try to practise. You are vegetarian from your birth, you are a great soul, so try to practise, chant the Holy Name.

Are there any other questions?

Question: Because of the coronavirus I lost my job and took a job as a babysitter, but I have to prepare food with meat for the children. I beg your forgiveness. This is the only job I could find right now. What should I do?

What can you do? Try to find another service, then you must leave this kind of service. You can do this type of service right now. I know it is very difficult to get a new service at this moment, in the present situation, so what can you do? You are not doing it actually with heart and soul, you are forced to do this because of this situation, so Krishna will forgive your offence...

* * *

Royal Road to Success

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 July 2020, part 5

[Addressing a devotee who is taking initiation.] You already know everything about initiation—I have already told about it, I have explained the meaning of initiation, and also by the mercy of Gurudev you have got devotees' association. Now you must try to serve the Lord and Gurudev.

You have already come to Krishna consciousness. You must get into the habit of taking only vegetarian food. You already live in householder life with a devotee, so you must understand how it is necessary to live a householder life, what is necessary for a householder life, and try to follow that. (The next book I will print in English will be about some instructions for householder devotees—what rules and regulations householder devotees must follow, etc. You will get it before next Gaura Purnima.) So, you know what rules and regulations householder devotees must follow, you can also ask other senior devotees or, if you want, you can also ask me directly. I do not mind it.

You are already in the association of devotees, you have got good association, and as a result your heart has become clean, your land is fertile and you are only waiting now for the proper seed to be sown. You have appealed to me to give you the holy seed, and I want to give you the seed (bhakti-lata-bij, the seed of the creeper of devotion) that I have got from my Gurudev.

This Holy Name comes through guru-parampara: from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev, from Vyasadev to Madhva Acharya, and so on. In this way, the Name came to Madhavendra Puri, from Madhavendra Puri to Isvar Puri, and from Isvar Puri to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu Himself took initiation showing His example to us. He is the Lord Himself, but even He took initiation from Isvar Puri in Gaya. In this way, this Holy Name came all the way to Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, then to our Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and finally to our Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. In his lifetime, Srila Gurudev told me, "If somebody wants to take initiation, if somebody wants to chant the Holy Name and is ready to follow the rules and regulations, you can give initiation to them."

I have told just now what the four principal rules are—dyuta, pana, striya, suna. (1) Do not gamble, (2) do not take alcohol, do not smoke, do not smoke marijuana, (3) do not do illegal sex, and (4) do not eat meat, fish, etc. Also, you must follow ekadasi every month, follow all the ekadasi rules, and always take the maha-prasad. Cook and offer what you cook with Tulasi leaves to Deities on your altar, and then take that prasadam. Practise in this way and chant the Holy Name. If you have a kirtan guide, you can try to sing some songs every morning and evening. If you can practise in this way, it will be good for you.

Now repeat after me,

sri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura bhakta-vrinda

This is Pancha-tattva's Name. First chant this Pancha-tattva's Name. Ask for Their mercy because They have brought this Holy Name to this abode and we cannot chant this Holy Name without Their mercy. Then, start chanting from the big beads. I will chant now, and you only listen:

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Next bead,

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Chant in this way from the big beads to the small beads, then take turn and chant from the small beads to the big beads. Do not cross the sumeru bead (the big bead in the middle)—when you finish chanting on the small beads, turn the beads and start chanting again from the small beads; when you finish chanting on the big beads, turn the beads and again start chanting from the big beads. Chant in this way sixteen rounds or more, that is good for you. If you are busy with service any day, then you must chant not less than four rounds. If any problem occurs and it is somehow not possible for you to chant on your beads, then you can chant with your mouth only, it is OK. There is also a book about the ten offences, you must read what these ten offences are. Chant the Holy Name without offences, Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart and you will succeed in your spiritual life. Now you go and chant four rounds, that will be good.

Dandavat, everybody. It was very nice to see you all. I am very happy to see all the devotees. I will try to speak again next week. If there is any service for me, you can ask me, do not hesitate. I am a member of your family, and I also take you all as my family members. I take all the devotees all over the world as my family member—I actually do not take any biological family as my family members; for me, only all devotees are my family members. You are all my well-wishers, my godbrothers, my guardians, my Gurudev's godbrothers and senior devotees—I always pay my full obeisance to all devotees. I do not consider myself a senior devotee, I am only a junior man who is only always waiting to serve you. I am always at your service. If you can give me any service, I am always very happy about that. I see that some devotees still serve very happily... Anyhow, I am very happy to see all the devotees' mood. I pray that this pandemic situation will be removed soon. I think that the vaccine will come out in October-November and then everybody will be free from this fear. Actually, we are not afraid of death—one day we have to die anyway, whether it is one day earlier or one day later. The main thing is that as many days we are alive, we will always remember our Guru, we will always chant the Holy Names and we will always concentrate our mind on the service of the Lord. That is the main thing for us, and this is what everybody should follow.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhaktir-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Niskam Shanta Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Vijnan Muni Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Bandhav Puri Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Vaibhav Parivrajak Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Rasik Sannyasi Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Ujjval Sajjan Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Devotee: Jay Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Sri Srimad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Reaching Devotees' Hearts

Kolkata-Vijayawada (South India), 26 July 2020, part 1

Dandavat, everybody. By the mercy of Gurudev, I can see you all after such a long time. I always think that every summer season I always go to meet with you, but this year because of the pandemic situation I could not come. You also always come at the time of Ratha-yatra and Vrindavan parikrama. I do not know if Vrindavan parikrama will happen this year or not—we still do not know it.

Are all the devotees in Vijaywada OK? Is everybody's health OK?

Devotee: Everybody is fine, Maharaj.

OK, I am very happy to hear that. Is there still lockdown in Vijayawada or is it OK now?

Devotee: No, there is still lockdown.

Oh, so nobody can work now, can they?

Devotee: Yes, all the markets are closed too.

Yes, it is a very difficult situation. It is also very difficult for preaching, but anyhow we can preach to the devotees and reach devotees' hearts through this scientific method, through this system.

This situation has come to us and actually Krishna is testing us to see how much we can tolerate. Anyhow, in this situation when we are all staying in our houses, we must all practise properly, read some books, listen to some kirtans, chant kirtans, practise our bhajan life. We must practise properly the main devotional processes:

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 serve holy Deities with faith."

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

We can practise all this from our house also. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said,

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.

(Saranagati, 'Suddha-bhakata-charana-renu')

Krishna appears in the house where devotees practise properly—where they offer bhog and take prasadam. Such a house is non-different from Goloka Vrindavan.

You are very fortunate souls—you have connected so many devotees with Srila Rupa Goswami's line. You are all staying under the guidance of Srila Rupa Goswami, under the guidance of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, you are practising properly—it gives very much happiness to me. You are all very fortunate souls. And your Krishna consciousness life gives so much happiness to you all as well.

* * *

Perfect Result Comes Through Perfect Practice

Kolkata-Vijayawada (South India), 26 July 2020, part 2

I hope that everybody's health will be OK and that everybody will practise properly. This is how you can increase your spiritual life day by day. Increase your spiritual life through love and affection for devotees, by helping each other. 'Help' means transcendental help (paramarthik help). Help each other in this way, keep connection with each other, and in future you can come to Vrindavan or Nabadwip Dham parikrama, that will be good for you.

When I was at your house, I saw your service mood—your mood is very pure and very perfect, you have a simple heart. Simplicity is what Vaishnavism is. I have seen that your hearts are clean—you all live perfectly and you make your Guru happy properly. I have seen your mood, and I was very glad to see it. You understand how to reach the Lord and how to reach Goloka Vrindavan—you have already caught that line and started such practising; and I am sure that you will get perfect destination, perfect result—you will get that opportunity to reach Goloka Vrindavan. If you can practise properly, if you can continue your practising life as you are doing now, it will be good for you in future. Besides that, I am sure that you will get benefit through your service mood, your qualities, your love and affection for me and all the devotees, through your practising life, as well as through the association, love, and affection of Sripad Shanta Maharaj and Sripad Muni Maharaj who always come to you—this all will be more and more helpful to you also.

Not everybody can understand what a real relationship is. We only understand the relationship with our parents, with our father, mother, with our children, with our husband and wife, or with our brother and sister—but we cannot understand or sometimes we do not know also what is the relation between a guru and a disciple. This relationship is much more—the relationship between a guru and a disciple must be more perfect, tighter. This relationship should be established properly, it must be there. The Guru is the centre of the disciple's heart. It is possible to realise this relationship between the guru and the disciple through service.

You should read all the books of our mission—read Param Gurudev's books, there are also my Guidance books. They are all in English, but if you can sometimes read them, it is good for you. In Guidance 4, I have written something about initiation, I want to read it to you now.... [His Divine Grace reads from Guidance 4, chapter "Devotees' surrender at the time of initiation".]

....Try to join us at our English class every Sunday at 7 p.m. [Kolkata time]. Thank you very much. When the lockdown finishes, try to come for Nabadwip Dham parikrama. If I go to Vrindavan, you can also join the Vrindavan parikrama with me. Dandavat. Hari bol. Hari bol.

* * *

Step Your Service Up

Kolkata-Worldwide, 2 August 2020, part 1

Dandavat.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Jay jay Sri Krishna's jhulan-yatra maha-mahotsav ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Please, accept my humble obeisance to you all. Every Sunday we make this programme, and I am very happy to see you all again today.

Tomorrow is also Sri Baladev's avirbhav (appearance). Sri Baladev Prabhu is non-different from Gurudev, non-different from Nityananda Prabhu, non-different from the Lord. We will talk about Baladev Prabhu tomorrow. It is a very auspicious day in our spiritual life. Nityananda Prabhu, Baladev Prabhu and Gurudev are the same—they are friends of the fallen souls like us. Just as Gurudev, Nityananda Prabhu also appears for us—for the fallen souls. Baladev Prabhu is also like that. He always serves the Lord, and you can see how He does that. Anyhow, tomorrow is His appearance day, and we will talk more about Sri Baladev Prabhu tomorrow. Sri Baladev, Sri Balaram, Balabhadra—we will talk about Him, it is very nice.

So, today is our weekly programme. I see everybody's smiling faces, I know everybody waits for this day... You are all connected with Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's line, you have become devotees of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, but you are not only initiated—you must also gradually become proper disciples of Gurudev. I have told you before that we must be proper disciples of Gurudev. That is the main thing in our spiritual life. "Sisya thakibo sarvada. We will always be disciples." We will always be servants of devotees—our main wish, our main desire is to be able to serve devotees, to be able to do bhakta-seva, Vaishnav-seva. "Chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba: Without service to Vaishnavs, you cannot get any relief." We cannot overcome the illusory environment without service to Vaishnavs, without service to great devotees.

Therefore, we need to have good association at all times. We must give all our time to the Lord. We use a lot of our time on our own enjoyment, but we must give our time to the service of the Lord, to the service of our Guru. You must always remember this. Give more and more time to service. We meet here every seven days, every Sunday, and this day comes very quickly—time is passing very fast, so we should not waste our time on our own enjoyment, we must give our time for the enjoyment and happiness of our Lord, our Gurudev.

Tomorrow is Baladev's avirbhav (Baladev's appearance day), I know everybody will be working, it is Monday, the first day of the week days, but we must still do some service for Baladev Prabhu's appearance day. Remember this. If you only fast and give some flower to Gurudev, that is not sufficient. It is necessary to do some more service—do more and more service to our Gurudev. That is the main thing for our spiritual life.

Baladev is Mul-Sankarshan (He controls everything), and he is also ashraya-vigraya (embodiment of shelter), non-different from Nityananda Prabhu and Gurudev. Nityananda Prabhu, Gurudev, and Baladev give us shelter. We always ask for the shelter at the lotus feet of our Gurudev, but the problem is that when we have got this shelter at our Gurudev's lotus feet, we forget to serve after that. We must always do some service to our Gurudev. That is the main thing in our spiritual life. Remember this; do not forget it.

Gurudev always tries to keep us engaged in service, but we sometimes forget our service or run away from it. That is why, we come to these programmes from time to time and we remind you all about it. Sometimes, we do some good service and sometimes we forget our service because Maya always attacks us and takes us away, removes us from the service of the Lord. Maya always engages us in her own service. Maya Devi is very strong—she gets her power from the Lord, and through His power she shows her illusory power and removes us from service. This is how we end up wasting our time on laziness, on doing nonsense things, on doing all sorts of things that we cannot even say out loud.

Then, I am telling you again and again—be a great disciple, be a great servitor. If somebody can be a great servitor, a great disciple of Gurudev—if it is possible—then why cannot we do that? We must try. We will try and try to serve Gurudev and the Lord, and it is their matter whether they will accept our service or not. This is the main thing in our life.

I can see everybody is in a very happy mood today because tomorrow is a great festival. This weekend is also Krishna's jhulan-yatra maha-mahotsav, and tomorrow is a very auspicious day, after that a few days later Lord Krishna's appearance day (Janmastami) is coming, after that Radhastami, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's appearance day. So many great occasions are coming. Also, two days ago it was Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's disappearance day. We were remembering this day. Always observe these dates—always remember Guru and Vaishnavs. Wake up early in the morning and always check the calendar: if you see it is some goswami's appearance day or disappearance day, you can remember their pastimes, their glories and activities. It will be good for you.

* * *

Disciple's Core Quality

Kolkata-Worldwide, 2 August 2020, part 2

Question: In Guidance 4, you mention that devotees need chastisement to be a good devotee. I wanted to ask when will I receive chastisement from you?

Can you tolerate my chastisement?

Devotee: I will. I feel I need it.

Gurudev said, "I do not have so many disciples whom I can chastise. There are only one-two persons whom I can chastise." To receive and digest chastisement, it is necessary to have tolerance and patience.

I remember when Gurudev went on a tour to America, before going abroad, he told me to complete the Centenary Building in Nabadwip (he had made the ground and the first floors by that time)—and he gave me only two lakhs rupees to do that. How is it possible to do it with this little money? I could not even pay for the labour with that money. Anyhow, I loaned money, I collected some money, I borrowed money from many shops, and completed the building. When Gurudev came, he chastised me so much saying, "You can sell your kidney to pay off your loans! Get out from here! You have loaned so much money!" I laughed and left, but when I came back to Gurudev half an hour later, Gurudev said, "This boy has come again!" Then he told me to give him the list of all the people I had borrowed money from, and I gave him the list with all the phone numbers. Gurudev called everybody and paid off all the loans. And he was very happy to see the Centenary Building.

That was Gurudev's exam—he said, "I did not make all these loans—you did! You can sell your kidney and pay off your loans." But Gurudev understood why I had taken loans—he understood that so much money was necessary to complete the construction, and he paid all those loans then.

So, to receive and digest this kind of chastisement, it is necessary to have tolerance. How many devotees can tolerate chastisement? Very few. If I tell my disciple, "You did wrong!"—he will start arguing with me. A disciple must not defend himself, a disciple's duty is to show no self-defence. When Gurudev chastises you, you must be quiet—do not say a word. You have no right to say a single word. Gurudev will chastise, chastise, but you must not say a word.

You know, one time Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu even beat Sri Advaita Prabhu, but Sri Advaita Prabhu laughed. Then, you can think about it and you can understand what is the result of chastisement and what is necessary to take it right.

* * *

On Cows and Baladev-Tattva

Kolkata-Worldwide, 2 August 2020, part 3

Question: Could you please explain the meaning of cow seva? Why do we keep cows at the ashrams and why is this service meaningful to you and Srila Gurudev?

Actually, there are many reasons why we do cow seva. Krishna always likes cows, and if we can make cows happy, Krishna will always be happy. Another thing is that you know that when Brahma hid all the cows of Govardhan in a cave, Krishna created all cows again from His bodily hair—so, the cows came from Krishna's body. Also, if you worship and serve cows, it means you automatically worship all 330,000,000 demigods because all demigods reside within the body of a cow.

Also, the situation in India is like that. Why do I keep cows in all our branches? I have left the Nabadwip temple, but I arrange cow seva in all our branches, all our temples. There are cows even at the ladies' ashram (ladies serve the cows there), there are new cows even at Nrisingha Palli now, and so on. One more reason for this is that we need milk for sweet rice, we need milk to make paneer, etc., but the milk they sell here in India is called 'white water' or 'lime water.' So, if we serve cows and can get pure milk, we can make sweet rice, etc. with it. Devotees also must always take protein food, and you all know (science tells it) that cow's milk contains not only protein, but also six kinds of vitamins.

For all these reasons, we should serve cows if it is possible. Not everybody has such an opportunity because there is often no space or devotees do not get time to serve cows, but those who have an ashram and some land, they can keep and serve cows and use the milk for the Deities, that is good.

Question: What is the significance of the dream where Nityananda Prabhu and Balaram fought, and Nityananda beat Balaram?

Sachi Mata saw that dream. Nityananda Prabhu is non-different from Balaram. The significance of this is found in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. It is said there,

sankarsanah karana-toya-sayi garbhoda-sayi cha payobdhi-sayi
sesas cha yasyamsa-kalah sa nitya-nandakhya-ramah saranam mamastu

"May Sri Nityananda Rama be the object of my constant remembrance. Sankarsan, Sesa Naga and Visnus lying on the Karana Ocean, Garbha Ocean and the ocean of milk are His plenary portions and the portions of His plenary portions."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.1.7)

This shows that Nityananda Prabhu is Balaram, Baladev, Balabhadra, Sankarsan, and we pray to Him who appears as Laksman in Treta-yuga, as Baladev in Dvapara-yuga, and as Nityananda Prabhu in Kali-yuga. Sachi Mata understood that Nityananda Prabhu was non-different from Baladev—that Baladev Himself had come as Nityananda Prabhu. This is the meaning of this sloka. There is also another sloka,

halayudha namo stu te namas te musalayudha
namas te revati-kanta namas te bhakta-vatsala
balinam srestha namas te dharani-dhara
pralambare namo stu te trahi mam krsna-purvaja

"Obeisances to You, O holder of the plough! Obeisances to You, O wielder of the mace! Obeisances to You, O beloved of Revati! Obeisances to You, who are very kind to Your devotees! Lord Balarama, the best of the strong and the support of the earth. Obeisances unto You, O enemy of Pralamba! Please deliver me, O elder brother of Krishna!"

'Halayudha' means He does not hold sankha, chakra, gada, padma (conch, disc, club, and lotus)—He takes up a plough. He is Krishna Himself, He is Jagannath, He is Jagadish—He is Balabhadra. We sing this Dasavatara Stotram, and we find it written there,

vahasi vapusi visade vasanam jaladabham
hala-hati-bhiti-milita jamunabham
kesava dhrta-haladhara-rupa jaya jagadisa hare

O Hari! O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! You have assumed the form of Balaram! All glory to You! On Your white body You wear garments the colour of clouds and the River Yamuna when she is frightened by the striking of Your plough.

* * *

Sweeter Than the Sweetest

Kolkata-Worldwide, 2 August 2020, part 4

Question: Due to some situations, I have lost confidence in some devotees. What do I do to learn to trust them again?

You can pay obeisance to them—you can pay dandavat to them. This is necessary. Always give respect, always pay obeisances. It is the rule among all devotees living in a temple that you must bow down your head at devotees' lotus feet. It is necessary to do this. Always pay obeisance to devotees. If Srila Raghunath Das Goswami saw some Vaishnav, perhaps, ten times during the day, he would give his full obeisance to him ten times. We must learn to do this. I know it is easy to say it but it is hard to do it, but we must anyhow pay obeisance to devotees. Pay dandavat, give respect to devotees, then we will gradually gain confidence in them. Even if somebody treats you without respect, you must not mind it—your duty is to give respect to others. If you give respect to others, then you will get respect from others. You will not lose anything by giving respect to someone. That is the main thing. If you give honour to others, you will get honour from others also, but first you must give honour to others.

sakale sammana karite sakati,
deha natha! yatha yatha

"Gurudev! Please give me such power that I can give honour to everyone, so that I may have faith and devotion to everyone, so that I may not disrespect anyone, so that I may not doubt anyone."

[Addressing a devotee having issues with leaving India.] Why are you in such a hurry? Was there any problem when you were staying in Nrisingha Palli? When the situation becomes normal, then you can go, that is better, but you are getting stressed, you are anxious to go back to the West. Now you cannot leave, you are stuck in a hotel. This is the will of the Lord—tomorrow is Baladev's avirbhav and you have left today... Anyway, you can hear tomorrow the glorification of Nityananda Prabhu, Balaram, what His qualities are.

You know, King Dasarath sent his son Ramachandra to the forest, this is a play of niti (moral obligation, moral rules). Also, Ramachandra tested Sita Devi in so many ways. But you can see how beautiful Krishna's lila is! How much Mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaj cried for Krishna, how much love and affection they have for their son. This is a very, very diffirent mood. Krishna's pastimes are very sweet, it is very madhuram [full of nectar]. What is English for 'madhura'? [Somebody suggests 'sweet'.] 'Sweet' is 'misti,' but 'madhura' is more than that.

madhuram madhuram vapur asya vibhor
madhuram madhuram vadanam madhuram
madhu-gandhi mrdu-smitam etad aho
madhuram madhuram madhuram madhuram

"Krishna's body is nectarean, nectarean. His face is nectarean, nectarean, nectarean. His sweet smile emanating the fragrance of honey, is nectarean, nectarean, nectarean, nectarean."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 21.136)

That is a very beautiful sloka, composed by Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu. Krishna's beauty, Krishna's pastimes, Krishna's love, Krishna's smile, everything about Him is sweet, sweeter, and sweeter than the sweetest...

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Prasadam—Pivot of Practising

Kolkata-Worldwide, 2 August 2020, part 5

Question: How to cure the five diseases (pancha-rog)?
[Pancha-rog: avidya (ignorance), asmita (false identification), raga (misdirected love), dvesa (aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment), and abhinivesa (being unable to give up unfavourable habits).]

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur writes,

prasada-seva karite haya,
sakala prapancha-jaya

"By honouring the Lord's prasad I conquer all worldly illusions."

Give honour to prasadam. Eating only vegetarian food is not sufficient—you must offer what you cook to the Lord with Tulasi leaves and take that prasadam every day. "Anivedita vastu tyag"—you are not to take what is not offered to the Lord. Always take prasadam, then all your diseases will be removed.

prasada-seva karite haya,
sakala prapancha-jaya

"By honouring the Lord's prasad I conquer all worldly illusions."

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur himself writes, "I am pacha-rogi hata—due to my previous karma coming from this lifetime or the previous lifetime, I am suffering from all the five diseases." So, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur who himself says it, also writes,

prasada-seva karite haya,
sakala prapancha-jaya

"By honouring the Lord's prasad I conquer all worldly illusions."

If you take prasadam (that which is offered to the Lord), then all your diseases will be cured.

Are there any other questions?

Question: Is there any specific instruction for the devotees in Lima, Peru?

The advice I give is always for all devotees all over the world, it is not only for Peru or some other particular country.

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."

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

Keep good association, do not gossip so much. Do not waste your time at home in this pandemic situation—always keep yourself busy. People always watch nonsense in their smartphones, this is not good. Always spend time on the service to the Lord—always practise spiritual life, chant on your beads, always chant (with or without the beads), try to sing songs; I give a class every week, try to listen to it; there are so many books of Srila Gurudev and Srila Guru Maharaj, you can read them. Pass your time in this way. This is advice for everybody.

Question: Srila Saraswati Thakur said that in a temple, the cook is the highest devotee, higher than even the pujari. Could you please explain why it is so?

Yes, this is so, of course. Those who cook are more important than the pujari because the pujari only gives food to the Deities—he only says some mantras and does some puja; but if the cook does not make proper food for the Deities, then what is the use? What is necessary? If I am hungry and somebody gives me a garland, I cannot eat the garland—I am hungry. So, the cook is a very important devotee. The pujari dresses the Deities, and even if some dress is old or a little torn, it can be tolerated, but if you do not give proper food to the Deity, then it is a very big problem. Even we would feel that too.

Those who cook always think, "How can I cook sweeter food, better food for the Lord? How can I make the Lord happy?" Sachi Mata cooks for Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Mother Yasoda cooks for Krishna—she makes paneer, curd (chhana), condensed milk (kheer), butter (makhan), and she does it with a concentrated mind. Not only that—you know, when Mother Yasoda was cooking and boiling some milk one day, she even pushed her son aside! Krishna was disturbing her, but she was concentrated on boiling the milk to make paneer, curd, butter, etc. from it—for whom? For the Lord. So, at that time she could not tolerate even her son distributing her—this is how much she concentrates her mind on cooking for her son!

Such is the importance of cooking service. If the cook is not good, then neither Krishna, nor Gurudev will be happy. You should always cook with care and always make sure what you have cooked is edible, that it has enough salt, sugar, etc. It is very important.

Another thing is that people usually do not give respect to the cook thinking the cook is an ordinary, low person, but they give respect to the pujari. Srila Saraswati Thakur says that cooks do a very important service. One time, Srila Prabhupad hired one cook and took him along for Vrindavan parikrama. That cook came to Srila Prabhupad crying one day and said, "O Prabhupad, everybody is going for the parikrama, everybody is making the parikrama of Govardhan, but I cannot do that, I have to stay and cook. I cannot go for the parikrama, I have not seen any places! What will become of me?" Srila Prabhupad told him, "All devotees do this parikrama and get some sukriti, but you are cooking for them, that is why you will get more sukriti than all devotees' sukriti put together!" You will get more benefit than all of them taken together!"

Our Srila Gurudev also liked to cook, and our Srila Gurudev's cooking is very nice. His cooking approach was very nice. I actually did not see it myself, but Srila Gurudev told me how to cook certain things, and I learned to cook from him. Otherwise, I was not a good cook, but I learned from what he told me, and I became a good cook. Srila Gurudev cooked Indian style food very nicely. I remember one time he made pushpanna—I have never seen anybody cook it like him! His pushpanna is very nice.

* * *

Clear Conception

Kolkata-Worldwide, 2 August 2020, part 6

Question: On the disappearance day of Srila Guru Maharaj, you said that the greatest qualification of Srila Guru Maharaj was that he had given us Srila Govinda Maharaj as the acharya. Could you please explain this a little more?

Srila Sridhar Maharaj himself said, "I observe and I can see that in many points, in many things, Srila Govinda Maharaj knows better than me. Srila Govinda Maharaj is more qualified than me." Also, when Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad left this world, he left so many foreign devotees who later came to Srila Sridhar Maharaj, but Srila Sridhar Maharaj said that he could not maintain, or take care of, such foreign people properly, so he told Srila Gurudev (Srila Govinda Maharaj), "I am giving them all to your hands. You will take care of them." Then, you can understand something. Now, all foreign devotees, especially the disciples of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, claim, "I am a disciple of Srila Sridhar Maharaj! I have a special connection with Srila Sridhar Maharaj!" But they must understand: Who made you a devotee? Who made you a proper servant? Who gave you the teachings? Who gave you association? Srila Gurudev did. Srila Gurudev gave you more association—none of you got as much association of Srila Sridhar Maharaj as you got from Srila Gurudev. You may have taken initiation from Srila Sridhar Maharaj, but you did not get so much association from Srila Sridhar Maharaj. You all have got much more association from Srila Gurudev. This is what they have to understand. Even if they do not admit, this is their matter, but this is the truth. They must understand that Srila Gurudev gave position, gave respect and pratistha to everybody—and he gave it to everyone as must as they wanted.

Are there any other questions?

Question: I have a question regarding prasadam. Sometimes we cook, we think of Gurudev, but we do it in a simple way—we offer it, but we sometimes do not have a properly arranged altar. So, how important is it to do the offering with the proper mantras, etc.?

It is not necessary to recite so many mantras. I will tell you the mantra that is important—that mantra is, "I am a fallen soul. I have no quality and qualification. I have no quality and qualification to cook. I have cooked this for You, please take it." That is the mantra.

Question: Could you please tell about the three worlds (Patal, Martya, Svarga)?

Why is it necessary to know it?? I do not know Patal-loka, Tal, Atal, Vital, Rasatal, etc. There are actually fourteen worlds, not three, but what is it necessary to know it for? It is not important to know all this. Yes, there are fourteen planets within a brahmanda (they are also called chaudda-bhuvan), but Krishna will not keep us in this brahmanda. We are serving the Lord, we have got such an opportunity, and Krishna will take us to His loka—to Krishna-loka, which is Goloka Vrindavan. Why will we think about all this—what is hell, what is heaven, what is this, that? It is not our duty. These are all imaginary thoughts, it is not necessary to know so many things. That is why it is said that we must not read too many scriptures or know too many things. Simple things are sufficient. You must do some service, practise, chant the Holy Name, and this Holy Name can rescue you from kind of environment—you can go to Goloka Vrindavan. These are the main things for us.

Question: We hear that Sri Hari Smaran festival has begun. What activities or reading do you recommend for us?

You can read Srila Sridhar Maharaj's book Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam, that will be good. Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam is a good book, you can read it and remind yourself of many good things (practise smaran). I have also given you some books—Guidance 4, Guidance 3. You can read all these books and you can get everything in them. My books are very easy to understand, I am not writing in very high language, it is easy to understand, and if you do not understand some part, you can ask me, I will tell everything, I will try to solve your problem by the mercy of Gurudev.

Devotee: Gurudev, we want more books from you!

I am writing now. Guidance 5 is coming. Have you already read Guidance 4?

Devotee: Almost, Gurudev, but I am reading it in Bengali.

Yes, good. The Bengali version is good. You can understand everything nicely. Do you like this book?

Devotee: Yes, it is very nice, and I have also distributed some copies as well.

That is very nice. Guidance 4 gives a clear conception. Guidance 3 also has so many things in it—what is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, there are also so many questions and answers, so many things are explained there, what is devotion, who is a devotee, who is a karmi, who is a jnani, what is karma-khanda, what is jnana-khanda, etc. There are so many questions and answers in Gudiance 3.

[Addressing one of the devotees:] Do you have any news about ** and his family?

Devotee: ** Prabhu lives here in New Jersey, and he has a new wife now.

He is an old man, and an old man is taking a new wife?? He also has a grown-up son...

They think if they live as devotees and stay alone, who will take care of them in old age (when they become old)? Then, they take a new wife. You must know that Krishna always takes care—if somebody is a devotee of Krishna, Krishna always take care of them. If we have such a great, strongest faith, then Krishna will take care of us. The problem is that we do not have faith. We always say, "Marabi rakhabi, yo ichchha tohara: whether you keep me or kill me, it is up to You." We say that Krishna will protect us, that Krishna will look after us, but we do not have the strongest faith in that. So, sometimes we lose faith and Maya comes to attack us. If you have the strongest faith for Gurudev, Krishna, the Lord, then Krishna will always protect you, but if you lose your faith, then Maya will attack you. That is sure.

Anyhow, I am trying... Loving search for the lost servant—I am trying to remember them...

* * *

Ideal Service Mood

Kolkata-Worldwide, 2 August 2020, part 7

Question: There is a preaching centre in our city, but someone else is trying to start programmes in a different place...

That is good!

Question [continues]: Is that OK?

Yes, that is OK, otherwise how will you make devotees? How will you send your message (Mahaprabhu's message), how will you distribute it without preaching? You can make programmes house to house, door to door. You are all like postmen appointed by Gurudev, and you must send the message from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu everywhere—distribute it door to door, house to house. To do that, you must make programmes—through these programmes you can distribute Mahaprabhu's message.

Question [continues]: What I mean is that there are already established programmes from our Math and some other devotee starts sending invitations to different missions and tries to establish something separate from the main preaching centre...

Actually, you must establish the conception of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, the conception of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. In this world, there are so many various kinds of conceptions, and there are all sorts of misconceptions prominent all over the world. However, you must establish the conception that Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math stands for, the real conception that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gave our Guru Maharaj the responsibility to guard—the Rupanuga line, the Rupanuga Sampradaya conception. You must establish this conception in various places, through every programme...

Question: How can I develop real attachment to chanting the Holy Name?

Real attachment will come when there is less Nama-aparadh. When we chant the maha-mantra, we actually always chant Nama-aparadhas—we do not chant the pure Name. So, if you make less Nama-aparadh, if you can chant without Nama-aparadh, then attachment for the pure Holy Name will come. It comes through service—"Sevon mukhe kaha Krsna Nam: chant the Holy Name with your mouth when you are doing service." When you are cooking, when you are making a dress for the Deities, when you are serving, chant the Holy Name at that time. Chant and chant, then attachment will come. When you have a baby, you give the baby some name, and if you call the baby by that name, if you call, call, and call, then eventually your child will come and ask, "Mom, what has happened?" So, when you are chanting the Holy Name, it means you are calling or chanting Krishna's Name, Radha-Krishna's Name—when you chant, chant, chant, when you chant Their Name more and more, then one day Radha-Krishna will respond to your calling. Then, attachment will come.

Question: Tomorrow is Sri Balaram Prabhu's appearance day. Is there anything in particular that we can cook for this day?

You can cook whatever you have, there are so many things you can make. Balaram always likes buttermilk. You have been to Gokula Dham and you have seen that there, Balaram always has a glass of buttermilk in His hand. In the Dauji Temple also. He also always likes misri (rock sugar), makhon (butter), rabri, laddu. But some things may be very difficult to get abroad. You can make whatever you cook, whatever you like. Also, Gurudev is non-different from Baladev, so you can cook what Gurudev likes. For example, Gurudev liked mashed potato with a lot of chili in it [boiled potato is mashed with shallow-fried red chillis together with the oil, some salt, and (optional) a little fried jeera]. He always took it. It is small pieces of mashed potato and really a lot of red chilli in it.

Question: We were reading Guidance 4, and it is said there that devotees sometimes do service, but they enjoy themselves more than the service they are doing. At the same time, you also say that when we do genuine service, we will develop some taste, we will feel some pleasure doing it. So, I am confused how we can differentiate between real ruchi and enjoyment in service?

When ruchi (transcendental taste) for service comes to you, you will neither be able to avoid the service, nor will you be able to leave that service. Ruchi is followed by asakti, attachment. Attachment comes through service. Gurudev also says that everybody does some service, but very few people have attachment for their service. Everybody has some material attachment, but not everybody has proper attachment for the service to the Lord. This attachment is not the same. "Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari: the quality of devotion depends faith." (Cc, 2.22.64)" If you have a real faith, then you can claim that you have devotion. We never say that we have devotion—we have little faith and, likewise, we have little devotion. When you get some pleasure in your heart through service, then no matter how much disturbance comes, nothing will be able to stop you—you will still feel more and more enthusiasm, more and more attachment to your service, you will feel enjoyment through that service. "Tomara sevaya yata haya duhkha, seo ta' parama sukha—All the distress I encounter in Your service is also my greatest happiness." Whatever sadness, whatever unhappiness comes to you through service, that is your happiness. That is happiness. Problems will come and they will not let you relax—when problems always come, you will get more and more energy. I have given the example also—when two dogs started their journey from Dum Dum to Nabadwip, they thought it would take them seven days to reach Nabadwip, but because they faced so much disturbance on the way, they did not get any time to rest and had to keep running ahead, so they actually reached Nabadwip within twenty-four hours, within one day instead of seven. So, if you can do your service in this way, it will be good for you.

Dandavat.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.

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Festival of Sheltered Souls

Kolkata-Worldwide, 9 August 2020, part 1

Haribol. Dandavat.

By the mercy of Gurudev, we get to meet all the devotees every week, and very soon a festival is coming—Sri Krishna Janmastami festival. It is on 12 August, this coming week. We will also make a programme on this day—it will be good, we will discourse about the appearance day of Lord Sri Krishna.

Without the appearance of Lord Sri Krishna, our life is useless. These are Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's words. Without the appearance of Lord Sri Krishna, our life is useless. I was reading about it today, and I feel in my heart that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's expression is very nice. Wait until 12 August, and I will tell what a great expression, what a wonderful presentation Srila Prabhupad has given everybody on the occasion of Lord Sri Krishna's appearance day. After that, in fifteen days, there is also Radhastami (sukla-astami, midday), the appearance day of Srimati Radharani.

Our dhyan, meditation, is always Sri Sri Radha-Krishna's lotus feet. What is the highest, the most important meditation (dhyan) in our spiritual life? Sri Ramananda Ray expressed it to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saying that our perfect meditation is meditation on the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani and Sri Krishna.

Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everywhere, everybody worships many incarnations of Lord Sri Krishna—they worship Kurma avatar, Varaha avatar, Vaman avatar, Matsya avatar, Nrisingha avatar, Baladev avatar, Buddha avatar, Parasurama avatar, Kalki avatar, Rama avatar. There are so many incarnations described in our scriptures, They are all incarnations (avatars) of Vishnu, and Their worship is present everywhere. However, our line's conception is Radha-Krishna's combined form—Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. What is our goal in the age of Kali? Our worshippable goal is Radha-Krishna's combined form. This combined form of Radha-Krishna comes in Kali-yuga as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, and we worship Gauranga Mahaprabhu. However, first, before worshipping Gauranga Mahaprabhu, we are to take shelter of Gurudev who is non-different from Lord Nityananda Prabhu (asraya-vigraha, embodiment of shelter).

asraya la-iya bhaje, tare krsna nahi tyaje
ara saba mare akarana

"Krishna never leaves those who take shelter in Him and serve Him—all others die in vain."

First we must take shelter of Nityananda Prabhu (Gurudev), only then will we worship Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. "Nitaiyer karuna habe Vraje Radha Krsna pabe —when Nitai bestows His mercy you will reach Radha-Krishna in Vraja." If you get the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, you will get the mercy of Srimati Radharani and Lord Sri Krishna.

So, we properly arrange this great Janmastami festival every year—we fast all day and celebrate the appearance of Lord Sri Krishna at midnight. This year, however, due to the pandemic situation and problems related to covid-19, we cannot gather many devotees in one place, but we can still reach everybody's heart, we can reach everybody through this scientific instrument. So, we will use this opportunity to arrange the festival on this day...

* * *

"I Am Very Proud of You"

Kolkata-Worldwide, 9 August 2020, part 2

I see that all the devotees are very happy. People suffer—they suffer so much thinking about many sad things, worrying about so many problems—but what is our sadness? Why will a sadhu, a devotee be sad? Devotees will be sad only when some devotee's disappearance happens; when some devotee leaves, then they will be a little sad, otherwise not. We are always surrendered to our beloved Gurudev.

If we properly surrender to our beloved Gurudev, if we properly surrender to the Lord, then we will understand and feel that whatever has happened, whatever is happening, whatever will happen, everything is the will of the Lord. Nothing is in our hands. At this moment, nothing is in our hands, so whatever happens will happen by the will of the Lord. So, what will you be sad for? It is not necessary to be sad. Whatever happens, everything is perfect for devotees. Devotees will always serve, devotees will be always happy, devotees will be always enthusiastic to do their service and will always use their time to serve the Lord.

At any moment any problem can come, any kind of bondage can come, so many obstacles can come, but what is our duty? We are soldiers—just as soldiers are always ready to die for their country, so we too must be soldiers in our spiritual life, we must be always ready to die for our service, we must be ready to die for the protection of our spiritual life, spiritual values. It is very important. We will always protect our spiritual life.

If Gurudev's mercy comes to you—if Gurudev is happy with you, if Gurudev always gives his blessing, always gives his mercy to you—then no matter what obstacles come, even if you are a sinner, even if you have done so much nonsense before, even if you have no good qualities, but as long as you have mercy from your Guru, that is sufficient for you. That is Vaishnavism. Vaishnavism means, "I have no power, I have no qualities. I am unable to do it. I have no quality, no qualification." Humility, tolerance, etc. is the religion of Vaishnavs. It is their quality, their ornaments (bhusan), their glory. Vaishnavs are always humble, they always emanate lustre and delight (aujvalya and praphulla). That is Vaishnavism.

So, I am praying to everybody—we must try to be devotees, we must always practise with humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others.

trnad api sunichena taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

"One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, who gives honour to others without desiring it for himself, has the right to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna."

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

We have willing, feeling, and thinking, and we must direct our willing, feeling, and thinking towards these qualities. Our society teaches others to be humble, tolerant and to give honour to others. Do not criticise others. Do not be aggressive towards others. Do not show anger towards others. Give others nourishment. You know what a devotee's qualities are, and you must present yourself as a devotee. Those who want to preach, those who want to be perfect, those who want to take proper guidance of their Guru, must become good receivers. If you are not a proper receiver, you cannot be perfect. So, you must become a proper receiver.

Therefore, we must be very careful with our spiritual life. We must be always alert and aware of our spiritual life—we must use our time for the service of our Guru, his mission and his devotees. These are the main things for us in our life.

Under the circumstances, you must take guidance of a senior Vaishnav, a senior devotee, and you must show respect to senior devotees. This is very important.

I am very happy with you all because you have no ego, you have no bad elements—you may have some faults, but your good quality is that you are proper surrendered souls. Those who are proper surrendered souls (who have saranagati), cannot overstep their limit. There is some limit that is not to be crossed. Everybody's qualification is not the same—everybody's qualification is different, so you must try to make your guru happy with whatever qualification you have.

I am very proud of you all because our Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math devotees have humility, tolerance, they give honour to others, and they show others perfect behaviour, perfect practice and perfect mood. They never think, "I know better than him! I know better than you!" Such mood is not right. Instead, "I do not know anything!"—this kind of humility is coming to you all. I see that you are increasing your spiritual life day by day. I can see your smiling faces, I can see that you feel pleasure through your service.

This is what I wanted to say today. I will take some questions from you all today. If you want to ask or say anything, do not hesitate. Why is it necessary to hesitate? You are all members of my family. You can share everything with me, do not hesitate about it. You can write to me, you can speak to me, do not hesitate.

* * *

Blossomed Relationship

Kolkata-Worldwide, 9 August 2020, part 3

Question: If someone feels guilty for making some mistake, what can they do to remove that feeling of remorse?

If you think you are guilty, you have made a mistake, then you must never make that mistake again—if you think you are guilty, then next time you will not do that wrong again. That is the main thing.

Gurudev and Guru Maharaj always take clean service, but we cannot do proper, clean service. Does it mean that we will not do any service? No, that is not correct. Gurudev has given me some service, I may be not qualified, I may be unable to do it, but I will still try to do it because Gurudev has given me that service.

Sometimes also, you always do something wrong, you are always guilty, but you think that Gurudev could not see it. This is not so. Gurudev knows everything. You do wrong once, you do wrong twice, ten times, twenty times, a hundred times, and you are not trying to correct yourself. That is not good. If you think you did wrong and you feel guilty, then correct yourself, do not do it again. That will be perfect for you.

Question: What thought, or feeling, is appropriate—that Gurudev is mine or that am I Gurudev's?

Gurudev is mine, I am his property—I am not anyone else's property, I am his property. He can use me as he likes—he can use me as his own property as he likes.

Devotee: I think the question is coming because a few times recently and also in Guidance 4, you had said that we should have this feeling that 'Gurudev is mine,' so perhaps the question is whether we should feel that 'Gurudev is mine' or that 'I am Gurudev's'?

I am Gurudev's. Yes. It means 'I am Gurudev's property!' 'I am Gurudev's' is correct, but not that 'I am a Guru!' Gurudev is mine and I am Gurudev's property. Both is correct. There is no contradiction. The question is how many per cent devotees can feel that? I know very well 'my parents,' 'my sister,' 'my husband,' 'my wife'—these are mine, but we do not think that the Lord is mine, that Gurudev is mine...

Devotee: In the material world, when people think something belongs to them, they often try to exploit it, try to get or take something from it, so that conception of 'Gurudev is mine' seems to almost have that concept of trying to take something from Gurudev, which is obviously not correct...

'Gurudev is mine' does not mean taking something from him. Sometimes, we take his advice, we take his guidance—these things are necessary for a disciple because then Gurudev can chastise them, Gurudev can guide them. At the same time, we sometimes do something wrong and Gurudev tolerates it because such is the Guru's quality—he is always tolerant with his disciples. We do so many things wrong, but Gurudev tolerates it.

We will never take anything from Gurudev for our own purpose. At the same time, for example, a sannyasi or a brahmachari live in the temple—they have left everything and come to live in the temple, so they will have to use all the temple property. Everything in a temple is Gurudev's property, but disciples sometimes use it for service—sometimes they use a car, sometimes they use a room, etc. There are many things one needs to use, what can you do? A sannyasi or a brahmachari has left everything, has left his house and come to surrender fully—they come empty-handed to Gurudev, so they will have to use Gurudev's property. What is the problem? After all, Gurudev is mine...

* * *

Realm of Inconceivable Pastimes

Kolkata-Worldwide, 9 August 2020, part 4

Question: It was Sripad Tapasvi Maharaj's disappearance day yesterday. I wanted to ask if you could say a few words about him?

Sripad Tapasvi Maharaj was one of the pillars in Brazil. He is a very ancient pillar of our Brazilian Mission. His previous name was Bhuvan Mohan Prabhu, and Gurudev always remembered him. When Bhuvan Mohan Prabhu was in Brazil, our Brazilian Mission was united. After Gurudev left this world, I went to Brazil and there, in front of Srila Janardan Maharaj and Srila Ashram Maharaj, he gave some mercy to me by accepting sannyas from me. Srila Janardan Maharaj chose the name for him—Sripad Bhakti Vilas Tapasvi Maharaj. I remember that day. He knew he had a very bad disease, but even at that time his mind was very strong—he did not think about his death, he was not afraid. I have told you just now that devotees will not be afraid, devotees will not be sad because they are not afraid of death. Tapasvi Maharaj preached, wrote, translated and printed books. He did so much service. I was very sad when I got the news that he had left his body. I know that his previous wife Govinda Mohini Devi Dasi and their son continue his restaurant to this day. I have been to that restaurant—Tapasvi Maharaj took me there, and I preached there. He served the mission very nicely. He was the main pillar of our Brazilian Mission. When I was in Brazil, he took me to many places, I remember it. I cannot forget him. Gurudev was also very happy with his service. His Deity is now in São Paulo, served by Damodar Prabhu. It is good. I have told Damodar Prabhu, "As many days you are alive, you must do your service properly and you must preach properly—prepare the next generation to keep the mission of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math properly." São Paulo is the capital of Brazil, it is the main city, and they must continue their service in memory of Sripad Tapasvi Maharaj.

Question: It is said that everything is the will of the Lord, and it is also said that we suffer in this world because of our false ego and our own choice, so how can we harmonise these two things?

Yes, it is correct. As you sow, so you reap. We suffer because of our own karma, that is correct. If there is no darkness, how will we understand the glory of daylight? So, yes, sometimes some bad things happen in this life, sometimes some good things happen, but we harmonise, adjust with everything—we think that everything happens by the will of the Lord, then we will not feel sad. We suffer because of our own karma, that is correct—at the same time, when something happens, when some bad things happen because of our bad karma, and we suffer, we feel that it is a source of our happiness.

Sometimes we also have to tolerate something. You have heard about Vasudev Vipra. He had so many insects in his body that were eating his muscles and flesh, but he tolerated it and not only that—when some insects fell out of his body, he would pick them up and put them back into his arm thinking, "If that insect is happy to eat my arm, it can do so, it is OK." Such things happen.

We can see also some great souls (mahajans), we can see some of our godbrothers and godsisters who suffer so much with their body, but it is not hell—it is sometimes separation... Separation comes and they tolerate it bodily, but we cannot understand the symptoms of sadhus, the symptoms of higher and highest devotees. Sometimes we see somebody is suffering and we think they are suffering because of some disease, but it is actually not so—they suffer because of separation from the Lord, but we cannot understand that, we do not know who is a higher or highest devotee. For example, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would hit the wall or the floor with His head so hard that so much blood would flow from His mouth—somebody said that He had become crazy, but it was separation. Mahaprabhu was in the mood of Radharani feeling the agony of separation from the Lord.

Sometimes, the highest devotees are seen to be taking oxygen, taking different medicines, etc. but at that time they are showing their pastimes—they are thinking about the Lord and they are feeling separation from the Lord. We cannot realise this because we are very tiny persons; we are very unqualified, that is why we cannot understand these symptoms, we do not understand what their pastimes are. Those who are the highest devotees, can show such pastimes...

We must understand this clearly. If you practise properly, then you can step by step proceed to your real goal and enter the real nitya-lila—when this happens, then you will see Radha-Krishna's pastimes everywhere. I sometimes saw Gurudev in his last days and I felt what he was thinking about and what he was showing to us. We can understand it. Those who were near him, can realise it and understand it easily.

* * *

Primary Advice

Kolkata-Worldwide, 9 August 2020, part 5

Question: When can we say that our Gurudev is happy with our service?

It is not necessary to say it. You can realise it through your service. On the other hand, it is also not necessary for you to know if Gurudev is happy or not—our duty, our service is that we will do our service properly, we will try more and more and more, we will do more and more for his happiness, we will try to make our Guru happier and happier. We will always try our best.

Question: My friend is in college now, he is a new devotee and he wants to preach to his college mates about Krishna consciousness, so he was asking how to do it—some of his friends have some conception of Hinduism, so they say they do not feel that they want to be in anybody's association, they want to be flexible, they pose some challenges. Could you please give some advice how to preach in this case?

You make programmes in Singapore sometimes, they can join the programmes and hear some lectures from one of the senior devotees. They can also read my books, I explain there what our life is, who we are, etc. You all know these five questions that Srila Sanatan Goswami first asked Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,

'ke ami', 'kene amaya jare tapa-traya'
iha nahi jani—'kemane hita haya'
'sadhya'-'sadhana'-tattva puchhite na jani
krpa kari' saba tattva kaha ta' apani

"(1) Who am I? (2) Why do I suffer so much? I do not know it. (3) How can I get relief? Actually, I do not know how to inquire about (4) the goal of life and (5) the process for attaining it. Being merciful upon me, please explain all these truths."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.102-103)

Who am I? Why do I suffer adhidaivik, adhibhautik, adhyatmik (miseries caused by one's body, by the nature, and other souls)?

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha
ataeva maya tare deya samsaradi-duhkha

"Having forgotten Krishna, the soul wanders throughout the universe. Being thus covered by illusion, the soul goes through all kinds of material suffering."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.117)

We suffer because we have forgotten the Lord, because we have no conception whatsoever—we think that we are this body. Actually, we are not the body, we are souls. This body is pancha-bhautik deha (a material body composed of five elements—ksitir apas tejo marud vyoma—earth, water, fire, air, ether). This body is material, one day it will finish, and the soul is merely changing its body. You can explain this to people. Explain why we suffer, what our goal is. Our goal or destination is not heaven or hell. Heaven and hell are temporary destinations—you do some pious activities and you go to heaven, but one day you will again have to come back from heaven. So, hell, heaven, etc. are not permanent, they are temporary. What is our real goal? It is Goloka Vrindavan.

If you want to overcome janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi (the world of birth, death, old age, and disease, Bg, 13:9), you must surrender to the Lord. Because it is not possible for you to go directly to the Lord, the Lord comes Himself in this world or sometimes sends His associate as a guru. You must accept and surrender to a bona fide guru, then you can understand what your life is for—what you have got this human body for. If you do not worship the Lord, your human body is useless. Cats, dogs, cows, etc. cannot understand much—if you put a garland on a cow, the cow will eat that garland, it will not understand its value. Likewise, if you hear some Hari-katha and then tell it to cows, they will not understand you. So, we have some consciousness in this human body, we must use it properly.

These the primary things. They can read Srimad Bhagavad-gita also.

Question: There is a terminally ill young lady, her husband is with her now, but because of the virus we cannot visit her. What can you advise to them?

She must chant the Holy Name. The young lady who is going to leave her body must chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and always remember the Lord. When such a situation came in Pariksit Maharaj's life (when he was going to leave his body), he had left everything and only listened to Srimad Bhagavatam during seven days. Khatvanga Maharaj also always thought about the Lord. So, those who are in a very serious condition, who are going to leave their body at any moment, must think about the Lord at that time. If somebody has no consciousness or just little consciousness (cannot hear, cannot talk)—if somebody can read Srimad Bhagavatam to them at that time, that will be good for the soul of the sick person.

* * *

Service, Karma, and Devotion

Kolkata-Worldwide, 9 August 2020, part 6

Question: How can one enter the plane of exclusive dedication to the Guru? How can we fully focus on Guru-bhakti?

Prabhu, many things are necessary, it is everything. You cannot buy guru-bhakti with money. Yesterday, a girl called me saying that she had been to an astrologer and the astrologer had told her that she had no guru-bhakti. That girl sometimes donates some money, she sometimes helps me, so when she told me that, I said, "You cannot buy guru-bhakti with money." Guru-bhakti comes through love and affection, it comes from within one's heart—it comes by practising, by giving your heart. Also, I told her, "Why is it necessary to go to an astrologer? To check whether you have guru-bhakti or not?? Are you getting confused?”

Question: We hear that in Kali-yuga karma is not created through a negative thought, only when you actually do something wrong. So, can we commit a Vaishnav aparadh by thought?

It is good if you do not commit a Vaishnav aparadh. So, it is better not to think also anything bad about a Vaishnav—it is better not to think whether some Vaishnav is good or bad. It is not necessary to think about it.

Devotee: I read in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita that Mahaprabhu says, "If somebody even thinks in their mind something wrong about Haridas Thakur, I will not forgive them."

Yes, He also told this about Nityananda Prabhu. Once, a brahman came to Mahaprabhu, and because that brahman thought something bad about Nityananda Prabhu, Mahaprabhu chastised him and told him about the glories of Nityananda Prabhu. After that, He said to that brahman, "Go and tell everybody what I have told you about Nityananda Prabhu! Do not make any comments about Him!" So, sometimes even if you only think something bad about a Vaishnav, you will be committing an offence.

Another thing is that first you are asking about karma and karma-bandhan. If you do something that is not meant to satisfy your Guru, it is called karma and the result will be karma-bandhan (material bondage); but karma can be transformed into service if you live and act for the satisfaction of your Guru—then it will be seva.

So, if you think about any Vaishnav that he or she is bad, it is committing an offence.

Question: Is it necessary to observe a full fast on Sri Krishna Janmastami?

If you can, it is good. If you cannot do it, then you can take some anukalpa (whatever is taken on ekadasi—some fruit, etc.). In this age of Kali, it is difficult for everyone to observe full fast without even drinking water from morning until midnight, so if you cannot do it, take some ekadasi preparations, and break your fasting (paran) the next day in the morning (on Nandotsav day) with the prasadam of the offering that you make for the Lord at midnight on Janmastami.

Question: If the watchful eye of my guardian constantly watches me, why do I then forget, under the influence of maya, that my guardian is watching me?

Actually, those who are surrendered souls, are always busy with service, so maya (illusion) cannot attack them. If I am conscious that my Gurudev or my guardian always takes care of me, if I feel he is always with me, then Gurudev will always remove maya from me—Gurudev will always remove any obstacles from my life. A proper Guru can do that. If a devotee has faith in his guru, if a devotee thinks, "My guru is my everything," then, if it is a proper guru, he can remove all obstacles, all maya, etc. from this devotee's life. When a devotee constantly thinks about their guru, how can maya attack them? How will maya stay with them? Maya will run away from them.

* * *

Recommendation

Kolkata-Worldwide, 9 August 2020, part 7

Question: It is mentioned in the song "Suddha-bhakata-charana-renu" that we sing on ekadasi, "Madhava-tithi bhakati-janani" (the holy day of the Lord is the mother of devotion). Is "Madhava-tithi" only ekadasi and appearance of the Lord, or is it all festivals that come?

'Madhava-tithi' means an auspicious day, it is not only ekadasi, Madhava-tithi is all auspicious days.

Question: We have recently introduced a friend to you. Could you please give him some advice? He is practising the regulative principles and wants to take initiation...

Dyuta, pana, striya, suna—(1) do not gamble, (2) do not drink alcohol, do not smoke, (3) do not do illegal sex, and (4) do not eat meat, fish, onion, garlic, etc. Also, he must follow every ekadasi. There are the rules and regulations. If he wants to practise following these rules and regulations, if he can chant the Holy Name, then he can receive the Harinam maha-mantra from a proper guru, stay with devotees and take good association. That is his primary stage.

Question: Do we generally read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita or Bhagavatam on the day of Janmastami?

Srila Sridhar Maharaj said we must read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita.

Devotee: Any particular section?

No, you are supposed to read from morning to night, so you can read the whole of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita during this time. Sometimes, other Gaudiya Maths recommend Krishna-prema-tarangini, and they recite it on this day, but Srila Sridhar Maharaj objected against that.

Question: If we take some medication, is it possible for us to fast on Janmastami with just some drink? If so, could you recommend some drink we can have to be able to take medicine?

Yes, you can take medicine. Medicine is not a problem. You must take your medication on any fasting day. Medicine is not an obstacle, there is no restriction for medicine. You must take it. As for what drink, we always make something in our house—sometimes, we make some lemon juice with sugar, sometimes some bel fruit juice. Sometimes, we also buy some mango juice outside. Sometimes, they make gur (molasses) juice or sugar juice with some lemon also.

* * *

Proper Line—Proper Success

Kolkata-Worldwide, 9 August 2020, part 8

Question: Why do we celebrate Krishna Janmastami on the astami-tithi, not on Rohini-naksatra? Why exactly on astami-tithi?

Because Krishna is born on this day.

Devotee: But why not on Rohini-naksatra? Rohini-naksatra is on the next day...

Because we use the calculation based on P.M. Bagchi Panjika and their calculation is accurate. So, we celebrate Janmastami on the day that is calculated by P.M. Bagchi Panjika. Sometimes, some local people here, some smarta-vadis, celebrate Janamstami the day before we do (this year they are doing the festival on 11 August, and we do it on 12 August), so there is some contradiction with some groups. As I have just said, we follow P.M. Bagchi Panjika and we observe Janmastami according to their calculations—we do not follow other things, like smarta-vadi things, etc. We follow the proper line and observe it on 12 August because we follow the indication and direction given to us by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. What naksatra (constellation) it is, is not a question; the question is which day was indicated by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur—this is the day we follow.

Question: I was listening to a lecture of Srila Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad. One devotee asked him, "How long does it take to surrender?" Srila Prabhupad said it could take just one minute and he told the story of Khatvanga Maharaj. Could you please explain it?

Yes, those who have proper quality and qualification, can surrender within one minute. It depends upon one's devotion. "Sraddha anusare haya bhakti adhikari. Your devotional qualification depends upon your faith." Everybody has different kinds of devotion, everybody's devotion is not the same. So, one's surrender ultimately depends upon faith—those who have proper faith (who have the strongest faith for their guru), can surrender easily.

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)

When you take initiation and if you surrender to your guru, then Krishna thinks, "He is my very own person. He is mine! He is only for Me!" This is what is called 'atma-samarpan.' Yet, we always run behind false renunciation, false ego, we have so many bad elements within us, so many different kinds of desires... If you think in a proper way and practise under the guidance of a bona fide guru, then you will succeed.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Prayerful Meditation

Sri Krishna Janmastami Maha-Mahotsav
Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 August 2020, part 1

[While singing kirtans and before starting the next kirtan, His Divine Grace says:] We must pray to the Lord today. We must express what is our present position. Actually, we worship the Lord, but we must also express what is our position at this moment. We must pray to the Lord because we are in this situation at present—we are in this bondage. How can the Lord rescue us from this kind of situation? Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur sings a very nice song about it. This song is Sri Gopinath's song, it is a very nice song. Gopinath means Lord Krishna. [His Divine Grace then sings the first of the three parts of this song.]

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

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

Today is a very auspicious in our line. Today is the appearance day of Lord Sri Krishna. This year, I am not present at a large assembly or programme with Indian devotees at any temple because it is not allowed to gather many people in one place—if I go to any place, so many people will come and gather, and it is a violation of the law of the country; that is why I did not go to any temple today, I am staying in Kolkata. Here we also have a small temple, here is Gaura Nitai and some foreign devotees live here. I am staying and celebrating this festival with them today: the devotees are arranging a festival at this place of Gurudev—at the guesthouse Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Krishnanusilana Sangha Sevak Bhavan. Every year, I gather so many Indian devotees and local people on this day, and they are also making this festival in our every branch—devotees from many places asked me to come, but I did not go because of the current pandemic situation. However, in another way, I am also fortunate this year because in all previous years I could not be present at such a large assembly of foreign devotees on Janmastami—foreign devotees mostly always come to India starting from winter season (Param Guru Maharaj and Gurudev's Vyasa Puja time, after that Nityananda Prabhu's appearance, after that they stay or come a little later at Gaura Purnima time). I know they make Janmastami festival at every temple abroad, but I could not attend any programmes with them, that is why this year I am also fortunate in a way since at this moment, because of the pandemic situation, I have come today in front of you all. That is my great luck and fortunate to be able to see all the devotees' faces. You are waiting, you are chanting, etc...

Actually, I do not want to spend too much time on singing too many songs because there are so many songs that can be sung today. You sing the song 'Jaya Yasomati Nandana' every morning during the mangal arati, you sing it at noon during the arati, and today also we will sing it at the arati at midnight. What Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur writes in this song, is very beautiful. It is a very nice and sweet song. Gurudev always sang it.

yasomati-nandana braja-bara-nagara
gokula-ranjana kana
gopi-parana-dhana madana-manohara
kaliya-damana vidhana

"Sri Krishna, who is known as Kan, is Yasoda's darling son, Vraja's paramour, Gokula's delight, the gopis' life and wealth, the enchanter of Cupid, and the conqueror of Kaliya."

It is a very, very nice song. Sri Govinda Das also writes,

bhajahu re mana sri-nanda-nandana
abhaya-charanaravinda re

"O mind, serve the son of Nanda's lotus feet, which make one fearless."

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur also wrote another song,

sarvasva tomara, charane sapiya,
padechhi tomara ghare
tumi ta' thakura, tomara kukura,
baliya janaha more

"I have offered everything at Your feet and taken shelter in Your home. You are my Master; please consider me Your dog."

There are many prayerful songs in this our Gaudiya Gitanjali (Kirtan Guide). There are many very nice songs. You can read them and study their meaning. If you sing a song and read its meaning, you will feel much attachment and interest with the matter expressed in the song—you can sing it with much happiness. We sometimes sing some Bengali songs, but we cannot understand or do not know what their meaning is, but if you know the meaning of what you are singing, then you can remember the glorification. "Kirtana prabhave smarana haibe: chanting (kirtan) arouses remembrance (smaran)." You can remember everything through kirtan. When I am alone in my room and lie down, I sometimes sing some songs of glorification. Gurudev would also sit and sing to himself softly. It is very nice. When you sing songs about Krishna, when you sing prayerful songs about Gurudev, you can remember the Lord's or Gurudev's face...

We are servants of Gurudev. That is our main identity. This is how we can reach Lord Sri Krishna. Without service to the Guru, without the mercy of Gurudev, it is impossible to reach the Lord. You have heard in one of the songs, "Nitaiyer karuna habe Vraje Radha Krsna pabe: without Nityananda Prabhu we cannot get mercy of Radha-Krishna." By the mercy of Lord Nityananda Prabhu (Lord Nityananda Prabhu means Gurudev, He is non-different from Gurudev), you can reach Lord Sri Krishna and Radha-Krishna's combined form. They are our meditation (dhyan), we always worship Them, but we do not want to become sahajiyas. We do not like to sing, "Radhe Govinda! Radhe Govinda!"—there are so many people who do it, they think that it is very cheap, that you can get these things easily; but it is not cheap, it is the highest attainment! To get such highest things, such highest love, you must have surrender to Lord Nityananda Prabhu, Gauranga Mahaprabhu, then you can think about these things. Actually, it is not even necessary to think about it all. You can always meditate on Gurudev, on everything related to Gurudev, you can meditate on Lord Nityananda Prabhu, and you can realise all highest things automatically.

* * *

Misconceptions about Lord Krishna's Appearance

Sri Krishna Janmastami Maha-Mahotsav
Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 August 2020, part 2

It is a very auspicious day today. It is Janmastami today, and tomorrow is Sri Nandotsav festival. Krishna is born at midnight, at 12 o'clock; you all know how He was born. It is described in Srimad Bhagavatam how Krishna appeared in this world in the prison of Kamsa in His chatur-bhuja murti (four-armed form) as Devaki and Vasudev's son. However, we do not think that Krishna is merely Devaki's son—He is Yasomati's son! He is Yasoda-nandan, Nanda-nandan. We worship Yasoda-nandan Krishna. Actually, Gaudiya Vaishnavs do not worship Vasudev Krishna (Vasudev-nandan Krishna)—Gaudiya Vaishnavs worship Nanda-nandan Krishna, Yasoda-nandan Krishna. It is important to understand this.

One time, someone asked me, "Is Krishna a step son of Yasoda?" I said: how many years you have been in this Gaudiya line and you are asking this kind of nonsense question?! Krishna is a son of Yasoda, a son of Nanda Maharaj. We see that Vasudev took Lord Krishna to Gokul and left Him there taking instead a girl from Yasoda, but this is just some historical movement. What is described and written in Srimad Bhagavatam is one of the pastimes of the Lord. Vasudev and Devaki are also very fortunate because they have got Krishna as their son, but He is actually a son of Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda.

Anyway, I am very happy to see you all today. We can start our main programme now. First, I am giving my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my beloved Gurudev Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, after that I offer my full obeisance to all guru-varga living here—Srila Janardan Maharaj, Srila Ashram Maharaj, as well as all the guru-varga assembled here. Actually, I see everybody as my guru, I am everybody's disciple. That is my aspiration. "Sisya thakibo sarvada—I always want to be a disciple."

[A side remark about one of the devotees unable to leave the country:] ...If flights are cancelled, it is not a problem. He can stay here. So what if all flights are cancelled? This is not our business. What flights are cancelled or not cancelled depends upon the Lord, it is not in our hands. Our spiritual life is never cancelled, that is the main thing. If he wants to go so much, he can go on foot...

Anyhow, today is Sri Krishna Janmastami. If you read my books, you can get something from there—I write there some strong things. I told you last time also that there is one chapter there that says that without Lord Krishna, without Janmastami (Lord Krishna's appearance) life is meaningless. Lord Krishna appearance is the main source of life. If you read Guidance 3, you can easily understand what I want to say there. I give there some quotation from Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's writing, I also explained some slokas from Srimad Bhagavatam there. Also, you always read Srimad Bhagavad-gita, you know that it says there,

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."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

If you read this and other slokas from Srimad Bhagavad-gita, you can easily understand the meaning of Janmastami and who Krishna is. There are also some slokas from Srimad Bhagavatam that I quoted in this chapter (in Guidance 3). The chapter is not so long—if you read it, you can also understand why we do not worship Vasudev-Krishna. There are so many Hindu people in this world who worship Krishna, but people often compare Krishna's birth to the birth of an ordinary baby in this world—this is completely wrong. This is what I want to say. They say that just as a baby is born in this world, Krishna is also born in the same way. Such material thinking is not correct.

Anyway, today is the holy appearance day of Lord Sri Krishna and tomorrow is Sri Nandotsav. The festival is actually tomorrow—we make Sri Nandotsav festival tomorrow. This is the day when Nanda Maharaj made a festival in honour of his son's appearance. Sri Jaganath Misra also made a festival after Nimai was born, and we celebrate this festival the day after Gaura Purnima. Just as Lord Krishna's appearance is transcendental, so is the appearance of Srimati Radharani. How did She appear? She did not come as an ordinary child from somebody's womb. Local people think that She came from the womb of Kirtida Maya, but such mundane people cannot understand it. They can say that, but our vision is not like that—we see it in a different way.

[His Divine Grace then reads the chapter 'Without Lord Krishna's Appearance Life Is Meaningless' from Guidance 3.]

This is the meaning of Lord Sri Krishna's appearance. Now I will tell you something from Srimad Bhagavatam....

* * *

Entering Another Plane

Sri Krishna Janmastami Maha-Mahotsav
Kolkata-Worldwide, 12 August 2020, part 3

Question: In ***, they do not take anukalpa on the Janmastami festival (they take grains), but in our mission and throughout India they take anukalpa. Is there any background story about it?

I do not know what that particular mission does, but I know that our Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and some other Gaudiya Maths follow the viddhi-marga according to the precepts of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad. I know they take anukalpa on Baladev's appearance day, Janmastami, Gaura Purnima, on Nityananda Prabhu's appearance day, on Vamandev's appearance day, etc. but in our temples, we take anukalpa only on Janmastami (midnight), Gaura Purnima (moon rise) and Nrisingha-chaturdasi (sunset).

Question: How will we recognise Sri Gurudev after we leave this body?

If you are a proper practitioner—if you practise properly, if you have already reached the highest position and Gurudev has kept you here so that you follow his instruction and finish the service that he could not finish (if you can finish the service that is coming to you from your Guru in this world, in this human body), then you can reach the place where Gurudev stays. Gurudev always exists in his nitya-lila (eternal pastimes)—he is always in Goloka Vrindavan, he is an associate of Lord Sri Krishna and he is always with Krishna. So, if you can fulfil Gurudev's desire, if you can follow everything, if you can become a 100% devotee, if you are a surrendered soul, then you will know that what Gurudev said is the truth—you will have this kind of strongest faith that Gurudev said, "If you follow Krishna consciousness properly, you will not have to come again to the world of birth and death, you will not have to follow this circle of birth and death—you will stay forever with me." Also, Krishna says throughout Srimad Bhagavad-gita, "Those who are surrendered to Me—who offer Me a leaf, a flower, a fruit with devotion, etc. (patram puspam phalam toyam)—who worship Me and do everything for Me, they will always stay with Me." This is how you will be able to recognise Gurudev and everything else there…

ADDITIONAL READING:

Question: It seems that we have one type of fear that having got some connection with your self we may lose that at death. I do not want to have connection with anyone else, I want to stay with you. So, I feel some type of fear...

Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj: Fear? But why have fear? I cannot understand it.

Devotee: Because if we do not finish our sadhana nicely, then next life we do not know where we will go—we may not find Govinda Maharaj there.

Srila Govinda Maharaj: What do you think about Govinda Maharaj?

Devotee: We think that we want to serve you.

Srila Govinda Maharaj: No, it is okay that you want to serve Govinda Maharaj, but what do you think about Govinda Maharaj? He is your guru, but in which form do you think about him? Do you think that Govinda Maharaj is a mundane man or an incarnation of the Lord coming in front of you to give you connection with Him? If you think he is an incarnation of the Lord, then he cannot leave your heart and you cannot leave your Lord. Even if you die, you will get that connection in another form, perhaps, but you will not be able to leave your Lord. When you have faith that the Lord always lives with you, then there will be no fear.

That is the main thing. By the mercy of Vaishnavs I also always feel that my Srila Guru Maharaj (Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj) is present with us. By the mercy of Vaishnavs and the supremacy of Srila Guru Maharaj, such feeling always comes to us that Srila Guru Maharaj has not left us, that he is with us.

I have service of Srila Guru Maharaj, and I must do that. Service to Srila Guru Maharaj is my only goal of life, and whichever way that service comes to me, I will try to serve.

Devotee: In my next life, I want to forever be a blade of grass wherever you walk...

Srila Govinda Maharaj: I do not want to wait for the next life. Actually, we must finish all our job here this life, then we shall all go to Goloka!

(8 June 1992)

* * *

Thorns of Spiritual Life

Kolkata-Worldwide, 16 August 2020, part 1

Haribol. Dandavat. Please accept my humble obeisance to you all.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa-kula-churamani Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Nitai Gaurachandrajiu ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
All the worldwide sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
Brahmachari-bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

By the mercy of Gurudev, we are meeting again this week after the festivals of Janmastami and Nandotsav. I am very happy to see that all devotees are here after making the festivals. We hear that many countries are resuming work after the pandemic situation, and India is also slowly, slowly opening a little bit, too. We could not make a very big programme on Janmastami this year, but every temple made a programme with the local devotees. The trains are still not running yet, and nobody can travel anywhere, many householder devotees are staying in their houses, so they made the Janmastami festival in their own house. They did it like that this year. It is OK, it is the will of the Lord. Everything is the will of Krishna, everything happens by His will. I think that later everything will be very nice, there will not be any harm to devotees. Devotees always serve Krishna, His associate, and His devotees—they always remember their worshippable Lord, therefore I am sure that Krishna will protect His devotees. Krishna Himself says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, "I personally look after My devotees. I personally protect My devotees." So, we must believe that—we must believe that Krishna always takes care of His devotees, His followers.

Our situation is such that we have again come to this world—we think there is so much suffering, so many problems outside, but we do not think that we have some problems inside us. We have so many enemies inside us—we must see these enemies and we must control ourselves because these enemies are growing more and more, they stop us and take us to a gross material life. We always think about our health, our enjoyment or other things—we always think how to earn money, how to earn enjoyment, we have so much lust. In this way, many are becoming materialists. Because of these things we sometimes end up leaving the Lord's service, we end up forgetting what our Master, our Gurudev has said, what our Gurudev has told us. We sometimes forget all this because of Maya.

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha
ataeva maya tare deya samsaradi-duhkha

"Having forgotten Krishna, the soul wanders throughout the universe. Being thus covered by illusion, the soul goes through all kinds of material suffering."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.117)

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"When the jiva soul makes the mistake of forgetting that it is an eternal servant of Krishna, Maya captures the soul by its neck."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.24)

We forget that the jiva soul is an eternal servant of the Lord, that is why Maya attacks us.

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"When the jiva soul makes the mistake of forgetting that it is an eternal servant of Krishna, Maya captures the soul by its neck."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.24)

For this one mistake Maya can attack us. Sometimes, some good moment comes to us in our service, some good symptom comes, but at this moment some bad elements come and Maya takes us away from the service.

You know that so many people have taken initiation from Gurudev, so many people have stayed in the temple living a brahmachari life, a sannyasi life, but after some time they left their brahmachari or sannyasi life and went to karmi life—they stop practising Krishna consciousness. I am sad about it, and Gurudev is also very sad about it. This is their bad luck. They had some sukriti, they were doing some service—they have some good qualities to do service, but in the course of time they stop using their good qualities for service and go away. They take up some work outside, they become outside workers and forget Krishna consciousness, they even give up being vegetarian (they were vegetarian before, but they give it up and go back to eating meat, fish, etc.). They have only themselves to blame—it happens because of their own ego. This is how Maya attacks us.

Therefore, the main thing for us is that we should do what Gurudev wants—we must understand how we should live. If anyone disrespects our Guru, we will not stay with them—we will not associate with them. That is very important. It is necessary to have chastity. Our line is straight—if you cannot respect my Guru, then I will not have any connection with you. That is our main vision. We are zero without our Gurudev's connection—we do not have any quality or qualification without the connection with the Guru. If we have a proper relationship with our Guru, then we will go in the proper way, and if there is no proper relationship, if we do not acquire sambandha-jnana (knowledge of the relationship), then what is our position? Sambandha-jnana does not come just by taking initiation. It is necessary to take initiation for those who aspire to live a spiritual life, who aspire to live a Krishna consciousness life—initiation is the first requirement. It is OK, you have all taken initiation, but after taking initiation you must follow your Guru—you must follow what Guru says, you must follow his instruction. This is how you can become a proper disciple. Do not cross your Guru. Neither must you cross your limit.

Everybody has some limitation—everybody has some qualification or several qualifications to serve the Lord, but everybody's qualification is not the same. Whatever your qualification is, you must serve the Lord through that. Visakha serves Krishna in one way, Lalita serves Krishna in another way, Chitralekha serves Krishna in her way, and Vrinda Devi serves Krishna in her way, but, no matter what, their mood goes in one channel—their mood, their main aspiration is to please their guru. So, service can be of different kinds, there are several ways one can serve their Gurudev—somebody makes Gurudev's prasadam, somebody cleans his bed, somebody builds his temple, somebody follows his instruction, etc. There are so many ways one can serve the Guru, and we should respect everybody. This is what is called 'giving honour to others.' We should give respect to every service, no matter how small it may be. Somebody can be doing some little service, somebody may be doing some big service, everybody's capacity is not the same, and everybody does what they can—the main thing is that whatever capacity I have, I will give everything to my Guru, I will serve my Guru with everything. I will serve my Guru with whatever I have. This is how you can proceed properly to your goal. This is the main thing.

Therefore, in one way or another, we will try to please our Guru—we must give everything for his service. You know that Bali Maharaj had promised Vamandev three steps of land; but, having taken the entire universe with His first two steps, Vamandev did not see where to place His third step, so He asked Bali Maharaj, "Where shall I place My third step?" Bali Maharaj replied, "Prabhu, I have nothing left—I have given everything to You." Vamandev asked him again and again, "Are you sure? Are you sure you do not have anything else? No, no, you do have something! Think carefully." In the end, Bali Maharaj's wife came and said to her husband, "You have given everything to the Lord, but have you given yourself to Him?" He had forgotten about it. Then, Bali Maharaj said, "Yes, I forgot! Prabhu, I have indeed not given You everything—I have not given myself to You!" Then, he bowed down his head at Vamandev's lotus feet—a leg appeared from Vamandev's navel and He put that leg on Bali Maharaj's head. So, the main thing is that you must give yourself to your Guru. Do you understand it? You must give yourself to your Guru, to the service of the Lord, then your Guru will be happy. If your Guru is happy with you, then you can reach your main, proper destination.

What is our proper destination? Outside people always say, "Oh, we are born only one time, and we die only one time, too." It is not true. We come and go many times, we are born many times and we die many times. Material people do not understand this. They do not know how many times we have been coming to this world and how many times we will have to die again and again. That is the difference between the karmis (materialist) people and the spiritual people.

It is very important for us to understand all these things.

* * *

Surrendered Existence

Kolkata-Worldwide, 16 August 2020, part 2

Are there any questions from anybody?

Question: How can I understand the connection between thoughts, words and actions in order to practise and serve properly?

It is not necessary to think so much—you should always follow the instruction of your Guru. Practise properly, always keep good association (sadhu-sanga), always avoid bad association. Always remember the adi-devata Nityananda Prabhu, always chant the Holy Name, always engage in Nama-sankirtan, listen to Hari-katha, Bhagavat-sravan, always think about the holy dham—there is Nabadwip Dham, Vrindavan Dham, Puri Dham, aways think about these three dhams. If you live in a temple, the Deities are there, and if you live in your house, you should have an altar and follow all rules and regulations in the same way that it is followed in a temple—do arati, wake up for mangal-arati, cook for the Deities, offer the bhog to the Deities, take prasadam, make garlands, do Tulasi seva, etc. This is how you should continue and pass every day. You must pass every day with service. You must always live in service. You should always think about the Lord, remember the Lord. These are the main things, but the problem is that because of bad association we sometimes end up losing our faith and our mind becomes disturbed with many bad things.

So, do not listen to any Vaishnav-ninda, any sadhu-ninda, do not speak any sadhu-ninda. It means you must not gossip—do not talk to anyone about any sadhus or any devotees. Gossiping is actually the main problem in our spiritual life. Our ears, our eyes want to see so many bad things, want to hear so many bad things, that is why we must always, always close our eyes and not see bad things, we must close our ears and not hear bad things. This is very important. Always live in a good way, always engage in spiritual things, then your life will be very spiritual. Try to understand this. How will you understand it? Practise all this, then you will understand what is necessary for your spiritual life and what this human body is for. You have got this human body by a great mercy of the Lord, and you must use this human body, every part and parcel of this body, for the service of the Lord.

Are there any other questions?

Question: Can we reheat the prasadam that has already been offered and distributed?

No, no. No. If it is already offered to the Lord, then we must take the remnants, you cannot make it hot again. It is not good. Not good.

Devotee: What about milk? Can we warm it a little bit?

No, no. It is not good. If it gets cold, then you can take it cold.

Question: What should I do if I see some godbrothers who are older than me do and say things that I know are not correct in our philosophy?

They are not a good example for us.

nije achari dharma jivke sikhaya
achara prachara namera lainu karya

Practise yourself and teach the right path to the souls. Your chanting of the Holy Name will be effective when you practise yourself and preach.

If you practise, then you can preach—those who do not practise, cannot preach (they can preach, but it will not work). If somebody practises and preaches, then that preaching will work, it will be fruitful and give a good result.

Another thing is that, it does not matter whether somebody is older or younger. When Mahaprabhu gave His mercy to Narayani Devi, she was only three and a half years old—there were so many old people there at that time, but they did not get Mahaprabhu's mercy. So, whether somebody is younger or older, it is not a question. If somebody practises properly, they can preach, otherwise their preaching will not bring any result.

Devotee: What should one do when they see such a situation, though?

You must not say anything—you must overlook it. Do not pay attention to this. It is actually necessary to ignore this. Our line is that you must do what your Guru says, so you will preach your Gurudev's conception, you will preach what Gurudev says. If somebody says this and that, this and that, do not look left and right—go straight, down the right line.

* * *

Practising Deficiency

Kolkata-Worldwide, 16 August 2020, part 3

Question: My father was cremated, but in our country they do not allow us to throw ashes into the sea. What should I do with the ashes?

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur once wrote a letter to his disciple. The disciple was asking, "My father has died. What should I do? How should I make the sraddha ceremony?" Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur replied that brahmans, smarta-vadis, follow the rules and regulations of Hinduism, and if they make the sraddha ceremony for some soul, that jiva soul will again have to come to some mother's womb (matrik kuksi grha)—they have to be born again. If, however, the sraddha is done properly, according to the rules of Vaishnavism (if you give prasadam to Vaishnavs, offer prasadam to the father's soul, etc.), then the jiva soul will not have to come again to any mother's womb.

I was writing a book about sat-kriya, sat-dipika yesterday, and I am printing a copy of that letter of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur there. He wrote that letter when he was in Puri, in Sri Purushottam Math. The book is going to be published in a few days. So, if you do the sraddha ceremony properly, following Vaishnavism way, it is better for everybody.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: When Srila Govinda Maharaj was asked about giving prasadam to the father or mother, he asked, "Did they take prasadam when they were alive? If they do not accept prasadam, how will you offer it to them?"

Oh, that is another question. I am talking about devotees, not non-devotees.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Also, Srila Govinda Maharaj said that calling Vaishnavs and giving them prasadam in honour of the departed soul was more important than the sraddha ceremony.

Yes, that is called Vaishnav-seva. I mentioned that.

Are there any other questions?

Question: If devotees have everything for their spiritual life, why do we then lose desire to serve?

Because some bad elements come. Actually, when a boy is admitted into a school, it does not mean he has passed the final exam. He has to study first, he has to practise. Those who want to pass the final exam and get a good result, must study, must give their attention to studying—they must study properly, attentively, concentrating their mind, their everything on the studies. In the practising life it is also like that. It is not only taking initiation. There are so many things that come after initiation,

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning there is faith, then good association, then practising life. After that, the offences gradually go away, faith becomes stronger, taste comes, then attachment, then there arises affection and love. This is how love to God comes to those who practise Krsna consciousness."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.4.15-16)

This is the process. It is necessary to practise properly. Sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, archanam, pada-sevanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, worshipping, serving lotus feet, offering prayers, engaging in service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). If you practise all this properly, you will increase—not lose—your spiritual life.

One time, Gurudev told me, "Be very careful! You are a brahmachari, and you are walking on a thread—you can fall down at any time!" You are walking on a sharp blade, your leg is on a sharp knife and you can cut your leg at any time. Brahmachari life, sannyasi life is like that—if we are not careful about our spiritual life, we can fall down at any moment.

So, we sometimes do not understand why we lose our faith, why we lose our Krishna consciousness, why we cannot give our heart, mind, everything to the service of the Lord, why we cannot concentrate our mind on the service of the Lord—this happens because some deficiency is there. There is practising deficiency. We make many offences—offences to the service (seva-aparadh), offences to the Vaishnavs (Vaishnav-aparadh), offences to the holy places (dhama-aparadh), offences to the Holy Name (Nama-aparadh). So many bad things come, that is why we can lose our faith, lose our Krishna consciousness life and go away from service.

Another thing is that once a devotee came to Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and said, "Prabhupad, I cannot practise properly!" Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "It means you have something, it means you have started practising." If somebody says, "I have become a devotee, I am already a devotee, I have so much devotion," then you can understand that they have nothing—empty vessels make the most noise.

* * *

Do Not Get Swayed

Kolkata-Worldwide, 16 August 2020, part 4

Question: Can antithesis be an apparently good thing? For example, we are progressing in our spiritual life, and then suddenly Maya comes with some temptation, and that is apparently good so we have to adjust to it?

Yes, that is,

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)

Sometimes, when we do some service and some sadness can come, but we tolerate it. For example, we are not able to preach properly now—so many things happen, so many problems come, we cannot do so much service, but you can see it as a kind of a test—you can see it as Krishna always testing us through Maya. He wants to see, "When Maya attacks you, when Maya gives so much trouble to you and so many problems come to you, will you remember Me or will you forget Me? It is up to you." If you can remember the Lord despite any difficulties, then it is very good. This is what we should do.

So many problems come in our spiritual life, so many elements create problems, so much antithesis comes, but we should carry on our preaching. You know, it was Independence Day yesterday here in India, 15 August, and they did a political party programme in the temple at Dum Dum Park, 487. It was a holiday yesterday, but I had to go to the market for the service to devotees, and on the way back I passed the temple. They actually wanted to do that programme here in Sevak Bhavan, but I did not even talk with them—I did not allow this programme, but they did the programme there in the temple. On 15 August! It is very sad for us. It is Guru Maharaj's temple, Gurudev and devotees (mainly, foreign devotees) gave their everything to make that temple, but now that temple makes only cultural programmes instead of spiritual programmes. They had a loudspeaker, etc., we could hear the sound coming from there, but we tolerate it—our life is preaching and practising properly.

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)

Devotee: Srila Sridhar Maharaj said they are celebrating independence day, but is it freedom from the senses or freedom for the senses?

Yes, that is the question. All senses are attacking us:

kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, abhimana saha
apana apana sthane tane

"Lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and ego all pull me in their own directions."

All senses are taking us to their own place—lust, anger, greed, attachment to material things, pride, ego, everything is pulling us to their own place taking us away from service. These are Srila Narottam Das Thakur's words.

kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, abhimana saha
apana apana sthane tane
aichana amara mana phire yena andha jana
supatha vipatha nahi jane

"Lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and ego all pull me in their own directions. Thus my mind wanders like a blind man who does not know the right way from the wrong way."

We are blind. Our mind is blind, it does not know which way to go. When a blind man goes down the street, he does not know where there is a hole in the road, where there is some problem, where there is some traffic jam, whether some car is coming or not—a blind man cannot cross the road without somebody's help. Our mind is also like that—it cannot do anything without the help of proper guidance.

Question: How can one stop disobeying the guru and start obeying him without mental speculation?

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that our mind is always fickle, our mind is always naughty, but you can direct your mind in the proper way, you can control your mind with the help of your intelligence, with the help of good association. It depends on association. There is bad association and good association. If you keep bad association, your mind will become bad, and if you keep good association, your mind will become good. So, you must always take good association through sadhu-sanga.

* * *

Priorities in Spiritual Life

Kolkata-Worldwide, 16 August 2020, part 5

Question: If we live outside the temple and have some fixed service but we cannot do it properly, should we continue trying to do this service or should we change that service?

If you live in a house, you must live as a proper householder devotee. What is the duty of a householder devotee? Turn your house into a temple. Go to bed early, wake up early in the morning, offer bhog, etc. You should fix the time—you know what time you must go to work, so fix your time according to that and do proper service. Always take prasadam, try to avoid any outside food (any food that has not been offered to the Lord). That will be good for you.

prasada-seva karite haya,
sakala prapancha-jaya

"By honouring the Lord's prasad I conquer all worldly illusions."

(Saranagati, 31.5, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

If you take prasad, it is good for you, and you should try to avoid the food that has not been offered to the Lord.

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile, nahe krsna-nama grahana

"If you take food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot chant the Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.278)

If you take food that has not been offered to the Lord, that is called visayir anna (materialists' food, or rice)—it can make your mind dirty, and you cannot chant the Holy Name with a dirty mind. This is what scriptures say, you should try to follow it. Arrange an altar in your house, do proper service, offer bhog at proper time. If you cannot do that, then at least you must keep some minimum standard, that will be good for you. Also, the main thing is that you must not waste your time on gossiping, gramya-katha, gramya-varta (discussing material news, material gossips).

Devotee: I think the question is related to householders who have some service in the temple—if they cannot do it properly, should they continue trying to do it or should they get a different service that they can do?

If you have a fixed service in the temple, you can do that service, what is the problem? You will try to do it, try to continue your service in the temple. You must try. I know that in the western world, there are not so many brahmacharis and devotees living permanently in the temple, that is why many householder devotees come and do service there. If householder devotees say, "Oh, I have some job in my house, I cannot do it," then who will come to do the service? Householder devotees should come and and help the service at the temple from time to time. In the West, so many householder devotees live outside, and they come to the temple, serve and do various works there. Here in India, we have many branches, and I bring people through preaching—they stay at the temple and do service there. There are also one-two householders who stay at the temple, but every four to six months they go to their house for a week and then again come back to the temple, but it is different in foreign countries. If every householder devotee says, "I have some job, I have some job," then who will serve at the temple?

Srila Janardan Maharaj: I am thinking also who will run the temple when we are all dead? We are all old and younger devotees come and complain, "Oh, you are so old, you are bothering us!"

No, that's not right. I remember once the milkman from the goshala came to Gurudev. The milkman had spoken to me many times first, but I did not listen to him, so he came to Gurudev directly. He complained, "I have told Acharya Maharaj many times, but he does not listen to me!" Gurudev asked, "What has happened?" Then he said, "Some old cows do not any give milk—why do we feed and waste time taking care of them? It is necessary to sell them!" Gurudev answered, "Yes, I am also old—why do you not sell me too?"

I am finishing for today. I am again giving my full obeisance to everybody. Please forgive my offence.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay

* * *

West London Temple: Auspicious Day

Anniversary Festival in West London Temple
Kolkata-Worldwide, 22 August 2020

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham Sri Nabadwip Dham Sri Vrindavan Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Tandiya sakha Math samuha ki jay
Sri Mather sevak vrinda bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Ananta-koti Vaishnav vrinda ki jay
Sri Gaudiya Acharya vrinda ki jay
Tridandi-pad-gan ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Jay Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math London anniversary day festival maha-mahotsav ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

How are you all? I am very happy to see everybody. Srila Ashram Maharaj, dandavat, please accept my humble obeisance.

Srila Ashram Maharaj: Dandavat, Maharaj, same to you, my dandavat to you.

I offer my humble obeisance to all the devotees present today. It is a very auspicious day today for the London devotees, as well as all over world. Srila Gurudev, Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj wanted to make a centre near the Heathrow airport—he had tried to make it in many ways, but it was not possible in his time. After that, Sripad Bharati Maharaj and Lalita Madhav Prabhu gave much financial help to the mission and this centre was started. Since then, the mission there has been running properly. Saraswati Devi took the charge of the temple as the manager, and with the help of many devotees the temple is managed and runs smoothly. I know that there are many expenses to run a temple—devotees help maintain the temple and mainly Lavanya Moyi Devi and Sachi Devi every month collect for the temple going door to door and collecting. I am very happy to see that the temple runs smoothly.

Actually, when it comes to the temple and Deity manifestation, we can only see that it comes through the hand of a pure devotee, and it is indeed so—many places and Deities manifested in India and other countries also in Gurudev's time (Veracruz in Mexico, Saint Petersburg in Russia, Govinda Dham in Australia, etc.). Many Deities came to this world and took Their place through the hand of Gurudev (a pure devotee). We can see the example of previous acharyas in the scriptures—Sri Govindaji came to Vrindavan through the hand of Srila Rupa Goswami, Sri Madan-Mohan came through the hand of Srila Sanatan Goswami, Sri Radha-Gopinath (Gopinathji) came through Sri Madhu Pandit's hand, Radha-Ramanji came through Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami's hand, Banki Bihari manifested through the hand of Tansen's Guru Haridas Das (not Haridas Thakur, another Haridas), and so on. We can see all these examples.

There are so many Deities in Vrindavan now, but actually there is only one original Deity there—Sri Radha-Ramanji. All other Deities went to Jaipur and Karauli (Govindaji and Madan-Mohanji), but Radha-Raman is a small Deity, so when some bad people who hated Hindu Deities, temples, etc. were destroying temples, it was very easy to hide Radha-Raman. This Deity manifested through the hand of Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami. You know how it happened.

Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami always worshipped twelve Salagram-silas. One day, a big rich man from Delhi came to him and gave him some ornaments for his Deities. Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami took the ornaments, but then he thought at night, "How I will put these ornaments on my Deities?? I worship Salagram-silas—my Deities have no arms, no head, etc..." When he woke up in the morning, he saw the Deity of Radha-Raman! We always visit that place where Radha-Raman manifested when we do Vrindavan Dham parikrama, it is near Nidhuvan. Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami was astonished, "How has this Deity come here?" Then, he counted his Salagram-silas and saw that there were eleven silas, not twelve. So, he understood that one Salagram-sila had melted and taken the form of a Deity. This is how Radha-Ramanji came to Sri Vrindavan Dham.

You read and know also from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita how Sri Madhavendra Puripad manifested his Govardhan-dhari Gopal. This Deity was originally established by Krishna's prapautra (প্রপৌত্র), great-grandson Vajranabha, but when Muslim people were breaking Hindu temples, the pujari of the Deity hid Him in the jungle under some soil. When Madhavendra Puripad came to Govardhan, the Deity came to him as a cowherd boy with some milk. Madhavendra Puri was surprised to see the boy, he asked Him, "Who are You? Where are You from?" The boy left, and when Madhavendra Puripad went to sleep that night, Gopal again came to him in a dream and said, "I am Govardhan-dhari Gopal. I have been suffering so much from rain, heat, and cold for many years now. Please rescue Me from this place!" The next day, Madhavendra Puri gathered the village people and dug the Deity of Govardhan-dhari Gopal out in the jungle. This is how he manifested that Deities.

We see in Srimad Bhagavad-gita also,

ananyas chintayanto mam, ye janah paryupasate
tesam nityabhiyuktanam, yoga-ksemam vahamy aham

"I bear the responsibility of acquiring and protecting the necessities of My fully dependent devotees who are always absorbed in thought of Me, and who worship Me in every way."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.22)

Krishna Himself said, "When somebody surrenders to Me, when somebody thinks about nothing except Me, I personally bring their food!" So, you know the story of Arjuna Mishra. There was one brahman named Arjuna Misra who lived with his wife. One day, when he was reading Srimad Bhagavad-gita and saw this verse "Ananyas chintayanto mam...," he cut that line and wrote there "karamy aham," (I am doing it!), instead of "vahamy aham" (Krishna's words that He is carrying it). He thought, "No, I do it myself! I go for collection, I beg—my wife cooks and I offer that food to the Deities. Why does Krishna say He does it? I do it!" When he went for collection next time, he had walked around the village the whole day, but he had not got a single grain of rice anywhere. He cried and cried and did not know how he would come home empty-handed. In the meantime, Krishna Himself came to the house of the brahman carrying pots and bags full of vegetables, subji, rice, dal, etc. He gave everything to the wife of the brahman. Arjuna Misra's wife was surprised, "What is this? Who has sent You?" Krishna, in disguise of a boy, replied, "Oh, your husband has sent Me to bring this." After a while, the brahman eventually came home crying, "I have not got anything today! We will be fasting today! Our Deities are going to fast today!" His wife said, "What are you talking about? You have sent so many things with that boy!" The brahman said, "What boy? I did not send anything!" Then, he saw his Srimad Bhagavad-gita and saw that Krishna Himself had come to his room and wrote, "Do you see now? You think you do everything, but what you wrote it wrong! You do not do anything yourself, I do everything!"

So, we think that the Deity is made of marble, wood, clay, etc. but it is not so. A Deity is a Deity. A Deity is saksat Vrajendra-nandan (Lord Krishna Himself). The Deity sometimes speaks (you know the story of Saksi-Gopal when He spoke with Chhota Vipra), the Deity even steals (as Ksirchor Gopinath did when He stole ksir for Madhavendra Puri)—He can do everything. Sometimes, when we offer some food to the Deity, the preparation can be too spicy or there can be too little spices, and we think it is alright. The Deity does not talk, the Deity tolerates and takes everything, but we must be careful with this. That is why scriptures say,

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)

Sraddhaya Sri Murtir sevan—we must worship the Deity with full faith. We must worship Deities properly, with full faith and full attention, rules, regulations, etc. Once, a devotee asked me, "Gurudev, I do not know any mantras, I do not know so much about the culture. How will I do puja?" I told him, "I will tell you the mantra. The mantra is this—'I do not know anything, I am a fallen soul, I have no quality, no qualification. I do not know how to cook properly, but I have made this, please accept it.'" This is the mantra. We must worship Deities whole-heartedly.

So, today is very auspicious day for all London devotees. It is sure that Gurudev can see everything, he is watching everything. He may be in samadhi now, but he watches everything and thinks about everything because all devotees are fulfilling his desire. It is our happiness that we can be together, without any false ego.

We always run behind false ego thinking, "Nothing can be done without me," "I am senior!" etc. We must avoid such thoughts. If we can serve Deities in this way, it will be very nice and Gurudev will be more and more happy. That is my wish. All devotees should stay together and think how they can run this mission together. I have heard many times Gurudev say, "East London temple has been sold two-three times, and I am always concerned about the London temple." Now, there are two temples in London. The first temple is on Green Street—Gurudev went there, I also went there with him. Actually, I wish I could go to London and see the new temple, but the pandemic situation due to covid-19 is still going on and I am unable to go now to visit any foreign countries. When time comes and Krishna allows me to go, I will definitely come to London and meet all the devotees there. Also, I am inviting all devotees to come here—please come when you have a chance to visit India. Please come and join Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in the Nabadwip Dham parikrama, this is the main festival of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. If you come, I will be very grateful and very happy, and all the devotees will also be very happy.

Now, I think many sannyasis present here also want to say something. Srila Ashram Maharaj is there, I do not know if Srila Janardan Maharaj will come today or not because there is some problem in California because of the fire situation—I spoke to him this afternoon, the condition is very serious, but Gurudev said that our Soquel temple is Govardhan, so I told them not to worry—Krishna, Giraraj Govardhan, will always protect the temple.

Anyhow, I am finishing here. Srila Ashram Maharaj can now please speak.

Jay Srila Gurudev
Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay

[Srila Ashram Maharaj, followed by other dignitaries, then speaks to the assembled devotees.]

* * *

Spiritual Sustenance: Association and Service Mood

Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 August 2020, part 1

I see your smiling faces, your service mood faces, and I feel very happy.

Practitioners always want to stay in good association, that is their main view, main aim in spiritual life. Good association is necessary, good association always gives us very important good example, much enthusiasm and energy in our spiritual life. So, we always want good association. Gurudev also always says that we must always engage ourselves in service mood, we must always stay within service connection. You must try to do whatever service you do, whatever service you have the right to do, whatever service you have got under guidance of a bona fide Vaishnav or a bona fide Guru. That should be your main goal in your spiritual life.

Everybody gets a good result through service mood. We can see the example of Pandavas—they are always with Krishna, and they have got a good result. Those who are always in Krishna consciousness attain a good result. Wherever there is a Vaishnav, wherever there is connection with a Vaishnav, connection with great devotees, it will always be good for us. So, we must be always determined, we must always be intent on good association. It is necessary to have a good intention to become a good devotee. That is the main thing in our spiritual life.

If we do not engage ourselves in the service of the Lord, then the purpose and meaning of this human life will not be fulfilled. You have got this life to engage yourself, as well as other jiva souls, in the service of the Lord. Even if you make garlands, if you do Tulasi-seva, if you take care of the garden, pick flowers for the Lord, for the Guru, and for Vaishnavs, you can use all the trees and plants in the service of the Lord in this way. We can even use fruit trees for the service of the Lord when we offer fruit to the Lord. Everything can be and should be utilised in the service of the Lord. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that so many things exist and happen in this world by the will of Krishna—so many jiva souls exist in this world, and Krishna takes them for His service. All jiva souls come to this world for Krishna's service. Those who have got a human body—who have got intelligence, some good association and who have got proper teachings through that good association—use everything for the service of the Lord.

I went to a preaching programme at one house here in India last year. In that house, there are some mangoes trees, and there were so many mangoes on the trees—when we were walking by, we touched the mangoes with our heads! There was a little boy of perhaps four-five years old in that family. I asked him, "Why do you not pick the mangoes?" The boy replied, "Grandfather said they were for Krishna. When they are ripe, we will pick them and give them to Krishna." They learn these things because this is a devotees' house and the devotees teach their children in this way.

So, if you do not practise properly yourself, how will your children practise then? If you practise properly, if you give honour to Vaishnavs, etc., then your son, your daughter will also learn from you that you must give respect to Vaishnavs, that you must be humble, tolerant, and give honour to others. They will learn from you if you show them a good example. We have much responsibility for our children—if you live a family life and only produce a baby without taking care of the child, it is not good; you must teach your children everything. You must teach your children what is necessary for Krishna consciousness life from their childhood. If you yourself practise and learn properly, then you will be able to teach your children properly too, and then your children will become devotees. That is the main point.

* * *

Spiritual Sustenance: Exclusive Mood

Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 August 2020, part 2

...And another point is this. What is our quality? Our quality is to be humble. Humility is the main quality—those who are great Vaishnavs become extremely humble. You must understand this. Therefore, we must have a great humility. Great humility, great tolerance, patience are necessary in our spiritual life.

You have heard the story of Duhkhi, a maidservant at the house of Srivas Pandit. She is an old lady who has no education, no qualification, she has no money, no wealth, no property, she has nothing, but she has a heart—she has a heart, mind, life, everything, and she gave everything to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, for His service. This is how she got mercy from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Malini Devi also, Srivas Pandit's wife—how did she get to think with so much affection that Nityananda Prabhu is her son? One time also, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said to Srivas Pandit, "Srivas, you are giving Nityananda shelter at your house, but you do not even know who He is—which caste does He belong to? where does He come from? You do not know anything about Him. Who is He? You have given Him shelter at your house, but what if some problem comes, what are you going to do?" Hearing this, Srivas Pandit laughed, "Prabhu, You are testing me! You just want to know how much love and affection I have for Nityananda Prabhu!"

We can apply this to our life also. We do some Krishna consciousness activities, spiritual activities, but how much time do we spend on spiritual activities and how much time do we spend on mundane activities? You must calculate it yourself. How much time do you spend on your spiritual activities? How much time do you spend on your mundane activities, on your mind's activities—on doing naughty and nonsense things what your mind tells you to do. You can calculate yourself how many hours a day you spend on mundane activities. You must utilise your heart, your mind, everything for the service to the Lord. Devotees must be always careful and serious about their service—devotees always think about Krishna.

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)

Even when you are sleeping, when you taking prasadam (when you are eating), when you are waking up, when you are awake—any time, all the time think about Krishna. When you go to bed, when you are sleeping, think about Krishna—give 'jay' to Gurudev, remember Gurudev. When you wake up, first of all remember your Gurudev, remember your Gurudev's advice. Always think about all this.

Vraja gopis said to Uddhav Maharaj, "Prabhu, you want us to close our eyes to meditate on Krishna, but it is not necessary to close our eyes—even with our eyes open, we see Krishna everywhere. We always see Krishna wherever we look—we cannot see anything except Him." Such is Vraja gopis' ideal. They always think about Krishna. They all have good husbands, they have everything, but still they always think about Krishna and spend their time in this way, making the Lord happy.

* * *

Fruits of Inconceivable Mercy

Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 August 2020, part 3

We always hear Krishna being called Nander-nandan Krishna, Yasoda-jivana Krishna, Sachira-dulala Krishna—Krishna is the son of Nanda Maharaj, Krishna is the life of Yasoda, the very life force of Sachi. This is how mercy comes (through His devotees). Yet, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy is inconceivable. It is inconceivable how He bestowed His mercy onto fallen souls all over the world—even thieves got His mercy! One time, two thieves, who wanted to steal Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's ornaments, kidnapped Chaitanya Mahaprabhu—one of them put the Lord on his shoulder and kept on walking with Him around the house. Even these thieves got Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy through that. Another time, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked one astrologer, "Can you read My palm? Who was I in My previous life? Tell me." When the astrologer saw Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's palm and saw who He was, he was extremely surprised. Mahaprabhu asked him, "Why are you not saying anything? You must be making a mistake! All right, I will tell you who I was—in My previous life, I was a cowherd boy and I did some cow seva, that is why I got some sukriti and was born as a brahman boy in a brahman's family in this Kali yuga!" The astrologer was astonished and did not say anything, he only said, "I do not know anything, I do not know anything!"—after that, he paid his obeisance and ran away. This is how Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave His mercy, His blessing to an astrologer. Nityananda Prabhu's mercy and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy is inconceivable.

We sometimes offer some bhog directly to the Lord, but we do not know whether He takes it or not—we offer some bhog and take the same bhog from the altar, we cannot understand whether Krishna has taken it or not. However, we have a direct connection with a dearmost associate of the Lord (the Guru), and we can feed him, we can talk with him, we can tell him about any problem we have, we can ask him for a solution of any problem—we can talk with our Guru like with our family member. The Guru is our family member, and we can talk with him about everything, we can consult with him about everything. Krishna Himself says that He comes in this age of Kali in the form of a Guru, so we can approach our Guru with any problems, any things, we can consult with him about our spiritual life. "Tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena"—we can place honest enquiry, we can ask him any question, we can talk with him, etc. That is our greatest fortune.

Therefore, our devotees must always be inspired, must always practise and preach properly. They should live and behave properly, they should do their service properly, and they should talk humbly. Such should be devotees' mood.

Our Param Gurudev made this Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ashram. At first, he went to Vrindavan, but when he got an akash dhvani (message from the sky) from Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, he came to Koladwip, aparadh-bhanjan pat, and established a thatched house as Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. After that, he got our Gurudev, a seventeen-year-old boy at that time—through our Gurudev, Srila Sridhar Maharaj got encouragement and inspiration to preach Krishna consciousness more and more. Moreover, Srila Sridhar Maharaj could not go abroad, but Gurudev gave everything to the foreign devotees. Srila Sridhar Maharaj had given all responsibility for foreign devotees to Gurudev, and Gurudev happily accepted it. Gurudev went to every country, cultivated the land, made the land fertile, and as a result so many great devotees came from all over the world to preach Krishna consciousness for Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. It is still going on, and you are all fruits of that cultivation. You come to Krishna consciousness, you practise properly—that is my happiness.

* * *

Absorbed in Service

Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 August 2020, part 4

Dandavat, Srila Janardan Maharaj, what is happening today? I want to know the news from you.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Dandavat. The fire is still in one place, it is not moving so much now. The fire is not full force and it sometimes stops. I think it is about eight-seven miles away from us. You said yesterday you did not think the fire would reach here, and I do not think so, too.

Yes, because fire is afraid of Giriraj Govardhan.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Some devotees have run away though because they were afraid. That is why I could not come to the conference yesterday—there was some chaos here. We had no pujari, we had no cook, we had nothing, but now some devotees are coming back.... And they ran away at night time—they got into a car and ran away. I had told them not to leave now, I had told them, "We will see tomorrow morning and decide what needs to be done. Do not do anything at night time." But they ran away. I am not very happy about that because I need to have devotees worshipping the Deities...

Yes, Maharaj, that is necessary. Why will devotees leave their service? They must do their service until death! But such is human nature, what can you do?... Gurudev said that Soquel temple was Govardhan, and neither Indra, nor fire (Agnidev) can do anything. When fire comes, we can worship Agni, it is not a problem. We can recite some mantras in worship of Agni. When we do sraddha ceremony, we also worship Agni, fire. Maybe, fire wants some puja, that is why it is coming—if fire comes, we can offer him some worship, no problem.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: I am thinking why will I go anywhere else? If I go somewhere else, I will get many problems, but I have no problems here.

Yes, Maharaj, yes. It is not necessary to go anywhere. Everything will be OK, fire cannot disturb our temple compound.

[Update, on 26 August, Srila Janardan Maharaj gave the happy news that the fire was backing off and not spreading towards the temple anymore.]

Question: Could you please tell us the pastime when Krishna visited Vidura?

When Krishna came to Vidura's house, Vidura was not at home. Krishna called out, "Vidur! Vidura!"—Vidura's wife was in the bathroom at that time, and as soon as she heard Krishna's calling, as soon as she understood that Krishna had come—what will she do? She does not know anything, she was so overwhelmed and excited that she came out of the bathroom without any clothes! When Krishna saw her coming in such a state, He closed His eyes and threw His uttariya to her. Then, Vidura's wife realised that she was naked and she became very shy. She quickly went back to her room and got dressed properly. By the time, Krishna sat down and waited. Soon, Vidura came home, and Krishna talked with Vidura. Vidura's wife was so excited, she did not know what she had to do. Vidura told her, "My friend has come! Give some food to Him! Give what you have in the house." She wanted to give Him some bananas, but instead of giving Him bananas, she peeled the skin and gave the banana skin to Krishna throwing away the banana! Vidura said to her, "What are you doing? Are you making fun of my friend?! You are giving Him banana skin!?" Then she saw what she was doing, "Oh, what am I doing!" She was not conscious of what she was doing, she was so overwhelmed to see Krishna, and she got very shy when she saw what she was doing.

This is what happened when Krishna came to Vidura's house. There is more history there, Srimad Bhagavatam describes it extensively, there are many big slokas, but I am telling you the gist.

* * *

Corrupted Life

Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 August 2020, part 5

Question: There are political parties that promote things like abortion, drug use, homosexuality, etc. which are incompatible with Krishna consciousness. Are the devotees who support these parties commit an offence?

Actually, we are not political men. Our 'candidate' is only Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. We do not involve ourselves with politics or politicians. Politicians always tell nonsense. You can see the news on television or in newspapers—everything is gossiping; one party gossips about another party, and one party is swearing another party. There is too much gossiping going on. That is why, we do not involve ourselves with politics.

You are asking about abortion, sexual matters, etc. We do not do these things; on the contrary, we always avoid female association. You can easily understand what female association means—it is called stri-sanga, and there are eight types of such association. For example, even if you just look at a girl with lust, with some sexual desires, it is also called stri-sanga. You must see all ladies as your mothers, as your godsisters, spiritual sisters. If you can see everyone in this way, it is very nice, and it is necessary to have such vision.

Scripture say that we must always avoid free mixing. Many of our lady devotees do the cooking, and we do not talk to them privately, secretly, or alone in some place. We do not look at them with lust. We always avoid these four things—dyuta, pana, striya, suna (gambling, intoxicants, free mixing, meat-eating). We always tell everyone, "Avoid illegal sex." Even if a husband and a wife stay at a temple, they will always avoid any sexual contact. You must see your wife as a servant of Krishna and with this view you will serve her. You must see her as a devotee, not as your wife. We are always against illegal sex. You know that. So, our line is to always avoid any illegal sex. If you love some woman and want to get married, you can get married, but do not have any sexual relationship with her before marriage. It is illegal. You must understand and follow it.

Actually, some people think that a certain political party wants to come to serve the country, but politicians always think about themselves. Corruption is everywhere—there may be more corruption in some countries and less corruption in some other countries, but there is corruption in every country. That is why we do not involve ourselves with political party—we do not want any political party movements. That is why I personally do not vote. Somebody asks me from time to time, "Maharaj, will you not go to the election centre to vote?" I reply, "No, Mahaprabhu is not a candidate there, what will I go there for?"

* * *

Worshippable Sita Thakurani

Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 August 2020, part 6

Sri and Sita are two sisters, two wives of Sri Advaita Prabhu. I have not read much about Sita Devi, but we know that when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born—when He came to the house of Sri Jagannath Misra and Sri Sachi Mata—Sri Advaita Prabhu knew who was coming (he knew the Lord was coming) because he and Haridas Thakur had been offering worship to the Lord with the Ganges water and Tulasi manjari (Haridas Thakur would call out loudly, and Advaita Prabhu would perform the worship), so when the Lord Himself eventually appeared at the house of Jagannath Misra, Advaita Prabhu sent Sita Devi with some gifts to Jagannath Misra's house. After Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He came to Advaita Prabhu's house in Shantipur and Sita Devi cooked for Him very nice preparations—on that day, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took full prasadam for first time in three days after taking sannyas. In the meantime, before sannyas, Nimai had been to Shantipur many times, and eventually Advaita Prabhu moved to Mayapur and made a house near Jagannath Misra's house. One time, when Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu came to their house and Sita Devi served Them some prasadam, Nityananda Prabhu was very angry with Advaita Prahbu and threw prasadam at him! Nityananda Prabhu was joking with Advaita Prabhu in this way—there was some squabble between them and Advaita Prabhu and Nityananda Prabhu had a fight.

When Advaita Prabhu sent Sri Sita Devi to Jagannath Misra's house after Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance and Sita Devi saw the boy, she thought that He was non-different from Krishna. Gurudev always sang at Gaura Purnima the song, "Chaudda-sata sata-sake masa ye phalguna" and there we find,

durva, dhanya, dila sirse, kaila bahu asise,
chirajivi hao dui bhai
dakini-sankhini haite, sanka upajila chite,
dare nama thuila 'nimai'

She blessed the newly born child by placing fresh durva grass and paddy on His head and saying, "May You live long." To protect Him from ghosts and witches, she gave the child the name Nimai.

So, it was actually Sita Devi who gave the name to Nimai. She took some 'durva' (a kind of grass) and some crops paddy, placed it on the boy's head and blessed Him, "May You live a long life!" In Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (1.13.111), Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says,

advaita-acharya-bharya, jagat-pujita arya,
nama tanra 'sita thakurani'
acharyera ajna pana, gela upahara lana,
dekhite balaka-siromani

"One day shortly after Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born, Advaita Acharya's wife, Sita Devi, who is worshipable by the whole world, took her husband's permission and went to see that topmost child with all kinds of gifts and presentations."

Advaita Acharya's wife, Sri Sita Thakurani, is worshipped by everyone all over the world. When she came to Jagannath Misra's house that day, she brought so many things with her—all kinds of ornaments, jewellery, silk clothes, etc.

You know also that one time, Sri Advaita Prabhu decided to preach mayavad (he started preaching in favour of jnana, claiming that knowledge was higher and mightier than devotion), and when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu heard about it, He came with Nityananda Prabhu to his house and started beating Advaita Prabhu! Seeing it, Sita Devi pleaded, "Prabhu, Advaita is very old! Besides, You are beating a brahman, it is not right! It is against the sastra! If You kill a brahman, You will make an offence that will never be removed!" When Nityananda Prabhu saw what was happening, He laughed. In the end, Advaita Acharya said to Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, if You think that I am being fickle-minded, then please forgive me!" Then, both looked at each other and started laughing. Then, Mahaprabhu went to the Ganges along with Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita, and Haridas, and Sita Devi prepared nice prasadam and served it to them when they returned. Mahaprabhu always called Advaita Prabhu's wife Sita Devi 'Mother' and He was always eager to take prasadam at their house. Later, when Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He again came to their house in Shantipur, and after that, Advaita Acharya, Sita Thakurani and their son Achyutananda Prabhu would go to Nilachal (Puri) every year—Sri Sita Thakurani would make Mahaprabhu's favourite preparations and bring it for Him to Puri.

In Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (3.10.134), it says,

madhye madhye acharyadi kare nimantrana
ghare bhata randhe ara vividha vyanjana

"From time to time, Advaita Acharya and others would invite Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for home-cooked rice and varieties of vegetables."

Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu always went to Advaita Prabhu's house.

In Sri Bhakti-ratnakar it is said that the name of Sita Thakurani's father is Nrisingha Bhaduri, and he had two daughters, Sri and Sita. In Gaura-ganodesa-dipika it is said,

yogamaya bhagavati grhini tasya sampratam
sitarupenavatirna 'sri' namni tat prakasatah

"Worshippable Yogamaya incarnated in this age as Sita Devi, the spouse of Sri Advaita Prabhu, and as Sri, an expansion of Sita Devi."

Question: What mood should we have towards Sri Sita Devi?

Mahaprabhu respected and treated her as His mother, so we should have the same mood towards Sri Sita Devi as we show towards Sachi Devi and Yasoda Mata. Mother Yasoda and Sachi Mata are very fortunate to have got the Lord as their son. We need Mother Yasoda, Mother Sachi Devi, and Mother Sita Devi's mercy—we must get their mercy, we must want to get their mercy. Also, Sri Sita Devi is actually Yogamaya. I have just told about it, it is written in the sloka above...

* * *

Service Succession

Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 August 2020, part 7

Are there any questions?

Question: Could you please tell us if there is a pastime of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Siliguri?

No, there is not. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to North Bengal, He only went up to Malda, not farther than that (crossing the Ganges, He came to Ramkeli to meet with Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami). However, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur went to Siliguri and Darjeeling, etc. and he established a centre in Darjeeling, but devotees could not tolerate so much cold, so that centre is now already closed. Gurudev told me that if I got a chance, I could make a centre in Darjeeling, but when I went to Darjeeling for the first time to search for a land, I saw that there was a big problem with water shortage, that is why I felt very uncomfortable to make a centre there. The water there used to come only from the mountain, so there was always water deficiency. That is why I did not do anything there, but when I made a centre in Siliguri, many devotees, including foreign devotees, actually went to Darjeeling from Siliguri for book distribution. Darjeeling is a tourist place, so it is a very good place for collection and book distribution. Now also they keep water in some other way, so there is no problem with water in hotels, etc. If devotees want, they can preach there. It is a good place for preaching because, as I said, it is a tourist place.

Are there any other questions?

Question: How did Govinda become Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's servitor?

Govinda Das is Ishwar Puri's disciple. When Ishwar Puri became very old, Govinda Das asked him, "Gurudev, whom shall I serve after you?" Ishwar Puri ordered his disciple Govinda Das, "You can go to Mahaprabhu and serve Him." After that, when Ishwar Puri left his body, Govinda Prabhu came to Mahaprabhu and prayed to Him, "Please accept me as Your personal servitor." At first Mahaprabhu was a little hesitant to accept his prayer, He said, "Gurur sevak haya manya se amara (Cc 2.10.142). We must give respect to a servitor of our Gurudev. How shall I accept you as My personal servitor?" Svarup Damodar, Ray Ramananda were there at that time, and they said, "Yes, Prabhu, that is what scriptures say—gurur sevak haya manya se amara, we must always give respect to Gurudev's servitors. But if Gurudev gives an order, how will You avoid it? Will You follow the instruction of the scriptures or will You follow your Gurudev's instruction? That is our question. What is important for You?" Then, Mahaprabhu admitted that the order of the Guru was more important, and He accepted Govinda, "Yes, I have to follow my Guru's instruction, so I have to accept your service. You can come as My personal servant." This is how Govinda Prabhu became a personal servitor of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Also, I remember one time I saw a disciple of Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj had come to our Math to take shelter of our Gurudev. Gurudev told him, "You are already a disciple of my guru-varga (Puri Maharaj), then how can I give initiation to you? If you want to stay and serve here, bring a letter from your Guru where your Guru will say, 'Govinda Maharaj, I do not mind it, you can take my servitor for your service,' then I can accept you."

Srila Janardan Maharaj: ...We first purchased the property here in Soquel on Radhastami day. The county gave us the title for the property, it was 1993, twenty-eight years ago.

Yes, Srimati Radharani is important for our spiritual life. Also, Sri Lalita-samptami is on Tuesday next week. Gurudev always gives respect to Srimati Lalita Devi and he always told us, "When you go for Vrindavan parikrama, you will go to Uchagaon, the bithplace of Lalita Devi." So, every year when we go to Vrindavan, we first visit Lalita Devi's birthplace, then we go to Varshana to see Radharani's and Vrishabhanu Raja's house. Also, we visit Ravel, Srimati Radharani's birthplace... We must give Srimati Lalita Devi as much respect as we give to Srimati Radharani, and we must worship Srimati Radharani,

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing."

You will never get the mercy of Krishna without worshipping Radharani. Therefore, we must worship Srimati Radharani. Moreover, Krishna takes the heart and halo of Srimati Radharani and comes to this world as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. For this reason, we always worship Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

I am closing the meeting for today and again giving my obeisance to my guru-varga who are present here—Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj and Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj. I am also giving my full obeisance to my friend Srila Bhakti Vijay Trivikram Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Bandhav Puri Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Niskam Shanta Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Vijnan Muni Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Vaibhav Parivrajak Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Rasik Sannyasi Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Ujjval Sajjan Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj—I am giving my full obeisance to you all, as well as all the devotees all over the world. Please forgive my offences and please accept me as your humble servant. I am always at your service—you can call me any time, I am always with you. Do not worry about anything, you are always in my heart. I have to follow Gurudev's order, so I have to always be with you no matter what circumstances, no matter what problems come along. I am always ready to fight against maya. You always give me so much enthusiasm and energy to serve my Guru.

Jay Srila Gurudev Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay

* * *

Appearance of Universal Guru

Kolkata-Worldwide, 30 August 2020

Tomorrow is Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's appearance day. I want to say something about Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

You all know who is Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur—Sad-chit-ananda Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. He is there in our guru-parampara. Our Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote his pranam mantra, and everything is there in that mantra:

guru-dam grantha-dam gaura-dhama-dam nama-dam muda
bhakti-dam bhuri-dam vande bhakti-vinodakam sada

"He is the giver of Sri Guru; he is the giver of scriptures; he is giver of the holy dham of Gaura; he is the giver of the Name; he is the giver of pure devotion; he is the greatest donor. I always offer my obeisance to this Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur."

(Sri Laghu-chandrika-bhasya, 1.8)

gaurangaika-gatim gadadhara-matim svananda-kunja-sthitim
govindaika-patim vrajasrita-ratim radhanghri-seva-krtim
sachchhastraika-natim kusanga-viratim duhstha-vyatha-niskrtim
vande bhaktivinodam-agama-tithinchasya prajasam-krtim

"I offer my obeisance unto Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, whose only path is Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu, whose only object of meditation is Sri Gadadhar Pandit, who resides in Svananda Sukhada Kunja (Godrumdwip, Sri Nabadwip Dham), whose only master of Lord Govinda, who is attracted to the souls who have taken shelter in Vraja, who serves the holy lotus feet of Srimati Radharani, who worships pure conclusions of the scriptures, avoids any bad association and is free from any suffering or pain—I worship the very day when Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, the universal king, appeared in this world."

In the pranam mantra of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Sridhar Maharaj writes:

Guru-dam. It means Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has given us Guru. If he had not given us Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, how would we have got Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj? How would we have got Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj?

Grantha-dam. You know that Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote and composed so many books, songs, and other works. He wrote Sriman Mahaprabhu's Siksa (Chaitanya-siksamrita), Jaiva Dharma, Datta-kaustubham, Tattva-viveka, Sri Gauranga-smarana-mangal, Sri Harinam-chintamani, Sri Bhagavata Arka-marici-mala, Saranagati, Gitavali, Kalyan-kalpataru, Bhajan-rahasya, Chaitanya-charitamrita's Amrita-pravaha-bhasya, Siksastaka-bhasya, Siksastaka Kirtans, etc. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wrote Siksastakam slokas ("cheto darpana marjanam...", etc.) but Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur composed songs turning those slokas into kirtans. For example, Sriman Mahaprabhu said,

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)

And Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur sings,

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi' ahankara
vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji' anye karabi palana
jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean. Practise tolerance like a tree. Give up vengeance and nurture others. Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others."

Who composed all this? Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. That is why, he is grantha-dam (the giver of scriptures).

Gaura-dhama-dam. Gaura-dham means Sri Dham Mayapur, Nabadwip. Everybody used to say that Gaura-dham had already submerged into the Ganges. It is true, the Ganges can take the land, but the Ganges can also give Prabhu's land back. Who identified that land? Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, with the help of Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj. One day, when Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur was chanting the Holy Name at his Svananda Sukhada Kunja in Godrumdwip, he saw a very exalted light far away. When he came to the place where the light appeared, he saw there were so many Tulasi plants growing there. After that, he had some doubt and he brought Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj to that place. Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj was carried there in a basket by his servitor. When he arrived at the site, he jumped out of the basket and cried, "I have got it! I have got my Prabhu's birthplace! This is Mahaprabhu's place!" Who has given us this place? Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

Nama-dam. He has given us the Holy Name! After Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, there was Srila Narottam Das Thakur, Srila Acharya Srivinas, Srila Jiva Goswami, Srila Shyamananda Prabhu, but after them so many shops opened at the market of the Holy Name (mano-hari dokan, the shop of imaginary God)—aul, baul, kartabhaja, neda, darvesh, sani, sahajiya, sakhibekhi, smarta, jata gosai, ativadi, churadhari, gauranga-nagari. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur came and declared, "I am the sweeper of the market of the Holy Name! I will sweep away all bad things and throw it all out of the market of the Holy Name!" Later, Sisir Ghosh wrote: we know there are six goswamis, but we can see that Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is the seventh goswami (saptam goswami).

Bhakti-dam, bhuri-dam. He gave devotion, he gave so many things.

Vande bhakti-vinodakam sada. We always bow down in obeisance before this Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

Sometimes, we sing one song about Srila Saraswati Thakur, and there it says,

sri-gauranga-parisada thakura bhakti-vinoda
dina-hina patitera bandhu
kali-tamah vinasite anilena avanite
toma' akalanka purna indu

"Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur is an associate of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and a friend of all low and fallen souls—to dispel all darkness of this dark age, he brought to this earth you [Srila Saraswati Thakur], a spotless full moon."

This personality whose name is Thakura Bhaktivinod is an associate of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu (sri-gauranga-parisada), and he is also Guna Manjari. He is a friend of all fallen souls. Demolishing the darkness of Kali, he brought light, he brought the moon to this world (the moon of Mayapur, the moon of Nabadwip—Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu; and Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur). Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur and his wife went to Bimala Devi in Jagannath Puri and prayed to her, "Please, give us a son who will be able to preach properly about You." Bimala Devi gave them a son, he was named Bimala Prasad, and later he became known as Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has given us our Guru.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur also composed Saranagati, there are so many songs there, we sing many of them also. Our Param Guru Maharaj Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also wrote Sri Bhaktivinod-viraha-dasakam. You can find it in our Gaudiya Gitanjali, or the Kirtan Guide. We do not have time now to read it all, but I want to read a little from there now. When Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj composed this Sri Bhaktivinod-viraha-dasakam and Srila Saraswati Thakur saw it, he said, "You did not write this! Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur himself has written this!" I want to read one sloka from there now, it is very important. It is sloka number nine,

srigauranumatam svarupaviditam rupagrajenadrtam
rupadyaih parivesitam raghuganairasvaditam sevitam
jivadyair abhiraksitam sukasivabrahmadi sammanitam
sriradhapadasevanamrtam aho tad datum iso bhavan

"What was sanctioned by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by His descent was intimately known only to Sri Svarupa Damodara Goswami. It was adored by Sanatan Goswami and served by Rupa Goswami and his followers. Raghunatha Das Goswami tasted that wonderful thing fully and enhanced it with his own realization. And Jiva Goswami supported and protected it by quoting the scriptures from different places. The taste of that divine truth is aspired for by Brahma, Siva, and Uddhava, who respect it as the supreme goal of life. What is this wonderful truth? Sri radhapadasevana: that the highest nectar of our life is the service of Srimati Radharani. This is most wonderful. O Bhakti Vinoda Thakur, you are our master. It is within your power to allow them to bestow their grace upon us. You are in a position to bestow the highest gift ever known to the world upon us all. It is at your disposal. O Bhaktivinod Thakur, please be kind to us and grant us your mercy."

What is the meaning of this sloka? "What Sri Svarup Damodar keeps in his heart, what Srila Sanatan Goswami showed full respect to, what Srila Rupa Goswami distributed, what Srila Raghunath Das Goswami tasted and relished, what Srila Jiva Prabhu took care of and protected, what Suka, demigods, Mahadev, Uddhav, Brahma and others worship—you, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, are the perfect person who can give that to us. That gift is the very lotus feet of Srimati Radharani."

What is written by our Param Gurudev Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj is very nice. Thakur Mahasay also composed Nabadwip-dham Mahatmya. He has done so many things, there are so many pastimes in his life—how he became a devotee, how he became so exalted, so many things happened in his life. I am praying to Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, "Prabhu, wherever you are staying now, please give me some mercy, please engage us in your service and in the service to your devotees."

Jay Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur ki jay

* * *

Online Assembly of Dham-Bhusana Vaishnavs

Appearance day of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur
Kolkata-Mayapur, 31 August 2020
Translated from Bengali

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad ki jay
Madiya siksa-guru Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Jayapataka Swami Maharaj ki jay

By the mercy of Srila Jayapataka Swami Maharaj we have got an opportunity to speak and hear about Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur in this class amidst the pandemic situation through the medium of zoom. Today is a very auspicious day, we have all gathered here today to observe this holy day.

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj begging him for his causeless mercy, aspiring for his service; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to all assembled guru-varga, godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, brahmacharis, and sannyasis. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this low soul.

Today is a very auspicious day—today is the holy appearance day of Srila Sach-chid-ananda Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. Every year, we hold this festival in Surabhi Kunja, we celebrate the holy appearance day of this great soul in the association of all Gaudiya Vaishnavs, adhering to their lotus feet, but due to the current situation, because it is not possible to gather many people in one place, we have got this opportunity to hear and chant the glories of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur from afar, staying in various places, and this is a great fortune for us. It has become possible by courtesy of the Acharyadev of ISKCON, my siksa-guru Om Vishnupad Srila Jayapataka Maharaj. I am offering hundreds of obeisances at his holy feet.

So, today is the holy appearance day of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. My Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj composed one sloka, his pranam-mantra:

guru-dam grantha-dam gaura-dhama-dam nama-dam muda
bhakti-dam bhuri-dam vande bhakti-vinodakam sada

"He is the giver of Sri Guru; he is the giver of scriptures; he is giver of the holy dham of Gaura; he is the giver of the Name; he is the giver of pure devotion; he is the greatest donor. I always offer my obeisance to this Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur."

(Sri Laghu-chandrika-bhasya, 1.8)

The meaning of this pranam-mantra is this. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur gave us guru (guru-dam). If he had not come to this world, how do you think we would have got Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur? By his blessing, by his mercy we have got Bimala-prasad—we have got Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur. Grantha-dam. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur composed many scriptures. We sing so many kirtans, including many kirtans from his book Saranagati. We have got from him Chaitanya-siksamrita, Jaiva-dharma, Datta-kaustubham, Sri Anvaya Sutra, Sri Gauranga-smarana-mangal, Sri Harinam-chintamani, Kalyan-kalpataru, Gitavali, Saranagati, Bhajan-rahasya and many other books. Gaura-dhama-dam. He gave us Mayapur Dham. Many used to say that the Ganges had taken away the dham; it is true, but the Ganges also gave the dham back. One day, when Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur was chanting the Holy Name at his house at Svananda-sukhada Kunja, he saw a divine light in Sri Mayapur, at the place where Yogapith is now. When he went there, he saw a Tulasi garden and after that he came there with the highest Vaishnav Pujyapad Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj. Arriving there, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj jumped out of his basket and cried, "This is my Prabhu's birthplace!" Later on, many had filed court cases against Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur had to tolerate the atrocities of all the apa-sampradayas (aul, baul, karttabhaja, nera, daravesa, sani, sakhibheki, jata-gosai, etc.).

Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also composed a very beautiful poem called Sri Bhaktivinod-viraha Dasakam. It is not possible to read it all now, but I can describe at least one sloka from there. When Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur read this Bhaktivinod-viraha Dasakam, he said to Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, "You did not write this. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur himself wrote this!"

srigauranumatam svarupaviditam rupagrajenadrtam
rupadyaih parivesitam raghuganairasvaditam sevitam
jivadyair abhiraksitam sukasivabrahmadi sammanitam
sriradhapadasevanamrtam aho tad datum iso bhavan

"What was sanctioned by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by His descent was intimately known only to Sri Svarupa Damodara Goswami. It was adored by Sanatan Goswami and served by Rupa Goswami and his followers. Raghunatha Das Goswami tasted that wonderful thing fully and enhanced it with his own realization. And Jiva Goswami supported and protected it by quoting the scriptures from different places. The taste of that divine truth is aspired for by Brahma, Siva, and Uddhava, who respect it as the supreme goal of life. What is this wonderful truth? Sri radhapadasevana: that the highest nectar of our life is the service of Srimati Radharani. This is most wonderful. O Bhakti Vinoda Thakur, you are our master. It is within your power to allow them to bestow their grace upon us. You are in a position to bestow the highest gift ever known to the world upon us all. It is at your disposal. O Bhaktivinod Thakur, please be kind to us and grant us your mercy."

It is very beautiful. I will read the meaning of only this one sloka. "The nectar of the holy lotus feet of Srimati Radharani that Sri Svarup Damodar keeps in his heart, that Srila Sanatan Goswami adores, that Srila Rupa Goswami distributes, that Srila Raghunath Das Goswami tastes and relishes, that Srila Jiva Prabhu takes care of and protects, that Suka, demigods, Mahadev, Uddhav, Brahma and others worship—O Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur! only you can distribute this supreme wealth." He gave this type of highest position to Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

Sripad Bhakti Purushottam Swami Maharaj was just saying that Sriman Nityananda Prabhu had established Nama-hatta, the market of the Holy Name. Eventually, aul, baul, sahajiya, etc. sampradays had opened so many shops of imaginary God at this market, but Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur came and said, "I will be the sweeper! I will sweep away all weeds and clean the marketplace!"

Moreover, Sisur Ghosh called Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur 'the seventh goswami.' We all know there are six goswamis:

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!"

And Sisur Ghosh said, "After the six goswamis, we see that Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is the seventh."

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur was born on 2 September 1838 (13 Bhadra 1245) in Birnagar village. At the age of eleven, he lost his father and was then brought up at his maternal uncle's house. When he was a child, he used to be afraid of ghosts, and his grandmother said to him, "If you are afraid of ghosts, then chant the Name of Rama." He asked her, "What is the Name of Rama?" She explained, "Rama is omni-present, omniscient Supreme Lord Hari, the embodiment of eternity, consciousness and bliss—if you chant His Name, you will have no fear of ghosts." Later in his life, he worked as Deputy Magistrate in many places. When he worked as Deputy Magistrate in Dinajpur, he got an opportunity to give lectures on Bhagavatam and Chaitanya-charitamrita. He also stayed and worked as Deputy Magistrate in Puri for five years, during this time he also supervised the conduct of Ratha-yatra (he supervised how the chariots will go, how everything will be arranged, etc.). There, in Puri, there was one sadhu named Raghunath Das Babaji Maharaj who did not want to associate with Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur because Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur did not have a mala on his neck, etc. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said to him, "Prabhu, you see I have no tilaks, no mala, etc. and you look down on me. Please forgive me. What am I to do, Babaji Maharaj? What is my fault? Tilaks and mala come through a guru, but Mahaprabhu has not connected me to a guru yet. Would it be right to take up mala and chant whimsically?" Then, Raghunath Das Babaji Maharaj understood him and praised him very much.

And one more thing I want to say is this.

sri-gauranga-parisada thakura bhakti-vinoda
dina-hina patitera bandhu
kali-tamah vinasite anilena avanite
toma' akalanka purna indu

"Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur is an associate of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and a friend of all low and fallen souls—to dispel all darkness of this dark age, he brought to this earth you [Srila Saraswati Thakur], a spotless full moon."

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has given us Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur—therefore, we have nothing more to say on this day. We are unqualified. "Prabhu, please, wherever you are staying now, make us a servant of your servants, please engage us in your service." This is our prayer to Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

Jay Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur Mahasay ki jay.

* * *

Proper Service Life

Disappearance day of Srila Haridas Thakur
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 1 September 2020, part 1
Translated from Bengali

Today is a very special day. This past week there have been such special days as the appearance of Lord Vamanadev and appearance day of Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu on dvadasi, the next day (yesterday, trayodasi) was Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's appearance, and today, on ananta-chaturdasi, it is Srila Haridas Thakur's disappearance. Tomorrow is purnima, so everybody must shave their heads in the morning after mangal arati. [Addressing male devotees:] You must shave your heads every purnima. Personally, I shave my head twice a month—I do not like to let the hair grow even for one month. I have no attachment to this hair. It is the souls of the material world that are attached to such things. You cannot use this hair in service, so if it is of no use, it is better not to keep it then. [Does not apply to ladies.]

Three new devotees received initiation this morning. I have told it many times that you do not become a disciple just by taking initiation. Taking initiation means you get admitted into a school, and you do not pass the exam just by getting admitted into a school—it is necessary to study. In the world of devotion, it is also like that—it is necessary to study. There are sixty-four types of devotional practices, and there are five among them that are main:

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."

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

What does it mean to serve Deities with faith? We have no right to enter the Deities' room to worship the Deities, we have no right to enter the kitchen to cook, but we can connect everything we do with the Lord. For example, if you serve cows in the goshala, you can use the cows' milk in the service of the Lord, then in this way, by serving cows you can serve the Lordships. Even washing the dishes is also service to the Lordships. Cutting vegetables is also service to the Lord. The topmost practices among the five main practices are sravan and kirtan. I watch everyone—some keep silent during kirtans, I see that you cannot chant the kirtans with your mouth, out loud. How many kirtans have you learnt by heart, Prabhu?

Devotee: None so far.

Not even one? Why not? You have been here for so many days, you have been sitting for the morning and evening kirtans. There are five kirtans chanted every morning and five kirtans chanted every evening, you can learn them by heart. You do not need to keep reading them from a book to learn them by heart—if you just chant and chant, you will automatically remember them. Reading books is for studying, but when you do kirtans, you do not just read them; you cannot chant kirtans from your heart just by reading them. You have no devotion for kirtan. When you join sankirtan, this is the highest service to the Lord. When you do sankirtan, when you chant the glories of the Lord, everybody becomes happy. Just as when somebody glorifies you, you become happy—when you glorify the Lord, the Lord becomes happy. That is why I always tell you to memorise kirtans. 'Memorise' means you can simply sit here and as you chant the kirtans you can remember them. I never read any books to remember the kirtans—I just chanted them with everyone and remembered them in this way. Even when I am alone, I chant kirtans in my mind to myself.

Wake up and chant,

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari

Being merciful to the souls, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode.

atyanta durlabha prema karibare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana

To distribute the most rare form of divine love, He teaches surrender, which is the life of the devotees.

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'...

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

Engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion ...

bhaja re bhaja re amar mana ati manda
(bhajan vina gati nai re)

"Serve! Serve! My mind is so foolish. There is no way other than service! O my foolish mind! There is no way other than service."

thakura vaisnava-gana kari ei nivedana
mo bada adhama durachara

"O worshippable Vaisnavas, I offer you this prayer. I am very fallen and wicked."

These are all morning kirtans. You must chant all kirtans. There are also Nityananda Prabhu's kirtans — "Akrodha paramananda Nityananda Ray," "Nitai-guna-mani amar." Sriman Mahaprabhu's kirtans—"Gauranga dyuti pada yara dhana sampada." Try to understand that the Lord becomes happy through kirtan. If you have some desires in your mind and heart, how will you keep the Lord there? You must give space in your heart for the Lord. If your heart is full of kanak, kamini, pratistha, kama, krodha, lobha, moha, etc. (desire for money, companions, fame; lust, anger, greed, illusion), then where will He sit? Keep some space for the Lord in your heart. It is necessary.

kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, abhimana saha
apana apana sthane tane
aichana amara mana phire yena andha jana
supatha vipatha nahi jane

"Lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and ego all pull me in their own directions. Thus my mind wanders like a blind man who does not know the right way from the wrong way."

Do not do what your mind wants. Our mind is blind, it does not know which way is good, which way is bad. Just as a blind man cannot walk without somebody's help, our mind is also blind and needs a bona fide guru who can direct it towards the right path. That is why I tell you to read scriptures, to come for kirtans.

There also mangal arati kirtans—

kali-kukkura-kadana yadi chao he
kali-yuga-pavana kali-bhaya-nasana,
sri-sachi-nandana gao he

If you want to tame the dog Kali, then chant 'Sri Sachi Nandan!' He is the saviour and destroyer of fear in Kali-yuga.

gadadhara-madana nitai-era prana-dhana,
advaitera prapujita gora
nimai visvambhara srinivasa-isvara,
bhakata samuha-chita-chora

He is Gadadhar's joy, and Nitai's life and wealth. He is worshipped by Advaita Acharya. He is known as Nimai, and is the maintainer of the universe. He is Srivas Thakur's Lord, and He steals the devotees' hearts.

nadiya-sasadhara mayapura-isvara,
nama-prabartana-sura
grhijana-siksaka nyasi-kula-nayaka,
madhava-radhabhava pura

He is the moon of Nadia, the Lord of Mayapur, and the inaugurator of Hari-nam-sankirtan. He is the teacher of the householders and the leader of the sannyasis. He is Madhava replete with Radha's heart.

sarvabhauma-sodhana gajapati-tarana,
ramananda-posana vira
rupananda-vardhana sanatana-palana,
haridasa-modana-dhira

He is the purifier of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and the deliverer of Maharaj Prataparudra. He is the maintainer of Ramananda Ray and the hero of all. He is the guardian of Srila Sanatan Goswami and the joy of Srila Rupa Goswami. He is the delight of Haridas Thakur and is perfectly sober.

vraja rasa-bhavana dustamata-satana,
kapati-vighatana-kama
suddha bhakta-palana suska-jnana-tadana,
chhala-bhakti-dusana-rama

He is absorbed in Vraja's rasas. He is the dispeller of misconception, lust, and deceit. He is the maintainer of the pure devotees and the dispeller of dry knowledge. He is the eradicator of pseudo-devotion and the reservoir of all pleasure.

You must chant all kirtans. You must remember the bhoga arati kirtan ('Bhaja bhakata-vatsala Sri Gaura Hari') by heart. If you go for preaching and somebody tells you to chant the bhoga arati kirtan, what will you do? They will ask you how many days you have been in the Math that you cannot chant it. What will the householder devotees say? Householders wake up in the morning, do mangal arati, chant kirtans, give class, etc. Those who are true householder devotees practise properly. Practice makes perfect. Our sangha's name is Chaitanya Saraswat Krishna-anusilana sangha—Krishna consciousness is practised here. There should be nothing else except for discussions about the Lord and service to the Lord. There are so many works—building for the Lord, building for devotees, service to the devotees. Everything is service for the devotees, and you must take part in this service otherwise your life will pass in vain. Whether you live in a house, in a temple or in a jungle, you must always think about the Lord: "Grhe thako, vane thako, sada 'Hari' bole dako, whether you stay in a house or in a forest, always call out the Holy Name."

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)

When Mahaprabhu was leaving Nabadwip, He said to everyone:

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

"If you have any love and affection for Me, then only say 'Krishna'—do not say anything except 'Krishna.'"

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

He asked devotees, "Do you really love Me? Do you have any love and affection for Me?" They replied, "Yes, we do, Prabhu." And Mahaprabhu said, "Then, I want to tell you one thing." What advice did He give?

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

"If you have any love and affection for Me, then only say 'Krishna'—do not say anything except 'Krishna.'"

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

"You must chant the Name of Krishna and tell others to chant His Name."

Anyhow, when I come here, I usually do not get time to give class, but I was thinking that today, on this ananta-chaturdasi, I will stay to give class...

* * *

Glories of Srila Haridas Thakur (1)

Disappearance day of Srila Haridas Thakur
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 1 September 2020, part 2
Translated from Bengali

Today is the disappearance day of Srila Haridas Thakur. We can speak and hear today about the glories of Srila Haridas Thakur.

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')

Because of the ardent cries of Srila Advaita Prabhu and Srila Haridas Thakur, the Lord descended from Goloka to this material world (Bhuloka). Advaita Thakur worshipped the Lord with the Ganga water and some Tulasi leaves, and Haridas Thakur would loudly chant the Name of the Lord. In this way, they brought the Lord from Goloka to this world—Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in this world in order to save such fallen souls as ourselves. Today, we are going to speak about this Haridas Thakur.

Not much is mentioned about Srila Haridas Thakur's birth, but it is known that he is an incarnation of Lord Brahma. Sri Advaita Prabhu was an incarnation of Maha-Vishnu. In this age of Kali, Brahma comes as Haridas Thakur and performs his pastimes with Mahaprabhu. Haridas Thakur appeared before Mahaprabhu. As I have already said, Haridas Thakur would loudly chant the Lord's Name. Why did he chant loudly? Why did he not chant silently, in this mind? Because if you chant loudly, then the living beings that cannot hear, cannot speak, cannot move (plants, trees, insects, beasts, birds, etc.), also get some benefit. That is why we must chant kirtans out loud. Srila Haridas Thakur would chant three hundred thousand Names daily. Can you imagine this? It takes four hours to chant one hundred thousand Names, and he chanted more than three hundred thousand Names. He would chant more than ten million Holy Names a month!

When Haridas Thakur came to Nabadwip, Mahaprabhu asked him, "Haridas, how will all these yavans (Muslim people) become rescued in this age of Kali?" Srila Haridas Thakur said, "They will get liberated by chanting the shadow of the Holy Name (Namabhasa)." When one chants the Holy Name and it is not perfect chanting, it is called Namabhas. Muslim people always say, "Haram [bad, abominable]!", "It is haram to eat this," "It is haram to say this," and so on. "Haram" means "Ha Rama! [O Rama!]" This is how, he said, they will get liberation. You can hear Muslim people say, "Do not say this, it is haram! Hey, do not eat this, it is haram!" They never take Lord Rama's Name, but when they keep saying, "Haram," they say "Ha Rama," and chant the Lord's Name in this way. They will get rescued because of their chanting of the Lord Rama's Name.

I want to say a few things about Srila Haridas Thakur. His life is described in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita and Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata.

Srila Haridas Thakur was born and brought up in a yavan family. I have already told you that he is an incarnation of Lord Brahma. One time, he was beaten at twenty-two marketplaces to stop his chanting of the Holy Name. It happened in this age of Kali during the time of Mahaprabhu. They beat him at marketplaces so that everyone could see it and not chant the Holy Name, "If you chant the Holy Name, you will be guilty and punished in this way too!" This is how Muslim kings would punish—by bashing people at marketplaces. They kept him in prison at first, but by his association other prisoners began chanting the Holy Name (the Hare Krishna maha-mantra). Before they, seeing he was a sadhu, they came to him with folded palms saying, "Prabhu, please think about us." Srila Haridas Thakur said (it is written in Chaitanya-bhagavata), "Stay as you are!" They were angry to hear it, "We must always be as we are? Must we stay forever in prison and die here?!" This is not what he wanted to say actually, what he wanted to say is, "You have come to me with humility (trnad api sunichena...), and I pray you always remain like this." Then they understood him. Later, when the guards beat him at one marketplace after another, they saw that Haridas Thakur did not die from the beating and they began to cry bitterly. Then, on the order of the king, they threw him in the Ganges. The king thought, "If we bury him, he will go to heaven!" So, they threw him into the Ganges, and Haridas Thakur in this way arrived in Kuliya, near Shantipur.

In Kuliya, he lived and engaged in his service in a cave (it is still there). One enormous and very poisonous snake lived in that cave, it would emanate such a bad smell around that nobody could stay near that place. One day, some people came to Haridas Thakur and prayed, "Prabhu, please give us your mercy. We had to leave our houses and go away from this place..." By the mercy of Srila Haridas Thakur, that snake went away from that place.

* * *

Glories of Srila Haridas Thakur (2)

Disappearance day of Srila Haridas Thakur
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 1 September 2020, part 3
Translated from Bengali

Srila Haridas Thakur stayed in Benapole (Bangladesh). It is situated at the border between West Bengal and Bangladesh—there is Petrapol (also known as Haridaspur) at one side of the boarder and Benapole on the other. There is still a temple in Benapole, it is run by babajis. So, Haridas Thakur made a bhajan kutir in Benapole and stayed there. Many people used to come to him, and the local landlord Ramachandra Khan became envious thinking, "I have to pay people money (salary) so that they stay with me, but people come to him without any money! Why do they stay with him?!" Out of jealously, he decided, "I shall test him and see what kind of a sadhu he is!" Then, he arranged for Laksahira, a very beautiful young prostitute. He told her, "I will pay you. You have to seduce him by hook or by crook!"

Next day, Laksahira dressed up nicely and came to Haridas Thakur. When she came to his bhajan kutir, she saw Haridas Thakur was chanting the Holy Name. She came to him and said, "Haridas, you are such a fine young man. I like you so much," etc. Haridas Thakur continued chanting the Holy Name. By and by, evening came, then night passed. When the sun rose the next day, she saw that Haridas Thakur was still chanting the Holy Name, so she returned to Ramachandra Khan with the news. Ramachandra Khan asked her,

"So, what has happened?"

"Nothing, he is only chanting on his beads, he does not even look my side."

"Oh really? Go again today!"

She came to Haridas Thakur on the second day. She kept asking Haridas Thakur, "Prabhu, please fulfil my desire." Haridas Thakur said, "All right, I will fulfil your desire," and continued chanting the Holy Name. Soon, it was evening again, and another night passed in this way—when the sun rose the next day, Haridas Thakur was again still chanting the Holy Name. Laksahira left and went back to Ramachandra Khan.

Ramachandra Khan asked her,

"So, what has happened?"

"Nothing, but he said he would fulfil my desire..."

So, she came to Haridas Thakur again the next day. She said, "You said you would fulfil my desire. When will you do it?" Haridas Thakur replied, "I would have fulfilled your desire today, but it is the end of the month and I have not completed my koti-nama-yajna (a vow of chanting ten million Holy Names), so I am trying to chant more at the end of the month." So, three days passed in this way. When Laksahira came to Haridas Thakur on the fourth day, because she had been hearing the Holy Name, her mind, her heart had melted—when she came on the fourth day, she first did Tulasi parikrama. She paid obeisance to Tulasi and to Haridas Thakur. Then, Haridas Thakur asked her,

"Now tell me, why have you been behaving like this? I see that you have no malice... Tell me what has happened?"

Then she told the truth, "I did not come to you of my own accord, Ramachandra has sent me."

"Oh, Ramachandra Khan... He does not have a good intelligence. May Lord be merciful to him."

Then, Laksahira prayed to Haridas Thakur, "Prabhu, please, give me your mercy. Please rescue me from this material life, from material suffering. I am a fallen conditioned soul, I have committed offence at your holy feet, please forgive me."

Haridas Thakur replied, "I could have left this place three days ago, but I stayed here only for you. I am leaving now, and now that you have got a good habit, stay here in this kutir from now on and do Tulasi seva. You do not need to worry about food or anything else."

From that time on, Laksahira stayed in that bhajan kutir. The news spread all over the country that Laksahira, a prostitute, had become a Vaishnavi, and by the grace of the Lord many people would send food for her—so much food would come that she could not even eat it all. In this way, when you serve the Lord, you do not need to worry about anything. Such is the glory of Srila Haridas Thakur.

* * *

Glories of Srila Haridas Thakur (3)

Disappearance day of Srila Haridas Thakur
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 1 September 2020, part 4
Translated from Bengali

One day, Srila Haridas Thakur told Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, when You come to stay in Puri, I will stay there with You." Mahaprabhu agreed, and as He was staying in Kashi Misra's house in Puri, He asked Kashi Misra and Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya to arrange some place where Srila Haridas Thakur could make his bhajan kutir. His bhajan kutir was very near Jagannath Mandir, there is also a Siddha Bakul tree in that place. One day, Mahaprabhu secretly took a twig offered to Lord Jagannath as a toothbrush and the Bakul Tree sprang from that twig. It is still there, but the tree had left its body, only the bark is left. So, Srila Haridas Thakur would stay under that Bakul Tree and spend his days doing his service there. He never went to Jagannath Temple, he said, "I am a yavan, and there are many pandas (priests), many high-caste personalities—if I go there, it is crowded and my body can touch their bodies. I will commit an offence."

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would go to Jagannath Temple every morning for mangal arati—He would take darshan of Lord Jagannath, and after that, every single day, he would come to take darshan of Srila Haridas Thakur. Mahaprabhu would personally come to him. After meeting with Srila Haridas Thakur, Mahaprabhu would go to bathe in the ocean. Such was Mahaprabhu's daily routine.

What prasad did Srila Haridas Thakur take? When Jagannath prasad came from the temple, Mahaprabhu would take it and send His plate with the remnants for Srila Haridas Thakur. Nobody else could take Mahaprabhu's prasadam remnants, only Srila Haridas Thakur would take it—from Mahaprabhu's very plate.

Mahaprabhu had a servitor named Govinda. Govinda was a disciple of Ishwar Puri and, therefore, a godbrother of Mahaprabhu, but following the order of His Guru, Mahaprabhu engaged Govinda in His service. So, one day when Govinda brought prasadam for Srila Haridas Thakur, he saw that Srila Haridas Thakur was chanting the Holy Name softly—he was lying down and chanting on his mala slowly. Govinda said, "Prabhu, I have brought prasadam for you." Srila Haridas Thakur replied, "I am going to break the rule today." (If you read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, you will find it there.) What rule did he have to break? He said, "Every day I chant three hundred thousand (three lakh) Holy Names, after that I take prasadam, but I have not finished my rounds today." He was chanting very slowly that day, so he did not finish the rounds. He said, "What am I to do? I have not finished my rounds, so how can I take prasadam? On the other hand, this is my Guru's prasad, how can I reject it? What shall I do? I cannot reject Mahaprabhu's prasadam." So, Srila Haridas Thakur took a tiny bit.

Govinda went back and gave the news to Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, Haridas Thakur's state is not good. He was chanting the Holy Name very slowly, he is not well." Mahaprabhu said, "All right, I will come with you tomorrow." The next morning, the Lord came to Srila Haridas Thakur with a few other devotees like Svarupa Damodar, Ray Ramananda.

"Haridas, what is the news?" asked Mahaprabhu. "What disease have you got?"

We would say, "Oh, my health is not good," "I have stomach ache," "I have a headache," but do you know what Haridas Thakur said?

Haridas Thakur said, "My mind is sick, my body is not sick."

Such is our situation—our mind is always sick, our mind is always pressing us towards maya. Then, Haridas Thakur took Mahaprabhu's hand and made Him sit down saying, "Prabhu, I have spent so many days with You. I have never wanted anything from You in my life, but today I want to ask You for something. I want to beg You for something today." What did he beg for? Haridas Thakur said to Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, I have seen Your appearance pastime, I have seen Your childhood pastimes, I have seen Your adolescent pastimes, I have seen Your householder pastimes, and I also see Your sannyas pastimes now. However, I am thinking that You will not stay in this world much longer now. The time has come for You to finish Your pastimes. You have shown me Your birth pastimes, but I will not bear to see Your disappearance pastimes. I do not want to see it. I want to leave before You." He said this humbly. "I want to leave before You." Mahaprabhu said in reply, "Haridas, you know why I have come to this world. I have been performing the pastimes of inaugurating the chanting of the Holy Name together with you. All My pastimes were with you—how will I stay without you? Krishna will fulfil your desire, but—" As soon as Haridas Thakur heard "but" he quickly grabbed Mahaprabhu's feet saying, "Please, no buts, Prabhu. If an ant like me dies, what is the loss for this world, what is the loss for You? There are hundreds of thousands of Haridases like me in this world." Then, Mahaprabhu said, "Leave My feet. All right, you are a great Vaishnav, and the Lord always fulfils the desires of His great devotees. So, the Lord will fulfil your desire..." Then, Mahaprabhu left saying that He would come again the next day...

* * *

Glories of Srila Haridas Thakur (4)

Disappearance day of Srila Haridas Thakur
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 1 September 2020, part 5
Translated from Bengali

What was Haridas Thakur's desire? He told Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, I will keep Your lotus feet on my chest. I will behold Your holy form with these eyes. And I will chant Your Name with this mouth." These were the three things Srila Haridas Thakur wanted. Mahaprabhu said, "Krishna will fulfil your desire."

The next day, Mahaprabhu came to Srila Haridas Thakur in the morning. He asked, "What is the news, Haridas?" Srila Haridas Thakur said, "As You wish, Prabhu." Then, Mahaprabhu ordered all the devotees to circumambulate Srila Haridas Thakur with kirtan. Srila Haridas Thakur made Mahaprabhu sit down, pulled Mahaprabhu's leg and kept it on his chest. Gazing at Mahaprabhu's face, he then said, "Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Sri Krishna Chaitanya." In this way, he left his body...

What did Mahaprabhu do after that? He Himself made a bamboo stretcher and carried Srila Haridas Thakur to the ocean. There, He washed Srila Haridas Thakur's body in the ocean, put tilaks, etc. After that, He dug a deep hole, placed Srila Haridas Thakur's body there and made his samadhi in this way. After Srila Haridas Thakur's body had been bathed in the ocean, everybody took a drop of ocean water into their mouths and Mahaprabhu said, "This ocean is a place of pilgrimage (tirtha), but from today, because the transcendental body of Srila Haridas Thakur has been bathed in it, it has become a great place of pilgrimage (maha-tirtha)." On his own, Srila Haridas Thakur never bathed in the ocean, but when he left his body, his body was bathed in it.

When we go to Puri, we tell everybody that you must first offer obeisance to the ocean, take some water on your head, then only you can enter the water. When people go there only to swim and play, they get their hands, legs, etc. broken. If you go there to do nonsense, you will get your arm broken, you will get your leg broken, etc. When you go to the ocean, you must offer your obeisance, you must take the ocean's water on your head.

So, Mahaprabhu bathed the body of Srila Haridas Thakur, applied tilaks and with His own hand made his samadhi. After that, Mahaprabhu personally went to Ananda Bazaar and, stretching out His uttariya, He went begging shop to shop, "There will be Vaishnav-seva in honour of Srila Haridas Thakur! Please give something." Everyone gave so much—they did not give money, they gave prasad. Those who sold Jagannath prasad, brought so much prasad and gave it to Mahaprabhu. Then, Mahaprabhu Himself seated all Vaishnavs and distributed prasadam to them with His own hand. All the Vaishnavs said, "Prabhu, nobody will take prasad unless You sit down Yourself." Mahaprabhu said, "Yes, yes, I am giving everyone first, then I will sit down Myself." So, He first distributed prasad to everyone, then He sat down and only when He started taking prasadam Himself, did everyone start taking too. In this way, Mahaprabhu made a grand festival in honour of Srila Haridas Thakur. He did a Vaishnav-seva on this day.

Jay Srila Haridas Thakur ki jay
Haridas Thakur niryan tithi-bara maha-mahotsav ki jay

[A mobile phone rings.]

Who is calling you?

Devotee: ** Didi.

Tell her Gurudev is giving class, that the class has finished. And why does a girl call you? Can she not read my books? Have you not heard the story of Chhota Haridas?

prabhu kahe,—"vairagi kare prakrti sambhasana
dekhite na paron ami tahara vadana"

The Lord said, "If someone mixes with women, I do not want to see their face!"

What is there for you to talk with a girl about? You should not speak like this to ladies. Speak very little. Tell her instead, "Read Gurudev's books." Today is Haridas Thakur's disappearance, and I have written about it very nicely in Sri Puri Dham Mahatmya Mukta-mala. If she reads it, she can find it there. Everything I have said today is written there very nicely. When I write, I take my time, I think and then write. What for does she call you? If she wants to hear the class, she can read the books. It is not good to talk to ladies. I have written in the fourth volume of Guidance a chapter called "Association With Women Is to Be Absolutely Rejected." Do you understand? Association with women must be completely rejected. We must see women as our mothers. Nityananda Prabhu drank milk from Srivas Pandit's wife's breast—she was an old lady, but when she saw Nityananda Prabhu, milk would flow from her breasts. Association with women means talking to a woman in confidence, privately, to discuss something with a woman. What did Chhota Haridas do? Did he do anything so big? He did a small thing—he went to an old lady, Madhavi Devi, and took some rice from her for Mahaprabhu's service, but because of that, Mahaprabhu said, "I do not want to see his face!" Chhota Haridas committed suicide after that.

prabhu kahe,—"vairagi kare prakrti sambhasana
dekhite na paron ami tahara vadana"

The Lord said, "If someone mixes with women, I do not want to see their face!"

One time, Srila Prabhupad took away sannyas from one person—first he gave sannyas to the man, but then took it away and the person wore white cloth after that. What is there to talk about with ladies? Only one-two words, not more than that.

prabhu kahe,—"vairagi kare prakrti sambhasana
dekhite na paron ami tahara vadana"

The Lord said, "If someone mixes with women, I do not want to see their face!"

Have you read my book? Have you read that chapter "Association With Women Is to Be Absolutely Rejected"? It is there in the fourth volume of Guidance. There are all words of our Guru-varga...

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Hari Haraye Nama Krishna' and finishes the class.]

* * *

No More Wasting Time

Kolkata—Worldwide, 6 September 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Nitai Gaurachandra Prabhu ki jay
Jay Laksmi Nrisinghadev ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Jay Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
Jay Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
All the sannyasi, all the brahmachari, all the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Please accept my humble obeisance to you all. I am eager to meet with you all today again, that is why I came back from visiting all the temples. I have visited many branches this week, and I came back to Kolkata this afternoon, being eager to meet with you all and knowing that I meet with you all every Sunday. The network signal is good in Kolkata, that is why I came back here. I am very happy to come to you all and to meet with you all. "Vaisnava sangete mana anandita anuksana": "In the association of Vaishnavs, my mind is always joyful." (Srila Narottam Das Thakur) When I get association of Vaishnavs and devotees, I am always very happy and I am getting much energy to serve Gurudev's mission and Gurudev's devotees. So, today I have again got a chance to serve Gurudev's devotees.

We are all Chaitanya Saraswat family, the line of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur (Bhaktivinod-dhara). This line of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur will never be stopped and we must always go forward and take this line of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur forward. What past is past, it is not necessary to think about it—we must direct all our attention to what is in front of us, we must think what is necessary for us.

If we sit in one place and do not preach in this age of Kali, our mind will always disturb us and we will always be attacked by maya, we will always be attacked by many problems of the illusory environment. Many things come up, but if sit in one place and do not start preaching, we are only wasting our time. It is the age of Kali—many problems will come, many diseases will come, many viruses will come; but the flow of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's line will never be stopped. That is why, all sadhus, all preachers of our mission must proceed in their practice and they must also preach. Sankirtan means practice and preaching. Now, all countries are one by one lifting lockdown and we are again getting chance to preach, getting chance to do sankirtan, and we will not sit behind—we must restart our preaching. As it is, we have already lost almost six months of our spiritual time, it is a very long time, and we do not want to lose another moment. We must remember every moment:

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing."

"Gayatri muralista-kirtana-dhanam Radha-padam dhimahi: Krishna's flute does not make any other tune except the glorification of Srimati Radharani, and that is the real meaning and gist of the Gayatri mantra." This is always our meditation. Gauranga Mahaprabhu is the example for us. Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu is Radharani and Krishna's combined form, and we must give our full mind, our full heart, our everything (kanak, kamini, pratistha, all desires, aspirations), we must surrender everything at the lotus feet of the Lord, at the lotus feet of Gauranga Mahaprabhu. This is the main thing. Saranagati, surrender is the main thing.

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord's guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me', engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion."

(Saranagati, 1)

What is favourable to devotion and what unfavourable to devotion cannot run together. We must always stop doing what is unfavourable to devotion, always stop bhakti-pratikul.

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe

"Do not listen to the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.236-237)

Do not gossip, do not listen to gossiping. The whole world is running with gossiping, and mind is always naughty, it always wants power, name and fame, it always runs behind wealth, women (kanak, kamini, pratistha). However, many scriptures say that one day you will have to give answer. You think that you have got this human body and you will have to give answer to the Lord, but it is not so—first you must give answer to yourself: are you happy with what you are doing or not? Is what you are doing coming from above, from your Guru, or not? If you do what your Guru tells you to do, that is called seva, but we sometimes do something thinking it is service, but it actually becomes karma because we do something without the permission of your Guru or we disobey our Gurudev's order. You must be fully honest, do not be dishonest. You must honestly ask yourself, "Are you practising properly? Are you preaching properly?"

* * *

Guru-Varga's Prasad

Kolkata—Worldwide, 6 September 2020, part 2

Sannyasi life, brahmachari life, householder life, any life is meant for preaching. I see many sannyasis and I must say that when you take sannyas, you take it for preaching—the only duty in your life is only to preach Krishna consciousness.

When our Param Gurudev, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, joined Gaudiya Math, he was an educated person, so when he would approach new person, newcomers, and talk to them, all newcomers would become very impressed by his talk. However, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's first service was printing service, and he was not very interested in it, so he did it without proper attention. He always wanted to engage in sravan, kirtan, and preaching. Therefore, when Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj joined the mission (his name was Ramendra Sundar Bhattacharya, after that his name was changed to Ramananda Das), some senior sannyasis engaged him in approaching new persons. (After speaking to newcomers, Srila Sridhar Maharaj (Ramananda Das) would take them to some senior sannyasis.) For this reason, sometimes some devotees would say that Srila Sridhar Maharaj was a good canvasser, but Sripad Bhakti Hriday Bon Maharaj said, "Srila Sridhar Maharaj is not only a good canvasser! He is a good preacher for new people." Moreover, everybody—Bhaktyalok Paramahamsa Maharaj, Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaj, Bhakti Prajnan Keshav Maharaj, and others—always said, "If you want to hear Hari-katha, you must go to Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj." Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj preached about the main necessity in our life. We must establish the relation with the Absolute. Why do we lose our time on temporary things? We enter into relationship with some temporary things, but what for? You have material bondage, you are amidst so many things, but if you have a great desire to serve the Lord, then all bondage will be removed.

You can see the biography of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and you can see there that when he started to hear Hari-katha from Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Srila Prabhupad, Srila Prabhupad told, "You have some bondage, but you have a great desire to serve the Lord, so your bondage will be removed. I think Krishna will remove it." And it did happen so. When Srila Sridhar Maharaj received a law degree, he was politically involved with Gandhiwadi Andolan, and he was also bound by his promise to his parents. His father had been pressing him much because he was the eldest son of the family (their first child was a daughter, but she had died), he had to protect the family property, etc.—because of that he was bound to get married. Later, he always tried to come out of that bondage. Actually, his life was very renounced—he did not think about anything, he had become almost as if mad because of all the bondage that attacked him at his house. Then, one year they went to Kumbhamela in Haridwar and after that his mother died. So, now Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's father died, mother died, and he had become as if mad—he did not used any umbrella or shoes for one year. Then, one day he got the news that his wife had fallen ill—he came back to Hapaniya and three days later his wife died. Now Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj thought, "I have been thinking to take a guru, and what that personality [Srila Prabhupad] had said, proved correct. Now that I am fully out of my bondage (now that I am a mukta purush—now that I am a free man), I will take him as my guru."

You can understand that even if you have some bondage, if you have a great desire to serve the Lord, Krishna will take care of you—He will protect you in any kind of illusory environment if you surrender to Him. You know this sloka,

daivi hy esa gunamayi, mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante, mayam etam taranti te

My alluring, 'trimodal,' illusory potency is practically insurmountable. However, those who take shelter in Me can overcome this powerful obstacle.

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

Maya, illusory environment, is very strong, but if you are a surrendered soul (prapadya, prapanna), if you surrender to Krishna, then maya will automatically run away from you. If you read Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavad-gita, you can find so many slokas there giving such assurance.

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."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

Surrender and a great desire are the main things in our spiritual life...

We sometimes do not get time to recite our gayatri properly, but Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, who later presented a perfect explanation of Sri Gayatri mantra, said, "I heard in some book that if you recite gayatri mantra 432 times every day, then you will attain a high spiritual level." Our Gurudev, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj also said to me personally when I was taking second initiation, "If you recite this gayatri mantra three times daily for one year, you will realise your spiritual connection." So, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said that from his early school days he had been reciting gayatri mantra 432 times every day, and he said, "When I was reciting the gayatri mantra, I understood that gayatri was an eternal sound, it was not some dead sound. One day, when I was reciting the gayatri mantra, I felt some light coming to me." Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj himself told this in his autobiography.

As you may know, Gaudiya Math had two parties. I also see sometimes that here in India and abroad our Chaitanya Saraswat Math also has many groups now. So, one time, when one of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's godbrothers from an opposing party came to him, Srila Sridhar Maharaj laughed and asked him, "You are my godbrother, it is not a problem, but you are coming from the opposing party, why are you coming to me?" That sannyasi said, "Yes, I am coming because your mood is always grave—you do not say anything, you only watch (you have a disinterested nature); and also because of your unparalleled intelligence (strong common sense). You have much knowledge, that is why I am coming to you."

Also, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said that his attachment to Krishna had come to him from Srimati Radharani and Mahaprabhu. He said when he was a young boy, his first attachment was for Srimad Bhagavad-gita, then Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Actually, in the beginning he was always inclined towards Ramachandra because Ramachandra is gentle, righteous, follows moral principles, etc., and Srila Sridhar Maharaj thought, "I do not have so much attachment to Krishna-lila because why must the Lord tell a lie? Why must the Lord accept so many women?" At first, he was not so much inclined to Krishna-lila, he did not understand it so much, but later, when he had developed much attachment to Srimati Radharani, Mahaprabhu, then he felt some attachment had come towards Lord Krishna. There are so many things, so many pastimes in Srila Sridhar Maharaj's life. I will tell you more another day.

I have been reading some books and listening properly these days. I work the whole day and read some books, listen at night time. Srila Sridhar Maharaj's godbrothers told many things about Srila Guru Maharaj, and our Gurudev also told many things about Srila Guru Maharaj. Actually, we always 'chew the chewed'—we always tell what Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Gurudev and all the godbrothers of Srila Guru Maharaj told about Srila Guru Maharaj, we always enjoy taking their prasad. That is our happiness. If we hear from our guru-varga and read their lectures, it is good and very nice for us.

* * *

Devotion to Devotees

Kolkata—Worldwide, 6 September 2020, part 3

Question: Who was the first person to show us the importance of Srimati Radhika?

Krishna always shows the importance of Srimati Radharani. Krishna Himself served Radharani's lotus feet. This is a very high topic. You know that Krishna serves Srimati Radharani in seva-kunja, so He Himself shows how important Srimati Radharani is. Moreover, when Krishna played His flute and all the gopis ran there without Srimati Radharani's permission, no rasa-lila ever happened—when Srimati Radharani came there, Radha and Krishna ran away from that place of rasa-lila (the rasa-lila was broken). Such is Her importance.

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

"If Gaura had not come, then what would have happened? How would we have maintained our lives? Who would have revealed to the world Radha's glory and the extremes of Her ecstatic divine love?"

(Srila Vasudev Ghosh Thakur)

Mahaprabhu shows also the importance of Srimati Radharani.

Are there any other questions?

Question: Is there a specific planet that belongs exclusively to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates, and can we ever get admission there?

Do you doubt yourself and your practice? Your duty is to try. When you are going somewhere by car or on foot, you can see so many milestones on the way that show you that you are on the right way and how many miles there are to your destination. For example, if you go from Kolkata to Nabadwip, you can see the milestones on the road that show how many more kilometres it is to Nabadwip. So, you can easily understand through your practice how far you still have to go.

Another thing is this. "'Avasya raksibe Krsna'—visvasa palana." It is necessary to have such strongest faith that, "Yes, Krishna will protect me. Gurudev said so, then yes, it is so." Gurudev says if you practise in this way, you can enter that kind of planet—and you must believe your Guru! You must have faith in your Guru, "Yes, Gurudev said that if I preach and practise properly, then I can enter that kind of planet." When your Guru says something, you must believe it without second thoughts. Why do you have such doubts?

Also, the scriptures say that we must never differentiate between Gaura-lila and Krishna-lila. There is never any difference between the two. At the same time, one time, when I had just joined the Mission and knew almost nothing about Gaura-lila, Gurudev asked me, "What lila do you like more, Gaura-lila or Krishna-lila?" I said Gaura-lila, and Gurudev was very happy. Gaura-lila is the best, and this is realised through proper practising in our spiritual life. This is the main point in our spiritual life. Some people are interested only in Krishna-lila and they want to be or consider themselves Krishna-bhaktas, but our Gurudev, Param Gurudev, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, even Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu teach us that we must be 'dasa-dasa-dasanudasa'—servants of servants of servants.

naham vipro na cha nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro
naham varni na cha grha-patir no vanastho yatir va
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher
gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

"I am not a brahman, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya or a sudra. Nor am I a brahmachari, a householder, a vanaprastha or a sannyasi. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna, the maintainer of the gopis. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 13.80)

We must be servants of devotees—servants of the servant of devotees. That is our main line. This sort of inspiration comes from the Guru. Guru gives respect to devotees, Guru serves devotees, and Guru serves and follows His Guru's instruction; and a disciple should learn from their Guru, they will get inspiration from their Guru's service. We can explain it in this way also. Some preach that you must become a Krishna-bhakta, but we do not preach like this; we preach that you must be Krishna's devotees' devotee (Karshna-bhakta). There is 'Krishna' and 'Karshna'—'Karshna' means 'devotees of Krishna.' So, first become a Vaishnav-das (servant of Vaishnavs), then a Guru-das (servant of your Guru), and only after that a Krishna-das (servant of Krishna). First you must be a servant of Vaishnavs.

Srila Narottam Das Thakur and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur always sing about the glories of Vaishnavs.

thakura vaisnava-gana kari ei nivedana
mo bada adhama durachara

"O worshippable Vaisnavas, I offer you this prayer. I am very fallen and wicked."

This is a very nice mood.

guru krsna-rupa hana sastrera pramane
guru-rupe krsna krpa kare bhagyavane

"The scriptures confirm that Guru is a form of Krsna. In the form of Guru, Krishna bestows His mercy upon the fortunate."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.1.45)

Scriptures always give testimony that Guru is a form of the Lord, a form of Krishna—in other words, Krishna gives His mercy to devotees and comes in the form of a Guru.

Srila Narottam Das Thakur also sings,

thakura vaisnava pada avanira susampada
suna bhai hana eka mana
asraya laiya bhaje tare krsna nahi tyaje
ara saba mare akarana

"The feet of worshippable Vaishnavs are the greatest treasure on Earth. O brother! Listen to this with undivided attention. Krishna never leaves those who have taken shelter in Him. All others simply die in vain."

vaisnava charana-jala prema-bhakti dite bala
ara keha nahe valavanta
vaisnava-charana-renu mastake bhusana vinu
ara nahi bhusanera anta

"The water that washed the holy feet of Vaishnavs is capable of giving devotion. Nobody else possesses such power. If your head is not adorned with the dust from the holy feet of Vaishnavs, there is nothing beautiful within you."

tirtha-jala pavitra gune likhiyachhe purane
se saba bhaktira pravanchana
vaisnavera padodaka sama nahe ei saba
yate haya vanchhita purana

"Scriptures describe the purifying qualities of the water from holy places of pilgrimage, but devotees consider all this water to be deception. No water from a holy place can compare with the water that washed the holy feet of Vaishnavs—this water fulfils all aspirations."

vaisnava sangete mana anandita anuksana
sada haya krsna para-sanga
dina narottama kande hiya dairya nahi bandhe
mora dasa kena haila bhanga

"Mind always rejoices in the association of Vaishnavs—in their association, one always gets the transcendental association of Krishna. Poor Narottam is crying. My heart knows no patience, why have I fallen into this unfortunate state?"

The water of the Ganges or from some holy places of pilgrimage does not give as much hankering for devotion as the water that washed the feet of Vaishnavs does. The feet dust and the water that washed the feet of Vaishnavs are very important for our spiritual life. These are Srila Narottam Das Thakur's words. We even see in Sri Hari-bhakti-vilas that when we observe the appearance day of Sri Nrisinghadev in the month of Vaisakh, it is said that before worshipping Nrisinghadev, we must first worship Prahlad Maharaj. Krishna Himself also says, "Mad-bhakta-pujabhyadhika. Devotees' worship is higher than My worship." (SB, 11.19.21) Krishna Himself says, "If you worship My devotees, it is better than if you worship Me."

* * *

Supreme and Inconceivable Glories of Sri Guru

Kolkata—Worldwide, 6 September 2020, part 5

Actually, I am a fallen soul. I have no quality, no qualification to serve my Gurudev (I always call him 'Guru Maharaj'), but I am trying to. I am still trying to serve him. Gurudev has vast knowledge, he has so much quality—purnam brahman samvitam. Gurudev is always full of transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Lord.

ki gahiba prabhu mahima tomara
avrta chetana avidya-jale
tomara mahima jane mukta-kula
tava yaso-gana goloka-mandale

"O master! How shall I sing your glories? My consciousness is covered by the net of ignorance. Liberated souls know your glories and sing your praises in the land of Goloka."

(Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

What are your glories, Gurudev? Our consciousness is covered by the illusory environment. Your glories are known to all liberated souls—the entire Goloka-mandal sings your glories—but I am a fallen soul, how shall I talk about Gurudev? Gurudev's position is extremely high, talks about him are very high. How shall I sing his glories? Our consciousness is covered by the illusory environment, even my own consciousness is covered by the illusory environment.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also told about Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur very beautifully. He said on Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's appearance day,

tahara karuna-katha, madhava-bhajana-pratha
tulana nahika tribhuvane
tara sama anya keha, dhariya e nara-deha,
nahi dila krsna-prema-dhane

"There is no comparison within the three worlds to His merciful teachings of the practice of devotion to Krishna. No one has ever assumed a human form and distributed the wealth of Krishna-prema like him."

(Anubhasya on Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta)

No one in this world can compare to him because nobody else has given Krishna consciousness, Krishna-prema like he did. No one before him had ever given Krishna-prema to us. Our Param Guru Maharaj said, "Sri Radha Thakurani is an embodiment of great transcendental love (maha-bhava). How many people know that the highest attainment is to become a servant of Sri Radhika?" Srila Guru Maharaj has also given us, "Gayatri muralista-kirtana-dhanam Radha-padam dhimahi: Krishna's flute does not make any other tune except the glorification of Srimati Radharani, and that is the real meaning and gist of the Gayatri mantra." This is the only and the highest object of meditation for all liberated souls.

Srila Gurudev also always explained this sloka,

antar-bhakti-rasena purna-hrdayo bahye 'vadhutakrtih
saivalaih pihitam maha-sara iva priti-pradas tad-vidam

"Although he [Srila Sanatan Goswami] externally appeared to be a mendicant who had renounced everything, he was filled with the pleasure of devotional service within his heart. Thus he can be compared to a deep lake covered with moss. He was the object of pleasure for all the devotees who knew the science of devotional service."

(Sri Chaitanya-chandradaya-nataka, 9.46, by Sri Kavi Karnapur)

This is a sloka written about Srila Sanatan Goswami, and Srila Gurudev would always recite it.

* * *

Entering Transcendental Plane

Kolkata—Worldwide, 6 September 2020, part 6

Question: It is said in the scriptures that our reality is a perverted reflection of Krishna-loka. Can it be thought that just as I am here doing service in the material world, there is another me performing service in Krishna-loka? Something like a parallel reality...

Krishna is served with a transcendental body.

If you serve the Lord thinking that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and you give your everything—your kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, your entire self, whatever bad or good there is in you—if you give everything you have for the service to Krishna, then your body becomes transcendental (aprakrita). You cannot worship the Lord with a mundane body (prakrita deha). Only an eternal, transcendental body can worship or serve the Lord.

When you come to Goloka Vrindavan, you will get this chance. One day, you must come there, but everybody does not go there at the same time. It depends on one's devotion and one's service. Everybody does not always get such a chance, those who are fortunate souls can get there. Gurudev is an eternal being, he is there and will always be there, and you can meet him there—somebody may come to meet him earlier, somebody later.

When you go to Goloka Vrindavan, you will get a transcendental body (aprakrita deha) and you will get service there. That planet is not just one house, some small place. It is Goloka Vrindavan—it is a very big planet. You are afraid, "If so many people go there, I may not get a place there!" This is an inconceivable matter (achintya-bhedabheda tattva). We have a puppy brain, how can we think about such things? We are living in the material world and we cannot even conceive that kind of planet from this material world. That planet is the supreme-most, the highest plane. In our situation, we are all trying to serve our Guru and his devotees, that is our main goal.

We have come to Krishna's family, we have got initiation and entered the proper line of Bhaktivinod-dhara, Rupanuga-dhara. If you want to stay within this channel, you must never leave Krishna consciousness and service to the Lord no matter what situation comes, no matter what kind of problem comes. We always say, "Sevaya adhikara diya, ei-bar more koro doya. Prabhu, please give some right to serve you!" You have got some service, but as soon as you face some problem because of the illusory environment, you leave that service. Do not do that. You must do your service—you must do it properly, you must practise properly. That is my earnest request to you all.

* * *

Purposeful Preaching

Kolkata—Worldwide, 6 September 2020, part 7

[His Divine Grace responds regarding several preaching programmes organised by the devotees:]

May Krishna bless you. Gurudev is always with you. It is necessary to preach well to the educated people. Sripad Bon Maharaj said that our Param Gurudev Srila Sridhar Maharaj is the best preacher for the educated people. You are also doing some preaching to scientists; they are all running behind maya, they are controlled by Lord Krishna's maya (illusory environment). Try to take them out of there.

Preaching is necessary. When you preach, you get pleasure, you get everything. I have told you that when I tell something, I myself get energy—devotees listen to it and I am also listening to it and I myself become purified. I speak about Srila Gurudev's katha—Srila Guru Maharaj's lectures, Srila Gurudev's lecture—I speak about the character of devotees, the character of Vaishnavs, about the divine character of Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Gurudev—and it gives so much nourishment to me, it gives purification to me. We all have so many faults, we have so many unwanted elements, but, still, we must give everything we have to Srila Gurudev's lotus feet and Srila Guru Maharaj's lotus feet. That is the main thing.

Question: We heard an expression "Vaikuntha-vritti" of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur—he was ready to make any necessary arrangement to attract the public, he even said he was ready to serve restaurant food in London if it was necessary. Srila Guru Maharaj objected to it saying that it may not look good for the mission, and then Srila Saraswati Thakur said, "We must be Vaikuntha-vritti." So, how can we balance this open-mindedness in preaching and at the same time maintain the unalloyed message and purity of our endeavour?

When Srila Sridhar Maharaj joined Gaudiya Math in 1926, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur mentioned one sloka from Srimad Bhagavad-gita (3.21),

yad yad acharati sresthas, tat tad evetaro janah
sa yat pramanam kurute, lokas tad anuvartate

"The masses follow the ways of great men, following the standards they set."

Ordinary people who do not know about Krishna consciousness, always follow a great personality because they think this great personality always does something good. So, Srila Prabhupad said, "I am very happy today because such an educated person as Ramendra Sundar has joined Mahaprabhu's mission, he come to participate in Mahaprabhu's mission. I am more than happy about that." So, if somebody comes to Krishna consciousness—if somebody practises Krishna consciousness—it gives us very much pleasure, as Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told to Srila Sridhar Maharaj.

Devotee: Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad also used that sloka saying, "All world is following America, so let me go to America and change them, then everybody will also follow them and join the Krishna consciousness movement."

Yes, that is why Nityananda Prabhu first went to covert Madhai and Jagai. We are even more unqualified than Jagai and Madhai because Jagai and Madhai had done many many nonsense things but they had never done a Vaishnav-aparadh, but we always make Vaishnav-aparadh. Somebody asked me once, "How can that be? They beat Nityananda Prabhu! How is it possible that they did not make a Vaishnav-aparadh?" The answer is this—if they had not beaten Nityananda Prabhu, then how would the glory of Nityananda Prabhu be revealed in this world?

I am praying for everybody that you may all remain in good health. I will see you next week. You are giving all your affection, love, everything to Gurudev, and it is a great fortune for me because you are all giving me some small place in your heart. That is my great luck and great fortune. I have no quality, but you keep me in your heart for Gurudev, and I will also try to keep you all in my heart.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

[Additional reading on the subject of preaching and maintaining the purity of purpose. From Guidance 4, Chapter "Satisfying the Lord is very life of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Krishnanusilana Sangha":]

There is a regular assembly in our Sangha. Distinguished Vaisnavs have assembled here today. We should be always conscious of our main purpose. Servitude to Lord Krishna, striving to bring happiness to Lord Krishna are the main purposes of our Mission. This search for Sri Krishna is the only and main duty of jiva souls.

"jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya-dasa"

"By their nature, jiva souls are eternal servants of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, 2.20.108)

Great souls have established this sangha so that others can attain servitude to Krishna and love for Krishna—they have made this sangha so that every jiva soul, individually and collectively, could attain Lord Sri Krishna. We must accept whatever is necessary for the loving service of Lord Sri Krishna, but we must also give up that which is unfavourable to devotion. That is why a great soul said, "Anukulyasya samkalpah, pratikulya vivarjjanam. Accept what is favourable, reject what is unfavourable." (Vaisnava-tantra)

Thinking how to bring benefit to the souls of this age, the guru-varga has established this sangha to practise Krishna consciousness timely and regularly. This is their great contribution: everyone should appreciate their way of bestowing mercy in the manner that is suitable for the current age. The centre of this Mission's heart is satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. If we do something without heart, only forcing our mind and body, we will be inevitably cheated—we will leave guru-varga's mercy. It is necessary to temporarily hold many external functions to go along with the outside people so that the main purpose of this Mission does not become disturbed or covered. This is arranged to let the outside people enjoy. For example, we arrange for security of the door, gate, or wall so that everyone could sit inside and practise devotional life without intrusion. However, if we place too much emphasis on the wall and gate, this is not right. By our constitution we like to give priority to some things, it is true, but the managers must be intently alert to make sure that we never forget the inner mood or main spirit of the Sangha. We must never allow the core of our lives to be concealed; if the core of our Mission's heart becomes concealed, then the Mission becomes futile. Some cumbersome to our constitution situations often want to conceal the main purpose—at such times we must be very cautious; at such times, we must bring the main purpose (satisfaction of the Supreme Lord) to the forefront.

Srimati Vinoda-vani made a very beautiful expression in her homage. She called the external pomp 'sensational deeds.' Outside people value an outward show. In the name of devotion, many do things to impress others, but such sensational deeds or spectacular deeds are external demonstration. If we become busy with demonstration in the name of devotion to impress outside people, then this life is absolutely useless. In the domain of devotion, even if you publish many books, there is some intellectual show in it. The glare of spectacular deeds in the domain of knowledge (printing many books, magazines, etc.) strikes our eye. If we give big lectures, gather large assemblies, get many people to applaud—there is demonstrative value in it. All these things can help us in the domain of devotion as long as we remain acutely aware of the main purpose, the root of such external activities. A little of such sensational deeds is not harmful, but if the glare of such things blinds our eyes and we forget the main purpose, then it is wrong and should be rejected. Many times, when devotees were going to make some arrangement, they would first write to Srila Prabhupad. He is maha-bhagavata-uttama (the highest Vaisnav)—for him, all these things are beautiful, and even if he was making all these demonstrative things, his vision never wavered. He utilised everything for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. He has such a strong acumen, he is such a great expert in devotional service that through publishing many books, establishing many temples, gathering large committees, he brought happiness to his worshippable Lord. Because his quality was such, it was possible. However, if we imitate Srila Prabhupad and do what he did, there is a possibility that in the name of satisfying the Lord we will deviate from the main course. Actually, if somebody has the qualification for this, then if they do such things, they will increase the beauty of the domain of devotion.

Srila Prabhupad is the greatest priest in the satisfaction of the Lord. He does not pretend to be a guru—he appeared in this material world as a self-realised great soul. If you try to imitate him, declaring and shouting that because something was done by Srila Prabhupad, you can do it too, such an angle of vision is of a very low plane. People imitate him thinking this is the highest goal in life. If you try to imitate Srila Prabhupad on account of being his disciple, but inside you do not appreciate the spirit of his service style, then you can never be successful in your life. Karma-kanda (material life) and jnana-kanda (life for knowledge) give more emphasis on spectacular deeds. If somebody places more emphasis only on rituals on account of being a disciple, but there is no heart beat in it, then as a result of such imitation, they will be removed far away from the domain of devotion—such 'disciples' are drowning in an unfathomable ocean and do not make it to the domain of devotion. Imitating Srila Prabhupad, many are opening temples, making exhibitions, assemblies, committees, and publishing books. This is nothing else but lifeless transgression of one's rights. It is more beneficial to follow the path of devotion according to your own rights without taking interest in the activities of the outside world.

sve sve 'dhikare ya nistha sa gunah parikirtitah
viparyayas tu dosah syad ubhayor esa nischayah

"Steadiness in one's own position is declared to be actual piety, whereas deviation from one's position is considered impiety. In this way the two are definitely ascertained."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.21.2)

If you live according to your right, or qualification, it is good for you. Sri Sri Gaurasundar will be pleased with that. Try to satisfy Him with whatever you have. You have money, knowledge, intelligence and health—give everything for His pleasure and service, you cannot but be benefitted. Whatever resources you have—you have money, people, etc.—serve with everything you have. Such great souls as Srila Rupa Goswamipad, Srila Raya Ramananda, Srila Prabhupad, and others, showed their love for Sri Sri Gaurasundar through everything they had. We should follow their exalted ideal. If we try to imitate them without following their ideal, it will be a mistake. Srila Rupa Goswamipad stayed under a different tree each night when he was in Vrndavan—he would chew dry chickpea and compose scriptures out of love for Sri Sri Gaurasundar. If you try to imitate his extremely exalted example, you will invite a catastrophe into your life. This is sheer grimacing. In the same way, it is not necessary to imitate Srila Prabhupad. Try to follow him in your life. As much capacity you have, try to serve—it will make Sri Sri Gaurasundar happy. If you do what He does not want from you, it will be not right. If you have manpower, you have money, or anything else, do not cheat with it, do not let it make you idle. "O Supreme All-Pervading Lord! Please give me the intelligence so that I may not be deceitful in Your service or may not transgress my rights." Deceit, fame, competition, other desires obstruct the path of devotion. It is necessary to be particularly careful not to get into the habit of looking at others, imitating others, not to let the outer glitter pull us away from the beauty of the lotus feet of Sri Sri Gaurasundar.

Where does my strength lie? It is such a great fortune to get the association of a few sincere pure Vaisnavs, such fortune has no comparison. Association of one sincere Vaisnav is sufficient for one's life. They do not come to the Mission with any evil diabolic plan, nor do they want to get any position. They may not have so much qualification, but this does not matter. My only fear is that I can deviate from the service to your holy lotus feet. I do not want thousands of disciples or temples along the Ganges. I do not need millions of rupees. I do not want an assemblage of people driven by the material modes of ignorance. I do not want quantitative success, I want qualitative success. When there are many people, they start fighting with sticks. If you give a danda (a holy staff of a mendicant monk, sannyasi) to many people, they will end up fighting with these dandas. If a sannyasi's danda turns into a stick, then you are in for a great disaster approaching the domain of devotion. We must watch out that our danda does not turn into a stick and make sure our devotional strength increases. If we become renunciates, we must watch out that we do not spend our life in laziness. If you get even fifteen sincere pure Vaisnavs, then devotion will not be overcast. So many scriptures are being published, so many temples are being opened that often devotion becomes overcast. When service necessity comes, we should not sleep—and if I do fall asleep, my friends will guide me.

* * *

Devotees' Core Principle

Kolkata—Worldwide, 13 September 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda, Radha Kunda, Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham, Sri Nabadwip Dham, Sri Vrindavan Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev, Subhadra, Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Tandiya sakha Math samuha ki jay
Sri Mather sevak vrinda bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Ananta-koti Vaishnav vrinda ki jay
Sri Gaudiya Acharya vrinda ki jay
Tridandi-pad-gan ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all, it is very nice to meet you all again after one week. I can see all the devotees are there—you are all here in front of me. Today is also an ekadasi day. "Madhava-tithi bhakti-janani yatane palana kari. I carefully observe the holy days related to Madhava—they are the mother of devotion." Ekadasi is Krishna's tithi (Madhava-tithi). Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that this tithi is the mother of devotion (bhakti-janani). We observe it with much care (yatane palana kari). All Gaudiya Vaishnavs follow ekadasi tithi, and it is good for you also to follow it because even Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself told His mother to follow it. One day,

He came to His mother and begged her for one thing—He said, "Mother, I want one thing from you—I am begging one thing from you. Will you give it to me?"

His mother replied, "Yes, I will give, I will give, I will give."

Then, Mahaprabhu said, "From today, you must not take rice on ekadasi day."

His mother listened to His advice and also started to observe ekadasi. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu tells us to follow this day. If we want to follow Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we must follow His instruction, His siksastaka. We must see what Mahaprabhu says in His siksa-astak (eight-fold instruction, or teaching) and we must follow that teaching. Otherwise,

"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)

If you want the result, you have to follow Gora's instruction—you have to follow Gora's achar and vichar (what Mahaprabhu shows us in His own behaviour and what Mahaprabhu also teaches us; lit. His 'practice' and His 'judgement'). We must follow His instruction.

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, 8.6-7)

Sometimes we show false renunciation to impress people (loka dekhana), but Gora knows what you are doing—the Lord knows what you are doing. False renunciation is very bad. Mahaprabhu also told Srila Raghunath Das Goswami,

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)

"Do not show your false renunciation, do not show monkey renunciation" (markat vairagya—'markat' means 'monkey'). Monkeys live naked eating only fruit, but monkeys have so many material desires—they always forcefully take your spectacles, take your food, etc. False renunciation is also like that.

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)

When something is necessary for your spiritual life, it is not visaya. We sometimes need some money (artha), etc. Some things are necessary. I have also told it many times that if you want to show false renunciation thinking, "Oh, I do not want material things, I do not want any temple or anything else—I will stay one place, I will go to Rishikesh and sit in a cave, and I will do some yoga, I will do my bhajan there." You will do that, but when you leave everything, you will still have to take your belly, your stomach with you. You cannot leave your stomach. When you are hungry, you will need food and you will have to search for food. So, our vairagya is not phlagu-vairagya (false renunciation), our vairagya is yukta-vairagya—we have a car, we have a building, we have everything, and we use everything for service of the Lord, for the service of the devotees. It is necessary to have such consciousness—"We will use everything for the devotees and for the service of the Lord." When we make buildings, when we make temples, we do it for preaching. This example was shown to us by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and all our Guru-varga.

* * *

Sustaining Mahaprabhu's Line

Kolkata—Worldwide, 13 September 2020, part 2

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj left everything and stayed in Nanda-gram, Pavan Sarovar, at the place of Srila Sanatan Goswami's bhajan kutir. Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami also stayed in Vrindavan, but they lived there for service. Living in Vrindavan is not for your own enjoyment. When Mahaprabhu sent Rupa and Sanatan to Vrindavan, He told them, "You must finish the job that I have not finished." Many devotees would come to Vrindavan, and they would always come to see Sri Rupa-Sanatan. Sri Rupa and Sanatan taught devotees and showed them many places of Radha-Krishna's pastimes. They served Vaishnavs in this way. Srila Sanatan Goswami was also the first to establish Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Deity in Vrindavan. They did so much service—they served Madan Mohan, Govindaji, etc. They also wrote so many scriptures, so many books, composed so many slokas. In this way, Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami sustained the line of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

After that, Mahaprabhu's line was maintained by Srila Narottam Das Thakur, Acharya Srinivas, Sri Shyamananda Prabhu. After them, so much darkness came down upon the sky of Gaura-desh (Gaudiya-gagane). After some time, the preaching movement again emerged through Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, in turn, prayed to Bimala Devi in Jaganath Puri, "Please, send someone who can preach about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who can preach the proper conception, the proper teaching of Mahaprabhu!" At that time, so many apa-sampradayas (misconception sampradayas, mayavadis, etc.) had inundated this world—aul, baul, kartabhaja, neda, darvesh, sani, sahajiya, sakhibekhi, smarta, jata gosai, ativadi, churadhari, gauranga-nagari. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur considered himself a sweeper of Sri Nama-Hatta (market of the Holy Name), and he thus became recognised as the seventh goswami.

After that, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur empowered his son and sent him to Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj to receive initiation. His son later became renowned as Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. One time, Srila Saraswati Thakur Prabhu was doing koti-nama yajna—he had vowed to chant one crore (ten million) Holy Names. When he finished his vow, Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gadharva Giridhari appeared in front of him and inspired him to preach for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Prabhupad said, "I am alone, how will I preach?" But the Lord replied, "Do not worry about it. I am sending My associates to you." After that, so many great, exalted personalities came to this world—Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Maharaj, and so many other sannyasis. You all know it.

Then, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur thought, "Who will be able to carry this Bhaktivinod-dhara (current of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur) after me? Who can understand this preaching? When I leave my body, who will continue carrying this line? It is necessary to keep someone here." Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur considered our Param Gurudev Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj as a fit person to preach Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's conception—he understood what Srila Prabhupad wanted to tell the fallen souls of this world. In this way, he chose our Param Gurudev Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj as his successor through 'Sri Rupa-manjari-pada' kirtan. Everybody knows and understands it.

Even the worldwide preacher, the Visva-Guru Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad also considered Srila Sridhar Maharaj his siksa-guru and he said, "If you want to hear Hari-katha, you must go to Srila Sridhar Maharaj." All sannyasis, all of their godbrothers (Srila Madhav Maharaj, Srila Puri Maharaj, and many others) considered, "If you want to hear Hari-katha, Prabhupad-katha, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's words and teachings, then you should go to Srila Sridhar Maharaj." Everybody understood it at that time, and eventually so many foreigners from all over the world also started coming to the lotus feet of Srila Sridhar Maharaj...

* * *

"I Am Proud, I Am Astonished, and I Am Very Grateful"

Kolkata—Worldwide, 13 September 2020, part 3

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj told our Gurudev (Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj), "I cannot mix with these foreign devotees properly, neither can I understand their culture so much, but if you take charge of the foreign devotees, it will be good for me and it will make me happy." And Gurudev did that. Gurudev took charge of all foreign devotees, and I saw in Gurudev's time from 1992 that Gurudev gave much attention to the foreign devotees. If somebody was Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's disciple or Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad's disciple, they actually got much more association, relation and time from our Gurudev Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj than from their own Guru (Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj or Srila Sridhar Maharaj). Gurudev engaged everybody through the teaching of Mahaprabhu ("be humble, tolerant and give honour to others"). Gurudev gave so much respect to many devotees. I have seen many disciples of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, there are still so many sannyasi even now who have got much association of our Gurudev. Gurudev gave them his association and so much respect—he gave them more respect than they even had. That is why, they can never forget that kind of association, they cannot forget Gurudev.

This is the reason why I am also getting now so much love and affection from all the foreign devotees all over the world—because of my Guru, because Gurudev selected me as his successor. I have no qualities, no qualification, but Gurudev selected me, and for this reason they give me so much love and affection. I am proud, I am astonished, and I am very grateful to them for their love and affection.

In this pandemic situation, I am also trying to give them respect, and even when this situation passes, I am thinking that I must give them a class every Sunday, no matter where I am. I travel all over Bengal six days a week running the temples, but wherever I may be, I come back to Kolkata on Sunday just to get your good association. I see your smiling faces and I know that your love and affection has no alloy—your love and affection is not cheating, it is actual love and affection. Here in the Indian section, I am cheated all the time—I have believed them so many times, but every time I end up cheated by them, but I know that almost all foreign devotees will not cheat me because they love me as their child, as their son, as their brother, or as me, and they give me more love and affection than I can hope for, and I am very happy.

I am very happy. I may not be able to make a big festival here now because we cannot gather many people in one place, but it is not a problem because I can see all the devotees every Sunday and I see that they are practising wherever they are—at home, in their house or at the temple—and they come to my class, they come to stay with me. Srila Janardan Maharaj, Srila Ashram Maharaj, Srila Trivikram Maharaj, Sripad Puri Maharaj, Sripad Shanta Maharaj, Sripad Muni Maharaj are there; there are also many sannyasis who live with me—Sripad Sadhu Maharaj, Sripad Parivrajak Maharaj, Sripad Sajjan Maharaj; they are all very kind, they are doing service. Also, there are many devotees who stay here—they give so much attention to me, they give everything to me. It is my great fortune. Besides, there are devotees in so many other countries all over the world who also support me—all South American countries (Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador), some devotees from Russia, Singaporean devotees, Malaysian devotees, Mauritius devotees, Australian devotees, Philippine devotees, Turkish devotees, Spanish devotees, London devotees, Hawaii devotees, and so many other countries.

Devotees practise all over the world, and I also told them—whichever country you live in, practise properly, preach properly. Even if you are alone, like in Sweden—there is only one boy living there and sometimes he feels bad that he does not get devotees' association, but I told him, "Prabhu, you are alone, but you can make devotees there and take their association. Gurudev also says that. Try to preach there." Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj were also alone at first. When Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj first went to America, he was alone there, and, when he had lost everything, he sat alone under a tree and sang with karatals. After that, so many people joined that sankirtan movement—there appeared so many devotees. This is how ISKCON appeared. So, do not be discouraged, do not be disheartened. Wherever you live, give your association to others, and your association will give benefit to fallen souls. This is the main thing. This is what a preaching movement is about. All gurus all over the world say the same thing—you must practise properly. For example, today is an ekadasi day—it is a very good day for us, and we follow every ekadasi wherever we live. If you practise properly, it is good for you.

* * *

Ekadasi Struggle?

Kolkata—Worldwide, 13 September 2020, part 4

Question: If a pregnant women is struggling with following ekadasi, is it bad to break it?

You must try to follow ekadasi, it will be good. Why will you break ekadasi? You always, every day eat rice, dal, subji—what is the problem to follow ekadasi two times a month? You can take some fruit, paneer, curd, you can drink milk, you can take potato and so many other things. Why is it necessary to break ekadasi? It is not good to break it and it is not necessary to break ekadasi. Ekadasi is Krishna's tithi, so Krishna will protect you and your baby. You must have a proper faith. Mahaprabhu said, "You must follow ekadasi," Gurudev said, "You must follow ekadasi," Guru Maharaj said, "You must follow ekadasi," then why will we break ekadasi? You must not break it. Only if Gurudev tells you to break it, then you can break it.

One time, Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Maharaj had a train ticket to Delhi on the Janmastami day. He had to go to Delhi, and Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told the cook to prepare non-ekadasi food for Srila Madhav Maharaj. The cook thought, "May be Prabhupad has forgotten that tomorrow is Janmastami...", so he said to Srila Prabhupad, "But tomorrow is Janmastami..." Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur shouted, "I know that!!" So, when your Guru tells you to do it, that is another thing.

I remember also once Jamuna bought me a plane ticket to Russia, and the flight to Moscow was on the Janmastami day. Gurudev chastised Jamuna a little, "How did you buy him the ticket? Could you not see the date?! It is Janmastami day!" But Gurudev did not tell me to break Janmastami fasting. I took some fruit with me, and had that on the aeroplane. They gave me much food on the plane, but I did not take it. I took only anukalpa (what is permissible to take on Janmastami if you cannot fast for some reason). It was not a problem.

What is the fasting on ekadasi? We do not actually do a full fast—Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur relaxed the rules so much. If you are sick or if you are pregnant, you can take something in morning. We actually fast until noon, but if you have some problem (for example, if you are too hungry or you have acidity), you can take something in the morning. There are only five things that are prohibited on this day [all grains—rice, wheat, barley, etc.—all pulses, and mustard/sesame oil]—other than that, there are so many things you can take on ekadasi. Why would we not be able to follow it? You must try to follow it.

Another thing is that when you are in hospital, they give you only saline for seven-ten days—you do not take any food, you only receive saline. This kind of austerity comes when you are hospitalised. When I had an operation in Chennai, I could not even drink anything for four hours. I was extremely thirsty after the operation, but they did not give me any water. I cried and shouted for water, and I complained to the doctor, "The nurse is so cruel! She does not give me any water!" Then the doctor agreed and what did he do? They brought a dropper and gave me a drop of water on my tongue! No water was allowed before and after the operation. I remember this austerity in hospital...

So, you must think and remember these things. You think that you will break ekadasi, that you will do what you like in your life, you will enjoy, but you do not think that after that austerity will come—you have no idea what hell is like, what kind of austerity you will get there.

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje
svakarma karileo se raurave padi maje

"Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager, or worker) or asram (a celibate, householder, renouncer of the household life, or monk) you may belong to, if you do not worship Krishna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell (Raurav)."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.26)

What is Raurav? Raurav means there is a pot of boiling oil like they use for making pakoras and they will deep fry you in that oil just like a pakora! [His Divine Grace laughs.] There are many kinds of hell (narak), I wrote about it in Guidance 3, I explained there about different kinds of hell and what kind of austerity you get there. So, Raurav is one kind of hell where they make a pakora out of you. So, what austerity is there in following ekadasi? Can you not tolerate even a little bit of austerity? It is necessary to have tolerance and it is necessary to have patience. There are twenty-six symptoms of a Vaishnav, and patience, or tolerance, is one them. We must have tolerance.

* * *

Redundant Rituals

Kolkata—Worldwide, 13 September 2020, part 5

Question: Is it appropriate to put a Tulasi leaf into the mouth of someone who has died to protect this person from Yamadutas?

It is not necessary to do that because if it is a devotee, they already have a kanthi-mala. If someone is not a devotee, here in India, in Hinduism, they put Tulasi leaves onto the eyes. I saw that once and I asked Gurudev, "Why do they put Tulasi leaves on the eyes of a dead body?" Gurudev told a very funny story. He said that when somebody in the family dies, the family members think that there is ghost there, so if they look at the dead body and the eyes are open, they become afraid, so they put some weight on the eyes and a Tulasi leaf. Sometimes also, when people die, you can see the dead body's eyes are open, and it looks like a ghost—it is very difficult for others to bear such a sight. For this reason, they close the eyes and put Tulasi leaves there...

That is why, you must always wear Tulasi neckbeads (kanthi-mala)—do not lose your kanthi-mala, always keep Tulasi mala on your neck. If the kanthi-mala is there, it is good for you.

Question: This month now is for pitru-paksha, what is the Vaishnava way of performing sraddha for pitru-paksha?

Hindu people do this, but we are:

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."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

We do not do any pitri-paksa. Some Hindu people do it—they pray to the Ganges, do some puja, give an offering for their father or forefathers. That is called pitri-paksa. However, this is not our culture. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, our Gurudev, Guru Maharaj never told us about it, they never told us to do it. We worship the Lord every day, we offer bhoga to the Lord every day, we take prasadam every day, so it is not necessary for us to do any anything for pitri-paksa. Those who do not follow Krishna consciousness, who are not devotees, can do it, they can follow as many Hindu rituals and rules as they like, but we do not do it. We know that we are jiva souls—we are eternal servants of the Lord, and we always remember that. So, we should not do any special puja for forefathers.

...Sometimes it happens so that we had done so many things before because we did not know any better.

api chet suduracharo, bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah, samyag vyavasito hi sah

"If even a very sinful person serves Me exclusively with devotion, he should be regarded as saintly, for his resolve is perfect."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.30)

We had become quite wicked (durachar)—we had done so many bad things; but when you surrender to Krishna, Krishna will always protect you, and He will rescue you from that illusory environment, from that karma. Krishna always accepts us as His servitor once we surrender to Him. This is the main thing. If you are fully surrendered to the Lord, you do not need to worry. That is why, it is necessary to have a full surrender (sad-anga saranagati).

* * *

Primary and Paramount Necessity

Kolkata—Worldwide, 13 September 2020, part 6

Devotee: We have got an invitation to speak at a college programme to the students and professors. Could you advise what we should tell them? They want to discuss pure consciousness and beyond...

Actually, you are preaching at such conferences so much... It is good—you can give them a class on Srimad Bhagavad-gita. This is the main thing. You can tell them what Krishna told Arjuna. It is good for newcomers and new devotees to hear this. You can tell them what Srimad Bhagavad-gita tells—these things are very much necessary for new devotees. Teach Srimad Bhagavad-gita everywhere, it will be good. People can easily understand it. Srimad Bhagavad-gita is the primary book, because most people cannot understand Srimad Bhagavatam or Chaitanya-charitamrita, it is very difficult for them, but everybody knows Srimad Bhagavad-gita, so everybody can easily understand its message.

Also, scientists' research is always involved with the body—they never research anything related to the soul. They do not think. One engineer is making a building and says that the building will last two hundred years, but he does not know how many years he has in his own lifetime. So, they must understand what is necessary in one's life, what is the purpose of getting this human body—what this body is meant for. This body is not only for eating, sleeping, and enjoying. You must use this body in a proper way. I am not saying they must stop eating, sleeping, and enjoying, but at the same time, the Lord has sent you into this human body, so what is the need for that? Why is it necessary to get a human body? What is its purpose? If you live like cats and dogs, then what is the difference between you and cats and dogs? If you only sleep and eat, then you are doing the same thing as animals do.

You can tell them about these things, it will be good for them and they can easily understand it also. After that, they can gradually understand Subjective Evolution, they can read this book. Mainly, they must read Srimad Bhagavad-gita, it will be good for them.

Devotee: Thank you very much, Maharaj. We will convey your message to them.

OK.

suddha-bhakata-charana-renu
bhajana-anukula
bhakata-seva parama-siddhi
prema-latikara mula

"The dust of pure devotees' feet is favourable to devotion. Serving the devotees is the supreme fulfilment and the root of the creeper of divine love."

Serving pure devotees is favourable to devotion; the greatest perfection is attained through service to devotees; and service to devotees is the root of transcendental love for Lord Sri Krishna (Krishna-prema). If you want to get Krishna-prema, you must serve Krishna's devotees. This is the main thing. Krishna-prema is the highest, ultimate attainment, and you can get it easily if you serve devotees of Krishna with heart and soul. If you can do that, it will be good for you.

All right, all devotees must be tired, it is also ekadasi today. We will meet again next Sunday. Everybody should pray to the Lord for the well-being of all devotees all over the world. This year 2020 has brought so many kinds of danger, so many bad things are going on now all over the world. At this time, everybody should stay in good health. May Krishna protect all devotees all over the world. I always pray about it to Gurudev, Lord Nityananda, Lord Gauranga, Lord Krishna, Nrisinghadev, and Prahlad Maharaj. I pray that all devotees may overcome this situation and that we all may meet again on Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance day at Gaura Purnima and Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. I still do not know if there will be Vrindavan Dham parikrama this year or not, but I want to say that we want to take devotees to Kedarnath and Badrinath one time in 2021. The pilgrimage will be some time after Gaura Purnima and before Ratha Yatra. We want to visit Kedarnath and Badrinath (Gangotri and Yamunotri). We are thinking that 2021 will start in a very nice way...

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Continuing Service Movement

Kolkata—Worldwide, 20 September 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham Sri Nabadwip Dham Sri Vrindavan Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Tandiya sakha Math samuha ki jay
Sri Mather sevak vrinda bhakta-vrinda ananta-koti Vaishnav vrinda ki jay
Sri Gaudiya Acharya vrinda ki jay
Tridandi-pad-gan ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
All the sannyasi, brahmachari bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all today, it is very nice to meet you all today again on this Sunday, one week later. Here, everybody is doing very nice by the mercy of Gurudev.

Two days ago, Purushottam Month started. It is a very auspicious month—just like niyom-seva, kartik-vrata, like Kartik month and Damodar month. This is a very auspicious month. At this time, all Gaudiya Vaishnavs follow this Purushottam month, they show their respect for Purushottam month from their hearts.

So far as I know (I am getting news from all over the world), everywhere devotees are doing well. Everybody practises and gradually restarting their preaching movement also after this pandemic situation. Here, this month, the rainy season is coming to an end, autumn is coming, and after that winter will come...

I am very happy to see you all. Krishna arranges and makes it possible for me to see all of my family members together every week, every Sunday, and I can see all of my well-wishers, all of my friends, all of my family members. I see they remember the Lord very nicely, they practise Krishna consciousness, they follow sravanam, kirtanam through their faith. This is the nine-fold process of practising devotion (nava-vidha bhakti),

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning there is (1) faith, then (2) good association, then (3) practising life. After that, (4) the offences gradually go away, (5) faith becomes stronger, (6) taste comes, then (7) attachment, then there arises (8) love and (9) intense transcendental love. This is how love to God comes to those who practise Krsna consciousness."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.4.15-16)

This is the main process in our spiritual life. Step by step we proceed down this line, we practise this proper line following Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's line (Bhaktivinod-dhara), Srila Rupa Goswami's conception, Sri Sri Rupa-Sanatan's conception. Every year, after Param Gurudev's Vyasa Puja, we alway go for Vrindavan parikrama, but we do not know if we can go or not this year. Still,

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."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We can practise Vaishnav-sanga, sadhu-sanga from anywhere. In his last moments, Gurudev instructed, "Do not forget Krishna, always remember Krishna. No matter where you are (on a train, in a bus, car, room, house, forest, thatched house, big building, etc.), wherever you are staying, always practise spiritual life, always chant the Holy Name, practise Krishna consciousness." So, we must always remember Krishna, chant the Holy Name, practise and do our service from wherever we are. We must continue our service movement.

* * *

Keep Your Guru In Your Heart

Kolkata—Worldwide, 20 September 2020, part 2

We must continue our service movement. When Satyakama took initiation from his guru Gautam Goswami, he asked his Gurudev, "Gurudev, how can I please you? Through what service can I make you happy?" In this world, all people think about their own happiness—99% people always think about their own interest; only a rare devotee thinks, "How can I make my Guru happy?" This is what we can learn from Satykama. Gautam Goswami (Satyakama's Guru) had four hundred cows, and he gave cow service to Satyakama. Satyakama accepted this service and pleased his guru through it, as a result of which he became his Guru's successor—he became the next acharya of that sampradaya. So, we too can make our Guru happy through some simple service, through some little service. This is the main thing, this is our goal. Our destination is to make our Guru happy. Our main goal is, "How can I make my Guru happy through some sweet service?"

I can also tell you that you must always keep some place in your heart for your Guru. Our hearts are always full of kanak, kamini, pratistha (desire for money, companions, and name and fame)—we always think about our own enjoyment, we always think about our own safety. We must have faith that Krishna will always save us. "Avasya raksibe Krsna visvasa palana: we must believe that Krishna will certainly protect me." This is the main faith, "Krishna will protect us." Gurudev says, "You will get it"—then we must believe, "Yes, it is correct, I will get it."

If we chant the Holy Name properly, if we serve our Lord and our Guru properly, if we always think about the service to our Guru, then, in this way, we can reach our destination. In this human body, it is possible to get a great benefit through proper practice. We have got this fortunate life, this human body, and we should use every part and parcel of this body for the service to our Guru, for the service to the Lord. Krishna-katha, Hari-katha is our life. For as many days we are alive in this world, we must not use these days for any other things—we should connect everything with service.

There sixty-four types of bhaktyanga, and the first of them is "adau guru-padasraya," then initiation—first you must take shelter of the guidance of a bona fide guru, only then you should take initiation. If you have a proper faith in your Guru, then you can see the Lord through your Guru. It is necessary to have the strongest faith. "Drdha kari' dhara nitaira paya (দৃঢ় করি ধর নিতাই পায়)—firmly grasp Nitai's feet." It means that you must have the strongest faith (drdha kari)—you must keep the strongest faith in your Guru, Nityananda Prabhu.

And another thing is that you must keep some place in your heart for your Guru. Always keep your Guru in your heart. You can do many things—offer your Guru a flower, do guru-puja, etc.—but these are external things. You must also have internal devotion—you must keep your Guru in your heart. This is the main thing.

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Unparalleled Vairagya

Kolkata—Worldwide, 20 September 2020, part 3

Always read the pastimes of Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj. You can read and see their vairagya (renunciation). They are all great Vaishnavs. How did Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj live? It was a very simple living.

I have read the biography of our Param Gurudev Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj—when he would take prasadam at his house (his own house), his mother would serve him and cry. Srila Guru Maharaj himself told, "My mother would cook many things for me, but I would only take boiled neem(!) leaves with rice." You can read his autobiography, Srila Guru Maharaj himself told about it. Do you understand? How austere their life is! He would take only neem leaves [*they are unbearably bitter]! He would take rice and instead of subji (vegetables) he would only take neem leaves cooked with some ras (water). We cannot conceive how much austerity it is.

What a great Vaishnav Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj is, but how low he thought himself to be. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami left all visaya (material things)—his father was a landlord, but he left everything like stool and urine and came to Mahaprabhu after Nityananda Prabhu's mercy, and Mahaprabhu accepted him. You can read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita and see what kind of prasadam he would take after that. There was some thrown away rice in Puri that even cows did not eat because it was too rotten ("sada-gandhe tailangi-gai khaite na pare"; Cc, 3.6.316), but Srila Raghunath Das Goswami would collect that rice, wash it with water and take it with some salt. You can read and see what lifestyle they all lived.

Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj did not consider himself a Vaishnav—he did not even think he was worth being called a human as he considered himself lower than any kind of animal or beast. You heard also one of the pastimes of Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, I have told it many times during Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, at the bhajan kutir of Babaji Maharaj. One time, a lady invited him to take prasadam at her house. Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj came there and took prasadam—he finished whatever was there on his plate; but the lady thought, "I have invited him because I wanted to get the remnants of his prasadam, but he has not kept anything! He has taken everything!" Then, she forcefully gave him rice and subji again. Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj understood why she was forcing him to eat—he did not show he was angry, but he became a little serious. Then, Babaji Maharaj again took all prasadam, and this time he ate even the banana leaves (the plate). It is difficult to believe it, but it is the truth, it is the fact. His servitor and that lady were astonished, and the lady thought, "Oh, what a great offence I have committed!" Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj had to tolerate such kinds of things—he even ate banana leaves! He did not leave anything.

This is Vaishnavism. We can understand these things if we study the pastimes and life histories of great Vaishnavs. We can read their biographies and see how much tolerance they have, how much austerity they got in their spiritual life. Srila Sanatan Goswami and Srila Rupa Goswami stayed in Vrindavan, and it gets extremely cold and extremely hot there—at that time, there was no electricity, so they had no water heaters, no air conditioners, etc. How did they pass their days? If we think about it, we will be astonished—we cannot imagine how austere their life is.

We should read about their pastimes, we should read the descriptions of their life history.

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Pillars of Devotional Life

Kolkata—Worldwide, 20 September 2020, part 4

We must leave everything for the happiness of the Lord, for the happiness of our Guru.

We must live in a place where there is service going on—where is Krishna's puja, Krishna's pastimes, Krishna's beauty, Krishna's service are present and going on. That is why I tell everybody that you must keep an altar at home. You can spend ten-fifteen minutes every day doing your japa (chant the Holy Name) in front of your Deities, you can offer bhoga, and take prasadam. You must manage your life in this way. Your lifestyle must be like this. It is necessary.

Always avoid seva-aparadh and nama-aparadh. Always give honour to cows, brahmans (actual brahmans), Vaishnavs, etc. You must respect everybody. Always avoid bad association—avoid the association of those who are not Vaishnavs. Always engage in practising sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, archanam, pada-sevanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, worshipping, serving lotus feet, offering prayers, engaging in service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). Always sing songs, always think about the songs, always recite and remember them. Practise in this way. Also, now is Purushottam Month, you can recite Siksastaka songs during this month:

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi ahankara

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean."

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana

"Practise tolerance like a tree. Stop ill-treating others, instead nurture them."

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

"Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others."

Practise properly in this way.

We must practise because we have diseases—avidya (ignorance), asmita (false identification), raga (misdirected love), dvesa (aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment), and abhinivesa (being unable to give up unfavourable habits). These are our five diseases, and if we follow rules and regulations and take prasadam, we can remove these diseases from our life and our hearts. "Prasada-seva karite haya, sakala prapancha-jaya—by honouring the Lord's prasad I conquer all worldly illusions."

Being conditioned souls, we have four faults:

(1) Something is not correct, but we always think that it is correct. We even still think, "I am this body." We know, "I am a jiva soul, I am not this body," but we still always make the mistake thinking, "I am this body." If somebody asks you, "What country are you from?" You will say, "I am from Colombia." It is not correct. We all come from Goloka Vrindavan and we must go back there—back to God, back to home. Yet, we think we come from Colombia, we come from India, etc. That is our fault, our mistake.

(2) When there is a rope, we think it is a snake. It is pramad—we always say wrong things and we always hear wrong things.

(3) We suffer in so many ways in this material life, and we inflict suffering onto others. We are deceived and we are deceitful.

(4) We cannot see proper things with our eyes, we cannot hear proper things with our ears. That is our problem.

Another thing is sadhu-ninda. There are four types of criticism of sadhus.

(1) "Oh, you are from mlechhas!", "You are from a lower caste!", "You come from a brahman caste!"—we think in this way and criticise sadhus because of their origin.

(2) Sometimes, somebody can make a mistake, and we say, "Oh, he always makes this mistake!" It is not right, a person can make a mistake once and correct himself after that, so you must not think and criticise the person saying that just because he has done something once, he does it all the time. It can be just a one-time slip.

(3) Somebody may have made some mistake in their previous life, for example, in their childhood, and has since then corrected himself, has removed that fault, but we still blame the person for his previous mistakes saying, "He did this, this, and that!" It is not right.

(4) Somebody may have done something wrong, but they may have already corrected themselves. We must not criticise anyone for their past mistakes. We must give others a chance to correct themselves.

Our vision should be such. Also, I have told you many times what is favourable to devotion and what unfavourable to devotion.

There are six urges, six things that are unfavourable to devotion that are necessary to control (chhaya vega dami')—vakya-veg, jihva-veg, mano-veg, krodha-veg, udar-veg, upastha-veg (urges of speech, tongue, mind, anger, stomach, and genitals). If somebody feels pain in their heart because of your words, you must not talk like that. Do not use bad language, slang, swearing, etc. when talking to others. Control your mind, control your speech and control your anger. Also, our tongue always wants to taste all sorts of things, it is necessary to control it. Udara-veg means eating too much, and upastha-veg means having too much lust—it means having always too much desire related to sex, etc. All these things are unfavourable to devotion and must be avoided.

We must embrace what is favourable to devotion. (1) Utsaha. Always be enthusiastic. Always practise with full respect, and not only that—Gurudev says you must practise with proper respect, so you think, "Oh, Gurudev told to do so, that is why I am doing it." Not like that. When Gurudev tells you to do or follow something, you should do it from our heart. We must do service from our heart. (2) Drdha-visvas. It is necessary to have a strongest faith, I have told you about it. (3) Dhairya, patience. This is the main thing. Almost everyone now has no patience, no tolerance power. Somebody may do something wrong, but we can correct them, we can tell it to them nicely. (4) Bhakti-posak karma: always engage in sravan, kirtan, etc. I have just told you about it. (5) Avaishnav-sanga tyag. We must not give our association to those who are not Vaishnavs. There are many kinds of association. Suppose you go to the market to buy bhoga for Deities—you speak to the shopkeepers, you ask the price, etc., but you do not associate with the shopkeeper; or you go to a pharmacy to buy some medicine. This is not association. Association means always talking to someone, talking about private matters, sharing inner thoughts with each other. Who will you share your inner thoughts with? With a great Vaishnav. (6) Sad-vritti. I have told you this today too. We must learn how previous Vaishnavs maintained their lives, and we must follow their example, their path. We must try to live and maintain our life the way sadhus do. We must try to do that. We must try to practise that. That is the main things.

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Best Behaviour

Kolkata—Worldwide, 20 September 2020, part 5

Everybody must live in harmony with each other. There are different kinds of people in this world, we are all fallen souls and everybody has different qualities and qualification (everybody's quality cannot be the same). If we think we have become great devotees, it is wrong because we are fallen souls and we are only trying to serve our Guru under his guidance. This is our main aim in life. We must practise properly and follow our Guru's guidance because we are very much afflicted by avidya (ignorance), asmita (false identification), raga (misdirected love), dvesa (aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment), and abhinivesa (being unable to give up unfavourable habits). Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that we are "wasted by five diseases (pancha-roge hata)"—we always suffer from these diseases and we cannot overcome them. These diseases are very difficult and very dangerous—more dangerous than covid. We must fight against ourselves. We must ask ourselves, "What am I doing? What should I be doing?" You must ask yourself this question.

...When somebody gets chastised by their guru, it is a great fortune. Before, my Gurudev used to chastise me every day and I would always wait for that, but now I cry every day because there is nobody to chastise me. Sometimes, I dream of Gurudev chastising me—such days are very precious for me. I always want to be chastised. I am never angry, I am never upset, or anything. You know, in my temple life, I once got angry and went away to Bamunpara. Everybody told Gurudev, "That brahmachari has left the temple!" Gurudev thought, "Oh, how did he leave so quickly?" At that time, there were no mobile phones, so it was not possible to reach me. In the mean time, I was staying in Bamunpara, at Srila Gurudev's birthplace. Two days passed in this way. Gurudev kept searching for me, and then finally, I do not know how he knew it, but he called one devotee and sent him to Bamunpara to bring me back. When I came back, Gurudev told me, "I thought you would run away, but you have nowhere to run—you only went to Bamunpara!" I remember that time when I had got upset and I went away to Bamunpara...

Question: They say that when you say "thank you to somebody," it means you are using something for your personal satisfaction, not in the Lord's interest. How can we understand the true value of gratitude and what attitude should we adopt when we receive something? In our temples, devotees usually do not say "thank you" because they think it means they accept something for themselves.

It is not necessary to say "thank you" because "thanks" or "thank you" are simple things. These are Gurudev's words, you know it. One time, Gurudev said, "I am doing so much for you, and you only say "thank you" to me?" So, in Vaishnavism, when you receive something from somebody, you must also give something to them in return—you must give them respect, honour, you should pay dandavat, pay your respect. This is more important. Always give love and affection to devotees. That is good for you. Moreover, when somebody shows you the path, when somebody brings you to this line, this person is the main personality in your life, and you must give them proper respect. You cannot only say "thank you"—you must give them proper respect, you must show proper behaviour, proper etiquette. You should try to do this, it is very important. Another thing is that we do not take from others—we always give something to others. So, if you get something from someone, you must also give something to them in return.

Question: I often get angry and envy others. How can I deal with it?

It is very bad. You must avoid envy. You can be angry sometimes, but angry about what? We can show anger towards non-devotees, not towards our own devotees. As for envy, envy is a very big enemy, and envy is absolutely not good. You must avoid it within you. Krishna has not given any place for envy.

krsna-seva kamarpane, krodha bhakta-dvesi-jane
lobha sadhu-sange hari-katha
moha ista-labha bine, mada krsna-guna-gane,
niyukta kariba yatha tatha

"I will engage lust by offering it in Krishna's service. I will engage anger towards those who are envious of the devotees. I will be greedy to hear the topics of Hari in the association of devotees. I will feel illusioned without achieving my worshipable Lord. I will be maddened while singing the glories of Krishna. In this way I will engage these enemies in their proper places."

(Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 22, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

You can engage lust in eagerness to serve Krishna, you can engage anger against those who oppose devotees, you can engage greed in greediness to hear Hari-katha and honour Hari-prasad. You can even engage ego in service—instead of thinking, "I am very beautiful," "I am a rich man," you must think, "I am an eternal servant of the Lord," "I am an eternal servant of my Guru." This must be our ego. "I am an eternal servant of my Guru"—this ego is good. As for matsarya (envy), Krishna says, "I am not giving any place for envy." He has given place for everything—kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, but He has not given any place for matsarya (envy, jealousy). Jealous mood is very bad for our spiritual life. If somebody becomes rich, you must be happy for them—you must not think, "Oh, he is rich, but why not me? Why am I poor and he is rich?" Some think, "Oh, he came to the temple just ten years ago, but I have got Srila Prabhupad, Srila Sridhar Maharaj, Srila Gurudev's association! Why am I a simple person and this newcomer has become such a great devotee?!" This kind of envy is very bad for our spiritual life. We think, "He joined just a few days ago, and I joined thirty years ago! How come I did not get anything, I did not get any position but he did?!" This mood is very bad for your spiritual life. It is called envy. You must avoid it through practising. It is very important.

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Repository of Nectar

Kolkata—Worldwide, 20 September 2020, part 6

Question: Could you please tell us the meaning of the 10.14 verse from Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam ("Sri-srimad-bhagavat-padambuja..."). Srila Govinda Maharaj said in Divine Servitor, "I think that this is the highest sloka I have received in my life."

Yes, I heard it myself from his lotus mouth when he said that. It is a very good sloka. Srila Sridhar Maharaj said, "I have collected all the drops that are falling and presented it in this book." This book Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam is a collection of verses that Srila Sridhar Maharaj collected from the works of Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami and many others—he collected what these great souls tell about their spiritual life and presented these drops from their holy mouths in this book. Moreover, Srila Sridhar Maharaj says that if you talk while you are eating, then some drops, some spit will fall from your mouth, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj says, "I have collected these drops and I am trying distribute them for my own benefit and for the benefit of others—for my own purification and for others' purification as well." I remember when Gurudev was explaining this.

sri-srimad-bhagavat-padambuja-madhu-svadotsavaih sat-padair
niksipta madhu-bindavas ca parito bhrasta mukhat gunjitaih
yatnaih kincid ihahrtam nija-para-sreyo 'rthina tan maya
bhuyo-bhuya ito rajamsi pada-samlagnani tesam bhaje

"The bees, intoxicated in the festival of drinking the honey of the Lord's lotus feet, busily humming the glories of the Lord, drops of honey from their mouths fall and scatter all around; for my own divine prospect, I've carefully collected some of those drops herein—and thus do I worship the dust of the holy lotus feet of those saints, again and again."

(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam, 10.14)

Gurudev explains this sloka very nicely. When somebody is taking and relishing honey, some drops fall from their mouth and Srila Sridhar Maharaj is collecting these drops. This is actually the essence of our spiritual life. Param Guru Maharaj wrote this sloka when he was making this book. The [Bengali] translation of the sloka is actually short, but when Gurudev explained it, he explained it in a very beautiful way. Gurudev said, "If you speak while you are eating, then something will fall from your mouth. So, when Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami speak, drops of honey fall from their holy mouths, and bees collect that honey." So, Srila Guru Maharaj says, "I have collected these drops and presented them in this book for my own and others' benefit—that is, for my own purification and for the purification of others."

Devotee: We saw how Srila Govinda Maharaj used to give prasadam even to the deer, sometimes even from his own mouth.

Here, these drops from the great souls' mouths are Hari-katha—that honey is the Hari-katha coming from such very special devotees like Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu, Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and others. When such souls eat and relish what they are eating, some drops come from their mouths, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj collected those drops, put them together and gave for others and for himself also—he says, "I distributed it for myself and for others also—for my own purification and for others' purification." Such is the quality of the nectar of Hari-katha (Hari-kathamrita-guna). It is nectar.

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Awkward Medicines and Health Issues

Kolkata—Worldwide, 20 September 2020, part 7

Question: If a doctor has prescribed a medicine that contains gelatine and there is no substitute, what should I do?

If the doctor has prescribed that medicine for your disease, then you should take it because it is necessary for your health. What is health for? Your health is for the service of your Guru, Vaishnavs, and the Lord. You must take care of your health. What do you take care of your health for? What is this body or health for? What is its purpose? This body is used for the service of the Lord, so you must maintain this body, you must keep this body well. That is why, you must take the medicine that the doctor prescribes.

You cannot tell what medicine is made from—whether it comes from some fish, meat, or anything else. You cannot see that. It can even be made from a pig's body or a snake's body. So many medicines come from animals, trees, and many other things. We do not want to see that. There are so many medicines in the market, and so many kinds of medicine are made from all kinds of trees, beasts, birds, pigs, even snakes. You know, there is a kind of snake poison a drop of which costs millions and billions of dollars!

When it comes to medicine, you should take it, it is not a problem. Gurudev also always said that even on ekadasi day you must take medicine. If you do not keep your health well, how you will serve then?

Question: If somebody is seriously sick and the doctor recommends taking meat and some medicine containing animal slaughter by-products, what should I do?

You must take the medicine, but if the doctor prescribes eating meat, etc., you should not take it. I sometimes see that in India too—sometimes, somebody is weak, and the doctor says, "You must take chicken, you are weak." We should not follow that. You have many other things in the world besides chicken, meat, fish, etc.—there are so many other things rich in protein. So, if the doctor says you must take meat and not follow your Vaishnavism, then it is wrong, we should not follow it. As for medicine, if you have to take it for your health, then you can take it.

Question: If for health reasons I cannot take some preparation when they give prasadam, is it an offence if I do not honour all prasad?

No, it is not, but if Gurudev gives you something, you should take it without any second thoughts. If Gurudev gives you something, you can take it, it is not a problem. For example, if you have diabetes and Gurudev gives you a rasagulla (a sweet), you can take it.

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Adjusting with Others and Yourself

Kolkata—Worldwide, 20 September 2020, part 8

Question: It is said in the scriptures that sadhu-ninda is the worst offence. We have many godbrothers and godsisters who have not taken sannyas but they serve and preach. Should we consider an offence against them a sadhu-ninda?

If somebody preaches, it is good! Why will we criticise them? Another thing is that somebody may criticise you, but you cannot kick them out of the temple because of that—you must have someone to criticise you. So, if somebody criticises you, you should keep them in the temple. Such people are necessary for you. Krishna has given place for them too. In this world, Krishna has given a place for many kinds of people, many kinds of animals, so if somebody is happy to criticise me, they can criticise, it is not a problem. What is the problem for me? However, if somebody criticises our Guru in front of us, then we should protest—we will say, "No, do not do that!"

Question: Sometimes, in the name of religion and good practices we stop expressing affection to others, including devotees. How to adjust that we live in a war against maya, but not against devotees?

The scriptures say that if somebody is bad association, we must always avoid them (avaishava-sanga tyag) Always avoid bad association. What exactly is your question? [A devotee explains the question but takes it into another direction.] We do not see whether somebody comes from a lower or a higher caste. Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Gurudev did not accept such vision. Actually, in this world, there are so many people who claim they belong to the caste of brahmans, but they do not follow brahmanism—they wear some thread and claim, "We are brahmans!" Brahmanism is not about wearing a thread. It is necessary to have good qualities and qualification. That is why, Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur made brahmans out of mlechhas. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Gurudev made devotees from many other castes, lower castes, etc. It does not matter. People come for Krishna consciousness and we do not care who comes from what country, who is lower, who is lowest. Only if somebody is bad association (you know what bad association is), you must always avoid such association.

As for how I can show affection to devotees, we always give respect to others, we always behave humble, tolerant, and respectful. We say these things and we also treat others with respect. You show affection to your parents, mother, husband, wife, etc., and the same kind of love and affection should come towards devotees.

Question: How can I know who is really a bona fide guru?

If somebody is a bona fide guru, he can remove maya from you. Yet, there are some gurus in this world who always swim in maya, then how can you call them a bona fide guru?

gurur na sa syat svajano na sa syat
pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat
daivam na tat syan na patis cha sa syan
na mochayed yah samupeta-mrtyam

"It is not your guru, it is not your family, it is not your father, it is not your mother, it is not your god, it is not your husband if that person cannot save you from the world of birth and death."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 5.5.18)

Sivji Maharaj says that a bona fide guru is a guru who can give you relief from death. 'Death' means maya. When you go to maya (illusory environment), that is death. So, he who can remove you from such death, is a bona fide guru. Another thing is that a bona fide guru is always selected by another proper guru. A guru does not declare himself to be a guru ("I am a guru!")—a guru is always selected by his guru. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur selected our Param Gurudev, Srila Sridhar Maharaj, by saying, "I am now peaceful and sure that after me there will be someone left in this world who can preach the conception that I have come to give to this world, who can carry on what I have come to this world for."

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

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