Preaching and Practising Foundation

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Caracas, Venezuela
23 September 2009

Do you have any questions? Please tell me.

[A devotee asks a question in Spanish.]

I understood what he is asking. He is asking if in Kali-yuga there is no sannyas, why do people take sannyas? Like this? [Devotees cheer and laugh.]

Yes, in Kali-yuga there is no sannyas, but Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur accepted Vaishnav sannyas in Kali-yuga for preaching. Mahaprabhu also took sannyas from Keshav Bharati—He showed that even Krishna Himself, Bhagavan Himself, took sannyas from Keshav Bharati.

Question: When a jiva soul comes out of the tatastha sakti, what part of the universe does it arrive at at the beginning?

It depends. He is asking where the soul starts from, and the scriptures say that we have changed so many bodies—a tree's body, a bird's body, and so on; but at last we have got a human body. From the human body, by some good karma we can get the position of, for example, Kali, Durga, Laksmi, Ganesh, Siva, and so on, but it is not a very long life, but anyhow, some people can get some power and go there.

Question: What is the difference between a preaching centre and an actual temple? For instance, in Colombia, we are trying to do something, at least just a preaching centre, but as far as I can understand, this is not so easy...

A preaching centre is not a problem—a small centre is good. The main thing necessary in Kali-yuga is preaching, Nama-sankirtan. As for maintenance, if you make many temples, it will be necessary to have many pujaris and arrange for so many things, but if you have just a preaching centre, it is not a problem (it is good for everybody also).

Gurudev also always said about India that you can make as many preaching centres as you like, but if you make many temples, the vigraha will end up being a nigraha. It means that the vigraha (the Deity) is there, but after some time there will be nobody who can worship it, so where will that vigraha end up? What will be the position of the vigraha? If you have a preaching centre, that is not so many problems. Even in Param Guru Maharaj, Srila B.R. Sridhar Maharaj's times, he did not want to make many temples—he said it is ok to make a temple in Puri, in Kolkata (it is a transit centre) and one in Vrindavan, Govardhan, not more than that.

The main thing is jive daya—it means preaching, transferring people. Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "You can make many hospitals and treat thousands and thousands of patients, but if in lieu of that you can change just one person into a devotee, that is more beneficial."

Before preaching, however, you must have a good and solid foundation. You must learn first from a high, bona fide Guru, from a bona fide devotee. Somebody asked a question in the morning, "Why is my mind not good? Why are we weak and not getting strength?" Because of the lack of practising. Do sravanam, kirtanam every day and you will get strength; come to the temple every day and will get strength. If you stay in a house and come to the temple only once a week, how will you get strength? Practise makes perfect. Practice is our strength.

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