In Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Sri Krishna said, ‘I do not know anyone except My devotees, and My devotees also know only Me – they do not know anyone else, they do not understand anything else except Me.’ That is why it is said:

তোমার হৃদয়ে সদা গোবিন্দ-বিশ্রাম ।
গোবিন্দ কহেন মম বৈষ্ণব পরান ॥৫॥

tomara hrdaye sada govinda-visrama
govinda kahena mama vaisnava parana [5]

‘Always resting in your heart, Govinda says, “My devotees are My heart and soul.”’

প্রতি জন্মে করি আশা চরণের ধূলি ।
নরোত্তমে কর দয়া আপনার বলি ॥৬॥

prati janme kari asa charanera dhuli
narottame kara daya apanara bali [6]

‘In every birth, I aspire for the dust of your feet. Please mercifully consider Narottam your own.’

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

Whatever birth I get, I aspire for the dust of Vaishnavs’ lotus feet. I do not want to be born as Brahma, I do not want to go to heaven, I do not want to become Indra. Let me be born as a dog, as long as I am a dog at Your devotees’ house: devotees will take prasad and throw their plates away, and I will come and lick their prasad off them. It is necessary to have this mood.

Many of you have been told, ‘You must not touch gurudev’s feet.’ Why? What does it mean? We always consider ourselves extremely poor. People come to touch my feet, to take the water that has washed my feet or to wash and touch my feet, but they use that same hand to chant on their beads and serve Govinda – how can they touch the feet of such a fallen soul as I am, with that same hand?! That is why we do not allow this. We do not consider ourselves Vaishnavs – we are servants of the servants of Vaishnavs. That is why we do not let others touch our feet. Mahaprabhu also did not allow it, although there was one person whom Mahaprabhu was bound to allow it.

One time, Mahaprabhu went to the Gundicha Temple on the day before the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladev and Lady Subhadra were to come. (We also come there the day before Ratha-yatra; we clean and sweep the temple.) Mahaprabhu climbed somewhere on top to clean the place, and one clever devotee (‘ye jana Krsna bhaje sei bada chatur: those who worship Krishna are very clever’) came there and poured a pot of water on His feet. The water started falling from Mahaprabhu’s feet, and the devotee stretched his hands and drank it. When Mahaprabhu saw what had happened, He told Svarup Damodar, ‘Just see how cunning your Gaudiya is! He is nonsense! I have climbed up to clean the Lord’s place, and he is washing My feet and drinking that water! Tell him to go away!’ Internally, Mahaprabhu was pleased though, thinking, ‘How ingenious he is!’ But externally He showed everyone that the devotee should not have done this because if He had allowed it, everyone would have started doing it – they would have queued to wash His feet and drink the water. That is why Mahaprabhu was strict, ‘Take him away from here! He must get out!’ But Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami said that He was pleased inside, marvelling at the devotional ingenuity of that Gaudiya Vaishnav. This is how you must do your service – you must serve your guru and Vaishnavs extracting and smearing mellows of deep love from your heart.

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