GUIDANCE

Issue# 12

Lectures of His Divine Grace

Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj

published at SCSMathInternational.com during July-September 2017

CONTENT

Spiritual Management

Speaking online to devotees in London

31 July 2011, part 1

I am very happy today. Yesterday was a festival [of Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's disappearance] in Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Nabadwip and all over the world also. I heard that there was a good festival in London, Venezuela, and other countries all over the world. They also made a festival in Russia. The festivals in Nabadwip and Dum Dum Park were good, and I was very happy to hear that.

It was a very auspicious day in our life. I also listened to the previous years' programmes, kirtans, listened to some lecture Guru Maharaj [Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj] gave on that day, etc. You know that this is actually our life—sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). Sravan and kirtan (hearing and chanting) is our life, our practising life.

Gurudev said that you can live anywhere in this world, it may be a forest, a jungle, or some house, it does not matter—you can still continue your practising life, your Krishna consciousness life. That is good for you. Those who are intelligent, who have some faith in the Lord, faith in Mahaprabhu, faith in the Guru, they can easily understand this. Even a non-devotee also—if they do not know any Krishna consciousness but they have some faith in God, they can understand that this is spiritual life. That is the main thing. Faith, strongest faith, is necessary in our life. There are four kinds of faith—kamala-sraddha, taranga-sraddha, drdha-sraddha, sudrdha-sraddha (delicate faith, fickle faith, strong faith, strongest faith). It is necessary to have sudrdha-sraddha (strongest faith) and drdha-sraddha (strong faith) in our life, then we can easily understand this.

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya

krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

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

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

Service to the Lord, service to our Guru are the main thing for us, and I would like to tell some things today specially for the London devotees.

Actually, our Gurudev (Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) made temples in many places, but Chaitanya Saraswat Math and this London temple was made by our Param Guru Maharaj, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Before, Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also wanted to make a temple here in London, and his desire was fulfilled by Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Later on, in Gurudev's time, everything became established there.

All devotees there in London are very good, they all want to serve. Actually, everybody does not have all qualifications. Gurudev said to me once, "You cannot always get all-rounders, people who know everything, but you must try—you must engage everybody." That is our tradition. In Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's time also, somebody said about a new person who had just come to the temple, "Oh, he does not know anything!" but Prabhupad said, "It is you who does not have any qualification! You cannot engage to him to serve the Lord—it is not his fault, it is your fault." So, it is our fault that we cannot engage everybody to serve Chaitanya Saraswat Math, I actually think it is my own fault. We must look for our own fault, we do not see others' fault.

We must think that Chaitanya Saraswat Math in London is one room, one house of Nabadwip. We know that the temple had been sold two times, etc., so we must be careful. Gurudev said about me in Bengali that I do not sell anything, I always buy everything—he said I was not a seller, I was a buyer. Gurudev made this temple, whether it is small or big is not the question. It is a small temple, but it is a remembrance of Gurudev, it is the sriti, memory, of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's and Gurudev's time, and it is a good temple—Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govindasundar (Guru Gauranga Radha Shyamasundar) are there, a brahmachari is serving in that temple, I am very happy with that.

Sometimes some devotee does not like somebody, or maybe somebody does not like me, I do not have any problem with that. Gurudev said to me, and my feeling is also the same, "Somebody can leave me, but I do not want to leave them." Somebody may not like me, it is not a question for me, but I like them. Gurudev told me, "Somebody may not like you, but you must like them—you must engage them." This is our service mood. We must engage everybody in service to Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. That is our main thing. I do not like somebody, he does not like somebody—it is not a question, we must engage everybody. Chaitanya Saraswat Math is Gurudev's property, Guru Maharaj's property, and we must serve that Chaitanya Saraswat Math together, that is our main thing. It is not somebody's personal property, somebody's things, or somebody's Math. It is not…

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Zest for Sankirtan

Speaking online to devotees in London

31 July 2011, part 2

We must serve Chaitanya Saraswat Math together. This is what Gurudev told me.

So much trouble, so many problems are coming to my personal life, so many things are going on, the opposition party is always attacking me personally, but I am not running away from service. Wherever I live, I serve from there. Every day I talk on the phone and manage the temple from here. Gurudev told me that my problem would finish soon and I would sit in my place after that. It is necessary to continue in this way until death. If I die for my Guru, if I die for my service, for Gurudev's temple, it is not a problem for me. I was born one day, and one day I have to die, so it is not a problem for me.

We must continue, we must run our preaching movement. I am telling this to the devotees all over the world. You know that A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad went to America for preaching alone, he had nobody. Somebody thinks, "Oh, we are only two-three devotees, why will we go to sankirtan?" But one person can take kartals, and one person can take mridanga, that is sufficient. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said, "Agun jvala, vatasa asbe—if you make fire, wind will come." Sankirtan is necessary. Somebody may disturb you, but you know that when Madhai beat Nityananda Prabhu, Nityananda Prabhu did not stop chanting the Holy Name. How many times was Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur attacked? He did not stop his sankirtan movement. Many times many problems will come in our spiritual life. Gurudev told me: if you are walking and fall down in some slippery place, you must use that ground to quickly stand up. We must understand that maya, the illusory environment, can attack us any time.

I am very happy that you have a programme every week on Sunday, but I want you to have a programme every day. Why only Sunday? You can make a programme every day, every evening. How many people come to our programme here every day? We can do our programme—class, kirtan, reading, etc.—every day. You may think, "Who will listen to it if we read Chaitanya-charitamrita or Bhagavatam?" But Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said if nobody listens to your class, then the pillars and the walls will listen, and ultimately, he said, the Deity will listen to it. The Deity. Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundar will listen to your class. If you read Chaitanya-charitamrita in the nat mandir, the Deity will listen to it.

The Deity wants to hear it. You know that Mahaprabhu wanted to hear Hari-katha from Ray Ramananda, from Svarup Damodar, from Sanatan Goswami, Rupa Goswami. Mahaprabhu knows everything, why does He want to hear from them? There is a lesson in this. Krishna wants to hear from His devotees. Some think, "Oh, this is just some murti, idol," but it is not so—vigraha Tumi noy, Saksad Vrajendra-nandan (You are not an idol, You are Krishna Himself!). The Deity can hear everything.

We must practise and run our movement very properly everywhere, in every corner, every city, every temple. It is not necessary to make a big, big dome—it is necessary to preach. Our preaching movement must run all over the world.

I am very happy with the devotee who arranged this programme today. I can give lecture at any time, it is not a problem. If you have any question or any problem, you can ask me. My heart is with the devotees. Physically, I am suffering here, but my heart is always with the devotees. Gurudev gave me his devotees and told me to love them, and it is not necessary to show that love and affection—you must understand it in your heart.

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United We Stand

Speaking online to devotees in London

31 July 2011, part 3

We must understand clearly what Srila Sridhar Maharaj wanted, what Gurudev wanted and wants. It is necessary to understand this.

Somebody wants to break our temple—those who want to break cannot think, "We will make something!" Those who want to make cannot break, and those who want to break cannot make, cannot think about making anything.

Gurudev made so many good friends and devotees all over the world. I have told it many times in my lectures that Srila Sridhar Maharaj sent Gurudev all over the world, Gurudev cultivated the land, and now there are so many ripe mango trees—now I am going and taking these mango fruits. Gurudev, our Guru Maharaj, made everything, he gave us everything, and we are very happy in this Krishna consciousness movement.

Srila Gurudev also said that no one can break this Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Some disturbance will come—after Prabhupad left, disturbance came to every temple of Chaitanya Math. Some little disturbance came to our temple too, but we are still united. We must stay together, we must make our Chaitanya Saraswat Math all over the world. If there is some problem in Russia, we must support them; if there is some problem in London, we must support them; if there is some problem in Malaysia, we must support them, etc. This is how we can be united. We must do that.

I am telling to everybody about our sankirtan movement. Some people do not like Krishna-katha, some do not want to hear Hari-katha, some do not know about sankirtan, but I have told it many times in lectures—Mahaprabhu always did "yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasa" (those who are intelligent will practise congregational chanting of the Holy Name). Our life is sankirtan-yajna—chanting and dancing. This is what is necessary for this movement in this age of Kali. So many problems, so many things come along, but through the sankirtan movement that illusory environment will be demolished.

Mahaprabhu told to the householder devotees when they asked Him about their duty, "Your duty is Vaishnav seva and Nama sankirtan." This is necessary, and as much capacity we have we must try to serve our Guru, serve our Mission.

I hear that many devotees work outside very hard, they live in their houses, but every Sunday they come to the temple to hear Krishna-katha. It is also very nice. They work the whole time and when they get some little time they come to serve in the temple. To serve pure Krishna consciousness line is our future, this is our goal, and it will be glorious, it will be successful.

I always remember how I came to London when Gurudev was there. I want to come again and I am thinking of going to collect vegetables, going to the sankirtan with the devotees... I told Gurudev before, "Gurudev, I do not want that kind of life when I will be sitting in one place and every devotee will come and pay dandavat to me. No! I want to jump and chant and dance! I want to do sankirtan, I want to go for collection." Now I am often told, "Oh, you need a lot of security, you need this, this, this," but I do not want that kind of post, you know that. I do not want it. And I told Gurudev about it many times, but when I came back from Australia, Gurudev was in his bed, he caught my hand and asked me, "Will you run away?" I said, "No, I will not run away until my death." Then Gurudev said, "Then I am very happy, I can sleep today…"

I am remembering these things and I say: I cannot leave. When Gurudev asked me, I promised to him that until my death I will serve his mission, I will serve his devotees. I will serve whoever loves Gurudev, whoever has love and affection for Gurudev, whoever will serve Gurudev. That is my promise. I will serve whoever takes care of my Gurudev's mission. I am in a serious condition now, and I will serve my whole life to those who are with us now, who are serving and helping us at this time all over the world. This is my vision.

At this time, it is necessary to have unity, and I am still trying to do that—I try to communicate and keep connection with the devotees all over the world.

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Service Drive

Speaking online to devotees in London

31 July 2011, part 4

I am telling all these things to you at this moment, but actually I want to say only one thing. Gurudev told me, "If you can become a dhuli-khana, one particle of foot-dust of the devotees of Chaitanya Saraswat Math, that is sufficient—more than that is not necessary." It is not necessary to become an acharya, it is not necessary to become a guru, it is not necessary to be a big pujari. If you can become foot dust of Chaitanya Saraswat Math, that is sufficient for you.

For that, it is necessary for us to have faith, strongest faith (visvas) in our Guru. After faith there comes "Sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, engaging in service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission)". We must surrender fully,

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yahara

tahara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"Sri Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender in the six-fold way.”

(Saranagati, 1.5, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

If somebody has faith, if they feel, "I can do something! I want to do it for my Guru!" then they can do it. Those who want to do something for their Guru, they can do these things. That is the main thing. Gurudev told me, "Continue your service, continue your practising life, and one day you will get the result."

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Smooth and Strong Preaching

Speaking online to devotees in London

31 July 2011, part 5

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj made this temple in 1941, but actually at first he did not want to. He wanted to go and stay in Vrindavan, but by the mercy of Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, he came and joined the preaching. He decided to stay in Koladwip, aparadh-bhanjan-pat ("place where offences are forgiven")—he came there and made this temple. After that, many of his godbrothers came here too and helped him in his preaching movement. Many helped him to preach.

Preaching is the main thing. If the water in the river is not running (something stops it), then many dirty things come and the water becomes dirty. But if the water runs, the river is clean. In the same way, if our Guru's preaching movement goes smoothly, if our preaching runs smoothly, then all bad illusory environment will be finished in a moment. It is necessary to understand this. Preaching is the main necessity for our Mission.

For our Mission, it is necessary to preach, to do sankirtan, to distribute books. We must make ourselves good receivers. The line and everything else is OK, but if we are not good receivers, how will we understand anything? Through sravanam, kirtanam (hearing and chanting—hearing and practising), all dirty things will go away, all illusory environment will go away, then we will be able to understand everything easily, and we will easily understand what Gurudev wants.

For example, Gurudev wanted a temple in Ekachakra—there were so many problems, but I finished it. Gurudev wanted it and I finished Gurudev's samadhi [in Nabadwip]. Also, Gurudev told me, "I want to stay in Govardhan," and I am going to make his puspa-samadhi in Govardhan. I told devotees, "They can kill me, I can die, but still I will go there to manage the construction of Gurudev's puspa-samadhi in Govardhan." Gurudev wanted to stay there, that is why I am going to make it.

We must do what is necessary for service. We must think about that. Some devotees call me and say, "O Maharaj, there is another big temple here now..." What is the problem? In Malaysia, there are four temples; in Russia, there are two-three temples; in India, there are more than fifteen branches—what is the problem? They are all under Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, they preach together.

If somebody is preaching for their own benefit, for themselves, it will not work, but if somebody is preaching for their Guru, then it will work. One more temple is not a problem—Gurudev actually wanted that house, and the devotees bought it. They made there a temple, I have no objection, they can do their preaching. They can preach all over the world, in many villages, many countries, many cities. For example, Bharati maharaj wanted to make a centre in Germany—he can do it, I am very happy. We do not have a centre in Germany, and if he wants to make a centre there, I told him I had no objection. If somebody wants to serve my Guru, if somebody wants to make Chaitanya Saraswat Math in another country, I will give them my full support, my full cooperation and I will full engage myself in their service. I will give my cooperation to whoever will serve my Guru. That is my mood.

Another thing is that many devotees are now becoming old, and we need a young generation for preaching. We must make a young generation. When devotees become old, some health problems come or sometimes they say, "Oh, I am very old now, I cannot do it," but on the other hand even old devotees can do much. How old was A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj when he went to preach in the West? He was almost seventy. Our Gurudev finished his world tours when he was eighty-eighty-one. So, it actually depends on the devotee. If you continue serving in the movement, then your mind and health, everything will run properly. When some devotees are sick, we must look after them; when somebody cannot do something, we must not push them. There is a young generation, they can run the movement. We must keep the Krishna consciousness movement strong, we must continue and protect our Gurudev's mission.

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Clear Vision, Full Faith

Speaking online to devotees in London

31 July 2011, part 6

When I took sannyas, Gurudev asked me, "Do you know the meaning of your sannyas?" I said, "I will serve my Guru kaya, mana, vakya—with my action, mind, and speech." He said to me in reply, "Yes, that is what the scripture say, but actually your tridandi-sannyasmeans you must serve my Mission, serve my Deity, serve my devotees." When Gurudev was here, wherever he sent me, whatever he told me to do, I never said no. When Gurudev asked me something, I never even in my mind thought, "No." Never in my life did "no" come out of my mouth in front of Gurudev. I always said yes. That was my good trait. When Gurudev told me something, I always said, "Yes, I will do it." So, to this day I am still trying to serve all the devotees.

I want to serve all devotees all over the world, I do not want service from anybody, I do not want anybody to be my personal servitor, etc.—I want to serve whoever serves Gurudev. This is my mood, this is my main thing.

...It is a good time now in London, the bhoga-arati time, noon time. All devotees have come from many places, they are staying at the temple and hearing the class, doing sankirtan... You know, when I am in Nabadwip, I chant the kirtans in the morning and in the evening—one and a half hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. I like singing, and singing is very important. Gurudev said to me, "It is not necessary to read so many scriptures, your books are Gaudiya Gitanjali kirtan guide and Gaudiya-kanthahara.”

Gurudev told me that Srila Sridhar Maharaj had told him, "If you can read Gaudiya-kanthahara, you will be a 75% preacher." Gurudev told this to me too. In 2000-2001, he asked me, "You are reading any books?" I answered, "I read sometimes, but I do not get time..." Then he told me, "OK, you can read Gaudiya-kanthahara." As soon as he told this to me, I sent somebody to Mayapur to buy this book (I did not have time to go myself), and I read that book. It was that time that Gurudev told me, "You can read this book Gaudiya-kanthahara and you will become a 75% preacher." My Guru Maharaj [Srila Gurudev] told me that.

So, if you read Gaudiya Gitanjali kirtan guide, if you try to understand the meaning of the kirtans and sing these kirtans with meaning, then you can be a preacher—you can preach to others. Even when a new devotee comes, if you tell them to sing for seven days, you can send them for preaching after that.

That was Mahaprabhu's conception also. Mahaprabhu would go to some village, stay there one night, and after that tell some devotee, "From today you are the Guru in this village! You can preach here." Mahaprabhu never took disciples, but He would appoint devotees to preach in their villages. This is how Mahaprabhu's movement increased. We must do this too. We must understand these things.

So, I am very happy today to have got this opportunity to say something to the devotees all over the world, and especially here in London. This London temple is actually Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

Many problems can come, be careful. Somebody may want to break our unity, may want to break our temple, but Gurudev told me—and I have faith in my Guru, you know that—"After me some problem will come, but it will not last long, it will finish soon and easily." Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is a big hill, and if somebody throws a stone at this hill, the stone will break—it will not do any harm to the hill. Problems will come, but they will finish easily. This is what Gurudev told me, and I believe that. I believe my Guru—I have full faith in him.

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Born to Thrive

Addressing students and youths,

5 December 2011, part 1

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

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay!

Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govindasundarjui ki jay!

All the assembled devotees ki jay!

All the worldwide devotees ki jay!

Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta vrinda ki jay!

Nitai Gour premanande Hari bol.

I am sending this message to all the students. If you listen to it, it will be good for you. I am happy also that I am getting this chance to say something, to give Mahaprabhu's message all over the world.

We must understand clearly that we are a jiva soul and just as we always change our clothes, we also always change our bodies. It is the same thing. Finally, fortunately, we have got this human body. What is this body for? It is not only for eating and sleeping and enjoying your whole life, and life after life, birth after birth. We are enjoying ourselves all the time (we always engage ourselves in eating, sleeping, etc.), but we do not become happy. One time, Gurudev said: when we had a pig's body, we ate so much stool, but even then we were still hungry; when we had an elephant's body, we ate so many banana trees, but even then we were still hungry. We are still hungry—now we eat rice, chapati, etc. but your hungry will never be finished, your desires will never be fulfilled through this. How can you get satisfaction? What is the food of the jiva soul? It is the Krishna-katha, Hari-katha. This is what we need. Rice, dal, etc. is the food of the body—just as food is necessary for the body, some food is also necessary for the jiva soul, jivatma. What is that food? It is called Hari-katha.

We are actually fortunate because only fortunate souls get good association, and through that good association we can hear some Krishna-katha, Hari-katha, Bhagavad-katha. It is necessary to have some sukriti, and through sukriti there will come some faith. We must have the strongest faith because devotion depends upon faith—as much faith you have, that much devotion you have. So, you must understand clearly that we have got this body for not eating and sleeping—we have got it for the service to the Lord and we must use it and everybody else for the service to the Lord, for the service to the Guru.

Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the creator of all demigods. We worship so many demigods but we cannot please everybody, we cannot make everybody happy. If, however, we make Lord Krishna happy, then everybody else, all other demigods, are automatically satisfied because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We must try to make the Lord happy through service to Him, through His associates. Krishna Himself says, "It is not necessary to serve Me directly. You should serve My devotees' devotee." So, we should listen to the devotees—to the sadhu, Guru, then all your desires will be fulfilled.

Actually, the Kali-yuga's message, or dharma (religion) is japa, chanting the Holy Name. It is not only Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's religion—even Muslim people chant some japa, Buddhists chant some japa, etc. In every religion there is some japa (chanting). We too chant this sound vibration, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare." Even if somebody chants this Hare Krishna maha-mantra negligently, they also get the result.

Chanting the Holy Name is the yuga-dharma of Kali-yuga (the prescribed religion for the current age of Kali). Krishna Himself comes in the form of His Name, and Krishna's Name, Beauty, Pastimes are non-different from Krishna. The Name comes to this world, to this abode from Goloka Vrindavan through a Guru-parampara. If you take this Harinam from a bona fide Guru, it will be good for you and I will also be very happy. I am telling it to everybody.

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Fundamentals of Krishna Consciousness

Addressing students and youths,

5 December 2011, part 2

Gurudev told one thing: wherever you live, it is not necessary to reject your family life, you can maintain your family life but you must make your family Krishna's family. It is not necessary to become a sannyasi or brahmachari—if you like householder life, if you already have a family, wife, house, etc. you can maintain your life. Wherever you live or stay, you should maintain your practising life, maintain your spiritual life there. Wherever you live, you can chant the Holy Name; wherever you live, you can cook for Krishna—you should not cook and eat, you should take prasadam. This is what being a devotee means.

Whatever you do, it can be either karma or service. Karma means some reaction. Every action has equal and opposite reaction—so if you do karma, it means you will suffer from the bondage of that karma. Service has no bondage. For example, you cook for Krishna and somebody cooks for their family, children, etc.—they cook the same thing, the action looks the same, but the meaning is different. Suppose two people go to the market—one person is shopping for their family and the other person is shopping for the Deities in their house (they offer the bhog and take prasadam).

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)

If you take prasad, all kinds of bad elements will be removed. If you chant the Holy Name, all bad elements will be removed from your heart. It is necessary to clean your heart. How is it possible? Sadhu-sanga (good association) and chanting the Holy Name clean your heart, then Bhakti Devi, the devotional seed, will come. It is not enough to only take initiation, take a Guru. For example, if you plant a flower plant and do not water it, the flower plant will die. In the same way, if you take initiation, you receive the Holy Name but do not practise properly, devotion will not come. Practice makes perfect. You must practise properly.

So, I am telling to everybody: practise, keep good association, and maintain your family life. Family life is not a problem, but it must be Krishna's family. "Kariya Krishnera samsara"—make your family a family of Krishna; and "chhadi' anachara"—avoid bad habits.

We have four regulative principles—dyuta, pana, striya, suna. Dyuta means gambling. Pana means whiskey, drinking, smoking, etc. Striya means illegal sex. And suna means killing other souls. You must avoid all these.

Do not kill anybody, do not kill any jiva souls—do not eat fish, meat, etc. Somebody can say, "Do you not kill? A sadhu also kills plants and trees!" The truth is they do not eat—they do not kill anything for themselves; they 'kill' for their Lord, for Krishna. Krishna said, "When My devotee does something, they do it for Me. If they do something wrong by misfortune or unconsciously, I do not take their offence." Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told Srila Sridhar Maharaj also, "Saranagatera kakhano aparadha haya na." No offence ever comes to those who are a surrendered soul.

So, this is my message to everybody—wherever you stay, maintain your practising life, maintain your spiritual life, that will be good for you.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

All the devotees ki jay!

Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol!

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Sri Guru's Forgiving Mercy

Caracas, June 2010

Gurudev is always merciful. I can give you an example of how merciful Gurudev is, I can tell you one story (I told it last year also). Disciples always do wrong, but Gurudev is always merciful…

Once, there was Gurudev and a disciple. At that time, there were no cars or trains and they were walking on foot—Gurudev walked and the disciple carried his things. They were walking, walking—suddenly the disciple said, "O Gurudev, I am very hungry! I am very hungry! I cannot walk any more!" Gurudev said, "OK, I have this one coin, I can give it to you. Go to the market and bring me some chana." Chana means chickpea dal. They call it chana in Vrindavan, and chhola in Bengal.

The disciple was very happy. He went to the market and he saw many kinds of fruit, apples, nice paneer, curd, etc. He thought, "Oh, it is a very good market!" He asked some shopkeeper, "How much is one kilo paneer? How much is one kilo apples?" The shopkeeper answered, "Here, everything is the same price—one paisa." "Bah! Very good market! Very good area! I do not want to leave this place!" (Lord Siva, Durga, Kali, Lord Brahma—everything is equal!) He quickly got one kilo of paneer (chhana) with the paisa that his Gurudev had given to him and went back to Gurudev.

"Where is my chana?" Gurudev asked him.

"Gurudev, the market is very nice, everything is equal, everything is the same price. Apples, paneer, etc. When one kilo paneer (chhana) is one paisa, why would I ask for chickpea (chana)? I bought a whole kilo of paneer instead!”

"OK, you eat it then!" Gurudev became angry.

The disciple ate the whole kilo of paneer alone, and Gurudev was worried and annoyed because he had to go. When the disciple finished, Gurudev asked him,

"Have you finished?”

"Yes, I have finished.”

"We must go, let's go!”

"No, Gurudev, now I need to sleep, I cannot go... I will not leave this place…"

"OK, then I am going, you can stay here. But remember one thing. You were supposed to go with me, and now you are not coming, but if you get into trouble or some danger one day, you will remember me.”

Gurudev left and the disciple stayed sitting under a tree alone. It is similar to Ishan. Sanatan Goswami and Ishan were going to Vrindavan to meet with Mahaprabhu, but Ishan had some desires—he took some gold coins with him, and Sanatan told him, "Go. Go back to your home." Here too, Gurudev left and the disciple stayed behind.

He was sitting under a tree and chanting. What kind of chanting did he do? He was not actually following his Guru. When he saw some people coming, he would shout, "Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!" The people thought, "Oh, it is a very big Vaishnav!" and they would give him some money. The brahmachari took that money and bought paneer every day. He pretended to be a Vaishnav—he would put a big tilak, show a big mala, etc., but actually what he was doing was for his own enjoyment—he chanted "Hare Krishna!" for money. He lived in this way and soon became fat and got a big belly.

Then, some problem came to that area. Today one house was burgled, another day another house, next day another, and so on. There was a thief in the area who went house to house stealing things. One day, one big man's house was burgled. The rich man went to the local government, council, and complained,

"You are in the government, we all trust you. Why are there burglaries every day in different houses? My house was burgled today!”

"All police and security guards are trying to catch the thief, but they have not found him," said the minister. "Did you see the thief?”

"Yes, I did. When he broke into my house, I heard some noise and woke up. I saw him.”

"What does he look like?”

"He is very fat!”

So, the police started searching for a fat man. Soon they saw a man sitting under a tree, he was very big and fat (it was the disciple of Gurudev).

"You are the thief! You have been stealing from the houses!" said the police.

"No, no, no! I have not done anything! I did not do it!”

"No, it is you!”

The police caught the man and took him to the minister (or like the king of that area). There was a trial, and the judge found the man guilty. The punishment was death—shul (impalement). ('Shul' is a kind of punishment that existed in India, in British period as well. It means that a body is pierced being thrown on a stick.) The king announced that the thief was caught would be punished the next day. Everybody could come and see the impalement.

In the meantime, the brahmachari sat in prison thinking, "Oh, why did I not listen to Gurudev? But Gurudev said that if I got into danger, I would remember him!" He started thinking about Gurudev, crying and calling to him, "O Gurudev, please protect me! Please protect me!" Gurudev immediately came. Do you see how merciful Gurudev is? He immediately came to protect him.

"I told you many times, 'Come with me,' but you did not listen to me, and now they are going to kill you tomorrow. Anyhow, you have called me, and I have come to protect you. Now listen to what I say to you. When they take you to the shul, I will go with you and I will tell him that I want to die instead of you—“

"No, no, Gurudev!" said the disciple quickly, "You do not need to die. I did wrong, it is my fault, so I will die!”

"Hey! I told you, guru-mukha-padma-vakya, chittete kariya aikya! [Make the teachings from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart!]! You did not listen to me in the first place, and now also you are not listening to me! I am telling you what to do. If you want to be rescued, then do as I tell you.”

The next day, the police took the brahmachari to the shul. Gurudev (an old man with a white beard) was walking near. When they were near the shul, Gurudev shouted,

"Wait! I will die! Let me die instead!”

"Who is this man?" asked the king.

"I am an astrologer. You made this shul on a very good day, and today is also a good day. The person who will die on this shul will go to Vaikuntha! Let me die instead of him!”

"No. I made this shul with my money, and my father is always very sick, he always keeps saying, 'When will Krishna take me to Vaikuntha? When will Krishna take me to Vaikuntha?' Why should I allow somebody else die and go to Vaikuntha? I will bring my father instead! Get out of there!" Then the king ordered the police, "Take these men away from there. Call my father.”

At that time, Gurudev said to his disciple, "Now is the time. Let's go!”

* * *

Do You See What I See?

6 August 2011, part 1

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

Vishva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

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!

Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Prabhupad ki jay!

Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj ki jay!

Sach-chid-ananda Bhaktivinod Thakur ki jay!

Sarvabhauma Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj ki jay!

All the assembled devotees ki jay!

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math all the world-wide devotees ki jay!

Samagata Gaura Bhakta Vrinda ki jay!

Harinam sankirtan ki jay!

Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol!

yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado

yasyaprasadat na gatih kuto ‘pi

dhyayam stuvams tasya yasas tri-sandhyam

vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

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

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, 8)

gurvvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam
chintyachintya-samasta-veda-nipunam sri-rupa-panthanugam
govindabhidham ujjvalam vara-tanum bhakty anvitam-sundaram
vande visva-gurun cha divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam

I offer my obeisance unto he who perfectly fulfils his Gurudev's most cherished desires; who is fully adorned with the blessings of his Gurudev’s associates; who is expert in all aspects of Vedic knowledge, both conceivable and inconceivable; who is the pre-eminent follower of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's line; who is known as 'Govinda'—Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj; whose beautiful, effulgent, exalted form is infused with pure devotion; who is the Guru of the entire universe; and who is the giver of the seed of divine love for the Supreme Lord.

I am happy today to tell something about our Gurudev and our preaching movement.

Our preaching movement is going on all over the world very nicely. Krishna's movement, Krishna's preaching movement will never be stopped—some illusory environment will come, it will try to stop our preaching of Krishna consciousness, our preaching movement, but we have to run ourselves, we have to go on, we have to proceed ourselves.

All over the world Sripad Avadhut Maharaj in Russia, Sripad Ashram Maharaj in Mexico, Srila Trivikram Maharaj, Srila Janardan Maharaj, many other sannyasis, here in India also Sripad Tyagi Maharaj, Sripad Shanta Maharaj, Sripad Tirtha Maharaj are doing very nice preaching. In my absence, Sripad Tyagi Maharaj is preaching is very nicely, he is running in lieu of me and he is constantly going on and continuing this preaching movement very well. They are all our friends. Many things come up, many problems come, but they do not stop their preaching movement.

Those who have some kind of opposite character always search our faults, they always search bad things in us, but Gurudev told me that I must glorify the Vaishnavs and their good side, their best side. Everybody has some good quality, and you must look at everybody's good qualities, do not see others' bad qualities. Nobody of us is perfect, nobody of us is fully perfect, everybody has some faults, but we must not look at anyone's fault. We look at everyone's good side—we will take good things and we will reject bad things in people. It is necessary to have such mood.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also told the same thing. He always engaged others and always looked at the good things in others. Everybody has some quality, and you should use that quality for the service of the Lord. Everybody has different qualities, everybody has different qualifications, so you must see what quality or qualification a person has and use that qualification for the service to the Lord, for the service to the Guru. This is how we are trying to engage and serve everybody.

Everybody wants to serve Gurudev, and you must help everybody to serve Gurudev, you must not discourage anybody. It is not our duty to discourage anyone. If somebody searches for fault in others, they must first think about their own self—are they guilty or are they innocent themselves? There were such people in Mahaprabhu's time also. You know that Ramachandra Puri was also always like that—everybody wants to do service to Mahaprabhu, but Ramachandra Puri always searched their fault. It happened in Mahaprabhu's time also. We must realise our own faults and merits.

* * *

Service Mentality

6 August 2011, part 2

"How to serve our Guru? How to serve his mission? How to serve his devotees?"—we must think about this properly, we must always think about this.

Now we are searching this, this, and this, and this, but we must use ourselves for the service of the Lord under guidance of bona fide Vaishnavs, under guidance of a bona fide Guru.

Mahaprabhu recognised Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami and ordered devotees to serve under guidance of Srila Sanatan Goswami, under guidance of Srila Rupa Goswami, under guidance of Srila Raghunath Das Goswami. After that, Srila Rupa Goswami indicated Srila Jiva Goswami. In our time also, Srila Prabhupad told devotees about Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj told about Gurudev. And Gurudev also recognised some great scholars, great Vaishnavs and great leaders all over the world. He told us what to do and how to serve them. If we do not follow Gurudev's instruction, how will we then get mercy of Guru, how will we then get his service?

Some think now, "Oh, he is now in Goloka, he is dead." Those who have no feeling about Gurudev, they have no realisation about Gurudev can say this. They think, "Oh, Gurudev is gone, now we can do what we like on our own." But this is not so. It is not! This is not our service mood.

We must be careful. Krishna is powerful and He can remove us from service in any way if we make some offence, consciously or unconsciously. That is why when we pay dandavat, we must pray, "Please forgive my offence." We must always say this. When we pay dandavat to Gurudev, we must pray, "Please forgive my offence." What else can we ask for? We can only always ask, "Please forgive my offence." This is our hope…

* * *

Service Mentality

6 August 2011, part 3

Devotees are serving so much all over the world. I saw, for example, how Venezuelan devotees go preaching, I heard devotees in Malaysia did Ratha-yatra this time, etc. They want to serve. Many problems comes to devotees' lives, but still they are serving. Devotees in Singapore, in Malaysia and other countries always want to serve. The other day a devotee called me from Australia and said he wanted to do service. Gurudev wanted to make a temple in Australia, it was his desire, that is why I want to make a temple there too. If Gurudev wants something, I want to fulfil his desire. So, if Krishna gives me life, if Krishna gives me time to do it (Gurudev engages me in service, but if he allows me to do this service), then I will try my best.

I always want to help the devotees. I am not asking you for money, I am only asking you for your love and affection... I may be wrong, I may have no qualification, but Gurudev gave me this position and told you all, "Love him," and I also want to give my heart to you all. Those who can realise this, can understand this clearly.

I want to do something for my Guru, for my Gurudev, and I am not going to run away until my death. You worry that I am out of Nabadwip, but why does it happen? This is the will of Gurudev. When time comes (it is coming soon), I will again come to Nabadwip and will be able to see all the devotees with me.

I am very happy that the devotees all over the world are together, that they are chanting and dancing. I want to make a preaching party that I could send to different countries. For example, devotees called me from Italy, they say they want to preach there but they need a preacher. Whom shall I send there? I want to send somebody who will preach about the Guru, who will preach about Gurudev. Some people want to preach for their own business, they want to make their own mission and they think their own things. That kind of preacher is not necessary for us—no benefit will come to us from such preachers. You know that there are many singers in India, there are many people who can speak much Hari-katha, but these preachers are doing their own business. But we must present what our Gurudev showed us. We must present his teachings for other souls' benefit, as well as our own benefit. In this way, there will be super benefit for others. This is how you should preach and serve.

I am very happy today to be able to can say something about the devotees, about the preaching movement. Jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaishnava seva (mercy to other jiva souls, chanting the Holy Name, and service to Vaishnavs). Give some mercy to the jiva souls (jive daya), serve Vaishnavs (Vaishnava seva), and engage in Nama sankirtan (Name ruchi). Other than this, five things are necessary,

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana

mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

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

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

If you do even a little bit of it, you can get some small benefit; and if you do it every day, you can get super benefit. This is how we must run our preaching movement.

So, I am very happy to hear that devotees want to preach. Not everybody has so much qualification, but Gurudev said you can use everybody—everybody has different qualification, and whatever qualification one has, you can use them for the service of the Lord.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

* * *

"Wake Up! Arise! Come with us!"

Speaking to the devotees in London

7 August, 2011, part 1

First, I am giving my full obeisance to my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, to all my Guru-varga, godbrothers and godsisters, as well as all the devotees and Vaishnavs.

We are very happy today because we have got a chance to hear some Hari-katha, Krishna-katha, Gaura-katha. This opportunity does not come all the time in our life. Such moment comes only to very fortunate souls—only they can hear it. Krishna-katha does not always come in our life and in our mind. When Gurudev gives his mercy, when Gurudev engages us and gives us chance to say something, then only we can say something—without his mercy we cannot say anything.

"Krsna bolo, sange chalo!" Always speak about Krishna! And let us go together in this life. By a great fortune we have got this life, and time is very short... Somebody said in the song glorifying Prabhupad Srila Saraswati Thakur, "Uthare uthare bhai ara ta samaya nai"—wake up! arise! quick! There is no time in our hand! We must wake up.

We must give something—some benefit—to the jiva souls. How is it possible? We can give some benefit to the jiva souls through sravanam and kirtanam, through Krishna-katha, through Hari-katha. Bringing benefit to the jiva souls is our life.

jivana anitya janaha sara

tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara

namasraya kari' yatane tumi

thakaha apana kaje

"Understand the essence: life is temporary and filled with all sorts of adversity. Carefully taking shelter of the Name, engage in your work.”

We sing this every morning…

durlabha manava janma labhiya samsare

krsna na bhajinu duhkha kahiba kahare?

"I have got a very rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Whom can I tell of my misery?”

Also,

emana durmati samsara bhitare

padiya achhinu ami

tava nija-jana kona mahajane

pathaiya dile tumi

O Lord! I am very wicked-minded and have fallen into this material world, but You have sent a great soul, Your associate (to rescue me).

(‘Emona Durmati' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

(ek bar) daya kari' more patita dekhiya

kahila amare giya

ohe dina-jana suna bhala katha

ullasita ha'be hiya

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

(‘Emona Durmati' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

It is a very nice song, Gurudev always sang it. We are always suffering—we are always busy enjoying material life, and we do not get time to chant Your Name, O Lord, to serve You... But the Lord Himself sent our Guru (our Gurudev) to give us some advice, to awaken us. Lord Krishna sent him to bring us some message from Him. For whose benefit? For our own benefit! For our own benefit Gurudev came here. Krishna Himself came as a Guru to rescue us, but we cannot understand it, that is why we are suffering…

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva

guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"Having travelled throughout the universe and got the mercy of Guru, Krishna, a fortunate soul receives a seed of the devotional creeper."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.151)

Only greatly fortunate souls who have some sumedha (yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasa—SB, 11.5.32)", some good merit, can understand these things. Only they can understand that we have made a promise to the Lord, but we forgot it under the influence of the illusory environment. But if we get some good association and as a result engage in sravanam (listening), kirtanam (chanting), in reading the scriptures, then we can clean our hearts—it will remove all bad elements from our hearts and we can get great joy and pleasure in serving the Lord.

* * *

Do Not Be Misled

Speaking to the devotees in London

7 August, 2011, part 2

How merciful Gurudev is! He engages us in this line, that is the main, most important thing, but people in this world, the jiva souls cannot understand it. This life is very short, you want enjoyment, but you heard that even Indra, the king of heaven, got a pig's body despite all his enjoyment; he again had to come down, and when he was in the pig's body he forgot that he was Indra. But people are engrossed in material life, they cannot understand it—you can see how powerful the illusory environment is.

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)

How is this possible?

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)

Through full surrender (pranipat), honest enquiry (pariprasna), and service temper (sevaya). These three are necessary.

It is necessary to take good advice from a bona fide Guru, from bona fide Vaishnavs, but the problem is that we are not practising properly, that is why we are not getting the result quickly. We lack proper practice.

We must practise properly, and practice does not depend on where you live. Gurudev said that you can live anywhere—in a forest, jungle, small house, big house, that is not the question—wherever you are, you must maintain your spiritual life, your Krishna consciousness life. You can live in a jungle but still maintain your spiritual life yourself. Somebody has a big family, somebody is a rich man, and somebody is poor, but it does not matter. When people buy tickets and travel by an aeroplane, somebody travels in the first class, somebody in the second class, somebody in the economy class, somebody in the business class, this is not the question—the plane's destination is one, so whatever class you are travelling in, you will reach that place. Our Gurudev is the captain of the boat and if you stay in his boat, you can reach the place where Gurudev is taking this boat to, you can reach the same destination.

It is necessary to take the right boat. You think that some other boat is going very quickly and smoothly, but that boat may not be going to the right place—it may not be going to Goloka Vrindavan, it may be on the way to Kashi or Benares! It can be karma, jnana, yoga. You must understand that a boat can look very nice, but that boat can have a hole and sink. You may think that Gurudev's boat is running slowly but if you can take his boat, then you will reach the place where Gurudev is taking that boat to—you will reach your goal, your main destination.

Karmis, jnanis, yogis always look very nice, but they cannot fulfil your life. Devotional activities may not look so good, but if you take to this devotional path, you can get super benefit. In this Kali-yuga, mayavadi conceptions are everywhere and very powerful—everybody is attracted to them, but actually illusory environment attacks them and they cannot understand what is what. When they cannot fulfil their own selves, how will they fulfil others?

There are many kinds of gurus in this world—yogi gurus, karmi gurus, jnani gurus, kaulik gurus, laukik gurus; but it is very rare to get a paramarthik guru (a Spiritual Master) in this world. You think that other gurus are powerful and you are attracted to what they are doing, but you will not get super benefit in this way, you will not prosper in your life. You may get something for a few moments, a few hours, a few years or a few lives, but ultimately it cannot fulfil your life. You have got this human body now, so go to Reality the Beautiful, you need real things—Search for Reality the Beautiful!

Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur had many disciples, why did he order, or request, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj to sing the "Sri Rupa Manjari pada" kirtan? He had many disciples, many, many scholars, many, many educated, good-looking devotees, good disciples, good sannyasis, good brahmacharis—why did he choose Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj to sing that song? Also, why did Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj bring our Gurudev, why did he give this position to him? What is the reason? It is necessary to understand this, and it is not a difficult matter. Gurudev also had many big speakers, why did he make his choice in a certain way? It is called power transmission. Srila Sridhar Maharaj chose Gurudev for this Rupanuga sampradaya because he knew Gurudev could preach, could send something, could give something to the jiva souls.

Mahaprabhu also had many followers, but why did He choose Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu? You can understand this easily. Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu had the main thing, the nirmal(pure) devotion. This is the power that Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj got, this is the power that Gurudev also got for preaching and giving benefit to others, giving benefit to us.

You must think about these things. I am telling you what our line, our preaching movement is. If you engage yourself, if you chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra yourself, you must also allow others to chant the Holy Name. I told you the other day that even if nobody can hear it, the pillars can hear it, the birds, the trees can hear it. This is necessary for the service to our Guru...

* * *

Eternal Servants—Eternal Service

Speaking to the devotees in London

7 August, 2011, part 3

Do you have any questions?

Question: If a pure devotee sees the Lord everywhere, how is it that they feel separated from Him?

Krishna is everywhere, it is so, but it is necessary to have good, clean eyes to see that. As for the second part of your question,

jivera 'svarupa' haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa'

krsnera 'tatastha-sakti' 'bhedabheda-prakasa'

"By its intrinsic nature, the soul is an eternal servant of Krishna; the souls comes from the marginal energy of Krishna and are simultaneously one with and different from the Lord."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.108)

I am not Krishna, you are not Krishna—we are all servants of the servants, we are Krishna's eternal servants. It is like light and power house, like sun (surya) and sun ray (surya-rasmi). A bulb can have 100 Watt power, 60 Watt power, 15 Watt power, but it is nothing compared to the Lord who has full power. He is sarvesvar (the owner of everything). We are coming from the Lord, but not our material body which is pancha-bhautik (made of five material elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether). It is necessary to know this.

When somebody asks you a question like this, you can ask them, "Who am I?" We are not the Lord (Bhagavan), we are not Krishna—we are servants of the servant of the servant, we are eternal servants. We (our atma, or jiva soul) comes from the Lord, but not our body. We change bodies just as we change our clothes.

Are there any more questions?

Question: How do we know our service is pleasing to you?

It is easy to know. If you are getting more and more energy to serve, then you can understand that the Lord, Gurudev are pleased; and when you are not getting energy through your service, then you can think that it is not pleasing to them…

When you feel energy coming through your service, you will understand it, but also remember that emotion and devotion is not the same. If somebody does some service emotionally, it will not last long, it will finish later after some time. Also, if somebody is doing something for the Lord and in lieu of that asking for something, such service will also not last a long time—it can only work for a short time. Devotional service lasts.

* * *

Simple and Sincere

Speaking to the devotees in London

7 August, 2011, part 4

You must understand the main things. Gurudev told me, "It is not necessary to accumulate so much knowledge, or read so many scriptures." Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "Bahu grantha na paribe, bahu kalabhyasa na karibe: it is not necessary to read so many books, it is not necessary to practise so many artificial things"—if you have pure devotion in your heart, that is sufficient. It is simple.

You know the story of Duhkhi, an old lady who stayed at Srivas Pandit's house (I always tell this story)—how did she get mercy? Strongest faith and desire are necessary. If you have desire, mercy will come. If you have a strong desire, then strong mercy will come—if you make one step towards the Lord, the Lord will make ten steps towards you. But you must make first step.

Some think, "Oh, I have no service!" but how will you get service if you do not go to the temple? How will you get service or mercy of the devotees if you do not get association of the devotees, if you do not chant the Holy Name? If you do not follow what Gurudev tells you to do, how will you get mercy of Gurudev? We must follow what Gurudev tells us.

How can we get his mercy? Through reading books, reading his scriptures. Gurudev and Srila Sridhar Maharaj wrote some books for us, you can read these books. Chaitanya-charitamrita is also good for you. Srila Sridhar Maharaj said that if all books were spoilt or burnt and only Chaitanya-charitamrita remains, it is sufficient. Only one book is sufficient, and that book is Chaitanya-charitamrita.

You will find there (in the discussion with Ramananda Ray) karma-misra-bhakti, jnana-misra bhakti, jnana-sunya-bhakti, jnana-sunya suddha-bhakti... And also the instruction to Raghunath Das Goswami. Mahaprabhu told him, "Go back to your home, do not show Me false renunciation.”

antare nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara

achirat krsna tomaya karibe uddhara

"Be fixed internally, and behave like everyone else externally. Krishna will rescue you soon."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.239)

se chhala se-kale krsna sphurabe tomare

krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare

"Krishna will reveal to you how you can come. Who can stop the one who has got mercy of Krishna?"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.241)

"If you get some mercy of the Lord, Krishna can take you back at any time." This is loving search for the lost servant. We are lost, but Krishna is merciful. Gurudev is very merciful—he picks us up and engages us in the service of the Lord. We are fallen souls, but Gurudev is very powerful, he can take us and engage us in the service of the Lord. This is called loving search for the lost servant—Krishna is searching for us; we are searching for our father and Krishna also searching for His sons. You must think about this.

* * *

Fools' Enjoyment

Speaking to the devotees in London

7 August, 2011, part 5

Anyhow one day we will go. It is inevitable. Gurudev said, "Why wait for next life?" We are foolish because we are waiting for next life. We think, "Oh, we are enjoying!" but Gurudev said that where you were an elephant, you ate many banana trees, when you were a pig, you ate much stool, but you are still hungry now. Now you are waiting for your two hundred grams of rice…

Why should you wait for next life? Only those who are foolish wait to be born in next life. Life is passing as we are busy with some material enjoyment, and we think that when we become old, then we can do something spiritual. But when we get old, we will have no teeth, we will not hear well, we will not see well—all our instruments (ears, eyes, teeth, etc.) will become tired…

When people are young, they think, "Oh, now is the time to enjoy! This time is not for bhajan (not for worshipping the Lord, not for Krishna consciousness). We must enjoy while we are young, and when we become old, then we will do bhajan." They are FOOLISH! They cannot understand that they can go at any time—they can change their body at any time. Such people are foolish, they only think about themselves and their own enjoyment…

atmendriya-priti-vancha—tare bali ‘kama'

krsnendriya-priti-ichchha dhare 'prema' nama

"The desire to gratify one's own senses is kama (lust), but the desire to please the senses of Lord Krishna is prema (love)."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 4.165)

The devotees also enjoy, but they do not enjoy for themselves—for whom? They enjoy for the Lord, for the Guru, for Krishna, Gauranga, Nityananda! Non-devotees pursue their own enjoyment in material life—they enjoy, but such enjoyment is not permanent, it is temporary; but when devotees enjoy, their enjoyment is permanent.

* * *

Continuous Service

Speaking to the devotees in London

7 August, 2011, part 6

Are there any questions from the devotees? Are they getting shy now?

Question: How can we balance reading the sastra to get inspiration and doing practical service?

Actually, it is depends on what is necessary. Suppose Gurudev asks you for a glass of water, but you say, "Gurudev, I am chanting now" (you think that chanting is better than giving a glass of water)—this is not right. You must balance it yourself. When service is necessary, service is the best. When it is service time, do service; when it is reading time, read; when it is sleeping time, sleep. You must understand this. Devotees always do service, everywhere. Sayane, bhojane, jagarane (while resting, eating, and awake). When devotees are taking prasadam, at that time service is also going on (prasad seva). Even when devotees are sleeping, at that time they are dreaming about Krishna's pastimes, they are also doing service. Do you understand? Sayane, bhojane, jagarane—service is always going on.

If somebody is a lazy person, if somebody does not want to do service, they close their door and say, "Oh, I cannot do it now. Now is my chanting time, I cannot do service now." Such things happen.

You heard also this story. It happened after Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's time. One time, Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj and one more sannyasi—three disciples of Prabhupad—were sitting in one room. Madhav Maharaj read a newspaper and Goswami Maharaj asked him to pass the newspaper to him. Madhav Maharaj was chanting with his right hand, so he gave him the newspaper with his left hand. The third sannyasi chastised him,

"Why are you giving the newspaper with your left hand?”

"Because I was chanting on beads with my right hand.”

"This is not right. A Vaishnav's order is Harinam!”

There is also another story. When Srila Madhav Maharaj gave class, there were not so many devotees in the nat mandir (they did not come to hear the class), so what he did was this: when all devotees went to take prasadam at the prasadam hall, he took Chaitanya-charitamrita and started reading it there—he said, "All right, you take prasadam with your mouth and listen to my Chaitanya-charitamrita reading with your ears." This is what he did.

You can balance it yourself. You can see yourself when some service is necessary, and what service is more appropriate. It depends upon the devotee. We also need to chant, we need to read, to preach, to go for collection, everything. There is a proverb in Bengali, "Juto selay theke chandi-path" (lit. "from stitching shoes to reading the Chandi", an all-rounder)—you can make shoes and also read Chaitanya-charitamrita, Bhagavatam. "Ye randhe se chula-o vandhe (lit. "she is cooking and also doing her hair", one work does not prevent you from doing another work)—it means a lady is cooking and also tying her hair. How these things are balanced depends upon the servitor, depends upon the devotee. It is not a question that you must read the scriptures half of the time and chant the other half of the time, you must adjust these things yourself.

It is necessary to take care of your health also—it is also necessary to eat, to take prasadam, to take medicine, etc. We are not yogis—we do not go to the forest. We must do everything, and we must also take care of our health and make sure our health is good because if our health becomes poor, we cannot preach, we cannot do service. Taking care of health is also necessary.

* * *

Tend to Your Foundation

Speaking to the devotees in London

7 August, 2011, part 7

Question: Do you have any message for the South African temple?

Yes, there are two centres in South Africa, in Durban and Johannesburg. I told the devotees there that they can maintain two centres in their country, and when I go to preach to that area, I will come to South Africa, Mauritius, Turkey, etc. We will come as soon as possible.

There are many devotees in South Africa. Gurudev liked Shyamali Didi—I saw that when Gurudev was very sick, he was remembering her at that time, saying, "Shyamali did so much service for me when I was in South Africa..." Actually, there are so many devotees in South Africa, but there is some small problem—the strongest faith is a problem there…

It is necessary to have the strongest faith. The devotees are going on, but their platform is not so strong. It is necessary to make a strong platform, a strong platform of Chaitanya Saraswat Math. It comes through faith, through the strongest faith. You must have sudrdha, drdha sraddha: one devotee is sufficient—if just one devotee has the strongest faith, they can rescue everybody else.

I hope and send a message to them all: please follow Srila Sridhar Maharaj's instruction, follow Gurudev's instruction. They must follow it. As I was saying earlier, they must stay in the boat where Gurudev is the captain. It is not necessary to jump into another boat to take a shortcut—another boat will not go to the the proper place, it will take you to a wrong place.

Have the strongest faith; through the strongest faith make the strongest platform; with that platform make a good boat, and stay in that boat of Gurudev. Take Gurudev's boat. I have not gone to South Africa, but when Gurudev came there, he did not come there for his own benefit—he came to South Africa to rescue the devotees, and he will rescue those who got a little bit from him—they will go to their own (to Gurudev's) place. Gurudev is waiting for them. But if somebody takes another boat, that boat will not take them to that place…

Question: How do we get this strong platform?

Through practising. Through Gurudev's scripture. Through the preaching movement.

Make a strong platform through faith:

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya

krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

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

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

It is necessary to have the strongest faith. When you have the strongest faith, your platform will be good. If you use good cement, the concrete will be very hard, but if you use duplicate cement (bad quality cement), then the concrete platform will be loose and the building will break. If you want to have a good platform, you must use good, strong cement, and we have that—Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave us strong food, strong conception, and Gurudev also gave us a strong movement, a strong consciousness. We must read it, and we must follow it, then we will have a strong platform. Do you understand it?

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

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

All the assembled devotees ki jay!

Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta vrnda ki jay!

All the worldwide devotees ki jay!

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay!

Nitai Gaura premanande Hari Hari bol!

* * *

Practise Tolerance

28 July 2011, part 1

I have got this opportunity today to say something to the devotees all over the world. I have been out of Nabadwip for many days now and have not kept such a good connection with all the devotees. I always want to hear from the devotees—sometimes some devotees phone me, sometimes I reply their emails, sometimes give initiation, etc. but there are so many disciples of Gurudev, disciples of Srila Guru Maharaj all over the world—I am not getting so much news from them, and they are also not getting news from me. That is why I want to send some message on behalf of Chaitanya Saraswat Math (the central Math with worldwide branches).

Actually, after Gurudev's disappearance, there have been many bad days, but we are tolerating so much—we are tolerating everything. Before he left the world, Gurudev told me that this kind of situation would come, but it would not stay for a long time. More than one year has already passed, and we are suffering so much, we are tolerating so much—this is only an examination, only a test from the Guru, from Krishna, from the Lord. They want to see how much you can tolerate for the sake of service. Otherwise, there are so many problems, we can just leave—we can go out, thinking, "Oh, why must I stay at the temple? Why must I suffer so many problems for the temple?" But this is not the service mood. Some problem will come, some bad situations will come, but think about it—in any field, if you want to reach your goal, you have to tolerate everything. It ultimately all depends upon the devotional activities.

Sometimes we leave our devotional mood, sometimes we leave our service mood, sometimes we feel annoyed with our service, but this actually depends upon one's practice. This is one of the main directives of Mahaprabhu, and Gurudev also always told, "Be humble, tolerant, give honour to others." We must tolerate everything, and Krishna will see to it that everything is smooth in the end, He will remove bad environment. Our duty is to proceed with our service.

Actually, those who want to make something cannot think about destroying anything, and those who want to destroy something cannot think about making anything. If one's brain is set on destroying something, they cannot think about making anything. Some of our friends always want to destroy our Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, you know that, and you must be careful because of that. I am telling it to all the devotees—be very careful.

Our Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is united, and we want to be united under one umbrella. This mission was made by Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj whose disappearance is the day after tomorrow, and this Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj is powerful. He, in turn, gave so much affection to our Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Originally, there were only three temples here, but now all over the world there are more than a hundred spiritually affiliated centres, there are so many thousands of devotees all over the world, they are all eager to know Gurudev's conception.

You know and remember what Gurudev told to everybody—you must understand this. What did Gurudev say? He said, "Wherever you live, you must continue practising, you must continue your Krishna consciousness life." Sometimes we sit in one place and the illusory environment attacks us—sometimes bad things come to our mind, we start doing bad things, doing some nonsense things and we forget our practising life. We do not want to see others' fault. Vaishnavs are adosa darasi, they do not see others' faults. A Vaishnava will not search for faults—he will serve and practise, serve and practise, and chant.

When Sivananda Sen was leaving Puri, he asked Chaitanya Mahaprabhu once, "Prabhu, we are householder people, what is our duty when we go back to our houses?" Mahaprabhu said, "Go back to your house, serve Vishnavs and do Nama-sankirtan (bari giye koro vaisnava-seva, nama-sankirtana), then you will quickly get the wealth of Krishna-prema, love and affection for the Lord (achirat tumi pabe Krsna-prema-dhan). What is our main goal? Krishna prema. This is what we want.

So, we are not going to see others' faults—if we watch who is doing this, who did that, then we are losing our time. How many hours do we practise? If we lose time talking about this, this, this and that, and that, before we know it our life will finish. How many days will you live in this world and what will you do?

Gurudev told me to protect the temple, and I am still continuing this service, I am still keeping connection with the devotees. Why? Because Gurudev told me to, and I promised it to him. Otherwise, personally, I can go anywhere, I can live in some place, sit and take one chapati a day, but this is not my mood. If I die for the service of Gurudev, that is OK for me, that is actually my hope and my pleasure. I am not afraid of dying—one day I was born and one day I have to die, so this is not a problem for us.

* * *

Festival of Solemn Service

28 July 2011, part 2

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's disappearance festival is coming soon and all over the world devotees are making some ceremony on this day. I heard also that the Malaysian devotees are making a Jagannath Ratha-yatra festival, I am also happy with that. I started that festival last year—I took Lord Baladev, Subhadra, Jagannath from Puri to Malaysia and they made a Jagannath festival, some Singapore devotees also came. Gurudev told me, "You can do it in Malaysia, no problem." I am not able to go there this time, but all my love and affection, all my heart and soul, everything is with them.

You know that when Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was going to disappear, he wanted to hear 'Sri Rupa Manjari pada' kirtan from Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and through this kirtan Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur indicated who would preach the Rupanuga sampradaya's line, who would preach about Rupa-Raghunath after him—only Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. He showed in that way, "I am giving this flag to him." Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gave all transcendental power to Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. This is called power transmission, and it is very rare actually.

You know also that Srila Sridhar Maharaj wrote Bhakti Vinod Viraha Dasakam, and when Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur saw it, he said, "Happy style." Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj made him happy with that poem. He also composed Sri Sri Prema-dhama-deva Stotram,

krsna-krsna-krsna-krsna-krsna-nama-kirtanam

rama-rama-gana-ramya-divya chhanda-nartanam

yatra-tatra-krsna-nama-dana-loka-nistaram

prema-dhama-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram

"Later, the Supreme Lord travelled to the holy places of pilgrimage in South India with the clever intention of delivering the fallen souls. Appearing as a beautiful young renunciate, He distributed the sweet Names of the Lord, singing: 'Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna he,' as He strolled down the different pathways, entered temples, and visited homesteads during the sacred pilgrimage. Infused with an inconceivable type of divine inspiration, the Lord freely chanted "Rama Rama" and joyfully danced with the most charming gestures. Irrespective of time or personal qualification, the assembled bystanders were delivered by the Lord, who inspired them to chant Krishna's Holy Names. I offer my obeisances to that beautiful Golden Lord, Gauranga Sundar, the divine form of Krishna prema.”

(Prema-dhama-deva Stotram, 22)

I heard also that when Srila Bhakti Prajnan Keshav Maharaj read it, he said, "We cannot copy this." Actually he said that there were two things that nobody could copy or compete with—the domes of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's Chaitanya Saraswat Math temple and his Prema-dhama-deva Stotram.

There was also one disciple of Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur—Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj (who later took sannyas from Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj). After Prabhupad's disappearance, he left the mission and went back to his birthplace house (he thought, "My Guru has left, I will go back to my previous life..."). But Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj came to his house (his purva-asram, the place where he was born) and said, "Prabhu, you have come here leaving the ashram, but who will preach now?" At that time Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj was a brahmachari (not a sannyasi), he said, "Maharaj, I can come back to the temple, I can again join Krishna consciousness, but only if you give me sannyas." So, he came back and took sannyas from Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and his name became Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj.

This Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Mahaaj used to invite Srila Sridhar Maharaj every year to his temple on his birth day. His temple is in Mayapur—Gaura Nityananda mandir in Nandan Acharya Bhavan where Mahaprabhu found Nityananda Prabhu (where Nityananda Prabhu first met with Mahaprabhu). Mahaprabhu knew that a big man had come and He sent somebody to find Him, but they could not find Him, so Mahaprabhu Himself came to Nandan Acharya Bhavan to meet with Nityananda Prabhu. This place is in Mayapur and there is a temple of Srila Goswami Maharaj there now. So, every year, accepting his invitation, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj came there on the birth day of Srila Goswami Maharaj. And Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj's mood was, "Whatever presentation, whatever pranami (donation) I get on this day, it is all for my siksa Guru, my sannyas Guru Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. I am giving everything to him." And he would say, "Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj comes here every year on my birth day, and in this way I get one more year of life," but when one year Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj could not come, Srila Goswami Maharaj said to all his disciples sadly, "This year, my siksa Guru, my sannyas Guru could not come on my birth day, so I will probably not be alive next year." And it happened—he disappeared that year…

There are so many pastimes of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj... You know that his samadhi is there in Nabadwip—Srila Gurudev made that samadhi for his Guru Maharaj. At first, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj did not want his samadhi, he would say, "Throw my body into the Ganges," but Gurudev would say jokingly, "I will see when time comes, and you will see too..." One day, Srila Gurudev was showing a Tulasi garden to Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj [in the place where the samadhi mandir stands now, there used to be a Tulasi garden and a mango tree], and, understanding Srila Gurudev's plan, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said, "OK, that place is a good choice, no problem..." There was a mango tree at that place before, and neither Gurudev nor Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wanted to cut any trees, but when Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj disappeared, that same very day, the leaves of the mango tree all dried up and the tree died giving an opportunity to make this temple of Union in Separation…

Gurudev never wanted to go to Nabadwip on the disappearance day of his Guru Maharaj. In all my temple life, over perhaps twenty years, I saw him in Nabadwip joining this kind of festival only one or two times. I cannot remember now if it was one or two times, but not more than two times for sure. When Gurudev was in India, he often stayed in Kolkata on this day. He told me, "I do not want to come for this kind of festival because I cannot tolerate it. It is a very sad and unhappy day in my life. I cannot tolerate it, that is why I do not like to come to Nabadwip for that day." He always said it on Srila Guru Maharaj's disappearance festival... And who would like it? No actual disciple wants to see their Gurudev's disappearance day—it is about the love and affection, about a good connection between the Guru and the disciple…

Gurudev always told me to make a good Vaishnav seva on this day—to invite Vaishnavs and give them some good mango. Param Guru Maharaj liked a sort of mango called chaunsa mango. He always ordered me to buy that mango and distribute it to Vaishnavs on that day.

So, this disappearance festival is coming the day after tomorrow and I am also telling the devotees, I am advising them: offer bhog and give prasadam to Vaishnavs on this day, it will be good for our spiritual life in this life...

* * *

Exalted, Esteemed, and Inimitable

Spoken on the disappearance day of

Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

26 July 2014, Nabadwip

I am very happy to see you all. You have been waiting for me, but you know that today was a very busy day. It actually started from yesterday—yesterday was also a busy day. So many devotees, so many sannyasis and brahmacharis have come from other Maths to join the festival, and a grand festival happened here.

We have no quality or qualification to glorify Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. He is a super personality.

You know that when Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was leaving his body, at the time of his disappearance, he wanted to hear the Gaudiya-sampradaya-jivatu—the kirtan"Sri Rupa manjari-pada ei mora kirtana, ei mora bhajana pujan"—from Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's mouth. This is how everybody understood that Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur had given the super, special power and the highest preaching conception, the highest conception of rasa-panchadhyaya (intimate pastimes) of Radha-Krishna to Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

I also heard from Gurudev (Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) how powerful Param Guru Maharaj was. Gurudev said, "If you look at me, at what my previous position was, you can see how powerful Guru Maharaj was. He gave me so much strength, so much mercy, and so much power. I was in a hellish position—I fell into a well and was barking from there like a dog, but Guru Maharaj picked me up from that well. This is how powerful he is." One time, Gurudev asked, "Do you know why I cannot leave Chaitanya Saraswat Math even though I am suffering so much? Sometimes I want to stay in America, but what can I do? I cannot leave this position because Guru Maharaj gave this burden, this position to me…"

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj had actually waited for thirty years to give this chair and position to Gurudev. One time, he said to Gurudev, "If you do not take this position—if you do not take this chair—I will demolish the Math and give the Deities to my godbrother." In the end, in 1985, Srila Sridhar Maharaj sent one of his disciples to bring Gurudev from Kolkata to Nabadwip, and when Gurudev arrived, he said to him, "If you do not take the decision now—if you do not take this chair, if you do not accept this proposal and take the responsibility for Chaitanya Saraswat Math, I will commit suicide and you will be liable for that condition because I will commit suicide because of you. You will be the killer of the Guru." This is what Srila Sridhar Maharaj said to Gurudev. Gurudev was forced to take the charge…

Some time ago, there was also one big writer in Nabadwip (an outside writer). He was an old man, more than ninety years old, and wrote many books. One day, he came to the gate of the Math by rickshaw. When Gurudev saw him, he said to him, "How did you come here by rickshaw? You are so old and took so much austerity!" The man replied, "I wrote a book and came here to give it to Pujyapad Srila Sridhar Maharaj." Gurudev said, "Why did you have to come yourself? If you had sent a message with somebody, I could have come and brought the book for Guru Maharaj myself." The man said then, "You cannot stop me! There is only one person at whose lotus feet I bow down my head—it is Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. You can cannot stop me—I will do my duty until my death. I will always come once a year not just to give him a book, but to simply bow my head down at his lotus feet.”

You know that when Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote his Bhakti Vinod Viraha Dasakam and when Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur saw the sloka"Sri-gauranumatam svarupa-viditam...", he said, "Very happy style." Bhakti Siddhanta Sarswati Thakur was very happy and pleased with it.

One time, during the inauguration of the Madras (Chennai) temple, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj had done some service before the fire sacrifice started and before some other duties were done. His godbrothers chastised him, "This is Prabhupad's duty! Why must Sridhar Maharaj go to do it forcefully?" Srila Sridhar Maharaj thought, "Perhaps, I have made much offence..." He went to Srila Prabhupad and confessed, "Prabhupad, this is your service, but I had done it before you... I am thinking I am an offender, I have made an offence..." Prabhupad said to him, "There is no offence for a surrendered soul (saranagatir kono aparadh haye na)." This is the main thing.

Also, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote a song about Srila Prabhupad, you know it, we always sing it, "Sujanarvuda-radhita-pada-yugam / yuga-dharma-dhurandhara-patra-varam." He also wrote Sri Sri Prema Dhama Deva Stotram,

krsna-krsna-krsna-krsna-krsna-nama-kirtanam

rama-rama-gana-ramya-divya chhanda-nartanam

yatra-tatra-krsna-nama-dana-loka-nistaram

prema-dhama-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram

Later, the Supreme Lord travelled to the holy places of pilgrimage in South India with the clever intention of delivering the fallen souls. Appearing as a beautiful young renunciate, He distributed the sweet Names of the Lord, singing: "Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna he," as He strolled down the different pathways, entered temples, and visited homesteads during the sacred pilgrimage. Infused with an inconceivable type of divine inspiration, the Lord freely chanted "Rama Rama" and joyfully danced with the most charming gestures. Irrespective of time or personal qualification, the assembled bystanders were delivered by the Lord, who inspired them to chant Krishna's Holy Names. I offer my obeisances to that beautiful Golden Lord, Gauranga Sundar, the divine form of Krishna prema.

(Prema-dhama-deva Stotram, 22)

Pujyapad Srila Bhakti Prajnan Keshav Maharaj (Srila Sridhar Maharaj's godbrother, who later took sannyas from him) said once, "No one can duplicate two things of Srila Sridhar Maharaj—one is his temple's domes, and the other one is his Prema Dhama Deva Stotram. No one can duplicate or copy that—no one can do it.”

This is how Srila Sridhar Maharaj conquered, possessed the heart of Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur—through his service and through his devotion.

He had some very special qualities—he had very good intelligence, disinterested nature and strong common sense. He was never interested in material things... That is why all of his godbrothers came to see him, even after disappearance of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, so many of his (Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj's) disciples, so many of his followers came to Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Nabadwip, Koladwip, to take shelter. They wanted to hear something about Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, about Sri Sri Radha-Krishna's pastimes, about the Rupanuga-lila. When they all came and took shelter at Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's lotus feet, they thought, "We have got so much nourishment from him! Now we are cool [at peace]—we have some hope.”

So, today is the disappearance day of this Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. It is a viraha tithi, a separation day. Gurudev named his samadhi temple Union in Separation. In separation, you feel more desire to get Krishna, to come to Gurudev, you always think, "O, when will I be able to see you? When?..." Just as when Krishna left Vrindavan, Srimati Radharani felt so much separation, and She lived in Vrindavan with that separation...

* * *

Importance of True Guru

Spoken on the disappearance day of

Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

26 July 2014, Nabadwip

We can easily understand who will be the Guru. In this age of Kali there are so many gurus—kaulik guru, laulik guru, paramarthik guru, karmi guru, jnani guru, yogi guru, etc. But who can actually rescue you from the death (mrtyu rupa samsar)? Who can overcome it? In this age of Kali there are so many vitta harankari gurus—vitta means gurus who think about the disciple's money, gurus who give initiation out of affection and some kind of material desire. Both such guru and disciple go to hell.

Who in this world thinks that Guru is non-different from Krishna, that Krishna Himself came as a Guru? Nityananda Prabhu (Nityananda-tattva) is non-different from Guru-tattva,

samsare para hai' bhaktira sagare

ye dubibe, se bhajuka nitaichandere

May those who desire to cross over samsara and dive in the ocean of devotion serve Sri Nitaichand.

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat, Adi-khanda, 1.77)

Those who want to cross this material world of birth and death, will accept the asraya vigraha, Gurudev. The visaya vigraha is the Lord. So, here Nityananda is asraya vigrahaand Mahaprabhu is visaya vigraha. Without asraya vigraha, without the shelter of the Guru you cannot take shelter of the Lord.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj wrote one thing in his book Sri Guru and His Grace (if you read this book, you will see it there). Suppose a lotus is blooming in a pond. The sun is giving too much heat, but the lotus only becomes bright—the heat of the sun cannot destroy it. But once you take that lotus out of the soil and water, the lotus will become dry. So, Srila Sridhar Maharaj says that here the soil and water means Guru, the lotus is the disciple, and the sun is Krishna—as long as we have the shelter of Gurudev, Krishna cannot destroy us, but if you remove that shelter, that mercy, then you will be immediately destroyed. That is why Guru-tattva, Guru-mahatmya is very important.

In Kali-yuga, gurus always think about the disciples' money, it is rare to get a guru who thinks about the disciple's santap, tri-tap-jvala, about so much austerity that the disciple is suffering from (adhibhautik, adhidaivik, adhyatmik: miseries caused by one's body, by the nature, and other souls). A santap-harankari guru (a guru who can remove suffering) is rare in this age of Kali.

We must understand the importance of the Guru.

* * *

Our Mission, Our Life

28 July 2011, part 3

Our Srila Sridhar Maharaj's mission is the main thing for us. You know that Param Guru Maharaj left Mayapur and came to Nabadwip—staying separately in one corner, he wanted to do nirjan bhajan in a secluded and very auspicious place here in Koladwip. He came to this place through the inspiration that he had received from his Guru and did not want to make so many temples—Gurudev made many temples, I also joined him. Sometimes Gurudev told me, "You are making big temples, but you must be careful—you must protect them, and it is very difficult.”

Now I think, "Oh, there are so many temples, and there are so many problems coming—there is always a big headache coming to me, always!" They cannot manage the temple themselves, that is why I think, "I do not want to make more than already exists, I do not want to make so many temples.”

Gurudev also said, "Sometimes, you can make a preaching centre, but do not make so many Deities because you have to arrange a cook, arrange for the Deity's pujari, and it is difficult to find a pujari, it is difficult to find a cook for the Deity—they must give bhog(offering) to the Deity five times a day, it is very difficult. That is why you should not make so many Deities." Now I also think like this, but when Gurudev told it to me, at that time I could not understand it, so when somebody wanted to donate some land, I always took, took, took. Gurudev said to me, "You are making big arrangements, you are capturing so many things, but you have to protect the temples, and it is very difficult." Now I understand it. At that time, Gurudev was above me and I did not worry about anything, but now all burden has come to me and now I also think it is too difficult.

That is why I am praying to all the devotees... You can easily understand what Gurudev wants, what Gurudev wanted. If your thinking is perfect, if you surrender to your Guru perfectly, then you can easily understand it. But if your surrender is not 100%, not 50%, if your surrender is not complete, then it is not easy to understand your Guru, it is not easy to understand what Gurudev wants. Such foundation will come through practising—if your foundation is not strong, then everything will collapse. The foundation must be strong.

* * *

Encroaching and Poaching

28 July 2011, part 4

We have to stay together and maintain our Chaitanya Saraswat Mission, Chaitanya Saraswat Math together. Our Mission is Krishna-anusilana Sangha, a worldwide association (sangha), but somebody wants to break it, somebody wants to fish in our pond—there are people who will use you. You must be very careful.

I heard some mission likes Srila Sridhar Maharaj but they do not like Gurudev. If somebody does not like Gurudev, why will I go to them? You must understand this. There are people who want to use you, who want to use your platform. That is why Gurudev always said, "Somebody from another temple wants to come and stay here, but they will come to fish you—they will not come to help you, they will use you!”

Once, I remember one person came to Gurudev (I do not want to say his name). He said something to Gurudev, and Gurudev got very angry, he said, "Do not come to use me—I will use you!" Another time, Gurudev told me some foreign devotee came from ISKCON. He wanted to take sannyas from Srila Sridhar Maharaj, but first he came to Gurudev. Gurudev took him to Srila Sridhar Maharaj, and that person showed Srila Sridhar Maharaj a lot of money. Srila Sridhar Maharaj asked, "Does he want to buy sannyas?…"

Another time, Gurudev told me that some foreign devotee gave a donation to Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Srila Sridhar Maharaj told to him, "OK, give this money to Govinda Maharaj," and he (Srila Sridhar Maharaj) took the money and gave it to Govinda Maharaj. The devotee became upset, he thought, "Oh, I brought that money for service, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave it to his assistant Govinda Maharaj..." After that, the devotee said to Srila Sridhar Maharaj, "Guru Maharaj, please use that money for this, this, and this." Srila Sridhar Maharaj immediately changed his mood and showed anger, "You can take your money back! You have given me some pranami, you cannot tell me what I must spend it on.”

In Gurudev's time also, some devotee from India gave him a cheque for twenty-six lakhsof rupees, and on the back of the cheque he wrote some conditions, like, "Spend this money on this, this, and this." I went to the bank with that man and Gurudev to cash the cheque, but when Gurudev took the cheque and saw the writing on the back, he immediately tore it up. It was a cheque for twenty-six lakhs of rupees—it is not a small amount of money! After that, the man ran away from Gurudev…

If somebody wants to buy devotion with money, it is not a good idea.

So, we have spent a long time speaking, I am giving my full dandavat to all the devotees and asking them to please forgive my offence.

I am trying as best as I can to serve all the devotees who follow my Guru. My example is this—I will serve whoever follows my Guru. This is my dharma (religion). I promise this, this is my condition, my feeling. I will serve whoever serves my Guru. I do not care whether they are senior, junior, or even my disciple. Actually, I do not think, "Oh, he is my disciple"—I think that they are all Gurudev's disciples, and I can serve them, this is not a problem. If somebody loves my Guru, if somebody serves my Guru, I want to be their servant.

This is my final message. Stay together and be careful. Now are bad times for our mission, there are a few persons who want to destroy our mission and they are mixing with another society, another sampradaya who criticises Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Think about it—they are criticising Srila Sridhar Maharaj! Those who want to destroy our temple have love and affection for another mission that criticises Srila Sridhar Maharaj, that criticises our Gurudev. This is who they are mixing with. Is this what you call paramarthik (spiritual) life? Is this your Krishna consciousness?!

If somebody dislikes your Guru and somebody mixes with such people, it is not your religion to mix with them. You did not come to the temple for that! That is why Gurudev said that chastity and sincerity are very important, and it is very rare to get a chaste person.

It is necessary to think about it and remember this. I do not want to say anything more today.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

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

All the Eastern and Western devotees ki jay!

All the world devotees ki jay!

Jay samagata Gaura bhakta vrinda ki jay!

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math all the worldwide mission ki jay!

All the sannyasi vrinda all over the world ki jay!

Nitai Gaura premanande Hari Hari bol!

* * *

Path to Donkeyhood

Speaking to devotees in London

29 July 2012, part 1

It is very nice, very good if devotees come from time to time—slowly, slowly people will come in this way. Why do they not live in the temple permanently?

Devotee: Because they are studying, they go to university.

What will they do after the studies? Get a job? Everybody is studying so hard but what university did Srimati Radharani study at? [His Divine Grace chuckles.] Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said,

jada-vidya yata, mayara vaibhava,

tomara bhajane badha

moha janamiya, anitya samsare,

jivake karaye gadha

"All mundane learning is an exhibition of maya and an obstacle to Your service. It brings about infatuation for the temporary world and makes an ass of the soul."

(Saranagati, 3.3)

When you get involved with so much education, maya (illusory environment) attacks you—it brings bondage for your spiritual life, and too much education turns you into a donkey, an ass. Do you understand it? It is not my words—Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said "gadha" (donkey).

We are only wasting, wasting our time...

* * *

Loving Search for the Lost Servant (1): Knock and Bow

Speaking to devotees in London

29 July 2012, part 2

I have had a very busy day today—in the morning I gave five skype initiations in Colombia, the morning class, after that I was cooking... Now I can cook for myself, and that is good for me also because I can keep myself busy. Every day I give morning class, evening class, preach everywhere through skype programmes, it is good for me. There are so many centres, so many temples, and I always think about them. Also, thirty-forty letters come every day, I have to give answer. In this way service is going on properly.

Gurudev's puspa-samadhi in Govardhan is still not finished and I must finish this job. The works are going on now. Also, Gurudev wanted to make a gate in Govardhan, and I have already started making that gate—I am going to Vrindavan and Govardhan every week now. Here also, many devotees come from abroad, they stay with me, I give class for them, some new devotees (good, educated people) come, I am teaching them also.

I also think about London and if they develop the mission in London, it will be good. You must invite all devotees. It is loving search for the lost servant—some devotees do not come to the temple, but you must call them. Everybody has some quality—everybody has some bad qualities and some good qualities—you must take everybody's good quality.

Everybody is not 90-100% surrendered. Gurudev always said that there is 10% surrender, 20% surrender, 50% surrender, and so on. Not everybody can surrender 100% and properly, full time. To get a full-time servitor is always a problem, but whatever percent somebody can serve their Guru, we will take, we will accept their service. Somebody may do a little wrong, but, as Param Guru Maharaj said, mercy is above justice. Our mood must be we do not want to reject anybody, we want to take everybody's help and we want to keep them near us.

We can invite everybody, they can come, it is not a problem. The temple is open for everybody, it is Guru Maharaj's temple, so what is the problem? I may make some mistake, somebody else can make a mistake or the manager can make a mistake, but why will we not go to the temple? It is Guru Maharaj's temple (especially London temple is Guru Maharaj's temple), so why do we not come to the temple to see the Deities? What is the problem? Why have we left service? That is our bad fortune, you must understand it.

Devotees always become tired and they go to their own homes and do there whatever they want, but this life is not meant for this. This life is only for

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)

This is what life is for. We have got this life, we have got initiation—why did Gurudev, why did Guru Maharaj (Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj) leave us here? You must finish their service. You must do the service that they could not finish here, and we must try our best to fulfil their desire. We must continue our preaching, we must continue our Gurudev's service, continue his mission. The mission is growing and you must help expand it. This is our duty and this is what we are trying to do.

It is good if we try to help the devotees. We must call everybody—we will call them and call, knocking at their door! If somebody is fast asleep, it is not a problem, we can take them, but if somebody closes their door and pretends to be asleep while they are actually awake, this is a problem. But we can do something to help them—we can call them again and again, we can bow our head down at their lotus feet, this is not a problem. The only problem is the ego. Somebody thinks, "I am a disciple of this Guru," "I am a disciple of that Guru," "I am senior," "I am this and this"—such thought comes to some people's minds, that is why problems always come to us and we cannot proceed…

* * *

Loving Search for the Lost Servant (2): Mercy above Justice

Speaking to devotees in London

29 July 2012, part 3

I can tell you one story from Gurudev's time.

There was a disciple of Gurudev, his name is Goswami (Gosai). He is still [as of 2012] doing puja in the jal mandir (Giriraj temple) and Siva's temple, he is an old man, more than sixty years old. He came to the temple four-five years before me, in 1987 or 1988. One time, he was sitting at the gate and Gurudev spoke to him. He did not know how to talk with Gurudev, so when he said something Gurudev became very angry and told him, "Get out!" And he left.

I was a new person, a new manager at the temple at that time, I forgot which year it was, some time around 1993-1995. So, after Gurudev told him to get out, he asked me in the evening, "Where is Gosai, has he left?" I said that he had left. Gurudev said then, "Oh, that boy was good but a little foolish. Now there is no servitor at the temple, he left..." I think Gurudev felt some pain that Gosai had left, but because Gurudev had ordered him to get out I could not tell him, "OK, stay here.”

A few years passes and I got to know that he was working in another temple for some small amount of money. I brought him again to the temple, and when Gurudev saw him he became very happy—he said, "Oh, now Gosai has become a disciple of Vinod Prabhu!" (At that time my name was Vinod.) That is mercy above justice.

There was also another story. There was one saffron-clad brahmachari in Kaikhali. One day, he all of a sudden took off his saffron clothes, dressed in white clothes and, having written a letter to Gurudev, ran away at night without telling anybody. I searched and searched for him for one-two years, and I brought him back too. It was 2003 or 2002. When Gurudev saw him, he asked, "Who is this boy?" Of course, Gurudev knew who he was, he had recognised him because he gave saffron brahmachari clothes to him, but he asked, "Who is this boy? I cannot recognise him..." I told the name of the boy to Gurudev and then Gurudev said, "Oh, loving search for the lost servant!”

We must try,

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

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

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

Gurudev also said, "I also left the temple, I also ran away, but Guru Maharaj forcibly grabbed me by my sikha—he pulled me out of hell and threw me at the lotus feet of Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govindasundar!" He also said to me, "I was a dirty plate, but Guru Maharaj cleaned that dirty plate and again used me for the service to the Deity."

* * *

Devotional Prudence

Speaking to devotees in London

29 July 2012, part 4

Sometimes we go out, we go here and there and everywhere. Our mind is very naughty, but we have some sumedha, subuddhi (fine, theistic intelligence), so we must think, "How can I spend the rest of my life?" We have taken shelter of Guru Maharaj, of Gurudev, we must understand clearly what their desire is and try to fulfil that desire. It is necessary to try heart and soul.

tomara sevaya, duhkha haya yata,
seo ta' parama sukha

"Whatever distress I encounter in Your service is also my greatest happiness."

(Saranagati 16.4)

Through service some kind of sadness comes, some kind of unhappiness comes, but it is all our happiness. This is what Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said. It is all our happiness. Sometimes something good comes, sometimes we are happy, some times we are disturbed, sometimes we are not disturbed—such is life! Whatever comes, we must realise what we want to spend our life on.

* * *

Love for the Temple

Speaking to devotees in London

29 July 2012, part 5

I am talking to you after so many days, it is very nice to talk to you again.

You are continuing the Green Street temple, I know it is becoming hard with time, but wait and see—try and try and you will be successful, devotees will come. This is the main temple there.

Actually, so many times somebody came to me and said, "Oh, we should close the old centre," I said no. I do not want to close anything. This is not my line, you know that. I do not want to close anything—if Gurudev, Guru Maharaj opened something, I want to expand it, I want it to grow more, I do not want to stop anything anywhere. Do you understand? This is my mood. Gurudev did not tell me, "Close that centre," "Close this centre." This is not my line. Gurudev was always sad because the London centre had been sold two-three times, and he always gave London's bad example for others. So, we do not want to stop or close any centre—on the contrary, we always buy land, always take land and make new centres everywhere. You know that only two years and a few months have passed since Gurudev's disappearance in March 2010, but over this time I have made many big centres. I do not want to stop any centres, this is our line.

Many people come—some are bad people, some are good people—we must run with them. What can we do? We do not want to reject them, we must run the centre—anyhow we must try and try, heart and soul. That is our main goal and we must reach our goal. We will succeed, no doubt. If we try for the Guru, Vaishnavs and Bhagavan, they will look after us, they will see to us. Many problems will come, but we have to go on, this is a battlefield.

You know that there are two-three people of the opposition group in Dum Dum Park, and sometimes people tell me, "Why are you giving money there, why are you feeding them?" This is not so. We are not giving money to feed them—we are giving money to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Mada-mohan—They are there in Dum Dum Park. Gurudev made that centre, and it is Guru Maharaj's Krishna-anusilana Sangha centre, why should I stop giving money there? This is not my job. I am begging, begging, begging, and anyhow I will run the temple—I will run all of our mission all over the world. This is not a problem for me. As much as my capacity is I want to give them service because the service to Radha Madan-mohan is there, that is why I am trying to maintain it.

If there are some three-four persons of the opposition group, what is the problem? After Guru Maharaj, in Gurudev's time when I just joined the mission, I saw there was only Mahananda Prabhu inside Gurudev's group, all others were in opposition to Gurudev. That is why I do not worry. Gurudev always said, "Some door will be open, some door will be closed." What is the problem? Anyhow we must run our mission.

I am very happy that there are now two centres in London. London is a big city, and it is good that they have two centres in different parts of the city. If you run everything properly, devotees will come through preaching, we do not have to worry about anything.

Gurudev is always with you, Guru Maharaj is always with you. No one can damage us because Chaitanya Saraswat Math is like a big ocean—if somebody throws one stone, some wave can come, but it is not a problem. It is like a big mountain—if somebody throws bricks at a mountain, the bricks will break, they cannot damage the mountain. So, we must go ahead, we must proceed ourselves—through preaching. "Pran achhe yar, sei hetu prachar: as long as you have life in the body, you must preach." This is what we are doing, and if we help each other, it will be good.

* * *

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu (1)

Speaking to devotees in Venezuela
29 July 2012, part 1

Thursday (2 August 2012) is Baladev's appearance day, and tomorrow is Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's disappearance day and Srila Gauridas Pandit's disappearance day. I cannot give class to you tomorrow, so I want to say something today—I am remembering him, his disappearance day today. We want to say something about Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Gauridas Pandit because our Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and our Gurupadpadma are Rupanuga-dhara—they are continuing, they are holding Srila Rupa Goswami's flag.

You know that Rupa Goswami Prabhu stayed in Ramakeli (Malda district) and Mahaprabhu Himself came there to meet with both brothers, Rupa and Sanatan. You know also that Rupa Goswami Prabhu is actually Rupa Manjari, but in this age of Kali he was born in a brahmin family and worked under Muslim people. Mahaprabhu personally brought them and gave them shelter under His lotus feet.

When Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami first met with Mahaprabhu, they came to Him very humbly, taking a very humble position, and Mahaprabhu accepted them. After that, Rupa Goswami left his job and went to Kasi (Benares) to meet with Mahaprabhu. I have told everybody many times about the Rupa-sikha that is given in Chaitanya-charitamrita. How is it possible that Mahaprabhu taught Rupa Goswami so much in only two months while they were in Benares? You can read it and easily see what the sadhya-sadhan tattva(the main teaching of our spiritual life) is. If you read Sanatan-sikha, Rupa-sikha, you can easily understand what a practitioner's life is like. It is important to read that chapter.

After Mahaprabhu taught everything to Rupa Goswami, He sent him to Vrindavan. There, Rupa Goswami lived in the Radha-Damodar temple, it is near our Vrindavan temple. When he lived in Govardhan, he stayed near Govardhan in Nanda-gram, in a place called Kadamkhandi. You know also (I have told this story before) that one time Srimati Radharani Herself came to Sri Rupa Goswami and cooked sweet rice for him.

Sri Rupa Goswami wrote many books, many scriptures, he left so much advice, so much Rupa-sikha. Our Param Guru Maharaj wrote Srimad Rupa-pada-rajah Prarthana Dasakam about him,

* * *

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu (2)

Speaking to devotees in Venezuela
29 July 2012, part 2

There is one song in the Gaudiya Gitanjali, I do not know if you have it in the English songbooks,

o mora jivana-gati sri-rupa gosai ati

gunera samudra dayamaya

yanhara karuna haile chaitanya charana mile

vraje radha-krsna-prapti haya

(Srimad Rupa-Goswami-Prabhura Sochaka)

The meaning is this—if you get mercy from Rupa Goswami, you will get the lotus feet of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and you will get Vraje Radha-Krishna seva, service of Radha-Krishna, you will get service to Vraja Dham.

If you look at Srila Rupa Goswami, you can easily understand what parama-vairagya(extreme renunciation) is—he always practised, sometimes he did not eat, etc. He was always too much renounced…

When he went to meet with Mahaprabhu in Benares (Kasi, or Prayag), Rupa Goswami took his younger brother Anupam (Vallabha) with him, and later he also took him to Vrindavan. Rupa Goswami did what Mahaprabhu could not finish—he carried out Mahaprabhu's job in Vrindavan. And Rupa Goswami always spoke about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Vrindavan is Vraja Dham—Govardhan and Vraja Mandal are places of Krishna's and Radha-Krishna's pastimes, and all Vraja-basis know only about Radha and Krishna, no one there knew at that time who Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was. Sanatan Goswami and Rupa Goswami were first to preach about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu at that time. They told everybody about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, they told everybody that He is non-different from Radha-Krishna.

We can understand who Rupa Goswami is... Mahaprabhu gave such service to Rupa Goswami and Rupa Goswami fulfilled His desire. He also composed so many plays, kirtans, and dramas about Radha-Krishna's pastimes (rasa-keli), he composed Vidagdha-Madhava, Lalita-Madhava, and so many other books. He would take some pastime and narrate it in a song form. You can see it in the last part (Antya-lila) of Chaitanya-charitamrita.

So, tomorrow is his disappearance day. We must all pray to Srila Rupa Goswami, "Prabhu, wherever you are staying now, please forgive our offences. Please accept us as your dasa-anudasa: as a servant of a servant of your lotus feet. Please engage us to serve your servant, please tolerate us. Prabhu, we cannot practise properly, we have no quality or qualification, we only want to try heart and soul, but you are tolerating us so much! Prabhu, please accept us as a dog at your lotus feet!" We can pray to him in this way…

* * *

Life Values

Speaking to devotees in London

29 July 2012, part 6

I have told everybody before too—when our European community is short of people, they can help each other with service. For example, Hungarian devotees can come to Italy, Italian devotees can come to Hungry, Hungarian devotees can come to London, London devotees can come to Germany, and so on. In this way devotees can communicate with each other and run the preaching together, I will be very happy. It is my joy.

Of course, when we lose our friends, we feel sad, but I think one day will understand it and they will come back... Also, through skype or Internet we can tell them that if they do not like me, they can still come to Guru Maharaj's temple, it is not a problem, this is not my mission—this is Guru Maharaj's mission, Gurudev's mission, it is not anyone's private property.

In my life, from my birthday and from my beginning at the temple I had never opened my own bank account. Only when I could not get visa to America, I had to open a bank account on my name. I have only one bank account on my name, and even that—later I took the money I kept there to get visa and spent it for service. I do not keep anything on my name. Gurudev gave me his mercy because from the beginning I have been thinking about Gurudev's mission, and I want to do that my whole life until my death. I am not afraid of death—one day we are born, and one day we have to die, this is a basic truth, so why must we be afraid of anything?

Anyhow, I am very happy that gradually devotees are coming to the Green Street, and that you too are coming to the new centre from time to time, at the weekends, etc. I become happy when I hear about it. It only makes me sad that although you are now in your vanaprastha life you still have to work to maintain your family. That is the only problem because in the foreign countries too much money is necessary to maintain your life. How many years will you continue like this? You are now in your retired life, but still you have to go to work. This is my only sadness. At this stage in life you should be staying permanently at the temple, giving class and taking prasadam, this is what retired life is meant for, but instead you go to work... Is what I am saying correct or not, Prabhu?

—Yes, Maharaj…

I am thinking in this life people work for themselves and for their family maintenance from birth to death, they do not get time to even come to the temple to pay dandavat. I saw this not only abroad but in India as well. I saw also in Singapore that they go to work as soon as they wake up from early morning and they come back at midnight—they work the whole day, for twelve hours, from morning to midnight, and they eat outside in some restaurant. They come home only to sleep and the next day they again go to work. What for? Is this life, Prabhu? I saw it and I think about them... When you are young, you study, you do some work, it is OK, but Krishna gave this human body only for service, so if you can spend minimum 50% of this life on service to Guru, Gauranga, Bhagavan, Vaishnavs, that will be good for your next life. Otherwise, Krishna has sent us here, Gurudev has left us here to fulfil his desire, and if we do not use this time for him, if we only think about ourselves and our own enjoyment, this is not life.

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Malini Devi and Vishvarup

Speaking to devotees in London

29 July 2012, part 7

Malini... The name Srivas Pandit's wife is Malini Devi. You know, one time Malini chastised Srivas Pandit.

Once, Vishvarup Prabhu, Nimai's elder brother, came to their house. He was a young boy at that time, about thirteen-fourteen years old. He came to ask Srivas Pandit for help. He asked him, "Prabhu, I want some book, I have come to ask if you can give it to me." At that time, there were many Muslim people in that area, and they burnt books and scriptures. Srivas Pandit answered, "You know there is so much problem here because of the Muslim people, we have already sent the book you are asking for to Tripura (Agartala, a Hindu area).”

At that time, Malini came to Vishvarup and gave him much affection. Looking at Vishvarup, Srivas Pandit said to Malini (his wife), "Oh, Vishvarup has come, but I cannot help him. I wish I could help him..." Suddenly, Malini said, "How can you help him?? You are always busy with kirtan and always only go to Advaita Prabhu's class—you cannot even take care of your family, how can you help anybody else?! You are not a family man!" In front of Vishvarup, she chastised Srivas Pandit in this way, and Vishvarup got shy to hear it. Srivas Pandit said, "Vishvarup, have you seen it? What did I say to her and what is she saying to me?! Now you know what marriage life is like! It is a big problem! Do not ever get married!”

At that time Vishvarup was actually going to get married—his parents, Sachi Mata and Jagannath Misra had already seen a girl for him, etc. But Vishvarup always, every day remembered what Srivas Pandit had told, and after a few days he suddenly ran away from his house and took sannyas. Such mood came to him. I read about this in some good book... So, now seeing Malini here (in London) I remembered their talk about life.

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Baladev Purnima: Double Festival in Russia

Speaking to the devotees in Russia

13 August, 2011

Today, everybody is celebrating Sri Sri Baladev Prabhu's avirbhav (appearance) day everywhere. Today is also the Deities' installation day in Saint Petersburg temple, our main centre in Russia—Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Madhavasundar were installed on this day. It is a very nice day today, and we are very happy today. Also, in South Africa they are making a big festival today in honour of Sri Sri Baladev Prabhu's avirbhav tithi(appearance day). In Nabadwip and many other centres here they are making good and big festivals in honour of the appearance of Baladev.

Baladev means Nityananda Prabhu, Gurudev. Sri Sri Baladev Prabhu is our main line. Here in Bengal they are doing jhulan-yatra on this day, but we are not so much attached with jhulan—we are making a grand festival of Baladev Prabhu because this is our conception. Our main line comes from Guru, so whenever we do puja, we always first offer everything to Gurudev. We always first do the Guru-puja, Baladev-puja (Balaram-puja), Nityananda-puja. That is our line. That is why today is an important day for our spiritual life.

Today is also the Deity installation in Russia, it is a very nice day. As you know, on this day the Deity (Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Madhavasundar), taking Gurudev's hand, came to distribute Their mercy—to rescue and distribute Their mercy to all of the Russian devotees. It is an important day for our spiritual life, especially for our temple within the Russian mission, that is why also we make a festival today, remembering about this. Srila Goswami Maharaj, Srila Avadhut Maharaj are there and they are arranging the festival, all the Russian devotees are there.

Gurudev always gave importance to Russia and he gave Sripad Avadhut Maharaj the responsibility to be the leader of the Russian devotees. I also went to Russia many times with Gurudev, and I was very happy to see the big programmes in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The devotees there are sober, their minds are fresh, their hearts are fresh and clear. Actually, if somebody is a surrendered soul, when they surrender to their Guru, Krishna gives them a chance to serve Him, He allows them to serve Him. It is necessary to understand and remember this.

We must continue, we must continue this movement. I have seen the preaching movement of Sripad Avadhut Maharaj and Gurudev became very happy with what he did, and today is the main day for us because on this day Sri Sri Radha Madhavasundar came to our centre in Saint Petersburg, our main centre in Russia. Even Madhavendra Puri showed us how important it is to serve the Deities. A Deity is not a doll—Deity is saksad Vrajendranandan, Krishna Himself!

* * *

Manage and Maintain

Speaking to devotees in London

29 July 2012, part 8

OK, Prabhu, I am very happy to see you all. Our life is like this—devotees always serve, always engage in preaching movement, with sadhu-sanga and Nama-sankirtan. Always do Harinam sankirtan in the street.

Now is the time of Olympic Games in London and there is much preaching opportunity—if we can distribute books, it will be good for our mission. Now at this time not so many devotees can stay at the temple in London properly, I understand this, but in future there will be accommodation. How many people can stay at the new centre now?

—Fifteen…

Oh, fifteen people can stay, and if one-two hundred devotees come, it will be a problem then, will it not?

I remember when I went to London in Gurudev time, at that time there were two hundred people at the Green Street temple, one toilet for everybody. Even in the room where I stay there was Tirtha Maharaj, myself, Siddhanti Maharaj (Chidananda Prabhu at that time), Ashram Maharaj—we all stayed together in one small room. Also Tridandi Maharaj was there, and the devotees also slept outside in the yard. I saw it, and they managed it. If we try, we can manage everything, it is not a problem. It is possible to manage for a one-two-day festival.

As for those who are not coming, try and try [to call them]... When their illusory environment is removed, they will come back. There is always light in the temple, there is no darkness there because where there is maya, there is darkness, and where there is no maya, there is no darkness…

So, this is my news. I am paying dandavat to all the devotees and asking them to please forgive my offence. Come to India. This year I am going with the devotees to a pilgrimage to Vrindavan, Govardhan, Kuruksetra, Haridwar, etc. in November. You can come with us. My dandavats to all of you, thank you so much, muchas gracias.

Jay Srila Bhakti Sundar Go vinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

All the assembled devotees ki jay!

Harinam sankirtan ki jay!

Nitai Gaura premanande hari hari bol!

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Srila Gauri Das Pandit's Pastimes

Speaking to devotees in Venezuela

29 July 2012, part 3

Tomorrow is also Gauri Das Pandit's disappearance day…

Gauri Das Pandit is also a dearmost devotee of Nityananda Prabhu and a dearmost devotee of Mahaprabhu. You know that one time Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu went to Kalna, the area where Gauri Das Pandit lived (it is twenty-five kilometres from Nabadwip). When Nityananda and Mahaprabhu came to him, Gauri Das Pandit said,

"Prabhu, You have come to my house, I am very happy, but I will not allow you to leave my house. You must stay here permanently!”

"How is it possible?" answered Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. "We have to go. We must go for preaching. You know why We have come here—how is it possible for Us to stay in your house permanently?”

Then, suddenly, Nityananda and Gauranga Mahaprabhu turned into Deities—They Themselves were talking to Gauri Das Pandit and suddenly there appeared two more Nityananda and Gauranga in another form. They said then, "Look behind!" And when Gauri Das Pandit turned, he saw there were Deities in the house and They looked just as Nityananda and Gauranga who were in front of him. He was surprised, "How is this possible? And whom shall I keep? Two persons are sitting in the veranda, in the corridor, and two are inside—whom shall I keep?" Then, Mahaprabhu said, "You can keep the ones who are inside, They can stay here permanently." Then, Nityananda and Mahaprabhu left, and Gauri Das Pandit started serving Their Deities (vigraha) at his house.

Actually, I have told many times that a Deity is non-different from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, from Radha-Krishna. You also worship Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurachandra in Caracas, and They are non-different from Nityananda and Mahaprabhu. You must understand this clearly. They are not just some murti, some wooden or stone murti—no! You must not see the Deity in this way. "Vigraha Tumi nao, saksad Vrajendra-nandan!"—vigraha, a Deity of Krishna is nondifferent from Krishna, Gauranga's vigraha, Nityananda's vigraha are non-different from Them.

In Mahaprabhu's life time, His Deities were worshipped in three places—one was worshipped by Vishnupriya in Nabadwip (we go there every year during the parikrama); another one is Gaura-Gadadhar in Champahatti (we also go there, on the last day of the parikrama); and the third one is in Kalna, Gauri Das Pandit's house.

One time, Gauri Das Pandit wanted to celebrate Mahaprabhu's appearance day, so he went outside to invite devotees and preach. At that time, there were no letters, no telephone, no internet, and Gauri Das Pandit went alone, on foot (there were also no cars). He would come to some house, preach and call people, "Please come everybody to Kalna. We are going to celebrate Mahaprabhu's appearance day and we are making a festival. Please come." He preached in this way outside, time passed, and he was getting late…

There were only three days left before the festival, and there were so many things to do. Gauri Das Pandit had a disciple called Chaitanya Das. Chaitanya Das stayed at the temple and when only three days were left he could not tolerate it any longer. He thought, "Why is my Guru not coming? The festival is coming in just three days!" So, he invited some devotees to Kalna himself—he said, "Come, there will be a festival in three days. Come to the temple.”

When Gauri Das Pandit came back and heard that Chaitanya Das had also invited somebody, he became angry, "I am the Guru, I am the manager, why does he invite anyone without my permission?" He ordered to Chaitanya Das, "Get out! Why did you do that without my permission? Get out of my temple!" Chaitanya Das left and went to live on the bank of the Ganges (at that time, the same Ganges that flows through Nabadwip went through Kalna as well).

Gauri Das Pandit stayed alone. What could he do now? So many people started coming for the festival day—some came with pranami, some came with some rice, dal, etc. but Gauri Das Pandit did not accept them. He said, "Who invited you?! I did not invite you! Go to the one who invited you!" The devotees were surprised, "What? The festival is here... What is happening? Where is Chaitanya Das?" Gauri Das Pandit said, "I did not invite you, if Chaitanya Das invited you, then you can go to him.”

The devotees went to Chaitanya Das to the bank of the Ganges. Somebody came there in a big boat and brought so much dal, rice, subji, etc. and Chaitnaya Das arranged a big festival there on the bank of the Ganges in an open field.

In the meantime, Gauri Das Pandit was alone. What could he do? He did some little cooking and was going into the temple to offer the bhog. The temple was locked, but when he opened it, he saw there was no Deity there! He became very angry, "What has happened? Where have my Deities, my Gaura Nityananda gone?! They are mine! They are my Masters! Why, where have They gone?" Then he went to the bank of the Ganges to see what Chaitanya Das was doing, and there he saw Gaura Nitai in the middle, surrounded by many devotees, and everybody was chanting and dancing. Chaitanya Das was also there. When he saw this from far away, he took a stick and was ready to charge, "I will beat him! My Prabhu is gone there! He has taken Them!" As soon as Gaura Nityananda understood what was happening, They immediately entered the heart of Chaitanya Das, and from that day his devotional name became Hriday Chaitanya…

In the end, Gauri Das Pandit brought him back to the temple: as Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also said, "Mercy is above justice.”

* * *

Mercy Is Above Justice

Speaking to devotees in Venezuela

29 July 2012, part 4

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said, "Mercy is above justice." You must understand that sometimes we can do something wrong, and I saw in Gurudev's time also that Gurudev's servitors would do something wrong and Gurudev would tolerate it, tolerate it, tolerate it, and when in the end he could not tolerate it any more, he would reject them. But Gurudev would pray for them, he never really kicks anybody from the temple.

There was one devotee (he is senior to me, he joined the temple perhaps three-five years before me), his name is Tarapada Gosai. Now [as of 2012] he does the puja at the jal mandir of Giri Govardhan and the temple of Sada Siva Gangadhar in Nabadwip, and at that time he did not do this puja—he would sometimes do puja in Hapaniya, sometimes in Kaikhali, later in Bamunpara (at that time there was no Bamunpara temple yet). Gurudev saw that the service he did was very nice and Gurudev loved him very much—his heart was good, his service was good, but the only problem was that he did not know how to behave with the Guru, he is a little foolish. So, one day Gurudev was walking around the Math, I walked behind him (I was a brahmachari at that time), and Gosai was sitting there in one place. Gurudev asked him something, but when Gosai answered something in return, Gurudev became angry, he told him, "Get out of the temple!" And he left. I was the manager at that time, but Gurudev had ordered to him to get out, so what could I say? I could not stop him and say, "Stay here," because Gurudev is the president, he is the Guru. So, when he ordered him to get out, Tarapada Gosai left the temple.

In evening that day, I went with everybody to Gurudev to pay dandavat to him, and Gurudev asked me, "Has Tarapada Gosai left or what? What has happened?" I told Gurudev, "Yes, Gurudev, he has left." Gurudev was upset, "That boy was a good servitor, but I told him to get out on the spur of the moment and he left..." I could see that Gurudev's mood was not good—he was a little sad because a devotee, that brahmachari, left the service.

And Gosai was actually a little bit adamant—he will do what he will do no matter what. When he left, he went to another temple, not our Gaudiya Math, and did puja there. I came to him many times, asking him, "Gosai, please come back. Please come back." I tried to bring him back to the temple many times during a few months, but at first he did not want to come. He said, "No, I will not go back because Gurudev told me to get out!" I told him, "Gurudev has told you to get out, but he did not tell you not to come back! Please come!" In this way, one year later, after trying and trying, I managed to bring him back to the temple. When he came, Gurudev became very happy—he said, "Oh, now Gosai has become Vinod's disciple! Now I am very happy." (At that time my name was Vinod Brahmachari.)

So, actually, Gurudev always gives us a chance, Gurudev always gives us a chance to do service. Sometimes we do something wrong and the temple management punishes us and tells us to get out, but getting out is not the solution. When we get a chance to come back to a temple, we must also understand that we cannot always do wrong—we cannot keep on doing wrong, wrong, wrong all the time. We must also understand something, we must have some simple heart, we must get some heart—if we secretly do some nonsense, do something wrong at the temple, it is not good.

Gurudev is merciful, Gurudev can allow us to serve, but if I keep on always doing wrong, then one day I can lose his mercy. Nityananda Prabhu is very merciful, but when Mahaprabhu becomes angry, He can remove you (you know that Mahaprabhu can use His Sudarshan chakra). Guru is merciful, but when Krishna is angry, then it is a big problem for us. We must understand that Gurudev is merciful, that is why when we make a mistake he can accept our service again, but we cannot think that we will be always forgiven. We do not think that we are innocent. If you think you are innocent, if you do not admit your guilt, that is not good for your devotional life. From our side, we can accept the service of such persons, but we should realise that those who are doing wrong will suffer because of that, there is no need to worry about that.

For example here in India (I do not know the law there in Venezuela), the law is such that if somebody kills somebody, they get life imprisonment or capital punishment (their punishment is the whole life in prison or maybe hanging). But if you appeal for pardon to the president, the president can cancel the judgement of the supreme court—for example, if the court decides your punishment is the whole life in jail, the presidents can decide to forgive you. This is "mercy above justice." The president can say, "It is OK, you can be free," but it does not mean that you are not guilty! It is not like the president pardons you, gives you mercy, and you think, "Oh, he has released me, now I can commit another murder! I can kill somebody again!" This is not good. You must understand this.

The Guru can say, "Come back to the temple," but it does not mean you will think, "OK, I can make the same offence again!" Or somebody does much wrong, and Gurudev excuses them, gives them a chance to come back to the temple, and now another devotees can make the same mistake and think, "Oh, Gurudev will pardon me too!" It is not the same thing!

This is not the point actually. Gurudev is merciful, but it does not mean that one more chance will come to everybody. If somebody does something wrong again, they may not get that chance, they may not be forgiven. Do you understand it? We must understand that we must not do wrong again and others must not get excited, "Oh, I did wrong, he did wrong, they did wrong, and we all got another chance, so no problem." It is not guaranteed. Mercy is above justice, but not for everybody. It comes in some way, but if somebody else does wrong again, it may not be so easy for them to get relief from that kind of offence.

* * *

Unity Is Strength

Speaking to devotees in Venezuela

29 July 2012, part 5

I am telling this to everybody: we must harmonise with each other, we must talk to each other, and we must remove our ego. Ego is the problem.

It is not good to think, "Oh, Gurudev has kicked somebody out of Nabadwip, but they are still there in the opposition group in Nabadwip, so I will not go to Nabadwip! I will not serve the temple." This is not my job—Gurudev gave me responsibility, and we must be always alert and careful about Gurudev's order. Somebody may think, "Oh, they are staying in the temple, the opposition group are bad people, they say bad things, they do not follow me, why will I go there?" But this is not my job! Gurudev gave me this service, Gurudev gave me this position to serve you all, and it is not true only for me—every devotee also has some responsibility.

If somebody does not take their service seriously, it is very bad. You must understand this. We must think about our service. Some think, "Oh, those who do not like me, who criticise me come to the temple, so I will not go there, I will not serve there." Such mood is not good! We must do what Gurudev told us to do. I also think, "They want to kill me, they want to make a big problem for me," but I do not stop my service—I am trying to serve anyhow. Gurudev gave me this position, and I have to serve him until my death. What have we come to the temple for? We joined Gurudev's mission because we want to serve. Somebody may not like me, but Nityananda Prabhu, Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurachandra like my service, then what is the problem? I cannot understand why I must run away from my service.

So, I want to give this message for everybody—please serve together, please stay together. Unity is strength. If you want to split up thinking, "I have some people, and I want to make another group," it is very bad for our mission. We want to do something together.

Actually, everybody has some ego—somebody cannot tolerate somebody else—that is the problem. But we must make and maintain our mission in this way (together, united). I saw also that in Gurudev's time, devotees made four centres in Malaysia, two centres in Singapore, there are two groups in London, and so on. There are so many groups now, but this is not good for the temple—unity, being together is good. We are becoming divided and the enemy can attack us easily. If we stay united, it is good for us.

What is the problem, anyway? We can invite everybody. I told everybody, even all the Acharya board also—why should we fight among each other? We can invite each other, we can visit each other when we make festivals. It is not necessary to make many groups, to divide into many groups. We are together and we must serve Gurudev together.

I am telling this to everybody—I am giving this message to everybody.

There is some opposition group of Gurudev (those who do not follow our Gurudev's conception, who are against our Gurudev), and we can reject them, we can kick them out them, that is good. If somebody comes to fish in our pond (to take our devotees away to a bad line), we can kick them out, that is not a problem, it is actually good, but if somebody is our Gurudev's devotee, if somebody follows Gurudev's conception, why must we become divided? We will serve together!

Can your understand me well?

Devotees: Yes.

Is it OK with you? Can you tolerate me? I know it is very hard to tolerate me, not everybody can tolerate me because I give very hard words…

Devotees: No...

* * *

Off Base

Speaking to devotees in Venezuela

29 July 2012, part 6

I can give you all one example today.

You know that since Srila Sridhar Maharaj's times we have been doing the kartik parikrama—Srila Sridhar Maharaj himself did it, Gurudev did it, I myself did this parikramaand I am still continuing it (this year, 2012, we are also going to the kartik parikrama).

Once, a brahmachari, one of Gurudev's disciples, wanted to do some programme there at this time (July). I told him, "What is the necessity? It is not necessary." He said, "Oh, some devotees want to go Vrindavan now, it is jhulan purnima, and also Janmastami is coming soon, they wanted to go to Vrindavan for this time." I told him again it was not necessary to go there at this time, but he said he had already bought the tickets, and seeing that he was so adamant about it (that he wanted to go no matter what), in the end I said, "OK, you can go.”

Then, last night, at 2 a.m. they were coming from Mathura station to Vrindavan by an auto rickshaw, and they had an accident. As a result, four-five devotees flew outside the auto rickshaw (the rickshaw was run over and upturned, and it rolled on the road), they broke their hands, hurt their heads, etc.

I told him not to leave the Nabadwip temple now—Sripad Tyagi Maharaj had just left for Germany, and there was so much service in Nabadwip, but they always run independently, they come and go on their own, and I am also telling them strongly, "Get out!" After the accident, that brahmachari said to me, "Oh, Maharaj, we went there without your permission, please forgive my offence!" I told him, "This is not an offence to me—it was not Srila Sridhar Maharaj's desire that you go there.”

We never go to Vrindavan on jhulan purnima, we never celebrate the jhulan-yatra (the swing festival of Radha-Krishna)—it is sahajiyas' style and conception, it not our conception. We do not do this, but you went there, so maybe Srila Sridhar Maharaj did not like it, that is why something happened...

* * *

Ego and Ginger—Watch Out!

Speaking to devotees in Venezuela
29 July 2012, part 7

So, I am telling to everybody: please give respect to each other. Be humble, tolerant, and give honour to others. Be respectful, always give respect to others. This is our conception.

The management can actually sometimes tell you to get out, and I have also told this to devotees many times, I have kicked devotees out many times. This is not the management's fault. If they have power, they can do that. When the management tells me to get out and not to come to the temple, they can do that because they have some authority, but at the same time the Guru also has some power and he can give mercy to me, but that does not mean that I am not guilty, that I am innocent. It is not so.

If somebody is doing some wrong, they must get some punishment, it is necessary, but at the same time we always try to keep all the devotee at the lotus feet of Gurudev, it is also necessary. In this way, we must harmonise with everything—management is one thing and spiritual matters are another, and we must harmonise both. When the manager is giving a lecture, he will speak spiritually, but when he does the management, he will do his duty…

You can make some little festival on Thursday (2 August 2012), it is Baladev's avirbhavday. If you do not bring many devotees on a festival day, you can make some good offering. You can also make a good offering tomorrow also, it is Srila Rupa Goswami and Gauri Das Pandit's disappearance day—you can offer some arepa, some paneer [His Divine Grace laughs]…

But do not use ginger in subjis. It is not good for health, and not good for the devotional life also. OK? If you can use only cumin, cumin powder, some tumeric, that is good for health and also your mind, your brain, your heart, everything will become cool. When you take ginger, ego comes and angry mood comes. Do not use it. If you eat a lot of ginger, more ego will come to you. If we take the prasad that Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu like, that is good for us. Also, we can cook what we like and offer it to Nityananda Prabhu, that is also good for us. Do not cook your own things and eat it yourself, this is bad for your spiritual life.

* * *

Sri Krishna Janmastami: Our Fortune and Focus

Speaking online to devotees in Venezuela
22 August 2011, part 1

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

I am very happy to see you all today. Today is a good festival for you all there—Sri Sri Krishna Janmastami maha-mahotsav. On this day, Krishna appeared in this world to rescue your all, and us also.

We are very fortunate to have got connection with this line through our bona fide Guru and through the previous Guru-varga: through Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and then our Gurudev Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

We feel very fortunate today to have got a bona fide guru and we are spending this day for Lord. Many people have a holiday today, and here in India people are enjoying with material things, but Krishna's devotees are enjoying for Krishna—their enjoyment is for Krishna. That is their hope, that is their fortune. Gurudev brought you all to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, and such fortune is rare and does not come for everyone.

Here in India, it is now also another happy day—Nanda Maharaj's festival. Make Nanda Maharaj happy. If Nanda Maharaj is happy, if Mother Yasosa is happy, then Krishna will be happy too—if Gurudev is happy, Krishna will be happy too, but if you please only Krishna, then you cannot get mercy. You must understand this.

"Guru bade Gauranga bhaje, sei papi raurave padi maje (the sinner who worships Gauranga without the Guru will fall into a terrible hell)": if you worship Gauranga without worshipping the Guru, you will be a great sinner and you will spend all your life in hell.

Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur said, "Even if my Guru goes to a prostitutes' quarter, to a very bad place, he is still my Guru (my Guru is Nityananda Prabhu, my Guru is Radharani)!" If you serve Nityananda Prabhu, you will get mercy. This is what you are all doing in Venezuela—you are all worshipping Nitai, Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurachandra, that is why you are getting mercy. Why are you exalted? Because you are worshipping your Guru (Guru means Nityananda) and you have so much faith in your Guru.

When I first joined the Gaudiya Mission, people said so many bad things about my Guru, but I never listened to it—it went into one my hear and came out of the other. You must understand that we will not look at the Guru's activities—we will see to our own activities; we will take only good things from the Guru, and we will not take any bad things from the Vaishnavs, otherwise it will be an offence to the Vaishnav, and that will create a big difficulty in our life.

If you invite Krishna, Krishna will not come, but if you invite Mother Yasoda, then Mother Yasoda will bring Krishna with her. If you worship Nityananda, Nityananda will bring Mahaprabhu to you. If you worship your Guru, your Guru will bring the Lord to you. This is our main conception. If we follow it—if we follow Rupa Goswami's, Sanatan Goswami's line—then we can easily understand it.

Our Gurudev preached all over the world only for his Guru, Srila Sridhar Maharaj. We all will also preach for our Guru—we will not preach about ourselves, we will preach about our Guru.

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

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

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

We are fallen souls, we have no quality, no qualification, but if we surrender to Gurudev, Gurudev will catch us by our sikha and throw at the lotus feet of Krishna. That is why you must please Yasoda Ma and Nanda Maharaj—if you please devotees, then devotees will give you mercy of the Lord. If you cannot make devotees happy, you will not be able to get mercy. You must understand this.

So, today is a very special day, the janmastami day when Krishna came to this world, but we always say, "Nitai," "Nitai," "Gaura Nitai," "Mahaprabhu". Even Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj made a rule that on janmastami day there must be parayan of Chaitanya-charitamrita. "Parayan" means that every devotee will read Chaitanya-charitamrita in the temple—for one hour, half an hour, or ten minutes, but everybody must take turns reading Chaitanya-charitamrita. This is the rule that Srila Sridhar Maharaj made for the main Math, the main temple of Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and we did it yesterday here in Nabadwip—they did this continuous reading (parayan) of Chaitanya-charitamrita from morning until midnight.

You must realise how merciful Mahaprabhu is to us, how merciful Nityananda Prabhu is to us, and how merciful Gurudev is to us. Where were we before? He brought us all and threw at the lotus feet of the Lord. So, if we have no faith in our Guru, we cannot do anything. We must follow our Gurudev's instruction and direction. That is our main way. That is called chastity and sincerity. Gurudev gave this classification—there is a 10% devotee, a 20% devotee, a 50% devotee, and so on. "Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari: the kind of devotion you get depends on how much faith you have." (Cc, 2.22.64)

* * *

Sri Krishna Janmastami: Service Festival

Speaking online to devotees in the Philippines

22 August 2011, part 1

Today is a very auspicious day, a very good day for our spiritual life—Sri Krishna Janmastami maha-mahotsav. Krishna appeared in Dvapar-yuga in Mathura and after that Vasudev took Him to the house of Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda Mayi. We actually consider Krishna a son of Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda. They are very fortunate—they got the Lord as their son. Mother Yasoda beats Him, chastises Him, Nanda Maharaj also chastises Him with so much affection. They are very fortunate.

If we invite Krishna, Krishna will not come to us, but if we invite Yasoda Ma (Mother Yasoda), she will bring Lord Krishna to you—it is not necessary to invite Lord Krishna separately. That is why we always pray and serve to Lord Krishna's devotees—Yasoda Ma, Radharani, Nanda Maharaj and others. If we serve Yasoda Ma, then we can easily get mercy from Krishna. Then, you can easily understand that we should actually be more affectionate with Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda.

How did Srila Sridhar Maharaj please his Guru Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur? He wrote a poem about Srila Prabhupad's father Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur (Bhaktivinod-viraha-dasakam), and he pleased Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur in this way. So, if you pleased your Guru, if you please Krishna's devotees, Krishna will be even more pleased. Also, Gurudev told me, "If you love me, you must love my dog. It is not necessary to love me directly.”

For example, suppose you invite a big man, a big minister or judge to your house and while he is at your house you do not give proper respect or nourishment to his driver. When the judge goes back in that same car, he will ask his driver, "Did you get any food at that house? Did the people who invite me give you anything?" and the driver will say, "No, they did not give me so much nourishment." Then, no matter how much nourishment you may give to the judge, he will not be happy because you do not give nourishment to his driver or his servant. This is how we must be. If you want your Guru to be pleased, you must please his servant.

If you want to please Krishna—if you want to have love and affection to Krishna—you must first have love and affection for Radharani, for Nanda Maharaj, Mother Yasoda, and so on. If you have love for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, you must love Nityananda Prabhu. You cannot have love and affection for Gauranga Mahaprabhu only—no, you must love Nityananda Prabhu as well, otherwise Gauranga Mahaprabhu will not be happy. In the same way, if you do not have love and affection for Sachi Mata, Jagannath Misra, Mahaprabhu not will be happy.

So, if you want to make Krishna happy, you must make Nanda Maharaj, Mother Yasoda happy. We want to make Nanda Maharaj happy, that is why we make a festival for him—Nanda Maharaj's maha-mahotsav. Tomorrow is actually the main day—today we are fasting for the Lord, but tomorrow we are making a festival for Nanda Maharaj. What for? To please Nanda Maharaj, Yasoda Mayi. In this way we have to do that. In this way we have to please them.

Krishna always plays and always gives so much anxiety to Mother Yasoda—Mother Yasoda is always worried about Krishna; so, if you all give much nourishment to Mother Yasoda, Krishna will be very happy.

* * *

Beacon Light

Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
10 March 2016

This is here is the temple of Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj (in ISKCON they say "Prabhupad") also came here.

When he was just starting the Chandraya mandir (the ISKCON temple in Mayapur), there was not temple there, so before he could make the temple he stayed here with Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Both Srila Sridhar Maharaj as well my Gurudev (Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj), also stayed at A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj's house in Kolkata.

After Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's disappearance, Srila Swami Maharaj went to Vrindavan, his name was Abhay Babu at that time. Later, he took sannyas from Srila Keshav Maharaj (Srila Keshav Maharaj took sannyas from Srila Sridhar Maharaj). In Vrindavan, Srila Swami Maharaj stayed in Radha-Damodar temple, there he was translating Srimad Bhagavatam. Having lived there for about ten years, he got some inspiration—he wanted to go to America by steamer.

The journey took him a very long time, and on the way he had a stroke three times. When he arrived in America, he tried so hard to bring the Western people to Krishna consciousness.

He would tell and describe everything that happened there to Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, who is the founder acharya of this Chaitanya Saraswat Math. He made so many disciples and followers in foreign countries.

After his visits to many foreign countries, a lot of foreign devotees and visitors asked Prabhupad Srila Swami Maharaj, "When we lose you—after you leave this body and this world, where shall we take shelter?" Srila Swami Maharaj told them, "I have a siksa guru in India. His name is Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj—after my disappearance, after I leave my body, you can go and take his shelter.”

So, this is that Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. It was established in 1941—many years before ISKCON.

* * *

Krishna's Childhood Pastimes

Speaking online to devotees in the Philippines

22 August 2011, part 2

Krishna lived in Gokul Mahavan with Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda, but after Kamsa started his attempts to kill Him, they moved to Nanda-gram. Radharani was also born in Raval, but later Kirtida Mayi and Raja Vrisabhanu moved to Varshana. Nanda-gram and Varshana are two villages near each other.

Although Krishna lived in Nanda-gram, He spent much time playing with His cowherd boyfriends in Gokul. You know that one day Krishna was eating soil, and his cowherd friends sent the news to Mother Yasoda, "Krishna is eating soil!" Then, Mother Yasoda came and chastised her son, but Krishna began to cry and showed His mouth to His mother—when Yasoda looked into His mouth, suddenly it became bigger and bigger and Krishna showed her that the whole universe, all demigods, everything was in His mouth!

Krishna showed so many things in His lila (pastimes). He played with cows and dust of Vrindavan (dhuli-khela). Also, you know that when Krishna was only three days old, Kamsa got to know that Krishna, his enemy, had already been born and lived in Gokul, so he sent Putana raksasi (demoness) to kill Him. Putana raksasi fed Krishna from her poisoned breast and although Krishna was only three days old, He killed her. He was so powerful, even at the age of three days only!

Krishna also did the pastime of Kaliya-daman. Kamsa sent so many demons to kill Krishna—Aghasura, Bakasur, Batsasur, etc., but Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so He killed them all. Every time He killed a demon, His cowherd friends would come home and tell their mothers, "You know, today this lila happened—we were all going to die but Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaj, protected us!" In the end, all mothers, Vraja-gopis, said, "Oh, Krishna shows His pastimes to you, but He does not want to show any pastimes to us!" So, to fulfil their desire to see His pastimes, Krishna wanted to show His lila to everybody.

First, all cowherd boys came to the lake where Kaliya-nag lived peacefully. When they came there, they all, the boys and the cows, died because of the poison of Kaliya-nag. When Krishna saw it, He took them out of the water, kept them lying on the bank, and jumped into the lake Himself. He started swimming and making much noise in the water which distrubed Kaliya-nag and made him angry. The serpent came to the surface, caught Krishna with his tail and started killing Him by holding Him tighter and tighter. It looked as if Krishna was dead and there was so much disturbance in the environment—many clouds appeared in the sky, and everything became unhappy in Gokul, Vrindavan…

Everybody was unhappy because Nityananda-Balaram had not not come. The news spread very fast, "Something has happened! Something has happened to Nanda Maharaj's Gopal!" Everybody ran to the lake and became to shout and cry. Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda came too, they wanted to jump into the lake, but Balaram held them back. Krishna was actually waiting at that time for everybody to gather, and when Balaram cried to Krishna, "Please come out! Come please! Everybody is going to jump into the lake and die! Please come out!”

When everybody came to the lake, Krishna showed His lila. He jumped out of Kaliya-nag's tail and placed His feet on top of Kaliya-nag's heads. As He started dancing on his heads, Kaliya-nag was almost dead when suddenly all wives of Kaliya-nag appeared and prayed to Krishna, "Please, we do not want to beceom widows! Please do not kill him!" Krishna agreed, "OK, you will not become widows, He will live a long life, but he cannot stay here. All Vraja-basis, all birds, cows, everybody is disturbed because of him, and whoever comes to the lake dies—you cannot stay here. You must leave." Kaliya-nag left and since that time he has been staying near the Fiji island. He is still there in Fiji now…

* * *

Essential Service

Speaking online to devotees in the Philippines

22 August 2011, part 3

One time, Brahma heard that Krishna, his Lord and Master, appeared in his universe. When he came to see Him, he saw that Krishna was playing with cowherd boys—he saw one of Krishna's friends bite half of a fruit and give the other half to Krishna. Brahma thought, "No, He is not Krishna. It is somebody pretending to be Krishna!" Then, Brahma hid all the cows that Krishna and his friends were herding, in a cave. Krishna searched for the cows everywhere but could not find them. In the meantime, Brahma also created some illusory environment and hid all the boys as well. Krishna thought, "Who is doing this?" Then He understood it was Brahma, "Oh, it is Brahma testing Me!”

A year passed and when Brahma returned he saw that everything was running properly as before. Then he understood he was wrong. At that time, he could not understand that Krishna is the Lord Himself and that He came in the form of human being, in a human body.

We are also like this. We cannot know, we do not know when the Lord Himself comes in a human body—Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also came in a human body, the Guru also comes in a human body. We cannot realise it, we do not have that kind of eyes to see it. That is why we have to pay obeisance to our Divine Master Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

Krishna Himself comes in the form of the Guru, and if we do not understand the Guru, then we cannot understand anything. This is our platform, our foundation. If our foundation is weak, then our spiritual life will not be strong because faith is the basis. It is necessary to have the strongest faith in the Guru.

You must practise properly in this way. We must follow Gurudev's order—it is not necessary to come close to Gurudev. Some think, "Oh, we are not close," "Oh, I am so far from my Guru!" No, it is not so. If you follow your Guru, if you follow your Guru's instruction from far away, that is a more essential service. If, on the other hand, a disciple is staying together with the Guru and does not follow his order, this is not sadhu-sanga.

Sadhu-sanga means following the sadhu's order, the sadhu's instruction. This is what is necessary. Sadhu-sanga does not mean eating with the sadhu, sleeping with the sadhu, drinking with the sadhu, etc. This is not sadhu-sanga. For example, a mosquito also sleeps with the sadhu, but it is only disturbing the sadhu. Sadhu-sanga means that your Gurudev may be far away and you may be also far away, but if you follow his instruction, that issadhu-sanga, that is sadhu-seva, Guru-seva. If you follow the instruction of the Guru, that is called Guru's service, and this is how you should engage yourself.

Follow the instruction that your Gurudev gives you, then it will be sadhu-sanga, Guru-sanga, and then you will be more powerful. All of our godbrothers, all of our Guru-varga always follow Gurudev's instruction.

* * *

Proper Channel and Approach

Speaking online to devotees in the Philippines

22 August 2011, part 4

It is necessary to have full faith. Gurudev always mentioned that there are 10% devotees, 20% devotees, 30% devotees, 50% devotees, and so on. Why did Gurudev say like that? "Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari (Cc, 2.22.64)": the type of devotion you have depends upon faith, sraddha.

I am very happy today, today is a special day of Janmastami, it is a fasting day. Also we are making a festival for Nanda Maharaj tomorrow—we will try to make Nanda Maharaj happy. If we can serve Nanda Maharaj, if we can serve Mother Yasoda, then Krishna will be happier. It is necessary to understand this. We do not go directly to Lord Krishna, we do not go directly to Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu—we go for association, we go to great Vaishnavs, then our Guru. "Guru, Vaishnav, Bhagavan"—nobody says, "Bhagavan, Vaishnav, Guru." It is always Guru, Vaishnav, Bhagavan:

tinera smarane haya vighna-vinasana

"By remembering Guru, Vaishnav, Bhagavan, all obstacles are destroyed."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 1.21)

If you remember these three—Guru, Vaishnav, Bhagavan (first Guru, then Vaishnav, then Bhagavan)—all obstacles will be removed. This is how we go to the Lord Himself.

So, if you do not serve Radharani, you cannot get Krishna, and if you do not serve Lalita, you will not get Radharani. In the same way, if you do not serve Nityananda Prabhu, you will not get mercy from Mahaprabhu. You must understand this. Just think how merciful, how much great fortune Yasoda Ma and Nanda Maharaj have! They got Lord Krishna as their son—they clean His stool, they even sometimes beat Him!

One time, Krishna Himself said to His father Nanda Maharaj, "I am Giriraj! I am Govardhan! Worship Me!" One day Mother Yasoda was going to make some offering to Lord Indra, so she cooked so many very opulent preparations. Suddenly, Krishna came Mother Yasoda and was about to start eating what she had cooked. Mother Yasoda chastised Him, "Hey! What are You doing?! This Deities'—it is for Indra!" Krishna said, "Indra?! If My Mother makes something, why must Indra take it? Indra's mother did not make this food—My Mother made it, so I will take it! When Indra's mother makes something, then Indra can take it, but if My mother makes something, I will take it!" Mother Yasoda was in vatsalya-rasa, so she could not understand what was happening at that time.

So, we must understand that if we serve, if we invite Mother Yasoda, it is not necessary to invite Krishna. If you invite Krishna, Krishna will not come alone, but if you invite Mother Yasoda, Mother Yasoda will bring Krishna on her lap. It is not necessary to invite Krishna separately.

You must serve Nanda Maharaj, Mother Yasoda; you must serve Nityananda Prabhu, you must serve your Guru—then you will get mercy from Krishna. This is the main thing.

So, I am very happy today to see all the Philippines devotees in front of me, it is very nice that devotees all over the world can hear so many things about Krishna-katha. Also, I am praying to everybody—please follow Gurudev's line, Rupa Goswami's line, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's line. Some may think, "That ship is going fast, I will take that ship!", but you will not reach Vrindavan by that ship. You have to ask first which ship, which plane is going to Vrindavan and you make that the right train or plain otherwise if you take another train, it will not fulfil your desire, it will not take you to your goal and destination. We must go in the proper way.

I am very happy with all the Philippines devotees, Ratnanabha Prabhu and others—they listen to Hari-katha and they are making a very good festival. Our main festival is tomorrow—Nanda Maharaj's festival. Make Nanda Maharaj happy, and Krishna will be even happier!

* * *

Straight Line

Speaking online to devotees in the Philippines
22 August 2011, part 5

Are there any questions from the devotees?

Question: Maharaj, I have one question—when will you give me mercy, blessings to come to India again?

You are already blessed by Gurudev! You are a good devotee, you have a good heart, you are already blessed by Gurudev.

I am very happy to hear you all. Always engage yourself in sravanam and kirtanam. Always offer the bhog. You may not always be able to read Bhagavatam, but you must always chant kirtans from the Kirtan Guide. Always chant kirtans, you can play kartalsand chant. That will be good. Chant any kirtan you like—Nitai's songs, Mahaprabhu's songs, Krishna's songs, Radharani's songs, they are all very nice. Sing them some time, it will be good for you.

Question: Could you explain to the new devotees the practice of chanting on japa-mala?

Yes, I can explain it, no problem.

Actually, there are four ages (yugas)—Satya, Treta, Dvapar, and Kali. In Satya-yuga, people did meditation—at that time their lifespan was 100,000 years, so they did meditation for 60-70,000 of those years. This is how they got the association of God. That was in Satya-yuga. In Treta-yuga, people's lifespan was 10,000 years, and at that time people made fire sacrifices (yajna)—they made horse sacrifice (asvamedha-yajna) and many other kinds of opulent sacrifices. They would use mountains and mountains, millions of millions kg of ghee. In Dvapar-yuga, people's lifespan was 1,000 years. They only engaged in Deity worship (puja), this was their way to worship the Lord. But now, in Kali-yuga, the lifespan is only 120 years. One day in Dvapar-yuga, Krishna was sitting under a tamarind tree and seeing His shadow He thought, "Oh, I am so beautiful! Why does Radharani cry for Me? Why does She chant My Name?" Wondering about this, Krishna made a promise, "I will come to this world in the form of My Name!”

So, Krishna's Name, this Hare Krishna maha-mantra, is nondifferent from the Lord. Actually, Krishna's Name, His beauty, His pastimes, His associates are all non-different from Krishna Himself, and only Krishna Himself or His associates can give Krishna, can give Krishna's Name to others.

This Name comes through a Guru-parampara—from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev, and in this way the Name comes to Madhva Acharya and then to Madhavendra Puri who is the main root of our line. Madhavendra Puri then gave initiation into the Name to Iswar Puri, and Ishwar Puri gave initiation to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the Lord Himself, but He shows us, He teaches us that it is necessary to take initiation from a Guru, that is why He Himself also took initiation from Ishwar Puri. After that, the Name came to Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, then Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and then our Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj who is the founder-acharya of our society, of our temple. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj then gave his power to our Gurudev, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, who gave me an order in his lifetime, "You can give beads (japa-mala) to those who are sincere seekers, to those who want to chant the Holy Name…"

* * *

My Hope

Speaking online to devotees in Venezuela

22 August 2011, part 3

I am very happy to see you all there. Today, you are going to feed Lord Krishna, Lord Nityananda, Lord Mahaprabhu, Gurudev, and I am very happy with that. I heard the news that Sripad Ashram Maharaj and the devotees are also making a festival in Mexico, Sripad Trivikram Maharaj is making a festival in Brazil, and Sripad Janardan Maharaj in America. They are all doing a good festival, and I am also praying to Gurudev for them and praying that they make the festival in a good way. They are all giving so much help to us, especially Sripad Ashram Maharaj.

We are all together, and we want to preach together, we want to go together. You must understand that our line is Gurudev's line, so we must follow Gurudev's direction, his instruction and will, we must follow what Gurudev wanted. I have so many faults, I do not have any quality or qualification, but you are always with me, all the devotees all over the world are always with me, and that is my hope.

"Vaisnava sangete mana anandita anuksana": "In the association of Vaishnavs, my mind is always joyful." (Srila Narottam Das Thakur). On this way, we can remember Srila Swami Maharaj and wherever he is staying now we can give some glorification to him... You know that Srila Sridhar Maharaj and Gurudev stayed in Kolkata for many months and they stayed in a small house of Srila Swami Maharaj. (I am too now staying in Kolkata—I never wanted to come and stay in Kolkata, but now, it is Gurudev's will, I am staying in Kolkata and preaching all over the world from here...) So, when Srila Sridhar Maharaj and Gurudev stayed in Kolkata, Srila Swami Maharaj made programmes going house to house and reading Bhagavatam (Gurudev would read Bhagavatam and Srila Swami Maharaj would explain it). Our movement should also be like this. We need mercy from Nityananda Prabhu…

I am inviting everybody—come for the Ekachakra festival, come for Srila Guru Maharaj's, Srila Gurudev's Vyasa Puja. Come from time to time here, stay and serve here. And always serve Parama Karuna there, help Purujit Prabhu, help Amita Sakti Didi, that will be good for you. Out of seven days a week you work for six days in your house, but if you keep one hour's or half an hour's salary for Parama Karuna each day, it will be food for you. You can spend seven hours on your children, your family, etc. and keep one hour's salary for your Mission, that is service. Whatever you get as one hour's salary each day, keep it in your bank and that will be your deposit for your spiritual life. If you can maintain this your whole life, it will be not necessary for you to come back to this mundane world again.

You have got this human body, and this body is meant for service to the Lord. If you do not use this body for the service of the Lord, then this body is useless. Anyhow, use yourself and engage others in service of the Lord. That is my hope and prayer.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

* * *

Spiritual Sustenance

19 September 2015, part 1

Everybody does some service, but only few persons have attachment to their service. Attachment to service comes by practising properly, by avoiding deceitful devotion.

When we took initiation, we joined Krishna's family, so now our family is Krishna's family—we have left the mundane family and become members of Krishna's family. We can stay permanently in Vrindavan Dham, in Vraja, Goloka Vrindavan, avoiding birth and death. That is why we joined Krishna's family.

After we have got a membership in Krishna's family, we must renew this membership all the time through service. You know, if you open a bank account but do not operate it properly, your bank account will be closed—you must deposit and withdraw money from the account, then it will operate properly and the account will be active or valid. In the same way, you have joined Krishna's family, and if you do not keep proper connection, if you think that you have got initiation from your Guru and that is sufficient, if you do not practise properly, do not serve properly, if you do not fulfil your Gurudev's desire properly, then you will lose your membership, you will lose your connection. This is why we must do proper service.

Even if you are a householder devotee, your duty is Vaishnav-seva, sadhu-seva and Nama-sankirtan. These two are your main practices. There is actually no difference between a householder devotee and a sannyasi, but there is some difference in their services. A householder devotee has to maintain their family and a fully renounced person (a sannyasi or a brahmachari) has to maintain Gurudev's family, Krishna's family. That is the difference. Otherwise, you live in your house and you think it is your house, but you must think that everything is Krishna's property, everything is Gurudev's property. You can think in this way and depend in everything on him, then you will have no sadness, no unhappiness—no sadness, no unhappiness will come in your life.

Try your best. Do not get so much involved with family affairs and mundane things, the main thing is that you must sacrifice your life for the Guru, for Krishna.

Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If you do not eat anything, you will be tired and weak, and all the parts of your body, all the instruments of your body will be weak; but if you eat something, if you put something into your mouth, then the food will go to the stomach and all your instruments will work for your body. In the same way, if you pour water under the tree, then all the branches, all the leaves will get water—if you serve Krishna's family, if you depend upon Krishna and Krishna's family, then everything will be perfect, everything will be useful. Do you understand? Depend upon Him…

* * *

Sincere Surrender and Service

19 September 2015, part 2

We sing,

sarvasva tomara, charane sampiya,

parechhi tomara ghare

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

(Saranagati, 19, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

"I am giving everything to you. Now I am under your shelter, I am at your lotus feet." "Tumi ta thakur: you are the Lord; please treat me as your dog. I am your dog—you can tie me in front of your door, in front of your house, and my duty is to protect you. When I see your enemy approach, I will chase them away from the boundary of your place. I will protect you and chase them away from your place.”

tava nija-jana, prasada seviya,

uchchhista rakhibe yaha

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

"I will take the remnants of whatever prasadam your devotees take."

nijera posana, kabhu na bhaviba,

rahiba bhavera bhare

"I will never think about my own maintenance; I will always remain within the shelter of loving attachment for You."

"I will not think about myself, I will always think about you! My duty is to always think about you, and what you will do is up to you.”

If you think about the meaning of this song, you can understand how much you must surrender. And what shall we do after that? How shall we practise? What are Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings?

dainya, daya anye mana, pratistha-varjana

chari gune guni hai karaha kirtana

"Humility, compassion, honouring others, and giving up prestige—become qualified with these four qualities and chant the Name.”

Be humble, tolerant and give honour to others. The problem is our ego. Because of our ego we cannot do anything. You think, "Gurudev has given me some chanting beads, and I chant four rounds, it is sufficient," but you do not know how much Nama-aparadh (offence to the Holy Name) you make through your chanting. You think you do one lakh Names on your beads every day, but how much pure Harinam is there in this quantity? The scriptures say that among ten million of karmis you will get one wise person, among ten million of wise people you will get one liberated soul, and among ten million of liberated souls you will get one devotee. It is very rare to get a devotee.

We wear tilak, we wear mala, etc, but we are not practising:

"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)

You tell everybody, "I am Mahaprabhu's devotee!" but you do not follow the conception of Mahaprabhu, you do not preach Mahaprabhu's teachings.

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari’

gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

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

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7)

"You show to the world that you are a devotee and secretly do some nonsense things, but Gora knows you are a thief." This is Mahaprabhu's teachings...

* * *

Detained by Karma

10 September 2013, part 1

You have to reap the result of your karma... People do wrong because of bad association.

One time, Gurudev was in Russia, they took him around the city to see the Baltic sea and other places. Gurudev agreed to go. They came to some building where there was a very high wall, and suddenly Gurudev started beating into that wall with his walking stick. It turned out that it was a wall of a jail. A few days later, one devotee came to Gurudev and said, "I was in jail and just came out..." Gurudev said, "I know it, that is why I was beating in that wall…"

One of Srila Swami Maharaj's disciples was also in jail, and Srila Swami Maharaj went there to see him (he was a very big disciple). Seeing Srila Swami Maharaj, the disciple began to cry. He asked him, "Prabhupad, why am I in jail? I know I did some very bad, wrong business, and I am in jail because of that, but I did not use that money for myself—I used it for you, I gave it to you..." Srila Swami Maharaj replied, "Yes, you gave that money to me, that is correct, and for what you have done I will always keep a room for you in Vrindavan—wherever I stay my whole life, I will keep a room for you there. But in this life you have some karma-phal (result of karma), so what can you do? You have to suffer for a few days…"

Also in Bhagavad-gita (10.11) it is said,

tesam evanukampartham, aham ajnana-jam tamah

nasayamy atma-bhava-stho, jnana-dipena bhasvata

"Out of compassion for them, I, situated within the hearts of all living beings, dispel the darkness of ignorance with the radiance of knowledge.”

Some darkness can come to the devotees' hearts... The Lord's pure devotees have intelligence, they practise jnana-sunya bhakti (devotion devoid of any pursuit of knowledge), but if sometimes some illusory environment comes to their mind or heart because they feel sad (for example, their father, mother or some relative died), the Lord says, "I personally come to their heart and give some exalted knowledge by which that darkness is removed from their hearts.”

* * *

Power of Proper Practice

10 September 2013, part 2

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela

krsna-bhajana tava akarane gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing."

What kind of Krishna's sakti is Srimati Radhika?

Devotee: Hladini-sakti…

Hladini-sakti Sri Radhika…

If you practise properly, if you can continuously practise every day, then you can be perfect, but if you do not practise, everything will be damaged and rust will come... I saw it.

When I go for preaching, preaching means a class in the morning, bhoga arati at noon, and a class in the evening (this is the main class). In the morning, we do some kirtan locally, at the house where we are staying, it is necessary show them how to practise. I saw yesterday they did it happily themselves now, it was not necessary to show anymore. If you can practise like this, it is good.

But if you start neglecting your practice, then slowly-slowly rust will come and maya will attack you. Maya is very powerful, and you cannot fight Maya—you cannot defeat Maya Devi, you will be defeated by Maya Devi. It happens because of not good association. If you keep bad association, your strength will decrease.

You can see the example of **. He is a very jolly boy, does very lovely service, he did many things, but because at the place where he lived he only slept and ate and he did not practise or make any programme, then maya attacked him and he went to jail... Why did he go to jail? This is also maya. I told him, "Stay here." He could become a very good and independent servitor, but he neglected it…

You know that there are sixty-four bhaktyanga (parts of practising life)—from the sixty-four practices main are nine, from these nine main are five, and from these five main sravan and kirtan. If you do not engage in sravan and kirtan, you will become rusty. Sravan and kirtan are your main things. Can you show me anyone who has been doing sravan and kirtan continuously and fell down? No one. Sometimes maya attacks us, but Krishna said, "I am giving a special light in your heart by which that darkness will be removed…"

* * *

Approaching, not Encroaching

Evening class on Sri Lalita-samptami
Mostly translated from Bengali
12 September 2013, part 1

Today is Lalita-saptami, the appearance day of Sri Lalita Devi. She appeared in Uchagaon...

radha-padankita dhama, vrndavana yara nama,

yatane ye nahi aradhila

"Those who have not worshipped the abode named Vrindavan, that is decorated by the lotus-like Radha..."

('Radhika charana padma' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Krishna said to Uddhav Maharaj, "Narada is not as dear to Me, Brahma he not as dear to Me, Siva is not as dear to Me, even My Dvaraka wives (Satyabhama, Rukmini and others) are also not as dear to Me, even I am Myself not as dear to Myself as you are, Uddhav. Uddhav, you are more dear to Me than even I Myself." Krishna sent this Uddhav Maharaj to Vrindavan.

When Uddhav Maharaj came to Vrindavan, he cried, "Where have I come? Where has the Lord sent me to? I have come here to give some news about Krishna to them, but I am astonished to see how much love they have for the Lord! I have no capacity to get the darshan of the feet of these sakhis of Vraja, I cannot even touch their feet! If only I can put on my head the dust that falls from their feet as they walk by on the street, then my life's purpose can be fulfilled! If only I could become some tree or bush in Vrindavan, then I can know Krishna. Krishna sent me here, but now I realise that I could not understand Him.”

What kind of love does Radharani have for Krishna? In separation, the attraction and pleasure is much greater, so Lalita Devi labours so much to create that feeling of separation. She serves with so much intensity that sweat comes from her body—she is sweating so much as she is managing Radharani. Viraha, separation, creates even more attraction to Krishna, and Lalita makes the arrangement for separation.

If we do not get permission from Lalita and Visakha, you cannot get permission from Radharani, you cannot get the darshan of Radharani, you cannot get the mercy of Radharani. You will not get Her mercy just by going to Vrindavan.

sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi yeba jane chintamani

tara haya vraja-bhume vasa

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

It is those who know Gaura Mandal that live in Vraja. Those who think about Gaura Mandal, those who keep Gaura Mandal in their hearts (it is necessary to love Gaura Mandal with your heart)—they live in Vrindavan (Vraja-bhumi). You do not have to go and stay in Vrindavan—wherever you stay, you can serve the Lord, you can engage in His service and worship.

sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi yeba jane chintamani

tara haya vraja-bhume vasa

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

gaura-prema-rasarnave se tarange yeba dube

se radha-madhava-antaranga

grhe va vanete thake 'ha gauranga' bale dake

narottama mage tara sanga [4]

"One who swims in the waves of the nectarean ocean of divine love for Sri Gaura is an intimate associate of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava. Whether he lives in a house or in the forest, Narottam Das begs for the association of one who calls, 'O Gauranga!’"

Narottam is pray for the association of those who chant the Name of Gauranga...

* * *

"Save Me, Enlist Me!"

Evening class on Sri Lalita-samptami
12 September 2013, part 2

Narottam is praying for the association of those who chant the Name of Gauranga, and I am also praying to Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur... He gave so much explanation very nicely,

kabe habe bala se dina amara

aparadha ghuchi suddha name ruchi

krpa-bale ha'be hrdaye sanchara

"Please tell me, when will that day be mine? When will my offences be removed? When will the taste for the pure Name arise in my heart by the power of mercy?"

"When will the pure Holy Name arise in my heart?"

nachiya gaiya, bedaiba chhute,

vatulera praya chhadiya vichara

"When will I dance, sing, and run about, without any thinking as though mad?”

When that day will come? When will I become crazy, when will I become mad chanting, "Krishna! Krishna!”...

kabe navadvipe, suradhuni-tate,

'gaura-nityananda' bali' niskapate

nachiya gaiya, edaiba chhute,

vatulera praya chhadiya vichara

kabe habe bolo se dina amar

"When will I wander along the banks of the Ganges in Nabadwip, sincerely calling out, 'Gaura-Nityananda!', while dancing, singing, and running about, without any thinking as though mad? When will that day be mine?”

kabe nityananda more kari' daya

chhadaibe mora visayera maya

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

ara kabe nitaichand karuna karibe

samsara-vasana mora kabe tuchchha ha'be

"When will Nitaichand give me His mercy? When will my material desires lose all their importance?"

When will Nityananda give me some mercy and my material desires become removed from my heart?... I am suffering so much!

asa-pasa sata sata klesa deya avirata

pravrtti-urmira tahe khela

kama-krodha-adi chhaya batapade deya bhaya

avasana haila asi' bela

"The shackles of hundreds and hundreds of desires constantly trouble me, and the waves of the tendency to enjoy play all round me. The six bandits of lust, anger, greed, pride, illusion, and envy torment me, and now the time of my death has come.”

I suffering so much, I am so unhappy because of too many desires and hopes... "Kama-krodha-adi chhaya": so many dacoits and cheaters are attacking me! I pass year after year busy with all sorts of things, and now my life is finished! "Avasane haila asi bela": now the sun is setting for me, it is going... The sun rises and the sun sets, and then the time is finished…

...I am thinking how Lalita Devi fulfilled the desires of Radharani—whatever Radharani wants, She gets everything. When I was in Vrindavan, they told some story in one of the places. After rasa-lila, Lalita Devi thought, "Everybody is thirsty now! They need water! They are so tired, sweating so much—they need water!" She thought in this way and a well appeared there. The Lord provides everything, the Lord can give everything.

krsna jagatera guru krsna vancha kalpa-taru

navika se bhava-parabare

"Krishna is the spiritual master of the entire universe, He is a wish-fulfilling desire-tree, and He is the captain of the boat in the ocean of material existence.”

suna, he rasika-jana krsna guna aganana

ananta kahite nahi pare

krsna jagatera guru krsna vancha kalpa-taru

navika se bhava-parabare

"Listen, great relisher of rasa! The transcendental qualities of Sri Krishna are innumerable, even Anantadev is not capable of describing them! Krishna is the spiritual master of the entire universe, He is a wishfulfilling desire-tree, and He is the captain of the boat in the ocean of material existence.”

hrdaya pirita ja'ra krsna chikitsaka ta’ra

bhava roga nasite chatura

"Krishna is a doctor for those whose hearts are diseased, He is very expert at destroying the heart disease of material existence.”

Those who have some desires, they can surrender everything to Krishna and serve Krishna—in this way they can get relief…

krsna bahirmukha jane prema-amrta vitarane

krame laya nija antahpura

"By distributing the nectar of ecstatic love to all the inimical souls, He gradually takes them back to His own confidential realm.”

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

We do not have any quality, qualification, or anything else, but today, on the appearance day of Sri Lalita Devi we can pray to her that she may please engage us in some service—that she may take us into her circle and give some us service…

* * *

Sri Radhastami: Do Not Cheat Yourself

Sri Radhastami class, part 1
23 September 2012

Today is a very good day, today is the holy appearance day of Srimati Radharani. I will tell something about Her appearance today. You have all heard the kirtan,

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela

krsna-bhajana tava akarane gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing."

Without worshipping Radharani, without Her mercy, we cannot do anything—we cannot do any service. Radharani's lotus feet are non-different from the lotus feet of Sri Guru. If we do not serve the Guru, we cannot get the Lord—without mercy of Radharani we cannot get the mercy of the Lord. She is the acme of divine love ("Radhika-charana-padma, sakala sreyera sadma—the lotus feet of Sri Radha are the abode of all auspiciousness, the supreme goal of life"). The highest power, the highest thing is that, but "vando muni savadhana mate "—I carefully offer my obeisance there.

What kind of rasa, taste, does Radharani get? Krishna Himself thought, "What sort of feeling does Radharani experience when She serves Me? Why does Radharani cry when She chants My Name? I must taste this!" So, the Lord Himself appeared in this Kali-yuga in a combined form of Radha-Krishna as Gauranga Mahaprabhu. He came to Gaura Dham:

sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi yeba jane chintamani

tara haya vraja-bhume vasa

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

gaura-prema-rasarnave se tarange yeba dube

se radha-madhava-antaranga

"One who swims in the waves of the nectarean ocean of divine love for Sri Gaura is an intimate associate of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava.”

So, if somebody thinks about Gaura Mandal, the abode of Gaura, they live in Vrindavan. We do not chant "Radhe! Radhe!" We only chant Radharani's kirtans on Her appearance day, other than that we always chant, "Nitai Gaur, Nitai Gaur!" Why? Gauranga Mahaprabhu appeared in this world as a combined form of Radha-Krishna—if you chant, "Radhe, Radhe," you will not get Radharani. It is necessary to serve Radharani, that means to serve Gurudev.

You can see in Vrindavan that some chant, "Radhe, Radhe" and ask for money. This is not good. Do you think they get Radharani in this way? Guru Maharaj said that in next life such people will be born as monkeys. Once, I asked Guru Maharaj who the monkeys in Vrindavan are, and Guru Maharaj replied, "They are fallen babajis." They say, "Radhe, Radhe," but they are doing this for their own enjoyment, for their own eye exercise—they are not serving Radharani. Real service to Radharani is actually service to the Guru. Otherwise, you take the name of Radharani and earn some money in this way—do you think this is Radharani's service? No. They do this for their own enjoyment, for their own purpose—they are using Radharani for their own benefit, they are using Guru for their own benefit instead of serving the Guru. This is not spiritual consciousness, this is material consciousness. You cannot get Radharani in this way.

It is necessary to know bhajana-siddhanta (what the real service is)—if you do not know it, you will not get anything.

* * *

Tama-Sanga

10 September 2013, part 3

Some devotee wrote to me saying, "Maharaj, can you come to Mexico?" I replied, "Yes, I can come during one of my visits—when I go to Mexico some time for fifteen days or so, I can come there." I was thinking the money we collect is Deities' money, Mahaprabhu's money. Gurudev told me, "You must manage my money," so why must I spend so much money to go there for two days and go there to enjoy? Their service is now there in Mexico, what will I go there for? I thought it would be better if I did not go. Today that devotee wrote to me again saying, "Oh, from the temple you are doing so much collection service for the Deities, for the service management, temple maintenance..." They understood it. So, I wrote in reply, "Yes, now your tama-sanga (association with the mode of ignorance) is removed.”

When I went to Venezuela, when I went to London, I saw that people work the whole day, they come home at night... They do not eat the whole day and in the evening they go to a cafe, take some food, come to their room, watch TV and go to bed... It is very sad to see what people are doing with their life time. They think this is the highest lifestyle, but it is the same as a dog's lifestyle! Maybe dogs do not watch the TV, but other than that it is the same…

I saw also a devotee in Singapore. They used to rent a house and at that time they had got a home loan. How many years do they have to pay the loan? Ninety years! Tell me, will they be alive for ninety years? It means they will earn money their whole life and it is only for eating and paying the loan. What kind of a lifestyle is that, tell me? Better if they leave the house, take the money back, stay in the temple, serve their whole life and go to Goloka Vrindavan. Finished.

Life is very short and it is very dangerous—"Jivana anitya janaha sara tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara.”

You have been to Bangladesh, you saw how people live there. I heard there was a young girl, seventeen-eighteen years old, who was sleeping on the roof of her house inside a mosquito net when a snake entered it and bit her. It happened yesterday. How did the snake get up there? Anyhow, she did not die, they took the poison out (Krishna arranged it). So, do you understand? Life is full of danger, and danger can come at any time—we can leave this body at any time…

* * *

Keep Connection

Speaking online to devotees in Hungary
15 September 2013, part 1

I am very happy to see your faces and see that everybody is happy there, so many devotees are there today. Good. It is very nice to see you all. I hope that you are practising properly and continuing your spiritual life.

Actually Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that you must first learn to hear from your Guru—of all your senses (indriya) you must first activate not your eyes, but your ears…

That is why I am happy to hear that you are serving the Mission with so much enthusiasm, so gladly and happily, that you also take association of the devotees, that you keep connection with the devotees, and that it is giving a great pleasure to you all. When you invited me I sent Sripad Tyagi Maharaj there for preaching because right now I cannot go out of India. I have so much hope that he can give proper nourishment to you all.

At the same time, you know that sometimes by the illusory environment (illusory environment is very powerful) we can be taken out, removed from our service. That is why it is necessary to get good association from time to time—that is why you must be always careful, must always practise, always remember, always engage in sravanam, kirtanam. It is necessary.

Even in Srimad Bhagavad-gita (chapter 12), when Krishna told Arjuna about bhakti-yoga, He said, "If you cannot settle your mind with full chastity, with full faith in Me, then practise constantly and gradually you will be able to practise, it will become your habit. If you cannot practise, then you can do some karma but relate it with Me." Krishna engages us in the service of the Lord in so many ways.

What can our Guru-varga, what can Gurudev do? We are actually lost servants, and Gurudev, great Vaishnavs can only tell us that we have lost our home and they can tell us, "Go in this way and you can find your real home there." They can only give us some connection with our Lord, other than that we have to do everything ourselves—we have to proceed on, we have to move forward, practise, etc. Guru's only duty is to make connection with the Lord, after that his duty is finished and we must do everything ourselves.

* * *

Beyond Emotions

Speaking online to devotees in Hungary
15 September 2013, part 2

Now, are there any questions from you? Is there anything on your mind?

Question: Sometimes I feel that emotions can cheat us and take us away from Krishna. I do not know what is the proper way to approach my emotions during practising…

Yes, emotion and devotion... They look the same, but actually it is not correct—they are not the same. Devotion is very deep, it is the deepest, and emotion is not so deep.

When you practise and practise continuously, then love and affection come and then devotion comes. When you hear something, some emotion comes immediately, but unlike devotion it is not will be lasting. When you practise and practise, devotion will come gradually—through practising and practising, through hearing and hearing from the great Vaishnavs, from Gurudev, emotion will change into devotion.

Actually, when I joined the Mission, I did not know what devotion was, what karma-yogawas, what jnana-yoga was, I did not know anything—I came emotionally and joined the temple, but gradually, through hearing from great Vaishnavs, from Gurudev, through hearing and hearing, through practising and practising everything, my mind became settled. After that, devotion comes automatically. Also by the mercy of Gurudev something comes…

* * *

Extraordinary Glories of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur

Speaking online with devotees in Brazil

7 September 2014

I am very happy to see you all. I can see you very nicely and perfectly.

Today is a very auspicious day because today is the appearance day of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. Param Guru Maharaj Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote,

guru-dam grantha-dam gaura-dhama-dam nama-dam muda

bhakti-dam bhuri-dam vande bhakti-vinodakam sada

"I perpetually offer my obeisance unto Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur. Guru-dam: he is the bestower of Sri Guru (Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur). Grantha-dam: he is the author of numerous commentaries, treatises, articles, novels and songbooks. Gaura-dhama-dam: he is the revealer of the abode of Sriman Mahaprabhu. Nama-dam: he is the giver of the Name. Bhakti-dam: he is the granter of pure devotion. Bhuri-dam: he is the bestower of an abundance of divine fortune.”

(Sri Laghu-chandrika-bhasya, 1.8)

What did Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur give us? Sachchidananda Bhaktivinod Thakur fulfilled Mahaprabhu's desire and gave us very nice things. What was main among those? Devotion is akinchana-guhya-vidya (sacred education, para-vidya, suddha-saraswati), and he who enhances devotion, its beauty and charm and distributes it to us is called Bhaktivinod Thakur. It is his appearance day that we are celebrating today.

He is sach-chid-ananda (full of eternity, knowledge, and bliss), non-different from Gauranga-svarupa-sakti (embodied potency of Gauranga), he is lila-maya vigraha (personification of pastimes), and he is rupanuga-vara (dear follower of Srila Rupa Goswami's footsteps).

You know and understand that when Mahaprabhu's teaching was going down by the influence of Kali, so many obstacles appeared at that time, and as Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur writes nicely, Bhaktivinod Thakur distributed pure devotion through his kirtan. You can read Saranagati and you will understand this.

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.

(Saranagati, 19.1)

bandhiya nikate amare palibe

rahiba tomara dvara

pratipa-janere asite na diba

rakhiba gadera pare

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

"Tie me, bind me near your door like a dog, and if anyone who is against you, who does not have devotion comes, I will not allow them to come to you, I will keep them outside.”

Bhaktivinod Thakur he is Nama-chintamani-jahari (jeweller, lapidary of the Holy Name)—he separated what is pearl from what is broken glass. He showed that there is a difference between pearls and broken glass. He was also the Nama-hatter parimarjik, sweeper (scourer) of the market of the Holy Name.

nadiya godrume nityananda mahajana

patiyache nama-hatta jivera karana

"In the land of Nadiya, on the island of Godruma, Nityananda opened a marketplace of the Holy Name for the deliverance of all fallen souls.”

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

He is distributing door to door what Nityananda Prabhu is giving to us! So many obstacles, so many aul, baul, kartabhaja, etc., so many sahajiyas and so many other people came and are disturbing pure devotion, but Bhaktivinod Thakur was like a sweeper—a sweeper of the Nama-hatta.

Bhaktivinod Thakur was manabhista-sthapak—it means that he fulfilled the desire (manabhista) of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He did so much bhajan, he had so many good qualities—his character is beyond our thinking capacity. We can sing,

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, a spotless full moon.”

He also gave Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur to us! Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote,

guru-dam grantha-dam gaura-dhama-dam nama-dam muda

bhakti-dam bhuri-dam vande bhakti-vinodakam sada

"I perpetually offer my obeisance unto Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur. Guru-dam: he is the bestower of Sri Guru (Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur). Grantha-dam: he is the author of numerous commentaries, treatises, articles, novels and songbooks. Gaura-dhama-dam: he is the revealer of the abode of Sriman Mahaprabhu. Nama-dam: he is the giver of the Name. Bhakti-dam: he is the granter of pure devotion. Bhuri-dam: he is the bestower of an abundance of divine fortune."

(Sri Laghu-chandrika-bhasya, 1.8)

One time, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wanted to go to Vrindavan but when he came to Tarakeshwar on the way, he visited the temple of Lord Siva, and Sivji Maharaj (Taraknath) said, "What are you going to Vrindavan for? Everything is here now! And what are you doing about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's birthplace?" After that, he did not go to Vrindavan—he came to Godrumdwip and discovered the birthplace of Mahaprabhu.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote in his Bhaktivinod-viraha-dasakam,

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 Bhakti Vinoda Thakur, please be kind to us and grant us your mercy.”

"What Jiva Goswami protected, what Suka, Siva, Brahma and others give respect to—that kind of Radha-pada-seva (that kind of exclusive service) you are distributing and engaging others in." Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is so great. He is also called the saptam-goswami (the seventh goswami).

If he gives us some mercy, then we can glorify him. Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur wrote one sloka in Srimad Bhagavatam, I read it the day before yesterday. He said in that sloka:

Many karmis, yogis, jnanis—everybody—reads Srimad Bhagavatam, but they are not getting the gist, the main things (pure devotion). Why is it so? Suppose there is a pure (sati, chaste) lady. She gives her love, her everything to her husband only—she may talk to everybody else, but she gives her internal things, her love and affection to her husband, not anybody else. In the same way, Srimad Bhagavatam also gives the gist, the main things, the pure things to those who have pure devotion. So, without mercy ofBhagavatam, we cannot explain Bhagavatam. You can see there are so many sadhus on TV explaining Bhagavatam, but they belong to the apa-sampradaya, they are telling apa-siddhanta (wrong conception, mayavadi conception), they are giving wrong interpretation. If Bhagavatam itself expresses itself to somebody, then they can understand Srimad Bhagavatam.

In the same way, only those whom Bhaktivinod Thakur gives his mercy can explain Bhaktivinod Thakur because Bhaktivinod Thakur's character is an ordinary character like ours—his character is so great, it is impossible for us to explain his glories…

Bhaktivinod Thakur did also one great job. When he was deputy magistrate in Puri, there was one yogi there called Bishkishan who pretended to be God. He would say, "I am Bhagavan andI will show my chaturbhuj murti (four-handed form)!" He declared that on the 14th of chaitra (chaitra is a Bengali month, corresponds to March-April) he would show Narayan murti with the sankha, chakra, gada, padma (holding the conchshell, wheel, club, and lotus flower). Actually, he preached again devotion. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur tricked him very cleverly. He arrested him and put into jail. Bishkishan had very big jata (matted dreadlocks), and Bhaktivinod Thakur and the prison officers cut it off his head. Then there was the trial and the sentence was one and a half years in prison. After that, Bishkishan tried to give some problem to Bhaktivinod Thakur's family, but he could not do that. You can see that through the Holy Name all kinds of bad things are removed: that man tried to harm the Lord's devotee but could not do it.

What more did Bhaktivinod Thakur give us?

kabe nityananda more kari' daya

chhadaibe mora visayera maya

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

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

How beautifully it is written.

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.

That is a song from Saranagati (19), it is very nice, you can sing it every day.

taba nija-jana prasada seviya

uchchhistha rakhibe yaha

amara bhojana parama-anande

pratidina habe taha

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

"Your nija-jan (your associate, your own person) will take prasadam, and whatever remnants he keeps, I will take that every day and I will be happy." He writes and expresses things so nicely.

ki jani ki bale tomare dhamete

ha-inu saranagata

"I do not know by what force I have taken shelter within Your abode…"

Everything is there in his writings.

kabe habe bala se dina amara

aparadha ghuchi suddha name ruchi

krpa-bale ha'be hrdaye sanchara

kabe habe bala se dina amara

"Please tell me, when will that day be mine? When will my offences be removed? When will the taste for the pure Name arise in my heart by the power of mercy?"

('Kabe habe bolo, se dina amar?' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

It is written and expressed very nicely.

As I said, Bhaktivinod Thakur fulfilled Mahaprabhu's desire! "Pran achhe yar, sei hetu prachar: as long as you have life in the body, you must preach." He fulfilled Mahaprabhu's desire—he is "Chaitanyer manabhista sthapak"—he established himself as the fulfiller of Mahaprabhu's desire. We must see it in this way…

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur explains what is bhakti, and what is vinod. Bhaktimeans "akinchana-guhya-vidya," hidden, sacred education, para-vidya, or suddha-saraswati, and he who gives it in a very gorgeous, very glorious way, his name is Bhakti-vinod. Bhaktivinod is he who gives such kind of devotion and not only ordinary devotion, not only pure devotion, but with beauty, charm, everything. All glories are present in Bhaktivinod.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur ki jay!

* * *

Practise with Heart

Speaking online with devotees in Brazil
7 September 2014

...They must chant properly, they must follow the rules and regulation and they must practise properly. This is my advice.

They must practise the four rules and regulations, avoid what is said there, and engage themselves properly. Devotion, everything will gradually come through practising Krishna consciousness. Without practising it will not come. It is necessary to practise, and this is not one day's matter.

You must understand who is Krishna and you must understand that without the mercy of devotees you cannot be a Vaishnav, you cannot be a devotee. Do you understand it? Mercy is necessary. "Mahat-krpa vina kona karme 'bhakti' nay: without mercy, no matter what you do, it cannot be bhakti" (without mercy from Vaishnav devotion will not come; Cc, 2.22.51). That is why you must practise Krishna consciousness properly. I can give one example to you (I have told it before too).

Suppose the prime-minister or the president comes to you. You will give him a big chair, a big asan, you will give him respect and say, "Sir, this," "Sir, that." But when that minister or prime-minister goes to his own house, he is not the prime-minister there—he is somebody's father, somebody's relative. Krishna is also like that. He is somebody's father, mother. Like this. You must deal with Krishna in this way—you must consider Krishna a member of your own family. You have a family, and Krishna or Gurudev is the guardian of this family.

Thinking in this way, you must also try to stay in this family, do not get ousted from this family. I always tell this to you, I always give this advice to you—you are now entering this family of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math where Gurudev, Guru Maharaj are the main guardians, and you must stay in this family. This is the main thing. Do not be ousted from this kind of stage. This is my point.

Do you have any questions?

Devotee: We are very happy to see you, Srila Acharyadev!

Yes, I am also happy to see you all. I was very busy today... Actually, I am busy every day, what can I do? Gurudev is giving me so much service, he keeps me busy, and I am very happy through his service. But Bhaktivinod Thakur writes

nidralasya hata sukarya

virata akarya udyogi ami

pratistha lagiya sathya-acharana

lobha-hata sada kami

"I am ruined by laziness and sleep. I do not like to do what is good, I like to do what is bad. I always do bad things for my own name and fame. I am ruined by greed and I am always full of desires.”

e hena durjana sajjana-varjita

aparadhi nirantara

"Devotees avoid such a sinner as I am. I am a constant offender.”

We are always offenders, we always make so many offences. Our mind always goes here and there, to so many bad places…

aichhana amara mana phire yena andha jana

supatha vipatha nahi jane

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

Mind does not know what is the right place, what is the wrong place, but we follow the mind wherever it goes. Do not follow your mind! You must worship the Lord and chant the Holy Name under guidance of Guru and Vaishnavs.

We chant so much but proper chanting does not happen--we always chant Nama-aparadha. As I was saying today, Nama (the Name) and Nama-aparadha (offensive chanting of the Name) is not the same thing--they look the same, there is a difference, just as pearls and some broken glass look the same but it is actually not the same.

* * *

Dedication to Sadhana

Speaking online to devotees in Hungary
15 September 2013, part 3

Question: There is one question... We work in this world every day... do you have any specific order how we shall adjust our practices to our daily life?

I have told it many times how you must run your daily life. You all can make your house a temple.

You gather together for some class, some yoga class, but in addition to that you must also sometimes sing songs, wake up early in the morning, try to do some mangal arati, offer some bhog at the altar, take prasad. This is practising life. Whether you are cooking, whether you are making garlands, dancing, or doing anything else, everything is sadhana—everything is practising. For example, if you dance to please the Lord it means you dance and get some money—and you use that money for the service of the Lord. That is also sadhana.

You know that there are three things—bhog, tyag, and seva. We only follow service line, not bhog (enjoyment), and not even renunciation (tyag). None of the other two. We only do service, that is the main thing for us. I have told also the story that Gurudev told:

There was a lady who sold fish, that was also her sadhana (practising)... One day, a brahman came to the market to buy fish. He came to this lady. The lady put the fish on the scales to measure the weight but she was short of weights, so she brought her Giriraj sila(the Lord) and used Him as a weight on the scales. When the brahman saw it, he got very angry. He said, "You are lower caste! You do not know how to do puja!" He took the Giriraj sila from her and brought to the place where he was staying. He kept Giriraj with him but did not serve Him—he was using Giriraj for his own purpose. Then, Giriraj turned into God's form and came to the brahman at night in a dream, "You are sleeping, you are enjoying and not serving Me! Why have you then brought Me here? Better you take me back to the fisherwoman's house and keep Me there! I liked it there much more—I danced and swung on her scales, I was much happier there! Why have you brought Me here?!”

Then you can understand that Krishna, the Lord, always prefers a better servitor—that is why the Lord went back to His previous place.

Enjoyment means using others for your own purpose. This is not right. What we need is Krishnendriya tarpan (doing everything for the Lord), not nijendriya tarpan (doing something for my own self). This is called service.

The day before yesterday, on Radhastami, I was saying—why did Krishna leave Vrindavan? Because He wanted the service desire of Srimati Radharani and all the gopis to be more—more and more. He knew more desire would come to them to serve, that is why He left.

When Krishna took Srimati Radharani from rasa-mancha (rasa-lila), all the gopis said, "Oh, maybe Srimati Radhika pleases Krishna very much, that is why He left us for Her..." It is said very nicely in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, "In this world no one is My enemy, no one is My friend, but if some devotee serves Me perfectly, trying to please Me, I become dear to them, and they become dear to Me.”

The only problem is that our mind disturbs us. Mind controls everything—it is like a naughty manager controlling everything on behalf of the atma (jiva soul), "I want this, I do not want that!" If we give food, give energy to the mind, if we always listen to it, then the mind can take us away from the service and take us to some wrong, bad way. Our mind takes us to many bad places—heaven, hell, karma-yoga, etc.

That is why today we must promise, "I will not listen to my mind. I have got instruction from above, and from today I will listen to that." We must promise this—this is our oath (sapath) and determination.

* * *

Care for Service

Speaking online to devotees in Hungary

15 September 2013, part 4

Always chant the Holy Name. You can chant the Holy Name anywhere, everywhere. It is not necessary to always chant on the mala, you can chant the Holy Name everywhere, even in the bathroom, even in the toilet. I got a nice example yesterday.

Indian people wake up in the morning, do so many things, and after 9-10 o'clock in the morning they take a shower and they go to the Deities' room. Before that, they do not do anything for the Deities, but even when they come into the Deities' room they do not bathe the Deities, do not clean Their clothes. This is their idea. However, when a lady has a baby and the baby cries for milk at 4 a.m., the mother gives her milk to the baby. The Deity also cries for milk but nobody gives food to the Deities... People do not understand what is service, what is the relation with the Deities.

visaye ye priti ebe achhaye amara

sei-mata priti hauk charane tomara

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

(Gitavali, 4.5, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

You have some relation with your family, with your mother, father, children, etc., and this same kind of relation should come to you towards the Lord…

* * *

Flourish and Nurture Others

Speaking online to devotees in Colombia

18 September 2011, part 1

I am very happy to see you all. You are all in my heart, you know that. I see your faces and I am remembering Gurudev. It is very nice to see you, to see your devotional activities and devotional faces…

Devotees: We only pray for your blessing.

You have already got mercy from Gurudev—you are in a good line, Sri Rupanugasampradaya line. It is a very special line. It is very nice to see you all, to see you all in the line, all in a happy mood, to see your ever happy faces. Seeing devotees I always get pleasure: bhakta-sangete mana anandita anuksana. Krishna bless you.

Actually, devotees always engage in "sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, engaging in service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission)." Sravanam, kirtanam brings sukriti. If you have good sukriti, you get good faith, and your devotion depends upon your faith—if you have the strongest faith, then you also have the strongest devotion. If your platform, your foundation is very strong, then your devotional activities will last a very long time.

You must from time to time go for the sankirtan in the street. That is good, that will give benefit to others. If those who cannot chant the Holy Name at least hear the chanting of the Holy Name, they will also get some benefit. You know that the devotees of the Parama Karuna temple (Caracas, Venezuela) always do sankirtan—if you get their association, you will get more devotional activities, you will be even more perfect, more presentable. When I go to Venezuela next time, I will visit Colombia, you can be sure of it—I will take a group of devotees from Caracas and will stay there in Colombia with you all for a few days.

Devotees: Jay!

That is what Gurudev actually left me for—this is what I am living for. So many problems come in this life, but Gurudev left you (you are all my good friends, you are all in my heart), and we are together, that is our hope. Sometimes we cannot understand each other because of the different languages, but there is actually a heart to heart connection between you and me.

So, it is my hope that you will do more preaching. We are born in this life, we have got this human body to serve the Lord. Krishna sent us—you, me, everybody—to serve the Lord. How will you serve the Lord? Through good association, under the guidance of a bona fide Guru. You have no doubt got such a bona fide Guru as Gurudev, you have got connection with the original line, and if you practise Krishna consciousness, then we will go to wherever Gurudev is staying—Gurudev is waiting for you, for me, for all of us, and we can go there and serve there.

You have been waiting for me the whole night... I am thinking, "Why have you been waiting? What for?" But you are getting pleasure, you are getting happiness in this way otherwise why would you wait the whole night for me? That is devotion. That is why I am giving "gracias" to you all (I am thanking you all).

Gurudev told me that when we go to school, college or university, we have to pass an examination to go to a higher class, but who will give you an exam in the temple life, in the spiritual life? You yourself must examine yourself—if you are getting pleasure from chanting the Holy Name, if you feel happy to chant the Holy Name, if you are getting pleasure from hearing Hari-katha, Krishna-katha, from getting good association, then you can think that your devotion is increasing. You can easily understand it yourself.

Sometimes our mind is not good, some problems come, but if you feel that your mind is always good, that your devotional activities are going on well, that the foundation is good and you are getting pleasure from practising, then you can think that your devotional activities are increasing.

I am telling to you all that if somebody wants to come to India and stay here, you are always welcome. Preaching movement is our life. We promised to the Lord when we were in our mother's womb that we would serve Him. Our mouth, our tongue, eyes, ears, etc. are all for the service of the Lord, for chanting the Holy Name—this is what we have to use everything for. Everybody's qualification is not the same—somebody has some qualification, somebody else has some other qualification, but we must use everybody for the service of the Lord. This is what giving benefit to others is.

* * *

Healthy Temple: Preaching and Service

Speaking online to devotees in Colombia

18 September 2011, part 2

I am very happy with this new place in Bogota. Do some devotee live there?

—Yes!

Good, it is very nice. Always preach there as much as possible. Run the centre like a temple—do the programmes every day, arrange for our small altar, keep Gurudev's photo, etc. Do regular puja. Do like this continuously and preach all the time—if some devotees can stay there at the centre permanently, it is good. When everybody gathers, make some programme, somebody will do puja, somebody will cook, and so on. If you can continue in this way, it is good. And one day, once a week, you can go for preaching, do sankirtan in the street. OK? Distribute leaflets with your address and the address of our Colombian centre. Invite new people, you can take some books from Caracas and distribute there, sometimes children can also do some preaching like in Caracas, Venezuela. If you follow their example and instruction, your preaching will be more powerful.

This place in Bogota can become the main centre of Colombia. You know that when Srila Sridhar Maharaj first made the temple of Chaitanya Saraswat Math he was alone and all of his godbrothers supported him (and two persons made this temple of Chaitanya Saraswat Math), but now you can see how many thousands and millions of followers there are at Srila Sridhar Maharaj's temple, Chaitanya Saraswat Math. You have a big ashram there, but when Chaitanya Saraswat Math was started, it was just a thatched house with a bamboo pole—there was nothing there, no bathroom, no toilet, no water, only a thatched house. Srila Sridhar Maharaj said: start the fire, wind will come; and: sometimes when you are crossing a river in a boat, your boat may start singing but you must continue rowing. Try to understand this.

As for the letter that you sent about your service, you can do whatever service with the devotees that is possible, according to your capacity. What service do you like? Do you like doing puja?

Devotee: Yes, I do…

Then you can do puja. Mucho gracias.

Devotees: Jay!

This is my desire: if you do puja, your life will be fulfilled and your desire will be fulfilled.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

* * *

My Goal and Hope

Speaking on the phone to devotees in Singapore

24 September 2011

I am thinking it is necessary to find a pujari for Singapore, but in Singapore everybody is busy with work, so perhaps I can send a pujari from here... Everything is going on well by the mercy of Gurudev and it is necessary to continue chanting, programmes, and everything else, it will be good.

I have so much energy, and I want to give my energy to Singapore because it was one of Gurudev's desires to have a temple in Singapore. Gurudev wanted it, and I must fulfil his desire. I did not come to the temple to get Krishna or to get Radharani. I only came to the temple to make my Guru happy. That is my goal—to make my Gurudev happy. Gurudev wanted a temple in Singapore, that is why I give so much pressure to everybody and urge you to be one temple, united, together. Before there used to be two separate groups, but now everybody is together in Singapore, and you cannot realise how happy Gurudev is about it. It is also my happiness.

This is actually our goal. We are together, we are the mission of Gurudev, we are servants of Gurudev, we are followers of Srila Sridhar Maharaj. That is our conception. We may be few, we may not have so much quantity, but we have quality—that is what is important. We may be few, but Krishna says that one person can rescue the whole universe. So, I have some hope for you…

Many have a good heart, but everybody has some little fault—as Gurudev said, we are not like Tulasi leaves: everybody has some fault, but we must use everybody for the service to the Lord. Everybody has some fault, but we will not look for others' faults—we will take their good things and reject their bad things. If somebody does something wrong, we will forget their mistakes, we will take their good things. We will accept whatever good quality others have. Everybody has some little fault, but if we see something or catch somebody doing something and start talking to each other about it, gossiping, this is not our line. Do you understand it?

Come to India soon. I think I will be going for the Vrindavan parikrama, so if somebody can come, you are welcome, I will be there. Now, the Govardhan temple is being painted properly, and half of the puspa-samadhi of Gurudev is already finished—they are now going to make the roof within a few days…

* * *

A Very Special Day (1)

Speaking online to devotees in Brazil

7 September 2011, part 1

Devotee: Maharaj, this is Marcela. She is asking you for initiation.

OK, good. Krishna bless you.

It is loving search for the lost servant—Krishna brings His children through His devotees. It is actually a very good thing—when one more devotee comes it means Krishna has been searching, He has found His son or His daughter and is bringing them now to serve Him.

We always search for the Lord, but the illusory environment always attacks us... The Lord Himself finds His servants, His children through His devotees. So, when you say that she is asking for initiation it means Krishna has found a servant through you. If you give a servant to the Lord, you make the Lord happy. It is very difficult to find a devotee in the age of Kali, but still the Lord Himself tries to find devotees through His other devotees. That is why it is a very special day for her—those who take initiation get connection with God, with the Lord.

We have everything, the line is working, but sometimes some fuse gets broken or disconnected, and Gurudev only gives that fuse, gives the wire to fix the fuse.

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva

guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"Having travelled throughout the universe and got the mercy of Guru, Krishna, a fortunate soul receives a seed of the devotional creeper."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.151)

The connection with the bhakti-lata-bij (the seed of the devotional creeper) comes from a bona fide Guru, a spiritual master—it is called power transmission, a transfer of power.

In this age of Kali, Krishna Himself is born in the form of the Name, and Krishna's Name, Krishna's form, beauty, pastimes, are non-different from Krishna Himself. In this age of Kali, the lifetime is only 120 years, Krishna says that you can get Him in this age only through the chanting of the Holy Name.

This Holy Name came from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev, from Vyasadev to Madhvacharya. In this way our main line comes down to Madhavendra Puri. From Madhavendra Puri it came to Iswar Puri, from Iswar Puri to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord Himself, shows us, teaches us that it is necessary to take a Guru (He Himself also took initiation from Iswar Puri). In this way the Holy Name came to Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, then to Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, then our Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and finally to our Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Gurudev told me, "If somebody is a sincere seeker, if they got good association and follow the four rules and regulations, you can initiate them into the chanting of this Holy Name, and they will get super benefit in their spiritual life." So, I am giving initiating to her now…

* * *

A Very Special Day (2)

Speaking online to devotees in Brazil

7 September 2011, part 2

On the mala, there is a sumeru bead (on top), and to the both sides of it there are big-size beads and small-size beads. Start from the big beads.

First, you will ask mercy from

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

This is Pancha-tattva's name. First ask for their mercy—they brought this Holy Name to this abode, and we are fallen souls, we cannot chant this Name without their mercy. You must pray to them, "Please give me some mercy so I can chant this Holy Name." Then, starting from the big beads chant,

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Chant this Holy Name on each bead, one by one, from the big beads to the small beads, then turn the mala, and from the small beads to the big beads. Do not cross the sumeru bead. Every day chant in this way sixteen rounds or more. You do not have to chant all sixteen rounds at a time—for example, you can chant three rounds, later maybe five rounds more, etc. Chant sixteen rounds a day or more, it is good for you. If some day you are busy with your service, you can chant less but four rounds must be chanted—not less than four rounds.

You must chant without offences. There is a book about the ten offence. You must read this book and try to avoid these offences. If you chant this Holy Name constantly and without offence, you will get result quickly, as soon as possible and Krishna will reveal in your heart, you will be successful in your spiritual life.

Your name will be Malini Devi Dasi.

[The devotee makes a pushpanjali offering.]

OK, gracias.

Devotees: Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay!

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

All the assembled devotees ki jay!

All the worldwide devotees ki jay!

* * *

Second Initiation

Speaking online to devotees in Hungary

15 September 2013, part 5

The three of you are now going to take the second initiation. Do they know how to cook?

Devotee: Yes, they cook very well.

I am first giving the mantras for both the ladies and the man, and I will give one mantra later to the male devotee.

Actually, in this age of Kali the Holy Name is the best. I have seen the Harinam Mahatmya (glorification of the Holy Name)—Jagadananda Prabhu explains it very nicely in his Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, and so do Rupa Goswami, Haridas Thakur, Skanda Purana, Padma Purana, etc. Even millions of millions of yajna (sacrifices), yoga, asan cannot equal to the Holy Name. The Holy Name is the best practice for this age of Kali. So, what is the second initiation necessary for? For more connection with the Lord. You want to enter the Lord's private places—the Lord's private places means the Lord's temple (His sleeping house) and the Lord's kitchen—that is why it is necessary to take the second initiation.

You cannot chant this gayatri mantra aloud. You can chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra loudly, but not these mantras. You must recite these mantras in the temple room, sitting on a clean asan, wearing clean clothes, do achaman with some Ganges water, etc. This is how you recite these mantras. Actually, these mantras are a kind of yoga—you must sit with your back straight with your legs crossed (you can see how I am sitting now), place your hand just above your navel, and recite each of the mantras ten times. Listen now to me properly and attentively…..

(Kama-gayatri controls your bad urges, if you recite it, bad desires will not come to you.)

Recite each mantra ten times in the morning, at noon and in the evening. If you cannot do it at noon time, reciting in the morning and evening is a must. The scriptures and Gurudev say that gayatri must be recited three times, but if you do not get time to do at noon, then minimum is two times a day—in the morning and in the evening. That is necessary.

I am also giving you another two mantras for archan, puja (Deity worship), for offering bhog—you prepare five types of paraphernalia (dishes like sweet rice, paste, chow mein, etc.), and as you put a Tulasi leaf on each of the preparation you can recite these mantras.

Look at my fingers I will show you how to count the gayatri mantras. [...] Recite the gayatri mantra in this way, each mantra ten times, in the morning and evening is a must—if you can recite it three times, it is good. Wear clean clothes, sit on a clean asan. Gurudev said, "If you can recite gayatri mantra continuously for one year, you will see how much attachment you will get to service," but devotees are not doing it properly, what can I do?... Start reciting the gayatri mantra from today. OK?

Devotee: Can we have a question? Is it necessary to hold your hand outside your cloth or underneath your cloth?

Underneath. Actually, when you do gayatri, if you wear no cloth on the upper part of your body, it is good, only an uttariya, no shirt [never applies to ladies—only to men]. But if it is winter season, what can you do? It is very cold and you have to wear some shirt or jacket, in this case do it under your clothes.

[The devotees do the Guru puja and submit their offerings.]

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

Vishva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

Jaya saparikara sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay

Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Prabhupad ki jay

Rupanuga Guru-varga ki jay

Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay

Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay

Sripad Bhakti Kamal Tyagi Maharaj ki jay

All the Hungarian devotees ki jay

Harinam sankirtan ki jay

Nitai Gour premanande haribol

—Jay Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay!

I am inviting you all also to come and join the festivals—you can come for the Gaura purnima, Gurudev's Vyasa Puja, or any other time. If you have time to come for the kartik parikrama in Vrindavan, it is good too.

Thank you so much. Dandavat, Jay Gurudev.

* * *

Superior Vision

Speaking to devotees in Salt Lake City, USA

25 September 2011, part 1

Our line is Rupanuga sampradaya line—Srila Gurudev and Srila Guru Maharaj are holding this line and we are trying to serve them.

Everybody always helps me, and seeing all the devotees like you I can remember Gurudev's face, I can see Gurudev through you. That is my hope. Gurudev left you all for me, and that gives me hope. You are trying so much to preach—you know Gurudev, you know what Gurudev wanted and you are trying to fulfil his desire.

I promised to Gurudev that I would protect Gurudev's devotees, and the opposition party promised that they would disturb me, this is not new. When I came from Australia, Gurudev showed me the letter that they wrote to Gurudev saying, "Gurudev, if you do not change your decision, we will disturb Acharya Maharaj his whole life." So, this is nothing new. They will disturb me my whole life until death, but I am not afraid of their disturbance—I will tolerate it until my death. And the judgement is only one. I do not depend on the high court or the supreme court—there is a court that is far superior to the high court and the supreme court. Krishna's court, Radharani's court, Gurudev's court, Nityananda Prabhu's court, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's court—their court is superior, they will judge. I am not afraid of them, I am trying my best.

Gurudev told me one thing also. Those who want to make something, those who think about making something, they cannot think about destroying anything; and those who do not want to make anything, who have never made anything, they always think about destroying things. Those who want to make something cannot think about destroying anything.

Our preaching line is a simple matter. Gurudev said that wherever you live—whether you live a householder life or you stay in a forest, jungle, whether you live in a small house, a cottage, or a big house, a palace, it is not a question—you must maintain your Krishna consciousness life, your spiritual life wherever you live. That is what Gurudev said, and you must remember Gurudev's words. Where we live is not a question—the main thing is that we must maintain our spiritual life, maintain our practising life.

You preach and gradually, one by one bring others to this Krishna consciousness movement, you are giving your blood for preaching. At the same time, Sripad Tyagi Maharaj is doing much here in India, Sri Bhakti Lalita Devi, Srila Janardan Maharaj, Srila Ashram Maharaj, Srila Avadhut Maharaj, and others are also doing their best. Sripad Vaishnav Maharaj's health is bad, he is very sick, Nyasi Maharaj's health is also very bad, but still they are trying to preach as much as they can, according to their capacity—they are doing their best and struggling until their death. They are so sick, but they are not afraid to be sick—they are following Gurudev's order and Gurudev's movement. That is our hope, that is our life.

We have got this human body and if we do not use this body for service to the Guru, then this body is useless, it is then not different from a dog's body or a cat's body. We have got a human body for service to the Lord, service to the Guru, and we must engage everybody in service. We must not look for others' faults. Somebody may not have the same qualification, somebody may not have the same qualities, but we must take their good side and reject their bad side—this will be our quality. We will think that we ourselves are guilty, we will not look for fault in others. That is main for us. If we always search for fault in others, we will become drain inspectors. We do not want to be a drain inspector, so we must be a good receiver—Gurudev is giving us everything, but we must be a good receiver. That is our line.

For preaching, it is necessary to have the main platform, basement. If your foundation is strong, then you will have no problem. Somebody asked me, "Maharaj, where should we put your picture?" I said to them, "It is not necessary to show my picture on the altar." I always keep all the devotees' picture in my heart, and devotees too should keep the picture in their hearts. If you show a picture on the altar and do not keep it in your heart, it is not devotion, it is false renunciation.

* * *

Adjust Your Angle

Speaking to devotees in Salt Lake City, USA

25 September 2011, part 2

I am very happy with all the devotees everywhere, but sometimes I become sad because sometimes some simple matter turns into a big problem.

When there is some relation, for example when you put together two utensils or two stainless steel pots, some sound comes. If we stay together, there is bound to be some small fighting, some verbal fighting, but some think, "Oh, it is a very big matter! I must not talk with this person, I will not associate with them!" It is not a good idea. It is very sad when devotees think in this way.

Gurudev told me: you must reject small matter because big matter is waiting for you. But what do we do? For our own self, for our own benefit we reject big things. You must understand this. "Nija sukha lagi' pape nahi dari": for our own happiness we are not afraid to do sinful work. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says it.

nija sukha lagi' pape nahi dari

daya-hina svartha-para

“I am never afraid to engage in sinful activities for the sake of my own happiness. I am unkind and selfish.”

We have no kindness, we are selfish. We only think about our own benefit, we only think about our own enjoyment—we do not think about big matter. Instead, we take small, simple matter as something big. This is not a good idea—this is actually lack of faith.

It is necessary to have the strongest faith. We must follow what Gurudev says, this is our faith. We do not know anything. Gurudev also gave me one example of what faith is. Suppose you are walking along a street and you see a snake. You cry, "Gurudev, there is a snake!" But Gurudev says, "It is not a snake, it is a piece of rope." You must believe it. This is called faith. If it comes to your mind that, "No, what Gurudev is saying is not correct. I saw it was a snake!" This is wrong. If Gurudev says it is a rope, it is a rope. This is the main thing. We must follow what Gurudev says and know these things.

We must preach for our Guru—we do not preach for our own self, our own benefit. You must understand that when somebody preaches for their own self and when somebody preaches for their Guru, there is a difference. Who do you preach for? You preach for your Guru. That is our main things. You must glorify your Guru.

* * *

Taking Path Back Home

Speaking to devotees in Salt Lake City, USA

25 September 2011, part 3

Do you have any questions? You can ask me anything, do not hesitate.

Devotee: We need some special mercy for the new devotee here…

He already has it... When I am giving initiation to some devotee, I always think Gurudev is giving the initiation and pray to Gurudev, "Please give mercy to them.”

Devotee: He has ready received your beads by mail.

Does he know English?

Devotee: Yes.

Good, I am very happy. Try to engage him in service. He has come to Utah to study, but he is now studying with Vyasadev and Sukadev.

I am giving him the name Sundar Shyam. Srila Sridhar Maharaj took one disciple and gave him this name Sundar Shyam, but later Srila Sridhar Maharaj was sad because that Sundar Shyam could not serve Srila Sridhar Maharaj's mission Chaitanya Saraswat Math... That is why I think it is a good name for him—a new Sundar Shyam has come and Srila Sridhar Maharaj and Gurudev will be happy.

Devotees: Jay!

That Sundar Shyam was actually Sridhar Maharaj's family member. Srila Sridhar Maharaj thought that boy would finish his job and come to join the temple, but he did not join our Mission, he joined another mission.... That is why Srila Sridhar Maharaj became sad and Gurudev was sad too. I think this name is appropriate—a new devotee has come, he will serve our Mission, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj will be happier.

Actually, you know that it is loving search for the lost servant. We are all servants of the Lord but

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha

ataeva maya tare deya samsara-duhkha

“Having forgotten Krishna, the soul wanders throughout the universe. Being thus covered by illusion, the soul goes through much material suffering.”

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

We forget the Lord, that is why we are suffering. Still, Krishna is searching for us. We are searching for our Father, and the Lord, our Father, is searching for His child. Lord Krishna cannot always come Himself, that is why He sends a devotee as a medium. This devotee sends the lost souls to the Lord, "O Lord, I have got one of Your servants, and I am sending them to You now"—and directs the souls, "This is the road, follow this path, walk, walk, walk, and you will get your Father—you will get your goal, you will get your own, real home!”

We have got everything, we have got the beads…

You know that this Harinam, Krishna's Name, comes from Goloka Vrindavan. Krishna Himself is born in the form of His Name. In Dvapar-yuga, Krishna was once sitting in Imlitala under a tamarind tree when suddenly He saw the reflection of His face in the waters of the Yamuna. Krishna thought, "Oh, how beautiful I am! Why is Radharani crying for Me? Why does Radharani chant My Name? I have to taste this! I must come in the form of the Name!" This is how Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came. Krishna came in the form of the Name and Radha-Krishna's combined form came as Gauranga Mahaprabhu (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu). Krishna's Name, beauty, pastimes, associates are non-different from Lord Krishna Himself, and only He or His associates can distribute this Holy Name.

This Name comes from Goloka Vrindavan through a Guru-parampara (disciplic succession)—our line comes from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev, from Vyasadev to Madhvacharya, and so on down to Srila Madhavendra Puri who is the main root of our line. Then the line continued from Madhavendra Puri to Ishwar Puri. After that, Mahaprabhu took initiation from Ishwar Puri.

Mahaprabhu, who is Krishna, the Lord Himself, showed to us that we need a master. If we want to learn to cook, we need a master, or a teacher; when we go school, we need a teacher; when we want to learn something, we always need a teacher. Here too, if you want to learn something spiritual, you need a spiritual master. For this reason Krishna Himself sends His associates as spiritual masters.

So, our line comes from Srila Madhavendra Puri to Ishwar Puri, and then Mahaprabhu Himself took initaiton from Ishwar Puri. After Mahaprabhu, the line comes to Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, then Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, and Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur (Prabhupad). In this way, it comes to our Param Gurudev who is the founder acharya of our temple—Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, then the line comes to our Gurudev, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

Gurudev ordered me, told me, "If somebody is a sincere seeker, if somebody follows rules and regulation (I think devotees have already told you everything and you know what the four obstacles in our line are, you can learn about it from the devotees, they are all senior devotees there and they know everything), if somebody wants to chant the Holy Name, you can initiate them." For that, I am initiating you.

First chant Pancha-tattva's name:

sri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda

sri advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura bhakta-vrinda

This is Pancha-tattva's name, you know it. First touch the beads, take the name of Pancha-tattva and ask them for mercy because they brought the Holy Name in this abode, without their mercy we cannot chant the Holy Name. After that, start chanting from the big beads. You can see the big sumeru bead, on one side to it there are big beads, on the other side small beads. Start chanting from the big beads,

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

In this way, chant from the big beads to the small beads, turn the beads, and continue chanting from the small beads to the big beads without crossing the sumeru bead—when you finish the small beads, start again from the small beads, do not cross the sumerubead.

Every day chant sixteen rounds or more in this way, that is good for you. If any day you are busy with service, then four rounds must be chanted, not less than four rounds. Chant without offence. They will give you a book about the ten offences to the Holy Name, read it and chant without offence, then Krishna will reveal in your heart, you will be successful in your spiritual life. You must read this book and must try to remove these offences—offences can also be removed through chanting.

Jay Sundar Shyam Prabhu ki jay!

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

Devotee:

Jay Om Vishnupad Parivrajakacharya-varya Astotarasata-sri srimad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay!

Rupanuga Guru-varga ki jay!

Nitai Gour premanande hari bol!

OK, thank you so much...

* * *

My Great Fortune and Hope

Sri Vyasa Puja day

28 September 2011, part 1

I have got a good chance today—all devotees are giving their mercy to me today, I have got so many phone calls. Devotees are always giving me mercy, they are always with Gurudev and they want to follow Gurudev's line. I am also praying today to all the devotees all over the world—I want to serve them, I want to serve Gurudev's devotees, and I want Guru Maharaj's line, Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's line to be always with them. Gurudev said: wherever you live, whatever place you stay at, you can maintain your Krishna consciousness, your practising life.

Today we have got this fortune. I am here with all the devotees today, we have been speaking Hari-katha all day from the morning. Preaching movement is our life, and the preaching movement of Chaitanya Saraswat Math is always going on all over the world. Gurudev told me, "You will carry Chaitanya Saraswat Math's flag!" and I am trying my best. All of Gurudev's friends are always with me, they are helping me so much to preach. Now there is a bad situation, so much disturbance is going on after Gurudev's disappearance. Some disturbance started in Gurudev's time, but after his disappearance so many problems have come but still we are continuing our service, and the devotees all over the world are trying to help the Mission, they are doing their service.

I spoke to the devotees in London today, so many devotees happily came there for the festival. I have also just spoken to devotees in Thailand, they are also making a festival. A festival means Vaishnav seva—giving some Hari-katha and doing Vaishnav seva are the main things.

I want to do service on this day, that is why I think today is the best day for me because today this best opportunity has come to me and I can do some service. When we do something, we must do it happily. For this reason, I am telling all the devotees: somebody may not like me, but this is not a problem. Serve my Gurudev, love my Gurudev, love his Mission. If I have made some offence, I always ask devotees to please forgive my offence. We are all the same family (Gurudev's family), we are all in the same boat where Gurudev is the captain. We are taking this boat to our home destination together, and our destination is not getting Krishna, our destination is to make our Gurudev happy. That is our main destination— to make our Gurudev happy. This is our happiness.

Many devotees from all over the world have called me today... I have no qualification, but they accept Gurudev's word—they accept what Gurudev had told them. Gurudev has left you all for me... I am a fallen soul, Gurudev has left me also, but you must accept me. Sometimes I cannot adjust with you, I am not humble, I have no tolerance, but now they are making so much disturbance and I am becoming tolerant, patience is coming to me. We must try to do everything properly.

Actually I do not know when my birth day is, but Gurudev told me, "This is your birth day," and that is why devotees celebrate this day. And celebrating means what? Celebrating means devotees are giving mercy to me on this day and I am becoming indebted to them. I always pray to all devotees, "I will serve you until my death." I am not going anywhere—even if I go to jail, it is not a problem, I can serve you from there too. Devotees are always with me, devotees always keep me in their heart, and that is my great fortune, great hope. That is my great pleasure today.

For the time being some problems can come, but Gurudev told me, "You will take over, and Krishna will solve the problems." Gurudev will solve the problems, no doubt…

I am praying to all the devotees: even if somebody does not like me, you must still keep connection with them, give them love and affection. They can reject me, but I cannot reject them because they are Gurudev's devotees. If somebody has love for Gurudev, I will serve them. Even if they hate me, it is not a problem—as long as they love devotees, love my Guru, love Gurudev's mission, I am very happy with them—they can hate me, it is not a problem. This is always my wish and desire.

So, I am giving this message to all devotees in charge of the temple in all countries: keep connection with the devotees in your country. Always keep in touch by phone, by messages, always invite them to come and associate. The illusory environment is very powerful, that is why I am asking devotees to please always keep good connection with each other.

* * *

Sankirtan Yajna—Soul of Preaching

Sri Vyasa Puja day
28 September 2011, part 2

You know that in Mahaprabhu's time also there were some kinds of people who always searched for a hole—you can remember Ramachandra Puri who always searched for others' faults. He saw some ants at Mahaprabhu's house and said to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, You must be taking so many sweets, do you not? I can see ants in Your room..." There are devotees like that who search for others' fault, but you must take others' good side. Many devotees do not have the same qualification, many do not have much qualification but you must use everybody for the service of the Lord. You may have some good qualification, you may be more qualified than somebody else, but everybody's qualification is not the same—everybody has some bad qualification and everybody also has some good qualification, and you must take others' good qualification, good quality, and use them for the service of the Lord. That will be beneficial for you and beneficial for them also. When you eat something yourself, you must give it to others also—you have taken initiation from Gurudev and you must invite others also just as when you are eating and enjoying you will invite others to take prasadam also. This is my message.

Sankirtan yajna is necessary. You may not be able to speak much Hari-katha, but not much is required for that—you can read the Gaudiya Gitanjali (Kirtan Guide). Read the kirtans and their meaning, you will get taste through kirtans, and when you get that taste through kirtans, you can think that some benefit is coming to you. This is sankirtan yajna. Chant maha-mantra, do sankirtan, and you will get super benefit, you will get taste through that.

This is my message to all the devotees. In the countries where it is allow, you must do sankirtan in the street—there may be only five of you, but if you do sankirtan, people will come. People will come hearing your sankirtan, even birds, beasts, trees will also get benefit through your kirtan. You think, "There are only four of us," but you can still do kirtan, sankirtan in the street once or twice a week. This is good. Make some leaflets and distribute them, invite people to your, in this movement will develop. If you only sit in your house, no one will come—start the fire, and wind will come.

Think about Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad—you know that he went to America alone, in his old age. This huge mission of ISKCON has come from one person only. For example, you are a husband and a wife, you have children, and you think how you will go preaching? Swami Maharaj went alone to America and made a big sankirtan maha-mandala ISKCON with more than five hundred centres all over the world. How is that possible? If you start something, everything will come, but you are sitting at home and thinking, "Oh, we are only two persons, how we will do it..." No! Five people, six people can get together once a week and preach, everything will come. This is the main idea. This is how you can spread Krishna consciousness. It is necessary to believe it and to do it.

I have been speaking today from the morning... My health is actually good today, no problem, blood sugar and everything is under control, I am very happy about that, but I am very tired now and would like to rest a little bit because soon another class will start. So, I am praying to all the devotees: Please forgive my offence. You are all my family members, and I am a family member of you all. I can do something wrong, but I know that a family member cannot reject me. I am like your brother (your younger or elder brother), or you son, if you wish. Please tolerate me. Gurudev has kept me here, what can you do? Gurudev had given me this position to serve you all, so please tolerate me. That is why I say that you are all my family members, and I am a family member of you all, and I believe that a family member cannot reject me…

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

* * *

My Joy and My Plight

Sri Vyasa Puja day, Sri Nabadwip Dham

8 October 2010, part 1

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)

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya

chaksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

“I offer my obeisance unto Sri Gurudev, who has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the salve of divine knowledge.”

gurvvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam

chintyachintya-samasta-veda-nipunam sri-rupa-panthanugam

govindabhidham ujjvalam vara-tanum bhakty anvitam-sundaram

vande visva-gurun cha divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam

“I offer my obeisance unto he who perfectly fulfils his Gurudev's most cherished desires; who is fully adorned with the blessings of his Gurudev’s associates; who is expert in all aspects of Vedic knowledge, both conceivable and inconceivable; who is the pre-eminent follower of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's line; who is known as 'Govinda'—Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj; whose beautiful, effulgent, exalted form is infused with pure devotion; who is the Guru of the entire universe; and who is the giver of the seed of divine love for the Supreme Lord.”

devam divya-tanum suchanda-vadanam balarka-chelanchitam

sandrananda-puram sad-eka-varanam vairagya-vidyambudhim

sri-siddhanta-nidhim subhakti-lasitam sarasvatanam varam

vande tam subhadam mad-eka-saranam nyasisvaram sridharam

“I offer my obeisance unto my lord, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, whose speech is most pleasing; whose divine form is adorned with garments the colour of the newly-risen sun; who is an abode of intense, ecstatic devotion; who is the sadhus' sole choice; who is an ocean of renunciation and knowledge; who is a treasure-house of perfect conclusions; who is resplendent with pure devotion; who is the best of Srila Saraswati Thakur's followers; who is the giver of all good; who is the leading general of the tridandi-sannyasis; and who is my sole shelter.”

Today I have got this special opportunity to do Guru-puja—to worship my Gurudev, to serve my Gurudev. This is a very fortunate day. I had never thought of it, had never tried towards this. I am always praying for mercy—I am always praying for the mercy of all the devotees. I have received so many phone calls today from many countries—I have got the mercy of all these devotees because Gurudev made me sit in this chair.

I was just telling Sripad Bhakti Sudhir Goswami Maharaj yesterday that I have never wanted this—that I would sit in one place and everybody would come, pay obeisance to me. Never. I want to go and chant and dance everywhere, preach in the villages—this is my life. I had never thought I would become a guru, I have never wanted it. It is impossible for me, it is actually an austerity for me, but I have to keep Gurudev's word. Gurudev ordered me, "You must hold this position, you must sit in this chair!" What Gurudev said last year in December, on his Vyasa Puja, never crossed my mind for even one moment. Even when I was taking second initiation, I did not know anything:

One day, I came from the crops field and, even though I had so much mud on my legs, I went to Gurudev to pay dandavat to him. My rule was that wherever I would come from, I did not care whether my clothes were dirty or my feet were in mud, I would immediately go to see Gurudev. So, one day I came like this to Gurudev, and Gurudev asked me, "You have come to me full of mud but today is your second initiation day! Do you not know it?" I said, "No, I do not know about it." Then Gurudev said, "Today is your second initiation day!”

This is my nature. I had never thought I would be sitting here like this today. I always thought I would do some service, following Gurudev's order, and Gurudev would always sit in his chair, give me an order and I would always follow it. I had never thought I would be a guru—that I would sit in one place like this and people would be coming to me. I had never wanted this position, but Gurudev said, "You must hold this position, you must sit in this chair," then I have to serve the devotees for my Gurudev…

You know everything. You know that Param Guru Maharaj (Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj) also did not want that kind of position—he first went to Vrindavan, but when he got some inspiration from his Guru Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur then he also took this position. Gurudev (Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) also did not want this position—Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj had told him to take this position a long time ago, but Gurudev had waited for thirty(!) years.

I heard once Gurudev had a fight with Param Guru Maharaj, and I asked Gurudev, "Gurudev, why did you one day fight with your Guru Maharaj?" I was not shy, I was not afraid to ask it, and Gurudev explained it to me. He said: Guru Maharaj had waited for thirty years to give this chair to me, and one day when he said I had to take this position I became very angry because I knew if he had given the chair to me he would disappear. No disciple wants their Gurudev to disappear. Guru Maharaj asked Gurudev, "Will you take this chair?" Gurudev said, "No, I will not." Then Guru Maharaj finally said, "I will commit suicide! If you do not take this chair, I will commit suicide and you will be the cause of my death, you will be guilty of it." Gurudev said he knew that if he had taken this chair, Guru Maharaj would leave soon. I also had never thought that my Guru Maharaj would leave so soon after December 2009—even one day before Gurudev left I never thought he would leave. Gurudev left on 27 March, and on 26 March I could not even think it could happen. He always said, "I will leave! I will leave very soon," but I had never thought he would go so soon, that he would not be available in this form of body so soon. It had never crossed my mind.

This is how Gurudev gave this chair to me and I have to keep it, that is why I want mercy from you all…

* * *

"I Need Your Mercy!"

Sri Vyasa Puja day, Sri Nabadwip Dham

8 October 2010, part 2

So many godbrothers are here... Actually, I say "disciple" about somebody, but I do not consider anyone my disciple. Gurudev told me to take disciples, but I myself never think anything is mine. I want to think that everybody is equal to me, and nobody is my disciple. I am not proud—this is your Math, you are all welcome here. I am here today to get your mercy—I am here today to worship you, I have not come to take worship. Today is an opportunity for me to worship my Guru and Vaishnavs, the Lord has given me this opportunity today. I never told anyone to make a festival, I actually told devotees that it was not necessary to do anything, but all the devotees were upset and they insisted that they wanted to do it…

[Sripad B.P. Tirtha Maharaj enters.]

Jay Sripad Tirtha Maharaj ki jay. You see? Even Tirtha Maharaj has come to give me his mercy. He is senior to me, he is Guru-varga to me but even he has come and I am getting shy.

For me, today's day is the day when I worship my Guru. Every year Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj went to Mayapur for Sripad Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj's Vyasa Puja, and Goswami Maharaj said every time, "Every year my sannyas Guru comes and I get one more year of life," and whatever donation, whatever presentation he got that day, he gave everything to his sannyas Guru, Srila Sridhar Maharaj. So, for me today is the day when I worship my Guru.

However, I am so unfortunate because Gurudev left so soon and made me sit on this singhasan (chair). Gurudev gave me this service, Gurudev gave me this position to serve you all—I have got this kind of opportunity but I need your help—I need your mercy!

Sripad Goswami Maharaj, Sripad Janardan Maharaj, Sripad Ashram Maharaj and others are much more senior than me. Before, they actually had many disciples but they gave everything up, and now Gurudev told them to take disciples again. They are all here today, they are helping Guru Maharaj so much. We live by their mercy, by their support.

I always tell everybody that I have no time to see anybody's fault, I only want to see everybody's good. In the Math there is big Deities, there is a big mandir, there is samadhiof Gurudev, we can take darshan of the temple, we can take darshan of the Deities, we can serve at the temple, we must not see bad things, it is not our duty.

prithivite achhe yata nagaradi grama

sarvatra prachara haibe mora nama

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

Vaishnavs come here to preach about this, following in the footsteps of Guru and Vaishnavs. Therefore, I am praying to you all if there is any fault on my side, please forgive me. I have told it many times I am not proud, I am your friend, and I am like you all. Some criticise me behind my back, they say, "This is wrong," "That is wrong," but they are not friends—if I do something wrong, I can admit it that yes, I made a mistake. Many years ago Gurudev gave me an order to manage the temple and I went to preach, I opened many temples, and I realise that as I was carrying out his orders I made many offences, and that is why Gurudev ordered me to always sing this song,

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.

nija sukha lagi' pape nahi dari

daya-hina svartha-para

para-sukhe duhkhi sada mithya-bhasi

para-duhkha sukha-kara

I am never afraid to engage in sinful activities for the sake of my own happiness. I am unkind and selfish. I always tell lies. I am unhappy when others are happy, and happy when others are unhappy.

asesa kamana hrdi majhe mora

krodhi, dambha-parayana

mada-matta sada visaye mohita

himsa-garva vibhusana

There are unlimited sinful desires within the core of my heart. I am angry and arrogant, always maddened with vanity, infatuated with mundanity, and malice and pride are my ornaments.

By the mercy of Gurudev and Vaishnavs, I have been able to return to the Math and take darshan of Gurudev. And it is to fulfil Gurudev's order that I am sitting here now. I am not fit for this, I have no quality or qualification, but if you give me your mercy, then I have some hope…

Many come to me and invite to their place—I want to go to everybody's village, although it may not be possible now, but you must all come here, this is your home, and Gurudev is always with you. I have told it many times that to get the association of Gurudev you must follow Gurudev's order and instruction, read Gurudev's books, think about Gurudev's instruction, then you will get the association of your Guru.

You have heard about it before and I told it yesterday also, after Mahaprabhu, Swarup Damodar left, Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu gave up all hope. He thought, "I will not live. I will jump from Govardhan Hill and commit suicide!" But when he came there, he received mercy of Sanatan Goswami and Rupa Goswami, and he realised that he had got even more mercy from them than from Mahaprabhu. So, if you serve following your Guru, you will get his association.

To become a guru, you must first become a disciple. You have taken shelter of a bona fide guru of this line Rupanuga sampradaya line. Guru Maharaj is the holder of this line and in his lifetime he arranged that there stays a successor.

In this way, I only want to serve the Vaishnavs, I have no other desire. I do not want anybody to do my puja, I want to serve you all.

Please come from time to time. Srila Srihdar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's festival (Vyasa Puja) is coming soon, please come. Come for Gurudev's Vyasa Puja, come for Gaura Purnima. If we all stay together, engage in Harinam sankirtan and spend the whole life like this, it will give us a great benefit. We have no other wish.

* * *

My Service Day

Sri Vyasa Puja adhivas day

20 September 2017

[Although at first shy and reluctant, His Divine Grace mercifully spoke a few words for the nourishment of the devotees worldwide:]

I am always with the devotees, I am always thinking about the devotees and I am always thinking about Gurudev. Gurudev is always with me, I always think about Gurudev.

Actually, this day is my service day. I have to serve my Gurudev more. This is how I can celebrate my birthday. I must serve all the devotees, I must serve Gurudev, Guru Maharaj—this is my birth day, and this is how I can celebrate my birthday. I want to serve the devotees, this is how I want to celebrate this day. This is my happiness.

And Gurudev is giving me so much tolerance—and I can tolerate so much. He is giving so many examinations to me, and I am happy with that. I have no problem…

* * *

"Take Me As Your Own"

Speaking online to the devotees in Ecuador

16 October 2011, part 1

Devotee: We are your family, we love you. I am your disciple, I am your servant.

Prabhu, I am your servant. You are a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad—I want to serve you. If you can allow me to serve you, I will be even happier.

Devotees: Thank you, Maharaj, but we are only your servants…

We are in the same family, Prabhu. You are in my heart. If you can take me, with love and affection, as your servant, as your own man, that is my happiness, that is my joy.

You are doing today this programme, and I am very happy to see you all, to see your smiling faces and your good mood, it is very nice, it makes me very happy. I can see you all today and it makes me happy—I can feel my Gurudev and feel that Gurudev is giving mercy to me otherwise why would so many devotees keep me? I do not have any qualification or quality, but simply because devotees have love and affection for Gurudev, because they think about Gurudev, give support to Gurudev, give support to Guru Maharaj, they follow Gurudev line—for these reasons they keep me. I am a bad boy, but devotees keep me in their hearts. It is my very good luck and good fortune.

I also want to learn Spanish, I do not always get a good teacher, I hope that later I can give lectures in Spanish language. When Spanish people come, they always speak with me in English, but I want to be able to speak Bengali, Spanish, that is good. Sometimes also some devotees do not understand my language, and I do not understand their language, but it is a heart to heart connection—I can realise what they want and they can realise what I want without any language. No language is actually necessary. Just as a dog and the dog's master—the dog's language is different, and the master's language is different, but the master knows what his dog wants and the dog knows what its master wants.

* * *

Seize Substance

Speaking online to the devotees in Ecuador

16 October 2011, part 2

I am very happy with your practising and the preaching movement is Ecuador, it is running very nicely. I am very happy with your preaching, with the devotees' mood of listening. The devotees want to know something, they always desire to serve, and that makes me happy. If somebody has this service mood, this desire to serve, if they want to serve heart and soul, that is good. I want that kind of devotees who try heart and soul, who not only serve with their body, but serve with their mind and heart. That is necessary.

21 October 2011 is coming soon—our Param Gurudev Srila Guru Maharaj Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's appearance day. We must give full obeisance at his lotus feet because if he had not come to this world, we would not have been able to get our Gurudev. Guru Maharaj came in this world to give us a great bona fide Guru. We must give full obeisance at his lotus feet. His appearance day is coming and we must a make festival for him. That will give me more pleasure and that will give more benefit to you—it is necessary for our life to do Vaishnav seva.

If we cannot make Srila Sridhar Maharaj happy, our Guru will not be happy. We must make Srila Sridhar Maharaj happy, then our Guru also will be happy. Gurudev said to me, "If you want to love me, first love my dog. If you want to serve me, you must serve my dog." This is necessary for us.

If you want to get association of Gurudev, you can listen to his kirtans. There are so many kirtans, sometimes Srila Sridhar Maharaj and Gurudev sing together also (Srila Gurudev would sing, Srila Sridhar Maharaj would follow that kirtan, or Srila Sridhar Maharaj would sing, and Gurudev follow that kirtan)—you can listen to those kirtans, then you will get association of them both.

It is not necessary to show so much false renunciation. I like the householder devotees who serve properly, who maintain their spiritual life from householder life, who follow Krishna consciousness, who try to fulfil Gurudev's desire. I always keep love and affection for those who have some faith in Gurudev's instruction. If somebody does not like me, it is not a problem—they can even kick me out, it is also not a problem. As long as they have love and affection for Gurudev, as long as they have faith in Gurudev, in Gurudev's lectures, I will always serve them until my death. I promised to Gurudev, "Until I have even one drop of blood in my body, I will serve your mission, serve your Deity, serve your devotees." Many problems are coming, many obstacles are coming, but I am not afraid—I was born one day and one day I have to die, so death is not a problem for me. I always want to serve all those who follow Gurudev, who serve Gurudev. I want to be their servant.

Can you understand everything?

Devotee: Absolutely, Maharaj. Very, very clearly. We are very inspired to hear your lotus words. The words that are coming from your mouth are so beautiful, and we understand what you are saying very clearly, and we love you very much. Also, the devotees here are asking if it is possible for you to come to Ecuador some time?

Yes, I am trying heart and soul... I have always told that next time I visit Venezuela, I will come to Ecuador, you can tell them that it is sure. Actually, nothing is sure in this world, but if Krishna allows me to meet with you all, then I can do that. OK?

* * *

Sravan, Kirtan are Main

Speaking online to the devotees in Ecuador

16 October 2011, part 3

Practise in the proper way, through sravanam, kirtanam. Sometimes we get some faith and do some service emotionally—we must be careful about that. Sravanam and kirtanam are the main things for the proper practice.

If somebody cannot understand Bhagavatam or Chaitanya-charitamrita properly, it is not a problem, they can sing some songs—if they practise singing some songs, reading their meaning, that will also give you a great benefit. Sravanam, kirtanam is the practising life and they are of main importance for our spiritual life.

Also, I am telling everybody: as much capacity you have, you must preach. Preach as much as possible. You are chanting the Holy Name and you should engage others in chanting of the Holy Name. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj says that is somebody has some property, wealth, money, if they are so rich but do not use that money for the Lord, for the Guru and Vaishnavs, then some problem will come to their his life later (that property will give so much trouble to their family life or others' life, or their son, daughter, grandson, etc. may make much problem).

If you have spiritual knowledge and you do not use that knowledge for others, if you keep it for yourself, some problem will come to your life. When you have spiritual knowledge, you must donate that knowledge to others, to those who have none. If you not donate it, an offence and some problem will come. Do you understand what I am saying? You must preach according to your preaching capacity. If you have some knowledge, you must give that knowledge to others.

* * *

Preaching: Our Duty and Very Life

Speaking online to the devotees in Italy

16 October 2011, part 1

I am very happy to see you all today. You make programmes every day, distributing Gurudev's message, Mahaprabhu's message to the devotees in Italy, that is my happiness. Gurudev distributed Mahaprabhu's message and you are now distributing it there at Villa Govinda and other local areas. It makes me very happy. You are making Gurudev happy. Through that, you yourself are getting benefit and you are giving benefit to the devotees, to the jiva souls. That is our duty.

You are staying in Italy and it is our great fortune that our preaching movement is continuously going on properly all over the world. For example, I spoke to the devotees in Canada this morning—Gurudev made small preaching centres and temples all over the world in many countries, and each of them are Gurudev's heart.

It is like Gurudev made a pond and we are all little fish in that pond. If fish does not get oxygen in the pond, the fish will die. Gurudev gives oxygen to all of us, and the devotees are now distributing it, otherwise devotees will not be alive. A devotee's life is preaching—chanting the Holy Name, sravanam, kirtanam. "Sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, engaging in service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission)." Without preaching devotee cannot stay alive, they cannot live.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj says that if you have money but you do not donate or distribute it, it will be an offence. In the same way, if you have some knowledge and you do not distribute that knowledge, it will also be fault, an offence. So, if you have some capacity for preaching but you do not preach, it is also bad. You are there in Villa Govinda in Italy (this is our main centre in Italy), and you are distributing and maintaining your family life as Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math family, you have the guidance of Munindra Mohan Prabhu and Krishna Kanta Didi. You are following Gurudev's line, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's line, Rupa Goswami's line, and you are preaching through this line—that is your Krishna consciousness, that is your spiritual life.

* * *

Practice: Steadfast and Exclusive

Speaking online to the devotees in Italy

16 October 2011, part 2

Gurudev made the temple, Math, Gurudev did not make the commode. All people come there now, but those who are great devotees, who are followers of Gurudev, they will not go to any other line—they will always follow Gurudev's rules and regulations, they will always try to fulfil Gurudev's desire. That is called faith.

If we do not practise properly, we will lose our faith. Faith may come, and faith may be lost. If you do not have the strongest faith, then you will automatically lose your faith because of the lack of practising. If we practise sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, engaging in service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission) properly, then the strongest faith will come and the platform will be strong, no one will be able to break it.

We must all be careful—there is so much illusory environment all over the world. There are people who want to break our union, who always want to separate us—they want to see our weakness and take advantage of it. We must stand united—unity is strength.

Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Das Goswami Prabhu, "Gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe: do not listen to the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news" (Cc, 3.6.236). Do not listen to any bad, nonsense things and do not say nonsense things. Always think about Gurudev's desire, about Gurudev. How? By rejecting the bad things and accepting the good things. We do not say that we are 100% pure, that we are 100% devotee, we are 100% great Vaishnav or we are 100% sannyasi—we are trying. We are trying our best to become a great servitor of Gurudev—we want to be a great servitor. Until our death we must serve Gurudev as much as possible.

Our line must be proper and perfect. Once, Srila Sridhar Maharaj became angry and said, "I will stay alone in the temple, it is not necessary to have so many people! I do not want anybody, I will stay in this temple alone." This is what Srila Sridhar Maharaj said. You know that he did not make so many disciples, he does not want quantity, he wants quality. Actually, one person is sufficient to rescue souls all over the world, to rescue the whole universe.

I am trying to serve all over the world—I always try to do what Gurudev wanted. I am in a difficult position position, but still, I am trying, I talk to the devotees all over the world... Otherwise, if I had not made the promise to Gurudev, I could run away any time, I do not have any want of food or anything, but I want to die with devotees—even if I go to hell, I will still stay with the devotees, I will still serve Gurudev. It is not a problem for me. If I die doing the service to Gurudev, that is my happiness.

There is so much disturbance all over the world after Gurudev's disappearance. Many want to be a guru now, and I do not have any objection. If there are many gurus, what is the problem? If they preach for Gurudev, if they follow the proper line, I have no objection, I do not have any problem with that. Gurudev told all acharyas and all devotees to show some love and affection for Acharya Maharaj and they are still doing that. I do not want for anything more than that from them. I only want their foot dust. They are all servitors of Gurudev, they are all Gurudev's friends, they have so much more qualification than me, and if they can only give mercy to me—if they can keep me under their feet—that is sufficient for me.

* * *

Preaching: Broad-Minded but not Blind

Speaking online to the devotees in Italy

16 October 2011, part 3

Even though I may be angry, even though I may have some bad qualification, still many devotees are keeping me in their heart... Even if somebody tries to remove my photo from their altar, it is not a problem because devotees keep me in their heart—that is my fortune, that is my great happiness.

Everybody says, "Oh, Acharya Maharaj is making disciples, he has no love and affection for us." I can say this: I do not give any advantage or preference to my disciples. If I think my disciple is doing something wrong, I will give them a chance to change, but if they again do wrong, I will tell them to get out, it is not necessary for them to stay here. However, if somebody does something good, even if it is my godbrother, I will take them in my heart. Actually, I do not think somebody is my disciple—I think everybody is Gurudev's disciple. Somebody thinks I have more love and affection for my own disciple, but it is not so. I do not have such wish or desire. If my disciple does something wrong, I will kick them out, it is not a problem; and if somebody does their best, whether it is my disciple or my godbrother, I will always keep them.

I do not want to have more parties, I do not want anybody to be on my side. I always want everybody to have love and affection for Gurudev. That is my opinion. If somebody does not like me but they have love and affection for Gurudev, I will help them and I will love them. My only problem is if somebody disturbs Gurudev's mission or does not do what Gurudev wants.

I am surprised now: Gurudev wanted a mission in Australia, but now there are some devotees in Australia disturbing that mission. That is my sadness, that is my unhappiness. Gurudev went there in 1996, fifteen years have passed, but still nothing has happened. I went there last year when Gurudev was present (he sent me there) and I tried very hard to make a good temple there, but now some people want to disturb Gurudev's mission and break the unity in Australia, they want to create a problem in the mission. That is very bad. However, I pray to Gurudev for these devotees, "Please, give them a good mind!" For fifteen years since Gurudev went there they have not been able to do anything, and here I have made so many branches in these fifteen years—it was the wish of Gurudev, and I fulfilled his desire, you know that. But why have not they been able to do anything in Australia for all these years? I went there recently to make a temple there, but some illusory environment came—people are making disturbance and now I cannot do anything. What is this? They must understand this.

Gurudev sent me to Australia to make a temple there just as he sent me to Singapore to open one common centre—I did it. Gurudev sent me to Malaysia to bring devotees together—I did it. In Singapore they previously had two parties, and now there is one party. In Malaysia there are four centres—four centres in four corners, it is all right, but when they preach (when Gurudev goes there or when I come) they must come together and make the programmes together. I have no objection. But if there are many centres and they make problem—if somebody does not know Gurudev's order, if somebody kicks Gurudev's head, how shall I bow down my head there? That is my question. They can kick me, they can beat me, they can throw me out—as long as they have love and affection for Gurudev I do not mind it.

I saw from the beginning also, in Gurudev's time—when I just came and joined the temple, nobody followed Gurudev. They showed false renunciation: in front of Gurudev they paid obeisance and behind his back they pushed a knife into his back. I saw that and I understood that.

So, today I am telling everybody all over the world: there are only a few persons all over the world who want to disturb Gurudev's mission. I saw somebody wanted to disturb Gurudev's mission in Gurudev's time, and now it is also going on. We must be careful and run the preaching movement properly. Gurudev is always with you, and I am also always with you—until my death I will always be with you.

Run your preaching movement smoothly. If it is slow, it is not a problem. What I am telling you is that you should distribute books, go for sankirtan, give preaching from time to time. Even if one devotee comes, that is sufficient. If they follow proper rules and regulations, they can be even householders, it is OK. We do want to have many saffron devotees—we do not want false renunciation and hypocrites. OK?

—Jay Maharaj!

I am telling very strong things today, is it not? Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

* * *

Proper Adjustment: Entering Viddhi-Marga

Speaking online to the devotees in Delhi

16 October 2011, part 1

We must try to fulfil Gurudev's desire.

Gurudev told me, "You can stay anywhere, but you must practise properly—wherever you are you can maintain your spiritual life." Sometimes we do not practise properly and as a result we lose our faith. We must keep some time aside for practice. Everybody does some service or work every day, but if you use your energy for the Lord, for Guru, for Gauranga, for Krishna, then it will all be service and no reaction will come. On the other hand, if somebody does something thinking, "I am doing service," but it does not fulfil Gurudev's desire, does not make Gurudev happy, then it is all karma and we will suffer from the bondage of that karma, and the result of this bondage (karma-bandhan) is going to hell (narak yantrana).

We must practise properly. It is necessary to follow some viddhi-marga because if we practise raga-marga, we will become sahajiyas. When we keep a Deity, for example Giriraj sila, we have to follow some viddhi-marga—bathing, doing the offer, etc. Gurudev always said, "Do not keep a Deity if you cannot serve the Deity properly." Sometimes we have to go outside—we go to work or we leave to do some service, sometimes we stay at our relative's house—and if you keep a Deity in your room and do not serve the Deity properly, it will be an offence. That is why Gurudev told me, "You can make temples, but do not make so many Deities because you should not keep a Deity if you cannot serve the Deity properly" Do you understand it?

When, however, we keep a Deity we must serve properly and follow the viddhi-marga(rules and regulations).

When Mahaprabhu became pleased with Das Goswami Prabhu's service, He gave him a Govardhan sila who was like Lord Krishna and a gunja mala who was like Radharani, and when Das Goswami Prabhu served them, he could see Krishna's pastimes, he could realise that.

Why does Gurudev give us second initiation? To give us entrance into internal, intimate service. But the problem is that we do not meditate on the gayatri properly, we are not doing it properly, that is why we are not getting the result. That is why we must always remember that we have no qualification to serve Radharani or Radha-Krishna. You know that even Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj always, everywhere all over the world preferred to installed Deities of Gaura Nitai rather than Radha-Krishna. Even when he made a temple in Vrindavan, he never installed Radha-Krishna there—he made a Krishna-Balaram mandir. You should try to realise why he installed Krishna and Balaram in Vrindavan. He said, "I am unqualified. I have no qualification, I cannot serve Radharani, that is why this temple is Krishna-Balaram temple, in sakhya-rasa (service in the mood of friendship)." He preached santa-, dasya-, sakhya-rasa (service in the mood of neutrality, servitude and friendship)—not madhura-rasa, because it is very high.

So, we must realise that we are very unqualified. We have no qualification to serve Radharani. It is necessary to have proper adjustment and to serve properly…

* * *

Headstrong and Prudent

Speaking online to the devotees in Delhi
16 October 2011, part 2

We must adjust ourselves and do our service properly. First it is necessary to practise sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam(hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission).

Do not waste your time. When you sit in your office or sit in your bedroom, you must listen to Gurudev's lecture, Guru Maharaj's lecture, to the lectures of great Vaishnavs, read the scriptures—then you will get the association of Gurudev. It is not necessary to stay with Gurudev in the same room. Sometimes we show false renunciation, we show, "Oh, I am so close to Gurudev!" but only our body is with Gurudev—our mind and heart are with some other place. It is false renunciation. That is why it is necessary to practise sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam(hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). If we do not practise properly, we will lose our faith.

Why do devotees fall? Why do devotees practise for thirty years and then go another way, go to another line? What is the reason? Because their faith is not so strong—they do some service emotionally, and after that emotion is gone they go another way. Devotion and emotion are very different from one another, you must understand this.

Wherever you live, practise properly. Householder life is good, it is not a problem. You can make you house Krishna's house. You know that even in Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's time, when many big-big sannyasis, big-big scholars saw Bhaktivinod Thakur, they would give their full obeisance to him. In Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad's time, Kunja Babu (later his name was Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj) was also a householder, but many sannyasis who lived at the main temple Chaitanya Math in Mayapur would always pay their full obeisance to him. So, through practice, continuous practice, you can make yourself a great devotee.

Use your time properly. When I studied at school, I learnt two proverbs, "Time and tide wait for none," and "Time flies like an arrow." Day by day you are losing your time. You think, "Oh, I could not pass the exam this time, I will pass it next time." But you are losing your time! Whatever you do, you must engage yourself in good things. Why must failure come in your life? That is my question. I cannot tolerate it. When you do something, do it properly. Do you understand? Gurudev told me, "When you do something, you must do it with your full heart and soul." We are wasting our time on talking, gossiping, and doing many things not properly. If you read four-five hours every day, you can easily pass the exam. Easily. But if you are sitting in front of the book but thinking about other things in your mind, then how will you learn anything?

One time, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's sister who was chanting on her beads and Gurudev asked her, "Didi, what you are chanting? Neetu, Satu, Neetu, Satu??" I did not understand what Gurudev meant, and Gurudev explained, "Do you not understand? When she was chanting, she was thinking about her sister's sons called Neetu and Satu." So, always chanting with beads in your hand and at the same time always talking nonsense, gossiping—this is not the chanting process. For example, if you are walking in the street, it is not necessary to carry your chanting beads—you can just walk and always chant Hare Krishna with your mouth or in your mind.

Keep proper hours. Go to sleep at 10 o'clock, wake up early in the morning, do mangal arati and start your job. You can study, you can work, you can do anything you want—the whole day is for you—but the day is not for sleeping, the night is for sleeping. Change your lifestyle, you must keep a proper lifestyle. Why did Lord Himself start the day with mangal arati? It is good for health, good for mind, good for everything. Start the day early in the morning and continue until night 10 o'clock, no problem—you can work the whole day. You must maintain your life in this way, properly. Wake up early in the morning, take shower, go to the Deities' room, do some arati, offer something to the Deity according to your capacity, then start your job, your work. What is the problem? We must adjust our life properly in this way. It is necessary to follow viddhi-marga.

Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu did service for twenty-two and a half hours. He used his life for service and slept only one and a half hours a day. I am not telling you must all serve the whole night, but you can sleep from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.—six-hour's sleep is sufficient for your life—and the rest of the time practise sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). Chant at all times, it is not necessary to show only four rounds. When you are in the metro or at a railway station, you can chant anywhere, it is not a problem. What is the need to show your chanting beads to everybody? It is not necessary to show anything to anybody. For example, when Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur was overseeing the construction, managing the building, he would chant at that time on his beads.

Maintain your life properly in this way, otherwise our life is only a short time, Prabhu. You think each day your lifetime is increasing but it is not increasing—day by day it is only decreasing. Each day we lose a day from our life. Life is very short. Krishna gave us a human body for the service to the Lord. We must be proper humans, we must engage ourselves in proper, good works. It is not a problem to live a householder life. I am not saying everybody must become a sannyasi. Sannyas is only for preaching, but for practising life householder life is good.

When Sivananda Sen asked Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, we live a householder life, what shall we do at our houses? What is our duty?" Mahaprabhu said, "Bari giye koro Vaishnava-seva, Nama-sankirtan, achirat tumi pabe Krsna-prema-dhan: Go back to your home, chant the Holy Name and serve the Vaishnavs, and you will get the wealth of love for Krishna very soon." This is your duty. You can go to your home, you can go to work—it is also Vaishnav seva. You work, you earn money and you use the money for Vaishnav seva—you buy some fruit, your giving it to the Lord, give it to Gurudev, that is also Vaishnav seva. You can work, do business and use the money you earn for the Guru, for the Deity, etc. Your house is Krishna's house, so when you pay the rent, when you buy something, it is for Krishna's house. And also you take prasadam.

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)

If you take prasadam, all bad elements, all bad things will be removed. You must understand this.

Practise properly in this way and you will easily succeed in your spiritual life, in your practising life. Do what is necessary for practising life, but do not waste time on gramya-katha (gossiping), gramya-varta (listening to news, gossips), do not listen to so many bad things, do not talk so many bad things. This is not our line! You must realise how many hours from early in the morning you spend on the Lord and how many hours you spend on nonsense things. Working is not nonsense things, but gossiping, talking about bad things is wasting your time.

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