All Glory to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga

GUIDANCE

Issue #21

Lectures of His Divine Grace

Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj

published at SCSMathInternational.com during October-December 2019

CONTENT

Sri Guru: More than Lord

Intimate Service Mood

On Lord's Order

Unswerving Devotion

Great Advantage of Guru-Seva

Laws of Spiritual Kingdom

Service to Guru: Abode of Benediction

Supreme Desire of Supreme Lord

Entering Gurudev's Family

Trade Secrets of Krishna Consciousness

Exposing Core of Disciple's Heart

Core of Mission's Heart

"I Want to Be a Good Follower of My Gurudev"

Month of Service—Life of Service

Religion of Jiva Soul

Mature Service Life

Purify Yourself

Watch Out

Authorised Service

Internal Initiation

Six Faults

Six Qualities

Do Not Overstep

At the Temple of Adi Haridev

Glory of Manasi Ganga

On the Bank of Brahma Kunda

"Surrender to Giriraj"

Three Chambers of Heart

Glory of Govardhan

Devotional Business

About Sri Dehi Kunda

Sri Uddhav Kunda and Sri Narad Kunda: Tears of Afflicted Hearts

Sri Govardhan Puja (1): Sevya and Sevak

Sri Govardhan Puja (2): Seva-Adhikar

Sri Govardhan Puja (3): Full Service

At Sri Radha Kunja-Bihari Gaudiya Math

Darshan of Transcendental Abode

Eternal Stumbling Block

Neither Judge, Nor Imitate

Symptoms of Disciple

"Come to Learn, Come to Serve"

"Preach for My Guru"

Guru-Disciple Bond

Qualification of Disciple and Guru

Our Identity

Shed Your Raincoat

Education Uplifts, Not Degrades

Our Fortune

Disciple's Dedication

Niti and Priti

Laksman's Grudge

Balaram's Character

Balaram and Nitai: Seva-Vigraha

Mind's Trap

Ekadasi: Historical Background

On Chastity and Rules

Thirst for Service

Service Relation

Service Is Disciple's Heartbeat

Love Your Service

Always Ready, Always Eager

Disciple's Sambandha, Abhidheya, Prayojan

Pure Kirtan Comes from Pure Heart

Atyahara

Wrong Endeavour

Surrendered Soul's Appeal

Mano-Dharmi'ness

Devotion Is Not a Show

Guru-Bhakti, Guru-Drohi

Keep Good Association

Steadying Your Life

On Humility and Patience

Be Straight and Open

"You Will Be Successful"

Our Reality

Chastity—Core of Devotee's Heart

On Deity Service

Self-Centred and Guru-Centred Life

Our Interest

The Only Truth

Mahaprabhu's Teaching

Mahaprabhu's Instruction to Vairagis

Transcendental Gift

Disciple's Service Mood

Beyond Body Consciousness

Practitioners' Problem

No Excuses

Sri Guru's Grace

Heed Your Call

New Year Message: Service Is Our Life

Sri Guru: More than Lord

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 2

From my childhood whenever I saw others' pain, I felt pain too. I could never see others in trouble, pain, etc. Sometimes, I came back from school and saw that a beggar was sitting near the door. My mother would always cook for me thinking, "The boy will come from school, what will he eat?" The beggar would sit there hungry all afternoon, and we had food (rice, etc.) kept in the house. So, when I came from school, I would go to the kitchen and give half the food that had been kept for me on a plate to the beggar. I got chastised by my mother for this.

My parents also gave me some pocket money so that I could buy something to eat when I was at school. In those days we did not have school bags, we would carry our books in our hand and also carry some food a tiffin box. I could also get many things with the pocket money—some bread, bananas, biscuits, etc. Some used to stretch that pocket money for several days, but I used to call my school friends and we would finish that money together in one day. My parents did not ask me anything, and I never asked them for money.

My kindness was material then but when I came to Gurudev I learned what is real kindness—giving others food, clothes, money is not real kindness to the jiva soul. True kindness to the jiva soul means doing that which gives benefit to the soul. To become a disciple of Gurudev does not mean to come to Gurudev to realise your own mundane desires, to get something or so that your life runs smooth. This is not the relation with one's Guru. You can have such relation with your parents, with your aunts and uncles, but the relation between the disciple and the Guru is the relationship between the soul and the Guru.

Guru is called a holy embodiment of the Lord's mercy. You all worship or serve the Lord—many of you keep a photograph of the Deities at home and worship the photograph, but you will not get direct mercy from the Lord. Because the Lord cannot give you direct mercy, He sends His close associate in the form of a Guru to this world. The Lord comes to this world in the form of a Guru, and this Guru personally engages you in service, Gurudev chastises you—if you do wrong, the Guru chastises you; if you do good, the Guru gives you love and affection—sometimes he chastises, sometimes gives love and affection, but all this is done by Gurudev himself. You will not get chastised by the Lord, neither will you get affection from the Lord. You can get chastisement or affection through the medium of the Guru. The Lord comes to this world in the form of the Guru to bestow mercy upon us.

All the Rupanuga guru-varga, all our Brahma-Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya—Rupa Goswami, Sanatan Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Namacharya Haridas Thakur, Raghunath Das Goswami, Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj and many others—they all come in the form of a Guru and teach us these things. Those who can truly accept this teaching, they will no doubt get released from Maya and engage in the service of the Lord and thus reach the highest destination. This is the result of real service. If you only come on the Guru's birthday, give some flower at the Guru's feet, garland your Guru—this must be done too, but the connection between the disciple and the Guru is much more than this. One can take thousands and millions of disciples, but you do not become a disciple just by taking a mantra or some chanting beads from a Guru. If you cannot do proper service to your Guru, you cannot follow the instruction of your Guru, then you cannot be called a disciple. If you truly want to be a disciple of your Guru, you must understand what is called a disciple. The meaning is only one—a disciple is a person who always follows rules and regulations (sasan mane, lit. obedient, disciplined)—a person who lives his life following the instruction of the Guru. Many claim they are a disciple, but the truth is that you can find many gurus in this world, but it is very rare to find a bona fide disciple who will follow his Gurudev's instruction, advice, order, etc. without any condition. These days when somebody becomes a 'disciple' they say, "Gurudev, I can do some service for you, but want this and that in return." People want money, people want wealth, people want mercy, etc. They do not understand that mercy means service. When you say, "Gurudev, please give me your mercy," do you know what it means? People say, "Gurudev, give me mercy," but kripa (mercy) means 'kore-paowa' (do-get). It means, "Gurudev, give me service." The Lord cannot engage you in His own service, only Guru can engage you in the service of the Lord. The Lord cannot tell you, "I want a sweet, I want some yoghurt," but Gurudev can tell you, "I want some pomelo, I want some bananas, I want some cucumber." It is the Guru who gives mercy. Gurudev will tell you what he likes, what he wants to eat, what he wants you to cook for him.

Yesterday I remembered my old days. These days I mostly stat in Kolkata and do not get real milk, there is a big difference between jersey cows and local (desi) cows. Gurudev likes local cows' milk and I like it too. Yesterday they kept some martaman bananas (মর্তমান), and I remembered old days: I asked if there was cows' milk (I do not drink outside milk), and when they brought it, I ate three bananas with milk and was full up to my neck.

Anyhow, what I was saying is that Gurudev can tell you what he wants, what he needs, and he will take it. Gurudev is the embodiment of mercy (kripar sri-murti). Always remember this.

A real Guru never accepts obeisance from anyone. You pay obeisance to your Guru, but he does not take it—he sends it to the Lord. He takes neither pranami (donation), nor pranam (obeisance). A Guru never thinks he is a guru, he considers himself a disciple, that is why when you take initiation from me, I do not think, "Oh, you are my disciple"—I think you have come to me, and I am serving my Gurudev through you. I am only engaging you to serve my Gurudev. Always remember this, always think about this.

* * *

Intimate Service Mood

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 3

I have read to you about Guru yesterday and the day before yesterday. Only giving some flowers to Gurudev, giving some puja to Gurudev, this is not what service is. Service means thinking, "What does Gurudev need for sleeping?" "What does Gurudev need at the time of his service?" "What does Gurudev need?"

Why are you afraid? I have told you this example many times. You have a chief minister in this country, but can you go to her? You cannot—she has so much security, so many bodyguards, but does this chief minister not go home to sleep? When she comes home, they tell her, "Didi, we do not have any turmeric left," "We do not have chilli, salt," etc. She also has grandchildren who can climb on her shoulder and say, "Granny, bring me a cadbury! Bring me a chocolate!" Can you climb on her shoulder and ask that? When she is at home, she is not a chief minister any more. Such close relationship must come towards the Guru also.

Why are you afraid of Gurudev? If you call Gurudev and he chastises you, "Why are you calling me at this time?!" you must try to call again at another time. Many are scared to speak to Gurudev, but what is there to be scared about? Are you afraid of the one whose shelter you have taken? Relation with the Guru is not external—it is not only taking formal initiation, but you must think, "What does Gurudev like eating?" "Where will Gurudev rest?" "Where will he stay?" You must arrange all that. If Gurudev comes and you only give him a garland and say "jay," this is not sufficient, there are other responsibilities also.

You must think how to please your Gurudev, then it will be service mood. If you are not attentive to such things, then you will not be able to serve Gurudev, it means you have not got affection for your Gurudev. Gurudev is called the centre, the pivot of the disciple's life (prana-kendra). Always remember this. Where is the centre of one's life? In the heart. So, Gurudev is the very heart of the disciple. This is our line. You will not get it in any jnana-marg (path of knowledge) or yoga-marg (path of mystic powers).

Since the time I woke up and switched my phone on, I have been getting phone calls all day long. I have got almost one hundred phone calls already. There are 140 centres, and in every one of them, except for one, they are celebrating Guru-puja. In some countries, they even made a cake a week before. They said, "Gurudev, you will be busy on your birthday, so we have made the cake now." And they showed me a 40 kg cake! That is their tradition, but the point is that their heart is like this—they serve with their hearts. Service to the Guru is done not only with external limbs, but with one's heart.

Actually, I told you yesterday that there are two main services—service to the Deity and the service of cooking for the Deity. Everybody worships pujaris and considers them holy (touches their feet). When the pujari worships Gurudev, offers him flowers, does arati, offers a garland, etc. it is good, but Gurudev told me once, "I say I am hungry, but they give me a garland—must I eat the garland? I am hungry, so I will be happy if you give me something to eat." It is the cook who worries, "Is the kitchen clean?" You offer food to the Lord on a golden plate, but if the kitchen is in a mess, the Lord or Gurudev will not take your offering. Yet nobody comes to touch the cooks' feet. People say that those who cook are low and have no qualifications, that is why they cook. Nobody even comes to greet them. But Srila Prabhupad said, "Those who really cook for the Lord are Radharani's associates." Visakha, Lalita, Champakalata and others serve in their own way—everybody has their own service, but those who really cook in the Lord's kitchen, do the main service. Always remember this. You must have seen it many times too—when the pujari comes out of the Deities' room, people pay obeisance to him, but does anybody comes to pay obeisance at the kitchen? However those who cook do the most intimate service. Prabhupad said that those who cook do the most valuable service. They cook, they think about the Lord, they always think how to make something nice, how to make something better, how to improve their cooking, they think about what Gurudev or the Lord likes. You must cook what Gurudev likes. When you cook for Gurudev, you should ask him, "Gurudev, did you like it?" and you must learn from what Gurudev says. Do as Gurudev likes. This is how one should cook. Always remember this.

* * *

On Lord's Order

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 4

Whatever austerity comes, throw your happiness away, forget your own happiness or sadness and serve the Lord. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, "Tomara sevaya yata haya duhkha, seo ta' parama sukha—All the distress I encounter in Your service is also my greatest happiness." (Saranagati, 16.4)

[His Divine Grace's attention is diverted to his phone:]

Many are calling from abroad today, they are sitting and waiting to call me. Devotees called me at 5 a.m. from America—it is evening in their country, everybody had gathered and they called me. Calls are coming from all over the world today—the Philippines, Israel, Abu Dhabi, Iran (it is a Muslim country, but the devotees there are serving the Lord and worshiping their Guru there), China, Singapore, Russia. Today some devotees came from Russia, so far from here—Amalendu Prabhu, Isakanti Didi, Balaram Prabhu, Gaurangi Didi, Dhanistha Didi. They all have come to serve their Gurudev. I told you yesterday also that Jayasri Didi, Rama Ratan Prabhu, Krishna Sriya Prabhu, Subhadra Didi, Abhimanyu Prabhu have come from Malaysia. They have all come to take your association and see how the Guru-puja is done. Some sannyasis are also coming to Nrisinghadev's temple from Mayapur today. Sripad Niriha Maharaj and Sripad Vishnu Maharaj are there, they are doing the festival. Devotees also called from Bokaro (Jahrikhand), Delhi (UP), Bombay, London. Everybody is observing the festival today, but actually I do not think that they are worshipping me, they are doing my Guru-puja—to me it means they are doing their Guru-puja, they are cooking well, inviting everybody. In that sense you are more fortunate because I have been able to come here to attend the festival personally.

Are you sleepy? "Ara kota kal ghumaibe maya-pisachira kole. How much longer are you going to sleep on the lap of this witch Maya?"

pisachi paile yena mati-chchhanna haya
maya-grasta jivera haya se bhava udaya

"When someone is possessed by a ghost, they become bewildered. This condition overtakes souls bound by Maya."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.3)

Look, the sky has cleared up. It has been raining so much since the morning.

Sripad Shanta Maharaj: We thought we would go on parikrama in the morning.

The Lord has kept you all here. You were thinking to do parikrama, but Sivji Maharaj told, "Stay here. It is not necessary to come to me. You can glorify the Lord here, I will be happy." That is the order of Lord Siva, "Great Vaishnavs and devotees have gathered here, listen to the glories of my Lord from their mouth." That is why you were kept in here today. One time, I also told Gurudev on the eve of his Vyasa Puja, "Gurudev, we will go for parikrama tomorrow." Gurudev said, "OK, you can go, but come back quickly." I wanted to go so that everybody knows about the festival and would come for prasadam. Now the Nabadwip town people have become very good and they accept their mistake. I always pray to the Lord that they may have attachment to Lord Krishna. They had some meeting and they say now, "We have been wrong. We understand it now." Somebody also paid one man 20 lakhs (2 m rupees) to kill me, but he could not kill me—he called me saying, "I am surrendering to you, I am seeking your shelter." I told him I was not afraid, I will go there openly. If the Lord wants to kill me, nobody can save me, but the Lord has kept me alive, and you have all come here, you are giving me your blessing, then I am getting one more year of life. If you come again next year, I will again get one more year of life.

* * *

Unswerving Devotion

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 5

I will tell you some examples of Guru-seva. I heard that Sripad Shanta Maharaj spoke about Ramanuja Acharya's disciples in the morning. What do you think? I always listen to what is going on and I hear who gives class and what they say. So, I am going to tell you about one of the disciples of Ramanuja Acharya named Dhanur Das. Many of you have heard this story before, but many forget it also.

Ramanuja Acharya had a disciple named Dhanur Das. Dhanur Das was very poor, he did not have any money, but he always served his Guru—he had a Deity at home and would always cook and offer bhog to the Deity. How did he manage his life? He would go for collection (begging).

Our Subir Prabhu was also like that (always lived serving his Guru). He left us the day before yesterday. In the end, his wife and son had not given him any food for two days! I always told him to come and stay at the Math, I offered him to give some money so that his family could manage, but he refused. Before he passed away, he managed to sell some land and wanted to give some donation to the Math, but his family kept the money. When I heard the news of his passing away, I called his wife and asked her what had happened because I had just spoken to Subir Prabhu the night before—he said he would come for my birthday, said, "I will come to offer my obeisance to you." He wanted to give some donation also. His wife said that he had some pain the night before. I asked where the pain was, and from what she said I gather he had heart pain—when they rushed him to the hospital in the morning, he started shouting because of pain and then passed away in the car. They had not given him food for two days. This is what you call a wife, and this is what you call a son!

We fall into this material family life, we become slaves of our material life, but do they show you any mercy? You go to such great pains to bring up your sons, but does your son ever come to you to say, "Father, you have become old now, retire and serve the Lord." Does any child ever say this to his or her parent? You destroyed your life for them—you went through so much trouble to bring them up, you cleaned their stool, you fed them, you clothed them, you did everything, but do they ever show you any mercy after all this? Not a drop! If you come to stay at the temple, the family will oppose it heavily. I know everything. Why are people so foolish? O Lord, give them a drop of devotion, give them a drop of faith so that they may take the association of sadhus, so that they may come to You! I always pray for you all to the Lord. I always pray to the Lord that you may get relief from the illusory environment and come to the Lord to serve the Guru, to serve the Lord.

So, Dhanur Das and his wife lived by begging. Dhanur Das told his wife, "If we go begging together to the same place, then we will collect little. Better if we go separately to different villages." So, Dhanur Das went begging to one village, and his wife to another. There was one man of bad character in the village that his wife would go to. Seeing the beautiful woman begging, he thought if he showed her money, she would do bad things with him. So, one day he came to the woman and said to her, "You are so beautiful, why are you begging in this scorching sun? What do you need? Why do you beg scorching your body under the sun? If you come to my house, I can give you much money, rice, dal, etc." But nobody can cheat those who are truly wise. Do you think anyone can cheat a devotee of Krishna?

Tricking all illusion, tricking liberation, devotees come to the door of the Lord. True devotees outwit maya, outwit liberation. 'Liberation' means thinking, "Oh, if I stay with my husband, I will have no problem," but devotees do not wish for any of this. Devotees think, "If austerity comes, let it be as long as my Govinda is happy." Devotees actually look forward to austerity—no matter what problem comes, they never forget Govinda. We must always think like this. Never forget the Lord, in happiness or in sadness.

So, by hook or by crook, Dhanur Das's wife escaped the ugly man every time he came to her, and she never told about it to her husband. She thought, "What will it do if I tell him? He will just tell me not to go for collection." So, she never told him about it.

One day, she told Dhanur Das, "You go for collection today, I cannot go—I need to do some laundry at home." So, Dhanur Das went for collection and she stayed at home. Suddenly, somebody knocked on the door. At first she did not hear the knocking because she was doing laundry, but then she heard the noise and got alarmed, "Gosh, who has come today? My husband has gone for collection, and it is too early for him to come back. It must be that ugly man! He must have got to know I am alone at home..." Then she thought, "If I do not open the door, he will break it out... Better I go open it." Thinking about her Gurudev and taking shelter of Gurudev, she thought, "What will be will be." Then, thinking and remembering about her Guru, she opened the door. When she opened the door she saw that her Gurudev himself was standing in front of her! She was very surprised—she quickly paid her obeisance and invited him in. She gave her Guru the only battered stool they had at home saying, "Gurudev, please sit here. I will bring some water for you." Then, she brought a glass of water and said, "Gurudev, you drink this water, I will come just now." Meantime she thought, "I have given Gurudev a glass of water, but there is no food in the house and I cannot give him anything to eat. What will I give to Gurudev?" Then she remembered the ugly man, "That man told me I could come to his house and he would give me much money, rice, dal, vegetables. I will go to him!" What danger! Understanding the danger of going to that man's house, Dhanur Das's wife ran there quickly. By the time she arrived at the house of that man, she was out of breath.

The man got worried, "What happened? Why are you panting?"

She told him quickly, "You told me that day that if I come to your house you will give me everything. I have come today. My Gurudev has come to my house, please give me what you have."

"Yes, yes, you sit down," said the man.

"I do not have time to sit down. Gurudev has come to my house! I gave him a seat, but I do not have anything at home. Please give me what you have."

Then, the man gathered some things and gave her two sacks of bhoga. Dhanur Das's wife said, "How will I carry two sacks home? OK, I will take one sack and you take the other one, help me carry it home!"

They came home. She told the man, "This is my Gurudev, sit with him." She washed some fruit and quickly offered it to Gurudev, "Gurudev, please have this fruit, I will cook something just now." She went to cook and the man stayed with her Gurudev. Then, Dhanur Das also came home, and they both sat and listened to the Guru's Hari-katha. As the bad man listened to the Guru, his heart became clean—all the lust, anger, etc. he had in his heart, everything was removed.

[Somebody's phone rings.] Switch off your phone. There cannot be anything more important in your life than this. Problems are outside, what problems do you have? Prabhupad said, "Even if your house is on fire, you do not have to go there." Remember this.

So, the man listened to the Hari-katha and all the lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, etc. that was in his heart, all the attraction to another's wife that was there, everything was destroyed. Then, the man asked Dhanur Das, "Please ask your Guru if he can give me initiation." Dhanur Das's Gurudev gave him initiation and the man started chanting the Holy Name. Since then he became a devotee.

Devotees: Nitai Gaura Hari bol!

He had no attachment to Dhanur Das's wife any more—instead, he would say, "She is my family member."

You too are all my family members. This is Chaitanya Saraswat Paribar [family of Chaitanya Saraswat Math]. When you come here, you do not need to keep any bad feelings. When you are among your family, you must always behave sweet, you must give everyone affection, you must respect everyone. "He is that Guru's disciple", "He is this Guru's disciple", "He does this", "He does that"—not like that. We are all children of one family. If any of us goes the wrong way, we must explain it to them and bring them to the right path. If somebody does wrong, we must discipline them, if somebody does not understand something, we must explain it to them again and again. Do not keep any anger, demands, greed, etc. towards anyone, those who do, they have an impure, unholy mood. They are born with such mentality, and they are not sons of our own family. Those who are within the grasp of maya, whose mind is impure, who do not practise Krishna consciousness, they see that somebody is another Guru's disciple and they come to beat them, to attack them, to hit them, to throw chilli powder on their body, etc. This is not right. This is not devotional line. You will never hear me teach you such things. If somebody hits you, you must tolerate it. Surrender to the Lord, "O Lord, save me! I will serve You no matter what suffering comes. I pray I may serve You no matter who comes to disturb me."

Sripad Shanta Maharaj: Everybody has suffered—Prahlad Maharaj, Pandavas...

Yes. What suffering did they not undergo, tell me? How much Prahlad Maharaj suffered! Is anyone of you suffering so much? How much austerity he went through! Why do you leave Krishna consciousness (service to the Lord) then? Why do you leave your Guru? Prahlad Maharaj was thrown under the feet of an elephant, he was thrown from a hill, he was thrown into fire, he was fed poison! What he did not go through! But did he leave the Lord? He always remembered the Lord. We, on the other hand, get a little problem—some problem comes with our son, daughter, wife or in the family, and we break easily. No! O Lord, I will never leave Your service! Whatever austerity You give me, give it—whatever austerity You can give me, I will unswervingly tolerate it! I will take everything on my head and tolerate everything, but I will never be able to forget You.

You must always remember this, then you will get supreme benefit.

* * *

Great Advantage of Guru-Seva

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 6

What did Prahlad Maharaj say? How should one practise Krishna consciousness? Do you remember what we sing in 'Bhajahu re mana Sri Nanda-nandana'? "Sravana, kirtana, smarana, vandana pada-sevana, dasya re, pujana, sakhi-jana, atma-nivedana: hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, serving the Lord's lotus feet, serving as a servant, worshipping, serving as a friend, and self-surrender." Sravanam, kirtanam are the foremost practices here.

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

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

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

There are sixty-four devotional practices, so many, and Prahlad Maharaj said among all those devotional practices Guru-seva has more importance. You must listen to what I am saying carefully. Remember it.

[His Divine Grace then reads from a book.]

It says here that there are unwanted habits and elements (anarathas) within you and if you chant the Holy Name in such a state even during ten million lifetimes, you will never be able to get relief from maya (illusion) and from all the illusory desires for material happiness that bind you. However, if you can just serve your Guru with sincerity and unswervingly for even ten-fifteen years, then you can quickly attain the Lord. Do you understand? Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said this.

All anarathas do not leave at once, but they go away through service to one's Guru. There is a separate remedy for destroying each single drop of anartha. It is the same as there is no single remedy for all diseases—there are different medicines depending on one's disease. So, there is one remedy, or medicine, for removing lust; there is another medicine for removing anger; there is yet another medicine for removing greed, and so on.

Do you know how to remove greed? It can be greed for eating, greed for money, etc., but the remedy is to take prasad. Do you not chant this in the kirtan?

sarira avidya-jala jadendriya tahe kala
jive phele visaya-sagare
ta'ra madhye jihva ati lobhamaya sudurmati
ta'ke jeta kathina samsare

"The body is a net of illusion, and the material senses are the enemies; they throw the soul into the ocean of mundanity. Among the senses, the tongue is the most greedy and wicked. It is very difficult to conquer the tongue in this world."

krsna bada dayamaya karibare jihva jaya
sva-prasad-anna dila bhai
sei annamrta pao radha-krsna-guna gao
preme daka chaitanya-nitai

"O brothers! Krsna is very merciful: to conquer the tongue He has given us His remnants! Accept this nectarean food, sing the glories of Radha-Krsna, and with love call out, 'Chaitanya! Nitai!'"

Greed goes away by taking prasadam.

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu says that one may have much of a particular anartha and it may not go away no matter what you do, however even such anartha goes away through the service to one's Guru. The anarathas that do not go away through sravan and kirtan can be destroyed through Guru-seva. When we chant kirtans, our mind does not follow the kirtan, we do not feel taste for chanting, we do not feel joy chanting kirtan, but through the service to one's Guru such anarathas go away and we can feel the taste.

However, if one does not stay at the temple, if one does not take shelter of a bona fide Guru, there is no way by which such person's anarathas can be removed. Remember this. If there is no arrangement for Guru-seva in some place, then going to such places or programmes will not help you remove your anarathas. You do not get such kind of service from any and every Guru—such service is available only from a bona fide, great Guru. There are many types of service, but except for a bona fide Guru nobody can use you in true service. Can the Lord engage you in His service? Some say, "Oh, Krishna is my Guru!" But can Krishna engage you in His service? He cannot, but Gurudev can.

If anarthas are not removed, you can never fulfil the purpose of your life. When anarthas do not go away by chanting the Holy Name or by worshiping a Deity, the only remedy then is service to one's Guru. This is the great advantage of taking shelter of a Guru and serving him.

* * *

Laws of Spiritual Kingdom

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 7

What does 'service to the Guru' mean? It means listening to what the Guru says and living your life by following his instruction.

Suppose you come to Gurudev, pay him sastanga dandavat, and he tells you, "Sit here," but you want to sit somewhere else, so you get up and go roaming around. You do not like to sit where Gurudev tells you to sit. This is not what is called following the Guru's instruction.

Some also say, "I will go to Vrindavan," but you cannot go to Vrindavan unless you get a ticket from your Guru! Gurudev tells you, "I will give you the ticket," but you say, "No, I will get it myself"—but your 'ticket' and the ticket that the Guru gives you is not the same thing. You think, "I have money, why must I worry Gurudev? I can get the ticket at Howrah station myself!" Srila Sridhar Maharaj also said, "You may have the passport, but do you have the visa?" If you want to go to America, do you think you can go there only with your passport? You cannot, you need a visa. You can travel around India with your passport, but unless you have a particular visa you cannot travel abroad. So, when you aspire to enter Radharani's kingdom, Krishna's kingdom or Vrindavan's kingdom, you must apply for the visa at Radharani's lotus feet—She gives the visa to that domain. We want to have Her stamp—when you get Her stamp of approval, then you can get the darshan of Vrindavan; and Radharani is Gurudev himself, so when you get his seal, then you can enter that domain.

Living in Mathura is not pretending to be living in Mathura, the same as living in Vrindavan or Nabadwip and putting on a show of living in Vrindavan or Nabadwip is not the same thing. You can place your body in Vrindavan, but you will never enter Vrindavan in this way. If you cannot enter the service world of Gurudev, all your unwanted habits and inauspicious elements (anarthas) will never go away. You know what anarthas are—lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy, desire to enjoy with your eyes, tongue, ears, nose, skin, desire for money, companions and fame.

How many men, women, children chant the Holy Name for so many years, but their anarthas do not go away. Then, it is those who sincerely want to serve their Guru that the temples are established for. A temple gives people an opportunity to serve the Guru. Many serve with heart and soul there—you can see many have come here and are cutting vegetables, yesterday also many also came, they were washing the dishes, utensils, cooking, making garlands, cleaning the rooms, etc. You must try to join such service. When a practitioner of devotion gives himself fully to the service of his Guru, all obstacles, all problems are removed from his life. Srila Prabhupad says: many people who are covered with anartha come to me, and I engage them in such service, but they cannot take it—they cannot serve their Guru. They object or make various excuses—"Oh, I could not come", "Oh, when I get old, then I will serve the Lord", "When I get old, then I will take initiation," and so on.

People come in their old age when they face death, but when they used to spend ten-twenty hours a day on their family, they did not come then. Now they want to chant the Holy Name for one hour and when they make garlands for one hour they sit out of breath and cannot do it. They come to serve the Guru in their old age, but how will they serve?

Sri Rupa Goswami Prabhu said that those who can enter the service of the Guru, get the supreme benefit—their anarthas are removed very quickly, and not only that—they get all perfections by serving their Guru.

* * *

Service to Guru: Abode of Benediction

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 8

You know, in the time of Param Guru Maharaj there was one servitor at the Math. Despite his rather young age, his service to his Guru was very special. He used to be the storekeeper of the Math. Usually, a storekeeper has a lot of responsibilities—he must arrange prasadam for the devotees, manage the stock, manage the cooks, etc. Param Guru Maharaj said that that devotee's service was unparalleled. His name is Ajita Krishna Brahmachari. You know, when he had no service, he did not even go to his room to rest. Actually, do you know where he slept? On a sack in the storeroom. He would say, "What will I do in the room? There is a bathroom near the storeroom, I can take wear a gumcha and have a shower there. What is the need to go to the room and back? Also, the temple is very close to the storeroom—it takes much less time to go to the mangal arati from the storeroom." Unfortunately, the Lord took him away at an early age. There was a guava tree in the temple and he fell from a branch of that tree. Some people fall from the fourth floor and do not die, but he died just by falling from a branch of a tree... Speaking of guru-seva, I am remembering him.

So, what is guru-seva? Guru-seva (service to one's Guru) means satisfying the Guru. What does guru-prasad mean? It is not eating some food remnants that the Guru had taken. Guru-prasad means getting the qualification to serve the Guru. Gurudev gives service—to work in the goshala, to cook, to do construction works, to paint the temple, to wash the dishes, etc.--and whatever the Guru tells you to do, that is the service to the Guru. Guru-seva means satisfying the Guru by doing what the Guru likes, and we must always try to see whether the Guru likes what we are doing or not.

Some think, "Because I am serving my Guru, I do not get time to read the scriptures," but guru-seva bestows unlimited knowledge upon the servitor. I also did not read so many books before, only now I am getting some time to read and write books. Guru Maharaj told me once in the early days, "You must read Chaitanya-charitamrita every evening in the temple. Chaitanya-charitamrita is the highest scripture." As I started reading it regularly, some understanding started coming also. I read Chaitanya-charitamrita following the order of Gurudev. Other than that, our guru-varga says, "If the Guru tells you to give a class on Bhagavatam, then only will it be reading of Bhagavatam."

You ask Gurudev for devotion and become frustrated, "Oh, so much time has passed and I have got no devotion," but the problem is that you must learn to listen also—some are sitting here, but they do not hear, their mind is elsewhere. Do not only say you want devotion, you must learn to listen.

Those who are fortunate can embrace these words in their hearts—if you do service and have no time or habit to read books, it is not a problem if you always think about your service, if you always think how to make your Guru happy, if you are always busy trying to make your Guru happy. In this way, you can attain perfection in this very life. These are the main things.

Those who fail to practise various types of devotional practices very quickly attain all perfection just by serving their Guru. There are also many gurus who are not able to engage their disciple in service—they arrange for devotional activities but they cannot give service.

* * *

Supreme Desire of Supreme Lord

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 9

There is one example of how one attains perfection through the service to one's Guru. There is one devotee of Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur who was always firmed fixed in his service—he always served his guru. How did he get perfection? He tricked maya, bypassed death and managed to get all perfection from the Lord, i.e. he reached the Lord. There are many brahmacharis and sannyasis wearing saffron clothes, but although that devotee was white-clad he was higher than all the sannyasis. Not all, but many sannyasis have ego—when people pay obeisance to them, they stretch out their legs to let people touch them. White-clad devotees consider themselves low, but sannyasis consider themselves more important.

We think, "I have been chanting 300,000 Holy Names for thirty years," but we chant the Holy Name being covered by anarathas, that is why we have not been able to progress much down the path of spiritual life.

[There was one sannyasi in our Math who said, "How many Holy Name does Govinda Maharaj chant? I chant more than he! I chant one lakh Holy Names every day, but Govinda Maharaj cannot!" Srila Sridhar Maharaj and Srila Gurudev said, "This is not Harinam, this is finger exercise!"]

So, some think they have been chanting the Holy Name for thirty years and they get no result, but it is said that if you sincerely, without duplicity serve your Guru for twenty-five years, you can progress much further spiritually. You cannot get such result even by chanting thousands of Holy Names because you are covered by anarthas. However, service to the Guru removes all anarthas (unwanted, bad habits) and bestows all perfections. And this applies to everyone—be it a vanaprastha, a grihastha, be it a white-clad or a saffron-clad devotee. There is no difference. The more one can serve their Guru, the bigger one is.

Another thing is Gurudever-samsari (Gurudev's family). What is Gurudev's family? It is the family of Krishna, or Vaikuntha. His family knows no want. If you want to get relief from the harassment of Maya, the Lord can rescue you and bring you to His family. How much do you want? Ten-twenty rupees? A hundred rupees? You want more and more, but how much can you enjoy? You want to enjoy so much, but the Lord wants to enjoy with you all together and His desire is millions times stronger. That is why the Lord sends His associates to this world who come to engage you in the service of Lord and send You back to the Lord.

Devotees: Nitai Gaura Hari bol!

The Lord Himself says that He wants to enjoy together with everyone. He is the enjoyer. We are not enjoyers. We sit here amidst illusion and think, "I want more," "I want more." You think you have given five rupees to the Guru, but where did you get those five rupees from? You have got it from the Lord. So, this is worshipping the Ganges with the Ganges water. So, how much can you actually enjoy? How much is your capacity to enjoy? How much can you eat with just one mouth? The Lord has millions of mouths. How much can you see with your eyes? The Lord has millions of eyes. How much can you hear with these ears? The Lord has millions of ears. How far can you walk on these two legs? I told you yesterday also—the Lord can eat even with His legs, with His hands, with His mouth, with His ears, with His nose, with His eyes also—the Lord can take food with all and any of His senses. What does He want? He wants all those who have taken human birth in this universe to come to Him and re-connect with Him. This is the Lord's desire.

* * *

Entering Gurudev's Family

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 10

The Lord accepts one's offering with all and any of His senses, however one cannot offer to the Lord impure and inauspicious items—such offerings will not reach Vaikuntha or Vrindavan. Such things cannot be used in service.

Krishna lives with His family in Vaikuntha and you live in the world of Sakuntha. Yet, the Lord resorts to an amazing trick, or deception, for you—the Lord sends His own associate from Vaikuntha in the form of Gurudev. Gurudev comes to the material world and lives within a spiritual family of Krishna according to the principles of true religion and recruits others into this family.

You think, "Oh, I have a small house, a small family, but Maharaj has a big building, many cows, etc." but this is Krishna's family—come to this family too. If you come to this family, you will get an opportunity to serve here, and you will be able to go to Vaikuntha and take part in the service of the Lord. Gurudev uses you for the Lord's pleasure, engages you in the Lord's service—Gurudev stretches his hand to you, but why do you not accept his hand? I have kept nice preparations on a plate, but if I do not eat it, will my stomach be full? The Lord and Gurudev arrange for such beautiful things for you, but if you do not accept it, do you think your anarthas will go away? Never.

So, by the order of the Lord, Gurudev lives in the family of Krishna, and his eternal husband in this family is Krishna, therefore Gurudev uses everything in His service, and those who have taken shelter of Gurudev's lotus feet are also accepted into this family, that is why Gurudev says, "We live in the family of Krishna. We are fuel for Krishna's enjoyment."

Bhajananandi gurus practise Krishna consciousness on their own. Many say, "Running a temple is so much of a problem. I will stay alone and live in some cave in the Himalaya." Such persons do their own practise and go to the Lord, but they do not think about others in this world—they do not think about all the conditioned souls that live in Maya's bondage (like us). When Srila Sridhar Maharaj decided to practise on his own, he went to Vrindavan and stayed at Pavan Sarovar, but later he came back here and started rescuing the fallen souls. On the other hand, even when Gurudev was not staying at the temple (when he left Nabadwip and stayed in Kolkata), he served the Lord, he served his Guru from there also. That is why Srila Sridhar Maharaj chose him.

So, bhajananandi gurus, who stay alone or in some cave, do not do anything for common souls, but mahanta gurus give many souls an opportunity to serve the Lord and can rescue them from their inauspicious state (can remove their anarthas). Gurudev can live alone and practise on his own. For example, I could easily say there is too much problem in the temple and go to stay in America, London or any other place, but is that my duty?

There are industrialists in this world. They open a factory and give people work (give them an opportunity to work at the factory). Gurudev also makes one factory—this Math can be compared to a factory—and he gives everybody work at this factory, "You do the dishes," "You look after the cows," "You clean the building," "You do some construction works," "You do the electric works." Gurudev has opened a factory (a temple) and gives job to such fallen souls as we. What is the salary? The salary is your ticket to Vrindavan. He makes you a servant and gives you salary, but that salary is not the money or wealth of this world—the salary you get from Gurudev is mercy and a ticket to Vrindavan.

The problem is, however, that you get on the train to Vrindavan, but you go to Bardhaman, Gaya, Kasi, etc. Gurudev gives everyone a ticket to Vrindavan, but many get off on the way. How will you go to Vrindavan then? You follow your mind and do not listen to what your Gurudev tells you. I told you yesterday that you can get many gurus in this world, but it is rare to find a disciple who obeys his Guru. Just giving some flower or putting a garland on Gurudev is not guru-seva. Guru-seva is continuous, non-stop service. It is necessary to take initiation, but one does not become a disciple just by taking mantra at the initiation time.

So, Gurudev opens a service factory and many people get an opportunity to serve the Lord—many can come and join the family of Krishna. You chant the Holy Name, you chant kirtans, but you must enter the family of Krishna. Therefore, Gurudev calls out, "Come, come! Come to my family!" Unless you enter this family, unless you enter the family of Krishna, your anarthas will never leave you even if you chant millions of Holy Names with offences. Many chant the Holy Name, but do they get the result? Can you go to Vaikuntha or Vrindavan only by chanting the Holy Name? If you enter Gurudev's family and serve Guru, you can become perfect quickly and progress towards your goal quickly.

* * *

Trade Secrets of Krishna Consciousness

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 11

There is one trade secret of Krishna consciousness. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote about it in his Bhajana-rahasya book. People say, "I will not live in the Guru's family. Why must I take anything from my Guru?" You get so much from your Guru, but unless you serve your Guru's family, you will not get any result. So, come, enter the family of Gurudev. Gurudev performs maha-sankirtan (grand sankirtan), maha-archan (grand worship), maha-parikrama (grand circumambulation of the holy places). Connection with him removes all unwanted elements within your heart (anarthas). If you can, by hook or by crook, give your mind and heart to the service of your Guru, you will get supreme benefit.

Great Gurus come door to door recruiting for their service factory. Guru can give you employment. Unless you take part in that service, unless you serve the house of the Guru, you will not get any particular benefit. Sri Gaurasundar told us this, and following His desire, following His inspiration, I am speaking now about this sacred mystery of the service to the Guru. Engage yourself fully in service—with your body, mind, speech, intelligence, and accept whatever benefit comes. When you proceed down the spiritual path, all problems can go away within a second and you can get perfection.

You must listen to these things attentively. I will tell you a few words about a high level conception now, about the madhurya-lila of Krishna.

What is the highest service line? The highest worship is the worship of the form of Lord Sri Krishna in which He performs His pastimes in Goloka. Krishna's pastimes in Goloka are His highest pastimes. Sriman Mahaprabhu encouraged to practise such type of worship, He never told to practise spiritual life to get some enjoyment (bhukti), liberation (mukti) or perfection (siddhi) that karmis, jnanis, and yogis aspire after. If one aspires to enter the loving pastimes of Radha-Krishna, one must accept such mood, such garb, and such worship. Karmis and jnanis do not have any knowledge about these things, their knowledge is of a different type, therefore they are deprived of the right to enter those pastimes. One worships demigods and demigoddesses according to their mood, and they get a corresponding result. Somebody worships Kali, somebody worships Durga, somebody worships Ganesh, somebody worships Nrisinghadev—depending on one's inclination they get a corresponding guru and get a corresponding result. Somebody gets a karmi-guru, somebody gets a jnani-guru, somebody gets a yogi-guru, somebody gets a laukik-guru (ancestral), and some get a paramarthik-guru (spiritual)

ye yatha mam prapadyante, tams tathaiva bhajamy aham
mama vartmanuvartante, manusyah partha sarvasah

Howsoever people surrender to Me, I accordingly reward them. Being the ultimate goal of all paths, I am the objective to be attained by all. O Partha, all men follow My various paths.

Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.11

If one is to come to Vraja Krishna, one must imbibe the mood of Vraja. Going to Vraja Krishna and going to any other destination is not the same thing. Suppose you go to your father and you go to your uncle—is that the same?

Jnanis and mayavadis are intellectualists, pandits, they study at university, and they also worship Krishna, but how do they worship Krishna? They worship Him with their mayik buddhi (illusory understanding, illusory intelligence). Such people preach about knowledge, but Sriman Mahaprabhu preached about devotion. Moreover, Sriman Mahaprabhu also defeated and rescued such great intellectuals as Prakasananda Saraswati and Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. When Mahaprabhu was talking to Brahmananda Puri, He spoke to Him about devotion. Mahaprabhu said that when one practises devotion through transcendental knowledge (para-vidya), one gets devotion, one gets divine love, and except for this method one can never get Krishna or reach Krishna. This transcendental knowledge is not the knowledge of this world, it is knowledge of devotion, it comes from above into one's heart; and the knowledge you get in this world is called jada-vidya (mundane knowledge). Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says,

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)

Prabhupad always gave much importance to the service to devotees. Do you remember what I told you yesterday? Many people teach mynah birds to chant Hare Krishna, but when a cat comes and catches such a bird, it never chants Hare Krishna—it makes birds' cries. Guru Maharaj also said that you chant Hare Krishna on your beads, but if somebody comes and punches you, you will cry, "Ma! Ma! Baba! [Mother! Father!]" It is no use chanting Hare Krishna like this. You must chant with your heart. What did Srila Haridas Thakur say?

kanda kanda hai deha yaya yadi prana
tabu ami vadane na chadi harinama

"Even if my body is cut into pieces and I give up my life, I will never give up chanting the Holy Name."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Adi-khanda, 16.94)

Many sing kirtans with a nice tune, but the Lord does not want to hear your tune—kirtan must be sung with one's heart. Some cannot sing kirtan with a beautiful tune, but they sing with their heart, and this is extremely valuable. When you chant kirtan with your heart rather than a beautiful tune or staged pretence, then your kirtan can reach the Lord. Remember this.

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

All the distress I encounter in Your service is also my greatest happiness.

(Saranagati 16.4)

If you want to leave giving up the service of your Guru, then you are very unfortunate—for such people who do not have faith in their Guru, the door of devotion will remain closed. If Gurudev is unhappy with you, Gaurasundar will never forgive you. When Jagai and Madhai attacked Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Gaurasundar came there with His Sudarshan chakra, but Nityananda Prabhu forgave them and took them to Gaurasundar.

When you chant kirtan, it pleases Nitaichand. Kirtan is not a pleasure for your senses—when Nitaichand hears your kirtan and feels happy, then only will it be real kirtan. It is necessary to get the qualification to chant such kind of kirtan for the pleasure of Nitaichand. Kirtan is not a song, it is not some tune. If you can attract and give joy to Nitaichand with your kirtan, then you will feel taste and joy chanting kirtan—then you can get Radha-Krishna.

Devotee: How can we understand if Nityananda Prabhu is pleased?

You will be able to tell it from your heart. You can understand it in your heart whether this happened or not, whether He is pleased or not.

What does it mean to get the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu? It means to get the qualification for the taste for kirtan.

kabe nityananda, more kari' daya,
chhadaibe mora visayera maya
diya more nija- charanera chhaya,
namera hatete dibe adhikara

"When will Nityananda be merciful to me and cause me to abandon my attachment to mundanity? When will He give me the shade of His feet and grant me a place in the marketplace of the Name?"

To have the right to enter the marketplace of Nitai means to have the right to feel taste for kirtan.

* * *

Exposing Core of Disciple's Heart

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 12

Many times people come to the temple, live there for a few days and then get scared, "If I stay in the temple, who will take care of me in my old age? There will not be anyone to give me medicine... They will tell me to sleep in the nat mandir..." Whatever unhappiness comes, you must not give up Krishna consciousness. If Gurudev chastises you or somebody treats you without respect, will you leave Krishna consciousness because of that? Srila Gurudev said, "I do not really chastise anybody because I do not get such people whom I would be able to chastise. There is only one person whom I can chastise, other than him there is nobody." Why? Because when Gurudev chastises, many will say, "Dandavat, I have already left many Gurus like you."

Srila Prabhupad used to say, "Everybody is my Guru, I have no disciples, that is why I cannot chastise anybody—if I chastise them, they will be offended." What must you do if somebody speaks bad to you or if somebody scolds you? You must say with folded palms, "Yes, Prabhu, I have understood everything by your mercy, and I have no other way. Where will I go? What will I do? I will only stay in the house of my Guru—no matter what austerity comes, I will never leave my Guru."

Some also say, "Gurudev, if I come to the temple, my wife, my sons will leave me." Gurudev replied, "Can I ask you one question? Your sons and wife can leave you, but can you leave them? Tell me the truth." These are Srila Prabhupad's words.

You know the story about it. There were two sadhus sitting on the bank of the Ganges in Haridwar. It was winter time, very cold. Suddenly, they saw some black thing floating down the river. One sadhu told the other one, "Listen, it is so cold at night, but here is a blanket going down the river. Let's take it home!" The other sadhu agreed and jumped into the Ganges to pull the blanket out. He grasped onto the blanket, but this 'blanket' was no blanket in fact—it was a bear! The bear had jumped into the river, but the current was so strong that he could not get out of it. So, when the sadhu grasp onto the bear, the bear also grasped onto him—it thought it was some log that he could catch and use to get out. So, now both the bear and the man started struggling to stay alive. Seeing that the sadhu was drowning, the sadhu who stayed on the bank shouted, "Leave the blanket! Leave it!" The sadhu said, "I have left the blanket all right, but the blanket is not leaving me!"

So, Prabhupad was saying, "You come to the Math, your wife and children will leave you, but can you leave them? Tell me the truth."

When you become crazy, when you become mad, you will not be able to remember any social rules and regulations, any proper etiquette or good manners. You leave home, you leave your old mother and father and come to the temple, but you worry what people will say. They will say, "He has left his old parents! Who will look after them? This boy is crazy, he is not a good man!" But when you become crazy, you will not care for any of these mundane, social things. They told this to me too. When I left home, they said, "A learned boy, he had a good job, he was earning much, but now he has become mad—he has left his job and gone to some temple." They said about Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu,

chaitanya-chandrera krpa hanachhe inhare
chaitanya-chandrera 'batula' ke rakhite pare?"

"Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has fully bestowed His mercy on him. Who can keep home such a madman of Chaitanya-chandra?"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.41)

When you become crazy about Krishna, nobody will be able to keep you, not even if they bind your hands and legs! Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu's parents had him married to a girl who was as beautiful as a goddess, but could they keep him with that? They could not. He still left and went to the lotus feet of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

So, what Srila Prabhupad is saying here is very beautiful. You leave your home and come to the Math—your family leaves you, but do you leave them? Do you not think of them from time to time? Many also come to the Math because of some problem at home. For example, somebody quarrels with his wife, leaves home and comes to the temple, but after some time he again starts thinking about his wife and goes back to his house. This happened recently also in one of the temples. A man had lost his phone (along with the thousand phone numbers that were written in it) and two months later he tells me, "Gurudev, can you give me some money? I need to buy a phone. I will just call them and speak to them, ask them how they are, then I can serve at the temple and will not have to return home." This is what Srila Prabhupad is saying here—your family leaves you, but can you leave them and not think about them?

You do not enter into a relationship with the Guru just by taking a mantra from him. If you have love and affection for your Guru, then you have some relationship with your Guru, then your journey up the ladder of devotion has begun. If such feeling that "Gurudev is my very own" does not arise in you, then your practice of Krishna consciousness has not yet begun. People think, "This is my mother," "This is my sister," "This is my father," but they never learn to think, "Hari Thakur (the Lord), Guru Thakur (Gurudev) are my very own." You say "jay" to your Guru and offer one flower, there is nothing wrong in that, but it is also necessary to know what the true relationship with the Guru is.

You offer Tulasi, you offer flowers to Gurudev but you cannot understand the loving relationship with the Guru (the relationship when you feel deep in your heart, "I love Gurudev, and he loves me") through the scriptures or by reading the song books. When such loving devotion arises in your heart, then you will very quickly progress in your service to your Guru.

Gurudev has two thousand disciples, but you must see that everything is all right in your temple, if everything is going on well in the service to your Deity—if you see that nobody has cooked, that the Deity is kept hungry, it will give you pain. Those who have love and affection will understand it is a sin and an offence. Yet there are people who will say, "My service is in the goshala. The person who cooks is sick today, but I do not need to go there. I only serve in the goshala." It is those who have some feeling, some affection that can do service—even if they may do something wrong, even if they may commit some sin, this does not last many days (they learn and correct themselves) because they have that affection and innermost relationship with their Guru (they feel, "My Guru is my very own")—their divine love will flood everything and wash away all impurities and faults. When this loving relation ("He is my very own") creates so much urge, so much power and capacity within a person, I tell them from the bottom of my heart [Srila Prabhupad says], "If such feeling comes to you, you have attained success." You must understand this. It can be an old man, it may be an old lady, it can be a little girl, it can be a small boy, they may not be able to sing, they may not be able to cook, they may have no external qualification, but if they have that much love for the Lord and the Guru, I offer millions of obeisances at their feet as they have attained the quality and qualification to serve their Guru.

* * *

Core of Mission's Heart

Bengali/English lecture on Sri Vyasa Puja Day
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 13

[A devotee reminds His Divine Grace about a story.]

We can tell stories all day, but sometimes it is also necessary to speak about more serious things that we must realise within our hearts...

There are many missions in this world that promise to give benefit to your mind, your body and intellect, but this is not the purpose of our Math. The purpose of this Math is satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, i.e. service to the Lord. I have written in the third volume of Guidance (Sri Upadesh) why this Math has been created and what its aims are. Read it. It is written in difficult language, but read it many times.

The very meaning of our life is Krishna consciousness. Srila Sridhar Maharaj named our society (sangha) 'Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Krishna-anusilana Sangha'. A society can be called a 'sangha' when Krishna consciousness is practised in it. A society does not become a sangha by running a sraddha-bari (a house that holds ceremonies for the dead relatives). A sangha is a place where there is no question of enjoyment, where nobody fights and quarrels for the sake of personal enjoyment. Remember this. Those who do such things can never attain Gurudev's wealth.

What is 'Gurudev's wealth'? A temple, a big building, etc.? A prince thinks that just because he is a son of the king he will get the king's wealth—in the same way, people think that just because they have taken initiation from a Guru, they are entitled to inherit his wealth. Srila Prabhupad once wrote to his brother named Lalit Prasad, "Baba badha Radha." Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur had many sons. Bimala Prasad (Srila Prabhupad) was his sixth son, and one of the other sons was Lalita Prasad. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur did not see Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur as only his father—he saw him as his Guru, or Radharani's close associate; but Lalita Prasad thought, "Bhaktivinod Thakur is my father too, so if Bimala Prasad gets his temples, wealth, etc., I must also get a share!" But Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "Your seeing Bhaktivinod Thakur as a father is an obstacle to getting Radharani." Gurudev is not only a 'father.' He is supremely worshippable, he is one of the Lord's very own. Many cannot understand this.

It is written here that only if we can serve Gurudev can we gain the right for Gurudev's wealth. What does 'the right for Gurudev's wealth' mean? It means getting the divine love of Gurudev, the love and affection of Gurudev. What we see with our material eyes—temples, great buildings, etc.—is not Gurudev's wealth. Because we cannot understand this we keep fighting for all these worldly things. Is it not so?

I am not in Dum Dum Park, I am here today, and everybody has come here, but even if I went to the street and made a pandal somewhere under a tree, you would go there too, would you not? For example, we are going to Vrindavan soon—we will have to get to many places on foot, sometimes we have to stay at some outside houses, but you just go wherever we go. We will always stay wherever Gurudev is. Only common people look at big buildings, nice rooms, etc. Devotees do not look at these things, neither do they discriminate, "Oh, he is that Guru's disciple, and I am that Guru's disciple." They do not say proudly, "Oh, I am Srila Sridhar Maharaj's disciple." I have heard also disciples say to me, "Oh, I am a godbrother of your Gurudev!" This is mundane mentality—such people do not know anything about devotion. These are Srila Prabhupad's words, it is not my words.

Some decide not to get involved with any missions and go away to practise on their own. Many are like this, even among my godbrothers also. Some go to stay at Radha Kunda in Vrindavan... However, in present day and age such secluded practice is not possible—it is now impossible to practise the example that was shown by Srila Rupa Goswamipad, Srila Raghunath Das Goswamipad in Mahaprabhu's time. In present day and age Krishna consciousness is not practised like that. Considering the present age, our guru-varga comes and establishes temples to arrange for a facility for the jiva souls to practise Krishna consciousness. This is their great contribution.

The very core of the Mission's heart (prana-kendra) is satisfaction of the Supreme Lord—service to the Lord, to the Guru and Vaishnavs. Therefore, we must be careful that we may never lose our guru-varga. If you take life away, is there any value in the body? The same is true for our spiritual life—if you remove Guru from your spiritual life, you remove life from your body.

If you remove service to the Lord from a temple, if there is no service to the Lord in a temple or a Mission, if instead of serving the Lord, the temple serves common people, then this temple loses its very life. The Lord cannot stay there—the Lord is not satisfied with that kind of 'service'. If you cook nicely only when there is some sraddha ceremony, and on other days you only give dal and rice, this is not service to the Lord. Service to the Lord must be eternal, it is every day service. People make sraddha ceremony once a week, they think it removes their sins, then they sin again and make a sraddha ceremony again. But true devotees of the Lord serve the Lord at every moment, at every second. Remember this.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay

* * *

"I Want to Be a Good Follower of My Gurudev"

Speaking online to devotees in Ecuador
28 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 1

...Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj used Gurudev, Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, for the service to the devotees, and Gurudev gave that opportunity to me also even though I am a fallen soul, I do not have any qualities or qualifications, I am very poor, I have no devotees' qualification.

There are so many gurus in this world, but Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that it is very rare to find a pure disciple. You can get so many gurus, but you will not so easily get a pure, perfect disciple in this world. Actually, I have never wanted to be a Guru, and to this day I still do not think that I am a Guru. I always think that I want to be a good disciple of my Gurudev—I want to be a servitor of Gurudev's devotees, I want to be a good follower of my Gurudev. Like all his followers, I am also trying to fulfil his desire. And I want sadness, I want austerity if it pleases my Gurudev. Austerity is not a problem for me. If I become sad, it is not a problem—as long as I can make my Guru happy, that is sufficient for me in my life. If I can use all my senses in the service of my Guru, then I am satisfied thinking that I, a fallen soul, am being useful to my Gurudev.

I want benefit for Gurudev's Mission, I want to help devotees. I do not want any position. Actually, I never chose my service—I have always been happy to do whatever service Gurudev used me for. So many problems can come, so many things can come, but I promised to my Guru that I will not run away from service. I want to use my last drop of blood for my Gurudev's service, for the service of his Mission. That is my promise, that is my determination, and I do not think that it is my duty, I have forgotten all about duty—I only want to make His Divine Grace happy. This is my ultimate desire.

There is so much confusion and so many problems going on in the Western community, but still some devotees are still always with me, some devotees are helping me, remembering me, and I think that it is only Gurudev's mercy because I have no quality and qualification—I have none of the qualities that are necessary for a Vaishnav! I have nothing, I am only a tiny jiva soul, but if I can be used for service in some way, that is sufficient for me.

I saw in Ramayan that when they were building the bridge to Lanka, Hanuman would bring all the huge stones, but there was also one tiny squirrel who would go to the river, put its tail in the water, scoop some sand and shake that sand off at the bridge. I also want to be like that squirrel—I want to be a small servitor. I do not want to be a big servitor, I do not think that I am a Guru. You know that I am not that kind of person—I go marketing, I go here, there, everywhere. Some think, "I write books, so why will I go to cook?" No, Gurudev's servitor will do whatever is required. Whatever task Gurudev gives me, everything is service. I do not think that something is a bad quality, or that this is a bad service and that is a good service. I am not choosy—I must do whatever service comes to me. This is my mood, and this is my happiness. I am praying to you all, to everybody, that you may please engage me as your friend, as your brother, as your servant—please use me for the service of Gurudev's Mission.

* * *

Month of Service—Life of Service

13 October 2019, Kolkata

Today Kartik-vrata, or niyom-seva, starts. Our temple observes it from purnima to purnima, and some other temples do it from dvadasi to dvadasi.

One day I asked Gurudev what niyom-seva meant. Gurudev joked in reply, "You know that 'niyom' means 'rules' and 'seva' means 'service'! Rules of service." He explained that every temple always follows it, but it is actually very difficult to follow Rupa Goswami. Such life is extremely strict, and it is very difficult to follow these rules. For example, in niyom-seva month you must sleep on the floor and take prasadam from a plate on the floor without using your hands (like a cow). It is very difficult. Still, every temple observes niyom-seva, and some devotees in our temple do it as well. You cannot take beans, lau (white pumpkin), tomato, and some other vegetables during the Kartik month.

There was also one story in Gurudev's time. When Damodar Maharaj was in charge of our Kaikhali temple, he was always strict and practised in a very pure way, but Gurudev told him, "You cannot make ornaments with pure gold. You must give some alloy, then only can you make an ornament from it." One day, the pujari in Kaikhali cooked some patal (patal is not taken in Kartik month), and willingly or unwillingly (I do not know it) he put that patal subji on Damodar Maharaj's plate. Damodar Maharaj jumped up and started shouting at him. He left Kaikhali and came to Gurudev. Gurudev was resting at that time (you know that Gurudev always takes noon prasadam very early, at 11:30-11:45 a.m.). So, when Damodar Maharaj came, Gurudev's servitor told him that Gurudev was resting. Damodar Maharaj stayed and waited—he was sitting, sitting, and sitting. Then, Gurudev woke up at about 2:30 p.m. and was told that Damodar Maharaj was waiting outside to see him. Gurudev was surprised, "It is 2:30 now, why has he come? He is supposed to be resting." The servitor replied, "Some problem has happened." Gurudev said, "OK, call him in." Damodar Maharaj came inside and said, "I will not stay in that temple. I will not take prasadam from that pujari's hands again! He must leave, then only I will go back there! Why did he put patal on my plate?!" At first, Gurudev told him, "Maharaj, those who do niyom-seva, who follow all rules and regulations are the highest class of Vaishnavs and they will never see patal on their plate—they will always see prasad. I do not take patal, I take prasadam, then why do you take or see patal?" Then, Gurudev explained to him, "You are in charge of the temple, you maintain the temple, but nobody wants to go there because you are always strict." You know, Damodar Maharaj would send somebody to the market to buy one-two-rupee worth of kacha lanka (green chilli) and would expect to get a receipt for it! How will the man selling chilli give a receipt? He has no paper, no pen! He is not that kind of man who gives receipts at the market, but Damodar Maharaj demanded the receipt. That is why Gurudev told that Damodar Maharaj was extremely strict and nobody wanted to stay with him. Gurudev sent that boy to Kaikhali and told him to please tolerate Damodar Maharaj, that Damodar Maharaj was very strict, but a good man. So, Gurudev told Damodar Maharaj, "If he leaves, who will be the pujari? Will you do the puja and cook yourself? If you can do everything yourself, then I do not mind it, I can take the pujari to another place. Otherwise, if you tell this boy to get out, where will I get a new pujari?" Gurudev joked, "I am an old man—I cannot produce a new boy now." He also said, "Maharaj, you are doing this niyom-seva for yourself and you want to oust this boy because he has made a mistake and given you patal, but if he leaves, it will hamper the service to Radha Raman. Who will be responsible for this?" I was there when Gurudev told him that (in Bengali), and I heard what Gurudev had told him.

I remember also very well what Gurudev said (in Bengali also)—Gurudev said that niyom-seva means following rules and regulations, but in the temple, those who want to be a proper devotee, who want to follow Krishna consciousness, they always follow rules and regulations—they always follow Gurudev's order, Gurudev's instruction. In other words, niyom-seva means rules and regulations of service, but those who want to be a devotee, who wants to be a proper devotee, always, all the time follow rules and regulation—they do niyom-seva all year. Proper sannyasis or proper brahmacharis practise niyom-seva all year round. Why is it necessary to observe only one month? Only one month is not sufficient. Proper practitioners will do niyom-seva during all their life, until their death—they always chant, they always think about and engage themselves in service of the Lord. However, if one does not follow these rules and regulations, if one goes against rules, for them it is necessary to observe this niyom-seva month. That is what Gurudev told. These are the main things.

I remember one or two years ago one devotee did not take prasadam at the temple—he would collect bhoga, offer it to the Deities, but he would not take prasadam. What did he eat? He would go to the house of one lady who would cook for him during the niyom-seva month. When I heard this, I told him, "You go there by motorcycle late at night after the Deities go to rest, take prasadam and come back. It does not look good, and everybody in the district say bad things about you. Moreover, a lady cooks for you and you think you are becoming a great Vaishnav. It is not good for you." He understood that he should not do this.

Everybody wants to do niyom-seva, but suppose we go to Vrindavan—we spend one-two days on the train, how can we do niyom-seva there? Where will we get such things on the train? Also, you are supposed to cook atop chal (raw, not parboiled rice), it takes a long time to cook such rice and it is very difficult to digest it—taking such rice creates a lot of stomach problem for me. Gurudev also could not tolerate that kind of rice. You know that when Gurudev visited foreign countries, he would always carry good quality parboiled rice from India. Also, you are supposed to make only one subji, mix with with dal and serve this mixed subji with rice. When we stayed in the Nabadwip temple, we would do it for three days in Gurudev's time. However, if you give that kind of prasadam when so many devotees come for Param Guru Maharaj's festival, everybody will be unhappy.

Also, niyom-seva is not for the Deities. Just as when we follow Ekadasi, we do not offer only Ekadasi bhoga to the Deities on this day (we offer all the other things too—rice, dal, subji, etc.) Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also followed Ekadasi. Guru Maharaj, Gurudev followed Ekadasi. Now that Gurudev is in samadhi, we offer him rice, dal, subji, everything on Ekadasi, but when Gurudev was present, he showed the example to us—because he is the teacher, if he does not show the example, how will we know it then? That is why he followed all rules and regulations. Niyom-seva is also like that.

We do not stop anybody—if anybody wants to do it, they can do it, but through service. You follow Ekadasi, you do niyom-seva, and you do not do any service—not like that. Sometimes people also go to Vrindavan at this time and for one month they only chant on their beads and do nothing. If somebody wants to do niyom-seva, I have no objection, Gurudev also did not prohibit anyone—if somebody wants to do it, they can do. But I cannot tell you that you have to do it because it is very difficult to follow niyom-seva month.

Kartik, or Damodar, month is the dearmost month of Srimati Radharani, of Sri Kirtika-nandini. Today is 13 October, Sunday, and it is still Padmanabha month—Damodar Month has not started yet. Damodar month starts from Monday, and today is the beginning of the niyom-seva month.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Religion of Jiva Soul

14 October 2019, Kolkata, part 1

Basically, the religion of the jiva soul means always thinking about Krishna, always remembering Krishna, always remembering that you are a servant of Krishna.

When the jiva souls is attracted by the illusory environment, it cannot easily remember what is its duty or who it is—the soul cannot understand it because the real things become hidden inside the soul (under the influence of the illusory environment). Because the soul forgets Krishna and becomes attached to the illusory environment, it cannot remember, it does not know who it is. Actually, almost all of the jiva souls, 99.9% of the jiva souls in this world, cannot remember properly who they are and what is their duty. They cannot understand it.

Anyone who has great fortune, great luck or great intelligence (sumedha) can understand this, but such person who can understand that they are an eternal servant of the Lord, of Krishna, is very rare. When a person remembers and understands this, then by fortune their faith awakens and through that faith they get good association, then he can understand everything. It depends upon one's faith. There are different kinds of faith—everybody's faith is not the same. "Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari: quality of devotion depends faith." (Cc, 2.22.64)" One's devotion depends upon faith.

Adau sadhu-sanga, tatah bhajana-kriya, tatah anartha-nivrtti—first comes good association, then practice and then liberation from unwanted habits and elements. When bad elements are slowly, slowly removed, then more faith comes gradually—one gets stronger and strongest faith. Faith is followed by devotion (when faith comes, then comes devotion). Then the person can understand that one worships the Lord by the mercy of the Guru who descends to this world through the guru-parampara.

If we can follow such Guru's instruction properly, then we can practise properly. Through proper practice we can get service association and service right—we can get the right to chant the Holy Name. It is necessary to attain the right (adhikar). We must get the right to enter Nama-hatta, the market of the Holy Name, and enter the seva-rajya, the service planet. When you get such right and enter the service planet properly, then you can understand everything easily. So many good things come through service, and that is our happiness—our happiness comes through service.

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

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

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

Even sleeping time, even going to bathroom, going to toilet is also service. Taking prasadam is also service. Taking prasadam means you are giving honour to prasadam, you are giving respect to prasadam. This is what prasad-seva (service to prasadam) means. We do not 'eat' prasadam—we give respect to prasad.

* * *

Mature Service Life

14 October 2019, Kolkata, part 2

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)

We come and go, come and go, but those who are fortunate souls can get the holy seeds of devotion, bhakti-lata-bij. When we get a devotional seed from our spiritual master, we must take care of it properly through sravan (hearing), kirtan (chanting), through smaran (remembering), through pada-sevanam (serving the lotus feet of Guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord), dasya (serving in the mood of a servant), sakhya (serving in the mood of a friend), atma-nivedanam (self-surrender), sadhu-sanga (good association), nama-sankirtan (chanting the Holy Name), Bhagavat-sravan (listening to Bhagavatam), Mathura-vas (residing in Mathura), sraddhaya sri-murti-seva (serving the Deities with faith). If you protect your seed properly in this way and take care of it, then the seed will slowly, slowly grow into a tree (bhakti-lata vriksa). Sometimes, some unwanted branches will also appear on this tree—that is bhukti-, mukti-, siddhi-kami (desire for enjoyment, liberation and material perfections). You must cut them. Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami gives this example in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. When such branches appear on the tree, that is in your devotional life, it means some obstacle, some problem comes up, but all such unwanted elements can be removed through proper sravanam and kirtanam (hearing and chanting, listening and practising) and through proper service. Sometimes you do something and you unconsciously make some offence or commit some sin, but that too can be removed through service and through Nama-sankirtan. These are the main things.

You must give time for service, chanting and the Lord. This is our practising life, and this is how we must practise. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explains all this properly to Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (in His Sanatana-Siksa, teachings to Srila Sanatan Goswami). You can read this chapter and learn from it. Everything is explained very nicely there—what is bhajana-kriya (practice) and how to do it, how we must spend each day of our life in the service of the Lord.

"Maya-mugdha jivera nahi krsna-srti-jnana: charmed by maya, the conditioned soul has no knowledge or remembrance of Krishna." I have just told this. Those who always enjoy, who are always attached with the illusory environment, cannot always remember Krishna.

Vedas, Puranas, and other scriptures are created by the mercy of the Lord. By the mercy of Krishna, we have got a sadhu, we got a bona fide Guru, we got the association of great Vaishnavs, we have got scriptures, Vedas, Puranas—Krishna has given us everything.

kona bhagye kona jivera 'sraddha' yadi haya
tabe sei jiva 'sadhu-sanga' karaya
sadhu-sanga haite haya 'sravana-kirtana'
sadhana-bhaktye haya 'sarvanartha-nivartana'
anartha-nivrtti haile bhaktye 'nistha' haya
nistha haite sravanadye 'ruchi' upajaya

"If, by some fortune, a soul gets faith, they then begin to associate with devotees. Having got good association, the soul then practises listening and chanting (sravan, kirtan), and, as a result of such daily practice, all unwanted elements (anarthas) disappear. When the offences are removed, you become steady and firm (nistha) in your practice. From this steadiness and by hearing the words of sadhus, taste awakens within you."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 23.9-11)

Through sravan and kirtan (hearing and chanting; listening and practising), all your bad elements will go away—after that, you will get attachment to doing your service properly every day. If you have some anarthas or you are attacked by some bad elements, you will not get taste through your practice or your service. That is why it is necessary to have attachment to your service. Gurudev also always told that everybody does some service, but not everybody has service attachment. Somebody may do some service for one day, two days, three days, four days, five days, seven days, ten days, but after that they forget that service. We must try to have attachment to our service. Attachment comes by doing and doing service. However, if some other things come to you as a result of your service, then your service can run away from you. This is called offence to service (seva-aparadh). That is why we must be steady and firm (dhira). If you practise every moment and every day, then it will be good for you—in this way, your devotional life will go the proper way and to the proper place.

"We must not become hopeless thinking that we do not have sufficient sukriti, so we will just resign, sit and do nothing—even if Maya Devi comes at this time to advise you and whispers into your ear that you should indulge in such laziness and sluggishness, you must untiringly, constantly remember to humbly pray to Krishna and the lotus feet of a bona fide guru to fully surrender in the association of bona fide devotees. How will I be able to accumulate sukriti if we do not keep the sacrificial fire of hankering always bright aflame within my heart? If you wait for sukriti to come on its own while the boat of your life is floating in the waters of bad fortune, it is virtually impossible to attain any auspiciousness."

(From Guidance 3)

* * *

Purify Yourself

14 October 2019, Kolkata, part 3

I was reading yesterday that many different gurus have so many disciples—thousands of thousands of disciples, but among all those disciples not everybody is a guru. There are so many disciples, so many gurus in this world. We must be very careful about this.

We must practise very nicely, we must continue our practising life carefully. When you stay with Gurudev, you should not only stay with your body and mind—you must stay with Gurudev with your heart and soul. We must give proper respect to Gurudev. This is the main thing for us. If we do not give respect to our Guru from our heart, it means we have a big problem. We must give proper respect to the Guru. If we do not give proper respect to the Guru, then what is the value of our devotion? What for have we joined devotional activities? What for have we joined Krishna consciousness life then? The main thing is proper respect. Also, it is necessary to have chastity to your Gurudev. Chastity is the main thing too.

Now is niyom-seva month, kartik-vrata month. We can use this time to try to teach ourselves. We should not teach others—we must teach ourselves. This is the main thing. First we must purify ourselves. We should not try to purify others—first we must purify ourselves through sravanam and kirtanam (hearing and chanting, or practising). We have not come here for wealth, money, gold, property, etc.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay

* * *

Watch Out

15 October 2019, Kolkata, part 1

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

We explained yesterday how we can improve our practising life, how we should practise. Adau sraddha, tatah sadhu-sanga, tatah bhajana-kriya, tatah anartha-nivrtti, tatah nistha, tata ruchi, prema, bhava, maha-bhava (first comes faith, then good association, then practice beings, then offences are removed, then comes steadiness, then taste, love, divine love, and great divine love). This is the way how we can can proceed and improve our practising life, our spiritual life. These are the main things in our spiritual life.

Sometimes, we can be distributing preaching in the proper way, but we ourselves cannot reach our goal, cannot reach our destination. This happens because of our mind. Sometimes some disturbance comes from our mind and the mind starts going in another direction, in its own way, that is why we cannot properly proceed towards our destination, we cannot practise properly. You must be firm in your mind—your mind must be determined. Your firm intention must be, "I must reach my proper destination!"

I told that day also [on His Divine Grace's Vyasa Puja day] that Gurudev has already given you the ticket to go to Goloka Vrindavan, but sometimes the train stops somewhere on the way and your mind tells you to get off the train. As a result, you cannot get to your destination at the proper time. Some disturbance happens, we follow our mind and we end up deferred.

Another time comes also when we become lazy, we want to live at leisure, and we want to get some relief from the service we are doing. As soon as we get that relief from service and there appears some vacancy, Maya Devi can attack us.

Therefore, practitioners must be always careful. We must be always alert so we may any time not fall prey to such circumstance. We must always stay attached to our service, we must always stay attached to our practice.

* * *

Authorised Service

15 October 2019, Kolkata, part 2

There can be different kinds of service. I heard from Gurudev that one time Srila Madhav Goswami Maharaj was reading a newspaper, and Srila Jajavar Maharaj, Srila Madhusudan Maharaj, and Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj were sitting together. Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj gave an order to Srila Madhusudan Maharaj, "Bring me the newspaper from Madhav Maharaj, I want to see it." At that time Srila Madhusudan Maharaj was chanting on his beads—so, what will he do? He thought he could continue chanting with his right hand and give the newspaper with his other hand, and he did so—he gave the newspaper to Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj with his left hand. Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj said then, "You think when I am giving you an instruction to bring me the newspaper, it is not service, but when you are chanting on your beads, that is service. When any order that comes from a Vaishnav, that is service." Srila Jajavar Maharaj, Srila Madhav Maharaj, everybody agreed with that—yes, if any order comes from a Vaishnav, that is service. It can be anything—any way you can fulfil the desire of a Vaishnav is service; any way you can fulfil the desire of your Guru is service.

Gurudev also told that sometimes we want to read Srimad Bhagavatam and we do not want to read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, but if you have not got any instruction, any order from your Guru to read it, then even though your are reading Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, such reading without the instruction of the Guru will be equal to reading a newspaper. However, if you get an inspiration from your Guru to read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita or to read Srimad Bhagavatam, then you will be able to understand the meaning of Srimad Bhagavatam, the meaning of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita properly. That is the main thing.

Also, when we sing the last song of Siksastakam 'Bandhu-gana! Sunaha vachana mora,' we only sing the half of it—we do not sing the last part, we stop there. Why? Because we have not got the permission from our Guru to do it. Srila Guru Maharaj (Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj) said, "You have no right to sing that part." This is anadhikar-charcha (lit. 'unauthorised, incompetent interference'). That is why our temple does not sing that part.

* * *

Internal Initiation

15 October 2019, Kolkata, part 3

We give second initiation in our sampradaya because it gives you right to enter the kitchen in the temple or do puja, Deity worship. However, the problem is that many practitioners do not recite the gayatri slokas properly, and they always forget them as a result. They only take the mantras from Gurudev and then do not recite them, otherwise if they recite it daily and properly how can they forget it? When Gurudev gave me second initiation, he told me, "If you can recite this gayatri properly for one year, from today until next year, you can feel some inspiration within you, some feelings will come." I remember Gurudev told me this privately, inside his room. Ultimately, such things come from the Guru.

I remember one day I came back from the crops field. I would go there early in the morning and come back after lunch—the labour worked until 2 o'clock, and then I would take a bus and come back. I did not go there by car at that time. That day, when I came back, my legs were full of mud, so I came to the centenary building and starting washing my legs. I had washed one leg and my other leg was still not washed when somebody came to me and said, "Gurudev is calling you." I went as I was, with one leg washed and the other leg not washed. Seeing me, Gurudev said, "So much mud on your legs!" I said, "I had already started to wash it, but I had washed only one leg when they told me you wanted to see me." Gurudev said then, "Oh, today is your second initiation, do you not know it?" I said, "No, nobody told me." Then Gurudev told me, "OK, go and wash your other leg and come." This is how I got second initiation. I had no fruit, no flowers that day, and these are external things. Devotees arrange big plates, but actually it is necessary to give your heart—other things are external. Internal things, heart, is necessary.

I remember also when Gurudev gave me sannyas, he put his hand on my shoulder, and some feelings came to me at that time. He was sitting near me and put his hand on my shoulder...

* * *

Six Faults

15 October 2019, Kolkata, part 4

I always try to serve Gurudev's mission, I always think about Gurudev's mission, but in the meantime some bad elements also come. I have very much problem with that, you can say I am an example of bad elements otherwise why am I known all over the world as an angry man? I am always angry, I always chastise everybody. The opposition group chastises me so much now, but Gurudev has given me so much patience much—I always tolerate everything and do not do anything to them.

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu says that there are six obstacles—atyahara, prayascha, prajalpa, niyamagraha, laulancha, janasangancha—and these six elements, six faults destroy one's devotion.

Atyahara means too much hoarding. Formally, it means eating too much or keeping something aside. For example, you have money, but you do not spend it on Deities or devotees. You must depend upon the Lord—He will give you everything. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also writes that atyahara means collecting too much for yourself, for your own enjoyment, keeping something aside for yourself.

Prayascha means giving too much time for your enjoyment, for your family enjoyment, for your own interest, etc.

Prajalpa means unnecessary talk. Always talk little, not so much, always be mitabhasi (মিতভাষী, reticent, reserved)—always talk little. Too much talking is a very bad habit.

Niyamagraha means not giving respect, not giving attention to that which is favourable to devotion; always neglecting what is favourable to devotion.

Janasangancha means always mixing with outsiders, non-devotees.

And laulancha. It means being chancal, being always restless, fickle-minded.

These six types of faults destroy devotion. Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu told that.

* * *

Six Qualities

15 October 2019, Kolkata, part 5

Bhakti-anukul, what is favourable to devotion, means you have (1) enthusiasm for devotion. You always enthusiastic to do devotional activities—to cook, to do puja, to chant kirtans or do any other service. You are always enthusiastic (utsaha). Whenever there is some festival, an appearance or disappearance day of our Guru-varga, Janmastami, Radhastami, or any other festival, you always want to arrange something on this day.

(2) Nischaya guna means drdha visvas, the strongest faith. If you have a strongest faith in the Lord, it is a good quality (guna).

(3) Dhairya means tolerance (sahisnu). Those who have much tolerance and much patience can conquer the whole world. It is necessary to have patience.

(4) Always make festivals, always give something to those who come, always cook and do good for others. Preach, chant kirtans. These are our main activities. You must attachment (asakti) to service.

(5) Asat-sanga tyag. Always avoid bad association, always ignore such association. Always ignore it.

And (6) you must learn from sadhus—you must see how a sadhu passes his days, what activities he engages in and do that too. You must try to follow it. For example, you can hear how Gurudev glorifies his Guru Maharaj and you can try to follow that.

bhajane utsaha yara bhitare bahire,
sudurlabha krsna-bhakti pabe dhire dhire

"Those who are enthusiastic to practise Krishna consciousness within their heart and in their behaviour, gradually get devotion to Krishna which is otherwise extremely rare to attain."

(Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur)

Those who have enthusiasm for chanting the Holy Name, for doing service and other devotional activities, who like to serve devotees in various ways, they will gradually get devotion to Krishna (Krishna-bhakti).

Those who have the strongest faith in the Lord are called sraddha-vana-jana, and they are the perfect persons for the practice of Krishna consciousness, for the worship of the Lord.

* * *

Do Not Overstep

15 October 2019, Kolkata, part 5

If you want to accept something from anybody, you must also give them something (whatever you can give) in return. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says also,

suddha krsna-bhakta tanra svabhavika dosa
ara tanra deha-dosa na kariha rosa

Those who are pure devotees sometimes have some little fault, but you must not see such devotees' fault—do not become angry about the fault of those who have pure devotion. You may sometimes see some little fault, but you must not search for faults in such devotees.

ganga-jala brahmata haite nahe chyuta
sei-rupa suddha-bhakta jada-deha-gata

Sometimes, if you scoop some Ganges water, you will also get some mud in the scooped water—there is always mud mixed in the water, but you must not think that the Ganges is impure. Ganges water is always pure. In the same way, if you see some fault in any great Vaishnav, you must overlook that.

anya-jala ganga-labha haye kabhu naya
tad-rupa bhaktera mala kabhu nahi raya

sadhu-dosa-drasta yei krsna-ajna tyaji'
garbe bhakti-bhrasta haiya mare adho maji'

Just as you cannot compare Ganges water with any other water, in the same way you cannot compare a devotee to a non-devotee—the difference is vast. If a devotee has some fault, Krishna will remove it.

Srila Saraswati Thakur also says that Mathura is the higher than Vaikuntha, Vrindavan is higher than Mathura, Govardhan is higher than Vrindavan, and Radha Kunda is higher than even Govardhan. Among all worshippable places Radha Kunda is the highest place, but not everybody has the right to stay in Radha Kunda. Because it is an extremely high place, you must be always careful about staying in Radha Kunda—you may stay there and go to hell also.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

At the Temple of Adi Haridev

Adi Haridev Temple, Sri Govardhan
6 November 2018, part 1

By the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma we have come with the parikrama here at the temple of Sri Adi Haridev. Vajranabha, a great-grandson of Lord Krishna, installed three main Deities in Vrindavan Dham—Adi Keshav, Adi Gopal, and Adi Haridev. Adi Gopal is the Deity who was later found by Srila Madhavendra Puripad. Adi Keshav is in Mathura, inside the birthplace of Lord Krishna. And Adi Haridev is at this place in Govardhan. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita describes why this place is special, I will read from there a little later.

When Sriman Mahaprabhu did Vrindavan parikrama, He stayed here at this nat mandir (He slept here) for three nights. Some of you may find it difficult to sit on the stone floor, but before there used to be no stone, and Mahaprabhu spent three nights here. As I have said, the Deity of Adi Haridev in this temple was installed by Krishna's great-grandson (prapautra) more than five thousand years ago.

When we go for the parikrama tomorrow, we will also come to see Govardhan-dhari Gopal (His temple is near Govinda Kunda). This Deity was also installed by Krishna's great-grandson and was later found and re-established by Srila Madhavendra Puri. The third Deity, Adi Keshav, is in Krishna's birthplace in Mathura. Many go there to see the prison house of Kamsa, people are attracted by the jail of Kamsa, but people do not go to see Adi Keshav—it is necessary to take the darshan of Adi Keshav when you go there. We find these three Deities installed by Vajranabha are mentioned and given honour to by Mahaprabhu, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, and in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita also.

When Mahaprabhu came here, He would sing a song here. What song was that? [His Divine Grace chants the following kirtan:]

(jaya) yasoda-nandana krsna gopala govinda

(jaya) madana-mohana hari ananta mukunda

(jaya) achyuta madhava rama vrndavana-chandra

(jaya) murali-vadana syama gopi-jana-nanda

As we have come here, we must also chant Mahaprabhu's kirtan here. When Mahaprabhu came here, He chanted the glories of Krishna, and when we come here, must chant the glories of Mahaprabhu. [His Divine Grace chants the following kirtan:]

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

If Sri Gaura had not come, what would have happened? How would we have maintained our lives? Who would have revealed to the world Sri Radha's glory and the extremes of Her ecstatic divine love?

(radhar mahima ke janata)
(gaura yadi na asita radhar mahima ke janata)

Who would have known Sri Radha's glory? If Sri Gaura would not have come, who would have known Sri Radha's glory?

madhura vrnda- vipina madhuri
pravesa chaturi sara
varaja-yuvati bhavera bhakati
sakati ha-ita kara?

Who would have the great expertise needed to enter into the sweetness of sweet Vrindavan? Who would have any qualification for the Vraja-gopis' ecstatic devotion?

gao punah punah gaurangera guna
sarala kariya mana
e bhava-sagare emana dayala
na dekhiye eka-jana

Sing Gauranga's glories again and again, keeping your heart simple. In the ocean of this material world, no one has ever seen anyone so merciful.

(ami) gauranga baliya na genu galiya
kemane dharinu de
vasura-hiya pasana diya
(vidhi) kemane gadiyachhe

I chant 'Gauranga', but have not melted (with love). How have I maintained this body? How has Providence made Vasu a stone rather than a heart?

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay Sri Govardhan parikrama ki jay
Jay Sri Vrindavan parikrama ki jay
Jay Adi Haridev ki jay

I have already told you what place we have come to. This is the temple of Haridev. Every year when we do Govardhan parikrama we come here to offer our obeisance following the order of our Guru-varga. After that, we will continue to Chakleshwar Mahadev and Manasi Ganga—we will take some water on our heads and from tomorrow we will start the parikrama of Govardhan.

Do not be afraid. The parikrama of Govardhan is about fourteen crosh (twenty-eight miles, or forty-five kilometres). The shape of Govardhan resembles a peacock. Actually, devotees used to do the entire parikrama of Govardhan three-four times every day, but new devotees come, they cannot walk twenty-eight miles in one day, so many become afraid and decide not to come for this parikrama. Everybody must come and do this parikrama. If we started out in the morning, we could do easily do the whole of the parikrama in one day and return in the evening, but we do not want to do it one day, that is why we have divided the parikrama into two days. Those who cannot walk can also hire some van or rikshaw and go along with us. Do not worry, come for the parikrama—if you come and chant Krishna-kirtan, you can easily do it. If you keep thinking about material things, about your mother, etc., you will not be able to make even one step; but if you go chanting Krishna-kirtan, you can easily walk not only twenty-eight miles, but even one hundred miles.

Srila Sanatan Goswami used to stay at Govardhan (we will go to his bhajan kutir today) and would do the parikrama of Govardhan every day—he would circumambulate Govardhan even in his old age, when he had become very old. One day, his disciple, or you can say his younger brother, Srila Rupa Goswami said, "Prabhu, you have become very old now, how will you do this parikrama of fourteen crosh?" Saying this, Srila Rupa Goswami brought a Govardhan sila and gave it to Srila Sanatan Goswami. After that, Srila Sanatan Goswami did the parikrama of a Govardhan sila instead.

Our Gurudev is very merciful. Some devotees wanted to do this parikrama, and Gurudev installed the Deity of Giriraj Govardhan (Anu Giriraj) in the temple that you have seen today—the temple where we stayed and paid our obeisance first. This temple was established by our Gurudev. Giriraj Govardhan manifested suddenly when a tractor was ploughing the land for the cultivation of wheat. Gurudev called a Giridhari panda (priest) and asked him to have a look at the sila. The priest confirmed that it was Govardhan, and after that Gurudev made a small room and installed that Govardhan sila there. Later, he made the big temple you see now. Those who stay at our temple can easily go and do Govardhan parikrama four times a day, but it is also necessary to serve the temple—if you leave the service at the temple and go out wandering around Govardhan, this is not your duty. Gurudev has installed Govardhan sila in the temple, and you must do the parikrama there, you must serve the temple. It is not necessary to go around Govardhan every day. To go in the morning, walk all day, come back tired and go to sleep—this is not our line. Gurudev gave us the temple and we must serve the temple.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur tell us that we have not come to this society, to Krishna consciousness, to become a Vaishnav—we do not want to become a Vaishnav or a great personality, all we want is to be a servant of a servant of a Vaishnav. This is our hope. If somebody says, "I am a Vaishnav," then they are not a Vaishnav; but if somebody says, "I am a servant, a menial servant of a Vaishnav," then they are a Vaishnav. Even Radharani and Her associates, Vraja gopis, say, "We do not have any devotion to Krishna." When Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was at Radha Kunda, he did not discuss Vraja gopis' devotion there—what did he discuss? He discussed Prahlad Maharaj's devotion. Vraja gopis have so much devotion to Krishna, but they say, "We have no devotion to Krishna. We do not have any devotion at all compared to Prahlad Maharaj." They are very humble. Those who have such humility are the highest Vaishnavs. Everybody says that gopis are the greatest devotees, but they themselves say that they do not have any devotion! You must understand these things.

"ami ta' vaisnava," e-buddhi ha-ile,
amani na ha'ba ami

"If I think, 'I am a Vaishnav,' then I will never stop expecting honour from others (I will never become void of the desire for honour)."

(Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

"I have become a Vaishnav!"—if such feeling comes to you, then you will not be able to give honour to others.

* * *

Glory of Manasi Ganga

Adi Haridev Temple, Sri Govardhan
6 November 2018, part 2

This Haridev Temple is located to the south of Manasi Ganga. Manasi Ganga is a pond created by Lord Krishna. It is very crowded there today, so we will not be able to speak there—we will only go there and take some water on our heads; that is why we can say something about Manasi Ganga here.

How did Manasi Ganga come to us?

All Vraja-basis thought that Krishna was just a little boy, the son of Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda. Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda also thought, "Krishna is the child of our house, He is our son." Nobody could understand that Krishna was the Lord Himself, that He could do anything. So, one time, when it came to the time of Asari Purnima, everybody wanted to go to the Ganges to bathe in it. What did Krishna do then? He invented, created this Ganges by the strength of His mind (manasa). He told everybody, "It is not necessary for you all to go so far to the Ganges! You can bathe here in this Manasi Ganga!"

We always take the water of the Ganges on our heads—we never bathe in it because to bathe in it you would have to touch the Ganges water with your feet, and we are always afraid of it. For the same reason we do not want to bathe in Radha Kunda or Manasi Ganga. We do not want to touch with our feet the water where Krishna Himself bathed, where Radharani Herself bathed, where all the Vraja-gopis themselves bathed. We consider ourselves very unqualified, that is why we are not able to bathe in Radha Kunda or Manasi Ganga. We have not been able to earn such qualification. Krishna, Radharani, all the Vraja-gopis and other devotees of Vraja Dham bathed in this water, so if we can only take some drops of water from there and place it on our heads, that is sufficient for us.

So, when it came to the time of Asadi Purnima, Nanda Maharaj, Mother Yasoda and other Vraja-basis wanted to travel to the Ganges to bathe in her water. They lived on the outskirts of Govardhan at that time and would have to walk a very long way. Krishna thought, "All holy places (tirthas) are present in Vrindavan and Govardhan! Why do My father and mother need to go so far to the Ganges?" Then He created this Ganga here, but Krishna cannot say, "I have created the Ganges! I have brought her here!" Instead, He told all the Vraja-basis, "Why are you going to the Ganges? The Ganges is here! You wanted to walk so far to bathe in the Ganges, but, knowing that all holy places, including the Ganges herself, are present in Vrindavan, Ganga Devi herself has appeared before you!" And Krishna said, "From today this holy place will be known as Manasi Ganga!"

The banks of Manasi Ganga (the stone steps, the bricks, etc.) were later made by Man Singh, a king of Jaipur.

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami wrote a sloka praying to Manasi Ganga,

gandharvika mura-vimardana nau-vihara
lila vinoda rasa-nirbhara-bhoginiyam
govardhanojjvala sila-akulam unnayanti
vichi-bharair avatu manasa-jahnavi mam

"She who enjoys the sweet mellows of boating pastimes of Sri Radha-Krishna and who has lifted the effulgent Govardhan-sila by its rolling waves—may this Manasa Ganga protect me from all that is unfavourable to devotion."

(Sri Vraja-vilasa-stavah, 64—Srila Raghunath Das Goswami)

Manasi Ganga is a playground of Radharani and Krishna—They play here in a boat. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami prays, "O Manasi Ganga! Please protect me!" Who is Manasi Ganga? He says, "I know that Radha and Krishna always play in boats in your water."

Every year on Mudiya Purnima (it is called 'mudiya' because men shave (mundan) their heads on this day), thousands of people come to Manasi Ganga and bathe in it.

You know that there are three hills in Vraja Dham. One is Govardhan (we will do the Govardhan parikrama tomorrow and the day after tomorrow).

By the way, the day after tomorrow is also Govardhan-puja, Annakut Mahotsav. Do not forget it. Today is dipavali—you must offer lamps at the temple. Please buy lamps in clay pots, light them and place them on the four sides of the temple where we are staying. It is 'deep-dan mahotsav' ('festival of offering lamps'). You can offer lamps today and tomorrow, for two days.

So, the first hill is Govardhan, the second one is Varshana, where Radharani stays (we will go there on our last day, on 10 November), and the third hill is Nandishwar, where the house of Nanda Maharaj and Krishna is (we will also go there later). These are the three hills of Vrindavan, and they also represent Vishnu (Govardhan), Rudra (Nandishwar), and Brahma (Varshana).

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita describes Mahaprabhu's visit to this temple in the eighteenth chapter of Madhya-lila:

preme matta chali' aila govardhana-grama
'harideva' dekhi' tahan ha-ila pranama

"Mad with ecstatic love, the Lord came to the village known as Govardhan. There He saw the Deity named Haridev and offered His obeisances unto Him."

'mathura'-padmera pascima-dale yanra vasa
'harideva' narayana—adi parakasa

"Harideva is an incarnation of Narayan, and His residence is on the western petal of the lotus of Mathura."

harideva-age nache preme matta hana
saba loka dekhite aila ascharya suniya

"Mad with ecstatic love, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu began to dance before the Deity of Haridev. Hearing of the Lord's wonderful activities, all the people came to see Him."

Inside this temple of Haridev there is a Deity of Govardhan-dhari Haridev.

mayura-mukuta pitambara-dhari
murali-dhara govardhana-dhari

"He wears a peacock feather crown and yellow garments. He holds the flute and lifts the Govardhan Hill!"

jaya yasoda-nandana krsna murari
murali-dhara govardhana-dhari

"All glory to the son of Yasoda, Krishna, Murari. Glory to He who holds the flute and lifts the Govardhan Hill!"

If anyone does the parikrama of Govardhan and takes the darshan of Haridev, they achieve the result of rajasuya and asvamedha yajnas.

Like the temples in Vrindavan and Govardhan, the temple of Haridev is built with red stone. Sri Bhakti-ratnakar also says that Govardhan-ksetra is located to the west of Mathura and those who bathe in the Manasi Ganga, take the darshan of Haridev at Govardhan, celebrate Annakut Festival and circumambulate Govardhan, will never have to come back to this material world again.

Jay Sri Haridevjiu ki jay

* * *

On the Bank of Brahma Kunda

Sri Govardhan Parikrama
6 November 2018, part 3

We have come to Brahma Kunda. Do you remember where we have been today before that? Remember all the places, I will ask you in the evening. You must listen attentively and keep these things on your head and in your heart. First we went to the temple of Haridev where I also spoke about Manasi Ganga, and now we have come to Brahma Kunda. When Mahaprabhu stayed at Haridev Mandir, He would come here to bathe. This Brahma Kunda is also known as Brahma-guha (the cave of Brahma).

One day, Narad Muni came to Brahma and said, "Brahma, do you know that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Absolute Krishna has appeared in this Dvapar-yuga and is now growing in Nandalay? He plays now in Gokula and roams around Vrindavan." Now, Brahma creates the entire universe by the wish of Krishna. "Krsna haite chatur-mukha, hana krsna-sevonmukha—by Krishna's association, Brahma became devoted to Krishna's service." So, when Brahma heard that Krishna had appeared in this world, he was surprised, "What?! Krishna has come?! My Master has come to this world and I do not know about it?! I must go and see this!"

Then, Brahma came to Gokula and saw many boys playing with their friends and cows, and among those boys there was one boy who looked special. He understood that it must be that Krishna Narad was talking about. Then Brahma saw that Krishna was eating some fruit and gave half of the fruit He was eating to another boy, perhaps Madhumangal—and Maghumangal too was eating some fruit, his saliva, etc. was on the fruit and then he gave this half-eaten fruit to Krishna! Brahma thought, "Ugh, this is not my Krishna! We clean and offer fruits to Krishna, we could never offer Krishna the fruit that somebody has eaten! What kind of Krishna is this?! My Master does not take things from others like this! What is this? This cannot be Krishna!" Then Brahma decided to create some illusory environment. First, Brahma kept all of Krishna's nine million cows here in this place. When Krishna saw the cows had disappeared, He told His friends, "Wait, wait, wait! I will go and see what has happened." Krishna went to look for the cows, but He did not find a single cow, and by the time He came back to His friends, Brahma had hidden all of His friends too. Such was Brahma's play. He thought, "Let us see what kind of Krishna You are!" When Krishna saw His friends had gone too, He sat down and started meditating. In His meditation He understood, "Oh, Brahma, it is you! You have decided to test Me!" What did Krishna do then? He created all cows and all His friends from the hairs on His body, and everything continued running as before. When Brahma understood that he had made a mistake, He came and surrendered to Krishna and asked the Lord to forgive his offence.

This is the story of Brahma-guha, the place where Brahma hid all Krishna's cows and friends.

Jay Brahma Kunda ki jay!
Harinam sankirtan ki jay!

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

* * *

"Surrender to Giriraj"

Sri Govardhan Parikrama, Day One
7 November 2018, part 1

We have come to Aanyor-gram. They say in Hindi, "Aanyor," in Bengali, "Aro ano!" and in English, "Bring more!" This is the meaning of the word 'aanyor.'

When all the Vraja-basis offered prasadam to Giriraj Govardhan, Govardhan ate everything that was offered to Him. And not only Govardhan took whatever Vraja gopis had made for this day—all the sweetmeats and savouries—but having taken all offerings He said, "Aro ano! Bring more for Me! Give Me more!" The Vraja-gopis said, "Wait, wait! We will bring more from our homes! We will bring You everything we have!" But Govardhan said, "You do not have to go to your houses—I will take everything from your homes from here!" Then, Govardhan extended His hand so much that He reached all the houses and took everything from all the houses on this day!

That is why the name of this village is now Aanyor. This is the place where Govardhan sat and said, "Bring more! Bring more, I am not full yet!"

bhakter jinish prabhu lutiputi khay
abhakter jinish prabhu ulti nahi chai

"The Lord eats anything and everything when a devotee offers it, but He does not want anything from a non-devotee."

The Lord accepts everything and anything from His devotees. You will see tomorrow also—tomorrow is the day of that Govardhan Puja, and people will be offering so many things on this day. What does 'annakut' mean? It means 'a mountain of rice'—'kut' means 'a hill' or 'a mountain', and 'anna' means rice. Devotees offer Govardhan a mountain of rice on this day.

[His Divine Grace notices that there devotees missing from the parikrama group:]

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e-dosa dibe kare bhai?

"Coming and going, coming and going, and never learnt anything. You have been eating your own brain, who will you blame now, brother?"

"The fault is mine!" Some come with us but stay at the temple during the parikrama, they prefer to rest and sleep at this time, and it is all right with me—I cannot bring you here forcefully, but I have not come here for this. I have come here to give you some sukriti, and when you get that sukriti, the Lord will give some commission to me. The Lord will give all sukriti to you, and in the meantime I will get some 1-2% commission from that.

We have come here for this parikrama, but I see that not so many people have come—about fifty people have not come today.

Why are you afraid? Remember this—we are saranagata bhaktas, we must be surrendered. If we can surrender, then no matter what problem comes, we will not be afraid. When we surrender, it means we give everything up to the Lord or to our Gurudev. You must pray, "O Gurudev, I surrender to you—I cannot walk, but I am surrendering to you." If, on the other hand, you make your own arrangement, then the Lord will make you struggle even more. You must leave everything to the Lord, to Giriraj. If you make your own arrangements, then the Lord says, "You are making your own arrangements, therefore I will not look after you." Remember this—those who have no one, have the Lord; and those who have many things [to rely on], have nothing, the Lord is not by their side. "Kiser bhalo haya kabhu na bujhinu"—I do not know what is good for me, what is bad for me, I only know that I have come to You and I surrender to You.

Do you remember what Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says?

bado duhkha paiyachhi svatantra jivane
duhkha dure gelo o pada-varane

I experienced only great distress in my independent life. All my distress has gone away by embracing Your feet.

(Saranagati, 21.5)

"When I was independent I got so much pain, so much unhappiness, so much sadness, but all this sadness is gone from me when I surrendered to You!" You must surrender at the feet of the Lord.

* * *

Three Chambers of Heart

Evening class at Sri Govardhan
28 October 2019, translated from Bengali

Today, by the mercy of Gurudev, you have beautifully done this parikrama, and tomorrow we are going to do the biggest part of the parikrama of Govardhan. We will take prasadam and go.

Do not stay without the service of the Lord, without the narrations about the Lord. If you feel unwell and cannot go tomorrow, do not stay here and gossip and talk nonsense—if you have to stay, then take care of your health and engage in service. Tomorrow, everybody should have a shower, then take these pots here and bring some water from Manasi Ganga for the abhisekh of Sri Giriraj (do not bathe in Manasi Ganga, it is not necessary). According to your ability, get some sweets, fruit, etc., offer everything to Giriraj today, serve Giriraj from your heart and pray to Him that you may be able to serve Him and His devotees. You must pray to Giriraj, "O Lord, please give us Your mercy, please give us Your blessing so that we may serve You forever, until our death."

When we arrive in Vrindavan the day after tomorrow, we will take some rest and then start the parikrama. We will start in the morning and come back by midday. I see that sometimes when we sit in some place, people start roaming around or go shopping and then we all get late. First do the parikrama—the parikrama of Vrindavan is short, about ten miles, so we will come back soon and you will have time for other things.

Actually we do not have any capacity to do the parikrama—if Radharani, Gurudev give their mercy, then only can we circumambulate their holy abode. Do you think everybody can do it? Everybody walks around, gossiping, telling mundane stories, etc.—not everybody has the fortune to come and do the parikrama attentively, come to the arati, get the darshan of the Deities. Everybody says they are going to Goloka, Vrindavan, but instead they go to serve Maya. We come to this world and spend our lives making sacrifices (yajna) for Maya Devi (we engage in Maya-yajna). Maya Devi makes us struggle so much, but we do not feel any shame. Maya Devi shows no mercy on us, she makes us suffer so much, and we keep ourselves busy the whole day with our wife, children, etc.—we give our life for them. Our duty is to practise Krishna consciousness in strict adherence (anugatya) to our Guru. If you practise Krishna consciousness fanatically following sadhu, Guru, and Vaishnavs, taking shelter of a bona fide Guru, then you will get supreme benefit.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj has opened such a beautiful 'service factory'—he has given us so many opportunities to serve, but we cannot do it. Sri Gurupadpadma widely announces service opportunity, but we cannot serve—we only keep serving Maya as her slaves, we roam the worlds in search of kanak, kamini, pratistha (money, companions, and fame).

I have got a phone call today from Odisha. Some devotee whom I do not know called and asked me, "Mahaprabhu took ekadanda sannyas, then why does Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya give tridanda sannyas?" I told him why. Because Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur established it. Why did he do it? Actually, when Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He came to Odisha to take the darshan of Jagannath, and at that time Nityananda Prabhu broke His danda into three parts and threw it into the Bharghi River. Getting inspiration from there, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur started giving tridanda sannyas in our sampradaya. He also told that tridanda sannyas means serving with one's body, mind and speech (kaya, mana, vakya)—sannyasis always serve the Lord with their entire life and soul. Gurudev also explained the meaning of tridanda sannyas with Mahaprabhu's sloka,

trnad api sunichena taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

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

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

Gurudev explained that tridanda sannyas means being humble, tolerant and giving honour to others. However, now, in this age of Kali, it is very difficult to see a true sannyasi. There are so many sannyasis in this world, they all have taken tridanda sannyas, but having read many scriptures, seeing what is written there, I see that their tridanda means kanak, kamini, pratistha (money, women, fame)...

* * *

Glory of Govardhan

Sri Govardhan Parikrama, Day One
7 November 2018, part 2

When Vraja-basis started to worship Govardhan, Indra became very angry. He said, "I have so much power! I can do everything!" Angry, Indra sent so much rain on Vrindavan. Vraja-basis worshiped Indra for rains because if regular rains come, there is a good harvest, there is grass, and cows are able to eat, but if there is no rain, then the grass will not grow and the cows will have nothing to eat. So, when they stopped worshipping Indra and Indra got angry and sent so much torrential rains, the entire Vrindavan became flooded. Where were all the Vraja-basis and their cows to go now? They all came to Gopal and took shelter at His feet. Nanda Maharaj said, "Gopal, we listened to You and worshipped Govardhan, but now so much rain has started—all fields are flooded and the water is coming to our houses now. Where will we go?"

Everybody took shelter of Gopal—surrender is the main thing; without surrender you cannot get anything. We need surrender. What does surrender mean? You sing in the kirtan,

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

"(1) Humility, (2) self-submission, (3) embracing the Lord's guardianship, (4) maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me', (5) engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, (6) rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion."

This is the sad-anga saranagati—the six types of surrender. We must have faith that Krishna is our protector. Rakhe Hari mare ke, mare Hari rakhe ke? If the Lord protects you, who will kill you? If the Lord kills you, who will protect you? Marabi rakhabi yo ichchha tohara—You can kill me, You can save me, as You wish. If the Lord decides to kill you, He will kill you, and if the Lord decides to protect you, He will protect you. You think that a doctor, your friend, your wife, son, brother, sister, father, mother can protect you, but this is temporary 'protection'—the only protector is the Lord. We must have faith in this. It is necessary to be surrendered.

So, when the Vraja-basis surrendered at the feet of Gopal, Gopal told them not to worry and lifted Govardhan Hill with His little finger—now Govardhan has become smaller, but originally it used to be millions of miles long!

You will say, "When He lifted Govardhan, the water must have gone under Govardhan then!" At that time, Krishna called Anantadev who then expanded himself and surrounded Govardhan with his serpent-like body forming such a high wall that no water could come through. In this way, everybody took shelter of Govardhan and in this way, the Lord gave shelter to His devotees. This is the glory of Govardhan.

* * *

Devotional Business

Sri Govardhan Parikrama, Day One
7 November 2018, part 3

If you do not understand the meaning of kirtans, it will not stay in your mind then. When you chant, you must understand the meaning of the kirtan, then it will stay in your heart. If you do not understand something, you can ask about it. For example, we chant in the 'Vibhavari Sesa' kirtan 'Makhana-taskara'—what does it mean? 'Taskara' means 'a thief'.

ravanantakara makhana-taskara gopi-jana-vastra-hari
vrajera rakhala gopa-vrnda-pala chita-harivamsi-dhari

As Ramachandra, He is the destroyer of Ravan. Krishna is a butter-thief and the stealer of the gopis' clothes. He is a cow- herd boy in Vraja, and the protector of the other cowherd boys. He is a flute player who steals the hearts of all.

Anyhow, we have come here to this Aanyor village, we are paying our obeisance here and going now to Govinda Kunda in a village called Kothari. Mahaprabhu said,

vrndavane giya na thakiya chira kala
govardhane uthiya na dekhiya gopala

"When you go to Vrindavan, do not stay there for a long time and do not climb the Govardhan Hill to see Gopal."

Why did He tell not to stay there for a long time? Because if, seeing the behaviour and practices of the Vraja-basis, you want to become like them, you will become sahajiya and lose all knowledge of devotion (bhakti-jnan). Have you not ever thought about it? New devotees now come to the temple and start chanting "Radhe! Radhe!" Gurudev could not stand it. How does the saying go? Mukhe bole ra-ra-ra, dui nayane bahe dhara—those who behold Srimati Radharani cannot even pronounce Her Name, they keep saying "Ra-ra-ra." This is told about Mahaprabhu Himself. He is the combined form of Srimati Radharani and Krishna, but He used to say, "Ra-ra," and when He saw Jagannath, He could not even say "Jagannath," He kept saying "Ja-ja, ga-ga." Yet, our people come and start saying "Radhe! Radhe!"—are you Vraja-basis now? You must say "Gaura Haribol", "Hare Krishna." Do you think it is so easy to take the Name of Radharani?

When people say "Radhe Radhe" they come to you saying "Give me money!" Externally, they say "Radhe Radhe," but internally, what they are saying is "Money, money." Nobody likes to hear me say these things, and it is true that we should not tell unpleasant truths, but sometimes there is no way to avoid it. Such are the devotees of Kali-yuga.

On the one hand, you can see ** Prabhu—we came to Govardhan a few days ago, but he got to eat only yesterday, all the other days he was so busy with service that he did not even get time to eat! There is no want of food, etc. at the temple, even when devotees need anything, they can tell about it, but he did not ask for anything. How much some devotees serve. On the other hand, there are also devotees who practise Krishna consciousness on their own, observe all niyom-seva rules, do parikrama of Govardhan once and think they will go to Goloka Vrindavan! Before this happens, what must there be? Chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba—without service to Vaishnavs, nobody can get any relief.

Do you know why Mahaprabhu sent Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami here? He told them to stay here and write books, preach Krishna consciousness, and arrange for a place to stay and prasadam for those who come from West Bengal, Bangladesh and other places. So, the duty of those who stay here in Vrindavan is to serve the sadhus who come from Bengal and other places—to give them a place to stay and to give them prasadam. This is what Sriman Mahaprabhu taught Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami. But many come here and become babajis—people become babajis and roam around looking for matajis and chanting "Money, money!"

One time, somebody asked Srila Guru Maharaj (Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj), "There are so many monkeys in Vrindavan—who were they in their previous life?" Srila Guru Maharaj said, "Those monkeys were babajis in their previous life." Monkeys always want to take your things away, and babajis come to people's houses, grasp their feet, eat nicely, chant the Holy Name(?) and keep coming to the Vraja-basis saying "Radhe Radhe"—you give them ten rupees, they run their lives with that, and when the money finishes, they go begging again.

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

"The duty of a renunciate is to always engage in Nama-sankirtan, and maintain your stomach with vegetables, leaves, fruit, and roots."

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

True renunciates do not expect anything from others. They know that if the Lord wants, He will provide prasadam. Those who do service, do not need to worry about prasadam, etc.—everything is provided for them.

* * *

About Sri Dehi Kunda

Mathura District Parikrama
10 November 2018, Uchagaon, Dehi Kunda

Srimati Lalita Devi ki jay
Jay Uchagaon ki jay
Jay Dehi Kunda ki jay

One day, Krishna Himself assumed the form of a begging brahman and came to Srimati Radharani. He asked Her,

"Please give Me some money."

"I have no money," answered Radharani.

"Must I leave empty-handed then?"

Unable to refuse the brahman and send Him away without a donation, She said,

"You can take Me in lieu of money."

The brahman (Krishna) was very pleased and eager to take Radharani, but when Radharani's parents, Raja Vrisabhanu and Kirtida Mayi, heard about this, they became very sad. They begged the brahman,

"How can we give You our only daughter? Please do not take Her away!"

"I cannot give Her up! But, all right, you can give Me the amount of gold equal to Radharani's weight, then I will not take Her."

Radharani's parents gave Him that amount of gold and got their daughter back. The brahman (Krishna) took that gold and left.

After that, Lalita Devi and other gopis made this pond here in memory of Srimati Radharani who wanted to give Her body (deha) instead of gold.

You have come to Vrindavan and you must be very careful—this place, as well as actually all places in Vrindavan, are places of Krishna's prem, love and affection, and this love is niskama-prema (devoid of any selfishness or mundane desires). You can see in our country that a woman gives her body (deha) to her husband, but this is not the same as what happens here.

Jay Dehi Kunda ki jay

* * *

Sri Uddhav Kunda and Sri Narad Kunda: Tears of Afflicted Hearts

Sri Govardhan Parikrama, Sri Uddhav Kunda
29 October 2019, translated from Bengali

By the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, we are doing the last day of our Sri Govardhan parikrama, and by the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma we have come to this very beautiful place, Uddhav Kunda. We will speak about this place and also there is another place nearby that we do not go to—Sri Uddhava Kyari (Nandagaon); we would like to speak about it also.

You must have heard about Uddhav Maharaj. He was a disciple of Krishna's friend Brihaspati. When Uddhav came to this place, he heard gopis speak about Krishna. Later, Uddhav told about it to the queens of Dvaraka.

So, Uddhav was the chief minister of Krishna and always stayed with Krishna, always gave Him advice, etc. One time, Krishna ordered Uddhav to go to Vrindavan and Uddhav came here. Krishna wanted Uddhav to see how much love and affection the younger and older gopis of Vrindavan have for Krishna. After Uddhav visited Vrindavan, he said, "I wish I could become some grass and live here in my next life!" Even now, having become that kind of grass (gulmalata) here, Uddhav Maharaj is here, longing to hear Krishna-katha...

Before Uddhav Maharaj left, Krishna gave him His prasadam clothes, so when Uddhav came to Vrindavan, he came there wearing Krishna's clothes. Seeing Uddhav coming, the gopis thought, "Perhaps, Krishna has come!" But when they came closer, they understood that it was not Krishna—it was Uddhav Maharaj... Seeing their disappointment, Uddhav Maharaj said, "I may not be Krishna, but I am Krishna's chief minister and close friend." Then, Uddhav Maharaj asked them, "How have you been keeping? Do you sometimes think about Krishna?" The gopis said, "What are you saying? Even when we try, we cannot forget Krishna!" Uddhav Maharaj said then, "But if you want to see Him, you can close your eyes, meditate, and you will see Him!" Hearing this, the gopis burst out laughing. They said, "Uddhav, your Master is mad, and you have become just as mad!" and then explained, "You say we must close our eyes to see Krishna? Wherever we look, we can only see Krishna there! We cannot see anything else. Wherever we cast our glance, we only see Krishna there. Actually, we do not want that. He has left us and gone away, we want to forget Him! Can you give us a mantra that we could chant to forget Him?" Hearing the gopis talk and seeing the gopis' love for Krishna, Uddhav Maharaj cried.

When Uddhav Maharaj came to Vrindavan, he also wanted to see Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda. He wanted to see how they were maintaining their lives without Krishna and to give them some consolation. So, having spoken to the gopis, Uddhav Maharaj went to look for the house of Nanda Maharaj. He could not find the house, so he asked somebody, "Excuse me, can you tell me where the house of Nanda Maharaj is?" The man replied to him, "Follow the current of water coming down from the Nandishwar Hill and will be able to get the darshan of Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda." Actually, that was not ordinary water. When Krishna left His parents, they began to cry so much that the tears from their eyes created a drain, a river. So, that drain water coming down from the Nandishwar Hill was no ordinary water—it was the tears of Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda Ma. When Uddhav realised this, he understood that he could not come before Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda looking like their son. He walked away, sat in some place nearby and began to cry—his tears created a pond, and the name of that pond is Uddhav Kunda.

Not far from here there is another place called Narad Kunda. We do not go there because it is within a jungle, but we would like to say something about that place. Narad Muni sat there under a tree, overwhelmed by the separation mood,

ayi dina-dayardra natha he
mathura-natha kadavalokyase
hrdayam tvad-aloka-kataram
dayita bhramyati kim karomy aham

"O gentle-hearted Lord, ever-gracious upon the destitute, O Lord of Mathura, when shall I see You again? In Your absence my broken heart trembles. Beloved! what shall I do now?"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 4.197)

"O Lord, when will I get Your darshan? I cannot endure it any longer."

One time, Krishna had a headache and told Narad Muni that His headache would go away if he could put the foot dust of devotees on His head. Narad Muni went to Sivaloka, Brahmaloka and many other places—wherever he went, nobody wanted to give their foot dust for Krishna. Finally, he came to the Vraja gopis. When Narad Muni asked them for their foot dust for Krishna, they did not give it a second thought. When Narad Muni approached Laksmi Devi before that, she said, "If I give my foot dust, I will be committing a sin! I will go to hell!" But the Vraja gopis thought, "Our Krishna is suffering, He has a headache! His happiness is above ours. Even if we get leprosy, even if our legs rot, even if we go to hell, we do not mind it as long as our Lord is well!" They gave their foot dust, and Narad Muni came back to Krishna.

Narad thought then, "We did not understand before what is true love for our Master. There is no parallel, no comparison to the kind of love and affection the Vraja gopis have! Sacrificing their own happiness, giving up their everything, leaving their respect, honour, they only run behind Krishna!" Thinking about this, Narad Muni began to cry and his tears created a pond. That pond is located inside a jungle and we cannot go there, but this is the glory of that Narad Kunda. The water of that pond is no ordinary water—it is actually the tears of Narad Muni.

I have forgotten to say one more thing. Krishna told Uddhav Maharaj, "Sivji Maharaj is not as dear to Me, Brahma is not as dear to Me, even I myself am not as dear to Me as you are, Uddhav." Later, He said, "Uddhav, go to Vrindavan and meet with the gopis—they love Me so much, they are such great devotees, go and give them the news about Me." Uddhav Maharaj came there to give news about Krishna, but when he saw the gopis, he became astonished and pained, "They love Krishna so much! I live next to Krishna, but I could not understand it."

Jay Sri Uddhav Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Sri Govardhan Puja (1): Sevya and Sevak

Sri Govardhan Puja Programme
29 October 2019, translated from Bengali, part 1

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

Today is a very auspicious day—today is Sri Giriraj Govardhan Puja. By the mercy of Gurudev, we are present here in Govardhan. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami composed Sri Govardhana-astakam where he writes, "Nija-nikata-nivasam dehi govardhana tvam: please, keep me near Govardhan..." Srila Raghunath Das Goswami wanted to stay at Govardhan. Here are Radha Kunda, Shyama Kunda, Uddhav Kunda and many other places...

Today is a very auspicious day for us as we have got an opportunity to do the abhisekh (bathing) of Srila Giriraj. Gurudev writes [in the Giriraj Govardhan Arati arati song] that Giriraj assumes the form of both sevya and sevak. The Lord is always sevya (the object of service, or worship)—Giriraj is always our Master. At the same time, in His form of Giriraj Hill, the Lord Himself also becomes a servitor (sevak). You can all look at the bas-relief of lifting the Govardhan above the altar and you can notice that Giriraj is like an umbrella over Krishna and He is also under Krishna's feet. Krishna is very short at this time, so He could not lift Govardhan high enough at first, that is why He kept one Govardhan sila under His feet and lifted Govardhan with His little finger high enough for everyone to take shelter underneath. In this way, Govardhan (sevya, the worshippable) becomes a servitor (sevak). Have you never noticed that? You can see the bas-relief above the altar. In this way, the Lord is always worshippable, but in Govardhan-lila, He also assumes the form of a servitor. That is why Srila Gurudev writes in the arati song,

sevya o sevakarupe nitya parakasa
sanande arati dekhe e adhama-dasa

"You are eternally manifested both as the worshipable Lord and as the servitor Lord. This fallen servant sees Your arati with great joy."

This is how Giriraj Govardhan manifests to us.

This temple Srila Sridhar Seva Ashram of our Guru Maharaj is located right in the middle of Govardhan, near Manasi Ganga (Mukharabindu, the mouth of the peacock-like Hill). We are very fortunate to be here.

Gurudev always wanted to stay here, and he is staying here now. He has made this chabutara (a raised hut) for himself and now he is staying there, engaged in his bhajan. Gurudev wanted to come here in his lifetime, but his health did not permit it because there is too much problem with electricity, it gets very hot and very cold so, so he could not come. However, now, by the mercy of Gurudev, we have made this puspa samadhi mandir, the Temple of Love and Affection and he is doing bhajan there. This is how we must see it. It is a very auspicious place, and it is our great fortunate to be able to come here.

We come here every year to do the parikrama of Govardhan and this abhisekh. We have already done half of the parikrama and today, after prasadam, we will do the rest of the parikrama. After that, tomorrow, we will go to Varshana, the house of Raja Vrisabhanu and Radharani, to Lalita Devi's house in Uchagaon, and to Nandagram...

* * *

Sri Govardhan Puja (2): Seva-Adhikar

Sri Govardhan Puja Programme
29 October 2019, translated from Bengali, part 2

Krishna Himself said, "I am Govardhan!" If you worship Govardhan, it is not necessary to do any other worship. Sometimes people say that worshipping Govindaji and worshipping Govardhan is different, but this is a misconception. Krishna Himself told, "I am Govardhan!" When Sriman Mahaprabhu gave Raghunath Das Goswami the right to do service (seva-adhikar), He gave him a gunja-mala (Srimati Radharani) and a Govardhan sila. Also, I have told you before how Govardhan appeared.

Actually, you must not think that Govardhan is a stone. You must serve Govardhan with sincerity (nistha) and following all rules of service (seva-niyom).

I remember a few years ago there was a lady from Russia here who wanted to decorate the altar and Govardhan in her own way. I told her that it was not necessary and told her not to go inside the altar. Actually, Gurudev told also that Govardhan already has His own eyes—it is not necessary to put extra eyes on Him, etc. Then, it was the evening of the adhivas day. The lady did not listen to me and went inside the temple to put eyes and some other decorations. I was standing by the gate when I suddenly heard so much shouting coming from the inside. I thought, "What happened?" It turned out that Govardhan fell on top of her! She could not come out, so she began shouting. I quickly took four foreign devotees who were there at that time—they were very strong, like Bhagavan, Snigdha Krishna, et. al.—and told them, "Come, come, come! Go quickly there and rescue her!"

So, if you, for example, do not bathe and go to serve Govardhan or enter the room of the Deity in an unclean state, it is not good.

* * *

Sri Govardhan Puja (3): Full Service

Sri Govardhan Puja Programme
29 October 2019, translated from Bengali, part 3

I have told you before that it is not necessary to know any mantra to worship the Lord—it is necessary to have a clean heart. "I am worshipping the Deity!", "I am doing service!"—such thoughts must not come to you. We must think and pray that the Lord, to Giriraj, that He may give us His mercy and engage us in His service.

I have told you the pastime of Govardhan's appearance before. I will tell it today again.

Govardhan Parvat appeared as a son of Drona Parvat (Dronachal) in the west of India in Salmaladwip. At that time, there was a sage named Pulastya Muni who lived in Kashi (Benares). You know that even in Mahaprabhu's time Kashi was a place of jnana-margi (followers of the path of knowledge) and mayavadi (impersonalists) who always pursued liberation. Pulastya Muni was a powerful yogi who was travelling around India visiting all holy places. One day, as he was travelling, he came to Salmaladwip where he saw Govardhan Parvat and became very much attracted to Him. Pulastya Muni thought to himself, "If I take this Govardhan to Kashi, then Kashi devotees could serve and pray to Him and they will all get liberation!" So, Pulastya Muni asked Drona Parvat, the father of Govardhan, "Give me your son, I want to take Him to Kashi." Drona Parvat was a little sad at first, but then he thought, "What am I to do? Pulastya Muni will curse me if I do not give him what is he is begging for." So, Drona Parvat had to agree and give up his son, but he had one condition, "You can take Govardhan, but once you start carrying Him, you cannot put Him down anywhere."

We always say that we have crossed eighty-four million species before getting this human birth. Anyone who does the parikrama of Govardhan does not have to wander throughout those eighty-four million species ever again—one returns to the Lord. Originally, Govardhan's area was also eighty-four million miles, but now He has become smaller. Why?

Pulastya Muni accepted Drona Parvat's condition and, having mounted Govardhan onto his shoulder, started carrying Him to Kashi. When they were passing Vrindavan, Govardhan knew that Lord Krishna would appear here and perform His Radha-Krishna pastimes, so Govardhan decided, "I will not leave this beautiful place—I will not go to Kashi!" Then, Govardhan started pressing Pulastya Muni's shoulder so much that he could not carry Him any more—not being able to tolerate so much pressure, Pulastya Muni had to put Govardhan down. Moreover, Govardhan had given so much pressure to him that he actually had to go to the bathroom. He went to pass stool, took bath, and then came back, but when he tried to lift Govardhan again, Govardhan said, "I will not go from here! You know the condition—when you took Me up, you had to carry Me without putting Me down anywhere, but you have put Me down here, so I will not go to Kashi—I will stay here!" Pulastya Muni got angry, "You will not go?! Then I curse You! You will not remain this big—every day You will become smaller in length and height by the size of one sesame seed!"

This is how Govardhan appeared. Life and good people will continue existing on this earth for as long as there is Govardhan, for as long as there is Yamuna, for as long as there is Ganga, and for as long as there are sadhus and Vaishnavs bathing in Ganga and Yamuna.

[At the end, His Divine Grace mentions the example of young Doyal Nitai Prabhu of Singapore:]

You must have seen yesterday—we came late and everybody was very tired, but you saw that one small boy did the whole parikrama playing a mridanga! Service is necessary, but service must be full. You start something and then leave it half-way—not like this. This small boy played a mridanga to the end yesterday.

* * *

At Sri Radha Kunja-Bihari Gaudiya Math

Sri Govardhan Parikrama, Sri Kunja-Bihari Gaudiya Math
29 October 2019, translated from Bengali

By the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, we have come today to Sri Gaudiya Math established by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

You know that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur is the founder acharya of Sri Chaitanya Math and all Gaudiya Maths.

sri-gauranga-parisada thakura bhakti-vinoda
dina-hina patitera bandhu
kali-tamah vinasite anilena avanite
toma' akalanka purna indu

"Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur is an associate of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and a friend of all low and fallen souls—to dispel all darkness of this dark age, he brought to this earth you [Srila Saraswati Thakur], a spotless full moon."

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has brought Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur down to this world from Sri Goloka Vrindavan to establish the channel of pure conception of Mahaprabhu.

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote this kirtan about Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur,

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

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

He is the very embodiment of Hari-kirtan. When he speaks Hari-katha or chants Hari-kirtan, that is kirtan. He is also more affectionate than a father!

sujanarvuda-radhita-pada-yugam
yuga-dharma-dhurandhara-patra-varam
varadabhaya-dayaka-pujya-padam
pranamami sada prabhupada-padam

"My master, Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, established the religion of the age, Krishna-sankirtan, and is the chief minister of the universal assembly of leading Vaisnavas. His lotus feet are worshipped by millions of virtuous souls and fulfil the desires of those who dispel souls' fears. Eternally I offer my obeisance to my master's worshippable feet."

Gaura's sujjan-gan (the great exalted devotees of Gauranga Mahaprabhu) worship and pray to him. We have come today to the temple of this Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says, "Following the whims of your mind on pretext of service is not service; following the order of the Guru, serving the Vaishnavs and satisfying them is called service." You may travel to many holy places, you may practise all sixty-four types of devotion, you may chant hundreds of thousands of Holy Names, but if you do not follow the guidance of Vaishnavs, you will not get any result. Krishna consciousness cannot be practised without following the order of Vaishnavs. Whatever you do, wherever you stay—even if you stay in Vrindavan, Mathura, or Goloka—you will not get any result if you do not follow the order of Guru and Vaishnavs.

It is very rare to find a sadhu in this world.

[ei kali-yuge] sadhu paoya kasta bada jivera janiya
sadhu-bhakta-rupe krsna aila nadiya

Understanding that [in this Kali-yuga] it is very difficult for a soul to find a sadhu, Krishna came to Nadia in the form of a pure devotee.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.8)

You will see many gurus in this world, many open temples and guru business in this world—it is very easy to do guru business, but one cannot become a bona fide guru without first becoming a bona fide disciple. There are many gurus in this world, but there are very few disciples.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said very beautifully about Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur,

nikhila-bhuvana-maya-chhinnavichchhinna-kartri
vibudhabahula-mrgya-mukti-mohanta-datri
sithilita-vidhi-raga-radhya-radhesa-dhani
vilasatu hrdi nityam bhakti-siddhanta-vani

"With his first step, he vigorously cut asunder the whole plane of exploitation, and with his second, he put a stop to all the calculations of the different scholars with their different conceptions of liberation. With his third step, he eased the hard rules and regulations by a touch of the Divine Love: he gave us the worship of Sri Sri Radha and Govinda. The real existence of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad is in his divine teachings. May those teachings dance eternally within the core of your heart."

You can see that some sadhus often fight so much, but Srila Prabhupad declared totalitarian war against maya—if one must fight, one must fight against maya! There are also so many rules and regulations in Krishna consciousness, but Srila Prabhupad eased those rules, made them less strict.

One time, one devotee came to Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and said, "Prabhupad, there are so many siddha sadhus (holy people who have attained perfection, siddha)." Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur replied, "Yes, true. There are many aloo siddha, begun siddha, patal siddha, etc." ['Siddha' means 'perfection', and 'siddha' can also mean 'boiled'. Aloo - potato, begun - eggplant, patal - pointed gourd.]

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also writes,

jayare jayare jaya gaura-saraswati
bhakativinoda nvaya karuna murati

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

prakasile gaura-seva bhuvana mangala
bhakatisiddhanta suddha prajnana ujjvala

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

One time, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was doing Vraja Mandal parikrama, the same way as we are doing it now. The devotees who cooked for the parikrama party at that time, came to Srila Prabhupad and said, "Prabhupad, everybody goes for the parikrama, everybody gets so much sukriti and piety, but I cannot even go out—all I have seen is the kitchen, I have spent all this time there." Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told, "Whatever result everybody has earned doing this parikrama, whatever sukriti they have got, if you put it all together—your sukriti is much more than that!" Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also told that when people come to the temple, everybody gives respect to the pujari, everybody bows down to the pujari, but nobody comes to show respect to the devotees who cook. They call them negligently 'cooks' and give them no honour. But Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that the service of those who cook for the Lord is very valuable—they cook for the Lord with their own hands. Those who cook favourite items of the Lord, who make them nicely and offer them to the Lord—they are extremely dear servitors of the Lord.

During his last moments, this Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur wanted to hear 'Sri Rupa manjari pada' kirtan from the mouth of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj—in this way he indicated that he has left Srila Sridhar Maharaj to preach Sri Rupa Raghunath conception in this world. After that, overwhelmed by sadness, Srila Sridhar Maharaj came to Vrindavan and stayed at Pavan Sarovar (we will go there tomorrow) where he then received Srila Prabhupad's order following which he returned again to Nabadwip and established Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Kolerganj. His exclusive servitor Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj then preached Srila Sridhar Maharaj's conception, Srila Prabhupad and Sriman Mahaprabhu's conception, all over the world.

Jay Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

* * *

Darshan of Transcendental Abode

Sri Vrindavan Dham, evening class
31 October 2019, translated from Bengali, part 1

Today by the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, we have done the pancha-kroshi parikrama of Sri Vrindavan Dham—there are more than five thousand temples in Vrindavan, and you have circumambulated all of them. Tomorrow morning we will continue the parikrama. We will visit some main temples. Actually, we do not have the ability to take the darshan of those places,

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

"Our eyes have become blind by the dust of visaya, the material world—how can we see the transcendental world?"

We do not have the eyes to have a darshan of a holy place. If we keep hearing Hari-katha, if we keep practising Krishna consciousness and keep engaging ourselves in kirtan, keep chanting the Holy Name, then the eyes in our heart will open, and then only can we have a darshan of the Guru, Vaishnavs, and the Lord, then only can we understand our Guru, Vaishnavs, and the Lord. Who can understand the Guru? If the Guru makes himself known to a devotee or his disciple, then only he or she can understand him.

If you think, "Gurudev goes to the bathroom like us, he eats like us, he sleeps like us," it means you can only have darshan—you can only see—with your mundane vision; it means you are not able to see with our inner eyes. We have eyes in our heart, and it is necessary to open those eyes. If your heart is not clean, if there is dirt in your heart, if you have desires in your heart, if Vaishnav aparadh, Nama aparadh are born within your heart, then you will never be able to see the Lord, you will never be able to know your Guru and Vaishnavs. These are the main things.

You are doing this parikrama of the holy places, and if only some nice buildings, some nice things come into your vision, it means you have not got the darshan (you have not seen) the transcendental abode. If Maya Devi allows us to open our eyes, if she allows us to cut the net of illusory eyes, if she gives us her mercy and gives us such eyes, then we will be able to see the transcendental abode, to have the darshan of the transcendental abode.

When we do parikrama, we always do it with kirtan—if we can clean our hearts through kirtan, if we can clean our character and mind through the service to the Guru, Vaishnavs, and the Lord, then we can truly do dham parikrama. "Chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba: Without service to the Vaishnav, you cannot get any relief." You must always try to open the eyes in your heart.

I pray to you all that you may never compare this holy abode with any mundane soil, stones, big buildings, etc.—that you may never compare the Guru and Vaishnavs to the men of flesh and blood. If you do, you will be making an offence—you will be making Dham-aparadh, Nama-aparadh, seva-aparadh, Vaishnav-aparadh.

We must always engage in Krishna kirtan, Hari kirtan. Also, I speak mostly in Bengali, and there are many devotees here who speak other languages, so it is also necessary to speak English. Some also do not know English, they understand only Spanish, but actually the language of devotion is another matter—the true language is the language of devotion.

* * *

Eternal Stumbling Block

Sri Vrindavan Dham, evening class
31 October 2019, translated from Bengali, part 2

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

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

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First of all, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy, after that I am offering my obeisance to all Guru-varga, all the worldwide acharyas, to all my God-brothers and sisters, to all devotees and all of you praying for your mercy to this low soul.

It is Kartik month, niyom-seva month now, as well as Damodar-vrata. It is the most favourite, the dearmost month of Kirtika-nandini (Srimati Radharani) and the Lord. That is why we have come here and have completed the panchakroshi parikrama of Sri Vrindavan.

Actually, Gurudev said, "I do not know about you, but I personally have no capacity to have the darshan."

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

"Our eyes have become blind by the dust of visaya, the material world—how can we see the transcendental world?"

Our eyes have become blinded by the dust of material world—then you can think yourself how can we get the darshan of the transcendental abode, transcendental paraphernalia? Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "For as long as we have attraction to this material world, for as long as we have attraction for material things, for as long as our hearts remain unclean, the conception of Sri Rupa-Raghunath will never be able to enter our ears." Then, if you want Sri Rupa-Raghunath's conception to enter into your ears, you must listen to and always speak about the glories of the Lord, Srila Rupa Goswami, and Vaishnavs. Suppose you fall ill and have fever in your body—if somebody gives you some nice food at this time, you will not get any taste of it, everything will taste bitter. In the same way, as long as we have pancha-roga within us [avidya (ignorance), asmita (false identification), raga (misdirected love), dvesa (aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment), and abhinivesa (being unable to give up unfavourable habits)], we will never feel happy to hear Hari-katha or chant Hari-kirtan.

That is why Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur sings,

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 tuchha ha'be

"When will Nitaichand give mercy to me? When will all my material desires become insignificant?"

Living in Vrindavan or Mathura and pretending to live in Vrindavan or Mathura is not the same thing. Mathura or Vrindavan is not a place for doing business, it is not a place for enjoyment. This is a place of service. If you want to stay here to serve, if you have service mood, then you have the right to stay here. We must not come to Vrindavan to always think about ourselves. We must throw away our own interest, we must throw away our own happiness—and always serve our Guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord. It is not so easy to stay in Vrindavan. If you are to live in Vrindavan, you must give up your own interest, your own happiness, you must leave the pleasure of your own senses far away and always worry how to please the Guru and Vaishnavs and how to please the Lord.

* * *

Neither Judge, Nor Imitate

Sri Vrindavan Dham, evening class
31 October 2019, translated from Bengali, part 3

vrndavane giya na thakiya chira kala
govardhane uthiya na dekhiya gopala

"When you go to Vrindavan, do not stay there for a long time and do not climb the Govardhan Hill to see Gopal."

Mahaprabhu told Jagadananda Pandit, "Always stay with Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami, follow their guidance and serve them. Do not go anywhere without their order, always stay with them."

One time, Mahaprabhu and Jagadananda Pandit had a quarrel and Jagadananda Pandit came to Vrindavan out of anger. He describes it in his Sri Prema-vivarta, you can see it there. He says, "Angry with Mahaprabhu, I have come here, but I cannot see here anything—I have not got anything by coming here!"

We cannot see anything, that is why we must always take shelter of a bona fide Guru.

One time, when our Gurudev was doing Vrindavan parikrama with Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, one story happened. Gurudev was a very young brahmachari at that time, and Srila Guru Maharaj went to the house of one of the Govardhan pandas (priests). The priest was very happy that Srila Sridhar Maharaj had come with Gurudev. He gave Srila Sridhar Maharaj a khatiya to sit on [a wooden carcass with the sleeping place made with interwoven rope] and told his daughter, "Hey, lali, bring some prasadam of the Lord for Maharaj!" The girl put some sweets on a plate and offered it to Giriraj. How did she offer it? She showed the plate to the Deity and said, "Hey Gopal! Here, eat it!" Then she gave the plate to Srila Guru Maharaj and Sridhar Maharaj took those sweets. He wanted to give some to Gurudev too, but Gurudev did not take it. Later, Srila Sridhar Maharaj asked Gurudev, "Gaurendu, why did not take those sweets?" Gurudev said, "I saw that when the panda told the girl to bring prasad, she moved her gopi-dress, sat down, passed urine and went to get the prasad. She had not even washed her hands—with the same hand she offered the sweets to Gopal and with the same hand she gave it to you." Srila Sridhar Maharaj told then, "You must not judge Vraja-basis—you must not see their faults. That is why it is very difficult to stay in Vrindavan."

We must understand and always remember these things.

Another thing is that one must have the qualification to enter such stage or life. If you try to practise such raga-marga, you will become a sahajiya (gross imitator). Some say, "Oh, I have become Radharani's sakhi [girlfriend]," "Oh, we have become Radharani's manjari [younger girlfriends]," "We have become this," "We have become that," some say, "We have attained Krishna-prema!" But Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself said, "I do not have a trace of love for Krishna!"

"Mukhe bole ra-ra-ra, dui nayane bahe dhara"—those who behold Srimati Radharani cannot even pronounce Her Name, they keep saying "Ra-ra-ra." Mahaprabhu could not even pronounce Radharani's Name! Have you not heard also what people say? They say, "If you say 'Radhe Radhe' or 'Jay Nitai' you will get more money!" In Bangladesh, somebody can come to your house crying out, "Jay Nitai! Jay Nitai!", you open the door for them and the thief gets inside! Mirabhai said, "I have got love for Krishna," but Gaudiya Vaishnavs do not approve of this. We do not follow Mirabhai's line. Who will you follow if you bypass gopis, sakhis and manjaris? This is not our line.

* * *

Symptoms of Disciple

Sri Vrindavan Dham, evening class
31 October 2019, translated from Bengali, part 4

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)

If you plant a seed and water it, it will sprout, but if you pour too much water on the seed, the seed will rot. This is our position—our seed has become rotten! The sprout of our devotion has become spoilt and we are left with nothing now! The thing is that one must serve according to his or her capacity, but we overstep our capacity and as a result our devotion often becomes spoilt. Those who overstep their capacity and right lose their devotion. It is necessary to mind your rights—you must practise and serve according to your right, or capacity. Some have santa-rasa adhikar, some have dasya-rasa adhikar, some have sakhya-rasa adhikar, some have vatsalya-rasa adhikar, and madhura-rasa is a much higher matter—whatever your capacity and mood is, you must stay within it, do not overstep the mark.

Only exclusive and dear servitors can have the right for Gurudev's wealth and property. Gurudev's wealth and property is not some temple, a great building, etc.—Gurudev's property is Krishna-prema, his heart, his love. We must become real disciples. A real 'disciple' means one who is 'disciplined' (lives obediently following the order of Gurudev, who lives following rules and regulations—sasan mane, lit. obedient, disciplined). Gurudev said, "If I chastise (discipline) anyone, they will all leave and run away from the temple. There is only one person whom I can chastise and who I know will never run away." That is why Gurudev always said, "Have we truly taken initiation or do we pretend that we have taken initiation?" We become attracted by the temple and beautiful buildings of Gurudev and we become barred from the true wealth of Gurudev.

Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says, "Many in this world open a temple and sit there, dressed as a Guru. There are many people who do guru business, but it is very difficult to find a real Guru in this world."

You always ask, "Give me mercy, give me mercy, give me your blessing, give me your blessing," but your heart is already full of material desires—how will Gurudev keep his mercy in your heart? Gurudev is always ready to give us his mercy, but we have no place to keep his mercy in our hearts. If you pour water into a glass that is already full, will that water stay in it? It will only overflow. We must always leave our ego, we must leave Vaishnav aparadh, and we must always practise Krishna consciousness.

Vaishnav scriptures also say, "Pratisthasa chhadi kara amani hrdaya. Give up the desire for prestige and make your heart prideless." We sing this in "Sri-krsna-kirtane yadi manasa tohara" kirtan to the third verse of Siksastakam—you must listen to the kirtans carefully.

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.

Humility, being compassionate to others, giving honour to others, and giving up pratistha—if you have these four qualities, then you can get the right to chant the Holy Name.

Srila Prabhupad also says, "You can get a letter from your Guru, but you will not get a letter from the Lord. Gurudev can bring a letter from the Lord—Gurudev can convey you the message from the Lord. And you can also tell your message to Gurudev, and Gurudev will send it to the Lord." Everybody calls themselves disciples, but Srila Prabhupad says that it is not necessarily so—not everybody is actually a disciple because instead of becoming a disciple we pretend to be disciples—we cannot become real disciples. One does not become a disciple just by taking a mantra and initiation from a Guru—if you can serve your Guru, if you can please your Guru, then you can be recognised as a true disciple. There are so many gurus in this world, but the number of disciples in this world is very, very small. One does not become a real Guru without first becoming a real disciple. First it is necessary to be a disciple, then you can become a guru.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

"Come to Learn, Come to Serve"

Speaking online to devotees in Durban, SA
10 November 2019, part 1

I am very happy to see you all, it is very nice that everybody is happy there. By the mercy of Gurudev, we came back from Vrindavan yesterday. We have just finished Vrindavan-Govardhan-Jaipur-Kurukshetra-Karauli parikrama and now have come back to Dum Dum Park, Kolkata.

Sometimes I think that you also must join the parikrama—there is Gaura-mandal parikrama (Nabadwip parikrama), there is Purushottama parikrama at Ratha-yatra time, and Vraja-mandal parikrama during the Kartik month. If you can join these programmes, it will be good for your spiritual life. Always keep in touch with Krishna-katha, always practise Krishna consciousness through sravan (hearing), kirtan (chanting and practising), sadhu-sanga (good association)—that is good for a devotee. For example, if you have a mobile phone but do not charge it, after a few hours or a few days it will stop working. Our spiritual life is also like this—we must charge ourselves from time to time with sravan, kirtan, with Krishna-katha, with good association. These things are necessary for our spiritual life.

Gurudev started these parikramas in Srila Sridhar Maharaj's time, and after that I have been doing them since Gurudev's time, for more than twenty-five years now. I have been arranging Nabadwip Dham parikrama, Puri Dham parikrama, and Vrindavan-Govardhan parikrama every year. If you can come and join these parikramas, it will be good for you. You can learn more and more, you can engage yourself in the service of the Lord. Always engage yourself in Krishna consciousness and also always avoid illusory environment, always avoid material works. These are the main things.

You can learn Vaishnav culture, Vaishnav etiquette more and more, you can learn more about Mahaprabhu's conception, Srila Rupa Goswami's teachings, Srila Sanatan Goswami's teachings, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami's teachings, Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Gurudev's teachings, you can get some experience of how they continued their spiritual life. So, I am inviting you all—try to come from the next year. You must join these parikramas sometimes, it will be good for you, and at other time, when you stay in your house and live a grihastha life (householder life), you must all from time to time listen to the skype lectures, to the lectures from the website, and chant the Holy Name, engage yourself in the service of the Deities, of the Lord, in Vaishnav service—that will be good for you.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told grihastha (householder) devotees, "Vaisnav-seva chhada dina nahi yaya—make sure that not a single day passes without service to Vaishnavs." Service to Vaishnavs means you must follow Vaishnavs' instruction, Gurudev's instruction. You must always follow Gurudev's instruction. "Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, chittete kariya aikya—make the teachings from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart)." You must always keep what comes from the lotus mouth of Gurudev in your heart. That is the main thing. If you can keep it in your heart, then it will give you supreme benefit. So, engage yourself in Vaishnav-seva and chant the Holy Name. There are no rules and regulations concerning chanting—you can chant all the time, even when you are working, you can also chant the Holy Name at this time, then your practice will be more perfect. The more you practise, the more perfect you will be.

* * *

"Preach for My Guru"

Speaking online to devotees in Durban, SA
10 November 2019, part 2

Do you have any questions?

Question: What is your desire for all the devotees in Durban?

My desire is that you preach for my Guru. Make some books, brochures, distribute prasadam, and go for sankirtan in the street from time to time. Preach. Continue preaching. You may not have a temple now, but you can go house to house once a week, and make a programme in one devotee's house one week and in another devotee's house another week. Continue your programmes, that will be good for you yourself.

Everybody should preach—go house to house, door to door. Make sometimes a sankirtan programme in the street. Print some brochures. When all devotees come for a programme every week, you can invite a few outside people also to listen from you and get your association. If some new people come and join every programme, then your programme will increase. If you can get a permanent preaching centre, it will be also good for you.

Question: We are trying to establish contact with a temple of Laksmi Narayan at the moment, they are saying that we can come and chant in their temple. Can we do that?

Of course, yes, why not? You can chant there, you can give a lecture there. You can do a programme there. That is good for you.

Question: We have heard a lecture of Your Divine Grace where you say that we should not come to fight with guns, etc., but we should fight with kartal and mridanga...

Yes, that is correct. Actually, we are fighting against maya (illusory environment), and our weapons are kartals and mridanga. It is correct. The opposition group always creates antithesis and we create thesis. There are always people in this movement who disturb us, who disturb our programme, who cause problems for our service, who obstruct our service to the Lord—that is Maya Devi's duty. But we must not stop our service—we must not stop our chanting, our preaching, our programme. We will continue our programme, we will continue our preaching, and we will continue preaching and practising Krishna consciousness. We will not stop.

You know, when there was opposition at the Nabadwip temple in 2010, one of our sannyasis told me, "Maharaj, you should not make Gurudev's samadhi now. Wait and make it when the problems are solved." I told him, "And if the problem is not solved another hundred years, will we not make Gurudev's samadhi then?" And I made the samadhi of Gurudev the same year when Gurudev left. This was my duty. Also, in these years I have expanded so many temples, I have opened so many branches despite all the problems the opposition is making. You cannot imagine how many false court cases they have put against me! You can learn from me—how much tolerance, how much patience I am showing...

Do you have any other questions?

Question: Why did Haridas Thakur not want to see the end of Mahaprabhu's pastimes?

Because Haridas Thakur has much affection for Mahaprabhu, that is why he did not want Mahaprabhu to leave this world. Haridas Thakur did not want to see that. Haridas Thakur saw all pastimes of Mahaprabhu—he saw when Mahaprabhu was born, he saw His childhood, he saw His grihastha life, sannyas life, preaching life. Haridas Thakur had seen everything, but when Haridas Thakur finally understood that Mahaprabhu's pastimes were finishing and Mahaprabhu would leave soon, he thought, "I do not want to see it. I want to leave my body before Mahaprabhu." Haridas Thakur told about his last desire to Mahaprabhu, "I will see Your moon-like face with my eyes. I will keep Your lotus feet in my heart and I will chant Your name with my mouth." All his life Haridas Thakur had been chanting Hare Krishna maha-mantra, but at his last moment, he said, "I will chant 'Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Sri Krishna Chaitanya.' This is my last desire." And Mahaprabhu fulfilled his desire...

All right, it has been very nice to see you all. You can call me from time to time, I can give you some time for a skype programme. It is my happiness.

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

Come for Gaura Purnima. Always join us in the parikramas. Try to come for Gaura Purnima, join Nabadwip Dham parikrama!

* * *

Guru-Disciple Bond

Speaking online to devotees in Ecuador
28 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 2

I am very happy to see all the Ecuador devotees. They are very nice, and I can see very good communication and a very big gathering there. I am very happy to see that. Also, everybody's mood is very nice—everybody has service mood, I am very happy to see that.

One thing I want to say is that one cannot become a disciple only by taking initiation, only by taking a mantra from Gurudev. It is necessary to have a real connection of disciple and Gurudev. If you only take initiation, give your Guru some flower, give your Guru some offering or a garland, this is outside, external things—you must understand purely what Gurudev needs, what is his connection, what Gurudev wants, what his heart wants and you must always fulfil his desire. That is what the relationship between the Guru and a disciple is.

You give an obeisance to the Guru, and Gurudev takes your obeisance, or you give a donation to the Guru and he takes it for himself—this kind of Guru is available all over the world, but it is rare to find such Guru in this world who will take your pranam (obeisance) and pranami (donation) and use it for the service of his Guru.

Devotee: [Introducing another devotee] He is from another mission, but he comes to our temple.

That is not a problem. I do not think who comes from which mission, who is whose disciple, etc. If anyone wants to serve Mahaprabhu, if anyone wants to serve devotees, that is sufficient, do not discriminate.

Do you have any other questions?

Question: Do you have any specific instruction for the devotees in Ecuador?

Yes. Gurudev will be happy, Nityananda Prabhu will be happy through sravan and kirtan. All devotees must all the time engage in sravanam, kirtanam. This is the main service. Always engage in sravanam, kirtanam and service to Vaishnavs. Sometimes go to the street for Harinam sankirtan, distribute books, distribute pamphlets, brochures. Preach in every capacity.

ye dina grhe bhajana dekhi
grhete goloka bhaya

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

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

You know that Christians go to the church one day once a week and they pray to the Lord, "Please remove all my sins, please remove all kinds of bad things." They go to their service once a week, but devotees (bhaktas) of Krishna, devotees (bhaktas) of Mahaprabhu engage themselves in the service to their Guru, in the service to Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu all the time.

If you have capacity, sometimes join our Vrindavan parikrama, Puri Dham parikrama, Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Join us—you can get some good association. If anyone has capacity, come to India, come and join us in the parikramas of Nabadwip Mandal, Vraja Mandal (Vrindavan), Ksetra Mandal (Puri). You are always welcome. I always think of you—you are all in my heart. You are all members of my family—you are my Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Family.

Gurudev has already bought you the ticket to Vrindavan and you are already on the ship where Gurudev is the captain. Do not jump off the ship! You must stay on the ship. Whatever austerity comes, whatever problem comes, whatever happens, you must stay on the ship. If you jump off or get off the ship, you will lose Vrindavan—you will not be able to reach your destination.

So, I am also very happy to see your smiling faces, I can see your service faces and gives me joy, happiness and so much enthusiasm to engage in service.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Ecuador ki jay
Sripad Rajaram Prabhu ki jay
All the distinguished devotees ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

* * *

Qualification of Disciple and Guru

9 October 2019, Kolkata, part 1

You can find many sincere seekers, sincere devotees, but it is very rare to get a devotee who has chastity. Gurudev would always ask me about the works, about the money, etc. and he would sometimes say to me, "Who of my godbrothers do I have? Who helps me? Can you find at least one person?" And then he would say, "There is only Keshto from the crops field." Keshto is a disciple of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, a simple, ignorant man, but he was loyal to our Gurudev—he did what Gurudev told him to do without any diplomacy.

I am thinking that in Krishna consciousness, in the transcendental life, it does not matter who is whose disciple, who is senior, who is junior. These things matter in material life—people say, "Oh, I have worked in the company for thirty years and you have worked for ten years, so you are junior!" In material life, you say you have worked for thirty years in a company, but this does not matter in Krishna consciousness. In Krishna consciousness, seniority depends on devotion, on reality, chastity. It is about one's devotion. It is very rare to find a person who has devotion, who can follow Gurudev's instruction to a T. The main criteria of one's progress or devotion in Krishna consciousness is the extent to which one can properly follow Gurudev's instruction.

Another thing is that sometimes we say we have got some akash-vani, something comes to us from the above, but you must ask your heart, you must ask yourself, "You are saying this, but are you not cheating yourself?" This is the main thing. It is necessary to understand this.

We can make so many disciples, we can make so many temples, but this does not qualify one as a guru. The first and foremost quality of a guru is the extent to which he himself is a disciple. You must ask yourself, "Is he a disciple or not?"—then you can think if he is a guru or not. Does the person first of all think he is a disciple or not? And being a disciple is not only taking the mantra. Receiving the mantra, giving some flowers to Gurudev, giving some Tulasi leaves to his chest—these are external things, and these external things are very widely going on in this world. For example, when you write a letter to your guru, you say, "Gurudev, please accept my obeisance." There are so many such disguised gurus available in this world who take your obeisance (pranam) and take your donation (pranami)—but the main thing is to what extent does such guru follow his Gurudev's instruction?

* * *

Our Identity

Public speech at a gathering in Purulia
13 November 2019, part 1

I am first giving my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my spiritual master Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Then, I am giving my full obeisance to you all who are present here—all the scholars, all the professors, engineers, intellectual assembled people and distinguished guests.

Actually, I am very happy to come here today to represent my institution Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math International that was established in 1941 by our beloved Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, succeeded after that by our Gurudev, the president and sevaite, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. This Mission has centres in over one hundred countries and preaches all over the world about peace and harmony and the spiritual conception of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. That is why I am very happy to see you all and I am very glad to come here to join this kind of assembly. I am expressing my full gratitude and giving my full support to those who have organised this programme and gathered this assembly.

I am very fortunate to come here, and one thing I want to say is that we always speak about peace and harmony, but we must understand—do we only say it with our mouth or do we say it from our heart? It is necessary to establish and speak about peace and harmony from the heart. This is the main thing.

We suffering so much because of our ego; everybody has some ego—somebody says, "We are professors," somebody says, "We are doctors," etc. Actually, I do not know who you consider yourself, but I myself think that I am a fallen soul, that I have no quality and qualification. I do not have any qualification to come here also, but by the mercy of Gurudev, my friends Bhakti Niskam Shanta Maharaj and Bhakti Vijnan Muni Maharaj asked me to come here for one day and join this programme—I was busy, but it is my duty to serve the Mission of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math all over the world, that is why I could not decline their request. That is why I have come here.

Actually, we say we are professors, we are doctors, we are engineers, we are scholars, etc. I have heard you give everybody's identity and we give some identity from our side also, but actually we must think: what is our identity? All these titles are actually the identity of our body. You can understand it if you think about it properly. You have got so many awards, you have got so many gold medals, so many things, but when you leave your body, what will happen to all that? You should think about it. This is what simple living and high thinking is. What is your identity? Is it your name? Somebody asks me, "Who are you?" and I tell them, "My name is that," but this is my bodily identity. It is not actually our real identity. This is the main thing.

* * *

Shed Your Raincoat

Public speech at a gathering in Purulia
13 November 2019, part 2

We hear, "Please come together under one umbrella," but the main problem is that each of us thinks that we all have our own raincoat. Then, we must think properly about this. At present, education and science are progressing so much in this world, but what teaching Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and our Guru-varga have given us is that we must be humble, tolerant and give honour to others. This is Mahaprabhu's conception.

We always fight among each other for three main things—kanak, kamini, and pratistha; we fight for money, for ladies and for name and fame. When we fight among each other and cannot leave our ego, how can we ever make harmony? If we cannot leave our ego, how can we even live in harmony and peace?

You are all trying to create peace and harmony in this world, but we cannot leave our ego, we cannot sacrifice our life, we cannot give up anything, however small it may be, for the service of society. How much dedication do we have? Dedication means love and affection. This is the main thing everyone should think about, and this is the main conception that Sriman Mahaprabhu preaches. Sriman Mahaprabhu has brought and distributed these things—He has already shown how to make peace.

Another thing is that you want to create peace for others, but you yourself are always suffering from three-fold miseries of this world (adhibhautik, adhidaivik, adhyatmik: miseries caused by one's body, by the nature, and other souls). Sometimes we think and have so much hope to become something, but when we do not get it, we become angry. We think we want to be a big professor, we want to be a big doctor, but if we do not succeed, then so much anger comes, so much frustration comes, and so many problems come. But the main thing is that everything depends upon He who is above us—everything depends on the Supreme Controller,

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

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

(Sri Brahma-samhita, 5.1)

This is written in Brahma-samhita—Brahma himself says this. Srimad Bhagavad-gita also tells lastly,

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

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

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

You think that we are Hindus, we are Muslims, we are Christians, we are Buddhists, we are Russian, we are Italian, we are Indian, but this is not our identification. We are tiny jiva souls who come from the Lord and who go to the Lord. We think that somebody is from Odisha, somebody is from Bengal, somebody is from the USA, somebody is from South America, but this is not so. We are all members of the same family, and the leader, or the guardian, of our family is the Lord. We are fallen souls who decide not to follow the guardian—we do everything, but we forget Him being under the influence of the illusory environment. Srimad Bhagavad-gita says,

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)

Krishna Himself says, "I have created the illusory environment," and we forget who we are because of this illusory environment. That is why we have forgotten our identity. So, first you must think who you are.

* * *

Education Uplifts, Not Degrades

Public speech at a gathering in Purulia
13 November 2019, part 3

You are not a professor, you are not a scholar, you are not a doctor, you are not a chemist—you are only a jiva soul. Your identity is that you are a jiva soul. I say, "This is my hand," "This is my head," "This my ear"—but who am I? This is my question. Our identity is that we are a jiva soul, we come from the Lord and go to the Lord. This is the main thing.

For that, I am humbly requesting you all—you are all great educated people... You know, when I was practising law in the high court, I saw one high court judge giving judgement in a case. There was a man, an aeroplane pilot, his wife, a bank manager, (both had so much money), and there was an old lady who came and started crying to the judge, "This is my son and his wife, but they are kicking me out of my own house!" Both the pilot husband and the bank manager wife are educated, but what does this education give us? Does education teach us to do such things? No. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur told,

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)

What is this? Even a donkey or a monkey knows, "This is my son," and "This is my mother"—but that pilot and bank manager do not know it, they kicked their own mother out of her house and she became a street beggar in Vrindavan! What is this? What sort of education is this?

Education is not like this. Education teaches very high things, it teaches one to think what they are doing. That is why I am telling everybody—I see so many things going on in this society, people are very selfish, they only know their own interest, and they do not think about others! We think here, "Oh India is poor," "Bangladesh is poor," "Pakistan is poor," "People are in want of food," but look at California—it is one of the richest places on earth, but this place has the highest suicide rate in the world. Why? Do they have no peace? No, they do not. Who has brought peace to us? Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu brought us peace and distributed these Holy Names in this world. I am humbly praying to you all to chant this Holy name in this world. I am not telling you to leave your education, I am not telling you to give up your job, to give up everything. No. Do what you are doing, but in the meantime do not gossip about or with others, do not waste your time—think about the Lord and chant the Holy Name of the Lord.

I am giving my full obeisance to you all and I am very happy to meet you all. I am a very fallen soul, I have no quality and qualification, I only wanted to say these few words on behalf of my Gurudev. Thank you so much.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj.

* * *

Our Fortune

Speaking online to the devotees in Caracas
16 November 2019, part 1

I am very happy to see you all. We have recently returned from Vrindavan and there have been some preaching also here locally, I have attended some programmes this week, and today I have got the news that some devotees want to take initiation. I am very happy that the preaching is going on properly in Caracas.

You are very fortunate, and we are also fortunate, that Krishna Himself has come in this age of Kali as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, a combined form of Radha-Krishna. Coming as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, He has given us the best things.

Actually, we are suffering too much in this age of Kali because of so many obstacles in this world, we are suffering so much because we are always attacked by the illusory environment. However, we have got the mercy of Gurudev—the Lord Himself comes as a Guru and tells us who we are, what is our duty, what we have got the human body for, and for what purpose we must use this human body. This human body is not for only eating, sleeping, dancing and enjoying. No. This body is meant for the service to the Lord, for the service to the Guru and Vaishnavs.

If we use this body for this purpose, we will get proper benefit, but the problem is that we always follow our mind—we do what our mind tells us. This is not right. Through the scriptures, by listening to the Guru, by listening to great Vaishnavs, we must understand what is our duty. We must know that, and we must follow that. By listening to great sadhus we can understand everything—for what purpose we have got this human body, what this human body is for and what we must use this human body for. This body is not for only eating, sleeping, and enjoying. Krishna is the only enjoyer. We are not enjoyers, we are not renouncers—we are only servitors.

* * *

Disciple's Dedication

Speaking online to the devotees in Caracas
16 November 2019, part 2

I see many devotees have come to take initiation today. Initiation is not only taking a mantra. One does not become a disciple just by taking a mantra. A disciple's duty is to always follow his Gurudev's instruction. A disciple will always follow the rules and regulations and a disciple will always follow properly what Gurudev tells.

Actually, not everybody can be a disciple. Many devotees take initiation, but not everybody becomes a disciple—only a few people become a disciple. In this world, you can get so many gurus, but you will not find so many disciples. It is very difficult to be a proper disciple. A disciple is a person who serves the Lord under the guidance of their Guru and Vaishnavs, who always fully follows their instructions, who is fully and properly surrendered. Therefore, a disciple's duty is to always serve their Guru in any possible way. There are many ways one can serve their Guru—the main thing is that you must follow properly what Gurudev is telling, you must follow properly Gurudev's instruction.

As I have said, you will get so many gurus in this world, but you will not find a proper disciple so easily. If you only wear a dhoti, put tilaks, wear the kanthi-mala, these are external things; initiation is about devotion and it comes from the heart.

Krishna Himself comes in this age of Kali as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went door to door preaching this Holy Name. This Holy Name came from Krishna—it was passed down from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev. In this way, it was passed down to Madhavendra Puri who is the main root of this line. After that, the Holy Name was passed down from Madhavendra Puri to Ishwar Puri, from Ishwar Puri to Mahaprabhu. You can see that the Lord Himself took initiation, the Lord Himself accepted a Guru because if you want to learn anything, for example if you want to learn how to cook, it is necessary to have a guru—whatever you want to learn, it is necessary to have a teacher.

Then, you are very fortunate because you have come to our line, to our Chaitanya Saraswat Math. The founder acharya of this Chaitanya Saraswat Math is Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. After that, all property of Srila Sridhar Maharaj came to our Gurudev, Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. When we say 'property', we do not mean the temple, buildings, Deities, etc. This is not the property of the Guru—the property of the Guru is his love, affection, his heart. Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave all his property to Gurudev, and after that Gurudev gave all his property to me. I have just explained what property means—it is not the Guru's temple, buildings, Deities, land, etc. No. The property of a Guru is his love, affection, his heart. Gurudev has given everything to me and he empowered me also to give initiation to those who want to take initiation, who want to serve the Mission, who want to serve the temple, who want to follow the rules and regulation, and those who want to preach Krishna consciousness. I think that you have got a great benefit through the good association in Caracas, Venezuela, so you are ready to receive initiation today.

So, take the beads and first chant,

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

First chant this Pancha-tattva's Name, ask Them for mercy, then you can start chanting from the big beads,

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

Next bead,

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

And so on. Start chanting from the big beads, when you come to the small beads, take turn and chant from the small beads to the big beads. Chant in this way sixteen rounds or more, it is good for you, but if you are busy with service any day, you must chant not less than four rounds. Four rounds must be chanted every day. Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart, and you will be successful in your spiritual life. There is also this book about the ten offences. You must read the entire book, read what the main ten offences are, memorise what they are and you must avoid these ten offences. If you can chant without offences, you will get the result quickly.

* * *

Niti and Priti

9 October 2019, Kolkata, part 2

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay

It was Ramachandra's vijay utsav yesterday, and we would like to clarify some things about Rama-tattva and Krishna-tattva, or Rama-lila and Krishna-lila.

You all know Ramayana, and you can also see in Chaitanya-charitamrita that Mahaprabhu says that Ravan could not kidnap original Sita—he kidnapped maya Sita. Valmiki wrote his Ramayana 60,000 years ago and he does not write about it there. Still, what Ramayana says is also correct. Anyhow, Ramachandra knows everything—He is the Lord.

vitarasi diksu rane dik-pati-kamaniyam
dasa-mukha-mauli-balim ramaniyam
kesava dhrta-rama-sarira jaya jagadisa hare

O Hari! O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! You have assumed the form of Ramachandra! All glory to You! During the battle at Lanka You distributed to all the directions the most pleasing, crowning offering of the ten heads of Ravan, which were desired by the guardians of the directions.

(Sri Dasavatara Stotram, 7)

Keshava Krishna has become Rama, a king.

When Lord Ramachandra came back from His exile into the forest (vana-vasa), all His prajya (subjects, ministers) said, "Oh, Ravan has stolen Sita, we do not know if she is pure or not. We must check it." Because Rama is the king He has to listen to them—He did not think about Sita, there is no display of love and affection.

What is Vraja gopis' love and affection like? When Krishna left, all the Vraja gopis always cried and shouted, they always felt so much separation, and Krishna also always felt so much separation. But what do we see here? Here we see that first Ramachandra put Sita Devi into fire to test her purity. Nothing happened to Sita Devi, but all the ministers and citizens again said, "We still cannot believe it. You are the king and You cannot stay with Sita." Ramachandra thought, "I have to maintain the rules and regulations properly. If I do not behave perfectly, people will not follow Me." That is, Rama is maryada-purush—He is always truthful, He always maintains proper conduct and follows all rules and regulations, He shows affection for moral principles (niti) and His kingdom. Everything must be perfect. So, when He was told to send Sita to the forest to stay in Valmiki's ashram, He did that. At that time, Sita Devi cried so much, "Ha Ram! Ha Ram!" Rama knows Sita is perfect, He knows Sita has no fault, He knows everything, but for the sake of his kingdom and proper conduct, He thought, "I have to do this. I have to send Sita away because people do not believe she is pure."

What happened before Ramachandra's exile to the forest? That is the matter of Dasarath's vatsalya-rasa. There are five relationships with the Lord—there is santa-rasa (neutral relationship), dasya-rasa (servitude), sakhya-rasa (friendship), vatsalya-rasa (parenthood), and madhura-rasa (consorthood). When Ramachandra sent Sita away, Sita felt separation from Rama, but Rama did not show it, thinking, "I am a perfect man, and I must maintain My perfection." Here also, on the one hand, Darasarth has much love and affection for Ramachandra—when Dasarath sent Ramachandra to live in the forest for fourteen years, Dasarath was so sad that he died soon after that. Still, Dasarath is truthful and law-abiding—he follows rules and regulations, he follows the laws strictly. Where is love and affection (priti) here? Here there is first niti (law), then only priti (love), but in Krishna-lila, priti goes first, and niti means nothing.

Vraja basis, all the gopis, Radharani left everything—they have no shame, no shyness, no fear, nothing. They only always think, "Krishna is my property! We do not care who says what!" That is pure love and affection. "Oh, people will say this," "Oh, people will speak bad"—no, they do not care for anything. But Dasarath did care—he thought, "I am the king, and I must follow rules and regulations. I have promised my wife to do whatever she asks me for, so I have to fulfil her desire." Where is love and affection there?

Ramachandra is the Lord, and Dasarath sent the Lord to the forest! Whether the Lord eats or fasts, what He is doing, where He is sleeping—he does not care. At that time, Laksman and Sita Devi went with Ramachandra. Dasarath did not send Sita or Laksman with Rama, but because Sita has love and affection for Ramachandra, she went with Him, and Laksman is His junior brother, he also has love and affection for his brother, so Laksman also went with Ramachandra. They have love and affection, but what does Dasarath do? He knows Ramachandra is the Lord and he sent the Lord to the forest!

I am not criticising Dasarath. I am only giving some clarification. Somebody can say, "Oh, Maharaj is criticising Dasarath!" No. What I am saying is that there is not so much love and affection in Rama-lila. Dasarath knows Ramachandra is the Lord, he knows, "I am sending the Lord to exile for the sake of my kingdom and all my rules and regulations." In Rama-lila, rules and regulations are the highest, and love and affection go down, but this is not the highest ideal. What happens in Krishna-lila?

When Kamsa was about to kill Devaki, Vasudev pled with Kamsa with folded hands and so much earnestness, "Please, do not kill her! You have heard that it is the eighth son that will kill you, so you can lock us in jail and I promise you I will hand you over each child we get, one by one." And he did that. Vasudev gave Kamsa each of his babies, one by one, and Kamsa killed each of them. However, when the eighth child came, what did Vasudev do? He saw sankha, chakra, gada, padma (conch, disk, club, lotus) and realised that the Lord Himself had come. What did he do then? He took his son and carried Him to Gokul! He kept His son there and brought back a baby girl instead of Him. Vasudev was not afraid—he did not care there was the Yamuna, there was rain, etc. That night there was so much rain—it had been raining the whole day and night, but Vasudev had no fear. When he came out, Anantadev came and sheltered him from the rain. There was the Yamuna river, but when Vasudev came to the river, Yamuna gave way to Vasudev. He was walking across the Yamuna holding Krishna in his arms, and no rain fell on the baby. Who can kill Him? Think about it. Then, when Vasudev came back with the girl, he called some lady and Kamsa came to the prison cell, "The eighth baby has come! Where is He?" Vasudev said, "No, it is not a he, it is a she." He told a lie—he did not care because his niti (law, moral principles) was to protect his son. This is vatsalya-rasa. He did not care about telling a lie, going to hell as a result, etc. It was nothing for him. He only knew, "I have to protect my son!" That is called vatsalya-rasa. And Nanda Maharaj has even more love and affection for the Lord than Vasudev because although Vasudev had got the Lord as his son, he could not make the Janmastami festival for his son. Who made that festival? Nanda Maharaj. Nanda Maharaj is so fortunate, he has so much love and affection, even more than Vasudev.

That is called love and affection...

* * *

Laksman's Grudge

9 October 2019, Kolkata, part 3

We would like to also say a few words about Nityananda Prabhu's mercy and Baladev's mercy, as well as Baladev-tattva.

Laksman always worships Ramachandra, Laksman always serves Ramachandra, that is why he thought, "If my master is going to the forest, what will I stay here for? I must go to the forest too—for the service of my worshippable Ramachandra." Dasarath had not punished or exiled Laksman, he went to the forest of his own accord. Moreover, Ramachandra could have also fought His mother (and then Ramayan would not have happened)—Ramachandra could have asserted His rights, "No, I am the elder son, so I must get the position of the king. I want to be the king!" He could have done this, but no, the Lord Himself showed that Ramachandra had left His chair and went to the forest because He was obedient to His father's order ("My father is My guru, so it is all right, I will follow his instruction—My father says I must go to the forest, I will go to the forest."). Ramachandra did not avoid His exile—He followed what His father had told him.

One time, Laksman asked Ramachandra, "Why must Sita Devi go to the forest to Valmiki's ashram? Why?!" (She had to go because Ramachandra gave His instruction at that time, and Sita Devi had to follow it.) Ramachandra explained to Laksman, "You know what I have appeared in this world for, you know what I have come to this world for—to follow the rules and regulations strictly. I am law-abiding (maryada-purush)." Laksman was very sad about it because he served Ramachandra and he served Sita Devi too. On top of that, do you know what kind of order Ramachandra gave to him? Ramachandra told Laksman, "Sita Devi cannot go to the ashram alone, she does not know where it is, so you can take her! Take her there and come back." Do you see? Sita Devi was crying so much, and Laksman could not bear the thought of doing it, but because Ramachandara is his worshippable Lord and elder brother—and a younger brother always follows his elder brother's order, that is the niti (moral standard)—he had to take her to Valmiki's ashram. But Laksman could not forget the kind of pain he got at that time. He felt so much pain receiving this very heavy order. He told Ramachandra, "I will do what You are saying, but when You come in Dvapar-yuga, You will become Krishna, and I will also come with You—but this time I will not come as Your younger brother! I will be the elder brother, and this time You will always bow to me and follow my instruction!" That is Baladev. Laksman said, "I have become younger now and You sometimes give me nasty and very difficult orders and I cannot go against You, but in Dvapar yuga, I will come as Your elder brother!"

* * *

Balaram's Character

9 October 2019, Kolkata, part 4

In Dvapar-yuga, Laksman came as Baladev and became Krishna's dada, elder brother. Sometimes you can see that the younger brother has to follow the elder son. So, we see that in Krishna-lila, Krishna follows Baladev.

For example, during the Ratha-yatra, the chariot festival, there is Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadra—They think They will go to Their chariots, but Balaram told Them, "Wait here, I will go first!" What kind of servitor is He that master must go behind and the servant goes before! Baladev may be elder, but He is a servitor—He is seva-vigraha, a worshippable embodiment of service. So, why will the servitor go first? Why must the master go behind? What rule is this? But no, Balaram does this for service—He said, "I will go first to see if there is any problem on the road. I will remove all problems—if there is any forest, any jungle, any thorns on the way, I can clear the path, and then My master can come easily." That is why Baladev's chariot always goes first.

Baladev always gives order to Krishna, but this is not like, "Oh, You have to follow My order! You must do what I say! You must follow My instruction!"—He does not do it to show that He is the master, not to exercise mastery (prabhutva) over Krishna. Rather, He does it for service. A servitor may sometimes for service give an order to his guru, "No, no, Gurudev, please fo not go there. I see some problem is there, please do not go there."

For example, when Krishna decided to kidnap Rukmini, He told about it to Balaram, and Baladev said, "Yes, go, I am with You. Do not worry." In those days, there was a special wedding system, and everybody thought that the music band party was coming, but instead of that a fighting band party came, and Baladev was there too—when the fighting broke out, He too fought and stopped the fighting.

Another time, Kamsa called Krishna to wrestle with him. Baladev told Krishna, "No, You cannot go alone! Whether Kamsa likes me or not, it is not a question—when Kamsa fights with You, I will be there with You." When Balaram says He will go, who will stop Him? No one. Krishna cannot stop Him.

So, whatever problem came up on the way, Balaram removes all problems. He always does everything for the service to Krishna. He always protects Krishna, He is always with Him. That is Balaram's character.

* * *

Balaram and Nitai: Seva-Vigraha

9 October 2019, Kolkata, part 5

Krishna would play the flute, Krishna would take all the cows to the forest, but in the meantime Mother Yasoda would always worry about her son. This is vatsalya-rasa. She knew that Krishna went to the forest and Kamsa always sent demons to kill Krishna, so any time some demon could come to the forest. When, however, Balai came and said, "Do not worry, I am always with Him," then Mother Yasoda said, "OK, You are going with Him, then I am worry-free."

Balai and Kanai, Balaram and Krishna, always went to the forest. Krishna would play sweet tunes with His flute, but Balai did not play a flute—Balai would play a sringa (buffalo horn), and it made a very big and loud sound! When His sringa sounded, demigods removed all problems—it was like a warning for all the demons to watch out!

Balai always keeps His Lord happy—He always thinks how to make sure that Krishna can play His flute smoothly and that no disturbance comes. Balaram always takes care of this. Moreover, during the sringara-rasa (madhura-rasa), Balaram has no right to go there, but He still always hidingly takes care of everything, He clears all obstacles and makes sure everything goes on properly. He thinks, "I am the gatekeeper, and if any disturbance comes, I will plough it out and finish it at once. I will do whatever it takes to make sure no disturbance comes to Krishna's happiness." That is why Baladev Prabhu is known as seva-vigraha (worshippable embodiment of service).

He is Laksman in Treta-yuga, Baladev in Dvapar-yuga, and Nitai in Kali-yuga. When Krishna came as Mahaprabhu to rescue all sinners and offenders, Balai could not keep quiet—He also came, and just as Balai, Nitai comes in Kali-yuga as Mahaprabhu's elder.

vrajendra-nandana yei sachi-suta haila sei
balarama ha-ila nitai

In the age of Kali, Vrajendra-nandan became Sachi-nandan, and in the meantime Rohini-nandan became Padmavati-nandan. (The name of Nityananda Prabhu's mother is Padmavati.)

Nitai comes before Mahaprabhu, and He does not show anything externally until Mahaprabhu comes—He hides His mood and visits with his Guru many holy places; but when Mahaprabhu came and started His pastimes—when everybody started singing, playing mridanga, etc. at Srivas Angan, then Nityananda left all His holy places, came to Nabadwip and met with Mahaprabhu. It happened at Nandan-acharya-bhavan. This is where Nityananda Prabhu met Mahaprabhu for the first time. When we do the Nabadwip Dham parikrama, we go there first during the parikrama of Mayapur.

When Nityananda Prabhu was beaten by Madhai and blood came from His head, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu could not tolerate it at that time—He called His chakra. Who could stop Him? Mahaprabhu came personally in the form of the Holy Name and He Himself came to distribute this Holy Name. Sometimes, Nityananda Prabhu would go to some places first, and that day it happened so that Nityananda Prabhu was beaten by Madhai. Gauranga Mahaprabhu could not tolerate it—He Himself had forgotten that He did not fight in this age of Kali with the help of weapons, He had forgotten that He had come to fight with the help of love and affection, with the help of Krishna-prema. Angry, Mahaprabhu called Sudarshan and ordered him, "Sudarshan, finish these demons Jagai and Madhai!" But Nityananda Prabhu asked Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, "Have You come to this world for calling Your chakra?" He reminded Mahaprabhu what He had come for. Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself, He has unlimited strength, He can kill any demon—who can stop Him? Only His elder brother can. Mahaprabhu is the Lord Himself, and He had forgotten Himself—but Nitai came and stopped Mahaprabhu from killing Jagai and Madhai.

Also, when Gaurasundar took sannyas, He went to Puri, and Nityananda Prabhu broke His danda. Think about it—who has the power to do it? Do you think anyone can do it? Does anyone has the power to do it? No, only Nityananda Prabhu has such power—only He can break Mahaprabhu's danda. Mahaprabhu told Him, "I have taken sannyas and if I do not carry the danda, people will criticise Me," but Nityananda Prabhu replied, "If anybody criticises You, then say I broke Your danda! I have had enough of Your lectures in Treta yuga. I followed Your instruction then, but this time I will not follow Your instruction—You will follow My instruction."

* * *

Mind's Trap

9 October 2019, Kolkata, part 6

Be humble, tolerant and give honour to others—this is what proper service is, this is what vaishnavata (quality of a Vaishnav) is. These qualities are the main necessary thing. Siksastakam says,

trnad api sunichena taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

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

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

If somebody says, "I have understood devotion, I have read the scriptures, and I have got an inspiration or order from the Lord—I can convert many people with my lectures!"—that is called ego. If somebody thinks they can do it, it is arrogance (dambhikata), ego and pride.

You imagine something in your mind and think that this inspiration or order is coming from the Lord, and you follow it—it is a mistake because it is not so easy to get an instruction from the Lord. Anyone and everyone cannot get such an instruction from the Lord, it is a very high thing. Only the Guru can get an order or some teachings from the Lord. If some neophyte (nimna-adhikari) who has only recently joined Krishna consciousness thinks they are getting an inspiration from the Lord, it is very bad.

When the king selects his particular son to be the next king, he transfers all good qualities, all good things, all his property to his son. In our life also, an honest, genuine guru is always selected by his guru—guru always descends. If somebody says, "I have made so many disciples, I have become a big guru!"—this is not appropriate. You think you have become a siddha purush (achieve perfection), but even at that time you still need a guru. The help of the guru is always necessary. You cannot get anything crossing your guru. Devotional life is another world—you cannot get any devotional property without the Guru; in the devotional world, everything comes through Gurudev.

You do not know whether your life is getting better or worse, that is why whatever the situation is, it is always safe to follow the Guru's instruction. These are the main things.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay

* * *

Ekadasi: Historical Background

9 October 2019, Kolkata, part 8

nikhila-bhuvana-maya-chhinna-vichchhinna-kartri
vibudha-bahula-mrgya-mukti-mohanta-datri
sithilita-vidhi-raga-aradhya-radhesa-dhani
vilasati hrdi nityam bhakti-siddhanta-vani

"With his first step, he vigorously cut asunder the whole plane of exploitation, and with his second, he put a stop to all the calculations of the different scholars with their different conceptions of liberation. With his third step, he eased the hard rules and regulations by a touch of the Divine Love: he gave us the worship of Sri Sri Radha and Govinda. The real existence of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad is in his divine teachings. May those teachings dance eternally within the core of your heart."

"Sithilita viddhi" means Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur made some rules and regulations a little bit less strict.

Previously, after Mahaprabhu, there appeared so many misconceptions and there were so many rules and regulations at that time. For example, there used to be a saha-mora ritual in India—it means when a husband died, the pious wife (sati) had to jump into the fire too and be burnt with the dead husband. There were so many brahman-made Hindu laws like this in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan. Ladies suffered so much. There used to be many very bad things in the society. Later, some king came and such things stopped.

Actually, I was a scientist student, so I did not study history so much, but I studied some history when I was twelve-fourteen years old. Sometimes I see in the newspapers or in some other places that they tell about Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He was a very educated man from Midnapore, and he stopped this brahman culture. There was also another woman activist who also opposed such customs, she organised a society to fight such customs, and all the brahmans were very much against her. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar also contributed a lot—he fought for the right of widows to remarry (vidhwa vivah) and against early childhood marriages (balya vivah).

Ladies had no rights—they could not become educated, they could not go to college, could not go to school. They only had to always hide in the room and cook. This was their only work. There are still places like this. In some places, women still cannot drive, for example. Now this is going away too. For example, only recently Saudi Arabia allowed women to drive cars. Now women can be soldiers, they can drive, etc. Even we see that now the Finance Minister of India is a lady, the Chief Minister of Bengal is a lady. So many things are changing, but before widows could not get married again. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar opposed it.

Sometimes it happened that some women were married in early childhood and lost their husbands at thirteen-fourteen years old. For example, when Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur married, his wife was five years old at that time. What does a girl know at this age? Does she understand anything about marriage? And that was not so long ago—Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's times were about 150 years ago only. Some of you have seen also Srila Sridhar Maharaj's sister Rama Didi, Sankari Didi, Asha Didi—all of them lost their husbands at thirteen-fourteen years old. Asha Didi, who is still living in our Nabadwip temple, lost her husband at fourteen-fifteen. She gave birth to a daughter, and then her husband died—now her daughter is married, and there are many grandchildren. You may have seen them. In those days, widows could not get married again, and this law was stopped by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

In those days, it was a common custom that if somebody's husband died, then they were told to fast on Ekadasi. And not only that—they had to fast for three days on Ekadasi: one day before, Ekadasi day, and one day after. The rules were very strict. This culture still exists in Bengal, Bengladesh, etc. When I go preaching and tell people to follow Ekadasi, sometimes it still happens that ladies tell me, "No, we have husbands, why will we do Ekadasi? Only widows do Ekadasi!" Nowadays, many people know about Ekadasi and they fast. It is a common knowledge now that anyone can fast on Ekadasi from eight to eighty-eight years old (when one is eighty-eight, sometimes they cannot follow it, they have some health problems). Those who come to the Gaudiya line, who follow Krishna consciousness, always follow Ekadasi.

Anyhow, when Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur came, he stopped the custom of three-day fasting on Ekadasi and reduced other rules and regulations. He told that Ekadasi should be observed only one day—you should fast from morning to noon, and you can take some anukalpa in the afternoon and in the evening. If somebody is sick and cannot tolerate fasting until twelve o'clock, they can even take ekadasi prasadam—fruit, vegetables, etc., some boiled potato—before noon. It is not a problem.

Gurudev told also that once he had got a phone call from a Western country. The devotee asked him, "How will I do Ekadasi? I have to go to work in the morning, and I work with a heavy hammer in a workshop. It requires so much strength—if I do not take food, I cannot do my work." Gurudev told him, "I did not tell you not to take food. I told you that you can take anukalpa. If you are hungry, you can take five kg of boiled potato in the morning!"

I have seen Ekadasi in many countries, and I noticed that they mostly boil some potato and take it plain without any masala, etc. In India also, many of our devotees boil potato and take it with some ghee and a little salt...

* * *

On Chastity and Rules

9 October 2019, Kolkata, part 9

Somebody asked me yesterday-there are thirty days in Damodar month, how do we follow it? People follow so many instructions during this time—there are so many rules about what should be taken and what should not be taken. I told that it is not necessary. Gurudev told also that we cannot avoid everything during the Kartik month, or Damodar month, because many foreign devotees come at this time and it is hard to follow all rules of Damodar month at this time. You can observe it properly for three days at the temple, starting from the purnima. It is sufficient.

You can take khoi in the morning instead of muri. Khoi and muri are different—muri is first boiled, then puffed; and khoi is puffed dry rice. It is very difficult to take khoi for us, the same as atop chal (raw, not parboiled rice). We never take atop chal, but I have seen that most foreign countries take that atop chal (not parboiled rice). Gurudev could not digest it, neither can I. This rice is good for those who have dysentery problem.

Anyhow, at noon you can offer some subjis to the Deities, mix it then with dal and take; and chapati at night time. Foreign devotees always take chapati and one subji at night time any way. Only we do not take beans, sim beans (flat beans), lau (gourd, calabash), begun (aubergine), sak (spinach). You can make some fries, but the problem is that in some places ladies do not use oil for the whole month. I always say it is not necessary—you may not use mustard oil, but you can use coconut oil instead then. What is the problem? How can one cook without oil for one month? Also, they do not cut nails, sleep on the floor, etc. during this month—there are so many rules... It is cold in Vrindavan in Kartik month—they sleep on the floor and become sick.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswat Thakur followed the Damodar month rules, and that is why some devotees do not come to our temple on festival days—they say that we do not follow the Damodar vrata properly, so they avoid coming to our temple. We do not follow it because Gurudev told us that we can use everything on festival days. Sometimes we also make some other things—for example, we are not supposed to use tomato during this time, so we make pine-apple chutney instead of tomato chutney. We may not use beans, sim, begun, etc., but there are many other subjis also that we can offer to the Deities.

When you do archan, puja, etc. you must follow the viddhi-marga, but the main thing is that you may be doing everything, following all these rules but at the same time you are not following the instruction of Gurudev. The difficulty is that we can be following so many rules and regulations, but we may not be following Gurudev's instruction, we may not be loyal, not chaste to our Guru...

* * *

Thirst for Service

Speaking online to devotees in Salt Lake City, USA
10 October 2019, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Mayapur Dham Nabadwip Dham Vrindavan Mathura ki jay
Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Jay Sripad Bhakti Vigraha Nyasi Maharaj ki jay
All the Salt Lake City devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Jay Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay saparikara Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all. By the mercy of Gurudev, we are here and you are also serving the Deities there. Our life is the conception given by Sriman Mahaprabhu. Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu distributed the Holy Name house to house, door to door, and so did our our Gurudev and Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also preached from his house—so many devotees came to him and he would all the time give class to them, give nourishment to everyone. Our Gurudev, Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, also always went country to country preaching Krishna consciousness all over the world. Our duty in this life is that we must as much as possible be surrendered to Gurudev's lotus feet and preach Gurudev's message, Sriman Mahaprabhu's message all over the world. What Gurudev told, what Gurudev wanted should be distributed all over the world. This is our foremost duty.

You know that there are some court cases put against me, that is why I still have not got my passport and cannot go to the West. I went to some countries after Gurudev's disappearance and visited many places in Gurudev's time also, but in this modern age, we have got by the mercy of God so many instruments for publishing and preaching Krishna consciousness—youtube, facebook, websites, etc. You can see what is necessary for our spiritual life. I almost all the time talk about Krishna consciousness everywhere—there are many branches here in West Bengal, India, and I always go temple to temple, and sometimes house to house also, preaching and distributing Gurudev's message.

Actually, you cannot understand Gurudev without Gurudev's mercy. A guru is not a small matter—it is a very big matter. There are so many gurus in this world who will take your obeisance and who will take your donation (pranam and pranami—when people come, they often pay obeisance and give ten, twenty, fifty rupees' pranami). However, the problem is that there are many gurus, but there are not so many disciples in this world—it is not so easy to find a real disciple in this world. There are many gurus, but not so many disciples.

A proper disciple is always thirsty for service and always alert to any order that comes from Gurudev. Sometimes, Gurudev does not give a particular order, but he shows something and you can understand through his activities what Gurudev wants or what Gurudev wanted. We must try to do our service properly. This is the main thing.

If you give some Tulasi leaves to Gurudev on Gurdev's birthday or some other day, or if you spread some flowers at his lotus feet, this is external. Internal devotion means you must fulfil the desire of Gurudev. The main thing is what kind of service Gurudev wants and to what extent you can make him happy, to what extent you can make Vaishnavs happy—that is called Guru-seva or Vaishnav-seva. Vaishnav-seva or Guru-seva means following the order of the Vaishnav or the order that the Guru shows in this world.

* * *

Service Relation

Speaking online to devotees in Salt Lake City, USA
10 October 2019, part 2

The relation between a Guru and a disciple is not like the relation between a shopkeeper and a customer. The customer pays and and the shopkeeper gives something in return—not like this.

We need employment, and actually, there is so much employment available. Gurudev and Guru Maharaj have opened a big factory (Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is a big factory), there are so many employees necessary at this factory. If we can join this factory as an employee, it will be good for us. This is the main thing in our spiritual life.

It is necessary to understand the relation between Gurudev and a disciple. In devotional life or transcendental life, this relation does not depend on who is senior, who is junior, who is whose disciple—these things are not a question. Sometimes people clarify, "We are disciples of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj," "We are disciples of Srila Sridhar Maharaj." Some disciples think, "We are disciples of Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj." In this mundane world, you can judge who is senior and who is junior by the number of years one has been in this world, but actually it does not matter—in spiritual life, it is those who have proper and pure devotion that can get the real things—you can get to the home where Gurudev is staying only through devotion. Spiritual life does not depend on material qualification—somebody is a good speaker, somebody is a good singer, somebody has many disciples or many temples, somebody is a sannyasi, somebody is a brahmachari; this is not a question in the spiritual life. The more you can serve Gurudev, the happier you can make Gurudev, the more of a disciple of Gurudev you are.

We think that since we have taken the diksa mantra or Harinam mantra we have become a disciple or we have become a devotee, but no, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says it is not correct. It is necessary to take initiation (diksa), but it is more important under whose guidance you are doing service after having received the mantra—it more important that you do service under the guidance of Gurudev and Guru Maharaj after that.

Gurudev has already given you a ticket to Vrindavan, but you must not misuse that ticket. You are going to Vrindavan, but you get off the train halfway to your destination. Gurudev gives you a train ticket or an airplane ticket to Vrindavan, but if you get off your train or plane when it stops somewhere in the middle of the way, then you will not be able to reach Vrindavan. That is the main thing.

I am telling these things to everybody. For service benefit, it is not necessary to be a sannyasi, it is not necessary to be a brahmachari, it is not necessary a householder—whatever your condition is, whatever your situation is, you can get a real benefit even as a householder, even as a brahmachari, even as a sannyasi, as long as you have devotion and proper faith in Gurudev.

* * *

Service Is Disciple's Heartbeat

Speaking online to devotees in Salt Lake City, USA
10 October 2019, part 3

We sometimes lose our faith... We are always busy with gramya-katha, para-charcha, para-ninda, talking nonsense, discussing others, criticising others, etc. You have your service—do not waste time on "nidralasya hata sukarye virata" (being wasted by laziness and sleep, having no desire to do anything good). Do not waste your time on sleeping, eating, and enjoying—do not use this life for your own enjoyment. You must always think how to serve your Guru, and service means you must serve without own interest, without any desires, without thinking about yourself. You know that Bali Maharaj gave everything to the Lord, but then Vindhyavali, his wife, told him, "You have given everything for the service of the Lord, but you have not given your own self!" Then, this is the main thing in our life—the quality of a disciple depends on the extent to which he can give himself for the service of the Lord, for service of the Guru.

I have already told you that there are so many gurus in this world, but the number of disciples is very small. It is not so easy to find a disciple—you can find many gurus, but not so many disciples. We must be proper disciples. This is our vision, and this should be everyone's vision. We must be proper disciples of our Gurudev. That is the main thing in our spiritual life.

The Guru is the centre of the disciple's heart. You must use your whole life for service (bhajan). For devotees, even sleeping is a kind of service, taking rest is also a kind of service, taking maha-prasad is also service, sravan (hearing Hari-katha) and kirtan (practising Krishna consciousness and chanting the Holy Name) are services—even going to the bathroom, toilet is service. Do understand it?

You must take prasadam, and you must take it properly. If you are not conscious that what you are taking is prasad, if you simply eat what is given to you or think, "Oh, he is distributing prasadam, but he is not giving me paneer!"—then this is not taking prasadam, this is eating. What is called kirtan? What is called bhajan? It means giving happiness to the Guru and Vaishnavs. Happiness of the Guru and Vaishnav—that kind of kirtan is necessary in our spiritual life.

* * *

Love Your Service

Speaking online to devotees in Salt Lake City, USA
10 October 2019, part 4

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that whenever people write a letter or speak to Gurudev, they say, "Gurudev kripa korun. Gurudev, please, give me some mercy. Please give me your blessing." People say this and ask for material things, material benefit. Even when people come to the Deities, they always ask for some material benefit. However, it is not good to ask Guru and Deities for anything. If you live under the guidance of a proper great Vaishnav, you will get the proper benefit. The main thing is to follow the Guru and Vaishnav's guidance.

Sometimes we do some service—we cook, do puja, etc. The main thing is that we must do the service that the Guru and Vaishnavs want me to do and engage me in. The Guru and Vaishnavs tell us to do something, we may feel unhappy doing it, but we must not leave the service because of that—you should do the service that Gurudev has given you. Sometimes we cannot know it clearly because we are not getting guidance from our Guru, in this case there are Vaishnavs there—you can happily accept their instruction.

Sometimes it happens also that Gurudev gives you some service, but you do not want to do it. You must think then that Gurudev always does all service himself—he is Nityananda, he is Baladev. Gurudev always wants to make the Lord happy. So, you may not do some service, but it will still be done—anyhow, some other devotee will come and do it. Krishna's service, Deities' service can never be stopped. Sometimes we think, "Oh, it will not run without me! It will not happen without me!" This is ego. Actually, even if you leave some service, it will still be done through somebody else.

One more thing I want to say is that everybody—even householders, even those who live in the temple, even brahmacharis, sannyasis, everybody—must keep their hearts open for Gurudev. If a patient does not tell the doctor clearly what his disease is, what his problem is, how will the doctor (Gurudev) prescribe the treatment then? Everything must be open, do not hide anything from Gurudev. Be always be open to Gurudev, that is called saralata (being simple-hearted). It is a good quality for everybody.

* * *

Always Ready, Always Eager

Speaking online to devotees in Salt Lake City, USA
10 October 2019, part 5

We must be like soldiers—we must be always ready to serve the Lord, to serve Gurudev's mission. We do not come to judge who is a Vaishnav and who is not a Vaishnav—we cannot understand it, neither is it our duty to do it. It is not our business who is a Vaishnav, who is not a Vaishnav. Our main question is how much we can do for the service to our Guru and Vaishnav.

Also, when you need to get some job, you keep sending your application to get the position. Here too, if you need service, you must keep applying for service. Try and try—then one day you will get service and you will be able to do that service properly. Everybody does not have every qualification. For example, Pariksit Maharaj heard Srimad Bhagavatam, so he got Krishna by listening to Hari-katha, through sravan (hearing). Sukadev Goswami explained Bhagavatam, so he got the Lord through kirtanam. Prahlad Maharaj always remembered the Lord—he got the Lord through smaranam. Laksmi Devi got the Lord through service, puja, archan. And so on.

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 firm faith.

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

It is necessary to keep good association, and we must always avoid bad association where people waste time criticising others, doing para-charcha, para-ninda (discussing others, finding faults in others). You must always make yourself busy with doing proper puja, archan, arati, kirtan, service.

Sometimes we feel some relief thinking, "Oh, we are doing something," but what is the prize, or reward, for service? What kind of reward do you want to have through service? When you do service, you will get more service—that is your reward. Service brings more service. If you think, "Oh, I am doing so much service, but somebody is not doing anything," do not worry—if somebody is not doing service, it is their loss, and if you give twenty-four hours to service, that is your fortune, that is your great luck. Do you understand?

* * *

Disciple's Sambandha, Abhidheya, Prayojan

Speaking online to devotees in Salt Lake City, USA
10 October 2019, part 6

The relation between a disciple and the guru is eternal. You must understand this relation and you must understand that this relation is eternal. I have told you that there are many ashrams, many temples, many gurus in this world, but there are not so many disciples. You can find many gurus in this world, but you will not find so many disciples.

Who is a disciple? A disciple always follows his guru's order and he also sometimes has to tolerate the chastisement of his guru. A Vaishnav always has patience, tolerance. These are Vaishnav qualities.

Who is a guru? It is very rare to find a transcendental guru, and there can be only one-two such gurus in this world. Just as the Lord is one, so is the guru—there is only one guru.

Sometimes, it happens that we lose our service because of seva aparadh. If you make many offences to seva thinking nobody knows about it, thinking you are doing service anyhow and it does not matter, then one day service will run away from you. You cannot cheat Gauranga Mahaprabhu, you cannot cheat the Lord, and you cannot cheat your Guru. The Guru knows everything—he knows what you are doing and what you are not doing. Some think that Gurudev has expired, but that is their ignorance—they do not know that Gurudev always exists with us. Gurudev is always with us, we always get instruction through Gurudev. Without the mercy of Gurudev, we cannot get any service.

One more thing I want to say is this. We always give obeisance to those who do puja (worship the Deities), we always think the pujari is a pure devotee, we give much honour to the pujari, but at the same time we do not give so much respect to those who cook. We think, "Oh, he is only a cook!" But Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told that the devotees who cook are the main servitors. When such devotees cook, they remember Mahaprabhu, they remember Gurudev, and they always think how to make Gurudev, Vaishnavs and the Lord happy with their cooking. In this world, there so many cooks in our temples, but we do not give them proper respect—we only show respect to the pujaris; but actually, the cook's service is the main and most important service.

Gurudev is Srimati Radharani, and Srimati Radharani is the dearmost of the Lord. Srimati Radharani and all the gopis gave everything for the happiness of Her Lord. If you want to surrender properly, you must give your body, soul, property, mind, ego—everything—to your Guru. That is surrender, and it is necessary to have that kind of surrender. Do not think whether you are going to hell or heaven, whether you will die or not. It is not necessary to think about this. We all will die one day, death will come one day, you cannot stop it, therefore why do you need to be afraid of the death? We must give everything to the service of the Lord.

* * *

Pure Kirtan Comes from Pure Heart

Speaking online to devotees in Salt Lake City, USA
10 October 2019, part 7

What is kirtan? Kirtan is not singing. Kirtan means making the Lord happy; even speaking Hari-katha is also giving happiness to the Lord.

Actually, those who have a great faith in Gurudev can get that valuable wealth from Gurudev. Gurudev's wealth is not a temple, not a building; Gurudev's wealth is his love and affection—that is Gurudev's property. If somebody leaves Gurudev, if somebody cannot tolerate Gurudev's chastisement and goes far away, it means their luck is very bad—kapal pora (they burn their own fortune). If you feel any lack of faith towards Gurudev, then you cannot enter the devotional world. If Gurudev is unhappy with somebody, then even Gaurasundar Mahaprabhu cannot accept them—Mahaprabhu cannot forgive one's offence if Gurudev is unhappy. You know that when Mahaprabhu called His chakra to kill Jagai and Madhai, it was Nityananda Prabhu [Guru-tattva] who stopped Him. Gurudev's position is the highest—it is not so easy to understand Gurudev as he is so great.

Anyway, our duty is to always service our guru and mission with all our life. I have already told you that. You must seek employment at our Gurudev's factory—this factory's name is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math or any other name given to a preaching centre by Gurudev. If you serve Gurudev, you will get real benefit. This is the main thing in our spiritual life.

Question: How does the guru affect the disciple and how does the disciple affect the guru?

It is a very nice question. There is a mahanta guru (the guru present as a person) and there is also a chaitya guru (the guru present in your heart). When a disciple sees that more and more service is coming to them, then they can realise whether Gurudev is happy with them or not. You can realise this through service. This is the effect that comes and you can understand through that if Gurudev is happy or not. If Gurudev gives you more and more service, then you can understand that Gurudev is happy with you. If Gurudev chastises you, that is also your fortune. Do not think that if Gurudev chastises you, it means he does not like you. It is not so. Such thinking is ignorance. When Gurudev chastises you, it means he has much love and affection for you—that is why he chastises you. That is the main thing.

You must be a proper, honest disciple. Your heart must be open, then you can hear properly what Gurudev wants to say. If you have something in your heart, if your heart is dirty or there are many obstacles in your heart, then you will not be able to hear Gurudev properly—when Gurudev says something, it will go into one ear and out the other, you will not be able to catch in your heart what Gurudev wanted to say.

From all this, you can understand whether Gurudev is happy with you or not.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Jay saparikara Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Vigraha Nyasi Maharaj ki jay
Salt Lake City all the devotees ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Thank you very much. Please engage me in your service. I am a fallen soul, I have no quality and qualification, please engage me in your service. Dandavat.

* * *

Atyahara

speaking online to devotees in São Paulo, Brazil
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 1

I have been reading today Srila Rupa Goswami's Nectar of Instruction (Upadesamrita). I have heard about atyahara, prayascha, prajalpa, niyamagraha, laulancha, janasangancha before, I have read also what Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says about it in his scriptures. Here too, Srila Rupa Goswami says,

vacho vegam manasah krodha-vegam
jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat

"A sober person who can tolerate (1) the urge to speak, (2) the mind's demands, (3) the actions of anger and the urges of the (4) tongue, (5) belly and (6) genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world."

(Sri Upadesamrta, 1)

Actually, in our spiritual life, much patience is necessary. Patience is a great quality of a devotee. Those who have patience are dhirah (steady, sober).

I used to think before that atyahara means eating too much, but here Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur explain it very nicely. If you translate the word 'atyahara', it means 'eating too much', but it is not only that. Atyahara means not only eating too much, it also means collecting or keeping too much for your own enjoyment. If you deposit something for the future, it is also atyahara. Atyahara refers to five senses—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin. If you hear some gramya-katha with your ears, if you listen to anything except Krishna-katha, that is also atyahara. If you see some bad things with your eyes, that is also atyahara. If you smell some bad things with your nose, that is also atyahara. If your tongue eats more than it is necessary for your stomach, that is also atyahara. So, atyahara is not only eating too much.

Atyahara, prayascha, prajalpa, niyamagraha, laulancha, janasangancha are the main obstacles in our devotion life, they are very bad for the devotional life. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that through these obstacles so many bad elements come to our heart—because of them we do many bad things for our own ego. Srila Saraswati Thakur told also,

atyanta samgrahe yara sada chitta dhaya
atyahari bhakti-hina sei samjna paya

"Those whose hearts always run after collecting too much have no devotion and are called atyahari (hoarders)."

So, what is the definition of atyahara? It means keeping something for your own interest. Those who do it are called atyahari.

* * *

Wrong Endeavour

speaking online to devotees in São Paulo, Brazil
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 2

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur writes very nicely:

prakrta vastura ase bhoge yara mana
prayasi tahara nama bhakti-hina jana

"Those whose mind always goes to enjoy material things are devoid of devotion and called prayasi (an over-endeavourer)."

A prayasi is a person who only wants material things, who only wants to enjoy with the material things like a good fancy bed, good food, fancy things, etc. That is called prayas (excessive endeavour).

krsna-katha chhari jihva ana katha kahe
prajalpi tahar nama vrtha vakya vahe

"Those whose tongue speaks about anything else other than Krishna-katha have got the power of speech in vain and are called prajalpi (idle-talkers)."

Speaking about any other things except Krishna is called prajalpa. Do not waste your time on anything where there is no Krishna-katha. Proper devotees pass their time with Krishna-katha, and at all other times they chant the Holy Name or think about their service, about spiritual things. Do not gossip so much, do not talk so much—talk little. You can call this being a little bit nirjan (reserved). When I say nirjan, I do not mean that you must go to the hills or live in some cave, not that, what I mean is that you should not talk so much without Krishna-katha.

bhajanete udasina karmete pravina
vahvarambhi se niyamagrahi ati dina

"Those who are indifferent towards service and Krishna consciousness but well-experienced in material activities make much of preparations and are interested only in rules and regulations."

Bhajanete udasina means being disinterested about one's service—a person may be doing some pious activities or some other activities, but it is not bhakti, devotion. Bhakti is something else. Devotion (bhakti) means doing service to the Lord under the guidance of a guru. In this world, people do something for their own name and fame, for their own enjoyment, but while they are busy doing these things, they do not know what will happen after their death. They make money the whole day and night, they work all day long, making their body sweat so much, but what will happen after they leave (after their death)?

* * *

Surrendered Soul's Appeal

speaking online to devotees in São Paulo, Brazil
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 3

In one of his books, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur explained this sloka,

kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesa,
tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih
utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate! sampratam labdha-buddhis
tvam ayatah saranam-abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye

"O Lord! How many kinds of wicked orders from lust and others I followed! They had no mercy on me, nor were they ever satisfied! O Krishna! Suddenly, I managed to leave their side and got some good intelligence—I have surrendered at Your fearless lotus feet, please engage me now as Your servant."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.16)

A jiva soul is greater than Maya. How is it greater than Maya? Because a jiva soul worships the Lord, but Maya is very powerful as she gets much power from the Lord. So, sometimes a jiva soul that is covered by the illusory environment gets caught in the net of Maya (illusion). Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gave one analogy. Suppose somebody is angling (fishing with a rod). They put some food on the hook as a bait and when some hungry or greedy fish eats the bait, the fisherman catches the fish and the fish dies. In the same way, Maya Devi gives some things and we, the unconscious jiva souls, take it and as a result we go to hell and 'die'.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also says that you will never see your wife, your son, daughter, granddaughter, etc. again in your next life—your life is very important, your life is very valuable and you are wasting this life on them. Suppose you plant a seed of a big palm tree (some palm trees can live up to a hundred years or even a thousand years). When you plant it, you think that you will immediately get the fruit, but the palm tree starts growing and it may keep growing for another hundred years without bearing any fruit. So, you plant a palm tree, but you do not know when you will get the fruit. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur explains that we keep some money for our son, for our grandson, etc., but we do not know what will happen after we die—they can waste or burn all that money. This sloka is very nice,

kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesa,
tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih
utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate! sampratam labdha-buddhis
tvam ayatah saranam-abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye

"O Lord! What wicked orders from lust and others I have not followed! They have never had mercy on me, nor have they ever been satisfied! O Krishna! Suddenly, I have somehow managed to leave their side and got some good intelligence—I have now surrendered at Your fearless lotus feet, please engage me now as Your servant."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.16)

"O Lord! I have been always following naughty orders so many enemies—lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, envy—but they have never been happy with me, they never gave me any comfort! O Yadupati! Now I understand. Now I have got a bona fide guru—I have surrendered to him properly—and now I understand that I should not be attached with all those enemies. I surrender to You now, You please appoint me now as Your servant!" This is what this sloka is telling. What this sloka explains is very nice.

* * *

Mano-Dharmi'ness

speaking online to devotees in São Paulo, Brazil
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 4

We must understand what is unfavourable to our devotion because if we keep those unfavourable things in our hearts, it will gradually cause a big problem for us—it will bring bad things for us. Actually, we do not know what is good for us, what gives benefit to so, that is why we sometimes become mano-dharmi—we do not know something, and when our mind sometimes tells us something, we follow it thinking that perhaps that will be good. We do not know what is guru-seva, what is service to the Lord. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gives one very good example about guru-bhakti and proper guru-seva.

One day, having taken prasadam, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told his disciple who served him as his private servitor and would bring him prasadam, "Please, give me some mukh-suddhi." Mukh-suddhi is something like mouth-freshener—you take it after a meal to aid digestion. Nityananda Prabhu also took it from His servitor Vrindavan Das Thakur, the same thing. So, Srila Prabhupad's servitor brought him a hartaki (haritaki, myrobalan)—Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur took it and then gave it to him back saying, "Give it properly—take the skin out." When you take hartaki, you are supposed to take only the skin and throw the seeds away, but the servitor did not know it, so he thought, "Prabhupad told me to take the skin out, so I should give him the seeds." So, he threw the skin of hartaki away and gave the seeds to Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Srila Prabhupad was very sad. He said, "OK, I do not want to take it today."

The next day Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur again took prasadam and again asked his servitor to bring him mukh-suddhi, mouth freshener. This time the servitor gave him elaichi (cardamom). Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur again told him to take the skin out. Now, when you take elaichi, you are supposed to throw the skin out and you take the seeds, but the servitor thought since he had made that mistake the day before (when he had given the seeds instead of the skin) and Prabhupad did not take it, this time he would do it right. So, this time he did the opposite—he gave Srila Prabhupad the skin of the elaichi and threw the seeds away. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur saw it and said, "OK, I will not take any mouth freshener today because you have again made a mistake."

This is an example of mano-dharmi—your mind tells you, "Oh, I did this last time and Gurudev did not like it, so I will do it this way today." But this is a different fruit and you must serve it in a different way. This is the example Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gave. In our line also there are such devotees, there were such devotees in Gurudev's times also, I also have seen such things. Some devotees are mano-dharmi...

Yesterday also I spoke to one sannyasi. I had told him before to read books, to listen to my classes, etc., and yesterday he told me, "It is not necessary to hire painters, I can paint the temple myself." I told him, "It is not your job, Maharaj. You should do puja, you should give class." Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur also said, "Ei jagate amra kath-pathorer mistri hate asi ni—we have not come to this world to become labourers—masons, wood-workers, furniture men, carpenters or builders. We have come to this world to spread Krishna consciousness, to spread Mahaprabhu's advice, Mahaprabhu's upadesh, our guru-varga's upadesh. That is our service, and that is our main duty.

tava kathamrtam tapta-jivanam
kavibhir iditam kalmasapaham
sravana-mangalam srimad-atatam
bhuvi grnanti te bhurida janah

"My Dear, bestowing the greatest fortune that is attained after so many births, exalted souls come to this world and live here by singing and spreading Your nectarean glories that are life and soul for those suffering in this material world being devoid of Your divine love; that are the gist of all poets' songs; that are the destroyer of all sins; that benefit anyone who hears them; and that possess universal attraction."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 14.13)

Who is a great donor? Those who give these things, who give this kind of Krishna-katha, who distribute it all over the world to the fallen souls like us—they are the great donors. Sriman Mahaprabhu also told that, He too explained these main things very nicely.

* * *

Devotion Is Not a Show

speaking online to devotees in São Paulo, Brazil
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 5

krsna-bhakta sanga-vina anya sange rata
jana-sangi ku-visaya-vilase vivrata
nana sthane bhrame yei nija svartha tare
laulyapara bhakti-hina samjna deya nare

"Those who love to keep the company of anyone other than devotees of Krishna are always busy enjoying gross material life and called jana-sangi (socialisers). Those who travel various places for their own interest have no devotion and are called laulya-para (fickle-minded)."

Going so many places for your own interest is not bhakti, devotion. This is called your own interest and that is asat sanga (bad association). You must always have bhakti-sadhana-utsaha—always take interest in your service. You must show interest for your Gurudev's message, you must show interest for the service of devotees.

It is also necessary to have a strong faith (drdha visvas) that Krishna will protect us, that Krishna will take care of us. We do not want to be like Ekalavya who gave his finger to his guru. We do not show that we are great devotees. Ekalavya shows, "I am a great personality! My Guru has asked me for guru-daksin, and I am giving him my finger!" Everyone can say that Ekalavya is so great, but Sriman Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupad show us that Ekalavya actually had a jealous mood—he wanted to be the highest disciple of Dronacharya. That is not bhakti (devotion). If he had bhakti (devotion), Krishna would not have killed him—Krishna always kills demons (asuras).

Sriman Mahaprabhu says that you cannot recognise a devotee based on one's external look, clothes, or anything else. We sometimes hear somebody say, "Oh, he is doing so much tapasya (austerity)!"; demons also do so much tapasya—even more than demigods (is that correct or not?)—but they are not devotees. Being a devotee is something else. Krishna always protects His devotee, Krishna cannot kill His devotee. Do you understand? These are the main things.

* * *

Guru-Bhakti, Guru-Drohi

speaking online to devotees in São Paulo, Brazil
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 6

Do you have any questions?

Question: What is in your vision the secret to the success of a united mission here in Brazil?

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is one mission, it is not a separate mission—it is not a Russian mission, it is not a Brazilian mission, it is not a London mission. This mission is the mission of Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and if we follow the instruction that Gurudev told us, it will be good for us, good for everybody. This is the main thing for our spiritual life.

We have not come to this world to enjoy things, to do our own thing. The main point is what Gurudev told everybody—if everybody follows that instruction, it will be good. Gurudev spoke about the mission all the time, and we must serve Gurudev's mission all together. This is the main thing.

You can see the example of Arjuna. Arjuna was never jealous of Ekalavya. Arjuna did right—he told Dronacharya that Ekalavya did what he did because he wanted to be the highest disciple. Arjuna was never jealous of Ekalavya—Arjuna showed ahaituki krpa, ahaituki daya (causeless mercy, causeless kindness) to all souls all over the world.

Some say that Ekalavya is a niskapata (staunch) devotee of his guru, but then some can also say that if he was a proper devotee of his guru, then Krishna would not have been able to destroy him. I have already told you that.

It happens in this world—sometimes, our desire is to become bigger, greater than some Vaishnav, but this is not bhakti—it is abhakti, it is atibadi. Then, the desire of Ekalavya's heart was to become bigger than Arjuna. What is the use? There is mukh and mukhosh. Mukhosh means you put on a false plastic face, for example a tiger's face, and you say, "I am a tiger!" It is a mask. You show you are a sannyasi, but you have other things inside. This is a disguise, a mask. Mukh means face and mukhosh is a disguise, a mask. Somebody pays their full obeisance to you and shows that they are very humble, but as soon as they get a chance, they will cut your throat.

So, somebody may be worshipping their guru, but it can be a disguise. For example, Ekalavya went to the forest, installed a clay murti of his guru there, and started worshipping him and learning dhanu-vidya (archery). Somebody puts on the mask of guru-bhakti, but in fact they can be guru-drohi (traitors of the guru, envious of the guru). Ekalavya too went against the guru—he thought, "Oh, Gurudev has rejected me, but we shall see!" What should he have done? He should have accepted it, "Gurudev has rejected me now for whatever reason. I come from a lower cast, I am a fallen soul, but I must just wait." It is necessary to have patience, but he did not wait—he wanted to be a bigger thing, so he went to the forest and took a vow, "I am accepting Dronacharya as my guru in my heart and soul and I am keeping his Deity here. I will learn more than Arjuna, more than anybody else!" This is not guru-bhakti (devotion to the guru). This is guru-drohi (treachery and envy of the guru). He did not accept his guru's order—he wanted to be the biggest personality, the biggest fighter, that is why he did what he did for his indriya-tripta (satisfaction of his own senses), his own enjoyment. That is not devotion.

You must always go behind the Vaishnavs—do not cross the line. You have your limitation, and if you cross the line and exceed your limit, that will be a big problem for you. Do not cross the line. That is the main thing we must understand. In the material world, people say, "We want to be big," "We want to be big," but here is Ekalavya who wanted to be bigger than Vaishnavs and in the end he got nirvises Brahma [impersonal form of the Lord, spiritual suicide]. Sriman Mahaprabhu also told the example of Hiranyakasipu and Prahlad Maharaj. What is guru-bhakti? What is bhakti? What is pure devotion? "Oh, I can do something," "I can make a building!", "I can make a temple!", "I can do this!", "I can do that!", "I want to be the biggest Guru!"—this is all not guru-bhakti. Devotion means living under the guidance of a Vaishnav.

* * *

Keep Good Association

speaking online to devotees in Colombia
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 1

It is very nice to meet you all, I am very happy and very grateful to see you all.

Devotees: How are you? Is everything ok?

Yes, I am ok, I am always ok. I want to be a devotee, that is only my desire. I want to be a servant of devotees, and I am always at your service.

api chet suduracharo, bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah, samyag vyavasito hi sah

"If even a very sinful person serves Me exclusively with devotion, he should be regarded as saintly, for his resolve is perfect."

ksipram bhavati dharmatma, sasvach-chhantim nigachchhati
kaunteya pratijanihi, na me bhaktah pranasyati

[1] "He swiftly becomes a person of virtuous practices and attains constant peace. O son of Kunti, declare to the world that My devotee is never vanquished!"
[2] "O son of Kunti, declare to the world that My devotee is never vanquished. One who declares this swiftly becomes virtuous and attains eternal joy."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.30-31)

Actually, if a very fallen soul, a very low-cast person, who has done so many bad things previously, can surrender to the Lord, Krishna removes all his offences and accepts his service.

You must always keep good association. Even if somebody is doing pious activity or any good works—if they are not a devotee, always avoid their association. On the other hand,

proktena bhakti-yogena bhajato masakrn muneh

kama hrdayya nasyanti sarve mayi hrdi sthite

"When an intelligent person engages constantly in worshiping Me through loving devotional service as described by Me, his heart becomes firmly situated in Me. Thus all material desires within the heart are destroyed."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.29)

Somebody can be a great sinner, somebody may be doing some wrongful works but if this person is a devotee, you can accept their association.

Moreover, Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu composed Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu and there he writes a very good sloka about it,

baram hutavaha-jvala, panjarantar-vyavasthitih
na sauri-chinta-vimukha, jana-samvasa-vaisasam

"One should endure the pain of being locked in a cage surrounded by blazing fire, rather than keep the distressing association of persons averse to Krishna consciousness."

What is the meaning of this sloka? If somebody ties you up with a rope and throws you into fire, you can tolerate this, but the association of a non-devotee is much more harmful to your life than that—such association is unbearable.

* * *

Steadying Your Life

speaking online to devotees in Colombia
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 2

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu says that there are six obstacles in our spiritual life. Among those six obstacles, there is laulancha. Laulancha means chanchalya, having a very unstable mind, being greedy and having many material desires. That is called laulya. It can be chitta-chancalya and it can sometimes also be buddhi-chanchalya—sometimes your heart or mind can be chancal (fickle, unsteady), and sometimes your intelligence can also be chancal (fickle, unsteady). This is very bad for us. A restless mind and a restless intelligence is very bad.

Krishna tells this to Arjun in Srimad Bhagavad-gita also. Who does the mind actually follow? Mind always runs under the guidance of eyes, under the guidance of ears, under the guidance of tongue, under the guidance of nose, under the guidance of other senses. It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita (2.67),

indriyanam hi charatam, yan mano 'nuvidhiyate
tad asya harati prajnam, vayur navam ivambhasi

"As a boat on the ocean is thrown off course by an unfavourable wind, similarly, the wisdom of a person lacking self-control is carried away by even one of the roaming senses that the mind might follow."

Suppose you are sailing in a boat from the west to the east—if the wind is blowing from the east side, your boat will be disturbed. In the same way, when your mind always goes in the opposite direction, you become fickle-minded.

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu tells,

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

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

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

If you have faith—if some faith in the Lord, faith in the guru comes to you—then you can get the right to worship the Lord. If you have faith, then you can worship the Lord and practise Krishna consciousness. If you have no faith, you cannot start practising Krishna consciousness. It is first necessary to have faith. After that, when you get the right to practise, you will automatically, from within your heart feel, "I need good association now." Then, with the good association, the whole machine—your bhajana-kriya (Krishna consciousness practice) is activated and set into motion (starts working).

At first you will not feel attachment to your service, but if you are eager to worship Krishna, to serve Krishna, to serve Gurudev, then your material desires will slowly, slowly be removed. After that, when your material desires are removed, you will get the taste and attachment to your service—then you can understand that you have attained niscayata (you have become firm).

Srimad Bhagavad-gita also says (4.40)

ajnas chasraddadhanas cha, samsayatma vinasyati
nayam loko 'sti na paro, na sukham samsayatmanah

"The ignorant, faithless and doubting person is doomed to misfortune. For the doubting soul there can be happiness neither in this life nor the next."

To have faith means first of all to become fearless, to have all your doubts cleared. If you do not have a great faith (sraddha), then some fear can come, some hesitation or suspicious (samsaya) can come—it means you may for example think, "If I come to this line and practise Krishna consciousness, what will happen to me later?" If you have some kind of doubt like that, a great faith cannot establish itself in your heart.

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu writes also,

anyabhilasita sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama

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

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.1.11)

"My only activity is only what is favourable to devotion, and my entire being, my everything is only for Krishna, nothing else. I have no other desire except for Krishna (anyabhilas). This is my everything,"—such feeling must come. Those who have a material mind cannot understand this. They think in another way—they waste their time not realising that Maya has got them. When I go angling (fishing), I put some food on the hook and when the fish comes to eat the bait, I take the fish out and the fish dies. Maya is also like that—she shows us some beauty, some things, somebody comes to us and shows us something and if we bite the bait, we die.

* * *

On Humility and Patience

speaking online to devotees in Colombia
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 3

Another thing Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu says is that patience (dhairya) is very important in our spiritual life. Those who have this quality of patience are very peaceful, quiet (dhirah). The mind always becomes very fickle for the want of patience. Those who have no patience cannot be successful in any kind of life, spiritual or material. A practitioner of Krishna consciousness must have patience—through patience the person can control not only himself, but also the whole world, the whole universe.

Those who have too much attachment to their family and material life always think about theirselves—such people cannot get a great benefit; even in their sleep, they see many bad dreams or good dreams.

Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami Prabhu writes very nicely in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita:

guru-padasraya, diksa, gurura sevana
sad-dharma-siksa-prccha, sadhu-marganugamana

"On the path of regulative devotional service, one must observe the following items: (1) One must accept a bona fide spiritual master. (2) One must accept initiation from him. (3) One must serve him. (4) One must receive instructions from the spiritual master and make inquiries in order to learn devotional service. (5) One must follow in the footsteps of the previous acaryas and follow the directions given by the spiritual master."

krsna-pritye bhoga-tyaga, krsna-tirthe vasa
yavan-nirvaha-pratigraha, ekadasy-upavasa

"The next steps are as follows: (6) One should be prepared to give up everything for Krsna’s satisfaction, and one should also accept everything for Krsna’s satisfaction. (7) One must live in a place where Krsna is present—a city like Vrndavana or Mathura or a Krishna temple. (8) One should acquire a livelihood that is just sufficient to keep body and soul together. (9) One must fast on the Ekadasi day."

dhatry-asvattha-go-vipra-vaisnava-pujana
seva-namaparadhadi dure visarjana

"(10) One should worship dhatri trees, banyan trees, cows, brahmanas and devotees of Lord Vishnu. (11) One should avoid offenses against devotional service and the holy name."

avaisnava-sanga-tyaga, bahu-sisya na kariba
bahu-grantha-kalabhyasa-vyakhyana varjiba

"The twelfth item is to give up the company of nondevotees. (13) One should not accept an unlimited number of disciples. (14) One should not partially study many scriptures just to be able to give references and expand explanations."

hani-labhe sama, sokadira vasa na ha-iba
anya-deva, anya-sastra ninda na kariba

"(15) The devotee should treat loss and gain equally. (16) The devotee should not be overwhelmed by lamentation. (17) The devotee should not worship demigods, nor should he disrespect them. Similarly, the devotee should not study or criticise other scriptures."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.115-119)

You can read this in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, it is written very nicely here. Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj says that a bhajan-prayasi—one who wants to come to Krishna consciousness—must take shelter of a bona fide guru; without taking shelter of a guru you cannot get benefit in your spiritual life.

Also, Srila Kaviraj Das Kaviraj Goswami says, "O it is my bad luck! I am very unfortunate! I am very poor! I always use all my senses for my own benefit! I am always parched by material desires! I do not take any good association, I cannot hear proper Hari-katha, proper Krishna-katha. I am a very fallen soul!" Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami is very humble. We must learn from him. These words are spoken by that Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami who composed Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, who left his family having got a dream from Nityananda Prabhu (he left because his brother criticised Nityananda Prabhu and did not follow Nityananda Prabhu)—it is spoken by that Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami who left his family life, went alone to Vrindavan and passed the rest of his life, until his death, in Vrindavan...

Srila Haridas Thakur also said,

kanda kanda hai deha yaya yadi prana
tabu ami vadane na chadi harinama

"Even if my body is cut into pieces and I give up my life, I will never give up chanting the Holy Name."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Adi-khanda, 16.94)

"You can kill me, you can cut my body into many pieces, it is not a problem, but I will not leave chanting the Holy Name with my mouth!" Not only that—he also prayed for everybody when they were beating him, "O Krishna! O Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! I am a very angry person, please do not take my offence, please give me some mercy."

"e-saba jivere, krsna! karaha prasada
mora drohe nahu e-sabara aparadha"

"O Krishna! Be merciful on these living entities! Forgive their offense of torturing me."

Srila Haridas Thakur says, "Please do not take their offence—they are beating me, it is not a problem."

* * *

Be Straight and Open

speaking online to devotees in Colombia
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 4

Do you have any questions?

Question: I have some land and a cow. I am thinking to sell the milk and try to do some business with the dairy, and I am a little worried whether it is good for my spiritual life or not.

If you have a cow in your land, you can serve the cow and use some of the milk to make paramanna (sweet rice), to make sweets for the Deities, and if you sometimes also sell that milk and use the money you get for the service to your Guru and Vaishnavs, what is the problem? We are not nirvises-vadis, we are not renunciates, we are not yogis, we are not tyagis—we are servitors. We must be servitors, we are not renunciates. If you use the cow for your own enjoyment, to do your own business, that is not good, but if you serve cows and use their milk for service and sometimes also sell milk for the service to Krishna, it is not bad. For example, in our temple also sometimes there is much milk—we do not throw the milk away, we sell it and use the money from selling the milk to buy the cows' food or for some other services of our Gurudev. What is the problem? But if you sell the cow to buy a new one, that is a little bit difficult because they will buy your cow and kill it. That is not good.

Question: What should be the attitude of the devotees living in the temple towards those living outside the temple?

Actually, it does not matter who lives in the house and who lives in the temple—both a sannyasi or a brahmachari living in the temple and a householder can be a devotee. Sriman Mahaprabhu told also,

grhi ha-uka tyagi ha-uka bhakte bheda nai
bheda kaile kumbhipaka narakete yai

"There is no difference between devotees—be they householders or renunciants. If someone makes distinctions between them, they go to the hell of boiling oil (kumbhipaka)."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 17.22)

It does not matter whether one is a householder or a sannyasi—sometimes, even a grihastha devotees can live the paramahamsa life. In Srila Prabhupad's (Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's) time, some householder devotees got much respect from others—sometimes even sannyasis paid their full obeisance to some householder devotees. I have heard about it from Gurudev. But what should be the devotional activities, what should be the attitude, what should be the behaviour—that must clear, and that must be proper.

Anyone who is pure can serve the Deities with faith ("sraddhaya sri murtir sevan")—even a sannyasi can do it, even a grihastha can do it, even a brahmachari can do it, even a vanaprastha can do it. It is not our line to discriminate between those who are householders and those who live in the temple. This is jealousy, and it is not good. If somebody thinks, "Oh, I live in the temple, so I am very big, I am greater than he"—this is not correct. That is not devotion. That is ati-badi conception. You know, in Mahaprabhu's time there was an ati-badi sampradaya. They think they are very (ati) big (badi), but they have no devotion. A devotee is the one who has humility, and it can be even a householder, a brahmachari, a sannyasi, anyone. Everybody must follow the rules and regulations, even householder devotees, even brahmacharis.

Sometimes Sriman Mahaprabhu also explained what is called vaishnavata, qualities of a Vaishnav. Their mind will always be simple, their heart will always be open—that is Vaishnavata. It is not good to have a crooked ('zigzag') mind or heart.

Also, Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur writes,

"ksane dante trna laya, ksane jathi mare
o khada-jathiya beta na dekhibe more"

"Sometimes he takes a straw in his teeth, and sometimes he beats with a stick. Therefore this straw-stick holder cannot see Me."

prabhu bale,—"o beta yakhana yatha yaya
sei mata katha kahi' tathai misaya

The Lord said, "Wherever this fellow goes, he mingles with the persons there and speaks like one of them."

bhakti-sthane uhara haila aparadha
eteke uhara haila darasana-vadha"

"He has committed an offense against devotional service. Therefore he cannot see Me."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda, 10.185, 188, 192)

A khar-jhatiya means sometimes you are humble—you put a piece of grass in your mouth and say, "I am a cow,"—and sometimes you give somebody a slap! Mahaprabhu says sometimes you go to one place, somebody says, "This conception is good," and you agree, "Yes, yes"; then you go to another place, there somebody says other things, and you again agree, "Yes, that is also good!" It means you have no conception—you mix with everybody. Such mentality is not devotion.

nacha, gao, bhakta-sange kara sankirtana
krsna-nama upadesi' tara' sarva-jana

"Dance, chant and perform sankirtan in the association of devotees, go out and preach about the chanting of Krishna-nam—by this process You will be able to deliver all fallen souls."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 7.92)

Sing, chant, and dance with devotees, go out to distribute the Holy Name in the world, distribute your pamphlets, giving people Krishna-nam upades (advise people to chant the Holy Name). OK?

Hari bol! Hari bol!

* * *

"You Will Be Successful"

Speaking online to the devotees in Costa Rica
7 December 2019

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Sri Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurachandra Prabhu ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you and to hear that you are trying to preach, it is very nice. Try to preach there little by little, and it will be even more successful. Try to preach about Gurudev, about Gaura Nityananda, and I will be very happy. In this way, you can reach your goal and you can reach your destination. I am sure you will succeed. From time to time, go out for preaching, chant the Holy Name, chant some kirtan, practise kirtans. That will be good for you.

Now take the beads in your right hand, between your middle finger and your thumb and repeat,

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura-bhakta-vrnda

This is Pancha-tattva's Name. First chant this Pancha-tattva's Name and ask Them for Their mercy. We cannot chant the Holy Name without Their mercy because they brought this Holy Name to this abode. After that, start chanting from the big beads. There are two types of beads, big and small, you must start chanting from the big beads:

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

Next bead,

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

In this way, from the big beads to the small beads, and from the small beads to the big beads. Do not cross the sumeru bead. Chant from the big beads to the small beads, from the small beads to the big beads. Chant in this way sixteen rounds or more every day, but if you are busy with service, then you must chant minimum four rounds every day and you can chant the Holy Name at all other times without the beads, it is not a problem. Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart, and you will be successful in your spiritual life. There are also ten offences of the Holy Name, read what those offences are and avoid them. If you chant the Holy Name without offences, you will get the result quickly.

* * *

Our Reality

Speaking online to the devotees in Orizaba, Mexico
8 December 2019, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
All the Mexican devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all after such a long time. By the mercy of Gurudev, we are continuing the service of the temples everywhere, also the construction is going on everywhere, we are increasing our temples and preaching everywhere very nicely. I have heard that you are also doing very nicely, as well as Srila Ashram Maharaj. I am very happy about that.

There are so many festivals that have taken place recently and are coming. 14 December is Gurudev's appearance festival. We will inaugurate the festival nicely in Nrisingha Palli, our new main temple in Godrumdwip, Nabadwip Dham. I am happy with that, and I am very eager to make the festival on Gurudev's appearance day, this year it is 91 years since his appearance.

Actually, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told you will get so many gurus in this world, but you will not get so many disciples. It is very rare to find a disciple. A disciple is not someone who only takes the diska mantra (initiation)—a disciple is someone who always follows their Gurudev's instruction. It is very rare to find someone who properly, fully follows their Gurudev's instruction. A disciple's duty is not only to take initiation. If you only give some flowers, give some puja, incense, or a garland, these are all external things—you must place Gurudev in your heart. We always do guru puja and offer a garland to the Guru, but these are external things. Gurudev is actually the disciple's heart, so we must worship Gurudev very carefully, we must follow Gurudev's instruction properly.

The big problem is that everybody in this world wants to be a guru, nobody wants to be a disciple. In my own life, I have seen so many godbrothers who have run away and are now living alone. They say, "Oh, there is a big problem at the temple," "This," "This," "This," and they leave to follow their own things, but this is not Gurudev's instruction. Whatever happens, whatever problem may come, you must protect Gurudev's mission, Gurudev's devotees. That is the order of Gurudev. I also tell them that they must understand that if you leave and go to some secluded place to practise your own bhajan, you cannot leave your belly behind, you have to take it with you, so it means you will still need to eat, go to the bathroom, etc.—it means you will be always busy with yourself, when will you do service then?

We are always busy with ourselves in this world—we always work from morning to night. We exhaust ourselves spending this life on ourselves, but we do not think what will happen after death when we leave our house and everything in this world.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told that we always show respect and give much honour to those who do puja, but we do not show respect to those who cook. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that those who cook for Deities, who feed Deities do a very important service and you must give respect to him or her.

Anyhow, I am very happy that everybody is serving together. Actually, service is our life. I have told you just now—your whole life you are busy with your own life, but you must think about Him who does everything for you, about our controller. We must think about Him and we must chant His Name. That is our reality. These are our main things.

* * *

Chastity—Core of Devotee's Heart

Speaking online to the devotees in Orizaba, Mexico
8 December 2019, part 2

Our main practice is sadhu-sanga and Nama-sankirtan. Good association or real association of sadhus is the main thing for us. Always chant the Holy Name, always glorify the Holy Name, always think about service. Hear Bhagavat-katha, and always stay in a holy place. A holy place is not only Vrindavan, Govardhan, Puri, Nabadwip—no, a holy place is where Vaishnavs are, where practising is going on, where service is going on. A holy place is there where there is a Vaishnav. You can go to so many holy places, but if there is no good association there, if there is no Vaishnav there, then it is not a tirtha, not a holy place. Where there is service going on, where there is practising going on, where there are rules and regulations followed, that is a holy place. Yatha Hari-katha, tatha Vrindavan: Goloka Vrindavan is where there are talks of Krishna-katha, where devotees speak about the Lord.

Come sometimes for the parikramas. All devotees must come at least once a year for Gaura Purnima (Nabadwip Dham parikrama) or Puri Dham parikrama or Vrindavan parikrama. You should all come at least once a year to one of the places to make the parikrama with us. This is our Gurudev's conception and Mahaprabhu's conception also. We must be humble, tolerant and give honour to others; we must not see others' faults, we must not see who is doing what—they can do anything they want, but we will practise properly. We must follow Gurudev's instruction, follow what Gurudev told—that is our vision, that is our chastity.

I remember Gurudev gave me one example of what is called chastity. He said: suppose you see a snake and you tell your Gurudev, "Oh Gurudev, there is a snake there! There is a snake!"—but Gurudev says, "No, it is a rope," and you must believe that. Gurudev also told me one time about the example of Srila Raghunath Das Goswami.

You know that when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Svarup Damodar left, Raghunath Das Goswami was very sad. He came to live in Govardhan. There, he left all food—he did not take anything. At first he left rice and roti (chapati), he took only some fruit, but after that he left even fruit and did not take anything feeling so much separation and sadness. Then, one Vraja basi requested him, "Prabhu, you will die soon without eating anything—please at least accept some buttermilk." Raghunath Das Goswami agreed, and the Vraja basi started bringing him some buttermilk every day. He would always take some lotus leaves at Radha Kunda, make a bowl with them, and bring the buttermilk in that bowl. One day, however, he could not go to Radha Kunda, so he brought some buttermilk in the lotus leaves from Chandaravali's place. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami immediately recognised that the lotus leaves were not coming from Radha Kunda. You know that Chandravali is a competitor of Srimati Radharani, and Srila Raghunath Das Goswami follows the line of Radharani (we are also followers of Radharani and Raghunath Das Goswami). So, when Srila Raghunath Das Goswami saw that the leaves were coming not from Radha Kunda but from Chandavali's place, he immediately throw that pot with buttermilk. He did not take it. Gurudev told that from his example we can understand how much chastity Raghunath Das Goswami has for Radharani's line. We too must follow our instruction line in this way.

I remember also one time some contradiction came, I was talking with Gurudev, and Gurudev asked me, "Where do you want to stay, in Chandravali's kunja or Radharani's kunja?" I said, "Gurudev, I want to stay in Radha-kunja." That is chastity. Actually, you cannot neglect this conception, you must follow it. Some devotees like to do something and think, "Oh, I have made this person happy!", "I have made that person happy." But you cannot make everybody happy. Suppose you are doing a fire sacrifice—a fire sacrifice means it is necessary to put ghee into fire, but you put one spoon of ghee and then you also put one spoon of water into the fire, then you again put one spoon of ghee and again one spoon of water. A fire sacrifice cannot be successful in this way.

* * *

On Deity Service

Speaking online to the devotees in Orizaba, Mexico
8 December 2019, part 3

I am very happy to see that your proper service to the Deities. What does Deity service mean? It is not necessary to know so many mantras—if your heart, mind, everything is for the Deities, it is sufficient. Whenever you cook something, you should think, "I am cooking for Srimati Radharani, Lord Krishna and Mahaprabhu. Actually, Radharani, You are cooking Yourself. I am not a cook, I am not the master of the cooks. You are cooking, I am only Your instrument." This is how you must cook. And when you offer it to the Lord, you should just say, "O Krishna, please take it." That is the mantra. "I do not know any necessary mantras, please take it. I have cooked this for You, maybe it has burnt, maybe it is not tasty, but You please take it."

Actually, if we follow Gurudev's instruction, we will get his property. Gurudev's property is not some building, construction, or temple. Gurudev's property is his love and affection, his heart, mind. You can get Gurudev's property—his love and affection, his heart, etc.—if you give proper respect to your Guru, if you follow his instructions properly, without any hesitation.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Madan Mohan jiu jay

Madan Mohan Deity gives the relation, sambandha. It was served by Srila Sanatan Goswami in Vrindavan, and we have gone to see that main Deity of Srila Sanatan Goswami this year. It is in Karauli now, near Jaipur.

Jay Sri Madan Mohan jiu ki jay.

You know, we also have visited Vishnupur recently. There is also a very old Deity of Madan Mohan there, installed a few thousand years ago. That Deity Himself fought for the king. Once, some Muslim people attacked the kingdom and the king's son got sick, so Madan Mahan Himself fought, and when they came to the Deity's room after the battle, they saw that Madan Mohan was bleeding and covered with so much sand and mud. So, we went to see that Deity near Vishnupur. I had never been there before, but this year I had a preaching programme at a university in Purulia, near Vishnupur, so we went to see that Deities—I wanted to see which Deity fought for the king...

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Jay Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
All the assembled devotees, all the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Thank you so much, Prabhu. Please forgive my offence. Dandavat.

* * *

Self-Centred and Guru-Centred Life

Speaking online to the devotees in Quezon City, Philippines
8 December 2019, part 1

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

I am very happy to hear your sweet voice. You are preaching Gurudev's conception properly, you are preaching very nicely and increasing your preaching, I am very happy to see that. If I can go out of the country, I will come to the Philippines.

Actually, in this world, people struggle so much from morning to night during their whole life, and they do not think what will happen after death. People only think about their own enjoyment, their own things—they only worry how they will sleep, where they will stay, how they will work, etc. People do so much austerity, but they do everything for themselves, but they do not do anything for the Lord who does everything for us. Because of our ego we think that we are the doers, that we do everything ourselves, but this is not true. That is why Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu either comes Himself as a guru or sometimes sends His representative to us as a guru.

tava nija-jana kona mahajane
pathaiya dile tumi

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

The guru comes to tell us that the Lord Himself has appeared in Nabadwip Dham, that this Lord is Radha-Krishna's combined form and that He went door to door begging us to chant the Holy Name. That is why we are very fortunate to have got a bona fide guru in this age of Kali. There are so many gurus in this world, but it is actually very rare to find a proper disciple. Everybody wants to be a guru, nobody wants to be a disciple.

Only taking initiation, taking the mantra does not make one a proper disciple. Giving a garland, giving jay to the guru is external—we must do these things, but at the same time the main thing is that we must keep our Gurudev in our hearts. If we follow Gurudev's instruction, then we will become an example of a proper disciple. One does not become a disciple by only taking initiation—it is necessary to listen to Gurudev and to follow his instruction. These are the main things for us in our life.

You will find so many gurus in this world, but you will not find so many disciples. To be a proper disciple, it is necessary to have a proper character, to follow your guru's instruction properly, and to serve Deities, devotees, and Gurudev your whole life. And our most important duty is to preach Gurudev's conception, to preach what Gurudev told us.

We must engage in proper activities. We must keep good association (sadhu-sanga), engage in Nama-sankirtan, listen to the Bhagavatam, and stay in Mathura (Mathura-vasa). Mathura or Vrindavan are where there is Hari-katha, Krishna-katha going on. In other words, a holy place is where a real, proper Vaishnav stays; it can be any place—the Philippines, Mexico, London, even Iraq, Iran, or even some forest, it does not matter as long as there is a Vaishnav there. A holy place is wherever a Vaishnav lives.

* * *

Our Interest

Speaking online to the devotees in Quezon City, Philippines
8 December 2019, part 2

We always live for our own interest... So many godbrothers have left Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, have left us, have left me and are now living alone. I told them: you are living there alone, but you are staying with your stomach—you have not left your belly; wherever you go, you have to take your stomach with you, and when your stomach is hungry, you need to get water, you need to get food and so many other things, so you will still have to go begging and collecting something...

You have spent your whole life on your own things—on eating and sleeping, but when will you do service then? Sometimes we do not want to take initiation at a young age thinking that we will practise Krishna consciousness when we retire, after sixty years old. But this is not right. You are only cheating the Lord. When you live to sixty, you will already start counting to the day when you leave your body. Being unable to move, you will have to take others' help to move from one place to another. At this age your body will not be working—you will not be able to move, walk, chant, or do anything properly. At that time, you will be always remembering all your previous works (karma), and you will not get any interest in chanting the Holy Name.

That is why, you must start chanting the Holy Name and practising Krishna consciousness as soon as possible. We enjoy in this world from the beginning of our lives, and we say we will chant the Holy Name after sixty years old—this is not right, this is cheating the Lord. I came to this mission when I was almost twenty-eight years old and I think, "Why did I not come at eight years old? I should have come earlier." Gurudev is fortunate because he came when he was seventeen-eighteen years old, but I came to this mission when I was twenty-eight.

Anyhow, we are still practising Krishna consciousness, and we still have to practise—we must preach door to door, must go to beg for the Lord, "Please chant the Holy Name! That is your real benefit. You have been working for your own pleasure your whole life, you have been earning money and filling a bank account—you are keeping money aside, you are building a house, etc., but you will leave everything when you go to the cremation ghat. Why then do you not think of death and of what will happen to your body and your soul when you leave this world?" These are the main things, and this is the proper etiquette.

Devotee: We would like to give our respectful obeisances to you. Our branch is at your mercy.

I always send everything to my guru.

Devotee: Please forgive our offences or whatever mistakes we have made...

No, no, you have made no mistake. It is me who always makes offences. You please forgive my offence.

Devotee: Serving you is our happiness. Is there any particular message for the devotees here in the Philippines?

The message I would like to tell to the devotees is this. If you come for Gaura Purnima, if you send some devotees at Gaura Purnima, I will be very happy. Everybody must do this Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Come.

Thank you so much, dandavat.

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

* * *

The Only Truth

24 September 2019, Kolkata, part 1

Sri Prahlad Maharaj told,

natha yoni-sahasresu yesu yesu vrajamy aham
tesu tesv achyuta bhaktir achyutastu sada tvayi
ya pritir avivekanam visayesv anapayini
tvam anusmaratah sa me hrdayan napasarpatu

"O master, in all the thousands of births through which I must wander in this world, please let me have unfailing devotion to You, the infallible Supreme Lord. Just as unintelligent persons have unflinching affection for the objects of sense gratification, may I always remember You, so that that same attachment, applied to You, never leaves my heart."

(Visnu Purana, 1.20.18-19)

He says, "I may get thousands of thousands, millions of millions of births, I do not mind it—my Lord, You can send me to any kind of birth, You can give me any kind of body, I do not have any objection, but I am only praying to You that whichever birth I get (be it a bird's body, a beast's body, a dog's body or a cat's body) I will be happy as long as I can have some devotion to You. I will be happy to get any kind of birth, but I wish that I may be able to pray to You, to have some devotion to You." This is Prahlad Maharaj's prayer to Lord Nrisinghadev... He also said,

manye tad etad akhilam nigamasya satyam
svatmarpaaam sva-suhrdah paramasya pumsah

"I consider the four material goals of life (dharma, artha, kama, moksa) to be temporary (perishable). On the other hand, I firmly consider surrender to the Supreme Lord Vishnu to be the truth."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.6.26)

Sri Prahlad Maharaj says, "Surrender to Vishnu, surrender to the Lord is the only truth, and everything else in this world is false, everything is perishable—everything else will pass and finish."

Krishna, in turn, says,

sadhavo hrdayam mahyam sadhunam hrdayam tv aham
mad-anyat te na jananti naham tebhyo manag api

"The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anyone else but them."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 9.4.68)

"How shall I leave those who have surrendered everything to Me—who have left their house, wife, sons, relatives, property, their very body, things and all their previous life, and only surrendered to Me? How shall I leave them? How shall I reject them? I cannot. I will always protect those who have surrendered to Me, who have left everything for Me. I cannot leave such kind of surrendered souls, I always stay with them."

* * *

Mahaprabhu's Teaching

24 September 2019, Kolkata, part 2

prabhu kahena,—'krsna-seva', 'vaisnava-sevana'
'nirantara kara krsna-nama-sankirtana'

"Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied, 'Without cessation continue chanting the holy name of Lord Krishna. Whenever possible, serve Him and His devotees, the Vaishnavs."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 15.104)

Sriman Mahaprabhu told householder devotees, "Krishna-seva, service to the Lord; Vaishnav-seva, service to the devotees; nirantar kara Krishna-Nama-sankirtan, always chant the Holy Name."

It is also written in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita,

bahuta sannyasi yadi aise eka thani
sammana karite nari, aparadha pai

"If all the sannyasis came together, it would not be possible for me to pay them proper respects. Therefore I would be an offender."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 15.197)

Sometimes householder devotees would tell Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, when so many sannyasis come to my house at a time, I cannot serve everybody together. So many should not come to my house at a time, please come in lesser numbers. If you come one by one, then we can serve everyone properly." Mahaprabhu agreed.

Mahaprabhu also told,

deha-tyagadi yata, saba—tamo-dharma
tamo-rajo-dharme krsnera na paiye marma

"Acts such as suicide are influenced by the mode of ignorance, and in ignorance and passion one cannot understand who Krishna is."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.57)

If you want to leave your body, that is ignorance (tama-gun, tamasik). For example, Sanatan Goswami wanted to leave his body—he wanted to commit suicide by throwing himself under the chariot. Mahaprabhu told him, "Deha tyag tamo-dharma (the idea of giving up the body is the religion of the ignorant). Do you think if you leave your body, you will get Krishna? All over the universe, at every second, at every moment so many jiva souls leave their body, do they get Krishna through that?"

sannyasi pandita-ganera karite garva nasa
nicha-sudra-dvara karena dharmera prakasa

"To vanquish the false pride of so-called renunciants and learned scholars, Mahaprabhu spreads real religious principles, even through a sudra, or lowborn, fourth-class man."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 5.84)

Becoming great scholars, some sannyasis become also very proud, that is why Mahaprabhu started preaching with those who were of lower caste. For example, Mahaprabhu listened to Krishna-katha from Raya Ramananda (who was born in a kayastha, or sudra, class), and He started preaching Krishna-nama sankirtan through Srila Haridas Thakur (who came from a yavat family).

Mahaprabhu told householder devotees, "You must be pleased with whatever you get—some little sak, some few vegetables, etc. Whatever naturally comes to you in your spiritual practice (sadhana), you must be satisfied with that. You must be satisfied with just a little bit—it is not necessary to think of so many gorgeous and so many big things. Be satisfied with what you get."

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

One should associate with devotees, chant the holy name of the Lord, hear Srimad Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration.

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

sakala-sadhana-srestha ei pancha anga
krsna-prema janmaya ei panchera alpa sanga

"These five limbs of devotional service are the best of all. Even a slight performance of these five awakens love for Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.129)

sadhu-sanga haite haya 'sravana-kirtana'
sadhana-bhaktye haya 'sarvanartha-nivartana'

"When one is encouraged in devotional service by the association of devotees, one becomes free from all unwanted contamination by following the regulative principles and chanting and hearing."

anartha-nivrtti haile bhaktye 'nistha' haya
nistha haite sravanadye 'ruchi' upajaya

"When one is freed from all unwanted contamination, he advances with firm faith. When firm faith in devotional service awakens, a taste for hearing and chanting also awakens."

ruchi haite bhaktye haya 'asakti' prachura
asakti haite chitte janme krsne prity-ankura

"After taste is awakened, a deep attachment arises, and from that attachment the seed of love for Krsna grows in the heart."

sei 'rati' gadha haile dhare 'prema'-nama
sei prema—'prayojana' sarvananda dhama

"When that ecstatic taste intensifies, it is called love of Godhead. Such love is life's ultimate goal and the reservoir of all pleasure."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 23.10-13)

Always chant the Holy Name avoiding offences. "Niraparadhe nama laile paya prema-dhana: if you chant the Holy Name without offence, you will get the wealth of divine love (prema)." Always avoid the ten offences.

* * *

Mahaprabhu's Instruction to Vairagis

24 September 2019, Kolkata, part 3

bhala kaila, vairagira dharma acharila
vairagi karibe sada nama-sankirtana
magiya khana kare jivana raksana

"Raghunath Das has done well," He said. "He has acted suitably for a person in the renounced order. A person in the renounced order should always chant the holy name of the Lord. He should beg some alms to eat, and he should sustain his life in this way."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.222-223)

Sriman Mahaprabhu told Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, "Krishna is very merciful to you because you have left everything—all maya, all your enormous opulence, your beautiful wife! Now you are going door to door asking for some prasadam. You are now a vairagi, a renunciate, and you must not expect anything from others. You must only go door to door and collect."

vairagi hana yeba kare parapeksa
karya-siddhi nahe, krsna karena upeksa

"A vairagi (a person in the renounced order) should not depend on others. If he does so, he will be unsuccessful, and he will be neglected by Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.224)

vairagi hana kare jihvara lalasa
paramartha yaya, ara haya rasera vasa

"If a renunciant is eager for his tongue to taste different foods, his spiritual life will be lost, and he will be subservient to the tastes of his tongue."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.225)

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

jihvara lalase yei iti-uti dhaya
sisnodara-parayana se krsna nahi paya

"The duty of a person in the renounced order is to always chant the Hare Krishna mantra. He should satisfy his belly with whatever vegetables, leaves, fruits and roots are available. One who is subservient to the tongue and who thus goes here and there, devoted to the genitals and the belly, cannot attain Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.226-227)

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

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

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

A sannyasi and a griha-tyagi must not stay in his birthplace or with his relatives.

sannyasira dharma nahe—sannyasa karina
nija janma-sthane rahe kutumba lana

"After accepting sannyas, it is not the duty of a sannyasi to remain at his birthplace, encircled by relatives."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 3.177)

This is not the religion of a sannyasi to stay in his native village, in his birth place, or with his relatives. If I tell this at a public lecture, many sannyasis will think, "Oh, Maharaj is talking about me," but I am not—I am only saying what is written in the scriptures. I am not talking or thinking about anyone in particular when I say this. These words were told by Mahaprabhu.

virakta sannyasi amara raja-darasana
stri-darasana-sama visera bhaksana

"Since I am in the renounced order, it is as dangerous for Me to meet a king as to meet a woman. To meet either would be just like drinking poison."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 11.7)

Mahaprabhu told, "I do not want to see King Prataparudra because it is not the religion of a sannyasi to meet with a king. It is the same as meeting a lady."

sukla-vastre masi-bindu yaichhe na lukaya
sannyasira alpa chhidra sarva-loke gaya

"As soon as the general public finds a little fault in the behavior of a sannyasi, they advertise it like wildfire. A black spot of ink cannot be hidden on a white cloth. It is always very prominent."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 12.51)

If there is some dark spot on a white cloth, everybody can immediately see it. A sannyasi must be also very careful because everybody will always search your fault. If a man wears ordinary clothes and goes with some lady hand in hand, nobody will think anything, but if a sannyasi does it, then everybody will criticise him.

prabhu kahe,—"vairagi kare prakrti sambhasana
dekhite na paron ami tahara vadana"

The Lord said, "If someone mixes with women, I do not want to see their face!"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 2.117)

durvara indriya kare visaya-grahana
daravi prakrti hare munerapi mana

"So strongly do the senses adhere to the objects of their enjoyment that indeed a wooden statue of a woman attracts the mind of even a great saintly person."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 2.118)

'grhastha' hana nahe raya sad-vargera vase
'visayi' hana sannyasire upadese

"Although Ramananda Raya was a householder, he was not under the control of the six kinds of bodily changes. Although apparently a pounds-and-shillings man, he advised even persons in the renounced order."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 5.80)

aradhyo bhagavan brajesa tanayas tad dhama vrndavanam
ramya kachid upasana braja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita
srimad-bhagavatam pramanam-amalam prema pumartho mahan
sri chaitanya mahaprabhur-matam-idam tatradaro nah parah

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the son of Nanda Maharaja, is to be worshiped along with His transcendental abode, Vrindavan. The most pleasing form of worship for the Lord is that which was performed by the gopis of Vrndavan. Srimad Bhagavatam is the spotless authority, and pure love of God is the ultimate goal of life. These statements, for which we have the highest regard, are the opinion of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu."

"Bhagavan Vrajendranandan Sri Krishna and His expansion, Sri Dham Vrindavan, are the highest objects of worship, and the way Vraja-gopis worship Krishna is the highest conception. Think about it. Who is the example of the highest upasana (worship)? Rukmini? Satyabhama? No. Vraja-gopis' worship is the highest. Srimad Bhagavatam stands as the proof of it—it is very sweet and very meaningful, and it is always pure (nirmal); it contains a pure fruit. Paramour love is the highest attainment. Such is the conception of Sriman Mahaprabhu."

Once, a devotee asked Prabhupad, "What is the meaning of rasa [various possible meanings: juice, mellow, taste, relationship]?" Is rasa and juice the same? No, rasa is not some material juice or taste.

vyatitya bhavana-vartma yas chamatkara-bhara-bhuh
hrdi sattvojjvale badham svadate sa raso matah

"That which is beyond imagination, heavy with wonder and relished in the heart that is shining with goodness—such is known as rasa."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, 2.5.132)

Rasa is above everything.

"Commonly, when we are attracted, attached to someone or have affection for someone, we consider them our shelter. In the material world, people take shelter of so many material things and people, but there is only one main perfect shelter—He is Krishna, One without a second, and everything and everyone is surrendered to Him."

Jay Srila Prabhupad ki jay.

* * *

Transcendental Gift

Speaking online to the devotees in Colombia
8 December 2019, part 1

How is preaching going on there? Nicely?

Devotee: By Your Grace the programmes are continuing and we make Sri Harinam sankirtan every Saturday afternoon.

Good, very nice! Harinam sankirtan (street sankirtan) gives energy to devotees. Harinam sankirtan is the main practice in this age of Kali—without Harinam sankirtan we cannot get relief from the suffering.

Sriman Mahaprabhu sent our Gurudev, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, to us. Srila Gurudev came to us to give us Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's message, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's message, and Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's message, and we must distribute this message door to door. This is how, by the mercy of Gurudev, we are now going door to door all over the world distributing the message of Gurudev, distributing the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

So many scriptures say about the Holy Name, and also when Kali yuga just started, sixty thousand rishis (sages) gathered in Naimisaranya and together did a fire sacrifice for one thousand years, but still they could not feel happy, it did not give pleasure to their hearts. Then they understood that it is necessary to chant the Holy Name in this age of Kali—only chanting the Holy Name can give relief to the fallen souls (to us).

Then, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came, after Him there were also so many acharyas—Srila Madhavendra Puripad, Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, Srila Haridas Thakur also, Sri Shyamananda Prabhu, Srila Narottam Das Thakur. In this way, our line continued through Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. They all distributed this Holy Name all over India, and now that Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj and then Gurudev came, they sent this message all over the Western countries.

Therefore, we must chant the Holy Name, and we must chant it properly—then we will get pleasure through that chanting of the Holy Name. If we chant the Holy Name of Krishna (Krishna-nam) in good association (sadhu-sanga), offences will be removed from our hearts and then Bhakti Devi, who always wants a clean place, will sit in our hearts.

* * *

Disciple's Service Mood

Speaking online to the devotees in Colombia
8 December 2019, part 2

If we chant the Holy Name of Krishna (Krishna-nam) in good association (sadhu-sanga), offences will be removed from our hearts. This is how we can get real service.

Actually, all over the world everyone always keeps on searching for a job, but Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and our Gurudev Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj have opened a factory where there are so many employees necessary, where there is so much service available—why is it necessary to search for some service or some duty outside then? There are so many workers, so many servitors necessary at the factory of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. We must give attention to that factory. That factory's name is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

The problem is that we are not very fortunate souls. If we were fortunate souls, then we would join this Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math service and we would get a great benefit for our spiritual life. Actually, there are so many gurus in this world—we all want to be gurus, but we do not want to be disciples; we want to be masters, we do not want to be servants. That is the problem. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that you will find so many gurus in this world, but it is very rare to find a proper disciple—you will not get so many disciples in this world.

We think that if we just take initiation, if we just take the mantra diksa, then we become a disciple. It is not so. Only taking initiation, only giving "jay", or giving a garland—these are external things. This is not the real criteria. You must keep your guru in your heart. Yes, we must give our guru a garland, we must give him a "jay", etc.—we must do these things, but it is more important that we remember our guru, that we realise and remember that actually Gurudev is the centre of a disciple's heart, the guru is the main renter of a disciple. We should remember this.

We must be proper disciples—we must follow Gurudev's instruction. Those who do not follow Gurudev's instruction properly, who have no chastity for Gurudev, are not disciples. Srila Prabhupad also says, "So many people have taken initiation from me, but I do not consider them all my disciples. Only few are my disciples." Everybody does not become a good disciple—to be a proper disciple means following Gurudev's instruction and having chastity for the guru. That is why Srila Prabhupad says, "People take initiation from me, but everybody does not become my disciple—my disciple is the one who follows my instruction properly."

Sometimes, we want this service and we do not like that service. Such mood is not good. Whatever service Gurudev has given you, that is your service—and that is what you must do. We sometimes do this service, that service, that service, or when Gurudev tells us, "Do this service," we say, "Oh, I do not like that service!" This is not being a proper disciple. A proper disciple does what the guru tells them. We must follow Gurudev's instruction, that is what is called service.

Another thing is that we see in temples that, basically, we always give much respect and attention to those who do puja, but Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that while everybody gives so much respect to a pujari, nobody gives any respect to those who cook. People say offhand, "Oh, he is just a cook!" However, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that cooking is the most important service, it is more important than even puja. The person who cooks thinks about Radharani, they cook with their heart and soul for the Deities or devotees, they always think about the Deities, that is why it is the main service. Therefore, we actually must give cooks more respect than to a pujari.

* * *

Beyond Body Consciousness

Speaking online to the devotees in Colombia
8 December 2019, part 3

Does anyone have any questions?

Question: How can we better serve our Math? We sometimes feel that our service 'battery' is low, but we want to increase our mood of service and we want our mind to help us in the way.

If you do and do service, if you do more and more service, then you will get more service; and when you get more service, that will be your happiness, that will be your good luck. To get more and more service—that is your happiness. You should read my lectures, listen to my lectures, read my programmes, attend the daily programmes every day.

Actually, you know that the whole world struggles from early morning until night—people work so hard and get so exhausted. They think about themselves their whole life—how to make a house, how to get proper food, how to get proper sleep, how to get good things, how to get proper medicine. All people always think about ourselves and they spend their whole life on themselves, but the problem is that they do not think what will happen after death. What will be the result of such life after death? What will happen to their soul (atma)? What happens to the body? How does it all work?

People struggle their whole life always thinking, "Money, money, money," or thinking how to get food, etc.—people do not think about their real selves, they do not think about reality. We always think about our body, but we do not think about our real selves—we do not think what can give benefit to our soul (atma).

Therefore, we must keep ourselves busy with the service of Gurudev, with the service of the Lord. We should not be busy with our body—we should keep ourselves busy with service to our Guru and Vaishnavs. Do not waste you time. Life is very short, so do not waste your time on laziness, etc.—it is not good. We must spend time on the service to Gurudev—when you have time, read Gurudev's books, read Gurudev's scriptures, listen to Hari-katha, sing some kirtan. This is what you must use your time for.

* * *

Practitioners' Problem

Speaking online to the devotees in Colombia
8 December 2019, part 4

Question: Why do some conflicts arise among devotees, members of the community, even when they are trying to do service?

That is the practitioners' problem. A practitioner must think, "I must be humble, tolerant and give honour to others"—that is the main thing. Your mood must change—you must become humble, tolerant and give honour to others. Those who have patience will succeed. It is necessary to have patience (dhairya), which means it is necessary to have tolerance. The problem is also that we do not think, "We are doing this service for the Lord, we are not doing it not for ourselves."

Gurudev gave also one example. Suppose one devotee is distributing prasadam and other devotees are sitting in a ten-feet-long line and taking prasadam. Somebody thinks, "Oh, I have not got any paneer!" or, looking at somebody else's plate, they think, "He has good things on his plate, and I have not got any." Such mood is not good. It means that this person is taking paneer—this person is not taking prasadam. Those who take prasadam must have the right consciousness, and the devotee who distributes prasadam must be also careful and make sure that everybody gets equal things. Both are necessary.

Therefore, we must control our tongue (jihva veg, urges of the tongue), we must control our mind (mano veg, urges of the mind), we must control our stomach (uddhara veg, urges of the stomach), we must control our sex desire (upastha veg, urges of the genitals), we must control our anger (krodha veg, urges of anger), we must control our speech (vakya veg, urges of speech). We must control everything. "Chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi' chhaya guna deha' dase. O Vaishnav Thakur! Please subjugate my six urges, rectify my six defects, and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant."

Six urges:
(1) Urge of speech (vakya-veg).
(2) Urge of mind (mano-veg).
(3) Urge of anger (krodha-veg).
(4) Urge of tongue (jihva-veg).
(5) Urge of stomach (uddhara-veg).
(6) Urge of genitals (upastha-veg).

Six defects:
(1) Eating too much, hoarding things (atyahara).
(2) Engaging in material activities that are not favourable to devotion (prayas).
(3) Talking too much or talking nonsense (prajalpa).
(4) Following inferior practices or neglect of activities favourable to devotion (niyamagraha).
(5) Associating with non-devotees (janasanga).
(6) Being fickle-minded (laulya).

Six good qualities:
(1) Enthusiasm in service and devotional practice.
(2) Confidence: firm faith.
(3) Patience: never slackening your practice.
(4) Do what is favourable to devotion (sacrifice of your own happiness for Krishna's happiness).
(5) Avoiding bad association.
(6) Following the sadhus' practice.

We have so many bad qualities, but we must be proper, pure disciples through good association. That is our vision. We must try to be proper servitors.

Sometimes, you keep on making some offence, time and time again you keep doing something wrong, making some mistake, and you think that since the temple manager is not doing or saying anything (he overlooks it because he has tolerance), then it is not a big matter and day by day you keep making offences, you keep doing bad things. You must be careful with this. You make one offence, two offences, three offences, five offences every day—this is not good. A practitioner will think, "OK, I have made a mistake today, but next time I will not do that again." It is necessary to have such mood.

...I am telling to everybody—come at Gaura Purnima. You must join us for the Nabadwip Dham parikrama, this parikrama is necessary for all devotees, do not miss it. Come and join Nabadwip Dham parikrama. I am praying to Gurudev for you all. Gurudev's Vyasa Puja is coming soon, it is on 14 December this year, and I must prepare everything, there will be a big festival in Nrisingha Palli, please come to this festival, join us, and try to come at the Gaura Purnima time. Come at any time, you are always welcome.

Gracias. Jay Gurudev.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Jay Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

* * *

No Excuses

Speaking online to devotees in Caracas, Venezuela
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 1

Spiritual life depends on tolerance and on following the guru's instruction—always. Christian people go to the church every week and pray, "Please remove all my offences, please remove all my sins!" They say this once a week, but in our line, Krishna-bhaktas are not like that. Devotees of Krishna, devotees of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, devotees of Gurudev pray to their guru at every moment, and that is why it is necessary to have a proper connection with the guru.

The problem is that it is very rare to find a proper disciple in this world. People say, "Oh, Gurudev chastises me! He does not love me, he does not like me—I will leave this Guru and go away!" This is not a real disciple. What does it mean to be a disciple? A disciple always tolerates chastisement. Actually, we are always afraid of austerity, but we must accept any austerity, we must accept any unhappiness for our guru, for the service to our guru. It is not a problem for us.

Sometimes people say, "Oh, now that I am young I will enjoy in this material world, and when I become old, then I will join Krishna consciousness." Once, some foolish man did not want to go to Sri Dham Mayapur. He told Srila Prabhupad (Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur) some excuse, "Oh, I am afraid of going by boat—I will go when the Ganga dries." But Srila Prabhupad replied, "What if the Ganga never dries? You will never be able to go to Mayapur!"

Another time, some man came to Srila Prabhupad and said, "If I come to Krishna consciousness and decide to stay at the temple, my wife and relatives will leave me..." Srila Prabhupad asked him, "Yes, I know, they will leave you, but I want to ask you one question. Can you tell me the truth? You want to come and join the temple and your family will leave you—but can you leave them?" People join Krishna consciousness, come to the temple, but two months later or half a year later they say, "Oh, Gurudev, my wife (my husband/son/daughter) is crying—I must go back to them!"...

* * *

Sri Guru's Grace

Speaking online to devotees in Caracas, Venezuela
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar, part 2

I am very happy to see you all. You are all in my heart.

You are always following Gurudev's instruction facing so much austerity. I know that, that is why I am saying that even though so many austerities have come to Venezuela, you have not left Parama Karuna. Nitai Gaurachandra want to see how much patience, how much tolerance you have—They want to see whether you will run away, whether you will leave Their service or not, whether you will stay or not.

When you do not get anything at the market, you should cut some grass, cook it and give to the Deities with Tulasi leaves. When I was five years old, I remember in my birthplace there was no food in the house at that time, and people would cut some grass, banana leaves, etc., boil it and eat it just like that without salt because at that time, the price of salt was very high (fifty rupees). I saw at that time how much people suffered. There was much rice at our house, but all the village people came and forcibly took everything away.

Anyway, as I have said, you are all in my heart, and you follow Gurudev's instruction. Actually, we will not get service directly from the Deities, that is why Krishna Himself has come to this world in the form of a guru. Gurudev is the embodiment, or incarnation, of the Deity, and Gurudev is very merciful because he will tell you what he likes, he will tell you what he eats, etc., and if you can fulfil his desire, if you can fulfil his happiness, then that will be service, and that is the great mercy of the guru. We sometimes also make some mistake in the service to the Deities, and the Deity will not chastise you, but the Deity's main servitor (Gurudev) can always chastise you. That is his mercy.

We always give obeisance to those who do puja (it can be a brahmachari, a sannyasi, a vanaprastha, or a grihastha, householder—it is does not matter); but we do not give respect to those who cook. It is not good. Cooking is the main service of the Deities, the main service of the temple, and actually those who cook are the best (highest) servitors. So, we like to give obeisance (dandavat) to the pujari, but we do not give proper respect to those who cook, but the cook is the main servitor at the temple. You give Gurudev a garland, but you do not give Gurudev food—Gurudev will not eat your garland.

I have to finish now, but there is one more thing I would like to say. I actually need some help from Venezuela. What help is it? One devotee's name is Ananda Moi Prabhu, this is number one; number two is Snigdha Krishna Prabhu; number three is Nava Krishna Prabhu; and number four is Bhagavan Prabhu—I want these four devotees to come and stay with me for a few months.

* * *

Heed Your Call

Speaking online to devotees in Johannesburg, South Africa
29 September 2019, Tarakeswar

Actually, by the mercy of Gurudev, you are engaging me in the service to you all on this day, and I am very happy to see you all. There are so many gurus in this world, but it is very rare to find a proper disciple in this world. Only worshipping with some flowers, only cutting a cake—this is not sufficient; if you serve Gurudev with your heart and soul, if you follow Gurudev's instruction, that is my happiness.

Why do you run away whenever some problem comes? "Sukhe duhkhe bhule nako vadane Harinam koro re: in happiness or sadness, never forget it, always chant the Holy Name." Happiness, sadness, anything can come—we actually welcome any austerity for the service to our Guru, for the service to the Lord. We are not afraid of austerity. Austerity will come, and we will accept it for service to our Guru; we will not run away from service. Any problem can come—we will chant the Holy Name until our death, until there is one last drop of blood in our body. Srila Haridas Thakur said,

kanda kanda hai deha yaya yadi prana
tabu ami vadane na chadi harinama

"Even if my body is cut into pieces and I give up my life, I will never give up chanting the Holy Name."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Adi-khanda, 16.94)

Even if our body is cut piece by piece, will not leave, we will not stop chanting the Holy Name.

Gurudev has made one factory—it is a service factory. I can give employment to you all; you can become an employee at this factory! People search for a job, and I am giving service, I am giving employment, but why are you not coming? If you get this employment, you will stay in Goloka Vrindavan forever! In this material world, you will only get some paper money, but if you join Gurudev's factory, you will get real benefit. This factory's name is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

I thank all the devotees. I am very happy to see your smiling faces. You have a connection with my heart—you keep me in your heart, and I also keep you in my heart on the order of my Guru. Always keep connection, always listen to my lecture, and distribute Gurudev's message, Mahaprabhu's message door to door. Even if somebody kicks you out from their door, you must again go there and beg, "I have come to you to give you real benefit, please take it." Go door to door and ask them to accept it. This is your service. OK?

Spread Krishna consciousness. Spread Mahaprabhu's message, Gurudev's and Guru Maharaj's message door to door in South Africa. When you go to the jungle, forest, do not be afraid of lions. Sometimes send also devotees here.

Dandavat. Please forgive my offence.

* * *

New Year Message: Service Is Our Life

29 December 2019

Dear all the devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisance.

This past year we have all been preaching for Gurudev as much as possible. We are trying our best, and all the devotees are also helping me with their service all over the world—they are helping me heart and soul in many ways They follow Gurudev's instruction in service mood, and I am very happy with everybody's service mood.

Problems can come at any moment, but we are ready to solve them. Problems will always come, in any life—be it material life or spiritual life; but we must remember that we have come to this line of Krishna consciousness, we have got a bona fide Guru, we have come to Srila Rupa Goswami's line, Srila Sanatan Goswami's line, we have got our beloved Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj—he is always behind us, he always helps us. We suffer from so many problems, but at the same time we do not think that we have any problem—we get happiness from service, this is your life.

Now next year is coming. You should all try to be happier and happier in your Krishna consciousness life. Our happiness lies there. Wherever you stay, you must maintain your spiritual life. Whatever problem comes, we will not go to any other line, we will not leave our line—we will follow that line which Gurudev shows us. That is our intention, that is our determination, and that is our promise. We are ready to face any kind of situation that can come—whatever situation comes, let it come, we are always ready for it, it is not a problem.

I always ask devotees for their blessing. This year we have also lost some devotees, our dear friends—we no longer have them with us, but everybody has to leave this world one day, it is a fact, it is the reality. We have got human body and we must utilise it for the service to our beloved Gurudev and his mission.

I send everybody all the best wishes. May everybody happily enjoy their next year, 2020. And I always invite you all to please come at Gaura Purnima to do Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. We invite you all to join us.

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

Kirtaniyah sada harih. [May the Holy Name be chanted always, at every moment.]

Hari bol.

* * *

Web: scsmathinternational.com

Email: info@scsmathinternational.com