All Glory to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga

GUIDANCE

Issue #23

Lectures of His Divine Grace

Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj

published at SCSMathInternational.com during April-June 2020

CONTENT

'Where There Is a Will There Is a Way'

Advice to Householder Devotees

Rama-avatar

Peculiarity of Lord's Pastimes

The Worst Day

Unthinkable Situation

"Gurudev Is My Everything"

"Try Your Best"

Proper Service Is Chaste Service

Be Careful and Wise

Charity Begins at Home: Practise Yourself First

Kirtan-Seva

Stay Within Service Line

"Give Me Your Mercy"

Soul-Searching and Hole-Searching

Service Hardships

Careless Life

Bankarai Krishna's Trick

Patita-Pavan

Stench of Barren Hearts

Chitraketu's Example

Live In Sadhu-Sanga

Entering Line of Devotion

Qualities in Vaishnav Domain

Preparing for Parikrama of Antardwip

Dham-Consciousness

No Quarantine in Practising Life

Heart of Devotional Life

Proper Receiver and Proper Mother

Meaning of Chastity

Embarking On New Life

Go Forward

World of Spiritual Practice

Your Golden Opportunity

Pass Your Life in Service

How to Increase Surrender

Sri Nrisingha-Chaturdasi: Auspicious Day

No Such Thing as Personal Affairs

Everything Has Its Limit

Affection for Devotees

Life Sacrifice

Devotional Lifestyle

Undevotional Lifestyle

Six Good Qualities

"May I Always Remain a Disciple"

Be in Good Association and Be Good Association

Krishna's Arrangement

First Requirement

Mahaprabhu's Teachings (1): No False Renunciation

Mahaprabhu's Teachings (2): Never Stop Your Krishna-Sankirtan

Mahaprabhu's Teachings (3): No Caste Consideration

Mahaprabhu's Teachings (4): Pillars of Renunciation

Mahaprabhu's Teachings (5): Exclusive Dharma

Questions and Answers

Our Mantra

Exclusive Devotional Life

Dham-Seva

Dealing with Misconception

Sri Ramananda Sambad

Questions and Answers (1)

Questions and Answers (2)

Your Love and Affection

Sacred Chamber of Devotional Mood

"How Much Will You Sacrifice?"

Service Abode of Eternal Happiness

Simplicity and Duplicity

Practitioner's Pure Pride

Questions and Answers

Latest News

Initiating and Self-Declared Gurus: Open Address to Members of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Permanent Solution

Chaste Service Consciousness

Service Without Sahajiyaism

Perfect Vision

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami's Exemplary Pastimes

Give Your Life for Service

Perfect House Life

Pride and Devotion

Gaudiya Siddhanta

Practise More and Better

Service Code

Love for Guru, Not Yourself

Service Eagerness and Attachment

Our Greatest Aspiration

Treasure of Devotion

Questions and Answers

Observing Gundicha Marjan

Special Day of Special Mercy

Follow Rules and Regulations

Serving Gaura Nitai Deities

Eternal Humble Prayer

Dangerous Query

'Where There Is a Will There Is a Way'

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 March 2020, part 4

Question: How should we act if somebody offends us?

Tolerate it. The only medicine is tolerance and patience, then you will get the result. Tolerance and patience are the main things. If you do not have tolerance, how will you be a devotee? Patience is necessary, tolerance is necessary. If somebody says something bad to me, swears me, it is OK—if they are happy, they can do it, it is not a problem for me. If somebody is happy to provoke me, to say something mean to me, it is OK, they can do it more and more, but no reaction will come from me. We must not show any reaction—this is not Vaishnav religion to do it. Vaishnav religion does not say that if somebody bites you, you must bite them back.

Question: How can we concentrate our mind when chanting?

Chant loudly, then your mind will concentrate on service.

Question: You said that ego is our main obstacle, how can we get relief from ego?

You can get relief from your ego only by paying obeisance to everybody. When you see a devotee, always pay obeisance to then. Always bow down your head at the lotus feet of devotees, then your ego will be removed. I told you that if you have a fifty kg sack on your head, how will you get rid of it? You must bow head down, then your fifty kg sack will fall down. Do you understand what I am saying? Mahaprabhu told also that even if Raghunath Das Goswami saw one Vaishnav ten times during one day, he would pay obeisance to him ten times that day.

Question: I have a child, how should I instruct him?

Actually, your child will learn that which you teach him from the beginning, so you should teach him good things from the beginning—teach him to pay dandavat, to pay obeisance, to engage in devotional activities. Keep him engaged in learning, keep teaching him, that is good for you. On the other hand, there is also a problem. I have seen in Mahabharatha, in Srimad Bhagavatam that even in Satya-yuga devotees' sons do not always become devotee—sometimes devotees' sons also become demons. So, those who are fortunate souls, get some good association, some sadhu-sanga, and through that they learn and understand something.

Question: How can we develop sincerity and enthusiasm in our service?

Through practice. Actually, you must understand one thing, I will give one example to you all. Enthusiasm (utsaha) is a good symptom, it is necessary to have a great desire to serve, it is necessary to serve with love and affection. If you want to serve the guru, you need to have desire. Suppose a cat wants to take its kitten somewhere—it takes the kitten by its mouth. Some disciples, or devotees, say, "Oh, I am folding my hands and will follow whatever the Lord tells me." They wait for the order, wait for their Lord to come. "I am suffering from so much cold—it is not a problem, I will just cry, and my mother will take me to a warm place." A kitten cries and its mother takes it by its mouth and carries it to some good place. That is one example. Another example is that of a monkey. A baby monkey does not think like that. A baby monkey is very enthusiastic, very eager to go with its mother, so it catches and holds onto its mother, and the mother takes it to some place. So, what will we do? We can say that we will be like the baby monkey, but Gurudev says that we will be neither like a baby monkey, nor like a kitten—we will be like Mother Yasoda. Mother Yasoda thinks, "I will tie my son with the rope! By hook or by crook, but I will tie Him!" She tries, tries, and tries for so many hours, she keeps on trying, in the end Krishna automatically thinks, "Oh, My mother is so tired!" and He comes Himself to her, "Here, mother, tie Me!" It is necessary to have this kind of desire—try, and try, and try. Sometimes you think, "Oh, I cannot do it," but no, we will not say, "I cannot do it," we will say, "I must do it!" That is the strongest desire. It may be difficult or impossible, but I must do it!

* * *

Advice to Householder Devotees

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 March 2020, part 5

Question: Could you give some advice on how to live a grihastha life?

The husband will work. The wife will cook, offer the bhog, take the offered prasadam first, and then the husband will take the remnants after her. That is Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj's advice—when some householder devotee came to him, he gave this advice because then the husband not will think, "I will only enjoy with my wife." No. The husband must think, "My wife is a servitor of the Lord, and I am her servitor," then that ego will not come that "Oh, I am earning money, I am giving her money, I buy this, I buy that."

The wife also should not think, "Oh, I cook! If I did not cook, you would not get any food!" No. You are cooking for the Lord, and you take the Lord's prasadam, and your husband will take your remnants.

Householder devotees will also always chant the Holy Name every day and do some Vaishnav-seva. Also, you must keep one-one dollar, one rupee, one coin, or one cent aside every day for the service to your Guru and Vaishnavs. You can ask me, "How will I do Vaishnav-seva every day? I do not get Vaishnavs in my house every day." The wife will think, "My husband is a Vaishnav," and the husband will think, "My wife is a Vaishnav." That is Vaishnav-seva. And every day, little by little, keep aside some coin for the service to Vaishnavs—after that, you can send what you have kept aside over one month or one year to your Guru for Vaishnav-seva.

That is my advice for the householder devotees.

* * *

Rama-avatar

Sri Rama-Navami day, Kolkata-Worldwide
2 April 2020, part 1

Today is a very good day—today is the appearance day of Rama-avatar, Lord Ramachandra. Every year we make some festival, some programme on this day, but it is very difficult to make a programme this year because of the problematic situation all over the world. Still, we can make some small programme, we think that is good for us.

Every year we make some programme on this day because this is the appearance day of one of the ten avatars of the Lord. You know there are ten avatars (incarnations) of the Lord—Matsya-avatar, Kurma-avatar, Varaha-avatar, Nrisingha-avatar, Vaman-avatar, Parasurama-avatara, Rama-avatar, Buddha-avatar, and Kalki-avatar. Rama is one of them.

Lord Narayan came as Ramachandra in the age of Treta. There are four ages—Satya, Treta, Dvapar, and Kali. You all know that Ramachandra was born in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh as a son of Kausalya and Dasarath. I read Valmiki Muni's Ramayana about Lord Ramachandra's pastimes. Most of Indian people, most of Hindus worship Ramachandra, but Gaudiya Vaishnavs, followers of Gaudiya-dhara, do not show particular interest in Ramachandra. Ramachandra is righteous (maryada-purush). As in perfect Hinduism, Ramachandra did not get married second time, He kept only one woman, He lived a perfect householder life, followed all rules and regulations, etc.

We read in Srimad Bhagavad-gita,

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)

Not all devotees have the same mood. There are different kinds of moods—santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, madhura-rasa (neutrality, servitude, friendship, and consorthood). In Rama-lila, we do not see so many moods, we cannot even see full vatsalya-rasa (parenthood) here. There is a little bit something, but it is manifest in a hidden way. When Ramachandra went to the forest with Sita and Laksman, Dasarath was very sad—he became sick and died. So, here, vatsalya-rasa is hidden, it is not shown openly. Moreover, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Lord are also different. There is bhagavan, svayam-bhagavan, and svayam-sampurna-bhagavan. You can easily understand it from the difference between Rama-lila and Krishna-lila.

King Dasarath had three wives—Kausalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra. Among them, Kausalya got Ramachandra as her son, and Kaikeyi son was Bharath. When Dasarath got sick, Kaikeyi gave much nourishment to Dasarath. Dasarath was very happy, so he asked Kaikeyi, "Do you want to get some boon? I will give you anything you want." There was a family maidservant, her name is Manthara. Manthara was very clever—she told Kaikeyi, "Do not ask for this boon now. Ask for it when the proper time comes." When Dasarath decided that his elder son (Ramachandra) will be his main heir and the next king, Manthara told Kaikeyi, "Now is the proper time. Ask for the boon now!" What boon did she ask for? She wanted her son (Bharath) to be the king and she wanted Ramachandra to go to the forest for fourteen years. Dasarath was very sad, but he thought, "What can I do? I have promised her that I will give her anything she asks for." That is why we say that Dasarath is righteous (maryada-purush)—he follows niti (moral code). For him, justice, and not vatsalya-rasa, is first. He could not even consider breaking his promise—he promised to give her a boon, so he had to do it. Ramachandra also could not reject His father's word. Do you understand what kind of things are going on here? I wrote about all this in Guidance 4. Dasarath did not think that his son would have to go to live in the forest for fourteen years—he is righteous and has high morals, so he has to keep his promise. Ramachandra also thought, "I will do whatever My father orders Me to do. I cannot allow it that My father breaks the moral rules. He gave his word to mother Kaikeyi, so he has to keep his word." Here, the word must be kept, but you will not see this in Krishna-lila.

In Treta-yuga, Dasarath sent his son to the forest, and in Dvapar-yuga Vasudev took his son away and hid Him. Vasudev had also promised to his wife's brother, "When a baby comes, I will give them all to you one by one." Is it correct or not? He said, "Do not kill your sister, she is a lady. It is not right to kill ladies, you are not a coward. I promise to you. Put me in jail and when a child comes in a year, I will give the child to your hand." And he did that, but when his eighth son came (when Krishna appeared), Vasudev first worshipped Him (aisvarya-rasa) because Krishna appeared in His chatur-bhuja (four-armed) form as a Narayan-murti, but after that he took his son, crossed the Yamuna and went to Yasoda's house. That is the difference between Rama-lila and Krishna-lila. I write many more things about it in Guidance 4.

So, here, Sita and Ramachandra, this is supposed to be madhura-rasa, but Ramachandra went to the forest. Kaikeyi asked Dasarath one day to send only Ramachandra away, but Sita Devi is His wife, so she also went to the forest; and Laksman loves Ramachandra so much, He also accompanied Him. That is also the difference from other lilas.

I also sometimes think that Gaura-lila is actually so much more interesting. We say, "Oh, Mother Yasoda tied Krishna!" What did she tie Him for? Why did she punish Him? Oh, because He broke some clay pots with paneer—Mother Yasoda kep something tied high up, and Krishna could not reach it, He got angry and broke the pot. That is why mother tied Him. But in Gaura-lila, how many times did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nimai, break clay pots? How many times did He disturb His mother? How may times did He make so much mischief? He threw away all Ganga-puja, He disturbed all ladies, and ladies would come and complain against Him, but His mother never told Him anything. So, I am thinking that Gaura-lila is actually more interesting, it is actually more than Krishna-lila. Mother Yasoda tied Krishna, but Sachi Mata did not say anything to Gaura. But that is another thing.

There is one other thing. When Ravan died and Lanka was won over (Lanka-vijay), when all those events happened, Sita also came back, and all the citizens of Ayodhya started talking some things about her, saying, "Oh, Ravan kidnapped Sita. Sita may be perfect or imperfect, we cannot say it for sure." To remove their doubts, Ramachandra arranged an agni-pariksa, it means He made a big fire and threw Sita in it. Sita passed that exam (she emerged from the fire unharmed). Still, everybody continued talking, talking, talking and saying that Sita may be perfect or imperfect. Then, Ramachandra sent her to the forest to Valmiki Muni's ashram. In exile, Sita Devi's golden face became ugly, etc., but she did not become crazy. But! All the Vraja-gopis, all the friends of Krishna—Sridam, Sudam, Vasudam, Balaram and others—became crazy in separation from Krishna, but Sita Devi did not become crazy. That is also the difference.

* * *

Peculiarity of Lord's Pastimes

Sri Rama-Navami day, Kolkata-Worldwide
2 April 2020, part 3

What I am writing here in Guidance, Volume Four, is that I am comparing Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda's love and affection with Vasudev. Vasudev-Krishna and Nanda-nandan Krishna are different. Vasudev Krishna comes in His four-armed form, holding a conch, disk, club, and lotus; and Nanda Maharaj's Krishna plays the flute, playing with cows, etc. There is so much difference between then, I am also writing here something about Lord Ramachandra. Some say that Krishna and Ramachandra are the same. On the one hand, they are because, as I have told you earlier, there are ten avatars of the Lord, and Lord Ramachandra is one of Them. There are many incarnations—Narayan, Ramachandra, Vamanadev, Balaram, and others, but Krishna is the full Supreme Personality of Godhead.

However, Gaura-lila is even higher—there is even more love and affection in it than in Krishna-lila. In Krishna-lila, Krishna kills so many asuras, but in Gaura-lila, Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Krishna Himself, comes as a devotee and He turns others into devotees—He makes asuras devotees. That is the difference. In this age, it is not necessary to kill anyone and send them to Goloka—the Lord gives His mercy, His love and affection to all the gundas, all the bad people, and when all the asuras get so much mercy from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates, they become devotees and His followers. Such the peculiarity of Krishna-lila and Gaura-lila.

Tomorrow is dasami, the next day is ekadasi, and the day after that is Srila Gurudev's disappearance. It is not necessary to make a very big festival—cook for Gurudev what he likes, offer the bhoga to him, give some good flower to his photograph, that is sufficient. Also, in the evening, we can talk about Gurudev and his pastimes.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

Actually, I have read Ramayan, I know Ramachandra's story, but I am telling you that which is the main point, I am telling you the gist point...

* * *

The Worst Day

Disappearance festival, Tarakeshwar, noon
16 April 2019, part 1, translated from Bengali

Today is the tirobhav maha-mahotsav (grand festival in honour of the disappearance) of my Gurudev. Every year this day falls on dvadasi, today is also dvadasi, but this time the ekadasi fasting fell on today's day because yesterday was viddha (overlapping of lunar days).

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)

"With Gurudev's mercy, a dumb person can speak, a lame person can climb a mountain." First, I am offering my full obeisance onto the lotus feet of my Gurupadpadma Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj begging him for his causeless mercy, then I am offering obeisance to all Guru-varga, to all godbrothers and sisters and the devotees and all those present here asking you all for your mercy onto this poor soul.

Today, my Gurupadpadma Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj's tenth [Indian calculation] disappearance festival, tirobhav-tithi. I had never thought that this day when Gurudev leaves would come in my life one day. I always only tried to do what Gurudev told me to do, and only he knows how much of it I have been able to do...

After Sri Gurupadpadma declared my name on 4 December 2009, he became very worried, and I understood it that time. A few days after that I went to Australia with Srila Ashram Maharaj. When I was there, Gurudev phoned me. I had some programme planned for Malaysia, and my plane to Malaysia was that day in the evening. Gurudev called me and said that if I could return quicker, in seven instead of fifteen days, it would be good because there was some problem. I called Santosh Prabhu, who was in Nabadwip at that time, managing the temple while I was away. I asked him what had happened, and he told me that after some letter had come to Gurudev, he was showing the pastime of sickness. I came back from abroad, took a car to Nabadwip directly from the airport and went straight to Gurudev. On the way, I spoke to him a few times on the phone. When I came, Gurudev was lying down, resting. I came in and quickly paid my dandavat to him from far. He was lying down at his veranda (not in the room). He called me to come closer. When I came to him, he caught my hand and said, "Read this letter." I read it. He said, "Anugatya (chaste adherence to the guru) has left this world. I want to ask you something. Will you run away?" I gave my word to Gurudev that I would never leave his mission, no matter what happens. After that, you know what problems have happened.

Then, there was Nabadwip Dham parikrama that year. There were some problems at that time also. Some days later, on 25 March, Gurudev called me early in the morning. I was in the bathroom when the phone rang (it was about 3 a.m.), and when I answered the call, Gurudev told me to come the same day. I came quickly to Kolkata from Nabadwip, and Gurudev spoke to me. At that time, I already had a bus ready to go for preaching in Midnapore starting from 27 March, everything was arranged for the programmes. I stayed in Kolkata on 25 March, but I had to go for preaching soon, so I returned to Nabadwip. In the evening, Guru Maharaj's secretary Mahananda Prabhu called me and said Gurudev wanted to speak to me, I spoke to Gurudev till late at night and went to bed (Gurudev said he was going to take rest and told me to go to bed too). Then, again at 4-5 o'clock the next morning (26 March, Ekadasi), he called me saying, "Maharaj, Gurudev is calling you." So, I again went to Kolkata and spoke with Gurudev. I spend there the whole morning sitting with Gurudev. Then, it was noon, so I took some ekadasi prasadam. I had to go for preaching the next day, but Gurudev did not tell me anything. In the afternoon, I told Gurudev I was going to go—Gurudev asked me, "Where?" I said, "To Nabadwip." "Nabadwip? I will also go there! Will you take me too?" I said, "You are not well, and the doctors are all here." Gurudev replied, "OK, then you can go, but you must come to take me there tomorrow." I could not even conceive what Gurudev meant. The night passed, I woke up in the morning, took shower and got ready to go to Midnapore by bus, then a phone call came to me saying, "You must come immediately." I understood that something had happened. Then, I took a car and came again. When I came, I saw what had happened...

There is some relation with Gurudev, there is love in this relation. When I first came to the temple, Gurudev was not there, and I always remember one thing—I have never asked Gurudev for anything. I have never wanted to become a guru or an acharya, I never wanted to be a sannyasi, I never even asked Gurudev to give me second initiation. One day, I went to the crops field for the cultivation, and when came back with my legs full of mud after the field, one servitor came to me and said, "Gurudev is calling you." I did not even get time to wash my feet—I went to Gurudev, and Gurudev told me, "Why are your legs so dirty? Do you not know that today is your second initiation?" I did not know anything. What was I to do? I sat there with my legs full of mud. And you all know how I took sannyas in 1999. This Gurudev has left my life... He extremely dear to me, he is the dearest personality in my life, my closest, my 'most own' person—and I lost him on this day...

Anyhow, I took the transcendental body of Gurudev to Nabadwip in an ambulance. I gave the news to some people from TV and radio, all devotees came, all sannyasis and brahmacharis came from Mayapur also. My favourite mango tree where Gurudev's samadhi is now also left its body on that day, it dried out—we took the tree out, dug out the grave and placed Gurudev's body there. They told me that I had come down into the samadhi of Gurudev and forced me to do it. I had to place the tilaks on the body of Gurudev. I was scared to do it, but I was unconscious, I had no sense—I just did what I was told to do.

In this way, all of a sudden Gurudev left this world, and it produces a burning agony of separation... I always want to forget this day, but I know that my godbrothers will come for this festival, devotees will come, and if I do not arrange for their prasadam, if I do not arrange a festival, they will be upset and say, "Oh, Maharaj does not make a festival for Gurudev!" I want to forget this day by seeing you all, by engaging myself in Hari-kirtan with you all. I always want to forget this day because this is my worst day.

Still, Gurudev is always with me, he always helps me, I always feel it. Out of worry for the Math, I became sick and got into hospital. The doctors, and I also, thought that I would leave my body, but Gurudev's desire was that by his mercy I got life again. I thought that there was still something Gurudev wanted to do through me...

Whatever came to me—whether Gurudev chastised me, whether he beat me, I took everything as a blessing. One day, I remember I was collecting potato in Tarakeshwar area, and Gurudev sent me news that I had to come to Kolkata. I went there straight from Tarakeshwar. At that time, Nabadwip Dham parikrama had not happened yet, and Gurudev asked me, "Do you have money?" I said, "Not necessary! I am collecting for Nabadwip Dham parikrama, what would I need money for?" I did not know that Gurudev was thinking about future, I could not understand it. When I told Gurudev, "No, not necessary," he kicked with his leg. Later, I understood why he did it. I remember every word Gurudev told me, every his instruction. I can understand now how much Gurudev loved me. He would often become grave with me, sometimes he would say, "Get out!", sometimes "Go away!"—I have heard it many times, but I never left him. Gurudev saw this quality in me—he saw that that no matter what he said to me, no matter what he did, I never left him. I never behaved like a prostitute with him—today I take shelter in one person, and tomorrow I will go to another person, like a prostitute who goes to other people when she is not satisfied with somebody. I never did this.

* * *

Unthinkable Situation

Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj's tirobhav-tithi
Kolkata-Worldwide, 5 April 2020, part 1

Today is our Gurudev's disappearance tithi. Actually, never in my life did I expect that this day could come—I never hoped this day would come in my life. In Gurudev's time, I never thought that he could leave our sight, that he could leave his body. Such thoughts had never came to my mind before this day happened. This day is very painful for me, and when this tithi is coming, I always try to stay alone, but Gurudev gave me some service, then how can I reject that service? He gave me this service of taking care of you all, all the devotees all over the world, in this country and other countries also, then how can I be cruel and stay alone? How can I go to the forest or Vrindavan or anywhere else and stay alone? When this moment comes to me, I feel very sad, but when I think that Gurudev has given me this service, then I think that no matter what I must do this service in any situation.

I promised this to my Guru when I came back from Australia. At that time, this situation was starting slowly, slowly, and Gurudev was very sad about it, he felt much pain in his heart because of it. When I came back, Gurudev caught hold of my hand and asked me, "Will you not run away? So many problems will come after me, but if you run away, then who will take care of this mission? Who will take care of these devotees?" At that time I promised my Gurudev, "Gurudev, any position, any problem, any situation can come, but I will not run away from it." You all know what a difficult situation has come since then and is still continuing. This situation is intolerable.

Also, Gurudev believed some of his friends, and when he is in hospital, he told all his friends what he wanted, and I think they all know everybody about this situation—they all know what Gurudev wanted to say, what Gurudev told. After Gurudev's demise, after Gurudev disappeared, almost all of them forgot about it because they think, "Gurudev disappeared now, so if I do not follow his instruction, who will see that?" But I know my Guru—I have this kind of faith that he can see everything. After Gurudev's demise, everybody's svarup—all external and all internal things—come out and so many of them have become gurus. I do not have any problem with that, but the only problem that gives me pain is that those whom Gurudev believed have betrayed Gurudev. They are preaching everywhere about Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj, saying, "I am dear to him," "I am near to him," "I am very close to him," "I am his dearmost person," etc. They tell so many things, but I do not preach everywhere saying, "I am his dearmost disciple." I have never wanted to be a guru, and I still do think that I am a guru—I do not even think that I am his proper disciple yet.

It was ekadasi yesterday. I remember the day before Gurudev left, on that ekadasi afternoon, he called me. I could not understand it that time. He kicked me saying, "Can you still not understand?!" I could not understand what he wanted to show me—I could not understand that he would leave the next day early in the morning. I did not know it. When I came that afternoon, Gurudev was lying down and I was near him. Suddenly he kicked his feet because I had told him that I was leaving—I was going back to Nabadwip. He did not want me to go, but I could not understand it. Then, he said, "OK, go, but you will come tomorrow to take me to Nabadwip." Even then I did not understand it.

All my life, I have only been trying to follow his instruction, and I did not think about anything else. There were so many technical things that had to be done (his will had to be registered, etc.), but I did not do anything because I did not think about Gurudev's wealth, property, temple, etc. When he suddenly declared my name in the nat-mandir on 4 December 2009, I was surprised. There were three and a half months from December to 27 March, it was a long time, but I did not do what had to be done legally. I was doing what Gurudev told me to do. I went for preaching, I was busy with many things. One day, Gurudev said to me, "You are taking care of the buildings, of the temple, of everything else but you have not taken care about me!" I asked Gurudev what he meant. He said, "After I declared your name, they have started showing their desires and their mood which are very different from what they were before." I was astonished to hear it. Gurudev told me everything when I came back from Australia. He said, "From the time I gave you sannyas, they have wanted to kill you and from that time they have been slowly, slowly sharpening their knife to kill you, but you cannot see it!" This is how Gurudev put it. It was the truth—I did not see it. I was busy with my service and I did not see what anyone was doing hidingly inside. I do not know any politics, and I do not want to enter politics, so I did not know anything. Now I am beginning to understand what Gurudev was saying...

* * *

"Gurudev Is My Everything"

Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj's tirobhav-tithi
Kolkata-Worldwide, 5 April 2020, part 2

I did and am still trying to do what Gurudev wanted. Gurudev is my everything. I have never seen the Lord, I do not know anything, but Gurudev affectionately guides me. Sometimes he would tell me, "Get out!"—he rejected me; but I think that this too was mercy, and I always came back ten minutes later. Gurudev examined and tested me so much...

One time, Gurudev went to Bamunpara and took me with him. It was not any festival or anything, he just wanted to go there and he told me, "I will take you to Bamunpara." That time, Gurudev showed me something related to Gauranga Mahaprabhu's pastimes—he showed me some places and told me about some pastimes of Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Radha-Krishna. He told me some very highest things. Another time also, he went with me to Puri—he told me something about Mahaprabhu's conception in Gambhira, he told me that time, "Tapta kanchana Gaurangi became Gauranga (Srimati Radharani, whose complexion is like that of molten gold, became Gauranga, the Golden Lord)." Actually, he trained me in everything—before, I did not know anything about construction, I did not know anything about field cultivation, etc., but by his mercy I learned so many things from him. When Gurudev existed in front of us, I could not understand many things properly, but when he went away some distance from me, then slowly, slowly I can understand what he needs, I can understand his advice, his order, etc. Slowly, slowly I am realising it now.

Without a proper guru, Krishna consciousness life is nothing. Without proper guidance of a proper guru, it is very difficult to live Krishna conscious life. Gurudev is not an ordinary person—he is a guru of paramour love, a guru of paramour love of Krishna also; he is non-different from Srimati Radharani. If we realise this, then we can easily understand our Gurudev...

I have always only tried to fulfil his desire, and I am still trying to do it. Once, Yudhisthir Maharaj wanted to make an asvamedha yajna for Krishna's happiness, so that Krishna's name and fame may spread everywhere. I also preach about my Gurudev's perfections, about his tolerance, about his chastity to his own guru, Param Gurudev Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Gurudev taught me how one can make their Guru happy through service, and it can be some simple things also—you can bring your Guru happiness through simple things, it is not necessary to become a big guru, to take a big position, it is not necessary to make many buildings and constructions. He taught me that you can please your Guru through small service...

When Gurudev sat alone, he would always think about Krishna, about Srimati Radharani, about his Guru, Guru-varga. He always preached to be humble, tolerant and give honour to others—he never preached for his own pratistha, he always tried to established Param Gurudev's position, he always showed us how much eternal power Srila Sridhar Maharaj had got from Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur...

This day comes every year, what can I do? It will come every year... I remember that year I made the calendar, but somehow it happened that the date '27 March 2010' was missing from it. When I saw it, I was surprised because I had proof read it thoroughly, checked everything, etc., and I could not understand how that date could be missing. 27 March 2010 was the day when Gurudev passed away from here... He has left us forever bodily, but I feel he always helps me, he always encourages me, always gives enthusiasm to me. From time to time, I dream about him—he gives me enthusiasm, speaks some lecture, talks with me. Just a few days ago also I spoke to Gurudev—I dreamed that he was in Thailand and I came there directly from Singapore; he called me when he was alone and I talked to him. I always remember him, remember what he told me...

Now everybody gives a flower to Gurudev's photo and thinks that this is sufficient. As external worship, it is sufficient, and I also gave some flowers to his picture today. But service must come from your heart. Serve to Gurudev from your heart. This is what is necessary. Externally, you can give some flowers, you can do so many things, but what is necessary? Is it necessary to give some flowers to Gurudev or is it necessary to follow Gurudev's instruction?

We must not misinterpret what Gurudev told (take the meaning of his words to another way). Many devotees all over the world are doing this, that is why they become misguided by some of our friends. This is what is happening in the world. Still, I consider they are my friends. If I say or do something wrong, they can chastise me, I do not have any problem with that—they can tell me off, they can scold me, no problem. That is my position. At present, I cannot beat anyone with my stick, I cannot kill anybody, I cannot beat anybody—if they are dancing on my head, it is OK, no problem, I will take their foot dust on my head. I have learned from Gurudev to have tolerance, patience—Gurudev has given me the power to tolerate everything.

This day is very painful for me, it is very hard for me to digest this day. This fighting actually started in Gurudev's time—Gurudev saw some of it and he could realise it also. Gurudev told them not to fight, not to destroy the mission, but you see what they are doing—they want to destroy our mission, they want to divide our mission. Moreover, they are mixing with those whom Srila Sridhar Maharaj rejected! Those people left in Gurudev's time, some thirty or twenty-five years ago, and now all these groups are coming together and saying, "We are disciples of Sridhar Maharaj!" What did Srila Sridhar Maharaj say? Srila Sridhar Maharaj said, "I reject and drag out those who do not follow my instruction—who do not follow Srila Govinda Maharaj." Gurudev also told in his will and when he spoke in the hospital also, "This is my wish, this is my desire, and those who do not follow it, must go out of Chaitanya Saraswat Math. If they want to be gurus, they can be gurus, but out of Chaitanya Saraswat Math. They cannot use Chaitanya Saraswat Math's name." This is what Gurudev told. You all know it. So, they can be gurus, but out of Chaitanya Saraswat Math—they have no relation with Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Anyhow, Gurudev can see everything, he can see what is going on. I think that the time is very near—they and devotees all over the world can realise easily what is Srila Sridhar Maharaj's conception, what is Gurudev's conception, and they can understand whether they are following it or not.

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Krishna-anusilana Sangha, or our Mission must be only for practising Krishna consciousness to please our Guru, to please the Lord, to please Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. You must do everything for their pleasure, for their happiness. You need to have a boundary wall for protection, and you can make it, but this boundary wall is not your main point—the main focus is to practise properly. Your main focus must be always to please your Guru properly. Name and fame is for your guru—you must not preach for your name and fame, you must preach to please your guru. This is the main thing.

Also, I am praying to all the devotees all over the world—you must follow the government rules. I think almost all countries are in lockdown now. You must follow the lockdown rules because this dangerous virus is now all over the world. I have not got any news so far that any of our devotees are affected by it, so everybody is OK, we are also OK here, but we should be more careful. Always be careful. The government here has declared today that they are going to search some places and test everybody in the areas where coronavirus is spreading—if your test comes back negative, you will be quarantined for ten days, and if your test comes back positive, then it will be even stricter, then treatment is necessary. So, we must be careful. If you have to go to the market, wear a mask, keep social distance, and when you come back home, clean your hands. Always keep your hands clean—use hand sanitiser from time to time, wear a mask, wear gloves. It is necessary to do this. We must take proper care. This is my request to everybody all over the world. If you have to go out, go and come back quickly to your house and clean your hands. Take proper care of yourself. This virus can attack quickly and it spreads very quickly.

Wherever we are, we pray to the Lord, we pray to our Gurudev: I am your fallen soul, please give me some strength so that I can tolerate everything, give me much patience, give me power to tolerate everything, so that I can serve your devotees, so that I can protect your mission. I am praying to all the devotees: I am not anybody's guru, you are all my gurus—please keep me under your lotus feet.

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

* * *

"Try Your Best"

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 March 2020, part 6

Question: How can we get enthusiasm to serve Gaura Nitai in our country/city?

Is your country now is quarantine? Is there lockdown? Are all shops closed?

Devotee: Some shops are closed, but we are living in the temple now.

Live there, it is good. Continue the service properly, harmonise with the situation.

Question: We practise and believe we practise properly, but when some test comes, we suddenly lose everything and cannot do it properly anymore. Why does this happen?

Because sometimes we do some wrong things. We chant and chant, but we are not getting the result? Suppose you pour water into a pot or glass—you put water again and again, again and again, but still the glass is not full. Why? Because there is a hole at the bottom. We do something and at the same time we also do something wrong, we do what is unfavourable to devotional practice. We gossip, we talk nonsense, we are lazy, we make offences, we do many nonsense things, and that is not good for us—that is why we do not get the proper benefit through chanting and through service. Once there appears some gap in your service, maya comes and attacks you immediately.

Question: Is there any difference between being a good disciple and being a fanatic of Sri Guru?

What does fanatic mean? It is necessary to have chastity. I cannot understand what you mean by 'fanatic', but chastity must be there.

We must try to rectify ourselves. We are everybody's servants. When you take initiation, you do not become a devotee—you only get admission into a spiritual school, but after that you must practise. You will become perfect through practise. Actually, devotees never think they are perfect—they always think that they are imperfect. So, we will try our best according to our level. That is our situation. Everybody is a servitor. When I take initiation, I become everybody's servitor. Do you think when you take sannyas you become everybody's master? No. When we take sannyas, we become even more dedicated servitors of devotees. That is our situation.

* * *

Proper Service Is Chaste Service

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 March 2020, part 7

Question: What kind of sentiment satisfies Gurudev?

Actually, there are different kinds of guru in this world. Also, there are many servitors—Lalita, Visakha, Champakatlata, and many others—everybody serves in a different way. Everybody's quality is not the same. There is santa-, dasya-, sakhya-, vatsalya-, madhura-rasa—everybody should serve and please their guru according to their right. Do you understand?

If Gurudev gives someone the service of cleaning plates, the disciple should follow that instruction, then he or she can make their guru happy in this way. Suppose Gurudev has given me the service of making garlands—then I must follow his order, "OK, Gurudev has given me this service. I may not know how to make a garland, but I can try to make it." Then I can please my guru through this garland making. So, you must be satisfied with whatever service Gurudev gives you, then Gurudev will be happy.

Lalita, Visakha, other sakhis gives happiness to Krishna in so many ways. Somebody serves Srimati Radharani, and Krishna becomes happy through that. They make Krishna happy in one way, and Nrisinghadev is happy with Prahlad Maharaj, so Prahlad Maharaj makes the Lord happy in another way. Krishna is happy with Dhruva Maharaj, that is also another way. Krishna is happy with Ambharish Maharaj, that is also another way. So, there are different ways to satisfy the Lord or satisfy your guru. There is not only one source. Whatever service Gurudev gives me, I must do it attentively, with faith, and without thinking about other things.

Question: How can I know that my service is going to Sri Guru?

That feeling will come. That feeling that your service is going to your guru will definitely come. That feeling will come.

Question: When we preach, should we preach about Krishna consciousness or about our own realisation?

No! You must preach what you have learned from your guru! Always preach about your guru. You must preach what Gurudev told!

* * *

Be Careful and Wise

Kolkata-Worldwide, 28 March 2020, part 8

Are you fighting against coronavirus or are you fighting against maya? It is necessary to fight against maya, do you understand it?

I have heard that the UK prime-minister is attacked by the coronavirus—that happened because of his ego. He had told many things before that, and not only he—the health secretary is also attacked, the prince is also attacked. This is so much, but anyhow this was necessary. Yamaraj has sent these things because the whole world keeps thinking about scientists, scientists, scientists. Italy has so much ego thinking they can even make a human being. They think too much, and now so many human beings are dying. Only human beings are dying of this virus, no animals die of it. That is the reaction—all over the world people eat animal and now Krishna is giving them punishment through Yamaraj.

Wherever we are, even when we are in home quarantine like now, our duty is to chant the Holy Name and preach Krishna consciousness all over the world. We now have got time to read books, and to write books also. It was a very busy time before Gaura Purnima for me, I did not get proper time—I was busy all day and night. And now Krishna is giving some arrangement, "OK, you are in home quarantine for twenty-one days, so you can write something in these twenty-one days." I have got this time now.

Anyhow, this is my message for the devotees all over the world. I am getting the news that all devotees are OK, and everyone should be careful. Do not worry—Krishna will arrange everything. It is not necessary to think about anything. None of us knows what His arrangement is, but whatever arrangement it is, I can say that it will be good for devotees. This arrangement is good for devotees.

Krishna is always with His devotees. His devotees do not know anything except Krishna, and Krishna Himself also told, "I do not know anything or anyone except My devotees. I always think about their wellbeing, I am always their well-wisher." When Krishna always thinks about His devotees, we have nothing to worry about. Whether we are in hell, heaven or in the liberated position, we will always think about the Lord, chant His Holy Name and carry on our life. Some are always thinking now how money will come, how to pay the bills, etc., but Krishna will give money, do not worry.

* * *

Charity Begins at Home: Practise Yourself First

Morning class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 1, translated from Bengali

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, listeners, and all of you praying for your mercy to this low soul.

Today is a very good day for us because today is the adhivas maha-mahotsav of our Sri Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama (grand festival in honour of the circumambulation of Sri Nabadwip Dham). We are present here by the side of Bhagavan Sri Nrisinghadev and we hope that by the mercy of Sri Nrisinghadev, by the mercy of Sri Sri Nitai Gaura, by the mercy of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundar we may nicely start this parikrama from tomorrow, with eagerness, with heart and soul.

We have now got some opportunity to speak and to hear topics related to the Supreme Lord. I have told you before that we actually speak Hari-katha for our own selves—so that we ourselves can listen to it. It does not matter much whether others listen to it or not; the important thing is that we ourselves hear it—that we purify our own mind, heart, and soul.

When we worship Deities, we always check if the lamp, the chamar, the garland, etc. is clean or not, but we must ask ourselves, "Is my mind clean or not?" Always remember this. We have printed a small book called "Archan-kan" and there you will find a sloka called "nija-dhyan" (meditation on the self) it is also called "buddhi-suddhi" (self-purification). Before starting worshipping the Deities we must say, "My Lord! O Gurudev! O Guru Gauranga! May my mind, heart, and soul remain at Your feet!" This prayer must always stay in our hearts.

Anyhow, there is much that can be said and that also must be said. First of all, we must make ourselves clean, we must see how much we can practise Krishna consciousness ourselves. We say with our mouth, "Na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye. I do not want wealth, I do not want knowledge, I do not want beauty, I do not want to be a poet."

dhana jana ara, kavita-sundari,
baliba na chahi deha-sukha-kari
janme janme dao, ohe gaurahari!
ahaituki bhakti charane tomara

"When will I declare that I do not desire wealth, followers, erudition, beautiful women, or any other bodily pleasure? O Gaurahari! Birth after birth, please give me unconditional devotion to Your feet."

(Saranagati)

We say all this with our mouth, but the main thing is to what extent can we actually manifest it in ourselves, to what extent can we apply this for ourselves? It is easy to say these things, but it is very difficult to practise these things in our life. You can say anything, but it is very difficult to apply, to experience these things in your own self. That is the main thing. We often say so many things, "Do this," "Do not do this," but how much can we follow it ourselves? To what extent do we practise it ourselves?

I have told you this before—you take initiation and think that you have got everything, but this is not so. When you take initiation, you only become enrolled into this school. When students are enrolled into a school, they must study and take an exam—when the exam's result comes, then you can see if they have studied for ten years or not and what they have learned. We are also like this. You have come here to practise Krishna consciousness, you have taken initiation, but this is only enrolment—some think they take initiation and that is sufficient, that they have got everything there is to get from Gurudev. They do not come for the parikrama, they do not come for festivals, neither do they keep any connection. They say, "I have got initiation, I have become great." This is not so. After you take initiation, you must practise, this is what we must always remember. You cannot become perfect without practice. Practice makes perfect. It is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness. That is why our Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj named our society "Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Krishna-anusilana Sangha." This is a place of "Bhakti-siddhanta-sravan-sadhan"—a place where you should speak about devotion, listen about devotion, and practise devotion. We must always remember it, think about it and meditate on it.

* * *

Kirtan-Seva

Morning class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 2, translated from Bengali

We are here to talk about practising life—how to practise properly. It is necessary to wake up early, to come for the mangal-arati, to chant kirtans in the morning. Bhagavan Gaura Hari is always satisfied through kirtan-seva. The more kirtan you can do, the more the Lord is satisfied.

Kirtan is not only singing with kartals and a mridanga. Hari-katha (hearing and speaking about the Lord and His devotees) is also kirtan. Chanting the Holy Name with a mridanga, kartals is called sankirtan.

You must always remember how we must practise Krishna consciousness properly. I have written a book, Guidance 4. If you read this book, you can understand what is necessary for our practising life. Read this Guidance 4 properly. Guidance 3 is also a very nice book. I wrote many things about guru-tattva in Guidance 4, about the glorification of Gurudev. It is coming tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. It is a very nice book.

Today also Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala is coming. I do not know if any of you have read Sri Puri Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala, but if somebody has read it, it is good. You will see that when you read this book, you will think, "I am in Puri." Sripad Tyagi Maharaj has made a very nice book called Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya—it is a very big book, both in English and Bengali together, written in compliance with Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. And here, devotees recorded what I and other Maharajs say during Nabadwip Dham parikrama and presented it in this book very nicely. You can read it. I have proof read this book, made some correction. If you read this Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala, you will feel, "I do Nabadwip Dham parikrama every day." And it is actually necessary to do it also—it is not possible to do this parikrama every day physically, but if you read this book every day, you will think that you do this Nabadwip Dham parikrama every day. If you read about Godrumdwip, you will feel, "I am doing the parikrama of Godrumdwip." I wrote there very nicely about Godrumdwip, about the glorification of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, included some articles by Srila Prabhupad, it is written there about Harihar and so many other places. This book is written very nicely—if you read you, will understand yourself that you are doing Nabadwip Dham parikrama every day. You can read about one island each day. Everything is written there in detail—what devotional practice is in which island, etc. For example, Godrumdwip is a place of kirtan. So, this book is coming today.

You all know that I always have to go to so many places for preaching. When I can go abroad, I will also have to go to many places. Anyhow, late in the evening, after the programmes, when I got time, I stayed up and wrote or did proof reading.

Besides that, many struggle to make or cannot make even one room for one person, but this year we have completed construction in nine places. Still some construction works are left—here in Nrisingha Palli (some construction is still pending here nearby) and in Mayapur. The temple in Bangladesh is now on the way to completion. Some works are also left in Uluberia, it is going to finish soon. Not much is left to do now.

Actually, I do not need your money, what I need is your mercy. Gurudev has left this poor thing here, and he tirelessly carries on doing his Guru's service despite all difficulties. You have take shelter of Gurudev, and this is all I want from you: "Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, chittete kariya aikya; make the teachings from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart." If you can keep what Gurudev said within you, then it will bring you supreme benefit. Satisfying any whims of our minds is not Krishna consciousness—it is only necessary to follow what Gurudev says.

* * *

Stay Within Service Line

Morning class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 3, translated from Bengali

Satisfying the whims of your mind is not bhajan. As you know, many of us say we have taken initiation, but actually we only pretend to have taken initiation, as a result of which we become guru-tyagi (we leave our guru) or guru-bhogi (we use our guru for our own enjoyment)—we are not able to become guru-sevi (servants of our guru). Many think that if they follow their guru, they will get the right for his property, but Gurudev's property is not his temple, building, or money—Gurudev's property, wealth is his mercy, his divine love, his affection, his heart. This the wealth one can get.

matha mandira dalana badira na kara prayasa
artha thake kara bhai yemana abhilasa
artha nai tabe matra sattvika seva kara
jala-tulasi diya giridharike vakse dhara

"Do not endeavour to make monasteries, temples, or big houses, but if you have wealth, brother, then you can make them, as you desire. If you do not have wealth, then simply perform pure worship. Offer water and Tulasi to Giridhari and hold Him to your chest."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 9.29-30)

We do not need any great houses, temples, etc.—if you have money, you can build it, but if you have no money, then satisfy Lord Govinda with water and Tulasi leaves, by keeping Him in your heart. Always remember this.

When you all come, it is necessary to arrange some accommodation for you, that is why I must do something—it is necessary to build big buildings otherwise devotees stay in a pandal and struggle so much. The place here is small, but every year we are slowly making the arrangement, and I am slowly buying the land here. The fact that you all come every year gives me much inspiration. This is your love. Devotees comes from all over the world out of love. Yesterday devotees also called me late in the evening asking, "Can we meet with you? We know you are always so busy." I told them they could come, I did not mind it. They came and spoke to me until eleven at night. I know they have come from so far, then how can I not see them?

You can meet with me any time, do not hesitate. You are all my friends, you are all members of my family. Always remember that you are all members of this Chaitanya Saraswat family. Some devotees live in Midnapore, some in Hooghly, some in Siliguri, this is not a question—you are all members of this family, and the most important thing is that you must stay in this family. If you come outside this family, if you leave this family, you will be in danger—you can be removed from the service of the Lord. If you become members of maya's family, then you are in danger. Our guru-varga take so much trouble to drag you out of that family of maya and engage you in the service of the Guru and Vaishnavs—you can understand what a great fortune this is. Gurudev has taken you out of maya's family and made you all members of Krishna's family. This is your great fortune.

Leave karma-misra bhakti and jnana-misra bhakti (devotion motivated by pursuits of material benefit or knowledge). You have heard that Mahaprabhu said about it, "All this is external, go further." Rejecting karma-misra bhakti, jnana-misra bhakti, He accepted jnana-sunya suddha-bhakti (pure devotion devoid of knowledge-seeking), and the highest conception is prema-bhakti (pure loving devotion). We must always remember this. Always remember jnana-sunya suddha-bhakti—"I do not know anything, I do not understand anything, I do not know any mantras, nothing. O Lord! I am only trying to serve You—and it is Your matter whether You will accept this service or not." You must always keep this prayer in your heart.

Do not think about practising alone, in seclusion—I told you yesterday, we pray, "O Lord, give me more trouble, give me more suffering." When you practise Krishna consciousness, some problem can come, some danger will come, and many immediately think, "I am going to leave Krishna consciousness." But no, you must tell the Lord, "Give me more suffering!" Vraja gopis left everything, all social rules, all shame, fear, etc. and come to Govinda. Even when Laksmi Devi heard about the beauty of Krishna, her heart became attracted to Him—even Laksmi Devi left everything and ran behind Him. You have heard also that when cowherd boys were grazing cows on the other bank of the Yamuna, all the young wives of Vraja ran behind them to hear about Krishna. We must always remember and keep these things in our hearts.

Srila Rupa Goswami describes Krishna's beauty in this beautiful sloka,

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

"Krishna's body is very sweet, His face is even sweeter, and His sweet smile is sweeter still. Lo, everything about Him is very, very sweet."

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

But we have become attracted to material things (visaya), to lust (kama) and women/men (kamini) and live in this material world—we keep coming back to this world, keep rotating in this cycle, keep struggling to keep afloat in this material ocean. What is the solution for us? If we cannot practise Krishna consciousness in this very birth, then this life will have passed in vain. What is the purpose of getting this human birth? If we can serve our Guru, then our life has some meaning.

* * *

"Give Me Your Mercy"

Morning class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 4, translated from Bengali

I pray at your holy feet—you must anyhow, by hook or by crook, practise always, eternally. Practice should be eternal. I have made such a beautiful arrangement for you all—Sripad Tyagi Maharaj has printed this small twenty-rupee Kirtan Guide for those who do not have money. You work and can afford buying tea at the tea stall, but can you not afford buying a book for twenty rupees? Can you not sing kirtans in the morning every day? All kirtans are written in this small book—all the kirtans we sang this morning, Samsara-davanala, Sri Krishna Chaitanya jive daya kari, etc.

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari [1]

Being merciful to the souls, Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode.

atyanta durlabha prema karibare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana [2]

To distribute the most rare form of divine love, He teaches surrender, which is the life of the devotees.

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana [3]

Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord's guardianship, maintaining the faith that ‘Krsna will certainly protect me'...

bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara [4]

Engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion...

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara [5]

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

This is a very beautiful kirtan written by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

When I was preaching in one of the villages recently, I was asked, "If Gauranga Mahaprabhu is Radha Krishna's combined form, then how can Radharani become Gadadhar Pandit?" This is so, Krishna has indeed taken the heart and halo of Srimati Radharani and became Gauranga, but if you take away a person's heart and halo, is there nothing left? There is. Krishna took Radha's heart and halo, and that which remained from Her became Gadadhar. That Gadadhar's guru is Pundarik Vidyanidhi. Pundarik Vidyanidhi's appearance day is on vasanta-panchami (Saraswati-puja day). I was describing his glories on that day and somebody asked me this question.

Speaking of Sarawati puja, you know that there are two Saraswatis—one is Vidya Saraswati, and another is Suddha Saraswati. There is para-vidya (pure transcendental knowledge) and apara-vidya (mundane knowledge). When people worship Vidya Saraswati, they say

om sarasvati mahabhage vidye kamalalochane
visvarupe visalaksi vidyam dehi namostute

"O great Goddess Saraswati, the personified knowledge possessing large lotus eyes! I offer obeisance to you, please give me knowledge."

However, those who pray to Suddha Saraswati, pray for devotion to Lord Krishna—not for enjoyment. We always want to stay in the line of devotion.

I told an example yesterday in the class. One time, a foreign devotee, who lives in Thailand now, was leaving India. He came to Gurudev saying, "Please give me your mercy." Gurudev said, "OK, may Lord bless you." The next day, that devotees was leaving, so he came to Gurudev again and said, "Please give me your mercy." Gurudev said, "I gave you mercy yesterday, has it already finished so quickly?" These are extremely profound, mystic words, it is necessary to understand what Gurudev said.

We learn these words, "Gurudev, please give your mercy," and keep repeating it. Devotees call and say, "Gurudev, please give me your mercy." You are not doing the service that Gurudev has given you, but you only keep repeating all the time, "Gurudev, please give me your mercy." What does mercy mean? Gurudev said, "If you have service, you have mercy. If you have no service, you have no mercy." So, when Gurudev gives you service, that is his mercy, but instead, when Gurudev gives you service, you forget about it. Have I not told you? I keep telling you to engage yourself in Hari-kirtan, Krishna-kirtan (in chanting the Holy Name, in hearing and singing the glories of the Lord). I have given you all this service—when you go back to your home, serve the Lord, wake up for the mangal-arati, chant kirtans, speak Hari-katha. I have given you this service. When you call me, you keep telling me, "Gurudev, please give me your mercy!" but you think that it is not necessary to do what I have told you to do. I have told you to do Krishna-kirtan, but you think that it is not necessary. I have told you to wake up early in the morning, chant five kirtans in the morning (it takes only ten-fifteen minutes), five kirtans in the evening, but after that you say, "Gurudev, give me some mercy." What is this? It is just repeating words that you have learnt. People offer some flowers or a garland to Gurudev's photograph and think that this is guru-puja (worship of their Guru), or guru-seva (service to their Guru). They do not understand what guru-seva is (service to their Guru). You must do what Gurudev has told you to do. You think you will buy a photo of Gurudev, take it home, offer some flowers to it or place a Tulasi leaf on his chest, and that is your service to Gurudev. I know what I am saying is heavy and you may not like it. I am not saying that it is bad to offer flowers to Gurudev, etc.—it is not bad, but there is much more to it. When Gurudev gives you some service, you must do it. If you can live in a temple, it is good because you can hear kirtans, class, etc. every day, but if you go back to your house, then you must do all these things at your home.

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)

Gaura Hari likes to hear His kirtan. Why? You know, many people say, "No, no, do not glorify me!" When somebody says this, it actually means the opposite, "Glorify me some more!" But here, the Lord Himself says that He wants to hear His glorification. Does He not say, "I do not live in the hearts of yogis, I do not live in Vaikuntha. Where do I live? I live where My devotees speak about Me and glorify Me."

naham tisthami vaikunthe yoginam hrdayesu va
tatra tisthami narada yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah

"My dear Narada, actually I do not reside in My abode, Vaikuntha, nor do I reside within the hearts of the yogis, but I reside in that place where My pure devotees chant My holy name and discuss My form, pastimes and qualities."

(Padma Purana)

Always remember this. You have received something from your Gurudev, and you must practise it. Do not just keep repeating, "Gurudev, give me some mercy," "Give me some mercy." Gurudev has already given you service, you must do it properly. You must always remember this, then you will understand yourself how much you are practising...

* * *

Soul-Searching and Hole-Searching

Morning class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 5, translated from Bengali

You can examine yourself and check it yourself—you are practising Krishna consciousness, you are chanting kirtans, you are giving lectures, chanting many rounds of the Holy Name, paying many obeisances, etc., but are you getting the result? We sing in one of the kirtans, "Prasada-seva karite haya, sakala prapancha-jaya—"by honouring the Lord's prasad I conquer all worldly illusions." (Saranagati, 31.5) But are our worldly illusions, the five material diseases, going away? [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)]. Why are they not going away? This is our fault. We say that if you take prasadam, you can get this result, but we are not getting anything, because if you keep putting water into a glass that has a hole, it will never fill with water—all the water will come out. In the same way, we practise Krishna consciousness, but at the same time we also have holes and all the result of our practising life comes out from those 'holes.'

There are two things, dos-aropa and dos-kirtan. Dos-aropa (ascription of fault) means a person has no fault, but somebody else tells me that person is bad and I start to always think about it, my head becomes submerged into this thought, and until and unless I tell somebody about it, I cannot be at peace. Then, you come to another person to tell about it, and it becomes dos-kirtan ('you chant about somebody's fault'). You have not even seen that the person had done wrong, you had only heard about it, but you come to tell somebody else about it—this is called dos-kirtan. This is Vaishnav-ninda, sadhu-ninda, and this is the first offence against the Holy Name—criticism, or offence, of Vaishnavs and sadhus. On the other hand, those who criticise Vaishnavs are offenders, but those who listen to any offences of Vaishnavs are even bigger offenders. These are the holes in practising life—Nama-aparadh, dhama-aparadh, seva-aparadh, Vaishnav-aparadh. All good result of practising Krishna consciousness comes out through those holes. Always remember this and keep this in your heart.

* * *

Service Hardships

Morning class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 6, translated from Bengali

If you have any questions, doubts, any problems, you can tell me—by the mercy of Gurudev I will try to face the problem, to solve it. I always tell you that whenever I try to do some service to the Lord, so many problems and obstacles come, but I am getting much happiness through that. If some obstacles or danger come when you are doing service to the Lord, this is the Lord's mercy. When you have to tolerate austerity in your service, you learn to be tolerant. That is what Srila Prabhupad also said about 'brihat mridanga' (lit. great mridanga; here 'printing press'). When you chant kirtans, not so many people can hear it, but when you preach the Lord's message through scriptures (serve 'brihat mridanga'), you can even take a loan for that. Why? Because then people will come to you asking, "Give me my money back," "Give me my money back," and to pay that debt you will have to go door to door preaching even more. At that time, somebody will grab you by the nape of your neck and throw you away, but this is how your power of tolerance will increase day by day. That is why Srila Prabhupad said that for preaching the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, you can even take a loan.

Sometimes, when you go for preaching, instead of giving you some donation people will hit you, people will swear you. Sometimes somebody goes for preaching and after that comes back and tells me, "Oh, I went to that man, and he told me this and that." I say, "This is good—this is your mercy because you went there for your Guru and Govinda." There are also many lady devotees who go for collection in the Hooghly district. It is not easy, I know it. I have heard that many people say, "Oh, they come begging, but they use the money they collect to run their own household!" I know this. So many people have told me such things in Midnapore. Do you know what they told me once? One time, I went there with some foreign devotees, and somebody told me, "Oh, these foreigners always need money—they go collecting money, and then they will divide it among themselves." If people say such thing, let them say it. I do not take these words close to heart. If somebody listens to what we have to say, they will get sukriti. If somebody gives something, we use it for the service of Govinda and they get sukriti. I have told you before also—one time, when I came to Midnapore for collection, somebody told me, "Sorry, I cannot help you!" but I told them, "I have not come to take your help. I have come to help you." In the end, the wife of the man who had said it took initiation, then her husband, daughters, sons-in-law, their whole family took initiation from Gurudev.

You all have come here because you know that you have taken initiation from a guru. If you think that you have taken initiation from a temple, then you should go to the main temple (jal-mandir). Those who have taken initiation from a guru, should stay with the guru. What is more important, the guru or his photo? You offer water to Gurudev, you offer a Tulasi leaf, flowers, etc. but you do not listen to what Gurudev tells you—is that devotion? When Govinda came to Mahaprabhu saying, "Prabhu, I will serve you." Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, "One must give honour to the Guru's servant—how can I engage you in My service? Gurur sevak haya manya se amara (Cc 2.10.142)." Then Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said, "Prabhu, this is what the scriptures say, but what did Your Guru say? Iswar Puri told Govinda, 'When I leave, you must serve Mahaprabhu.' So, what is bigger, the word of the scripture or the word of the guru?" The word of the guru is respected even more than the word of the scripture! "Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, chittete kariya aikya—make the teachings from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart." You must listen to what Gurudev tells you to do. That is why all the foreign devotees come here. We, Bengalis, are foolish, we have no intelligence, but they are not foolish—they practise Krishna consciousness and they know what anugatya (devotion to the Guru) is. That is why they stay with me and they come during all year. If they had not helped me to make this big building, big temple, would I be able to do anything on my own? After Gurudev left, there have been built and opened ten temples, but who do we owe this to? We owe it to those devotees who are with me. How much can Bengali devotees help? They are busy with their families, children, they are always busy with their family life...

Some of you go for collection before Gaura Purnima, but we do not collect only money—we must also collect people. It is necessary to hijack them. We do not hijack money—we must hijack people. We sing in the kirtan, "Kore more atmasath. Gurudev, please hijack me!" Gurudev does not come to hijack your money—Gurudev comes to hijack you. Hijack from where? From this illusory world of maya—he hijacks you from this illusory world and sends you to Goloka for the service to Radha Govinda. Always remember this.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Careless Life

Late afternoon class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 1, translated from Bengali

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, listeners, and all of you praying for your mercy to this low soul.

Today is a very auspicious day, the eve (adhivas-tithi) of our Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Please, everybody, say,

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

You must say it from your heart. [Some noise.] Please do not speak during the class. There are no other talks except for Hare Krishna. Have I not told you before? I say Hare Krishna, and you say Hare Krishna—it is not like this. If you teach a parrot to say 'Hare Krishna,' it will also say 'Hare Krishna.' If you teach the parrot to say, 'Get up!', 'Sit down!' it will also say it—but if some cat catches this parrot, will it then say 'Hare Krishna'? It will not, it will make its parrot noise. Our state is also like this. Guru Maharaj said that many people say 'Hare Krishna,' but if you kick them in their stomach, they will cry, 'Mother!', 'Father!' It is necessary to say 'Hare Krishna' from your heart.

The Name of Krishna is so sweet. Always remember what I am telling you. When you lose appetite, you become worried, but when you chant the Holy Name less, it should worry you even more. Still, we do not want to chant the Holy Name. If we chant this Holy Name, we will not have to live amidst all this birth, death, old age and disease, we will not have to keep coming and going to this world. You can understand yourself how painful this life is. If you simply have no water or light in your room, it gives you so much problem—you cannot use the bathroom, toilet properly, etc. but all the trees, plants, insects, beasts and birds that exist in this world suffer so much in their life. Having suffered in all those species we have now received this promotion—we have attained a human birth. We had got this human birth before too, this is not our first time. In our previous human births we ate dogs, cats, frogs, snakes, etc. Such people exist in this world too—there are such people in China, Japan, etc. We always think about our body, but sadhus, gurus, Vaishnavs take so much trouble to bring you to this path...

* * *

Bankarai Krishna's Trick

Late afternoon class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 2, translated from Bengali

We will talk about the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam today, I will tell you something about it. Please listen carefully—do not let your mind wander, otherwise you will not hear anything. Concentrate your mind, your being on your heart. I will tell you today about Dhruva Maharaj and karma-misra bhakti. Listen to it attentively because if you read about these things on your own in a book, you will not get it—you must listen to these things from the mouth of your Guru and Vaishnavs. I have heard it from them, after that I grasped it in my heart, and now I am trying to tell it to you. It will do you good.

It is said in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (2.22.38)

krsna kahe,—ama bhaje, mage visaya-sukha
amrta chhadi' visa mage,—ei bada murkha

"Krishna says, 'They worship Me, desiring material happiness—leaving aside nectar, they ask for poison. They are great fools.'"

The Lord says, "I know everything, I am not a fool—why will I give them material things?" They leave nectar and ask the Lord for poison—they worship the Lord and ask for material happiness, "How will I live well?", "How will I eat well?", "How will I dress well?", "How will I spend my life?", "How will my children live?", after that, "How will my grandchildren live?" People think about all these things, but The Lord says, "Why will I give them material things? I will not give it to them. I will give them My feet and make them forget all about material things." On the other hand, it is also said in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (1.8.18)—Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami is referring to Mahaprabhu's words there,

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If you ask Krishna for anything except devotion, He can give you those things—bhukti, mukti, liberation, and so on—but He will hide devotion from you. You will not get devotion."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.18)

When you want enjoyment or liberation instead of devotion, the Lord will give you your enjoyment and liberation and make you forget Him—He will not give you devotion.

So, on the one hand, the Lord says He will not give you material things, and on the other hand, He says that He will give you material things. How can that be? I have got the solution in Srimad Bhagavatam. You may have heard about Dhruva Maharaj. If you have not, listen carefully.

Desiring to get his father's throne, Dhruva Maharaj went to the forest and stayed there meditating for five years. Krishna was satisfied with his meditation, but He did not come to him at first Himself—He sent His close associate, Narad Goswami. Narad Muni came to Dhruva Maharaj, gave him initiation and instructed him how to practise. Dhruva Maharaj started practising in the way that Narad Muni had told him to. This time, becoming happy with his practising life, Krishna Himself came to Dhruva Maharaj. Krishna decided to test him. He said, "Here, Dhruva Maharaj, take your throne!" Dhruva Maharaj said then, "Prabhu, please do not embarrass me. I have made a mistake—leaving aside nectar, I have come to You to ask for poison, but now that I have got You, now that You have come in front of me, I do not need any throne now."

[His Divine Grace is distracted:]

Many of you do not know it, but sometimes when I am passing some villages in the car and see that water is flowing, I stop the car, get out and go to close the tap. This is a waste of water. You do not know it now, but what will be the situation in twenty-fifty years? There will be no more water left in earth, nobody will get water then. Even now there is scarcity of water in many countries and regions. It has already started in Purulia (West Bengal). If you waste water now, there will be no more water left one day. I have seen it many times since I came to the temple—many use the tap in the bathroom and go away leaving it open. Here too, when devotees take prasadam, they go to wash their hands, open the tap, and, having washed their hands, they go away leaving it open. They are not habituated to close taps—many use tube wells, take bath in a pond, etc. that is why they are not used to closing taps. You must remember what is necessary to do. Some leave the taps open and go for parikrama and water falls all day long. Be careful, do not leave taps open, otherwise nobody will get water, everybody will suffer.

Anyhow, I was talking about Bhagavatam. Another thing is that when the Kuruksetra war finished, the Pandavas got back their kingdom. Krishna is known as Bankarai, it means He is very crafty—“banka" means crooked, so whenever something goes one way, Krishna always finds a clever way around it. So, when the war was over, Krishna told Kunti Devi, "Aunt, your sons have won the war and got the kingdom, got the throne, what is the need for Me to stay here now? I am leaving for Dvaraka, there is no need for Me to be here any more." But Kunti Devi understood His cleverness. She thought, "Krishna is testing me—He wants to see if we will forget Him or not once we become happy."

Many people are like this—when we become happy, we forget the Lord. When we are sick, when some relative dies, then we cry, "O Lord! What offence have I made? What have I done? What is my fault? Why am I suffering so much?" And at other times, we do not think about the Lord, we think it is not necessary to think about Him—I have my son, my wife, my friend, my husband, etc., I have everything, why will I think about the Lord?

So, Krishna tested Kunti Devi, "When her sons get back the kingdom, what will their mood be like?" That is why He said to her, "Your sons have got their kingdom, My job is finished. I am going to leave." Kunti Devi then spoke many things, I am telling you the gist of what she said. She said, "Prabhu, we can get the kingdom, we can get anything in this world, my sons can be happy and satisfied, but what will I do with this throne? If you leave, this throne is empty for me—if you leave, what is the use to have this throne? But if you are here, then I do not need any throne, I can happily stay even in a jungle." This is what she said in reply.

* * *

Patita-Pavan

Late afternoon class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 3, translated from Bengali

We worship Lord Sri Krishna, who is so merciful, but Gauranga Mahaprabhu is even more merciful. Krishna fought so many demons, but Gauranga Mahaprabhu never fought—He took out His chakra only once, but even then Nityananda Prabhu stopped Him.

Nityananda Prabhu is Mahaprabhu's best friend, His own self (dui ange eka rupa—Nitai and Gaura are manifest as two, but They are one), so when blood fell from Nityananda Prabhu's head (Haridas Thakur told Mahaprabhu the news that Madhai had hit Him, that Nityananda Prabhu had fallen down), could Mahaprabhu remain calm? Angry, He called His Sudarsan, "Chakra, chakra, chakra!" but when He came, Nityananda Prabhu stopped Him, "Prabhu, what are you doing? Did we not talk about Kali-yuga? If You do not rescue Jagai and Madhai, then why is Your name patita-pavan (rescuer of the fallen)? Then why are You coming with Your chakra to kill them?" In the end, Mahaprabhu did not kill them—Nityananda Prabhu stopped Him.

That is why Nityananda Prabhu is elder than Mahaprabhu—those who are elder can chastise the younger. When He was Laksman (the Lord's younger brother), He had to tolerate so many atrocities from His brother—Rama sent Sita to the forest, etc.

In Rama-lila, King Dasarath could not tell a lie, but in Krishna-lila, Vasudev lied to Kamsa. Vasudev told him, "Do not kill your sister, I will give all our children to you." Did he do it? He did not—he took Krishna, went all the way to Gokula, and instead of Krishna brought back a girl. Mother Yasoda had a child that night, and she did not know if she had a son or a daughter. But Dasarath is strict about following rules—he sends his son to the forest giving priority to moral obligation and being righteous. Ramachandra was also righteous. To please His subjects He threw Sita into fire, and even that was not enough—He then sent her to live in the forest in Valmiki's ashram.

Another important pastime is when Krishna killed Putana. Putana came to kill Krishna, but what did Krishna do? He gave her His mercy. How this happened is described in Bhagavatam. Krishna was a small baby, He was lying down, but He knew everything—He knew who was coming. What did Putana do? She wore a gopi dress and came to Krishna dressed as a gopi. Seeing her gopi dress, Krishna became so enchanted that He gave her the position of His mother by drinking her milk. When He started drinking her milk, He grasped her so strongly (He had to take her life somehow) that together with her milk, He sucked her life out. Putana cried, "Leave me! Leave me! Stop, stop! Do not drink any more!" but Krishna did not stop. Krishna does not easily catch anyone, but if He catches somebody, He does not leave them easily after that. When Krishna sucked out Putana's life, she ran out into a field nearby and fell dead. Her body became enormous and it turned into a demoness's body. When everybody heard the noise of her falling body and came to see what had happened, they were astounded to see the scene. Gopal was unharmed though, it was nothing for Him. Usually, when somebody dies, they make a bamboo platform and burn the body on it, but Putana's body was so enormous that they had to cut it into many pieces and burn it piece by piece. When her body was burning, so much fragrance was coming from everywhere—aguru, chandan, etc. Everybody wondered, "What is this smell?" But it was Putana's body burning. If we burn our body, do you think the smell of chandan will come? But this is what happened in Putana's case.

We should remember these things...

* * *

Stench of Barren Hearts

Late afternoon class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 4, translated from Bengali

I will tell you one more pastime from Srimad Bhagavatam and will finish after that. The holy narrations about the Lord—Sri Rupa-Raghunath katha—will never enter our ears and will never take a seat within our hearts for as long as we have material desires.

When Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj came here from Vrindavan, do you know where he stayed? He stayed in a public toilet for six months. People asked him, "Babaji Maharaj, you are staying in this public bathroom, are you not getting the smell?" Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj replied, "Yes, I am getting the smell, and this smell can be tolerated, but it is very difficult to tolerate the smell that is coming from materialist people who are intoxicated with the material world, who are proud of their money, wealth, etc." This is what Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj said. That is why it is said that, "Have you become a sadhu or have you merely dressed as a sadhu?" I keep telling you—be careful. Be a sadhu, do not just dress as one.

Do you know how Babaji Maharaj did his mala? (We will go to his samadhi-mandir during the parikrama of Mayapur.) He went to the cremation ghat, took some cloth there, tied knots on it, and he would chant on that. He later stayed in one palm leaf cottage. Everybody offered obeisance to him considering him a great sadhu. Seeing this, one man started imitating Babaji Maharaj thinking, "If I behave like him, everybody will give me respect!" He made a small house nearby, dressed like Babaji Maharaj and started chanting Hare Krishna. Somebody came to Babaji Maharaj and told him that there was another man like him nearby. Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj then said a very beautiful thing. When a pregnant lady feels labour pains, she is taken to a hospital, and then she delivers the baby—a girl or a boy comes. This is natural. On the other hand, some can pretend to be pregnant—you put a pillow inside your dress, say you are pregnant, and after that you say, "Oh, I have so much pain! So much pain! Take me to the hospital!"—somebody will take you to the hospital, but will the baby come or not? Nothing will come out of such a 'sadhu'—you can look like a pregnant lady, but the baby will not come unless you are actually pregnant.

This is a beautiful conception, and these things are also mentioned in the scriptures.

* * *

Chitraketu's Example

Late afternoon class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 5, translated from Bengali

I will tell you now about Chitraketu and finish after that.

Chitraketu was a great king. He married many queens one after another. Why did he need so many wives? Because he had a strong desire to have a son. However, although he had many queens, he did not get a son, and it was a big problem—who will take care of the kingdom after him?

This happens in our country too—sometimes no son comes, so somebody ends up with three-five daughters, and all the family starts scolding the wife saying, "It is your fault that there is no son in our house!" What is her fault? Sometimes they even kill the woman for that, or the woman hangs herself because she cannot give birth to a son. Such things happen in this country—how foolish we are, how many stupid things we do...

So, Chitraketu wanted to have a son very much. One day, a sage named Anghira Rishi came to his kingdom. When Anghira Rishi met with the king, he asked him, "Chitraketu, are you doing well? Is everything all right in your kingdom?" Chitraketu replied, "Prabhu, everything is all right, my kingdom, my subjects are all right, but I am very worried because I do not have a son. If I do not get a son, who will look after the kingdom in the future?" Anghira Rishi thought to himself, "He has material desires—he wants a son so much. As long as he does not get a son, no matter what I tell him, it will not enter his ears. He only keeps thinking, 'I want a son,' 'I want a son'..."

We are also like this—no matter how much it is explained to us, no matter what is told to us, we only always keep thinking about our material desires. Spiritual things do not enter our ears—even if we hear it, it still does not enter our ears because of that.

So, Anghira Rishi told Chitraketu, "Yes, you will get a son, but when you get a son, you will get both happiness and sadness." Chitraketu became very happy—he did not think about the sage's words about sadness, he only kept thinking, "I will get a son! I will be so happy! What sadness can there be? I am rich, I have so much wealth, how can sadness come?" He did not understand it.

Many of you understand what it means when you get a son—many people think that they had lived happily before they got a son. When you get a son and he starts taking drugs, smoking, associating with bad people, when the son becomes bad, then you too will think, "Life was so good before I got this son!" And then a daughter-in-law comes to your house—when you grow old, you will be harassed by her too...

Anyhow, one day Chitraketu finally got a son. He was very happy and affectionate to the wife who had given him this son—everybody started looking after her, everybody hovered over her, etc. Seeing this, all the other wives thought, "Our husband does not even look at us! He is only busy with her all the time. He does not even notice us anymore!" Then everybody realised the cause—the king behaved like that because that wife had given him a son. So, they started thinking how they can get rid of the boy. In the end, they chose the youngest wife and told her to wait when the boy's nurse went away and then she had to go and give some poisoned milk to the boy. What is said is done. When the nurse who looked after the child went away, that young wife came to the boy and poisoned him. When the nurse came back, she was shocked, "What is this? Has the child died?!" Then, the mother of the child also came, "What has happened to my child?" She began to weep, and seeing her cry, all the other wives pretended to cry too, and they cried even more bitterly than the mother.

Anghira Rishi possessed the power to see everything from far, so he saw what had happened. He came to Chitraketu again and said, "So, king? How are you now?" Chitraketu said sadly, "Prabhu, you have told me that I would get a son. I was so happy, I had everything, but now my son has gone all of a sudden. Now I am suffering even more! Before, I did not have a son—I did not have him and it was all right, I only worried about the kingdom, but now that I have got him and lost him, it gives me even more pain!" Then, Narad Muni came there. Through his divine power, Narad Muni made the boy speak. The boy said, "I am here. Where am I? How did I come here?" The boy's mother said, "You are my son!" The boy looked at her and said, "When, in which birth were you my mother? I do not remember you." Then the king said, "I am your father! Can you not remember me?" The boy again said, "In which birth were you my father?" When the boy spoke all these things, then that Hari-katha entered the king's head. Narad Goswami instructed the king through the boy explaining that everything in this world is false, that I am not this body, I am the soul, he spoke about the power of the Holy Name, etc. Having heard all the Hari-katha, Chitraketu became a great sadhu, a great devotee.

Chitraketu took a puspa-ratha (a chariot made of flowers) and started travelling all over India preaching about the Holy Name. One day, as he was travelling, he came to Sivji Maharaj. At that time, Sivji Maharaj was sitting naked on an asan with Parvati Devi sitting on his lap. Seeing the scene, Chitraketu thought, "Sivji Maharaj can control everything, he can control even Kamadev (Cupid), so he has no fault, but there are other rishis here, they can think wrong, people will speak bad about Sivji Maharaj. If I tell it to him, I know he will not mind it." So, Chitraketu said to Sivji Maharaj, "Prabhu, it is not right that you sit like this with Parvati on your lap. Parvati should better move and sit by your side." Chitraketu knew Sivji Maharaj would not mind him saying it, and Sivji Maharaj did not mind it—he knew Chitraketu was a great devotee. However, there is one person who could not tolerate it, and this person was Parvati. Parvati got angry, "Where have you come from to give advice to my husband? I curse you to go to hell!" Chitraketu was not angry, he did not think anything of it, he only said, "I must go to hell? Oh, OK, then I will go to hell. What of that?"

Whatever situation a sadhu finds himself in, whether he is in liberated position, whether he lives in a jungle or anywhere else—sadhus always chant the Holy Name wherever they are. That is why Chitraketu thought, "Hell or heaven, it is all the same." He left peacefully, but Parvati Devi was surprised—she asked Sivji Maharaj, "Who is this man? He did not even feel anything! I told him he would go to hell, and he will have to go there, but he did not even think anything about it! There is so much suffering in hell!" Then Sivji Maharaj explained, "You did not recognise him—he is a great devotee Chitraketu. Sadhus are never affected by anything—even if they are struggling, suffering, even if they are in pain, they do not think anything about it."

So, always remember this and always be alert. Whatever your situation is—whether you live in a forest, in a jungle or anywhere else—always chant the Holy Name, and you will get supreme benefit.

Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol.

* * *

Live In Sadhu-Sanga

Evening class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 1, translated from Bengali

[Noise in the audience.]

Please stop talking.

dinera madhye abala-tabala
kata pachala parite para
tara madhye kintu tumi ekbara
govinda bale, ara katha baliba na

"All day you talk all kinds of nonsense, how much idle talk you engage in! But find time amidst all that to chant the Name of Govinda, do not talk about other things!"

Guru Maharaj told one thing—if you spend your energy on other (material) things or on speaking nonsense, you will not get energy for spiritual life. You can see here too that when everybody is standing and chanting kirtan during the arati, many are sitting at the back—they cannot even circumambulate the temple (do the parikrama of the temple) four times, they remain seated. You have walked so much in your life. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur writes (in Kalyan-kalpataru):

tirtha-phala sadhu-sanga, sadhu-sange antaranga,
sri-krsna-bhajana manohara
yatha sadhu, tatha tirtha, sthira kari' nija-chitta,
sadhu-sanga kara nirantara

"The result of visiting a place of pilgrimage is sadhu-sanga (pure devotees' association) and being drawn to the exclusive service of Sri Krishna. A place of pilgrimage is where a sadhu (pure devotee) is. Always keep the association of pure devotees and firmly fix your mind by such association."

mana, tumi tirthe sada rata
ayodhya, mathura, maya, kasi, kanchi, avantiya,
dvaravati ara achhe yata

O mind! You are always attached to places of pilgrimage—Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kasi (Varanasi), Kanchipuram, Avantiya, Dvaraka, and so many other places.

Did I not tell you yesterday? We can also go walking around Kolkata. So many political parties walk the streets—one time, a party did "a long march" from Bardhaman all the way to Kolkata. They too walk, but what do you walk for? Those who do parikrama of a holy place (it is one of the devotional practices) get spiritual benefit. You have been walking so long in your life that you are tired now—you have wasted your energy, and you end up being unable to do dham parikrama... Many have Tulasi at home, but many do not even have the habit of circumambulating Tulasi four times a day—they only give some water and incense. Most people do not do Tulasi parikrama. Not everyone can go to Vrindavan every year, but if you do Tulasi parikrama four times in the morning and four times in the evening, you can get the result of Vrindavan Dham parikrama. If you do not remember the Tulasi parikrama kirtan by heart, we have kirtan books here, you can buy one and take it home. It is necessary to sing the glories of Tulasi,

namo namah tulasi maharani vrnde maharani namo namah
namo-re namo-re maiya namo narayani

O Tulasi Maharani, O Vrnda Devi, I offer my obeisance unto you again and again. O Narayani, I offer my obeisance unto you again and again.

yako darase parase agha-nasa hoi
mahima veda purane vakhani

By seeing or touching you, all sins are destroyed. Your glories are sung in the Vedas and Puranas.

Seeing Tulasi or touching Tulasi destroys all sins.

dhupa, dipa, naivedya, arati,
phulana kiye varakha varakhani

You shower mercy upon one who offers you incense, lamps, foods, worship, and flowers.

chhappanna bhoga, chhatrisa vyanjana,
vina tulasi prabhu eka nahi mani

The Lord does not accept even one of fifty-six grain offerings or thirty-six vegetable offerings without tulasi leaves.

You offer bhoga with Tulasi only once a year when your gurus come to your house—when they come, they you give them some pranami (donation) and offer some bhoga. I go village to village and I hear people say things like, "We have bhoga at home today." But it is necessary to offer bhoga every day! Why only today? Do you eat only today? Why do you give bhoga to the Lord only today? It is necessary to offer bhog eternally, every day. You must not eat unoffered things.

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

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

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

Have I not told you just now about Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj? When he was staying at a toilet, somebody asked him, "Maharaj, you are staying in a toilet, are you not getting the stench?" Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj replied, "Yes, I am, but this stench can be tolerated—it is much more difficult to tolerate the stench of materialists (who are proud of money, wealth, knowledge, their body)." Such smell is very bad, that is why it is necessary to keep good association (to live in sadhu-sanga).

If you put a fifty kg sack on your head, your head will be splitting—if you go to an A/C room with that fifty kg sack, will you get any peace? You will not... This fifty kg sack is not a sack of rice or flour—it is the burden of ego. For as long as you have this burden of ego, you will never get any peace. When people pay full sastanga dandavat, many do not touch their head to the ground, many offer obeisance with their hands only and keep their head away not to touch the ground. But Uddhav Maharaj aspired for the feet dust of Vraja gopis! We hanker for the feet dust of Vaishnavs. Have you heard the kirtan?

kabe sri chaitanya more karibena daya
kabe ami paiba vaisnava-pada-chhaya

When will Sri Chaitanya be merciful to me? When will I reach the shade of the Vaishnavs' feet?

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana

When will I give up this mundane ego? When will I honour the Lord's devotees?

gala-vastra krtanjali vaisnava-nikate
dante trna kari' dandaiba niskapate

With a cloth around my neck, joined palms, and straw between my teeth, I will sincerely submit myself at the Vaishnav's feet.

Srimad Bhagavatam also says that when you step on some grass, the grass stays down—Uddhav Maharaj also said that he aspired to become some grass in Vrindavan. When Vaishnavs do dham parikrama, we take their feet dust on our heads.

kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama
samsara-anala haite magiba visrama

Weeping, I will convey my sorrows to the Vaishnav and pray for shelter from the fire of material existence.

suniya amara duhkha vaisnava thakura
ama' lagi' krsne avedibena prachura

Hearing of my sorrow, the worshippable Vaishnav will thoroughly pray to Krishna on my behalf.

Vaishnav Thakur will hear about my misery and tell it then to Lord Krishna...

It is necessary to always keep these kirtans of surrender in your heart. Do not just sing them—you must understand their meaning, you must understand their mood. We do not sing songs; we chant the glories of the Lord, we do kirtan.

You have all come here, so do not gossip, do not discuss 'village talks,' 'village news'—only glorify Lord Krishna, only glorify the Supreme Lord, then you will get supreme benefit.

* * *

Entering Line of Devotion

Evening class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 2, translated from Bengali

How can you get supreme spiritual benefit? By glorifying the Supreme Lord.

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya
sadhu-gurur krpa vina na dekhi upaya

"It is not possible to conquer maya by engaging in maya. I see no other way to get relief except for the mercy of sadhus."

('Ki rupe paibe seva', Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

It is only possible by the mercy of Vaishnavs. I have never wanted to be an acharya, a guru. I always pray that acharya-abhiman (the ego, the pride of being a guru) does not come to me—I pray to always remain a disciple. There is not any need to become a guru. If I can become a true disciple, this is sufficient for me. That is why it is said in the scriptures that you can find many gurus in this world, but the number of disciples in this world is very small. Bona fide disciples always place the disciplining, the order of their Guru on their heads and follow that. Many think, "I have taken initiation from a very big guru." There is no question of somebody being a big guru or a small guru. Many get enrolled into different classes—somebody goes to the eleventh grade, somebody goes to the twelfth grade, somebody goes to a college or a university, but when you take initiation, it means you have got enrolled to the line of devotion, you have entered the line of devotion, you have got enrolled into a spiritual school. Do you pass the final exam by getting enrolled? You do not. When you get enrolled into a school, you must study and practise.

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva
iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

"Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name, and serve the Vaishnavs. Sanatan, besides this, there is no other religion."

It is necessary to be compassionate to the jiva souls, you must get taste for chanting the Holy Name, and you must serve Vaishnavs. If you can do all these things, then you will get supreme benefit.

Whatever service you can do in this world, there is no small service. Somebody collects cow dung, somebody sweeps, somebody washes dishes, somebody does bookkeeping, somebody does shopping—everyone does one and the same service, i.e. they all please the Lord. Sometimes, devotees say, "Oh, they did not give me sannyas. I give so many lectures, I give so many classes..." This is not a question.

I wrote all this in the book (Guidance 4), it is already on the way, it is coming here today. I do not remember everything at all times, that is why I would sit until late at night writing things when they came to my memory. I would give class until 10 p.m., then prasadam, it would be 11 p.m., after that I would sit and write until 1-2 a.m. I would remember different things at different times and would sit in my room and write them down...

Anyhow, you must always remember these things...

* * *

Qualities in Vaishnav Domain

Evening class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 3, translated from Bengali

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana

When will I give up this mundane ego? When will I honour the Lord's devotees?

When will I be able to give honour to devotees? When it comes to Vaishnavs, there is no question of someone being small or big, this is not external, material world where people judge who is whose disciple, where people think that you must pay obeisance only to those who are older. However, these considerations have no place in this line, in this domain. Rather, it is the contrary—even if one's son takes sannyas, the father pays obeisance to his son. We pay obeisance to devotees according to their qualification (not age, etc.). Here, everybody calls each other "Prabhu." Some say, "I am this Maharaj's disciple," they chant kirtans, show their emotion, pride of being a disciple of a big guru, "My guru is much bigger than yours!" Such mood is untoward in this domain. There is no question of somebody being big or small. A Vaishnav can be a small boy or a small girl also. If a small girl pleases Krishna, if a small boy can serve the Lord, then I offer obeisance to them; they are worshippable for me. This is the rule of this domain.

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)

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi ahankara

Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean.

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana

Practise tolerance like a tree. Stop ill-treating others, instead nurture them.

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others.

There should not be such things (ego, ill-treating others, giving anxiety to others, etc.) in this domain.

Everybody has different kind of devotion, and everybody should be given honour. Radharani serves Krishna most of all, and Lalita, Visakha serve Radharani most of all, that is why their names come first. Radharani is much younger than many others, but what is the problem with being small? She worships Krishna most of all, that is why She is Krishna's dearmost. Also, among those who serve Radharani, Lalita and Visakha are the highest. Therefore, there is no consideration of who is younger or who is older.

In the outer world, people look at one's age, people judge one's qualification based on external qualification. We sometimes see that a young thirty-year-old man can pass IES, IPS, they become SB, SD, DM, etc. On the other hand, there are some born into a great family, some who have great qualifications, but they end up working like ordinary people—as a postman, for example. We like to claim, "I have done so much more than others," but here qualification is earned through service—those who serve the Lord more, who keep faith in their Guru and give respect to their Guru, reach the Lord sooner. We sing in the kirtan,

sakale sammana karite sakati,
deha natha! yatha yatha
tabe ta' gaiba hari-nama sukhe,
aparadha habe hata

"O master! Give me the ability to befittingly honour everyone. Then I will sing the Lord's Name happily, and all my offences will be eradicated."

We sing, "O Lord, please give me power to give respect to everyone," but we do not know how to give honour to others—we always keep trying to get honour for ourselves instead. Always remember this. The more of a Vaishnavs one is, the more humility one has. How can you recognise a Vaishnav? The more humility one has, the bigger a Vaishnav they are. Humility means "I do not know anything," it means one does not care when somebody says something about them...

Anyhow, I will not take more of your time today, I am finishing here.

* * *

Preparing for Parikrama of Antardwip

Evening class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
5 March 2020, translated from Bengali

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, listeners, and all of you praying for your mercy to this low soul.

Today, very beautifully, you have done the parikrama of Sri Godrumdwip and Sri Madhyadwip, you have heard the glories of Sri Godrumdwip and Sri Madhyadwip. Tomorrow, we will do the parikrama of Antardwip, or Mayapur. We will start from here by buses, they will take us to the ghat, then we will cross the Ganges and then start walking from Ganga Nagar. We will go to the place of Gaura Nitai's meeting, to Chandradaya Mandir, from there to Jagai Madhai Ghat, and then we will enter Yogapith. From there, we will go to Srivas Angan, Sridhar Angan, Advaita Prabhu's dwelling, Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj's samadhi, the house of Gadadhar Pandit; from there to Chaitanya Math where we will visit Prabhupad's samadhi mandir and bhajan kutir; from there, we will go to Chand Kazi's samadhi, and after that, finally, to the temple of Sri Jagannath Baladev Subhadra. There, we will take the ekadasi anukalpa (non-grain prasadam). You know that it is ekadasi tomorrow, so we will be fasting until midday. After taking anukalpa parasad, we will talk about the glories of Sri Simantadwip and Sri Rudradwip. Then, the buses will be waiting for us there, we will return here by bus.

So, tomorrow is the parikrama of Sri Antardwip, it is the island of atma-nivedan, or saranagati (self-submission, or self-surrender). We have sung in one of the kirtans just now,

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana

Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord’s guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me'.

It is necessary to have humility—to consider yourself extremely low and bereft. Some think, "Oh, I have become a sannyasi, I am a Maharaj now!" and when somebody calls them "prabhu" by mistake, they say, "I am not a prabhu, I am Maharaj!" I have heard such things. I hear everything. Common people do not understand these things, for them everyone is a prabhu—they say casually, "Prabhu, how are you?" Devotees called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu "Prabhu"—to be a "prabhu" is a much higher position than a "Maharaj," but you say, "I am not a prabhu, I am Maharaj." Nobody wants to be a servant (das), everybody wants to be a master (prabhu). That is the great problem...

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)

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi' ahankara

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean."

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana

Practise tolerance like a tree. Stop ill-treating others, instead nurture them.

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others.

(Sri Siksastakam Giti)

Who will be able to do kirtan? Only those who are humbler than a blade of glass, who are more tolerant than a tree, have the right, the qualification to chant kirtan—only they can tolerate everything, only they can have the patience. It is necessary to have tolerance. It is always necessary to remember about patience.

You have come to Krishna consciousness, to the temple, you work so hard, but on top of that you also have to put up with being chastised. Here, you will get 'dal' (pulses) and you will also get 'gal' (scolding, abuse). Many say, "I am working so nicely, but nobody cares about me! They do not give me medicine, they do not give me a proper place to sleep"; or they say, "I am working now, but who will look after me when I am old? I had better go back to my house." Such thoughts come to us... We sing about "goptrtve varan" (embracing Lord's guardianship), but these only words for us—we do not apply it in our own lives. We forget that Krishna is our guardian, that Krishna looks after us, protects us. We think that only we will be able to protect ourselves. If you realise that there is one person to protect you, then the Lord will look after you and you will never face danger in your life; but if you think there is nobody to protect you, then all kinds of enemies will jump at you (kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya, rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa, kanak, kamini, pratistha—lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy, desire to see, taste, smell, hear, feel nice things, desire to have money, companions, fame).

krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vanchha kare
nikatastha maya tare japatiya dhare

"When souls become averse to Krishna and desire enjoyment, nearby Maya seizes them."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.2)

Maya is always roaming all four directions—she can at any time take us away from the service of the Lord and throw us into the material world according to the result of our own actions (karma). Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur sings (Saranagati), "When I was young, I did so many things, I worked so hard, but it has all become an impediment to my spiritual life."

saisava-yauvane, jada-sukha-sange,
abhyasa ha-ila manda
nija-karma-dose, e deha ha-ila,
bhajanera pratibandha

"In my childhood and youth, I always indulged in material happiness and I have become habituated to bad things. Because of my own sins, this body has become an impediment to spiritual practice."

We have been enjoying material world and we now have developed bad habits. Those who we have thought to be our dear and near (wife, husband, sons, daughters, friends, brothers, etc.) have turned out to be not our near and dear but disguised dacoits—they will drink all your blood to the last drop. Suppose you work now—when you die, your wife will continue getting your pension, so even after your death she will keep sucking your blood. Those for whom we do everything in this world turn out to be dacoits.

gardabhera mata ami kari parisrama
kara lagi' eta kari, na ghuchila bhrama

I toil laboriously like a donkey. For whom am I doing this? Still my illusion has not been dispelled.

For whom have I been doing all this? None of us can say now. Now, everyone says they have become Krishna-bhaktas—everybody has taken initiation and got enrolled into this school, but do you graduate just by getting enrolled? I keep telling it to you time and time again...

* * *

Dham-Consciousness

Evening class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
6 March 2020, part 1, translated from Bengali

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)

[Noise.] Have you not just now sung kirtans? Why are you chatting now? When kirtans are going on, you are quiet, but as soon as kirtans finish, then all the nonsense talks start. You are making an offence in front of the Lordships. I keep telling you all the time:

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 talk like people in general or hear what they say. You should not eat very palatable food, nor should you dress very nicely. Do not expect honour, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the holy name of Lord Krishna, and within your mind serve Radha and Krishna."

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

This is Mahaprabhu's teaching. You have come to the abode of Mahaprabhu to observe, to celebrate His appearance festival, to circumambulate His abode—do you think that you do not need to follow Mahaprabhu's order?

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

"Just saying, 'I am Gora's! I am Gora's!' does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

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

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7)

Gora knows everything, He knows what you have come here for. You are doing dham-parikrama, visting various temples—the Lord, Gora (Mahaprabhu) know what purpose you have come with.

Do we have the eyes to take the darshan of the Lord?

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

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

Our eyes are blind with the dust of material world—do we have the capacity or right to have the darshan of the Lord (to see the Lord)? You may have it, but I do not. It is necessary to see the Lord with your heart, and it is necessary to see sadhus with your ears. You cannot see a sadhu with your eyes. You must listen to Bhagavat-katha with your ears.

You are doing this dham-parikrama as a result of a great fortune, but if you come to a holy place and make offence, then you are in a big danger. There are dham-aparadh, seva-aparadh, etc. It is all written in our calendar. Please take the calendars home—you can see there when our Math has festivals, you can always check it and know it. We have festivals in different temples—sometimes there are festivals in Tarakeswar, sometimes in Ekachakra, Ganga Sagar, Nrisingha Palli, Puri, Vrindavan. If you join different festivals observed in different holy places, if you keep good association and live according to the precepts of good association, then you can reach the same destination that the sadhus reach.

On the other hand, if you keep doing wrong, only keep talking, where will that take you? "Kothay chhilam, hetay elam, kothay yabo bhavi nai: where I was, where I came, where I will go—I do not know." Think about it, where will you go then? Having got this human birth now, do you think you will get it again? Many will not. Many will have to be demoted, not promoted. We were reading today at Madhai Ghat—Jagai and Madhai committed so many sins, but we are much more sinful than they are, we are much greater offenders than they are because we make seva-aparadh, dham-aparadh, Vaishnav-aparadh, etc.

Therefore, take this holy abode on your head—it means you must not walk here on your feet, you must walk here on your head. You must walk here with your heart. Every single particle of dust here is the holy dust from the lotus feet of Vaishnavs and great souls who are here in Sri Nabadwip Dham. All demigods, demigoddesses who people worship—Durga, Kali, Laksmi, et. al.—they all come here and roll in the holy dust of this abode, but we do not have such eyes, that is why we cannot see it...

* * *

No Quarantine in Practising Life

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 April 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
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
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

First, I am giving my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my beloved Gurudev, Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, as well as all the guru-varga, all the godbrothers and godsisters, all of my humble brothers and sisters. I am paying my full obeisance to you all from my heart.

I am very happy because I can see all the devotees' smiling faces. All devotees are happy because they accept Krishna consciousness life and practise properly, they know, "Our life is very short, but if somebody within this short life can reach their goal by chanting, dancing, and practising, why can I not do that?" So, we should try to practise and reach our goal, and everybody is doing that.

In this situation, almost everybody in almost all countries are in their rooms or houses because Krishna has sent this disease, this virus covid-19, coronavirus, all over the world. Even those who are eighty-ninety years old, have never seen this kind of situation in their life; I also have never seen anything like this. Anyhow, it has happened now, and everybody is following the government rules and regulations...

We are now in quarantine in our house (Sevak Bhavan in Dum Dum Park, Kolkata)—somebody is in government quarantine, and it is very difficult, but we are in home quarantine, it is better than to be in government quarantine. Although we are indoors, we are chanting, we are reading books, we are writing books, we are reading scriptures, and we pass our time in this way. It is necessary to have patience. Krishna is testing us to see how much patience, how much tolerance we can have.

It has been almost one month now since we have been indoors. We have not been going out so much. It is a little boring, but what can I do? We cannot do anything. This kind of disease can affect our body and make us sick, that is why we must be always careful—we must always wear a mask when we go outside, we must wash our hands from time to time and keep a little social distance. We keep social distance, but not mental distance—it must be only social distance, not heart distance. We only sit in a little distance from each other, but devotees actually always keep connection with us.

Our practising life is going on like this. We are in quarantine, but we can read, we can chant some kirtans, we can practise. That is good for us.

* * *

Heart of Devotional Life

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 April 2020, part 2

nr-deham adyam su-labham su-durlabham
plavam su-kalpam guru-karnadharam
mayanukulena nabhasvateritam
puman bhavabdhim na taret sa atma-ha

"Those who get this human body but do not try to practise Krishna consciousness, do not try to cross the ocean of material existence, are suicidal (atmaghati). In this human body there is only one way how you can bring benefit to yourself—this body is like a boat and you must accept a Guru as the captain of this boat. What does the Guru do next? When you surrender at his lotus feet, when within your heart you take shelter in him, he gives you mercy that works like a favourable wind. In this way, propelled by that favourable wind of the Guru's mercy, this boat can take you to your destination. However those who cannot understand who is the captain, what is the mercy of devotion, who do not know what is favourable to devotion, what that favourable wind is, are suicidal."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.17)

We have got this human body—somebody's life can be very short, but if we can practise Krishna consciousness with this human body, and if we can start practising Krishna consciousness as soon as possible, then we can reach our goal. It does not matter when you take initiation—somebody can take initiation at thirty, fifty, some boy or girl can take initiation at nine or ten, at fifteen; if you start practising from that time, if you can become a good receiver, if you follow what Gurudev told, what our guru-varga told, what Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told, what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told, if we can follow their instruction, if we can follow their practising life avoiding our bad habits, bad qualities and keeping our good qualities, then we can get the result quickly.

We must always avoid offences—Vaishnav-aparadh, dham-aparadh, seva-aparadh, Nama-aparadh. I remember Guru-Vaishnavs' pastimes a lot, I read their biographies, remember their lifestyle—I study the lives of Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, the life of our Gurudev, Guru Maharaj, Srila Prabhupad's lifestyle. We must understand what they want.

Our service is through our Gurudev. Actually, if we preach something, we must preach for our Gurudev. If Gurudev is pleased with our service, with our preaching, that is our happiness. The Lord Himself has come to this world as a guru—if we can follow his instruction, we can fulfil his desire, that is good for our spiritual life. We can leave this world at any moment, at any time, and we do not know how many days we will be alive—we do not even know if we will stay in this world until tomorrow; but even if we stay only until tomorrow, we can still chant the Holy Name, we can remember our guru-varga, their instruction—that will be good for us.

There are nine kinds of devotional processes, nava-vidha bhakti: sravanam—hearing, kirtanam (chanting), smaranam (remembering), pada-sevanam (serving the holy feet of the Lord), archanam (worshipping the Lord's Deity), vandanam (offering prayers to the Lord), dasyam (serving the Lord as a servant), sakhyam (serving the Lord as a friend), atma-nivedanam (offering yourself wholesale to the Lord). So, there are different services—archan-anga seva, kirtan-anga seva, sravan-anga seva, etc., but we must do whatever service Gurudev has given us. For example, I like kirtan-seva (service of chanting kirtans), but Gurudev has given me archan-seva (service of worshipping Deities), then I must do archan-seva. Gurudev has told me, "You must cook," but I want to be a good speaker because if I become a speaker, then everybody will be giving me garlands, everybody will be clapping me. We want to be speakers, but we do not want to listen first. When you are a speaker, you can get a good and a little higher chair, you will get one big garland, everybody will give you 'jay'—this is why we always want this kind of service, but if Gurudev tells me to do cooking service, then we become disappointed because a cook will not get a garland, and nobody will give me a big 'jay' because I am just a cook. This is not the way to do service. When Gurudev gives you some service, you must receive that service without any hesitation, without any questions. You may not be habituated to doing the kind of service Gurudev tells you to do, but you must still try to do it—Gurudev will give you power and mercy and you will succeed in that service.

The whole world is now afraid of coronavirus, but if we are to be proper surrendered souls, then we must understand that one day or another we will all have to die—be it from a coronavirus, some other virus, or any other thing. This is not a question. The question is that as many days we have got this life for, we must use this life in a proper way. 'A proper way' means you must do properly what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told, what Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad told, what our guru-varga and Gurudev told. Any kind of problem can come at any time, at any moment,

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

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

(Gitavali, Arunodaya kirtan, 1.3, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Life is uncertain (a-nischit), so we must use our life for the service of the Lord, for the service of our Guru and Vaishnavs. That is the main thing for us. Practise as much as you can, do your service as much as you can and do not see or hear about others' faults—this is not our duty, this is not our business. We must go forward. What is past is past—we must go forward, we must fulfil our Gurudev's desire. That is service mood.

* * *

Proper Receiver and Proper Mother

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 April 2020, part 3

Today is aksaya-tritiya. It is called an auspicious day to start some works. If you can start any works from today, it is a good day.

Are there any questions from anyone?

Question: What is the proper attitude when asking Sri Gurudev questions and how can we be good receivers of his instruction?

It is always necessary to have a surrendered mood, to be always humble, tolerant and to give honour to others. You can ask a question if you have a surrendered mood. As for being a proper receiver, you must attentively concentrate your mind, concentrate your life and think only how to fulfil Gurudev's desire, how to make Gurudev happy, how to make the Lord happy. Also, suppose you are doing some service today—you must do it and think how you can make it better tomorrow. It is necessary to have this kind of attitude. To be a proper receiver actually means that you must listen not only with your ears—you must listen with all your senses. You must concentrate your eyes, your mind, intelligence, ears—you must concentrate everything on what Gurudev is saying and think about that. If you can hear Gurudev's word properly, if you can understand what Gurudev is saying, then you can be a good receiver.

Question: How can I be a good mother in Krishna consciousness?

A mother must teach her children properly. A mother will always teach her children proper Krishna consciousness starting from how to pay obeisance to the Lord, how pay dandavat, how to do the arati, etc. Little by little teach your son to sing some short kirtans, little by little teach him to play the mridanga, etc. Gradually teach your children proper things. A proper mother is she who teachers her children properly.

Actually, it is very difficult to teach children Krishna consciousness in this age of Kali because of Kali's prevalence (pradurbhav) all over the world. Kali vehemently destroys good things and takes people's minds in a bad direction. That is why, it is necessary to keep good association. If a mother becomes a good devotee herself, then she will be able to teach her children Krishna consciousness properly with her good association, with her affection, she will be able to give them proper guidance—that will be good for children. Then, one day you will be proud to see that your son has become a sannyasi or your son has become a brahmachari and practices properly. When your son attains a high position, when he gets proper guidance from his guru and follows his guru's instruction, his Gurudev's order, when your child serves Gurudev properly, then you will also become proud to see that—then you can think, "OK, at least my child has become a devotee."

When you come to Gurudev's line, you can become a proprietor of Gurudev's property. Gurudev's property is not his temple, building—not that. Gurudev's property is devotion, love, affection, prema...

* * *

Meaning of Chastity

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 April 2020, part 4

I always worry about devotees because they are suffering so much in this situation. I always pray for them that Krishna may protect our devotees all over the world so that they may again practise properly and preach in this movement. I also cannot go for preaching or any public places now, this is a problem for me. I have cancelled many programmes because we cannot make any public gatherings, this is a government rule, but not everybody can join a skype programme—some people live in villages, they have no means of communication, their only instrument is a telephone. Anyhow, it will pass soon. This kind of virus comes every twenty years...

Are there any other question from anybody?

Question: You always say that it is necessary to have chastity to the Guru. What does chastity mean?

Chastity is a very high thing. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur wrote in one place, "Who is better—Gopijana-Vallabha or Radha-Vallabha?" Gopijana-Vallabha is Krishna and Radha-Vallabha is also Krishna, but who is better? In our practising life, Radha-Vallabha Krishna is more than even Gopijana-Vallabha Krishna. Radha-Vallabha means Srimati Radharani always fulfils Krishna's desire. She does not know anything, She does not want to know anything—She only wants to know and She only knows Krishna. That is called chastity.

Those who have chastity, have no other inquiry. They have no suspicious about anything else, they do not think about anything else, they do not want to hear anything else, they do not want to listen to anything else, they do not want to know anything else—they only know their Guru. That is called chastity. Only this.

However, in this world, we sometimes mix in some alloy because if you want to make an ornament, pure gold may not work sometimes. We may mix in alloy to level things out, to maintain harmony, but our hearts will be always with our guru. We may sometimes show some alloy, but our hearts will always be with our Gurudev. This is the main thing.

I will never try to clarify (examine) what Gurudev has said. I will not go to see if what Gurudev has said is there in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita or not. I will not try to scrutinise it. When Gurudev says something, that is Srimad Bhagavatam. I do not know about others, but for me, what Gurudev says is Bhagavatam, what Gurudev says is the Veda, and I do not want to check if these things are actually there in the Bhagavatam or not or if these things are there in the sastra or not. What Gurudev has said is sufficient, his word is final for me.

* * *

Embarking On New Life

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 April 2020, part 5

Does *** Prabhu not come to the temple now?

Devotee: No, it is lockdown now, so he cannot come.

Oh, for that... Does he have no car?

Devotee: Nobody can drive anywhere now.

There is lockdown here too, but my car can go. I am giving some relief to the poor people, that is why my car is allowed. This is called some tactics. Do you understand? I show that I am doing something for the society, some social things, otherwise if I do something only for Krishna consciousness, they will not allow me to go anywhere.

Devotee: How is your health, Srila Gurudev?

My health is good. I am doing some exercise in my room, fifteen-twenty minutes a day.

[His Divine Grace then gives initiation into chanting of the Holy Name.]

• Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
• Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
• Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa-kula-churamani Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
• Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
• Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
• Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
• Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
• Samagata Gaura-bhakta-vrinda ki jay
• Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

You already know everything. Actually, if you want to enter Krishna consciousness life, if you want to become a member of Krishna consciousness family, today is a very good day, it is an auspicious day, and you have got this chance to be a member of Krishna's family, a member of the Lord's family. However, you are only going to get admitted to a spiritual school today, after that you must practise properly. Practise sravan, kirtan, smaran, etc.—hearing, listening, singing, remembering, praying, etc. Practise Krishna consciousness in this way and you will get service.

Today is your chance, you have got this opportunity to be admitted to this spiritual school, but only taking initiation, only taking shelter of a Guru is not sufficient—you must serve under the guidance of your Guru after that. Some think, "Oh, I have taken initiation, that is it." It is not so. When you take initiation, you only receive admission to a spiritual school. If somebody goes to school but does not study properly, does not read books, does not study properly what the professor teaches them, then they will fail when the time to take the exam comes. In our spiritual life, it is also like this. You are getting admission today, but after that you must practise sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisance, engaging in service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). Practise this nava-vidha bhakti, keep good association (sadhu-sanga), practise Nama-sankirtan, listen to lectures (Bhagavat-sravan), remember holy places (Mathura-vas), and serve Deities with the love and affection. These are our main practising processes. You will also cook, make garlands, do cleaning, etc.—you are becoming a member of Krishna's family.

Krishna has come to this world in the form of the Holy Name. Krishna's Name, beauty, pastimes are non-different from Krishna. This Name comes from Goloka Vrindavan through guru-parampara—from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev, from Vyasadev to Madhva Acharya, and so on all the way to Madhavendra Puri, then from Madhavendra Puri to Ishwar Puri, and from Ishwar Puri to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu is the Lord Himself, but He shows us that He took initiation from His guru Ishwar Puri. In this way, this Holy Name comes down our Rupanuga line. It eventually came to Srila Jagannath Das Babaji, Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, our Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, our Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. In his lifetime, Gurudev told me, "If anyone wants to receive this Holy Name and wants to chant it properly, with love and affection, from their heart, then you can give them initiation." I think that you have got good association from the devotees, therefore I am ready to give you initiation today.

Give the mala (beads) to her now. Chant with me,

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

First chant this Pancha-tattva's Name because they have brought this Holy Name to this abode. We cannot chant this Holy Name without their mercy. So, first chant their name and ask them for mercy. Then, start chanting from the big beads. There are big beads and small beads on both sides of the biggest bead called sumeru—start chanting from the big beads. Chant on each bead, one by one:

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

Next bead,

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

Chant in this way from the big beads to the small beads, then take turn and chant from the small beads to the big beads. Chant in this way and Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart, you will succeed in your spiritual life. There is also a book about the ten offences, you can read about these offences and you avoid them. Chant without offence and you will get the result quickly.

* * *

Go Forward

Kolkata-Worldwide, 26 April 2020, part 6

Question: In Guidance 4, you mention Sripad Prabhu, and I was wondering who is Sripad Prabhu?

[His Divine Grace laughs.] I do not want to mention that name. Gurudev told me one thing—when you give a lecture, you should mention the name, but when you write a book or write anything, you will never mention the name.

Question: What is the proper approach to the Deities' service at home?

Wake up early in the morning, go to the bathrom, brush your teeth, and wear clean clothes. After that, first you will recite the mantra to wake up the Deities (you can find it in Archan-kan), then give some signal by clapping your hands—this is how Deities are awakened. If you have proper Deities, give them the paraphernalia—for example, if it is Krishna, give Him His flute, etc. After that, start the mangal arati. After mangal arati, make an offering—offer some some sweets or anything else, depending on what you have in your house. After the offering, do archan—you can do it at any time in the morning, when you get time. Then, offer bhog at noon, by twelve o'clock. After that it is resting time—when you put your Deities to rest, you must take off their garland, take away the flute, etc. and leave them to rest. In the afternoon, again wake the Deities up (clap your hands), and offer them some fruit. In the evening, do the evening arati and then offer bhog. Cook something and offer it. You must offer all kinds of food, with Tulasi leaves. At night time, [again remove the paraphernalia and] recite the sayan mantra (you can see it in Archan-kan), put the Deities to sleep. This is the whole day programme. This is how you must serve Deities.

Question: Should we do all this in our houses, following all the proper time?

Actually, that is why Gurudev, and I also, say that it is very difficult to keep Deities in your house. It is always a problem because all householder devotees work outside and cannot worship Deities properly. That is why it is better if you can get a picture—if you sometimes cannot do everything properly, it is not a problem because that picture comes from a temple (for example, if you worship Gaura Nitai, these Deities' picture comes from Ekachakra, or if you worship Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda-sundar, they are present in Nabadwip or Siliguri), and every temple worships these Deities every day, so even if you go out to work, even if you go to your relatives' house and sometimes cannot do the offering properly, then there will not be offence. But if you keep Deities in your house, you must do everything every day and following proper time.

[His Divine Grace addresses another devotee:]

I see you are becoming old... You are doing so much garden work—farm work, cows, garden—living there and becoming old... You must make a guesthouse for devotees. OK? This is the main thing—if devotees do not live there, then what is this? Our line is devotees' service, to always serve devotees. Even if you make an ashram, you must build a good guesthouse so that devotees can stay there. That will be good for you.

Question: I am a student and go to university—how can I practise properly? How can I fight against maya in my heart?

Practise sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, praying and offering obeisances). Keep good association, sadhu-sanga. Chant the Holy Name, Nama-sankirtan. Read books, listen to lectures of our guru-varga. This is how you can practise.

Everybody is now staying at home—what are you all doing? It is necessary to write, to read. You have got this time now—Krishna has given you this time to practise. So, chant the Holy Name, chant all bhajans, kirtans, read books. This is our practising life! If you have some proper service, you can do that service. You can do every single service for the Deities. You can make garlands, you can do Tulasi service, make a Tulasi garden, make a flower garden—do whatever you can according to your capacity. You must give everything to the Lord—you must give yourself to the Lord. Jump to the Lord and give everything to Him!

As for overcoming maya (illusion), if you chant the Holy Name, if you are conscious of it, then you can overcome maya. Actually, you know that "daivi hy esa gunamayi, mama maya duratyaya" (Bg, 7.14)—it is very difficult to control maya, to control material desires, but if you surrender properly to your Guru, to Krishna, the Lord, then maya will automatically run away from you. Also, if you have some bad desires, as soon as you feel some bad desire is coming to your mind, you must nip it in the bud—avoid it from the beginning, from the root.

I am finishing today. I am praying to the Lord that everybody may stay together and in good health and that everybody may practise properly. Always remember our Gurudev's teachings. Remember what Gurudev told and keep it in your mind—you must go forward, you must do service to please him. Dandavat.

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
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Hari bol. Hari bol.

* * *

World of Spiritual Practice

Evening class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
6 March 2020, part 2, translated from Bengali

You have heard today about three more islands (Sri Antardwip, Sri Simantadwip, and Sri Rudradwip), but we did not get to go to Rudradwip because it is a little far and if we had gone there, we would have returned late at night. Also, it is ekadasi yesterday—it is a dvadasi day, but we observe ekadasi (fast) today and you have become very tired. That is why I did not want to take much time, but still we returned only in the evening. In some places, we had to hurry and we did not get chance to sit and speak. As we were walking, chanting kirtan, the time came to take prasadam, after that we returned here by our buses. If we had walked back, we would have returned only late in the evening.

We have done the parikrama of Antardwip today—you have heard that this is the island of atma-nivedanam (surrender, or saranagati). There are nine devotional practices, one of which is atma-nivedanam. The nine devotional practices are sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). These nine devotional processes are represented on the nine islands of Nabadwip. Antardwip is in the middle, and the other eight islands are on the four sides of the middle. You can buy the book Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-Mukta-Mala and see the picture—it is shown here the eight islands on all four sides, and in the middle is Antardwip.

We have visited many places today—we have been to Chandrasekhara Acharya's house (where Chaitanya Math is). Chandrasekhara Acharya is Nimai's uncle. We have been to Nandan Acharya's house. We have been to Simantadwip also, it is the island of sravan (hearing). Godrumdwip, where we are now, is the island of kirtan (chanting). We have also spoken about the glories of Rudradwip. Rudradwip is the island of sakhya, service in the mood of friendship.

You have been walking so much past two days, but tomorrow is the parikrama of Nabadwip (Nabadwip Town, Koladwip), so we will return quickly. Koladwip is aparadh-bhanjan pat and the island of pada-sevanam (serving the lotus feet of the Lord).

kuliyate pasandira atyachara kaila ya'ra
ta sabara dosa ksama kari'
jagate kaile ghosana 'taroriva sahisnuna'
hana 'kirtaniyah sada harih'

"You forgave all the atheists of Kuliya village, despite their bad behaviour. Loudly you proclaimed to one and all: one who is more tolerant than a tree can always chant the glories of Lord Hari."

Tomorrow is the parikrama of Koladwip. We will try to give prasad at the paran time, and then we will return here by bus. We should come back by ten-eleven o'clock and you will be able to rest a little.

You have heard today in Sri Gaura-Nityananda mandir (Nandan Acharya Bhavan) about the meeting of Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu. When Mahaprabhu saw Nityananda Prabhu, They both became overwhelmed with divine love—They embraced each other tightly and fell on the ground. That moment was Their first meeting.

When you were in Vrindavan, you heard many times the glories of Sri Madhavendra Puri, whose disappearance day is today. We always sit on the bank of Govinda Kunda and talk about him. We remember how he got the service to Gopal, how Gopal stole ksir (sweet rice) for him and after that got the name 'Ksir-chora' Gopinath. That Gopinath's temple is in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. This Madhavendra Puri's disappearance day is today, on dvadasi.

Do you know what is the most important thing? The main thing is that we must practise Krishna consciousness... The problem is that we cannot tolerate anything, we have little patience, little tolerance. Today, when I came downstairs, I saw that one old lady was sitting and eating muri (puffed rice). Just think about it! She is sixty-seventy years old, but she is eating muri on ekadasi! So much prasadam was given today—if she wanted, I could have given her a whole bucket of potato, a whole bucket of fruit. When you fast on ekadasi, you get spiritual benefit. Even Mahaprabhu told His mother to follow ekadasi. If you fast on ekadasi one day, what is the problem? When you are admitted to hospital, the day before the operation, you are given saline drips the whole day—at that time you do not eat any rice, you do not eat anything at all. If you eat rice on ekadasi, it means you are eating sin—eating rice on ekadasi is the same as eating cow meat. You must not take any grains on ekadasi—there are five types of grains that are prohibited on this day (rice, wheat, barley, pulses, mustard/sesame oil). It is only one day, and not only that—there is so much anukalpa prasad that you can take. You can take so many other things—fruit, paneer, milk, subji, etc. Can you not manage without grains? If you try, you definitely can.

* * *

Your Golden Opportunity

Kolkata-Worldwide, 3 May 2020, part 1

Hare Krishna! Jay Gurudev.

I see everybody is in their houses. Krishna is arranging everything—always chant His Name, always remember His Name. We are all now in our houses, and we are getting an opportunity to practise properly. We can practise chanting the songs, we can offer bhog, we can do everything properly, keep good association, Nama-sankirtan, and always remember holy places, always remember Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, Sri Puri Dham parikrama, Sri Vrindavan Dham parikrama. We can remember everything, that is a good opportunity for us these days.

I sometimes see the news, now all countries are in lockdown, even in Russia the number of covid patients is increasing day by day. The whole world is now shaking—the whole world is thinking, "We will die," "We will die," but we know that everybody will die one day. Death will come for everybody, but what have we got this human body for? We must understand it and utilise this human body properly. We must utilise our senses in a proper way—for the service of the Lord.

All over the world, people are covered by illusory environment, but we know Srimad Bhagavad-gita, we know Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, and we can understand easily that Krishna Himself has come to this world in the form of His Holy Name, and being in this world is the time when everybody must chant the Holy Name. This is the time to chant the glories of the Lord—to glorify Bhagavan Krishna's Name, beauty, pastimes, to glorify His Names, to glorify His pastimes. It is the time to do that. That is why the Lord has brought this kind of situation (this lockdown) into our lives.

We were busy working twenty-fours a day every day, worrying, "How I will eat? How will I sleep? How will I get relief from my disease?" We were always thinking about all these things, but Krishna has arranged something for devotees—if you can understand it, then you will understand that now that you are sitting at home, you cannot pass your days worrying and thinking it is a very big problem. You have so much energy, you are sitting in one place, but this is actually good—be quiet and chant the Holy Name, remember Gurudev's pastimes, the Lord's pastimes. It is necessary to do this.

Neither you, nor I have ever see this kind of situation in our lives, but this kind of situation was necessary. People always travelled here and there all over the world only thinking about their own enjoyment, thinking about their children, their family, their relatives. Who are your proper relatives? Your relatives are your Guru, Vaishnavs, and Bhagavan. Devotees are your real relatives. Now you have got time to think about this.

This is the proper conception, and we must understand this proper conception.

* * *

Pass Your Life in Service

Kolkata-Worldwide, 3 May 2020, part 2

Do not waste your time on gossiping, talking nonsense. You have got time to chant the Holy Name, to read books, scriptures, to listen to Gurudev's, Guru Maharaj's lectures, to all our acharyas' lectures. You can see what they are saying, how they live. You can read the biographies of Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami, you can read about their lifestyle and see how they got real benefit. I was reading today about the biography, lifestyle, etc. of Bhrigu Maharaj, Bali Maharaj, Chitraketu, Ambarish Maharaj, and Khatvanga Maharaj. I read how they passed their life and how they got the real benefit. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur wrote one book where he tells about Bhrigu Maharaj, Ambarish Maharaj, King Chitraketu, Bali Maharaj. I am very happy to read it, I am thinking it is not sufficient to read it once, it is necessary to read it again and again.

Now is the time. Pass your life in service. You can take care of your Deities properly, you can take care of your spiritual life. You have got a proper time for it. It is good for you. After lockdown finishes, everybody will again go to work and will be so busy going here, there, but now you have got the real time. This is the main thing.

By and by, I am also a little bit sad because we could not make a good festival for Gurudev's disappearance, also we could not make a proper appearance festival of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Madan-Mohan in Tarakeshwar temple. It is Nrisingha chaturdasi (the appearance day of Lord Nrisinghadev) in two days—I will try to go there to pay my obeisance. Even though it is lockdown, I will still try to go there by the mercy of Prahlad Maharaj and Nrisinghadev.

Actually, we must think about the devotion of Sri Prahlad Maharaj, we must see the highest devotion of Vraja gopis, how Vraja gopis left everything for Lord Krishna. They left their shyness, everything for Krishna—they can do anything for Krishna. I was reading about it too. Sometimes, I read about Guna Manjari, Rupa Manjari, Lavanga Manjari, Rasa Manjari, Ananga Manjari, how they do their service, how they help Srimati Radharani. I was also reading how much Mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaj and all the Vraja gopis felt separation when Krishna left Vrindavan. If you read Gopi-gita in Srimad Bhagavatam, you can understand how much separation from Krishna they feel. We must think about separation—about our Gurudev, Guru Maharaj, also sometimes great devotees also leave us. Many devotees have left us, have left their human body. If you can remember them and glorify their qualities, it is good.

Everybody has some good qualities, and everybody has some bad qualities—why will we take anyone's bad quality? Always take everyone's good qualities. This is the main thing. Ignore bad things. It is necessary to have tolerance and patience. And it is also necessary to keep good association. Good association means the association of those who always speak about Krishna, who do not gossip about nonsense things. Do not hear such nonsense talks, do not listen to such nonsense talks, and do not keep any bad things in your mind. That is our problem. It is the religion of the ears, religion of the eyes, religion of the mind to always want to listen to some interesting things, to want to listen to all kinds of stories, to bad things; but we have no attachment to our service... If I am attached to my service, I will always ignore bad things, bad talks, stories.

I am very happy to see all the devotees' faces. Everybody now has got time to chant the Holy Name, and Krishna is actually testing you to see how much patience you have, how long you can sit in one place in your house. Anyhow, at least I can see all your faces and remember you, remember Gurudev. I see you are practising properly. You all can understand easily what is our real life, what we have got this life for and how we should use this life. Use your time properly, do not waste your time. Talk with devotees about Krishna consciousness, about your experience in Krishna consciousness, about your life with Gurudev and Guru Maharaj.

* * *

How to Increase Surrender

Kolkata-Worldwide, 3 May 2020, part 3

Are there any questions from anybody. Any pregunta?

Question: What nice preparations can we offer Nrisinghadev on Nrisingha-chaturdasi?

You can make any preparation, but it is fasting from morning until evening [until sunset] on Wednesday, and in the evening you should take ekadasi prasad. If you have Deities, then you can offer everything, other people can take it, but we must fast from morning to evening. Before sunset, you must read about the glories of Prahlad Maharaj and Lord Nrisinghadev, you can read about the appearance of Sri Nrisinghadev from Srimad Bhagavatam or any other book you have. I will also try to give a class on this day, you can listen to it.

Question: How can we increase our surrender to Guru and Krishna?

You can see the example of proper surrender in Bali Maharaj. You can read about Bali Maharaj, read about the kind of surrender (sarangati) he had, you can also read Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's Upadesamrita. Read it, and read it properly. How to surrender properly? Saranagati comes when you follow 100% what Gurudev told—you should try to follow 200%, then if your attempt will perhaps turn out less, it will be 100%. Always try to listen to what your Guru says, always think how to fulfil Gurudev's desire. Guru is the centre of a disciple's heart.

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

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

(Saranagati, 1)

These are the six types of sarangati. (1) Be humble. (2) Give everything to Gurudev. (3) You must keep strongest faith that Krishna takes care of us, (4) that Krishna protects us. (5) Do what is favourable to devotion, and in the meantime, (6) you must reject what is unfavourable to devotion. Sometimes, you do everything properly, but at the same time you also do what is improper—you must give it up, reject such things. That is the main thing. This is how you can easily increase your surrender. The meaning of surrender is this:

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

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

(Saranagati, 1)

Accept what is favourable to devotion and reject or avoid what is unfavourable to devotion.

nidralasya hata sukarye virata
akarye udyogi ami

"I am subdued by laziness and sleep, averse to performing good deeds, and eager to perform sinful deeds."

(Saranagati, 1)

Do not indulge in too much sleeping, laziness. Sometimes, we are sitting in quarantine for one month, we become very lazy, etc. but this is not right—do not waste your time. Try to read books. Read, read, and read, then your brain will open up, your brain will be sharp. Read continuously—read the same books more, and more, and more, then you will get pure taste through that. Not like, you read a book one time, and that is it, finished. No. Read again and again, again and again. Read, read, and read. That is the main thing. Then your surrender will increase.

When Bali Maharaj understood that what his Guru was saying was wrong, he rejected his guru to surrender to the Lord. His Guru even cursed him to go to hell, but Bali Maharaj did not care about it. Vraja gopis also did not care—Narad Goswami told them, "You are giving your footdust to Krishna! You will go to hell!" but Vraja gopis did not care, they did not listen to that. "No problem. If I go to hell for Krishna, that is OK for me." It is necessary to have this kind of determination, this kind of intention—"If I go to hell for my Gurudev's service, it is OK. No problem, I will accept it." These are the main things. If you follow all this, then you will get proper surrender—your service mood will increase, and your surrender will increase. This is what is necessary for that.

* * *

Sri Nrisingha-Chaturdasi: Auspicious Day

Sri Nrisingha-chaturdasi day
Kolkata-Worldwide, 6 May 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Om Vishnupad Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj ki jay
Sachchidananda Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur ki jay
Sarvabhauma Sri Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham Sri Nabadwip Dham Sri Vrindavan Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Tandiya sakha Math samuha ki jay
Sri Mather sevak vrinda bhakta-vrinda ananta-koti Vaishnav vrinda ki jay
Sri Sada-Siva Gangadhar Giriraj Govardhan ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Appearance of Nrisinghadev ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
All the sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
All the brahmachari-vrinda, all the bhakta-mandali, all the matri-mandali ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Devotee: Jay Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya-varya Ashtottara-shata-sri Srimad Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay. Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

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

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

(Bhavartha Dipika)

Today is a very auspicious day, we remember this day every year. It is the appearance day of Sri Nrisingha avatar—Sri Nrisinghadev. We all know that there are ten avatars, or incarnations of the Lord—Matsya avatar, Kurma avatar, Varaha avatar, Parasuram avatar, Buddha avatar, Rama avatar, Nrisingha avatar, Vaman avatar, Baladev avatar, and Kalki avatar. These are the ten incarnations of the Lord. Every year we make a big festival for Lord Nrisinghadev, but we could not really make a big festival this year because of the pandemic time, because of the coronavirus pandemic. I was thinking yesterday that I would go to Nrisingha Palli today, and I went there today early in the morning—I paid my obeisance to Lord Nrisinghadev and Gaura Nitai, and come back quickly to Kolkata to meet with you all.

On this day, I am also remembering our beloved Gurudev, Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, because he joined Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math on the appearance day of Lord Nrisinghadev. He joined proper Krishna consciousness and came to Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's lotus feet on this day, that is why I am remembering him very much on this day.

Anyhow, I will tell you today something about Nrisinghadev and Prahlad Maharaj, about the teachings of Prahlad Maharaj. Everything is there in Srimad Bhagavatam, in the seventh canto (skandha)—what Prahlad Maharaj teaches us, what Prahlad Maharaj learned from his mother's womb, and what he told his father Hiranyakasipu for the benefit of all jiva souls, for all of us. This is the main teaching of this pastime of Prahlad Maharaj and Nrisinghadev.

Lord Nrisingha is Nara-simha, a human body (nara) and a lion body (simha) mixed together. Why does the Lord show us this body, this kind of form? There is much background history. Four-armed Lord Narayan, the holder of sankha (conch), chakra (wheel), gada (club), padma (lotus), comes as Nrisingha. A lion is always angry with a human body—a lion always wants to eat human bodies, but when its baby comes to it, the lion gives its baby much much affection. Similarly, when Nrisingha became very angry and was shouting loudly, at that time Prahlad Maharaj came to Him, and Nrisinghadev became cool when He saw His child. That is the example given in the scriptures, I was reading this sloka today. It is a very nice expression.

Anyway, I will discuss this later. Now I want to sing one song and the Dasa-avatara Stotram. Dasa-avatara Stotram is composed by Srila Jayadev Goswami, we will sing it today.

[His Divine Grace chants kirtans.]

* * *

No Such Thing as Personal Affairs

Kolkata-Worldwide, 3 May 2020, part 4

Question: To what extent should we involve Your Divine Grace into our personal material affairs?

You must be open—you must give everything to your Guru. Keep all your 'personal material affairs,' personal things, everything at your Guru's lotus feet. If you want to be an engineer, if you want to be a doctor, if you want to be a physicist, if you want to be a scientist, that is not a problem, but everything can be used for the service of the Lord. You should think how to transform these things into service to the Lord.

For example, before, in my childhood, I used to read so many story books. I always liked to read detective books, but now I am reading Upadesamrita of Srila Rupa Goswami. I have a habit to read books, and I read many books. You can see that they have stolen my books three-four times—I had to buy the books again, I collected many books through many ways.

So, I read and read, read and read, and I am realising what is written in books, I am getting the taste through that. The more I read, the more taste is coming—I feel more and more, more and more taste. It is beautiful. I relish more and more interesting things through reading, and I am enjoying with that.

Then, we must realise how we can involve ourselves, involve our own things in the service of the Lord. This is the main thing.

* * *

Everything Has Its Limit

Kolkata-Worldwide, 3 May 2020, part 5

Any other questions from anybody?

Question: How can one recover once a seva-aparadh is committed and the service is gone away?

Actually, when you do some service, seva-aparadh will come—you may or may not know about it. You may not know before that something is a seva-aparadh, but once you understand a bit later that it is a seva-aparadh, you must try to avoid it. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gives one example. Suppose Gurudev gives somebody money for buying groceries, and the person steals some money from there thinking, "Gurudev always gives me money, and he does not care to check the receipt, the balance, etc., so I can steal something every day." No. If you have such a habit and you know that it is not good, you must avoid it, then that seva-aparadh can be removed from you.

Devotee: How does one go back and rectify the past if it has already happened, if the offence is already committed?

Through service. Do not leave your service. If you continue doing that service, then you can recover from the committed offence. Do not leave it saying, "Oh, I have made an offence to the service, I will not do this service any more." That is not good. That is very bad. You must think, "I have made a mistake today, I have made a seva-aparadh today—I will do my service again but without any seva-aparadh this time."

Question: In Guidance 4, you are saying that Gurudev accepts faulty service because he is merciful—it is not that he likes the faulty service that we are offering, but because he is merciful, he accepts it; but then his mercy has some limit, it can stop and that service may run away. Can you tell more about this?

That is the truth. Mercy has limit. If you do wrong, wrong, wrong every day, day after day, day after day, then one day seva will run away from you. If you do wrong every day and you know it—you know that you steal money every day, day after day—then it is not good. You know it but you still do it every day. Then, mercy has its limit. Gurudev will not say anything, but he can tolerate it for some time, and if you keep on doing wrong every day, then Gurudev's tolerance, Gurudev's mercy has its limit. Of course.

* * *

Affection for Devotees

Kolkata-Worldwide, 3 May 2020, part 6

Question: How can we harmonise with everyone and have compassion not only for devotees but for everyone?

Compromise. I have told it before and you must understand that envy is very bad. Gurudev told it many times also, he says, "If somebody was poor before but now has become rich and lives a good lifestyle, then I will be happy for them." You must not envy anyone thinking, "Oh, how did that man become rich?!" or, "How can some devotees develop their service more and more, more and more, and why cannot I do that?! I envy them!" That is not correct. You must be happy for others. If somebody is happy, you must be happy too. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur told about it in the song, "Amara jivana sada pape rata nahika punyera lesa." You can see the meaning of this song. He says there, "Para sukhe duhkhi—I am sad when somebody is happy." No, this is not right. If somebody is happy, I must also be happy. If somebody is sad, if something has happened in somebody's life, I must be sad about it, I must not clap and be happy—no, I must be sad about it. This is how you can harmonise with everyone now. However, if somebody is an offender and makes so many offences all the time, then their heart becomes very hard—they make offences all the time and become big offenders, asuras (demons). They always do like that, but our duty is to ignore it—we must tolerate and be patient when it comes to such people. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says,

vaisnava-charitra sarvada pavitra
yei ninde himsa kari'
bhaktivinoda na sambhase tan're
thake sada mauna dhari'

"The character of Vaishnavs is always pure. Bhaktivinod keeps quiet and does not associate with those who are envious of Vaishnavs and who criticise Vaishnavs."

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru)

If we hear somebody gossiping about somebody else, we must keep quiet and remain silent. That is what Bhaktivinod Thakur told.

Does anyone else have any other questions?

Question: How can we show affection, compassion for devotees?

In the current circumstances, do according to your capacity. If you read Sri Sri Prema-vivarta composed by Srila Jagadananda Pandit, you can understand it. Sriman Mahaprabhu says that if you have prasadam, you can give prasadam to others, but if you do not have prasadam, then at least you can give some sweet words to them—give them sweet words, love, and affection. If you have nothing, you can still treat them with humility, show some affection, love. This is what you should do in this current situation. How else can you help? Think how you can help with these kinds of things. You can help those who are suffering a lot with your heart. That will be good.

Question: How can we get prema-bhakti in this life?

If you have that kind of desire, "I want prema-bhakti!" then you will get it. It is necessary to have a great desire, and also mercy of a great personality, then you will get prema-bhakti.

Question: I want to preach, but I did something wrong and the memory of having committed that fault discourages me. How can I get through with this? It still keeps coming to my mind and I do not preach...

If you still do that fault every day, that is not good, but if you did that fault before and do not do it now, then you must remove it from your mind. It sometimes comes to your mind, "Oh, I did wrong before, I have made a mistake!" and you do not get enthusiasm to preach, but you must try and try, try and try to preach and to practise properly. If you chant the Holy Name properly, then you can tell others to please chant the Holy name. If you follow the rules and regulations, then you can tell others also to please follow the rules and regulations. This is how you will get enthusiasm, but do not stop preaching, that is not good.

Question: How to increase love and affection for devotees?

Actually, it increases by serving without offence, by chanting the Holy Name without offence, by practising properly and by not keeping in your heart any bad intention, such as kanak (longing for money), kamini (longing for companions), pratistha (longing for prestige). These three are very bad for us, especially pratistha. Pratistha is very bad, it takes devotees to hell. "I want to be big," "I want to be a big speaker," "I want to be a big singer," "I want to be a big sannyasi," "I want to be a big devotee." This is pratistha. Actually, our line is that we want to be servants of a servant of devotees. Daso daso dasya (a servant of a servant of a servant). When this mood (that I want to be a servant of a servant of devotees) comes to my heart, then I can understand that some devotional activities are happening. My duty is to give love and affection to others, my duty is to serve Guru, Vaishnavs, and the Lord (Bhagavan), and it is their matter if they accept my service or not, but I will do my duty—I will do my best to serve to make them happy.

Question: We want to serve devotees, but in the process of serving devotees, there is always some envy inside. Does this envy go away in the course of service or is there some way to remove it?

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi' ahankara
vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji' anye karabi palana

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean. Practise tolerance like a tree. Give up vengeance and nurture others."

That is what Sriman Mahaprabhu told. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur explains this verse written by Sriman Mahaprabhu in His Siksastakam. You can find it there. Envy is a disease. What is the medicine for envy? Always do service, always chant the Holy Name, always think about the happiness of your Guru and Vaishnavs, then envy will be removed from your heart.

Question: Can I offer bhog to Gurudev with Tulasi?

Yes, you can offer bhog to Gurudev with Tulasi. Only you must not give Tulasi to Gurudev's feet, but when you offer Tulasi at your altar, you can give Tulasi to Gurudev's hand or chest, not feet. When you offer bhog, you can give Tulasi to every preparation, otherwise how will Gurudev or Deities take the offering without Tulasi?

Question: What is pratistha?

Pratistha is very bad. Pratistha is a very big disease. Pratistha means 'name and fame.' It is a big disease, and it is necessary to have mercy from Gurudev to remove it. Sometimes also pratistha runs behind devotees—one time, Ksir-chora Gopinath kept some prasadam for Madhavendra Puri; when Madhavendra Puri got that prasad, he ran away from Balasore to Puri before the morning came, but when he came to Puri he saw that the news that Gopinath had stole ksir for him, had already reached Puri before he even got there.

At the same time, there is also vaishnava-pratistha. "Vaisnavi pratistha, tate koro nistha: you must firmly establish yourself in the consciousness that you are a servant of the Lord." If somebody is a great Vaishnav or a great scholar like our Gurudev, Guru Maharaj, and you preach about Srila Gurudev, Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad, Bhagavan Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, they all have vaishnava-pratistha and you must pay obeisance to that pratistha. But when it comes to your own pratistha, you must always run away from it.

Question: Can we offer bhoga to Lord Siva with Tulasi?

Yes, why not? Sivji Maharaj is a Vaishnav! Vaisnavam yatha Sambhu.

Question: Sometimes we hear something bad about some devotees and when we associate with those devotees we keep remembering what we have heard before. How to get rid of this?

That is also explained in the scriptures. You must try to forget what you have heard. If somebody made some mistake before or somebody spoke rude, do not hold it against them. When you talk to them, you must understand that they did that before, but now they are doing good and behave very nicely. You must take their good quality and do not think about the bad quality they had before. You must always try to remove such thoughts from your heart.

Question: How can I serve through my doctor's job?

You are a child specialist?

Devotee: Yes, I am paediatrician.

Then you can take care of all the devotees' children. Try to give them some medicine and think how devotees' children can avoid the covid-19.

* * *

Life Sacrifice

Kolkata-Worldwide, 3 May 2020, part 7

[To Sripad Damodar Prabhu, São Paulo:] You are preaching very nicely, you are a very good preacher. Your health condition is not good, but you are still preaching—I appreciate your service, you do so much service in the temple, and you preach, it is very good. You always have my support.

[To the two devotees taking initiation:] You are very fortunate souls—you are going to become members of our family, members of Krishna's family. It is a very big family. You used to live before in the family of maya, illusory environment, but now you are joining the family of Krishna.

Actually, when we get enrolled into a school, college, or university, it does not mean that we have finished that school or university—you cannot finish a school without studying, without passing exams, without doing the graduate or post-graduate exams. In this spiritual life also, you are only getting admitted to this spiritual school, but after that you should practise properly, you must keep good association, engage in Nama-sankirtan, listen to Hari-katha, Bhagavat-sravan, remember the holy dham, the holy places where Krishna's devotees live and where Krishna's pastimes happen (there are so many holy places), and you must also serve your Guru and Vaishnavs with love and affection, with full faith. These are the main things.

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)

You must understand this. Chant the Holy Name properly, chant your japa properly and serve as much as possible. You must also always listen to Hari-katha, Krishna-katha and always avoid bad association. Always avoid the association of those who do not serve Krishna—even if they are your parents. You may live with them—you may live with your husband, your wife, your family—but you must always keep away from their association. Association does not mean external association, it means associating heart to heart. Sometimes, when we sleep, there is also some mosquito sleeping with us in the bed, but we do not associate with that mosquito. In the same way, sometimes the mother and the father in some family are not devotees, sometimes they are against devotees, then you can stay with them in the same way that you stay with a mosquito.

This Holy Name that you are about to get now, is coming through a guru-parampara. It has come from Krishna to Brahma, from Brahma to Narad, from Narad to Vyasadev, from Vyasadev to Madhva Acharya—in this way, it came to Madhavendra Puri, then from Madhavendra Puri to Ishwar Puri, and from Ishwar Puri to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu Himself took initiation to show that it is necessary to establish a relationship.

You live in Brazil, and your Brazilian president also has a family. In front of you, he is a president, he behaves formal and you have no relation with him, but when he is at his house, he is not a president there—he is a member of the family and his family members know him as he is. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a proper relationship with your Guru, and this relationship comes through service. You must establish a relationship with devotees through service, by dealing with them following proper etiquette, developing proper attitude. If you can continue your spiritual life in this way, you must succeed in your spiritual life.

So, this Holy Name came to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He is the Lord Himself, but even He took initiation. After that, the Holy Name eventually came to Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, our Guru Maharaj Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and finally our Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. After that, this Holy Name came to me because Gurudev told me, "If somebody wants to chant this Holy Name, if somebody wants to join the family of Krishna and wants to spend the rest of their life living a spiritual life, you can give initiation to them." It is necessary to sacrifice your life for the service of the Lord.

Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everything that is going on here all over the world comes from Him. America is saying that China has brought covid-19, but what neither America, nor China knows is that this covid-19 is coming from the Lord—it is coming from Yamaraj on the order of the Lord. No matter who it is, one can be a great man, one can have a great brain, but we must understand that those who will die, will die. We cannot stop death as much as we cannot stop birth. It is rolling on automatically. Actually, we are neither born, nor do we die. The fact is that we only always change our bodies. However, now that you have got a human body, you must understand what is its purpose—why must you live like cats and dogs? Everyone has a family—dogs have a family, pigs have a family, oxen have a family, tigers have a family, cows have a family, buffalos have a family, snakes have a family, frogs have a family, and you also have a family, but there is a difference between your body and all the other species: you have got a human body, you have intelligence, you have a good brain (sumedha), and you must take advantage of that good brain, use it for a good purpose.

Now come in front of me one by one. Sit a little distance from each other—keep social distance, but not mental distance. Damodar Prabhu, give the beads to the first devotee.

Tell,

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

This is Pancha-tattva's Name. First chant this Pancha-tattva's Name and ask Them for Their mercy because They have brought this Holy Name to this abode. We cannot chant this Holy Name without Their mercy. Then, start chanting from the big beads, one by one. There are big beads and small beads on both sides of the biggest bead called sumeru—start chanting from the big beads. Chant on each bead, one by one. You do not need to chant together with me now, you can chant later, now only listen properly to me.

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

Chant in this way from the big beads to the small beads, then take turn and chant from the small beads to the big beads. Chant in this way sixteen rounds or more, that is good for you. If you are busy with service any day, then you must chant not less than four rounds—four rounds must be chanted every day. There is also a book about the ten offences, you must read what these ten offences are. Read the whole book, but read about the ten offences properly and avoid them. If you can chant the Holy Name without offences, you will get the result quickly, Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart and you will succeed in your spiritual life.

* * *

Devotional Lifestyle

Kolkata-Worldwide, 10 May 2020, part 1

Hare Krishna!

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Nitai Gaurachandra Prabhu 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 Shyama Kunda Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all by the mercy of Gurudev. I think that everybody is still in lockdown, or quarantine, in their houses, practising Krishna consciousness properly. I am praying to Gurudev, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Nityananda Prabhu, to please protect all devotees, all our well-wishers. I pray that people all over the world overcome this situation and that it may be good for everyone because this situation actually teaches us patience, tolerance, humility. We can learn so many things if we try to learn.

It is necessary to practise properly and to control all our senses. We sing in the Vaishnav Giti song,

chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi'
chhaya guna deha' dase

"Subjugate the six urges, rectify the six defects, and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant."

Srila Rupa Goswamipad composed a very good sloka in his Upadesamrita:

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)

Those who are dhira (who have a good brain, who are highly intelligent, sumedha, সুমেধা) can control, or tolerate, these six urges.

(1) 'Vacho-vegam' means the urge of speech. Is what you are saying related to Krishna consciousness? Is it related to devotional activities? It is necessary to think what you are talking about and to control what comes out of your mouth. You must understand, "Is what I am saying related to Krishna consciousness or is it other, nonsense things?" Try to avoid talking much prajalpa, talking much nonsense. It is necessary to control your speech.

(2) 'Manasa-vegam', or 'mano-vegam' means the urge of mind. Our mind is fickle and always goes everywhere. We can be sitting here, but our mind is wandering everywhere, going here, going there. Sometimes we cannot control our mind—I can be sitting here because of the lockdown, because of the quarantine, but my mind goes to other places. They cannot lockdown our minds—our mind goes everywhere. They can lockdown or quarantine our body, but the mind cannot be quarantined—our minds go everywhere. That is why it is necessary to always control your mind.

(3) 'Krodha-vegam' means the urge of anger. You are sitting here, it is boring, boring, boring, and sometimes you become angry thinking, "Oh, I cannot go out! I cannot do this! I cannot buy that! I cannot go to the market!" Sometimes anger comes, but in this situation you can try to control your anger.

(4) 'Jihva-vegam' is the urge of tongue. Sometimes, the market is open and you think, "Oh, I can buy this, I can eat this, that." I spoke to one non-devotee (they actually come to the temple sometimes, but they do not follow proper rules and regulations, they do some kind of Hinduism), and they complained to me, "Oh, Maharaj, we cannot go to the market!" I said, "Now you are very angry because you are not getting your meat and fish!" These things cause anger. You should control it. Your tongue wants to eat this, this, that, and you cannot control it, but it is necessary to try to control these things.

(5) 'Udara-vegam' means the urge of stomach: you are always hungry, your belly always wants something. And (6) 'upastha-vegam', the urge of genitals, or lust. You know what that it—you must control your lust.

Those who can control, who can tolerate and stop these urges, this kind of influence, who has that kind of symptom in their character—they can control the whole world. That is what Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu said.

Also, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote a poem about it:

guru-krpa-bale labha’ sambandha-vijnana
krti-jiva hayena bhajane yatnavana

It means that through Gurudev, by the mercy of Gurudev, you get the relationship with the Lord, and if you are a good practitioner, if you always follow all devotional processes, all rules and regulations, then you will take care of your practising life, you will try hard to practise by controlling these six urges.

vakya-vega, mano-vega, krodha-vega ara
jihva-vega, udara-upastha-vega chhara
ei chhaya vega sahi krsna-nama-asraye
jagat sasite pare parajiya bhaye

Those who can tolerate these six urges and who take shelter of the Holy Name of Krishna, are always victorious (they can never be defeated) and can control the whole world.

And,

kevala saranagati krsna-bhakti-maya
bhakti-pratikula tyaga tara anga haya
chhaya vega sahi’ yukta-vairagya asraye
name aparadha-sunya haibe nirbhaye

"When you surrender exclusively and become endowed with devotion to Krishna, when rejecting all that is unfavourable to devotion becomes a part of your life, when you can tolerate these six urges taking shelter in proper renunciation, then you will become free from offences to the Holy Name and fearless."

You must surrender to the lotus feet of the Lord and become Krishna consciousness, become devoted to Krishna, and you must always reject that which is unfavourable to devotion.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur explains Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's verse in this way, it is a very nice expression. I was reading it today.

* * *

Undevotional Lifestyle

Kolkata-Worldwide, 10 May 2020, part 2

chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi'
chhaya guna deha' dase

"Subjugate the six urges, rectify the six defects, and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant."

If we have these six faults—if we think that we have these faults—then we must always try to reduce them, we must always try to avoid these faults. It is necessary to control the six urges and it is necessary to remove the six faults.

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu also tells about it his sloka,

atyaharah prayascha prajalpo niyamagrahah
jana-sangascha laulancha sad-bhir-bhakti-vinasyati

"Material over-accumulating, material over-working, talking too much, attachment to unauthorised rules, association with non-devotees, being fickle-minded are the six faults that destroy devotion."

(Sri Upadesamrta, 2)

(1) Atyahara. I have told about it before also. Here, the sloka is almost the same as what I was talking about before. Atyahara means not only eating too much, there is also a deeper meaning—Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu explains that it also means collecting or keeping too much. For example, you keep too much balance in your bank account, you accumulate things, money, etc. That is called atyahara. You are thinking, "Oh, I will keep some money so that my son or grandson can get it after me," or, "Oh, if I become old, who will take care of me? I will keep some money for myself." People always think about themselves and accumulate everything. It is not good.

(2) Prayasa means giving too much labour for your own enjoyment ("prakrta visaye adhik parisram"). It means you work all day long for your own enjoyment, for your own interests—your whole life you try so hard to get material enjoyment, you are giving so much labour for your own self, your own enjoyment. That is also not good.

(3) Prajapla means talking too much, talking about unnecessary things. It is a waste of time. You must control your talking as much as possible, that is good for you. It is not necessary to talk so much. Be reserved (mitabhasi)—talk less, do not be very talkative.

(4) Niyamagraha means showing, on the one hand, that you follow many rules and regulations (you say you do want to touch something, you do not do this, that); and, on the other hand, it also means neglecting, or not following, rules and regulations, not practising properly. There are things like Tulasi seva, etc. that are necessary for your spiritual life, and there are also other things that you can hear in some places but that are not recommended by Gurudev or scriptures, or you get some idea from your mind and follow it. That is called niyamagraha—niyame adhik adar, giving much affection to that which is not necessary, following other things.

(5) Jana-sangancha means associating with those who are averse to Krishna, who are not related to devotional activites. You must always avoid such association. You must talk about your sacred things, talk about Krishna consciousness with devotees—do not talk with outside people who do not know anything, who do not want to hear anything. If you talk to someone and you see that they have no interest in what you are saying, you must avoid such association. If somebody is interested, you can preach to them otherwise do not mix with such people. That is what Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu says. Do not associate with those who have no devotion to Krishna. What does association (sanga) mean? When you go to the market to buy something, you talk to the shopkeeper, but that is not association. Association means taking something from somebody, giving something to somebody, having a relation with somebody, giving affection to the person, talking affectionately, confiding in the person. That is association, or sanga. When you go to the market to buy something, you talk with the shopkeeper, but you do not take their association.

(6) Laulancha means being fickle-minded (chitter chanchalata). Mind is always fickle, it always goes everywhere. I have told you about it before.

These are the six kinds of fault. Those who have these faults, must avoid them because these faults slowly, slowly destroy your devotion. These faults destroy your devotion. This is very important to understand and to follow.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur also writes about it in his purport to Sri Upadesamrita,

atyahara prayasa prajalpa jana-sanga
laulya-adi niyamagraha ha’le bhakti-bhanga
grha-tyagi janera sanchaya atyahara
adhika sanchayi grhi vaisnavera chhara

"Accumulating too many material things, working too much for material goals, talking too much, attachment to unauthorised rules, associating with non-devotees, being fickle-minded, etc.—these things break devotion. If those who have renounced their home, try to keep something, it is a fault of atyahara (over-amassing), and it is deplorable when householder Vaishnavs try to accumulate more than necessary."

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that householder devotee (grhi vaishnavs) can keep a little for their family (as required), but accumulating more than necessary is not good.

atyanta samgrahe yara sada chitta dhaya
atyahari bhakti-hina sei samjna paya
prakrta vastura ase bhoge yara mana
prayasi tahara nama bhakti-hina jana
krsna-katha chhari jihva anya katha kahe
prajalpi tahara nama vrtha vakya vahe
bhajanete udasina karmete pravina
vahvarambhi se niyamagrahi ati dina
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
ei chhaya nahe kabhu bhakti-adhikari
bhakti-hina laksya-bhrasta visayi samsari

"• Those whose hearts always run to accumulate more and more, are avaricious and undevotional.
• Undevotional people who aspire to enjoy material things are called excessive toilers.
• When one's tongue speaks about all other things except talks about Krishna, such people are called gossipers who have only empty talks.
• Those who lack enthusiasm to practise Krishna consciousness but are eager to engage in material works, fuss much over following rules, but they are in fact extremely wretched.
• Those who associate with outside people prefer the company of other people to the company of Krishna's devotees—such people are always very busy enjoying gross material life.
• When people travel to different places pursuing their own interests, it means they are devoid of devotion and fickle-minded.
These six kinds of people can never qualify for devotion. Such materialists, gross enjoyers, are always frustrated and have no devotion."

To always collect things, to always keep things, keep things, keep, this is not good...

* * *

Six Good Qualities

Kolkata-Worldwide, 10 May 2020, part 3

chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi'
chhaya guna deha' dase

"Subjugate the six urges, rectify the six defects, and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant."

When we pray in the Vaishnav song, we ask for six good qualities (chhaya-guna). Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu explains in his Sri Upadesamrita verse what these qualities are.

utsahan-nischayad-dhairyat tat-tat-karma-pravartanat
sanga-tyagat sato-vrtteh sad-bhir-bhaktih prasiddhyati

"Enthusiasm, determination, patience, virtuous engagement, rejection of unfavourable association, and following pure devotional practices are the six good qualities through which one attains devotion."

(Sri Upadesamrita, 3)

(1) 'Utsaha' is enthusiasm. It means you feel excited to serve, you are always eager to do service, "When will I do my service? When will I do my Guru-seva? When will I come for the mangal-arati? When will I do the Tulasi seva? When will I cook for the Deities? When will we offer the bhog?" It is necessary to always have such devotional mood, such enthusiasm. This is called utsaha.

(2) 'Nischayad' means having a firm intention or determination, having a firm faith (dridha visvas). We sing, "Avasya raksibe Krsna, visvasa palana. I must keep faith that Krishna will definitely protect me"—we sing, "Krishna will protect us," so, we must believe it, "Yes, Krishna will protect." One time, Mahaprabhu asked Srila Haridas Thakur, "How will all the yavans be rescued from this material world?" Srila Haridas Thakur replied, "Namabhase mukti paibe—they will get liberation through the shadow of the Holy Name." He said that, and we must have firm faith, "Yes, it is correct." When Gurudev says that Krishna will reveal in your heart, you will be successful in your spiritual life, we must think, "Yes, I will succeed in my spiritual life if I practise as Gurudev told me." That is called faith. Firm determination. Firm faith. "Gurudev said this, and yes, I believe it, it will happen." It is written here very nicely.

(3) 'Dhairyat' is patience, tolerance. I have told you about it already.

(4) 'Tat tat karmapravartanat' means arranging some programmes, festivals that are favourable to devotion.

(5) 'Sanga-tyagan' means rejecting bad association. Sometimes you hear some devotee saying, "Oh, this devotee is doing this! That devotee is doing that! That devotee is doing bad!" Do not listen to such things. Always avoid it. If you hear such things, it will reduce your faith. Your faith will diminish because of that. Always reject bad association (asat-sanga tyag). Also, sometimes you are attached to listening what others say about other devotees or about you—you can be doing something, for example, making a garland, and you hear somebody talking to some other devotee, and you are listening to it; or you are cooking a subji and you hear somebody talking about you, and you listen to it. Do not do this. You must reject attachment to such listening (eavesdropping, curiosity).

(6) And 'sato vrtteh' means following the pure practices of great personalities (sadhur sad-achar). There is a great variety of devotional processes—applying tilaks, glorifying Tulasi, glorifying Vaishnavs, chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name on your beads, reciting the pranam-mantra of your Guru, chanting five simple songs, living in a holy place, etc. You may live in your house in some place and you think that you live in America, London, or Russia, but actually may not be so—wherever devotees are, they practise devotion and the place where they stay becomes a holy abode:

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)

When you are offering bhog, you are remembering Krishna. When you are cooking for Krishna or cooking for Gurudev, you are remembering Gurudev. When you are making a garland, you are making it for Gaura Nitai, so you are remembering Gaura Nitai. In this way, you must always make yourself busy with the service of the Lord, with all kinds of devotional activities.

These are the six good qualities (chhaya-guna), and it is necessary to have such qualities.

* * *

"May I Always Remain a Disciple"

Kolkata-Worldwide, 10 May 2020, part 4

Oh, Srila Janardan Maharaj! Dandavat, Maharaj. Please give me shelter under your lotus feet.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: My dandavat pranams to you and your lotus feet, Maharaj.

Dandavat. How are you, Maharaj?

Srila Janardan Maharaj: I am fine. How are you, Maharaj?

By the mercy of Gurudev, I am OK. Is your health OK?

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Yes.

Good.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: And yourself?

Yes, my health is also good. I am always worried about you because you are more than seventy now, are you not?

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Seventy-five...

Oh, you must be very careful with this kind of virus.

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Now everyone is becoming bhajana-anandi.

[His Divine Grace laughs] Yes, everyone is becoming bhajana-anandi, that is correct!

Srila Janardan Maharaj: I am very happy to see your beautiful face.

I am always thinking about you, Maharaj. I always ask Hasyapriya Prabhu how you are, how you are doing. So many of our friends have left us—Sripad Siddhanti Maharaj, Sripad Vaishnav Maharaj, Sripad Parvat Maharaj...

Srila Janardan Maharaj: Yudhamanyu Prabhu...

Yes, and also Ramai Prabhu. Devotees are leaving us one by one, and it gives us a heavy pain...

Question: How can a disciple feel that you are actually here while in separation from Your Divine Grace's presence?

Do not worry. You are not so far—you are always with us, you are always with me. What did Krishna say in Srimad Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam? He says, "I cannot stay without devotees. I always live with My devotees and I do not know anybody except devotees." Devotees always live in Krishna's heart, and Krishna also always lives in devotees' hearts. So, wherever you are, whether you are near or far, it is not a question. Always keep the heart-to-heart connection, always remember your Guru, remember devotees, remember Lord Krishna, and Krishna will understand where you live—He will catch you like a magnet wherever you are. You can be in any place—wherever you are serving Krishna, even if we are serving Krishna in patal-loka (hellish plane), Krishna will catch you from there and take you to Goloka Vrindavan.

Devotee: We are very happy to hear your Hari-katha, Maharaj, and we pray that we can practise these things by your blessing.

Yes, it is necessary to practise it...

Actually, what I am telling is not so easy to practise, but I am also thinking that I must speak about it—if I keep telling about it again and again, then if I listen to it myself all the time, I will be able to practise it properly one day, too. "Sisya thakibo sarvada—I always want to be a disciple." That is my eternal aspiration.

* * *

Be in Good Association and Be Good Association

Kolkata-Worldwide, 10 May 2020, part 5

Question: How can we know if we are in good association or in bad association?

If somebody is always gossiping, telling nonsense things, telling bad things, always talking about things that are not related to Krishna consciousness, if somebody has some bad intention, then their association is not good. You can easily understand it.

Sometimes, we may stay with a mosquito, but we must be careful and see if this mosquito will bite us or not. You must be careful. Sometimes, we are staying with some bad association, sometimes we may live together, but we must ignore and avoid such kind of association. Sometimes, we may live in a temple with such people, or, sometimes, many householder devotees also live with their parents or family who do not practise or follow devotional activities, who do not accept it when somebody practises devotional activities—sometimes, we have to stay with them, but we should not associate with them, just as we may stay with a mosquito but we do not associate with that mosquito, we just live next to it.

Are there any other questions from anybody?

Question: How should I see my mother?

A mother is a mother. If you think about Mother Yasoda and Mother Sachi Devi, that is good for you. You may pray to the Lord that He may come to your womb in your next life, and Krishna may give you His mercy like He gave His mercy to Mother Yasoda and Mother Sachi. Another thing is that when some big personality comes, they become very proud, but Mother Yasoda always thinks about Gopal—she can chastise the Lord, she can beat the Lord. Who has this kind of fortune? Who has this kind of good luck? Only Mother Yasoda, Sachi Mata have got this kind of opportunity.

A proper mother must always think about her children and make sure her children always get proper guidance, proper teaching of Krishna consciousness from their parents (from the father or the mother). Sometimes, when the baby is young, they go to the arati, play the karatals, play the mridanga, but after that they mix with some bad association, leave their Krishna consciousness and become demons. It happens very often in this age of Kali. Sometimes, children think, "Oh, my mother does not give me this, does not give me that!"—children want to eat meat, but their mother does not give it to them, and children do not understand that their mother does good for them. So, it is necessary to be a proper mother—to be a mother like Yasoda, a mother like Sachi Mata, not a mother like Kaikeyi. Kaikeyi is also a mother, but Kaikeyi said, "My son will be the king, and Rama will go to the forest!" This kind of mother is not good. This is a jealous mother...

* * *

Krishna's Arrangement

Kolkata-Worldwide, 10 May 2020, part 6

Question: I have one question. So many people are dying now from coronavirus—why are people suffering?

Who is suffering? No one is suffering. Everyone is happy. Devotees are always happy.

Some doctor asked me a question, "Why does it this kind of pandemic happen every hundred years?" It came in 1720, it came in 1820, in 1920, and now it has come again in 2020. Previous times, it was some diarrhoea, much malaria, etc. These kinds of diseases come because we too much exploit and destroy the natural things that come from the Lord, like hills, trees, animals, etc. Krishna arranges for some disaster to make some balance among trees, plants, animals, hills, etc. All these things of nature are made by the Lord, but we make so much disturbance—we cut hills, we stop water, we make tunnels—science does so many things, and we also kill and eat animals. That is why, Krishna wants to restore the balance. Now so many human bodies are destroyed by the Lord. This is the will of the Lord. Everything that is going on all over the world is the will of the Lord. Nothing can happen without the will of the Lord—even a single leaf on a tree cannot move without the Lord's instruction. How do you think everything happens? Everything happens by the order, by the instruction and by the mercy of the Lord. One thing we can understand is that whatever happens, it will all be good.

Question: How can one recover the taste, faith and enthusiasm for service if one makes many offences?

First you must avoid offences, then you will get the proper enthusiasm and taste. Always avoid all offences—Nama-aparadh, seva-aparadh, dhama-aparadh, Vaishnav-aparadh. Vaishnav-aparadh is the most important offence to avoid. Otherwise, if you make Nama-aparadh, you will not get the proper result—you will not get the proper taste through chanting of the Holy Name.

You must also always sing devotional songs (kirtans), and when you sing them, you must understand the meaning of these songs. You must read the meaning of the songs, then try to sing them. It is necessary to sing them and to know their meaning. Sravan (listening) and kirtan (chanting) are the main necessary practices. You may be alone, but you should still sing the songs. It is not necessary to have a good tune or to have good instruments—you can just recite the songs for fifteen minutes when you wake up in the morning.

gurudeva!
krpa-bindu diya kara' ei dase
trnapeksa ati dina

"O Gurudev! Give this servant a drop of your mercy, and make me more humble than a blade of grass."

You may have no Deities, you may not be able to make a mangal-arati, but you can still remember and sing the arati songs,

kali-kukkura-kadana yadi chao he
kali-yuga-pavana kali-bhaya-nasana,
sri-sachi-nandana gao he

"If you want to slay the dog Kali, then chant the Name of Sri Sachi Nandan, for He rescues souls from Kali-yuga and destroys their fear of Kali."

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

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

Sing these songs. Even if you are staying in your house and cannot do much, you can still sing these songs.

(kiba) jaya jaya gorachander aratika sobha

"All glory to the beautiful arati to Sri Gorachand!"

Sing these songs, think about these songs. You can sing when you are making a galrdland or when you are cooking. Always sing, always chant the Holy Name.

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

Always listen to recordings. When you live in the temple or you live in the house, make a recording and listen to it.

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

If you always listen to it, then so many nonsense talks will not be coming to your ears. Do you understand?

Question: Can I ask a question? There are many people in this world who are having some mental health issues like depression, anxiety, some people are even having suicide thoughts because of the depression and things like that. And this is all over the world now. Why is this happening and what can these people do?

I have told you why this is happening. Because of the chhaya-vega (six urges), the chhaya-dosa (six faults). People are thinking, "Oh, it is lockdown now, I am not working, how will I get money? How will I work? How will my family manage?" So many things are happening now, and they are showing so many news on television—all news are telling lies! They say, "Oh, there are economical problems!" They say this, that, this, that—they say so many things! But they never thought what would happen if corona came. Did they know this corona would come? But Krishna has made the arrangement for it. Everything is Krishna's arrangement. Do you understand? It is His arrangement.

Who will commit suicide, who will leave, who will stay—everything is Krishna's arrangement. And depression will come if people keep thinking, "How will my family manage to survive? We have no money..." People think about all these things, but Krishna is always powerful, Krishna can do anything. He has mystical powers and He can do anything with His power—even what is meant to happen may not happen, and what is not mean to happen may happen. So, it is not necessary to be worried about it. Everyone must remember the Lord. Those who are depressed must remember the Lord, they must remember Krishna.

When people earned money, when the times were good, they did not remember Krishna, but now they are in hospital, they are suffering from corona, so now they are crying for Krishna, they are crying for Allah, they are crying for Jesus. When they had good health, when they earned well, they did not care about anything, but now that people are in lockdown, so much depression is coming. Why? Mainly, because people had thought, "Oh, I will get this house," "I will get this car," "I will get this, that," but now their dreams have become frustrated—it is lockdown now, a big problem, so they panic, "I cannot get anything! I will die!" That is why they become depressed. Even here in India also, people have no patience. The government locked down everything—all trains, buses, aeroplanes, everything was stopped, so everyone has to live in one state and they cannot tolerate it. They heard that the government might arrange for a train to bring the labour workers, but one of the workers committed suicide—whose fault is it? Oh, it is the fault of the government. They do not think that it is that man's karma-phal (result of his own karma)—whose fault is it? The government's. They blame the government, but it is that man's own karma. When we are born, we bring our karma with us, so whatever result is meant to happen according to our karma, it will happen.

* * *

First Requirement

Kolkata-Worldwide, 10 May 2020, part 7

Question: I know that we must be 100% dependant on Krishna, but sometimes when one is married, our mind is in such a position that we think that we are dependent on the behaviour of our wife. How shall we control that?

Be tolerant. It is necessary to have patience and tolerance.

Question: How can we help a devotee who is losing the desire to take association in the temple?

Talk to them from time to time, try to talk to them by phone. Now is lockdown, so no one can come to the temple, but you can always call them, always get news about them, always give them some Hari-katha by phone. That is necessary.

Question: What should we do if our mind is lazy and does not want to do service?

Try to serve more and more. If you feel you want to relax, you must say to yourself, "No! This is not good! I want to serve more." That will be good. Do not follow your mind. Your mind tells you something like, "Oh, it is necessary to relax, it is necessary to sleep"—do not listen to your mind. Tell yourself, "I have service, and I must do that service first." It is necessary to do what is required, and your first requirement is your service. At the same time, rest is also necessary for health, but it does not mean you must rest all day long. Sleeping is a part of service, sleep is also necessary because if you do not sleep at all, it is not good for health, so it is also necessary to sleep.

Question: It is said that we must chant japa not so loud...

Who told you that it must be not so loud? The government? No. You can chant loudly. If the government is giving a problem and it harms the service of the temple, then that is OK, do not chant so loudly in the temple, otherwise if you chant loudly, it is good. What is the problem? You must always chant out loud,

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

Do not sit like a yogi chanting in your mind, silently. You must chant out loud, but not very loudly—do not shout—but out loud.

Question: Is feeling guilty avidya (ignorance)?

No, it is incorrect.

api chet suduracharo, bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah, samyag vyavasito hi sah
ksipram bhavati dharmatma, sasvach-chhantim nigachchhati
kaunteya pratijanihi, na me bhaktah pranasyati

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

Krishna says that those who feel guilty can gradually overcome their feeling of guilty—Krishna removes all kind of dirt from them and again gives them shelter at His lotus feet, again engages them in His service.

* * *

Mahaprabhu's Teachings (1): No False Renunciation

Kolkata-Worldwide, 17 May 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham Sri Nabadwip Dham Sri Vrindavan Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Tandiya sakha Math samuha ki jay
Sri Mather sevak vrinda bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Ananta-koti Vaishnav vrinda ki jay
Sri Gaudiya Acharya vrinda ki jay
Tridandi-pad-gan ki jay
Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
Sripad B.N. Shanta Maharaj, Sripad B.V. Muni Maharaj, Sripad Sadhu B.N. Maharaj ki jay
All the sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all by the mercy of Gurudev, one week. We are all still in our houses, but we can contact devotees and get devotees' association through technology. Association of devotees (sadhu-sanga, good association) and engaging ourselves in the service to our Guru, Vaishnavs, and Bhagavan (sadhu-seva, or bhakta-seva, service to devotees) are the main things in our spiritual life.

We must learn from the teachings of the previous great personalities (mahajans)—whether one is a householder devotee (grihastha) or a renunciate (sannyasi, grha-tyagi), there is no difference because everybody can practise Krishna consciousness. In Mahaprabhu's time, many great devotees practised in householder life—Srila Srivas Pandit, Sri Sivananda Sen, Sri Pundarikaksa Vidyanidhi, Sri Raya Ramananda, Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu, and many others. They all showed us how they maintained their householder life, it is an example for all of us. A house is not a place for only enjoyment—your house is Krishna's house, Vaishnavs' house, guru-varga's house, your house is meant for the service of the Lord. This is how we must stay in our house, this is the main conception for householder life.

Mahaprabhu teaches us through His teaching to Sri Raghunath Das Goswami. We can read it in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita or Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat. Mahaprabhu told him, "Be sensible. Go back to your home, do not be crazy. Everyone will reach their goal gradually."

sthira haya ghare yao, na hao batula
krame krame paya loka bhava-sindhu-kula

"Be sensible, go back to your home. Do not be crazy. One reaches the shore of material existence gradually."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.16.237)

Mahaprabhu also taught him,

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana
yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana
antare nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara
achirat krsna tomaya karibe uddhara

"Do not show your false renunciation to people. Serve accepting material things, but without attachment. Be fixed internally, and behave like everyone else externally. Krishna will rescue you soon."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.16.238-239)

"It is not necessary to show monkey renunciation—you can keep your house, you can keep everything, enjoy your life but without material attachment. Be sincere in your heart, practise with heart and soul, and Krishna will rescue you from this situation." In householder life, if the house is favourable to devotion, you can live householder life, it is not a problem, but if your house is not favourable to devotion, then you can reject that house and become a sannyasi.

This is what Sriman Mahaprabhu tells householder devotees.

bharata-bhumite haila manusya janma yara
janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara

"One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India should take advantage of his birth and bring benefit to all other people."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 9.41)

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

"Dance, chant, and do sankirtan in the association of devotees, go out and preach about the chanting of the Holy Name of Lord Krishna—by this process you will be able to deliver all fallen souls."

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

You are all born in this Bharat-bhumi—in India, or actually anywhere else because people all over the world are now coming to Mahaprabhu's line. This Krishna consciousness line is spreading all over the world through our guru-varga who preach so much all over the world. Gurudev has brought so many people to Krishna consciousness line, Krishna consciousness life, pure devotional life, perfect line, perfect life—Gurudev has given you all a new life, and you are now enjoying this life with service to devotees (bhakta-seva) and devotional activities. So, Sriman Mahaprabhu tells householder devotees: dance, chant, do sankirtan with devotees and advise others to chant the Holy Name.

Moreover, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also says that if you do nagar-sankirtan, you should do it with pure devotees—it is not necessary to practise kirtan, etc. with non-devotees:

suddha-bhakta sange nrtya-sankirtan
abhakter sange kirtan-adi na kara prayojan

"Dance and chant in the association of pure devotees. It is not necessary to practise kirtan or any other devotional activities in the association of non-devotees."

Also, householder devotees must depend on the Lord in everything—they must think, "Whatever is happening, whatever will happen, everything depends on the Lord."

suna mata, isvarera adhina samsara
svatantra haite sakti nahika kahara

"Listen, dear mother, the whole world is under the control of the Lord. No one has the power to become independent."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.28.55)

* * *

Mahaprabhu's Teachings (2): Never Stop Your Krishna-Sankirtan

Kolkata-Worldwide, 17 May 2020, part 2

Grihastha Vaishnavs must be always careful with bad association.

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

"A Vaishnav always rejects inauspicious association. One category of unholy people are those who mix with women, and another one is those who have no devotion to Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.84)

Nityananda Prabhu's preaching was also similar to Mahaprabhu's preaching. You will get these verses in Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat. Once, some dacoits wanted to attack the house where Nityananda Prabhu was staying—they tried to come inside the house one night, second night, third night, but they could not. In the end, the leader of those dacoits, a brahman, became blind, and he surrendered to Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu told that brahman, the ringleader of the dacoits,

suna dvija, yateka pataka kaili tui
ara yadi na karis saba nimu muni
parahimsa, daka-churi, saba anachara
chada giya iha tumi, na kariha ara
dharma-pathe giya tumi laha hari-nama
tabe tumi anyere kariba paritrana
yata saba dasyu-chora dakiya aniya
dharma-pathe sabare laoyno tumi giya

"Listen, brahman! I will take away whatever sins you have committed if you do not commit them again. Give up envy, stealing, dacoiting, and all unholy activities, do not do it again. Take up the path of religious life and chant the Holy Name, then you can also deliver others. Call all the rogues and dacoits, gather them together and get them to take up the path of religious life."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 3.5.685-689)

"Do not be jealous, do not steal anything from others any more, leave everything and chant the Holy Name. You must also call all the dacoits and tell them to chant the Holy Name!" The dacoits listened to Nityananda Prabhu—they left their bad habits, stopped stealing, etc.

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 one does not attain Krishna through ignorance and passion."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.57)

"Those who are pure devotees do not leave their body out of anger." Sriman Mahaprabhu told this to Sri Sanatan Goswami who wanted to commit suicide by throwing himself under the chariot. Another thing that Mahaprabhu told is this:

adhama-janera ye achara, yena dharma
adhikari-vaisnaveo kare sei karma
krsna-krpaye se iha janibare pare
e saba sankate keha mare, keha tare

"Sometimes, even a great Vaishnav can engage in the same kind of activities as vile materialists. One can understand this only by the mercy of Krishna. So, amidst this danger of trying to judge others, some die and some may become saved."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 3.9.388-389)

It means that the heart and sincerity of devotees is completely different from other—somebody who is a smartavadi (materialist), does not know and cannot understand the heart of a Vaishnav—they cannot give respect to a Vaishnav, they do not know how to behave with a Vaishnav.

Sriman Mahaprabhu also said,

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)

If you have Deities, if you have an altar, you cook, you make garlands, you serve Tulasi Devi. These are all different kinds of Krishna-seva, Guru-seva, Vaishnav-seva. You must engage in this service always, non-stop. Chant the Holy Name when you are working, when you are taking prasadam, when you are cooking, cutting vegetables. Always chant the Holy Name, incessantly, non-stop. Never stop your Krishna-sankirtan.

And Mahaprabhu also told one more thing. Sometimes, you want to invite a Vaishnav—if you can give respect to the Vaishnav, if you can serve the Vaishnav properly, then you can invite them, otherwise you can invite a thousand people, but if you cannot take care of them, it will be an offence. These are Mahaprabhu's words.

* * *

Mahaprabhu's Teachings (3): No Caste Consideration

Kolkata-Worldwide, 17 May 2020, part 3

Mahaprabhu also told about caste and creed.

nicha-jati nahe krsna-bhajane ayogya
sat-kula-vipra nahe bhajanera yogya

"A person born in a low family is not unfit for practising Krishna consciousness, nor is one fit for devotional service simply because he is born in an aristocratic family of brahmanas."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.66)

Those who come from a lower caste, who come from a mlechha family, who come from some bad family, are not unfit to worship the Lord—they also have the qualification, the right to chanting the Name of the Lord. Some brahman can say, "Oh, I am a brahman, and he comes from another caste—he belongs to ksatriya, vaisya, or sudra caste, he comes from a mlechha family, so he cannot chant the Holy Name." No, it is very bad to think like this. Mahaprabhu says this is not so—even a brahman may be unfit to worship the Lord if he has no quality, no sincerity, no heart, if he cannot leave bad qualities (ahara, nidra, bhaya, maithunamcha—eating, sleeping, fearing, mating), if he cannot leave the six faults (atyahara, prayasa, prajalpa, niyamagraha, laulya, janasanga—too much eating and hoarding, too much enthusiasm for worldly activities, too much talking, doing what is favourable while not giving up what is unfavourable, greed, associating with non-devotees), if he cannot leave dyuta, pana, striya, suna (gambling, intoxicants, free-mixing, meat-eating).

yei bhaje sei bada, abhakta—hina, chhara
krsna-bhajane nahi jati-kuladi-vichara

"Only a nondevotee can be considered as worthless and abominable: anyone who takes to devotional service is great—there is no consideration of class, caste or any other status for those who have taken up service to Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.67)

In worshipping the Lord, there is no question of caste or creed.

kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya
yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei 'guru' haya

"Whether one is a brahman, a sannyasi, or a sudra, regardless of what one is, one can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.8.128)

Who can be a guru? It is not necessary to belong to any particular caste, it is not necessary to see where the person comes from—anyone who has quality and qualification, anyone who has got proper guidance from a bona fide guru, can be a guru. Those who are a proper disciple, can be a guru. It is said about Mahaprabhu in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita,

sannyasi pandita-ganera karite garba nasa
nicha-sudra-dvara karena dharmera prakasa

"To vanquish the false pride of so-called renunciants and learned scholars, He spreads real religious principles even through a sudra, or lowborn, fourth-class man."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.5.84)

People become very proud thinking, "I am a sannyasi!", "I am a big scholar!", "I am from from a high caste!" but Mahaprabhu arranged for Krishna consciousness to be spread through lower class people like Raya Ramananda. Mahaprabhu Himself heard Krishna-katha from Raya Ramananda who was not from a brahman family but from a sudra family. Mahaprabhu spread Krishna consciousness and heard Hari-katha, Krishna-katha from Raya Ramananda because brahmans, scholarly pandits think they know everything, they are proud, "We are very educated, we come from a brahman family!" etc.

Mahaprabhu also says in Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, "When you offer something to Me, it is not necessary to give many opulent things. Whatever you can get easily, like some spinach, some vegetables, whatever is easily available, if you offer that to Me, I take it very happily."

saba' haite bhagyavanta—sri-saka-vyanjana
punah punah yaha prabhu karena grahana

"Yet of all the preparations, the sak (spinach) preparations were most glorious, for the Lord repeatedly ate them."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 3.4.293)

Mahaprabhu always took sak (spinach)—He did not take so many opulent things like paneer, panthua (gulab jamuns), or other great fancy things.

na mane chaitanya-patha bolaya 'vaisnava'
sivere amanya kare vyartha tara saba

The endeavours of one who does not follow the path of Lord Chaitanya and disrespects Lord Siva yet claims to be a Vaisnava are all useless.

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 3.2.243)

Mahaprabhu said that smarta sampradaya (fruitive workers) worships demigods, but Vaishnavs must not disrespect demigods—they will respect all demigods.

sankhya-nama laite ye sthane prabhu baise
tathaya rakhena tulasire prabhu pase

When the Lord would sit to chant japa, a Tulasi plant would be placed next to Him.

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 3.8.159)

When Mahaprabhu chanted the Holy Name, He always kept Tulasi beside Him.

tulasire dekhena, japena sankhya-nama
e bhakti-yogera tattva ke bujhibe ana

The Lord would constantly look at Tulasi while chanting. Who can understand this principle of devotional service?

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 3.8.160)

When He saw Tulasi with His eyes, He would get more and more enthusiasm, more and more energy to chant the Holy Name more and more.

Also, Mahaprabhu told,

'vyaya na kariha kichhu rajara mula-dhana'
rajara mula-dhana diya ye kichhu labhya haya
sei dhana kariha nana dharme-karme vyaya

"Do not spend any of the King's revenue. First you should pay the revenue due the King, and then you may spend the balance for religious and fruitive activities."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.9.143-144)

Mahaprabhu also says that householder devotees should accept a proper guru, should accept guidance from a proper Vaishnav and householder devotees, and everybody else, must be always very careful not to commit any Vaishnav-aparadh.

ye-vaisnava-sthane aparadha haya yara
punah se-i ksamile se ghuche, nahe ara

"If one offends a Vaisnav, the offence can be excused only by that Vaisnav, no one else."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.22.33)

If you make an offence to any Vaishnav, you must ask that Vaishnav for forgiveness.

vaisnavera sesa-bhaksanera eteka mahima
kalidase paoyaila prabhura krpa-sima

"Taking the remnants of the food of Vaisnavas is so valuable that it induced Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to offer Kalidasa His supreme mercy."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.16.57)

Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavatam, Eleventh Canto,

jata-sraddho mat-kathasu nirvinnah sarva-karmasu
veda duhkhatmakan kaman parityage 'py anisvarah
tato bhajeta mam pritah sraddhalur drdha-nischayah
jusamanas cha tan kaman duhkhodarkams cha garhayan

"Having awakened faith in the narrations of My glories, being disgusted with all material activities, knowing that all sense gratification leads to misery, but still being unable to renounce all sense enjoyment, My devotee should remain happy and worship Me with great faith and conviction. Even though he is sometimes engaged in sense enjoyment, My devotee knows that all sense gratification leads to a miserable result, and he sincerely repents such activities."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.27-28)

Grihasthas cannot leave their previous karma until devotion comes to them—they still keep thinking about material things, they still always want to enjoy, but when proper devotion comes, when their consciousness becomes pure, then they will always think about their Guru, they will think about their worshippable Lord. When householders accumulate faith and receive initiation from Sri Krishna, they become fit for devotion—such devotees are then classified as uttam, adham, or kanistha according to their faith. The quality of one's devotion depends upon one's faith—somebody is a kanistha-adhikari, somebody is a madhyam-adhikari, and somebody is an uttam-adhikari devotee.

* * *

Mahaprabhu's Teachings (4): Pillars of Renunciation

Kolkata-Worldwide, 17 May 2020, part 4

All devotees must follow the example of Mahaprabhu's associates (parsada), the example of the grihastha devotees—they must read about the character and life history of Sri Raya Ramananda, Sri Pundarik Vidyanidhi, Sri Srivas Pandit, Sri Sivananda Sen, Sri Satyaraj Khan, Sri Advaita Prabhu, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur also, and see how they maintained their family, how they practised their Krishna consciousness life. Everyone must read about their pastimes and see how their lived their lives.

Mahaprabhu says that if your house is favourable to devotion, it is not necessary to reject that house, it is not necessary to leave it, but if your house is not favourable to devotion, then you can leave that house and become a sannyasi. This is why Sri Srivas Pandit, for example, never left his house.

When Raghunath Das Goswami finally left his house and came to Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu told him,

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, 3.6.222-223)

"Yes, it is good. It is very nice that he has left everything!" At first, Mahaprabhu told him to go back to his house, but after that his house became unfavourable to practising Krishna consciousness because there were so many problems in the house, so Mahaprabhu arranged for Srila Raghunath Das Goswami to come and meet with Him. Mahaprabhu accepted his service and handed him over, engaged him in the service of Svarup Damodar. At that time, Mahaprabhu gave him advice, "What will a vairagi do? A vairagi will always do Nama-sankirtan and maintain his life by going door to door and begging."

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, 3.6.225)

"If a vairagi follows his tongue, his paramartha (spiritual life) will be finished."

jihvara lalase yei iti-uti dhaya
sisnodara-parayana se krsna nahi paya

"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, 3.6.227)

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, 3.6.236-237)

It means it is necessary to be humble, tolerant and give respect, give honour to others. This how one must maintain their life—and always chant the Holy Name.

Sriman Mahaprabhu also advised:

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, 2.3.177)

It is not a sannyasi's dharma (religion) to stay with his relatives. Those who have taken sannyas cannot stay in their birthplace with their relatives.

Sriman Mahaprabhu also said:

virakta sannyasi amara raja-darasana
stri-darasana-sama visera bhaksana

"I am a sannyasi, I am vexed by the material world. For Me, meeting a king is same as to meet a woman or take poison."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.11.7)

"I do not want to meet with King Prataparudra, because I am a virakta-sannyasi, I am always annoyed and do not want to see anybody—if I meet with Prataparudra, it is like meeting with a lady and taking poison!"

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, 2.12.51)

prabhu kahe,—purna yaichhe dugdhera kalasa
sura-bindu-pate keha na kare parasa

"Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, 'There may be much milk in a big pot, but if it is contaminated by a drop of liquor, it is untouchable.'"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.12.53)

If you wear a white cloth and put some black spot on it, it is very bad. A sannyasi must be always clean—if any black spot comes, it is very bad for his life. Mahaprabhu explained to Chhota Haridas also what is kapata-vairagya:

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!"

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, 3.2.117-118)

Chhota Haridas brought some rice from Madhavi Devi, and Mahaprabhu did not like it, so in order to teach him, Mahaprabhu said, "You are a brahmachari, but you go to take something from a lady, you go to see ladies! I do not want to see your face!"

prabhu kahe,—"mora vasa nahe mora mana
prakrti-sambhasi vairagi na kare darsana

"Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, 'My mind is not under My control. It does not like to see anyone in the renounced order who talks intimately with women.'"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.2.124)

'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, 3.5.80)

"Raya Ramananda is a grihastha, and I am a sannyasi—why am I taking advice from Raya Ramananda? Because even though he is a grihastha, he is free from a particular kind of a disease—sad-varga (six faults—kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya) cannot control him. That is why although he is a householder, he advises a sannyasi."

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile, nahe krsna-nama grahana
visayira anna haya 'rajasa' nimantrana
data, bhokta,—dunhara malina haya mana

"If you take food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot chant the Name of Krishna. When one accepts an invitation from a person contaminated by the material mode of passion, the person who offers the food and the person who accepts it are both mentally contaminated."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.278-279)

* * *

Mahaprabhu's Teachings (5): Exclusive Dharma

Kolkata-Worldwide, 17 May 2020, part 5

In the end, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami took up ayachita-vrtti life—he did not ask anyone for anything. First, he would stand at simha-dvara, Lion Gate, of Jagannath Mandir and wait for somebody to come and give him some prasadam of Jagannathdev, but after a while he thought, "No, Mahaprabhu does not like it! I think that if I stand here, people will think that I am poor and they will give something to me. This is not good. Standing and begging here at the simha-dvara is the behaviour of a prostitute!" So, he stopped begging, and when Mahaprabhu learnt about it, He said, "Yes, he did good."

When Mahaprabhu gave His Govardhan-sila to Raghunath Das Goswami, He told him,

eka kunja jala ara tulasi-manjari
sattvika-seva ei—suddha-bhave kari

"For such worship, one needs a jug of water and a few flowers from a Tulasi tree. This is worship in complete goodness when performed in complete purity."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.296)

Offer Ganges water and Tulasi manjari—this is how you must serve.

We can also observe the character of Srila Sanatan Goswami. When Sanatan Goswami came to Kasi Misra's house to meet with Mahaprabhu, he said, "Why will I stay in this house and take their prasad? No, I will go and beg door to door." We find this in Srila Sanatan Goswami's teachings (Sanatan-siksa).

tina mudrara bhota gaya, madhukari grasa
dharma-hani haya, loka kare upahasa

"I wear on my body a blanket that costs three mudras (expensive) and take what little comes through alms—it contradicts religious principles, people will laugh."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.20.92)

Sanatan Goswami said, "I go begging door to door wearing this expensive blanket. People will criticise it. It is not good." Then, Sanatan Goswami left his blanket. You know this.

One time also, Brahmananda Bharati came to Mahaprabhu wearing a deer skin (mrga-charmambar).

brahmananda pariyachhe mrga-charmambara
taha dekhi' prabhu duhkha paila antara

"When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His devotees approached him, they saw that he was covered with a deerskin. Seeing this, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu became very unhappy."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.10.154)

Mahaprabhu took sannyas from Keshav Bharati, and Brahmananda Bharati was a sannyasi belonging to the same group, so Mahaprabhu always gave much respect to him. So, that day somebody told Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, Brahmananda Bharati has come." Mahaprabhu looked around and said, "I cannot see him—where is Brahmananda Bharati?" Somebody pointed at Brahmananda Bharati, but Mahaprabhu said, "It cannot be Brahmananda Bharati, why would Brahmananda Bharati wear this kind of cloth?"

Another day, Jagadananda Pandit asked Govinda, "Govinda, you massage Mahaprabhu's feet every day—what do you use for massaging?" Govinda replied, "I do not use anything. Mahaprabhu does not like me to use anything." Jagadananda Pandit did not listen to it—one day, he brought some fragrant oil and gave it to Govinda so that he could use it when massaging Mahaprabhu's feet. When Mahaprabhu came back to His room that day, He said, "Who brought this?!" Govinda explained that Jagadananda Pandit had brought it and why. Then, Mahaprabhu said, "Oh, he wants Me to be a householder again so that I can enjoy with him! I have no right to put fragrant oil on My body." When Jagadananda Pandit heard it, he got very angry—he broke the pot of oil and locked himself in his house. You can read about it in Sri Sri Prema-vivarta.

Mahaprabhu showed in His life that He would sleep on banana leaves. One day, Jagadananda Pandit said to Mahaprabhu, "I know who You are. Why do You have to sleep on the floor? It is cold..." Jagadananda Prabhu could not tolerate it. When he brought a cotton quilt and pillow for Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu said, "Yes, sure, you can bring a big bed also for Me!"

sannyasi manusa amara bhumite sayana
amare khata-tuli-balisa mastaka-mundana

"I am a sannyasi, I must lie on the ground. Using a bedstead, quilt or pillow will put Me to shame."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.13.15)

"I am a sannyasi, I must lie on the ground, on the floor, but you are bringing Me a cotton pillow, etc. I cannot accept it!" Then, Jagadananda Pandit understood that Mahaprabhu would not use a cotton pillow, He would not accept any mattress or anything else. So, one day, he gathered some banana leaves, dried them, then took some cloth, died it, and wrapped the banana leaves in the cloth making a soft mat for Mahaprabhu to sleep on. Then, Jagadananda Pandit gave the mat to Govinda, and Mahaprabhu had to accept it—Jagadananda Pandit said, "You said You would sleep only on banana leaves, so I have brought You banana leaves!"

Another time, Mahaprabhu was taking prasadam at Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's house. Sathi's mother (Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's wife) had made so many opulent dishes, offered the bhog and gave that prasadam to Mahaprabhu. When Mahaprabhu was sitting and taking that prasadam, Ramachandra Puri came there and, seeing the opulent prasadam, said, "Oh, You are a sannyasi, but You are eating so much!" Mahaprabhu said, "Yes, what you are saying is correct. I should not be taking so many items—I should take only one or two items."

yati hana jihva-lampatya—atyanta anyaya
yatira dharma,—prana rakhite ahara-matra khaya

"For a sannyasi to indulge in satisfying his tongue is a great offence. The duty of a sannyasi is to eat only as much as needed to keep his body and soul together."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.8.85)

"We are sadhus but we always follow our tongues, it is not good for us! We must take only what is necessary to keep life, what is necessary for our stomach. We must take only a little bit, some anukalpa is sufficient, it is not necessary to eat so much."

This is what Mahaprabhu teaches us.

Anyhow, we will speak about Raya Ramananda's teaching—we will discuss Raya Ramananda's conversation with Pradyumna Misra and Mahaprabhu's conversation with Raya Ramananda on the bank of Godavari—next Sunday.

We must know the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and we must know what for we must practise, what is necessary in our spiritual life, what are the main things in our spiritual life. Actually, there are not so many main things. Vaishnav-seva and Nama-sankirtan are the main things. Do you understand? This is what householder devotees should do. Now is a lockdown period, a quarantine time, so everybody should serve each other, everybody should think about Gurudev's life, about all the devotees' lives, about the example of our guru-varga—we must think what our guru-varga did, how they passed their lives; we must think about the lifestyle of Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, our Param Gurudev Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, our Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, we must think how they practised Krishna consciousness, how they gave love and affection to each other, how they gave respect to each other, how they showed proper etiquette, proper guidance for the devotees. We must learn in this way.

* * *

Questions and Answers

Kolkata-Worldwide, 17 May 2020, part 6

Question: Can a lady lead Nagar-sankirtan?

OK, they can do it, but if there is any sannyasi there, the sannyasi must lead it. One time, when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was going to Yameswar Tota in Puri Dham, He heard some lady singing in the Jagannath Temple. Not understanding who was singing, a man or a woman, He ran there overwhelmed by ecstasy. Govinda caught Him on the way. When Mahaprabhu realised what had happened, He said to Govinda, "You have saved Me today!" Therefore, a sannyasi must not hear any lady's singing. The scriptures also say it. When everybody is singing together, that is a different matter, but if a sannyasi sits in some secluded place and listens to a lady's kirtan, that is not good.

[On another occasion, His Divine Grace made also an explicit remark: His Divine Grace had been leading a kirtan in the nat mandir on the Gaura Purnima day—some lady was playing the mridanga, and when the kirtan finished, His Divine Grace went away and on his way to his veranda he said, annoyed, "In Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, ladies must not play the mridanga!"]

[After this question was placed, a further question was later asked on the topic, and His Diving Grace added some further clarification:

Yes, actually, ladies can do that in some places. It is not a problem. We do not look who is a lady, who is a man, but in this age of Kali, if ladies do sankirtan, it may not always look good. In some places, there is no sannyasi; in some places, there is a sannyasi, so this actually depends upon the place.

When Mahaprabhu heard Gopi-Gita sung by a lady, He ran towards her to listen to it, but Govinda caught Him on the way and, when Mahaprabhu realised what had happened, He said, "Govinda, you have saved Me!"

At the same time, in some places the situation is now such that ladies are the leaders, and if there is no sannyasi and they do sankirtan, what is the problem? Sometimes there is no sannyasi and a lady is charge of the temple, so if she does sankirtan there, what is the problem? It is not a problem for the Western side, and for the Indian side too—there are many ladies who sing in India.

We do not see who is a lady, who is a gent. It is not the question. We see who does service, who does what. Sometimes, people criticise, "Oh, a lady is doing this service!"—but we will not discriminate between ladies' service and gents' service. In previous time, there were so many things, but now ladies become prime-ministers, ladies become chief ministers, ladies become pilots, ladies become military soldiers, they do everything, so why cannot they lead in Harinam sankirtan?

Devotee: So, they can play the mridanga also?

They can play the mridanga, it is not a problem, but it is necessary to see the time and place.

Devotee: When I was reading the article, it mentioned that you were unhappy when you attended an arati and a lady devotee was playing the mridanga...

Yes, because sometimes it does not look good. If somebody is enthusiastic to do it, they can do it, I do not see any problem with that, but if some lady has material pride thinking, "I am playing the mridanga! I am with the men!"—this is not good.]

Another question has come. If the lady's days come and there is no other way (if there is no one else who can do it), then she can do the Deity service, otherwise who will cook for the Deities? It is better she cooks than making the Deities fast.

Question: Sri Brahma-samhita writes about Gokula and Goloka. What is the difference between them?

Gokula is Gokula, and Goloka is Goloka. Gokula is here, where Krishna's pastimes happened, it is Bhauma-Vrindavan (Vrindavan on earth), and Goloka Vrindavan is the highest plane of existence. You know that there are many planetary systems—Tal, Atal, Vital, Nital, Talatal, Mahatal, Sutal, Rasatal, Patal, etc. Goloka Vrindavan is situated above all planets, it is the highest place. So, Gokul and Goloka are not the same.

Question: We are told that we must see the Guru as Krishna, and if we have a deeper vision, we can see the Guru as Srimati Radharani. On the other hand, we also hear that the Guru is Nityananda Prabhu. Srimati Radharani and Sriman Nityananda Prabhu are different, so should we see the Guru as Srimati Radharani or as Sriman Nityananda Prabhu?

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)

You should understand that there is santa-rasa, dasya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vatsalya-rasa, and madhura-rasa. Krishna-Balaram are sakhya-rasa, Gaura-Nitai are also sakhya-rasa. In another way we can say that Nityananda Prabhu is the master, Nityananda Prabhu is the boss, Nityananda Prabhu is the controller, He controls everything in this world, He is the ashraya-vigraha (the embodiment of shelter)—therefore, the Guru is Nityananda Prabhu because we take shelter in Gurudev. The highest position of Gurudev is that Gurudev is Srimati Radharani. I have told many times that Srimati Radharani is the Guru of prema, paramour love. This is Her position with Krishna. So, within madhura-rasa, Gurudev is Srimati Radharani; within sakhya-rasa, Gurudev is Nityananda Prabhu.

Question: It is told that there is no difference between the diksa-guru (initiating guru) and the siksa-guru (instructing guru), but Srila Sridhar Maharaj says that our sampradaya is a siksa-guru-sampradaya.

Yes, of course. One can have only one diksa-guru, but one can have many siksa-gurus. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also says the same.

Question: If it is possible to hear some pastimes of Santosh Krishna Prabhu?

Yes, it was his disappearance festival yesterday. He is a very good devotee. Gurudev likes him, and Gurudev gave him to me, but by Krishna's will he was taken away. He always said, "I cannot do so much service because maya is always attacking me. I do not want to stay in this world." So, Krishna has taken him, maybe Gurudev has taken him near him.

Question: Will the situation with the Ratha-yatra this year affect the world?

Only Krishna knows it. It is His arrangement. If Jagannath arranges something in a certain way, it is not in our hands. We are controlled by Him. Ratha-yatra will happen, no one can stop Him—Jagannath, Subhadra, and Baladev will go to Gundicha, but devotees cannot join properly this year. What is happening is arranged by the Lord, by the Supreme Absolute. He does everything. So, whether it is to the better or to the worse, who knows it? Only Krishna knows it, Jagannath knows it.

Question: Can we sing Sri Rupa-manjari-pada in the temple and at home?

Yes, why not? "Sri Rupa-manjari-pada ei mora sampada, ei mora bhajana pujana" is a separation song. You can sing it, what is the problem? This song expresses feelings of very deep separation from Srila Rupa Goswami, Sri Rupa Manjari.

Actually, we must always think, "When will I see my Guru? What can I do to serve my Guru? When can I see the Lord? When can I make my Guru happy?" We must always think in this way.

kabe sri chaitanya more karibena daya
kabe ami paiba vaisnava-pada-chhaya

"When will Sri Chaitanya be merciful to me? When will I reach the shade of the Vaishnavs' feet?"

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana

"When will I give up this mundane ego? When will I honour the Lord's devotees?"

gala-vastra krtanjali vaisnava-nikate
dante trna kari' dandaiba niskapate

"With a cloth around my neck, joined palms, and straw between my teeth, I will sincerely submit myself at the Vaishnav's feet."

Always think about this. Also, there is Gurudev's favourite song,

emana durmati samsara bhitare
padiya achhinu ami
tava nija-jana kona mahajane
pathaiya dile tumi

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

(ek bar) daya kari' more patita dekhiya
kahila amare giya
ohe dina-jana suna bhala katha
ullasita ha'be hiya

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

tomare tarite sri-krsna-chaitanya
navadvipe avatara
toma hena kata dina-hina jane
karilena bhava-para

"'Sri Krishna Chaitanya has appeared in Nabadwip to deliver you. He has brought many humble souls just like you to the shore of the ocean of material existence.'"

It is a very nice song. There is also,

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

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

nija sukha lagi' pape nahi dari
daya-hina svartha-para
para-sukhe duhkhi sada mithya-bhasi
para-duhkha sukha-kara

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

asesa kamana hrdi majhe mora
krodhi, dambha-parayana
mada-matta sada visaye mohita
himsa-garva vibhusana

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

It is very nice. Always sing it.

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi ahankara

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean."

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana

"Practise tolerance like a tree. Stop ill-treating others, instead nurture them."

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

"Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others.”

Always sing it. Always remember it.

(ohe) vaisnava thakura dayara sagara
e dase karuna kari
diya pada-chhaya sodha he amare
tomara charana dhari

"O worshippable Vaisnava, ocean of grace, be merciful to this servant. Give me the shade of your feet and purify me. I clasp your feet."

It is a very nice song, sing it. There is also "Nitai pada kamala koti chandra susitala." I remember when Gurudev was going for an operation, the nurses were taking him in a hospital trolley bed to the operation theatre—Yamuna Priya Didi and myself were there, we were crying, but Gurudev stopped us and said, "Why are you crying?" Then he started singing,

nitai-pada-kamala, koti chandra-susitala,
ye chhayaya jagata judaya
hena nitai vine bhai radha-krsna paite nai
drdha kari' dhara nitaira paya

"Cooling like ten million moons, Nitai's lotus feet soothe the world with their shade. O brother! Without Nitai, you cannot reach Radha-Krishna. Firmly grasp Nitai's feet."

se sambandha nahi yara vrtha janma gela tara
sei pasu bada durachara
nitai na balila mukhe majila samsara-sukhe
vidya-kule ki karibe tara

"The life of one who had no connection with Nitai passed in vain. Such an animal is very wicked. What will learning (aristocratic birth) do for one who was immersed in worldly pleasures and never called aloud, 'Nitai'?"

ahankare matta haina nitai-pada pasariya
asatyere satya kari' mani
nitaiyer karuna habe vraje radha-krsna pabe
dhara nitaiyer charana duhkhani

"Maddened with pride, forgetting Nitai's feet, I accept untruth as truth. When Nitai bestows His mercy you will reach Radha-Krishna in Vraja. O suffering soul! Grasp Nitai's feet!"

nitaiyer charana satya tahara sevaka nitya
nitai-pada sada kara asa

"The lotus feet of Nityananda Prabhu are the truth, and His servitor is eternal. Always pray for His lotus feet.”

It is very nice. Sing this song. Practise singing every day, sing kirtans clapping hands. It is very nice if you do it every day.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

Next Sunday we will explain Sri Raya Ramananda sambad. There are two very exclusive, very important things in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita—one is Rupa-siksa and Sanatan-siksa, and the other one is Sri Ramananda-sambad. If you read it, it will be good for you.

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

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

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

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
All the sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math worldwide ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Krishna-anusilana Sangha ki jay

I am praying for everybody so that you all may overcome the current situation. As it is, you can join the programme and practise properly. Try to survive with your family—you have a good husband, a good wife, good children. Take proper care and practise Krishna consciousness properly, then more and more devotion will come to your life, you will get more and more energy to practise. I pray for this to my Guru.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay. Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol.

* * *

Our Mantra

Kolkata-Worldwide, 24 May 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Jay Vrinda Devi Tulasi Devi Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham Sri Nabadwip Dham Sri Vrindavan Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
All the sannyasi-, brahmachari-, bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all. By the mercy of Gurudev, we are all here today, assembled for the weekly class or conference with the devotees. I see that almost all the devotees are there and they are very happy. Also, I got some bad news from Brazil, São Paulo, that the devotees there are very much afraid because there are so many coronavirus attacks in Brazil...

I am very happy that all devotees have joined the class today. Actually, the main thing for us is how we should maintain our practising life. Day after day are passing, days are going—we must use every moment and all our sources for the service of the Lord, for the service to our Gurudev. If we can practise properly under Gurudev's guidance, then we must get to our real home. This is the main thing. It is necessary to have faith in that. It is necessary to have faith that everything must be always used for the service of the Lord.

Our main mantra is this: we must concentrate our mind, all our senses, our everything in one place—at the lotus feet of Srila Gurudev. Srila Gurudev is our only hope, we have no other way. Only Sri Gurudev can take us to the Lord and engage us in the service of the Lord. We must have a greatest desire for that, then one day we will get an opportunity to engage in service because our Gurudev always tries to engage everybody in the service of the Lord. These are the main things.

The problem is that we cannot leave our previous karma, previously acquired nature (arjapat)—we cannot surrender to the Lord properly, fully. We lack surrender (saranagati). Saranagati is the main thing. When you surrender to the Lord or Gurudev properly, then it becomes their duty to take us to the Lord. If we want to defend ourselves, it is not good—do not be always a defender, always surrender. It is necessary to have the mood of surrender because the mood of surrender can take us to the proper place. After you surrender properly, you do not have any duty anymore; our only duty is to surrender and to follow whatever instruction our Gurudev and guru-varga give, to follow whatever they say—after that it is their duty to decide what they will do with us. Surrender is the most important thing.

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

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

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

Su-drdha means the greatest faith; it means we surrender to the Lord, surrender to Gurudev, and Gurudev, who is the nearest friend of the Lord, will take me to the Lord—then we can avoid coming and going, birth and death.

This is how we should practise Krishna consciousness properly.

* * *

Exclusive Devotional Life

Kolkata-Worldwide, 24 May 2020, part 2

We are mostly not fully surrendered in our life, that is why we sometimes go away from service. Maya Devi always tries to take us away from Krishna's service and engage us in her service, her duty is like this. However, if we have the strongest faith and if we surrender fully, if we always keep ourselves engaged in the nava-vidha-bhakti, nine devotional processes—"sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, archanam, pada-sevanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering, worshipping, serving lotus feet, offering prayers, engaging in service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission)"—then we will be safe.

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-sindhu, 1.4.15-16)

We must practise properly, and to practise properly, you need good association, sadhu-sanga and Nama-sankirtan. Good association is necessary.

There is 'ananya-abhilasa' (exclusive desire) and 'anya-abhilasa' (other desires). What is 'ananya-abhilasa'? 'Ananya-abhilasa' means you think only about service to Krishna, nothing else, you have no other thoughts—you only think how to please the Lord, how to please the Lord's friend (Gurudev). All other thoughts are called anya-abhilasa. Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu says,

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, etc."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, 1.1.11)

We must have no other thoughts or material desires. We always think so much how to become rich, how to earn a lot of money, how to secure much property, how to get much wealth, we think much about family enjoyment, etc. These all are called material desires. Such material desires, as well as attachment to gramya-katha, gramya-varta (material talks, material news) will take us away from service. It is important to understand this. Always keep good association (sadhu-sanga) through scriptures, books, lectures, through kirtans.

When you are singing a song glorifying Vaishnavs, you are remembering Vaishnavs' qualities; when you are singing a song glorifying Gurudev, you can remember Gurudev's face in your heart; when you are singing a song glorifying Nityananda Prabhu, you can remember Nityananda Prabhu's pastimes; when you are singing a song glorifying Gauranga Mahaprabhu, you can remember Gauranga Mahaprabhu's pastimes in your heart. This is how Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Gurudev, practised. They did not mix so much with other people—they did not mix with those who do not engage themselves in service.

Engage yourself in service. Making garlands, taking care of Tulasi, doing Tulasi parikrama, sadhu-sanga, coming to the arati, practising kirtans, doing parikrama, etc.—always keep yourself engaged in the services of the Lord from the beginning of the day, from the mangal-arati early in the morning, until you go to sleep. We must do that. We must think, "How can I serve devotees more? How can I follow Gurudev's guidance properly?" This is necessary for our spiritual life. Continue your practising life in this way, and do not worry so much—one day we all have to die; one day we are born and one day we have to die. Everything that is happening, is happening by the will of the Lord, so whatever the Lord wants, it will happen. A few days ago we had a very severe cyclone here, there was so much strong wind here in Kolkata, it is not in our hands. Now there are so many problems in Kolkata, many places still have no electricity.

Mind is always fickle, mind always goes here and there, it is restless and fickle (chanchal), but you must concentrate your mind through chanting the Holy Name. Chant the Holy Name loudly: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Chant the Holy Name loudly, chant even when you go to the toilet, go to take a shower, when you go to take prasadam. Always think about Krishna. You must offer bhoga to the Lord and when prasadam comes, you should honour that prasadam with folded palms and full respect, realising that Krishna's prasad, Gurudev's prasad has come to you. Also, when you listen to Gurudev's lectures, Guru Maharaj's lectures or guru-varga's lectures, this is also guru-prasad coming to you. You should continue your practising life realising and practising all these things.

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

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

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

You know, if you read Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya every day, if you remember the glories of Sri Nabadwip Dham, remember how you did the parikrama last year or this year in March, then you will be remembering it and thinking that you are in Nabadwip. I sometimes read Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya, and this is the feeling I get—many Bengali devotees read the Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya book that was composed this year in Bengali, and they tell me, "Maharaj, it is very nice! When I am reading some place, I am thinking that I am in that place. When I am reading about Rudradwip, I feel that I am in Rudradwip. When I am reading Simantadwip's glorification, I am thinking I am in Simantadwip now." Such feeling comes. Always read books, and make it your habit to read books. The problem is that this current generation is not so much habituated to reading books, they always see everything in their mobile phones...

* * *

Dham-Seva

Kolkata-Worldwide, 24 May 2020, part 3

Question: You were saying that dham-seva is very important—how can one do proper dham-seva?

There are many ways you can do dham-seva. Our guru-varga make temples in many dhams (holy places), and you can help, you can serve those places in whichever way you can, depending on how much capacity you have. You can do some cleaning, you can do some service, etc. Whatever your capacity is, you can do proper dham-seva. You can remember Jagai and Madhai also. How did Madhai do dham-seva? In those days, there were no toilets, so people would pass stool on the bank of the Ganges and then go to bathe in the Ganges—Madhai would remove that stool with a hoe and bury it. He would clean the Ganges in this way, this is also dham-seva. Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu gave that service to him. Every year when we do Nabadwip Dham parikrama, we go to that place called Madhai-ghat.

I also did some dham-seva many years ago. At that time, there were no street lights in Mayapur and it was very dark at night—every temple had light, but there was no light on the streets. I went to the government, submitted an application, prayed to them, etc., in the end they gave permission and made lights on every electric pole. I did some dham-seva in this way. Also, there is some dham-vaishnav-seva—during the Nabadwip Dham parikrama, you can see some people from Dham Seva Samiti (I am the secretary there) sitting on the chairs under umbrellas and distributing sweet water or plain water to those who are doing the parikrama. This is another way to do dham-seva. So, there are many ways one can do dham-seva.

Also, I am making a temple in Mayapur now and some devotees are gradually helping with the construction so that more devotees could stay with us. Every year we do parikrama,and so many devotees have to stay outside, it is very painful for me, that is why I am making some arrangement for accommodation. Despite the lockdown period, I am still doing the construction, I did not stop it—not in Nrisingha Palli, not in Mayapur, not in Uluberia. Construction is going on in three places now. Devotees are helping little by little. If one devotee gives one dollar every day, it is thirty dollars per month and three hundred sixty dollars a year. Some devotees give their energy in this way. Those who have capacity, donate, and those who do not have such capacity, give their heart and soul, they give their support. Not everybody can give money, not everybody has that kind of capacity, but if everybody gives their heart, if everybody gives their support, that is sufficient. At the time of Nabadwip Dham parikrama, so many devotees come from all over the world, and I need much more accommodation for everyone to be able to stay at the temple, and the devotees who are helping with that are also doing dham-seva.

You know, when I joined Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Mission, outside people used to think Mayapur to be a picnic spot, so they would come, throw so much garbage everywhere, cut goats, chickens, and make festivals. I filed a court case in the High Court against this, and the High Court ruled that Mayapur cannot be a picnic place—Mayapur is a religious place, it is the birthplace of Mahaprabhu, so everybody must take care of it. The High Court issued an order that no one can make a picnic there and no one can make the place dirty. This is also one kind of dham-seva.

Sometimes, if we get time one day when we come for Nabadwip Dham parikrama, we can also go to clean the Ganges. When we were in Nabadwip, Kolerdanga, the main temple, I saw devotees would clean Govinda Kunda—that is also dham-seva. For example, in Ekachakra, after the festival, there are so many prasadam plates everywhere, and devotees clean the whole day and night, taking all garbage out. That is called dham-seva. There are so many ways you can do dham-seva. You can do according to your capacity. "Dhama-basi jane pranati kariya magiba krpara lesa: I will bow down before a dham basi and beg from them a drop of mercy."

Actually, the problem is that we have so much ego, and because of our ego we cannot leave our arjapat (previous karma)—we cannot leave our identification with the area we come from, with the generation we come from; that is why we cannot understand these things easily. We do not know how to harmonise with everything, but it is necessary to harmonise. If we can harmonise with our background, then we can do our service properly. Do you understand what I am saying? Sometimes, we cannot leave our arjapat—the culture we are born in, the caste we are born in, etc. However, if we practise, then we will be able to leave it gradually.

In many places devotees are alone now, they think it is very boring, they are unhappy about the lockdown, it is difficult to work from home, etc. Laziness starts coming, they think a lot how to run their business properly, how to maintain their family life after the lockdown, they worry about the economical problems. They think so much, but everything depends upon Krishna. You must surrender to Krishna, surrender to the Lord. Do not think so much, do not make yourself sick. Sometimes, you think, think, think, and you become sick with worry. Everything is the will of Krishna, the will of the Lord. What will happen, what is happening, everything is good. Even if somebody dies, do not be sad; if somebody is born, do not be so happy. It is the same. Devotees can live anywhere, they can live in hell or heaven, it is the same for them. When Parvati cursed Chitraketu to go to hell, Chitraketu did not think anything—he thought, "Whatever happens, it is the will of Krishna." So, whether devotees go to hell, jail, heaven, or Goloka, it is the same for them—wherever they go, they will will chant the Holy Name; even if they are locked down in their houses, they will chant the Holy Name, they will serve the lord. For devotees, everything is the same. So, do not fear death or any attacks. At the same time, we must be also careful and we must try to save ourselves. We have a good brain, we have a good intelligence (sumedha), and we must use our good brain in a proper way. That is the main thing.

* * *

Dealing with Misconception

Kolkata-Worldwide, 24 May 2020, part 4

Are there any other question?

Question: We have many people from Indian culture here who say, "I am a vegetarian, I worship Krishna, so I do not need a guru." How can we preach to such people? How can we make them understand the necessity of a guru?

Yes, they can say that, but Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself accepted a guru, Krishna Himself accepted a guru, so we should follow Them. It is true about everything—if you want to learn to cook, for example, you also need a guru; some siksa-guru will teach you to cook. A guru is always necessary, in everything. You cannot reach Krishna without a guru. You may worship Krishna, but Krishna Himself said (it is written in Srimad Bhagavad-gita also), "Those who say they are My devotees, are not My devotees, but those who are devotees of My devotee, they are My devotees." Krishna Himself says that, so if somebody says that a guru is not necessary, then they are not devotees.

Question: In this world, there are a lot of devotees who sincerely seek a guru, but what happens is that they end up with a wrong guru because there are a lot of bogus gurus now all over the world. Still, they sincerely worship Krishna, they offer flowers, they do some chanting, etc.

This is not devotion—to ring the bell, to give some flowers is not devotion. All Hindu people do this, but this is not devotion. I wrote about it in Upadesh 3, Guidance 3 [page 186]. You can read about it there. Those who just ring the bell, do some puja in the evening, etc. have material desires—they worship the Lord for their own interest. That is why this is not devotion. Some bogus gurus also give initiation for their own interest. That is not a proper guru. A guru will not give initiation for his own interest, a guru will give initiation for the benefit of his disciple—he will think about the disciple, "How will he reach his proper destination? I will guide him."

Does anyone have any other questions?

Question: You said earlier that if one has no money to give for service, they can give their heart to service. How can we give our heart for service?

How can we give heart? Can you not understand it? If somebody follows their guru properly, 100%, then they are giving their heart. It is necessary to give not only your heart, but your heart and soul, everything. You must do properly the service that Gurudev has given you. Do that service properly.

You think that if you do not do your service, then the service will stop—never! Gurudev allows others to do service. Gurudev is Baladev, and Baladev always serves the Lord with His ten hands, so if somebody stops some service, Gurudev arranges for someone else to do that service. One way or another, but he does the required service. Baladev is asraya-vigraha (embodiment of shelter), and it is His duty—He always does everything to make Krishna happy. So, if somebody does not do their service to Krishna, Baladev, or Gurudev, is always ready to do it properly Himself. So, if some service stops somewhere, Gurudev arranges for someone to do it. Krishna always arranges everything for Himself.

Question: How can we get the shade of your lotus feet when we are controlled by the force of fear?

Why do you fear? Always control your mind. You should think with your mind, with your heart that if you follow the guidance of your guru properly, if you can practise his teachings, then you can enter the shade of Gurudev's feet. Actually, you must always control your mind. Control your mind with your brain, then you will be free from fear. If you follow the guidance, the advice of your Guru properly, then you can enter the shade of Gurudev's lotus feet.

Are there any other questions?

Question: In the song 'Ei-bara karuna kara vaisnava gosai', it is said, 'Hari-sthane aparadhe tare hari-nama / toma-sthane aparadhe nahika edana. If one offends the Lord, the Lord's Name delivers him, but if one offends you, O Vaishnav, one has no salvation.' If someone commits a sin towards Gurudev, how can they overcome that offence?

They will go to Gurudev and surrender to him, ask him for forgiveness of their offence. Guru is always merciful, forgiving (ksamasil), so if somebody makes an offence to Gurudev, they should go to Gurudev and say with full surrender, "Gurudev, I have made this offence, please forgive my offence."

Question: Sometimes we preach to people, but they say that for them, the Bible is the only true book, and other books are not real. I do not know how to explain to them that there is more than that.

To answer this question, you can read Srimad Bhagavad-gita, this is the first (primary) book in Krishna consciousness, then you can tell them everything. They should see—where does the Bible end? Where is its limit? You can tell them about that. Also, when you go to sell your things, you will always preach in favour of your things, so because they preach about the Bible, they will always preach in favour of the Bible. Every shopkeeper always praises his own shop—one shopkeeper says, "My shop's sweets are very nice," and other shopkeepers will also say, "My sweets are very nice," and you can decide which is better only if you taste the sweets. So, you can tell them, "Our scriptures say that if you join us, you can play football with Krishna. Does your Bible say that too? No, it does not. Yet, if you join Krishna consciousness, you can easily feed Krishna, you can easily bathe the Lord, you can easily play football or cricket with Krishna.”

Question: What should I do if I am invited to one of our members' home when they make a programme, but I find there some devotees from another mission?

If they are OK, if they follow Krishna consciousness and respect our Guru, then you can go to such programmes.

Devotee: What if they are offensive to our Guru?

Then you must leave that place.

* * *

Sri Ramananda Sambad

Kolkata-Worldwide, 24 May 2020, part 5

Question: Last Sunday you mentioned you would speak about Srila Ramananda Ray, 'Ramananda Sambad'...

Yes, I have forgotten about that today. 'Raya Ramananda Sambad' is very nice. Mahaprabhu asked, "Duhkha-madhye kona duhkha haya gurutara? Among all kinds of sadness, what is the heaviest sadness?" You will think your father died, your mother died, and it is sad, but Raya Ramananda replied, "Krsna-bhakta-viraha vina duhkha nahi dekhi para. We do not see any other sadness except the separation from devotees of Krishna." Separation from the Lord gives too much sadness. There were so many other questions and answers between Mahaprabhu and Raya Ramananda. It is recorded in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, in 'Raya Ramananda Sambad.'

Raya Ramananda is actually an incarnation of Visakha. Mahaprabhu met Ramananda Raya for the first time on the bank of the Godavari in South India. Mahaprabhu was sitting and waiting for him, and when Raya Ramananda, a big minister, came there accompanied by so many people, Mahaprabhu understood that it was Raya Ramananda. Then, Mahaprabhu showed his opulence (aisvarya), and Raya Ramananda immediately came up to Him, paid his obeisance to Mahaprabhu, and Mahaprabhu hugged him. Many brahmans were present there at that time, and they began talking, "Oh, He is a sannyasi, why is He embracing Raya Ramananda who belongs to a lower caste?" But Mahaprabhu knew who Raya Ramananda was. During their meeting Mahaprabhu showed him His Rasaraj Mahabhav form (the combined form of Srimati Radharani and Krishna). Seeing that form, Raya Ramananda fainted. In the end, Mahaprabhu told Ram Rai, "After South India, I will go to Puri, you must come and meet Me there." Raya Ramananda worked for king Prataparudra, he was Prataparudra's main man. So, Raya Ramananda came to the king and asked him, "Prabhu, can I go to Mahaprabhu? Can I serve there?" King Prataparudra replied, "Yes, go to Mahaprabhu and stay with Him full time! I will give you your full salary!" In this way, Raya Ramananda stayed, together with Svarup Damodar, with Mahaprabhu during His last pastimes—Raya Ramamanda would speak Krishna-katha and Mahaprabhu would listen to it. Actually, Mahaprabhu himself told all those things through Raya Ramananda's mouth.

There is also another pastime. Once, a brahman named Pradyumna Misra wanted to hear some Hari-katha, Krishna-katha, so he came to Mahaprabhu and asked Him to speak some Krishna-katha. Mahaprabhu said, "I do not know any Krishna-katha. Raya Ramananda knows it better than Me." So, Pradyumna Misra went to meet with Raya Ramananda, but Raya Ramananda was busy at that time with some service. Raya Ramamanda was a trainer of young dancers of Lord Jagannath—he would teach twelve-nineteen-year-old young girls how to wear a sari, how to dance, how to make garlands, etc. So, that day, he was busy with all that in the garden. Pradyumna Misra waited, waited, waited, then somebody told him that Ramananda Ray was busy and explained what he was doing. Hearing it, Pradyumna Misra was not very happy, he thought, "I have come to hear some Krishna-katha from Raya Ramananda because Mahaprabhu told me Raya Ramananda's name, but he is teaching young girls to wear saris, he touches their intimate places!" Pradyumna Misra came back to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu asked him, "So, have you heard Krishna-katha?" Pradyumna Misra replied, "No." Mahaprabhu understood what had happened and said, "You cannot understand who Raya Ramananda is. When Raya Ramananda teaches those girls, when he mixes with those ladies, he does not think that he is a man—he becomes a gopi! Go to him again." So, Pradyumna Misra went again to Raya Ramananda to hear some Krishna-katha from him. This time, Raya Ramananda met with him. He said, "Please forgive my offence. I was busy yesterday and could not meet with you. What did you want to ask?" Then, they discussed so many questions and answers, the whole night passed and the sun rose, both of them even forgot to take prasadam—the whole night passed in Hari-katha, in discussing Krishna-katha. Then, Pradyumna Misra again came to Mahaprabhu and said, "Yes, Prabhu. You sent me to a perfect place, You sent me to a person who truly knows Krishna-katha."

Also, we find 'Raya Ramananda Sambad' is Sri Chaitanaya-charitamrita, there are also many questions and answers discussed in it. Mahaprabhu said, "Pada sloka sadhyera nirnaya. Please recite verses concerning the ultimate goal of life." Raya Ramananda said, "Varnasrama dharma haite krsna-bhakti haya. One can attain devotion to Krishna by following the religion of varnasharam (by adhering to the orders of brahmacharya, grhastha, vanaprastha, sannyasa). First, he spoke about karma-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with fruitive activities). Mahaprabhu said, "Eha bahya age kaha ara. It is external; leave it and go further." Then, he told about jnana-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with pursuits of knowledge). Mahaprabhu said, "No, leave it, go further." When he told about jnana-sunya bhakti (devotion without any pursuits of knowledge), then Mahaprabhu said, "Yes, this can be accepted." In this way, they discussed higher and higher, higher and higher things. Sugar cane, cane juice, sugar, crystals, candy—the more you condense the juice, the sweeter it tastes. In the same way, the more Raya Ramananda spoke and explained, the more taste came out, and Mahaprabhu relished that taste. Raya Ramananda also spoke to Mahaprabhu about santa-rasa, dasya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vatsalya-rasa, and, lastly, madhura-rasa.

I am describing it all very shortly now. It is a very long chapter, I am telling you the main substance.

* * *

Questions and Answers (1)

Kolkata-Worldwide, 24 May 2020, part 6

Question: Do we come to this line because of our free will or is this something coming from our previous life as a pre-defined fate?

It is your purva-sukriti (your sukriti from previous lives) to some extent because you have got some sukriti as a result of your previous karma, and through that sukriti you have got good association. After that, through that good association, you can practise properly, and this is your free will, it is not pre-defined. Actually, if you take initiation, you are only admitted into a school, but you will never pass the final exams at school without getting education—without studying, without going to college, etc. So, when you take initiation, you must practise properly after that. To practise means:

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)

There are sixty-four types of bhaktyanga (devotional processes), and it is necessary to practise them as much as you can; otherwise, without service you cannot attain your goal, you cannot reach your proper destination.

Speaking of Raya Ramananda and the relationship between Mahaprabhu, Raya Ramananda and Svarup Damodar—in His later pastimes, Mahaprabhu's situation was the same as the situation of Srimati Radharani when Krishna left Vrindavan, at that time only Visakha and Lalita were giving nourishment to Srimati Radharani. Mahaprabhu felt the same kind of separation,

"kahan karon, kahan yana, kahan gele krsna pana,
dunhe more kaha se upaya"

"[To Svarup Damodar and Raya Ramananda:] What shall I do? Where shall I go? Where can I go to get Krishna? Please, both of you, tell Me how I can find Him."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.15.24)

Mahaprabhu would keep saying this. We find it written in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. If you study Gopi Gita in Srimad Bhagavatam also, you can see how much separation from Krishna gopis feel. Here also, Mahaprabhu would break His head against the wall and so much blood would come from His face. He would fall down and keep fainting all the time. He always thought about Krishna. At that time, Mahaprabhu becomes Srimati Radhika, searching for Krishna, and Raya Ramananda and Svarup Damodar would always give nourishment to Him—they would speak some Krishna-katha to Him, they would comfort and give Him some peace; but when Svarup Damodar and Raya Ramananda left Mahaprabhu in the evening, then Mahaprabhu would become very sick during the night (He did not really become sick, but He showed sickness). It was such a big problem... Kavi Karnapura wrote Gaura-gana-desa-dipika, and there he writes that Raya Ramananda is an incarnation of Visakha.

Are there any other questions from anybody?

Question: We already have a land and want to build a temple, but there are some government rules according to which we cannot build a temple in that place because it is a rural farm place. So, I wanted to ask if we should follow the government rules or still build the temple?

No, if you make a temple and the government will later stop it, you will lose your money—you must follow what the government says, you must follow the rules. You can buy a land in another place.

Question: I offer some milk and drink it, but when I am drinking that milk, I am thinking that the cows have to suffer so much to give this milk.

It is not a problem. Offer milk to the Lord and it will be prasadam, then you will not be drinking milk—you will be drinking prasadam. Cows sacrifice their bodies to the Lord. Everything that exists in this world is meant for the Lord's service. What to speak of cows, even mosquitoes also exist for the Lord's purpose. Whatever Krishna gives birth to, there is some idea, some purpose behind its existence. Krishna has so many ideas. We have a puppy brain—how much can we conceive? Krishna is the Absolute, and He has so many ideas, purposes—how can we conceive of it? He has given a coronavirus, He has given a cyclone, it is all His desire. We cannot conceive these things with our puppy brain.

Question: There are many disciples around the world—can anyone use the name Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math?

Why not?

Devotee: Is it necessary to ask you first before using this name?

I have no objection. If they ask me, it is good, and if they do not ask me, I do not mind it. I aways think that devotees always do service under the guidance of the guru, under guidance of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math—then, they can use the name of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. What is the problem? If somebody uses the name Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and does nonsense, then we will not tolerate it, we will give objection. As for the opposition group, actually, we do not think that anyone is our opposition because we ourselves are our enemies, we have so many enemies inside us... Anyway, we think that if somebody uses the name Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and does proper preaching, then they use the name properly—to this I do not have any objection.

* * *

Questions and Answers (2)

Kolkata-Worldwide, 24 May 2020, part 7

Question: We often hear Your Divine Grace say that we can read certain things in Chaitanya-charitamrita or Srimad Bhagavatam, and at the same time we hear that reading scriptures on our own can be the same as reading a newspaper. How to harmonise it?

Actually, when this is said, it is said as an example. Sometimes you do something, you read something, and it is good if you do it under the guidance of your guru. This is the answer. Whatever you do, do it under the guidance of your guru, that will be good. Otherwise, you will be reading Bhagavatam, but you have no quality and qualification to read Bhagavatam. It is best if you first get permission from your guru. Ask your guru first for permission, "Can I read Srimad Bhagavatam?" If he thinks that you are capable of explaining, reading, or understanding it, then he will give you the direction to read Srimad Bhagavatam.

The main thing is that when you do something, it is necessary to do it under the guidance of your guru. When I was a brahmachari, I had not given any class until Gurudev told me to. One day, Gurudev told me, "You can read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita in the evening," and I started to read it. I had lived in the temple for six years when Gurudev told me that I could read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. Also, Gurudev told me that I could read Sri Gaudiya-kanthahara. And, yes, Gurudev says that if you are going to read Srimad Bhagavatam without the guidance (instruction) of your guru, then it will be like reading a newspaper.

Srila Ashram Maharaj: We heard that there was a hurricane in India the other day. Is everything OK now?

Yes, everything is OK, Maharaj. Only the roof of the goshala at the Tarakeshwar temple fell down, but the cows are OK. There was a very strong wind. The cows are OK, they were not hit (Krishna protects His cows)—the roof fell down to the other side, and I have already started the reconstruction today. That day, 150,000 electric poles fell down in the affected areas of Bengal, but we were lucky, we got the electricity back the same day because some places still do not have electricity. We have electricity in all our temples except Ganga Sagar, there is still no electricity and network there.

Srila Ashram Maharaj: Did the storm hit the whole of Bengal?

Not all Bengal, only the south part—it went through Kolkata up to Nadia.

Srila Ashram Maharaj: Did it affect Nabadwip?

Yes, a little bit. Two trees fell down in our Nrisingha Palli, at Nrisinghadev's place, but they did not hit our house, they fell on the other side, on a building nearby. Our house was not affected. Here in Kolkata, the storm started at 2:30 p.m. and finished at 9 p.m. It lasted seven hours, and five thousand big trees fell down in Kolkata. There were big trees in Park Street (Krishnachura, Radhachura, and others), and now we have lost all these trees, we will not see them again.

Question: Sometimes, we do our service with enthusiasm, but in the course of time, we start to lose that enthusiasm. How to keep that enthusiasm?

If you always think about service, if you chant the Holy Name, if you think about Gurudev, then that enthusiasm will never be lost. Make yourself busy with service. If you are alone and do not do anything, even at that time you must also think about service, then you will not lose enthusiasm.

Question: When we sew an outfit for Srimati Radharani, can we sew a complete white outfit for Her?

Yes, no problem.

Question: I was listening to a lecture of Srila Govinda Maharaj where he says that it is difficult to recognise a Vaishnav. So, I wanted to ask how can we recognise who is a Vaishnav and who is not?

Yes, I also tell it sometimes. You cannot understand it, it is true, but you can recognise who is a Vaishnav and who is not by the mercy of Gurudev. It is said that if somebody chants the Holy Name once, they are a Vaishnav; if somebody chants the Holy Name regularly, they are also a Vaishnav, and

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

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

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

Who is the highest Vaishnav? If you see somebody and "Hare Krishna" comes to your mouth, that is the highest Vaishnav. You can understand it in this way. Also, sometimes you can observe carefully a person's activities, their service mood, and you can easily understand who is not a Vaishnav. Actually, even Brahma says, "I am unable to recognise a Vaishnav." So, yes, it is a little difficult for us. Only who is a proper Vaishnav can recognise another Vaishnav. Sometimes, even great scholars, great bona fide gurus also could not recognise a great Vaishnav. We can recognise a Vaishnav only by the mercy of Gurudev, by the mercy of the Vaishnav. Also, it is necessary to observe to what extent one is humble, tolerant, and gives honour to other—the more humble, tolerant, respectful one is, the more Vaishnav quality one has. A Vaishnav will never say, "I am a Vaishnav." A Vaishnav is always a humble soul, a humble servant, he will think, "I am footdust of Vaishnavs, that is my capacity." Those who have such qualities, are Vaishnavs.

Question: In Srila Guru Maharaj's arati song, there is a verse that says, "Tulasi malika haste sri-nama grahana / dekhi' sakalera haya 'prabhu' uddipana—seeing you with the beads, it reminds us of our Lord." What does 'the Lord' mean here, Srila Saraswati Thakur, Lord Krishna, or who?

When he is chanting the Holy Name, when he is showing this mood, everybody is thinking, "He is my master." Not Prabhupad, not the Lord. 'Prabhu' here means everybody is thinking, "Srila Sridhar Maharaj is my master (prabhu)." Srila Guru Maharaj is my prabhu, my master. Srila Gurudev wrote this song for Srila Guru Maharaj.

OK, I am finishing today. I hope to meet with you all again next week. We will try to meet every Sunday.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay

* * *

Your Love and Affection

Kolkata-Worldwide, 31 May 2020, part 1

Hari bol!

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 Sri Radha Kunda Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham Sri Nabadwip Dham Sri Vrindavan Mathura ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

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

Hari bol! Dandavat. I am very happy to see you all, it is very nice to meet with you all by the mercy of Gurudev. So many devotees are present here, I can see their faces and remember Gurudev. When I see them, when I see their faces, when I remember their good association, good things always come to my heart, to my mind. I am alive with devotees' love and affection, otherwise if you do not give me love and affection, then one day I will die. Because everybody is giving so much love and affection to me, I am alive and I can survive. Because of your love and affection I am getting energy to serve devotees, to make guesthouses, to make temples, to go here, there without being so much afraid of the corona or any virus.

Actually, our duty is to preach to each other, to give each other enthusiasm to survive, to serve devotees. So many devotees are helping us everywhere all over the world—everyone little by little does some service according to their capacity, and Gurudev said, "If a devotee gives me one rupee, it is worth one million rupees for me." Devotees always help, and I always use all my energy, to the last drop of my blood, for the service to devotees, Gurudev, and Guru Maharaj. I am trying to do that.

I went to Ganga Sagar the day before yesterday, and yesterday I went to Nrisingha Palli. I need to go there again to complete a land registry (to register one more plot of land in Nrisingha Palli). There is only one building in Nrisingha Palli, and it is not sufficient for devotees—so many devotees come at the time of Gaura Purnima and they have to stay in some outside people's houses, it is not good, and not safe for them also. I am thinking that it is necessary to give some more accommodation, that is why I am trying heart and soul to arrange it, and everyone, all devotees one by one are helping me. I am very happy with their help.

Actually, Krishna gives us energy. Krishna has given us this lockdown period, and people have no work, they are sitting in their houses, they are not going outside, but still they are helping us. That is only Gurudev's mercy otherwise, without Gurudev's mercy, I think it is impossible to happen, but it is happening. Gurudev told me, "When one door closes, another door will open." I see that now. I see that what he told me, everything is correct. Then, I am trying my best for devotees. This is my service, and I am very happy to do it. I will do it until death—that is my promise. I will not leave you. Until my death, I will stay with you all in any kind of circumstances, in any kind of problem. I will always be with you, and you are always in my heart.

* * *

Sacred Chamber of Devotional Mood

Kolkata-Worldwide, 31 May 2020, part 2

Nityananda Prabhu gives His mercy even to those who criticise Him, who beat Him, He does not have any consideration—He always bestows His mercy all over the world. Srila Gurudev also, just like Nityananda Prabhu, distributes the highest things all over the world. He gives us the highest conception of Sri Rupanuga sampradaya, of our Guru Maharaj, Srila Prabhupad, and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. What he has given us is crucial for us.

We must remember this and practise what Gurudev has given us in every life, at every minute, at every moment. This is the main thing. We will not be alive forever in this world, we must try until our death to do some service for Srila Gurudev, Srila Guru maharaj and their mission. This is our vision, this is our main view. We should do that.

I have seen how much austerity Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami went through in Vrindavan. Mahaprabhu had sent Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami there to fulfil His desire, and Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami, everyone succeeded. They were all finally victorious—they fulfilled Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's desire. In the same way, our Srila Gurudev also fulfilled his Guru Maharaj's desire. I do not know how much I can do, but I am also trying to fulfil Gurudev's desire as his unqualified disciple.

I am not qualified, but my only qualification is that I hope and pray that Gurudev may keep me at his lotus feet as his servant, as his dog. He is still keeping me, and I pray to him, "Gurudev, may my mind, my heart never go to any other place without you." I always think about Gurudev and always pray for that. I feel it is necessary for me to always think about it. I always pray that wherever I may be living, be it in Nrisingha Palli, Kolkata, Ganga Sagar, Tarakeshwar, Bakura, Ekachakra, Puri, Vrindavan, be it even in a jungle, forest, or a hill—this is not a question for me; wherever I may be living, I am always alert that my mood, my service mood may not deviate from Gurudev. This is what I always think about. I always think, "How shall I make him happy?" This is my intention.

Gurudev never died. Gurudev is always with us, and we should try to make him happy. Some may think, "Oh, Gurudev has expired, how are we to fulfil his desire?" This is not correct. Wherever Gurudev lives, he is always in his nitya-lila (eternal pastimes), he is always in Goloka Vrindavan, always with Lord Krishna—and he can see everything. He is observing everything, and he always tests us to see how much humility, tolerance, and ability to give honour to others we have. Gurudev always tests us to see how much we can give for him.

You know, when a country's soldiers join the military life, they promise that they will give their life for the country. In the same way, when we join Krishna consciousness, we must promise that we will give our life for Krishna, that we will give our life for the Lord, for Gurudev. This life is not for others—this life is not for my parents, not for my sister, not for my daughter, not for my husband, not for my wife! This life is for Gurudev. This body is for Gurudev. This heart is for Gurudev. This mind is for Gurudev. This is the main thing.

* * *

"How Much Will You Sacrifice?"

Kolkata-Worldwide, 31 May 2020, part 3

Everyone must serve to the best of their capacity. Somebody knows how to print books, somebody knows how to translate books, etc.—everybody has different capacity for preaching, you should preach in your own capacity. Now is a lockdown period, everybody is bored staying in their houses so much, we cannot go out, etc. It is a very big problem, and I also feel that, that is why I try to keep myself busy—I go here, there. How long more will we tolerate this lockdown after lockdown? Here, they are starting a fifth lockdown from tomorrow, for another month, and they are telling already that there will be a lockdown in July also, and after that another lockdown in August. They are telling this now already. They are relaxing the rules little by little, but this lockdown cannot go on forever. Some time it must finish.

I told at Gaura Purnima time—all the scientists discover so many medicines, so much medicine comes out (now there is even cancer medicine, AIDS medicine, there are so many virus medicines, bacteria medicines out there), but at the same time Yamaraj creates so many diseases, so many viruses. There is one American scientist from a university who has discovered that five new viruses appear every year. Now it is covid-19, and this coronavirus has different characters—it is one type of covid-19 in China, another type in Brazil, they have found many kinds of this virus in India also. This is a pastimes (lila) of the Lord. Everything is in His hands, He controls everything. These things are not in our hands. Therefore, despite the situation, we cannot stop our preaching, we cannot stop our chanting of the Holy Name, we cannot stop our service.

The government may not allow us to go to the chariot festival of Lord Jagannath this year, but Jagannath is always in our hearts, Baladev is in our hearts, Subhadra is in our hearts. They may not allow us to go to Odisha, or Puri, this year, but we can feel, we can realise what is Lord Jagannath's character, what is the mood of Lord Jagannath, and what He wants. You can realise these things if you have a service mood, if you can serve.

If you proceed with sincerity, with love and affection, if you have a great desire to do some service, it is more essential, more practical for your life. Also, there is another thing you must understand. How much will you sacrifice? How much of your life can you sacrifice? One time, when Gurudev saw some people killing a goat in front of Mother Kali, he said, "Do you see that? This goat is sacrificing its life for the service of Mother Kali." This kind of feeling came to Gurudev when he saw it. Thousands of goats (jiva souls) give their life to Mother Kali, but we have a human body—we have a much greater opportunity to serve the Lord, we can give our life for the service of the Deities, and this has much more value.

You can make Gurudev happy with whatever service you do. Do you remember Duhkhi, a maidservant at Srivas Pandit's house who would bring water? She got mercy of Mahaprabhu just by bringing some water. This is the service she did in Srivas Pandit's house. Also, you can remember Srivas Pandit's faith, Mukunda Prabhu's faith, how they got mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu through their faith. So, if you can do even one small service for Srila Gurudev, Srila Guru Maharaj, for their mission, then it will be perfect for you, it will bring a great benefit for your spiritual life—then your human body will be of some use.

You have already got this human body, and this is the proper way to utilise it. This is what life is for. This life is not for behaving or living like other souls, like animals. You all know it. You all know that we have not come to this world to live like animals—to only eat, sleep, have some sex, and enjoy as much as we can. We are not animals. We have some other job here. We have some other service. We have got this kind of advice from Srimad Bhagavatam, from Srila Gurudev and Srila Guru Maharaj. Search for Sri Krishna Reality the Beautiful. If you want to get beautiful things, if you want to have more happiness in your life, if you want to have more comfort in your life (and not only in this or next life, but life after life), if you want to get more reality, now is your chance—you have got this human body, this body is perfect for attaining success.

Then, you should understand what is necessary to do during this period. Chant the Holy Name, engage in Bhagavat-sravan, think about the holy dham, about Sri Nabadwip Dham, live in Nabadwip Dham, live a bhajan life, always live in the place where service always goes on, do mangala-arati, come to mangala-arati, worship the Lord, serve, cook, dance, chant, make garlands, take care of the Tulasi garden. There are so many services. This is how you will be perfect. Do not be lazy. You are now in this lockdown period and you will be attacked by more and more laziness, but no, you must not waste time. Krishna has given you this opportunity to serve more, to pay more attention to the service of the Lord in your house. That is the main thing.

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Service Abode of Eternal Happiness

Kolkata-Worldwide, 31 May 2020, part 4

Are there any questions from anybody?

Question: In the material world, there are so many kinds of suffering (from death, disease, etc.), people are unhappy in so many ways in this world, but gopis, Krishna's associates, devotees in the spiritual world are all eternal, they exist eternally. Do they also feel some sort of similar feeling like we do here in this world? They are eternal, so how do they feel?

How do they feel? [His Divine Grace chuckles.] If you have that kind of feeling, when this feeling comes to you, then you will not think about any disease or anything else. Do you understand? For example, do you remember we went to Kurmaksetra last year? We visited the place of Vasudev Vipra. He had leprosy, there were insects in his body, but he was happy. His mood was that he was happy, he did not worry about anything, he was not unhappy. When something happens, Vraja gopis also feel many things, but they are always happy. All of Krishna's associates, all gopis, all cowherd boys are always happy. Even Laksmi Devi, who is running behind Krishna, is also happy.

If you have a great desire, you do not feel suffering. So, there is no suffering, no disease, no suffering from old age, nothing of this sort in the eternal abode of Goloka Vrindavan. There is always so much suffering everywhere in the material world—both in hell and in heaven—but in the spiritual world there is only eternal happiness. We should realise the nature of that happiness. It is possible to understand that happiness through service. Pure spiritual souls are always happy. In this world also, our guru-varga show some pastimes of suffering, but actually they are happy—they live in the plane of Vraja gopis. They have the mood of Vraja gopis, and they always think about the Lord, they always think about separation from the Lord. That is how happiness comes.

Question: There is something called seva-sukha-duhkha (happiness and sadness in service). Does this sadness (duhkha) that I am not able to do proper service exist in the spiritual world also?

Not really. Seva-sukha-duhkha means when you do some service, if sometimes some sadness comes, that is also your happiness. When this kind of mood comes, then no sadness will exist in your spiritual life, in the transcendental life. When service time comes, whether happiness comes or sadness comes, everything is great happiness (parama sukha), everything is very good because when you try to do some service and you cannot do that service, then you will try and try harder to do that service. That is a source of happiness for you. You have a desire to do some service, you always think, "I must do that service!", and you will try and try to do it—that is your happiness. That kind of happiness also increases your service mood more and more.

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Simplicity and Duplicity

Kolkata-Worldwide, 31 May 2020, part 5

Are there any other questions?

Question: How can ordinary people get enlivened in Krishna consciousness?

You can tell them what is Krishna consciousness, what for we serve the Lord, what for we practise Krishna consciousness, what is our duty. Sanatan Goswami asked Mahaprabhu five questions:

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

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

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

(1) Who am I? (2) Why are we suffering? (3) How can we prosper in our life? (4) What is our goal? (5) How will we get that goal? These questions and answers are there in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. You must tell them that we never die, that we only change our bodies. People think that we die, but only our body does—we never die. You can encourage outside people in this way. Give them some love and affection, sometimes give them some prasadam, sometimes do Harinam sankirtan. In this way new people will join Krishna consciousness. Also, you can use your own practical experience—you can tell how you joined Krishna consciousness, share your experience with others.

Question: It is said that the Name of Krishna and Krishna Himself are non-different, but why do I not get so much feeling when I am chanting the 'Hare Krishna' maha-mantra?

Because there are some material desires in your heart. You do Harinam, but it is not proper Harinam—you sometimes do Nama-abhas (shadow of the Holy Name), sometimes Nama-aparadh (offence of the Holy Name).

aparadha sunye haye laha krsna-nama
achirat tumi pabe krsna-prema-dhana

"Chant the Holy Name of Krishna without offence and you will quickly get the treasure of divine love to Krishna."

If you chant the Holy Name without offence, then you can feel that Krishna's Name, beauty, pastimes are non-different from Krishna. You must chant without offences. Do you understand? Without offence. When you are chanting, "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna," etc., this is only the alphabet because at this time you are thinking about other things. Is it correct or not? If you think about Krishna's service when you chant the Holy Name, then you can feel that Krishna's Name, beauty, pastimes are non-different from Krishna. On the other hand, if you chant the Holy Name and think about other things, if you have material desires—kanak (money), kamini (companions), and pratistha (name and fame); kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (illusion), mada (madness), matsarya (envy); rupa, ras, gandha, sabda, sparsa (desire to enjoy through the senses of sight, taste, smell, sound, touch)—then you will not feel anything when chanting.

Question: How can we stay simple?

Simplicity is necessary for our spiritual life. First, one must be saral (সরল, simple-hearted). Gurudev always says that we must be simple. We must always open everything to our guru, we must not hide anything—we must not be hypocrites. Try to live simply (saral vairagya, simple renunciation). Live a simple life. Simplicity comes through practice, and how one practises depends upon the practitioner. To be a Vaishnav, to be a sadhu, you must first be simple. Do not be very difficult, do not be a 'zigzag' person. Be straight in your thoughts and behaviour. Scripture also say (and Gurudev had it written on his door), "Saralata-i vaisnavata. Being a Vaishnav means simplicity." Another thing that Gurudev also had written at his veranda is that we must always tell the truth, but we must not tell unpleasant truth (it may be the truth, but if it hurts others, do not tell it). It is necessary to practise. All these things come through practice. Another thing is that, if somebody is duplicitous, we must not see their fault—if somebody does that, let them do it, we will not see their fault.

There was one devotee named Keshto Prabhu who lived in the crops field of our Math. Gurudev always said that he was his dearmost Godbrother and that he was a saral Vaishnav. One time, this Keshto Prabhu came to Gurudev and said, "Maharaj, I came to the temple so many years ago, but I have not taken the second initiation yet..." Gurudev said to him, "Keshto Prabhu, you are already more than a sannyasi, then why is it necessary for you to take the second initiation?"

Devotee: How is he now? Is he still there?

He is no more. He left his body about two years ago...

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Practitioner's Pure Pride

Kolkata-Worldwide, 31 May 2020, part 6

Question: What should we remember about Raghunath Das Goswami during his festival that is coming?

At Srila Raghunath Das Goswami's festival, you should glorify and remember the glories of Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, remember his Vaishnav character. He had an extremely strong desire to meet Mahaprabhu, and he finally reached Mahaprabhu, he finally got service from Mahaprabhu. In the end, he got a place to stay at Radha Kunda in Giri Govardhan. You must remember how he always 100% followed Mahaprabhu's instruction. Mahaprabhu told him,

sthira haya ghare yao, na hao batula
krame krame paya loka bhava-sindhu-kula
markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana
yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

"Be sensible, go back to your home. Do not be crazy. One reaches the shore of material existence gradually. Do not show your false renunciation to people. Serve accepting material things, but without attachment."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.237-238)

"Go back to your home, do not show others monkey renunciation. It is not necessary to show your vaishnavata (Vaishnav qualities) to others. Go back to your home and serve your family. Please them and internally always remember Me." Raghunath Das Goswami did it, and he finally reached Mahaprabhu after he had got mercy from Nityananda Prabhu in Panihati.

Devotee: Are you going to Panihati this year?

If Raghunath Das Goswami, Nityananda Prabhu call me, I will go and pay obeisance there. It is not crowded there this year and it is not so far from Kolkata. I passed Panihati yesterday...

Question: How important are the instructions of a siksa-guru for our spiritual life?

If somebody teaches you very nicely, then you can accept them as a siksa-guru and you can accept what that siksa-guru teaches you. There are so many siksa-guru in this world. If somebody teaches you how to cook, they are also your siksa-guru. Whatever you learn, if somebody teaches you something, they are your siksa-guru. There can be many different siksa-gurus, but the diksa-guru can be only one. When we study at school, college, or university, there are many siksa-gurus there, and we can give honour to them. Our duty is to give honour to others, we will give honour even to animals. Therefore, whoever becomes our siksa-guru, we can show respect to them.

Does anyone has any other questions?

Question: Sometimes when we serve Gurudev we become proud. How can we not forget because of this pride that we are servants?

We are servants of the Lord, servants of Gurudev. That is our quality. We must be servants of Gurudev. That is our designation. There is no question of pride here—what pride can there be? We are servants. We are servants of Gurudev, we are sweepers of Gurudev, we are gatekeepers of Gurudev, we are gatekeepers of our Gurudev's temple. We have no problem with that. Yes, we are dogs of our Guru, that is our pride.

radhika-dasi yadi haya abhimana
sighra-i mila-i taba gokula kana

"Those who pride themselves on being maidservants of Sri Radha, will quickly meet Gokula Kan (Krishna)."

"If I have such pride (abhiman) that, 'I am a servant of Radharani,' then I will get Krishna."

But material pride is not good. Why will we have material pride? Material pride is not good—when you become a proper servitor of Gurudev, then your material pride will automatically leave you.

Question: We hear that our mind is always very naughty. Sometimes, we try to engage in good things, we try very hard to focus on one thing, but our mind and anarathas take us to another place. What should we do?

It is a good question. Mind is always roaming the external world, but we must control our mind. We have our intelligence, and we must control our mind with our intelligence. We must give a good beating to our mind. You know, when you drive a horse, you must sometimes beat the horse with a whip; in the same way, you must whip your mind—that whip is your good intelligence. Sometimes, you can hit your mind, hit your head with a shoe also.

Our mind's character is that it always goes to different places, it always goes to another place. It is necessary to take medicine for controlling your mind. That medicine is intelligence. When your mind goes out, you must bring your mind back to proper things.

This is true the beginning of our lives. When you go to school, you sometimes want to play football, cricket, etc., you want to see some other things—you do not like to spend time on studying, so you go to do other things. You cannot control your mind without proper practising. If you cannot control your mind, if you cannot conquer your mind, how will you then conquer the world? You must first conquer your own mind. There are so many diseases, so many bad elements inside us in our life—we must control all these things.

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Questions and Answers

Kolkata-Worldwide, 31 May 2020, part 7

Question: There was recently a question if a lady can lead Nagar-sankirtan, and then you answered the question...

Yes, actually, ladies can do that in some places. It is not a problem. We do not look who is a lady, who is a man, but in this age of Kali, if ladies do sankirtan, it may not always look good. In some places, there is no sannyasi; in some places, there is a sannyasi, so this actually depends upon the place.

When Mahaprabhu heard Gopi-Gita sung by a lady, He ran towards her to listen to it, but Govinda caught Him on the way and, when Mahaprabhu realised what had happened, He said, "Govinda, you have saved Me!"

At the same time, in some places the situation is now such that ladies are the leaders, and if there is no sannyasi and they do sankirtan, what is the problem? Sometimes there is no sannyasi and a lady is charge of the temple, so if she does sankirtan there, what is the problem? It is not a problem for the Western side, and for the Indian side too—there are many ladies who sing in India.

We do not see who is a lady, who is a gent. It is not the question. We see who does service, who does what. Sometimes, people criticise, "Oh, a lady is doing this service!"—but we will not discriminate between ladies' service and gents' service. In previous time, there were so many things, but now ladies become prime-ministers, ladies become chief ministers, ladies become pilots, ladies become military soldiers, they do everything, so why cannot they lead in Harinam sankirtan?

Devotee: So, they can play the mridanga also?

They can play the mridanga, it is not a problem, but it is necessary to see the time and place.

Devotee: When I was reading the article, it mentioned that you were unhappy when you attended an arati and a lady devotee was playing the mridanga...

Yes, because sometimes it does not look good. If somebody is enthusiastic to do it, they can do it, I do not see any problem with that, but if some lady has material pride thinking, "I am playing the mridanga! I am with the men!"—this is not good.

Are there any other questions?

Question: How does the gayatri mantra help us in our life, now and when we die also?

It gives us a good connection. You recite the gayatri mantra for fifteen-twenty minutes, you concentrate your mind, concentrate your heart, concentrate everything at that time on the Lord, on Srimati Radharani—it is good, it helps us in our spiritual life. Waking up in the morning before the sunrise, taking a shower, applying tilaks, and reciting the gayatri mantras for fifteen-twenty minutes is very nice. You can understand it yourself. If you do it for even one year, you can get the result. Gurudev told this to me directly.

As for how it can help you after death, those who are devotees have the strongest faith, "Gurudev told me if I chant the Holy Name, if I practise properly, if I do service, then I will stay with him forever in Goloka Vrindavan"—then what is the problem? We have the strongest faith in that. "Avasya raksibe Krsna visvasa palana (অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ বিশ্বাস পালন)—we must keep a greatest faith that Krishna will certainly protect us and that He will save His devotees."

Are there any other questions?

Question: How can I serve Gurudev and Vaishnavs without thinking about myself, without thinking what benefit I will get from it?

Through practising. It will come through practising. If you practise sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission) properly, step by step, then your everything will go for Gurudev, you will only think about him.

Question: How can we maintain this faith that Krishna will always protect us?

With sincerity and regular practice. When you have saranagati, everything will come. Practise regularly. Sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, vandanam, etc. Practise all this regularly, then your faith will be strong. Practise regularly. Whatever problem comes, whatever happens, do not hesitate—do your service, do everything properly, then everything will be all right, then your faith, devotion, etc. will grow.

Question: Why did Srila Gadadhar Pandit never go to Vrindavan in his lifetime?

Because Mahaprabhu told him to stay in Puri. He told him, "You are a ksetra-sannyasi, so stay here." That is why he did not leave Puri. Mahaprabhu stayed in Puri, and he also lived in Puri. He followed the instruction of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

One time, Gadadhar Pandit wanted to go with Mahaprabhu, but Mahaprabhu said, "Do not come with Me." To further discourage him, Mahaprabhu said, "I am going to different place and getting very much good food, that is why you want to come with Me!" Gadadhar Pandit became angry and said, "I am not going with You! I am going to see Ai (Mother Sachi)!" Still, Mahaprabhu left without him—when He got into His boat in Cuttack and left, Gadadhar Pandit fell down, senseless. Mahaprabhu said, "Seva chhadibe dosa lage. It is wrong to leave one's service. I have given you service to Tota Gopinath in Puri, and if you leave your service, it will discredit you. It is not good for you."

Question: How can we fight pratistha if we already have it in our hearts?

The situation with pratistha is very difficult in this world. Without a proper captain, without a proper mood of service, a mood of surrender, it is impossible to fight pratistha. At the same time, "Vaisnavi pratistha tate kara nistha. Firmly establish yourself as a servant of the Lord." If somebody has such pratistha, we must give respect to them. Also, if somebody wants pratistha, if somebody is happy with pratistha, you can give it to them, it is not a problem. If somebody is happy when you give 'jay' to their name, you can give 'jay' to him. What is the problem? Sometimes, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also said (I wrote about it in the books): If somebody says, "No, no, no, do not give me 'jay',"—it actually means, the person is not speaking from their heart; what they are actually saying is, "Yes, give more and more 'jay' to me!" Again, it is very difficult to fight with pratistha, but if somebody wants pratistha, you can give it to them, what is the problem? Sometimes, devotees are happy if somebody glorifies them, they want to hear their own glorification... It happened in Mahaprabhu's time also. One time, Mahaprabhu glorified Sanatan Goswami in front of Jagadananda Pandit, saying that Sanatan Goswami was a perfect, proper Vaishnav, he knew and understood everything, etc. but Jagadananda Pandit did not like it, he was not happy to hear it...

Any other questions?

Question: What is the proper way to ask questions at Sri Guru's lotus feet?

If you have a surrendered mood, then you have the right to ask questions. This is called pariprasna (honest enquiry). First, it is necessary to have a surrendered mood, then you can ask questions.

I am going to finish now. Does anyone have more questions? Last question.

Question: In Krishna consciousness, should one be affectionate only with Vaishnavs or with everybody?

With everybody, but not to the same extent. We give more affection to Vaishnavs, devotees. If somebody does not follow Krishna consciousness, even if they are our relatives or even parents, we will not give them more respect than to devotees—we will give respect to devotees. That is our line. We will give more affection to devotees and less affection to others. Affection is not the same for everyone.

All right, I am finishing here for today. Muchas gracias. Thank you all.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay!
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Dandavat. Dandavat.

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Latest News

Kolkata-Worldwide, 7 June 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
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
All the sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
Jay Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
Jay Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Niskam Shanta Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all today. Actually, I came back from Nabadwip yesterday in the evening. I had been to Nabadwip and Nrisingha Palli, visited so many places, I had also been to Mamgachi, Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur's place. The job there is almost finished now. I had some job in Kolkata, so I reached Kolkata yesterday in the evening.

Everybody is very happy there, all the devotees are doing a lot of service, and all of my friends all over the world are helping me, that is why I am able to arrange something for the service of devotees. "Daser lathi eker bojha (“many a little makes a mickle)." It means that if you have one stick, anybody can break it, but if you put ten sticks together, then they cannot be broken. In this way, I cannot do some service alone, but everybody is helping me little by little according to their capacity, and because of their help, by the mercy of Gurudev, I am able to fulfil his desire.

I am trying to please my Guru, guru-varga, and all the devotees. Every year since 2017 now, I have not been able to make Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama from the main temple, so I have been starting the parikrama from Nrisingha Palli in Godrumdwip. There is a big difficulty with accommodation, the place in Nrisingha Palli is very small place, so I thought that if I could get some bigger place in Nrisingha Palli, it would be good. I have managed to get some land and have already started the construction. Also, I have started the construction in Mayapur.

This year, on the last day of Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, our last programme was in Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur's place. The temple there is under Sri Chaitanya Math. We arranged a programme and prasadam there on the last day of the parikrama, and they are not happy about it—they told me, "Maharaj, you cannot arrange prasadam in this place again because so many maths come for parikrama and they could not get a chance to chant the glories of Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur and Mamgachi (Mamgachi is non-different from Ayodhya, where pastimes of Rama-Sita take place). You made a programme there this year and when your party was taking prasadam, nobody could speak here, that is why you cannot arrange prasadam here next year." Then, I am praying to the Lord—if I got a place nearby, in Jhanu Nagar (Jhanudwip), then I could make some place and our devotee could happily take prasadam there. Yesterday, I got that chance and arranged for a place there. We will go there next year during Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Moreover, there is no temple in Jhanudwip. Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur made temples in Vidyanagar (Ritudwip), Sri Sri Gaura Gadadhar Ashram (Ritudwip-Koladwip), and in Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur's place in Mamgachi (Modadrumdwip), but Jhanu Muni has no place. Therefore, I am thinking that the land we have got will be Jhanu Muni's place. We can come and remember the pastimes of Jhanu Muni there.

In this way, I am trying to do some service in Nabadwip Dham. Devotees always help me and they are always enthusiastic to do something, to continue the preaching movement, and, no matter what, I cannot stop my preaching programme.

* * *

Initiating and Self-Declared Gurus:
Open Address to Members of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Kolkata-Worldwide, 7 June 2020, part 2

So many problem appear in the material world, but we have got this human body, we have got a bona fide guru, we have got his association and some good lessons from him, we have got some good teachings from him. If somebody can get to a real place, why cannot we do that? Why cannot we achieve our goal too? If we practise properly, if we follow our Gurudev's instruction, and if we eliminate what is not good for our preaching, what is not good for our practising life, then we must be successful.

I have already said it to everybody before, and I always say that if somebody wants to join Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, if somebody wants to stay in Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, they should have service mood. "I want to join Chaitanya Saraswat Math to be a manager"—not like this. There was one brahmachari, a disciple of Sripad Shanta Maharaj (Gaudiya Math), who came to Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Gurudev's time. I kept him in Dum Dum Park as the pujari, but after that he left. A few days ago he called me and said, "Maharaj can you give me sannyas? I can take sannyas and you can make me a manager at one of the temples." I told him straight, "This temple is not for becoming a manager. If you want to join Chaitanya Saraswat Math, you should be a servant of devotees. There are so many societies in this world—if you want to be a manager or you want to be a guru, it is not a problem, you can go to any other society and be a manager or a guru there. If you want to be a servant, then you can come to this society." This is my point.

There are so many things that I should clarify.

Gurudev (Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) has made an Acharya Board and he told clearly who can be a guru, etc. when he declared the names of the Acharya Board. You all know who are the Acharya Board [Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Vijay Trivikram Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Bimal Avadhut Maharaj]. These are the persons who can initiate devotees, who can be gurus. Gurudev said it many times.

Now, somebody asks about Paramahamsa Maharaj's name. They ask if he can give initiation. Gurudev told me directly in front of Paramahamsa Maharaj, "He [Paramahamsa Maharaj] came to me and asked me to forgive his offence, then I told him that I accepted him," and Gurudev told Paramahamsa Maharaj, "You can be a guru and initiate people in some place, but not in Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. You can come to Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and your disciples can come, but as guests, not as members of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math." Gurudev also told the same about Sripad Tirtha Maharaj—he said that he could initiate people in some place.

After Gurudev left, there are now so many gurus who are using Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math's name. It is my humble request to all of our devotees to listen to what I am saying. I am telling you what is Gurudev's opinion.

Everybody has their own feelings and their own open mind—somebody may not want to serve under the guidance of the main Acharya of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. If that is the case, it is not a problem—they can leave Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and be a guru outside Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. They can make their own mission. What is the problem? I have no objection. I will never make any problem for them. This is Gurudev's opinion, and my opinion also. This should also be the opinion of all members of the Acharya Board—Srila Ashram Maharaj, Srila Janardan Maharaj, Srila Trivikram Maharaj, Srila Avadhut Maharaj. Srila Goswami Maharaj resigned from the Acharya Board. They can become gurus, but outside Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Such disciples will not be accepted as disciples of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. That is the main thing that I wanted to tell you. This was the main opinion of Gurudev.

The main point is that you can make your own mission, but why are you staying in Chaitanya Saraswat Math and making politics inside Chaitanya Saraswat Math? Why do you declare yourself that you will be an acharya, that you are now a guru? In our Chaitanya Saraswat Math, only an acharya can declare his successor—only an acharya can make anyone a guru. That is Chaitanya Saraswat Math's rule and regulation. If you read Srila Sridhar Maharaj's Deed of Settlement, you can understand it easily.

At first, when Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj made Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, the land of the main temple was in his own name. That was 1941, the start. Twenty-three years later, in 1964, he made the Deed of Settlement where he officially named the temple Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Chaitanya Saraswat Math is born unofficially in 1941, and officially in 1964. This Deed of Settlement clearly states the rules and regulations, who will be the main acharya, what are his qualities, etc. If somebody says, "I want to be a guru, I want to give initiation," and starts giving initiation, this is not how it is done. If you want to be a guru, it is not a problem—you can be a guru outside Chaitanya Saraswat Math, you can be a guru outside this mission. Gurudev told the names of the acharyas of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, they are the selected acharyas of the mission, other than them, everyone else is self-declared gurus. They declare themselves acharyas, but this is not the standard of Chaitanya Saraswat Math. There is a standard of Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and devotees should clearly understand it.

I have been quiet for so many years, and I am thinking now that it is not good to be quiet because there are some things that I have to say.

Gurudev also told that when Srila Sridhar Maharaj declared him the acharya in 1985, so many people were against Gurudev. Gurudev has stated clearly (it is there in his lecture, you can read it) that those who have taken sannyas from another temple, from another mission, they will not be accepted as Srila Sridhar Maharaj's line—they have already left Chaitanya Saraswat Math. If somebody has already left Chaitanya Saraswat Math, has taken sannyas from another guru (for example, from Sri Gopinath Gaudiya Math, Pujyapad Puri Maharaj), their disciples will not be accepted as our disciples—they are not our Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math sampradaya. It is necessary to clarify this to others. We have to say something otherwise I am asked all these questions and if I keep quiet, then everybody will think that I support it. That is why I am clarifying these things now.

If somebody wants to be a guru, it is very nice, they can make their own mission, they can make their own thing, it is not a problem. If they want to preach about Gurudev, Guru Maharaj, I do not have any objection—I will never question them, "Why are you preaching about Gurudev and Guru Maharaj?!"

These are the main things I wanted to tell everybody. In our sampradaya, if you come to join the mission (I have heard some devotees want to join this mission), you should have humility, tolerance, and you should give honour to others, give affection to others, you must show first to us that you are really following our line. If you first join and then want to be a manager, a temple president or you want to be a guru, then no, Chaitanya Saraswat Math is not for this. If you have service mood, if you can do service, then you can join this mission.

* * *

Permanent Solution

Kolkata-Worldwide, 7 June 2020, part 3

Question: Some devotees are asking if they should do charity, like donate food, clothes, etc. or if they should concentrate all their energy on devotional service? You talked about it in the book Guidance 3, in the chapter "What Is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and Its Distinctions."

That is the main question. We are not Rama Krishna Mission, we are not Bharat Seva Ashram, we are not a mayavasdi ashram. Those who have no proper conception make schools, old age homes, give food to poor people, etc. What they give are all ordinary things, but what our Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math gives is so much more than that, it is thousands times more than that.

At the same time, in this social world, we can take advantage of charity and some government rules to win the favour of the government. For this reason, sometimes we have to distribute some clothes, some food, some prasadam in flooded areas, etc. This is an eye-wash for the government. However, this will not be our focus. For example, we can make a concrete wall around the temple so that devotees could chant peacefully within the temple boundary and no one would distrub, but our focus not will be the boundary wall—our focus will be bhajan, kirtan, etc. This is the main thing.

So, to keep our mission, we may sometimes distribute food, clothes to poor people, we may go to hospitals and help with treatment of some people, devotees do this, but actually what Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math gives is the proper treatment—it gives treatment to the jiva soul. If you give medicine to people, that is only a temporary protection, but what Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math gives, is a permanent solution.

Question: Even if the lockdown finishes, this disease is still out there and can affect devotees, but all these rules about social distancing, assembling, etc. are interefering with our ability to have devotees in our temple and to have devotees come together and have kirtan...

Actually, we will maintain social distance. We will place some sanitiser in the temple—when devotees come, they will wash and sanitise their hands, then sit down, they will wear masks or some cover, and they will bring their own asan to sit on. In this way, we can maintain social distance, and everything will be OK, everyone can practise kirtans or listen to the lecture. They can do this if possible, otherwise there are zoom classes, online classes, etc. what is the problem? If somebody thinks it is not good to come to the temple because there are so many infected people around, then I think that everyone anyway should practise at their homes, so it is not a problem.

Question: But, for instance, when it comes to Gaura Purnima time, we want to have one thousand devotees in the temple, we want to have everyone dancing, we want everyone to join in kirtan...

It will not stay until Gaura Purnima. It will finish before that. Actually, it started here in India after Gaura Purnima finished, so I think it will finish before that—it should finish in July-August.

Question: How will it finish if the disease is still there?

The disease is still there, but some country has already invented some vaccine... Anyhow, in one way or another, Krishna will arrange something. We depend upon Krishna, we depend upon Mahaprabhu, we depend upon Gurudev—they will arrange for some other situation, and we will be happy with that. Whatever situation will come, we must harmonise with it.

Are there any other questions?

Question: Why must a servitor always think of himself as a fallen soul?

Because that is a servitor's quality. A servitor always thinks that he has no quality, he is humble. It is necessary to have humility. Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami also says,

jagai madhai haite muni se papistha
purisera kita haite muni se laghistha

"I am more sinful than Jagai and Madhai and lower than the worms in the stool."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 5.205)

Jagai and Madhai are sinners, but I am a worse sinner than them, I am lower than insects in stool.

Question: Why do we need more gurus in the mission if we already have a guru, who is Radharani Herself?

Radharani is our guru, yes, but at the same time Chandravali is also there. Then? What is the problem? Everyone has his own will, his own feeling, his own thinking, so if somebody wants to be a guru, how will you stop them?

* * *

Chaste Service Consciousness

Kolkata-Worldwide, 7 June 2020, part 4

Are there any other questions?

Question: What advice can Your Divine Grace give to those who want to take shelter at your lotus feet and take initiation from you?

If somebody wants to take initiation, they must follow Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math's line, they must have a humble mood—they must be humble, tolerant, and give honour to others; and they must follow the rules and regulation—they must give up their bad habits if they have it. You know what these rules and regulations are, I always tell about them to everyone, and Gurudev also told. It is dyuta, pana, striya, suna (gambling, drinking alcohol, smoking, illegal sex, and not to eat fish, meat, onion, garlic, etc.). They must always take prasadam, always chant the Holy Name, and engage in service.

You must think that you are a servitor of devotees, you must be humble. You are not a servant of Krishna—you must be a servant of devotees. That is the main conception of our line. If you are ready to become a servant of devotees, then you can take shelter of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

Always avoid para-ninda, para-charcha, criticising others, gossiping about others. Devotees must chant the Holy Name all their time—they must not criticise others or always think bad about others, it is very bad for our spiritual life. Para-ninda, para-charcha (gossiping, criticising) is not good. So, if somebody follows these things, if somebody can chant the Holy Name and serve devotees, then they can take shelter at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

Question: We live in Costa-Rica, how can we serve Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and how can we take initiation here?

You can take initiation through skype now. As for what service you can do, you can follow my instruction, that is good. I always think about devotees' benefit. That is always my point of view.

Are there any other questions from anybody?

Question: I have a friend who has been given small Radha-Krishna Deities, but she does not feel she is qualified to serve Them. What should she do?

Is she initiated?

Devotee: No.

She must take shelter—she must first take initiation, and after that if her guru gives her the right to serve Radharani and Govinda, then she can do that.

Actually, only the guru can give you the right to do some service. Only your guru can give you the position to do some service—your guru will decide whether you have any quality or qualification. If you think, "I am not qualified for a certain service," but your Gurudev thinks that you are qualified, then you must accept it and follow Gurudev's order. Sometimes we also think, "I cannot do this service," but if Gurudev has given you this service, then you are not doing it—Gurudev is doing it. Then, why will you think that you cannot do it?

So, first she should take shelter of a guru, and after that Gurudev will give her the right to serve Deities.

Question: When we live in the association of many devotees, how can we make progress in our spiritual life without making offences? Will the offences we commit not affect our spiritual journey?

Here in this world, we must give respect to others. If somebody worships Mother Kali or somebody worships Lord Ganesh, we do not have any problem with them, we must give respect to them, but we will explain to them who is Lord Ganesh and who is Lord Chaitanya. We will tell them the proof from what Srimad Bhagavatam says, what Srimad Bhagavad-gita says, we will refer to what authoritative scriptures say. What offence will come if we do that? Why will any offence come? If we chant the Holy Name properly, if we do service, then offence will not come—all offences will be removed through service. There are different offences—Nama-aparadh, seva-aparadh, dhama-aparadh, etc. Sometimes we do dham-aparadh, sometimes we do some service and we make seva-aparadh, or we do Nama-aparadh, but seva-aparadh can be moved through seva, Nama-aparadh can be removed through chanting of the Holy Name. Do you understand? This is how all kinds of offences can be removed. It is not necessary to worry about this so much, otherwise you will not be able to do any service—you will be thinking, "Oh, if I do service, some offence will come!" If you think like this and if you are always afraid, then you will not be able to do any service. We should go forward. Do not think what will happen—be a simple Vaishnav, do nirmal seva (pure service), be simple-hearted. "Saralata-i vaishnavata"—being a Vaishnav means simplicity.

* * *

Service Without Sahajiyaism

Kolkata-Worldwide, 7 June 2020, part 5

Does anyone have any other questions?

Question: I have been living in the temple for a year, and I feel that I am doing service in a mechanical way, but I would like to do it more naturally. How is it possible to change this mood of service?

First of all, you must do service under the guidance of Gurudev, then you will know what is necessary to do. We are not independent, we are always under the guidance of Gurudev. We are like a chatak bird—we must always anxiously wait for service and, when an order comes, we should immediately do that service. This is the service mood.

Sometimes, we think we do service, but it can also be karma. Gurudev always gives this example—when a cat carries a rat in its mouth and when it carries its baby in its mouth, both look the same, but the mood is not the same because when a cat takes a rat by its mouth, it takes it for its own enjoyment, to eat it; but when a cat takes its baby by its mouth, it does it for the service of the kitten. So, sometimes we see this in the temple also—we do something, but we are actually doing what that comes to our mind, and we do not follow what the scriptures say, what Gurudev had told. Then, our actions become karma, the result of karma is karma-bandhan, bondage of karma, and as a result of karma-bandhan, one goes to hell. So, when we do service, we must do it following the guidance of Gurudev, the guidance of senior Vaishnavs. If there is any contradiction or any problem, you can easily ask your Gurudev, "I want to do this, and my temple manager says I should do like that. Is it correct or not?" You can easily clarify it and harmonise everything in this way.

Devotee: What I mean is that when I do something, I do not necessarily feel I want to do it, I do not feel some enthusiasm, rather I just know I have to do it, so I do it. I do it almost like a robot, just because I am told to do something. I do not feel some genuine, heart-felt enthusiasm.

You are not getting enthusiasm because if somebody some has material desires, then enthusiasm does not come easily. If you have a great desire to do some service, then you can easily accomplish that service. Enthusiasm comes through continuous service, through proper practice. You must serve, serve, and serve. You say you have been serving in the temple for only one year, but one year is not sufficient, it is necessary to serve more and more, until your death—then you will not be tired. You are disappointed, "Oh, I have done service for one year, but I am not getting any result," that is why you sometimes become tired.

[Another] devotee adds: Sometimes, the question may be also that there is so much viddhi-marga—we have to do this, we have to do that, and not just in the Deities' service, but in the temple in general, we have to follow so many rules; but at the same time we want to have some love for what we are doing.

We do not want to be sahajiyas. Raga-marga is practised in Vrindavan—Vraja-basis do raga-marga seva, but we must follow viddhi-marga. It is necessary to adjust with the place and circumstance. For example, I have seen in Badrinath, where it is very cold, that the pujari there wears a jacket, thick clothes, socks, so many things; or if you want to do puja in Russia in winter season, you will also have to wear a coat, etc. What is the problem? You can adjust with the situation, but it is necessary to follow the rules. For example, it is sometimes very cold in the temple, the floors are marble, then you must not wear shoes, but you can make something like shoes with some cloth or socks, it is not a problem. Overall, the main thing is that you must feed the Deities, you must give proper offering to the Deities, and you must have love and affection for the Deities.

Question: Sometimes, when we preach to some people, they have some problem with being a vegetarian—they sometimes ask why they cannot take eggs. I find it a bit difficult to answer them.

You cannot take fish, eggs, etc., these are all non-veg. Eggs come from a chicken or some other bird, and eggs are meant for producing babies. Besides, eggs are very high in protein, so they are fully non-veg. Our sampradaya never accepts eggs, fish, or anything like that. This is sahajiyaism. There are some sampradayas here, like Kalachand sampradaya, for example, where they wear tilaks, they wear kanthi-mala, etc., they do not eat meat, but they eat fish. They are not accepted as a Gaudiya sampradaya.

Question: How can I have innocence in my heart to chant the Holy Name and truly serve letting go of selfish intentions?

This depends upon the practitioner. It is called karma-misra bhakti, "I want to worship Krishna, but I want to fulfil some material desire." Mahaprabhu says, "Eha bahya age kaha ara. This is external, give it up, forget it, and go forward." We do not want to be self-centred, we always want to please the Lord, that is our main goal. "How shall I please my Guru? How shall I please devotees? How shall I please the Lord?"—that is our main intention. I can go to hell, I can go to jail, it is not a problem if I can please my guru, please my Lord. This mood comes through practice—practise and practise, then your intention will be perfect. Practice makes perfect. It comes gradually. Also, if some bad emotion, some bad desire sometimes comes to your heart, you must demolish it from the root level, nip it in the bud. Do not keep material desires, bad desires in your heart. If you increase your material or bad desires, then one day you will have to fall down from this society.

Question: How can we know if the Deity is satisfied with our service or not?

That is a good question. You can easily realise it through your service. For example, if Gurudev or senior Vaishnavs say that you are a good servitor, that they are very happy with you, that you are doing good service, then you can understand it. Actually, your duty is to do some service, and whether the Lord or Deity is happy or not, that is Their desire, Their mood. Whether the Lord is happy or not, that is not your question, it is not your problem. Do you understand? You must do service, and whether the Lord accepts it or does not accept it, this is up to Him, this is His desire. Our duty is to do our service properly.

Question: We live in Tunja, it is near Paipa and Duitama, but we have felt much loving reciprocation with the devotees in Medellín (it is also in Colombia, but a little far; a new temple was established there not so long ago). Lately, we have been directing our service, some service donation, etc. to the devotees there and have been keeping in touch with the devotees there. We often think that we want to know what you would like us to do, if it is right that we are now keeping in touch with the devotees in Medellín and trying to serve the Deities of Nitai Gauranga there? We wanted to ask how to proceed.

It is not a problem to keep in touch with the Medellín temple. Raganuga Prabhu is there and devotees are doing service there, and you can help them, you can serve there, it is not a problem.

Question: We have heard that there are four main sampradayas, and I was wondering what sampradaya do the pandas in Puri belong to?

[His Divine Grace chuckles.] I do not inspect who belongs to which sampradaya. I know our sampradaya better, and I do not go to clarify other sampradayas, who does what, who follows what. I am not going to inspect this. Do you understand? They are Jagannath's servitors, they serve Jagannath, and that is sufficient for me. My duty is to give them respect. I do not think who is where, who does what, who belongs to which sampradaya. It is not necessary to know this.

Question: If someone is already initiated in ISKCON and wants to take initiation from you, wants to take shelter of you, what is the procedure then?

I do not know who is their guru, and I must give respect to them, then how will I give them initiation? If they are very eager to take initiation, I will say that they can initiation, but they must also give respect to their previous guru. Otherwise, if somebody wants to help our mission, if somebody wants to serve our mission, there is no emergency to change the guru.

Question: How can we develop affection for you, our Guru, if we have never met you in person? Some of us have taken initiation through skype and may not have seen you personally...

Yes, there is some physical distance, but it is not a problem—a guru-disciple connection is heart to heart. Physical distance is not a question. The guru is always with us—just as Krishna is always with us, so is the guru always with us. "Gurute martya-buddhi" (perceiving the guru as a mortal being) is one of the offences of the Holy Name. If you think that your guru has a material body, then it is one of the Nama-aparadhas. The guru has a transcendental body, he is always with us, just as the Lord is always with us. We do not think that the Lord is in Goloka Vrindavan only—otherwise, when we offer bhog to the Lord, how will He come to take it in fifteen minutes from so far? So, this is not a question. Gurudev and the Lord are always around us, it has nothing to do with the distance. We offer bhog to our guru from so many thousands of kilometres away, how does he take it? Moreover, millions of millions of people all over the world offer bhog to the Lord at the same time, and Krishna comes to take it everywhere. How is it possible?

Question: Sometimes, preachers take some proper ideas or conceptions from other Vaishnavs, from their books, lectures or by hearing from them directly, but is it not a Vaishnav-aparadh or sahajiyaism (imitation) if they do not quote or say where they have heard it from, if they do not give proper recognition to the source?

We can tell the source. We can give the name of the person who says it, and when we compose books we also write who says this, who says that. We write their names.

At the same time, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also says that we must not read books of so many sampradaya. "Bahu grantha na paribe, bahu kalabhyasa na karibe: do not read many books, do not practise many artificial things." It is not necessary to accumulate much knowledge. If we take initiation in Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's line, we should follow his life—we should read the books of our sampradaya. If you read books from other sampradayas, it is an offence to your Guru, it is offensive to your Gurudev. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Guru Maharaj, Gurudev, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj wrote many books, there are so many books written by our Gaudiya sampradaya, and if we read these books, it is not a problem, but if we read other things from any other sampradaya, except Gaudiya sampradaya, and we quote so many other sources, then some offence comes through that.

* * *

Perfect Vision

Kolkata-Worldwide, 7 June 2020, part 6

We are told to be slow and steady, but when some service is going on, we sometimes do it fast because everybody's character is not the same—everybody has different character, different mood, and not everybody can be slow. As for steady, it is necessary to be steady.

When I was a school boy, I heard that story "Slow and steady wins the race" about a tortoise and a hare. The tortoise went slowly, slowly, and the hare said, "I will jump one time and get to the finish." However, when the race began, the hare underestimated the tortoise—the hare decided to sleep being sure the tortoise could not catch up. This is laziness. Being slow does not mean laziness. That is the mistake. If you have chastity and if your vision, your goal is focused at the main place, then even if you go slow, you will reach your goal. Your aim or goal should be kept in the proper place, then you can reach it—if you keep a perfect aim and continue steadily to your aim, then you will succeed.

Question: When we read scriptures, we sometimes hear that Gurudev is Balaram, sometimes Nityananda Prabhu, or sometimes Gurudev is seen as Srimati Radharani Herself. Could you explain how we should see Sri Guru?

I wrote everything about it in Sri Upadesh 4 (Guidance, Volume 4). Read the chapter, "Association and mercy of Sri Gurpadpadma give the divine love." I write the main things about the guru here:

"Performing his pastimes, Sri Gurupadpadma comes to this material world from the transcendental world to give surrendered souls the joy of association with the worshippable Lord. This guru current has been coming since time immemorial. Just as creation is going on eternally, so do the pastimes of the Lord's and His devotees' appearance are taking place eternally. The Lord performs His appearance pastimes in the form of a guru within the material world to bestow His pure mercy upon the jiva souls. As a result of the mercy and association of Sri Gurupadpadma, tatastha-sakti (marginal potency) is transformed into a spiritual soul, i.e. a jiva soul has no other way except for service to the Lord if it wants to get eternal benefit or real happiness.

"Generally, it is possible to see only material elements or practise only things related to the five material elements in this material world—it is not possible to practise transcendental practices. However, this material body and material existence comes from the transcendental plane. This cannot be denied. The Lord is present within the entire universe and all created material bodies as Paramatma (the Supersoul). He is transcendental. Jiva, or atma, is His atomic particle. It is not possible for material vision or for the entities of flesh and blood to serve or behold the transcendental Supreme Lord or Supersoul. The jiva soul with its fleshy eyes has been ignorant of its own identity, the source of its identity (the Supersoul), and the Supreme Lord since time immemorial, and because of it, the jiva soul has been covered by unwanted elements and ignorance, identifying itself with the body. Sri Gurupadpadma, the knower of the Vedas, imparts divine knowledge about the self and the world unto the souls who have forgotten Krishna and, liberating them from ignorance, guides them on the path to eternal spiritual benefit."

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Nitai-pada-kamala', 'Jaya Radha Madhava' and finishes the class.]

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Srila Raghunath Das Goswami's Exemplary Pastimes

Chira-dahi danda-mahotsav in Sripat Panihati Dham
Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 June 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Jay Sri Raghunath Das Goswami ki jay
Sri Raghunath Das Goswami's festival in Panihati maha-mahotsav ki jay
Chida-dahi maha-mahotsav ki jay
Danda mahotsav ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all today by the mercy of Gurudev. I have been very busy today from the morning. I have been to many places for my service, have visited four-five devotees' houses today, I had some job there. I have done much official work. I was at Park Street (downtown Kolkata) at three o'clock, and I thought, "No, I will not go back to Dum Dum Park now. I will go to Panihati." I go there every year to distribute prasadam, to distribute many books, so many devotees come there and make a big festival. This year, there is no festival there, it is not crowded at all—the police does not allow any programmes. So, I thought I would go there only to pay my obeisance to Gaura-Nitai Deities. I went there, to the bank of the Ganges, paid my obeisance to Gaura-Nitai, went to the house of Raghav Pandit, the Deities of Raghav Pandit are also there. In that house, Damayanti Devi would prepare so many things for Mahaprabhu and send it with devotees for Mahaprabhu at the time of Ratha-yatra. I also paid my obeisance at the samadhi of Raghav Pandit, then I came back here. I returned about an hour ago.

Although I have been busy all day today, I told in the morning that I would give a programme today and see all the devotees because today is an important day. Nityananda Prabhu's mercy, that is non-different from Gurudev's mercy, is very important, it is necessary for devotees. But for Nityananda Prabhu's mercy, Das Goswami Prabhu would not have got the service of Mahaprabhu, he would not have reached Mahaprabhu. This is an example for all of us in our lives. That is why we remember this day very much, it is a very important day. Every year on this day, all devotees must make some festival—big or small, but they must offer to the Deities some flat rice with mango, bananas, and other fruits, and take a little of that prasadam.

This festival is called "danda-mahotsav." "Danda" means punishment, which means that on this day Srila Raghunath Das Goswami got punishment from Nityananda Prabhu. Actually, it was not punishment—it was Nityananda Prabhu's mercy. When Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu came to Nityananda Prabhu, Nityananda Prabhu told him, "Ai, chora, ai (come here, thief, come)!" "Chora" means a "thief"—it means he had stolen something or had been hiding something. What did he do that Nityananda Prabhu called him a thief?

Actually, at first, Raghunath Das Goswami wanted to go directly to Mahaprabhu. He tried again and again, he went to Mahaprabhu, but he could never stay with Mahaprabhu because there were so many problems, so much bondage would come to him. His family did not allow him to stay and become a sannyasi or a sadhu. Raghunath Das Goswami comes from a very big and rich landlord (zamindar) family, and he was the only son in the family, which means that after his father and uncle died he would be the landlord, the king in that area. That is why his parents did not want their son to become a sadhu, to go to Vrindavan or something like that. They did not agree with it. Raghunath Das Goswami met with Mahaprabhu from time to time. In his childhood, when Sriman Mahaprabhu had just taken sannyas, He came to the house of Advaita Acharya in Santipur, and Raghunath Das Goswami's father took him at that time to Mahaprabhu. From that time when he saw Mahaprabhu, he has become very much attached, very much eager to come to Mahaprabhu and stay with Him, but his parents did not permit him. They arranged many security guards for their son to make sure he would not run away. Mahaprabhu also told Raghunath Das Goswami, "Do not become crazy. Go back to your home. It is not necessary to show to others your false monkey renunciation."

sthira haya ghare yao, na hao batula
krame krame paya loka bhava-sindhu-kula
markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana
yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana
antare nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara
achirat krsna tomaya karibe uddhara

"Be sensible, go back to your home. Do not be crazy. One reaches the shore of material existence gradually. Do not show your false renunciation to people. Serve accepting material things, but without attachment. Be fixed internally, and behave like everyone else externally. Krishna will rescue you soon."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.16.237-239)

Mahaprabhu told him, "You can serve while living in the family—live in your family but do not show so much interest in family life. You can just stay there, then your parents will calm down, they will be peaceful, and they will not disturb you. One day you will come back to Me."

se chhala se-kale krsna sphurabe tomare
krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare

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

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

"When the Lord wants to give His mercy to somebody, then no one can bind them, no one can tie or stop them. One way or another, you will get His mercy."

So, Raghunath Das Goswami stayed in his house, got married, but he was not interested in his wife—he did not even see her properly. He did not take care of anything. His nature was extremely disinterested.

One day, Nityananda Prabhu came to Panihati. Raghav Pandit's house is Panihati, and Raghav Pandit invited Nityananda Prabhu to visit him. So, one day Nityananda Prabhu, together with some devotees, crossed the Ganges, came straight to Panihati and sat there under a banyan tree. (That ancient banyan tree is still there.) He was sitting under the tree, talking with the devotees. At that time, Raghunath Das Goswami got the news that Nityananda Prabhu was in Panihati. He asked his father for permission, "Father, can I go to Panihati? I want to meet with Nityananda Prabhu." His father gave him permission because Raghunath Das Goswami had been staying in the house for many years and had not been showing too much renunciation, etc., so his father did not doubt him—only he told him not to go alone, he told him to take some people with him.

So, Raghunath Das Goswami took some people and came to Panihati by horse. When some devotees saw him coming, they told Nityananda Prabhu, "Prabhu, can You see? That Raghunath is coming!" In that area, there were not so many buildings or houses, and everybody knew Raghunath because both his father and his uncle (Govardhan and Hiranya Majumadar) did a lot of charity—they were very pious people and helped sadhus, poor people, they donated a lot, etc.; that is why they were famous in their area of Adisaptagram and the neighbourhood. So, when Raghunath Das Goswami came closer, Nityananda Prabhu said, "Ai, chora, ai! Come here, thief, come! Today I will give you punishment!" Raghunath Das Goswami paid a full dandavat pranam to Nityananda Prabhu and asked, "Yes, Prabhu, what is my punishment? Please tell me." What was the punishment? Nityananda Prabhu said, "Many sadhus have come here with Me. Give them prasadam. Arrange for some flat rice, yoghurt, sugar, fruit, etc. and feed them." (Now is the season of fruit—there are many kinds of fruit available now, mango, litchi, jackfruit, etc. Nityananda Prabhu told him to arrange for this kind of prasadam for everyone.) Raghunath Das Goswami was very happy—he said, "Prabhu, this is not punishment for me, it is mercy! Yes, I will do everything." Then he started arranging prasadam—there were some shops in the area that sold sugar, sweets, flat rice, yoghurt, etc. Raghunath Das Goswami bought so many things and, together with devotees, he prepared bhog from that. First, they offered two pots of bhog to Nityananda Prabhu and Gauranga Mahaprabhu—Nityananda Prabhu called Gauranga and He came to this festival (only the fortunate souls could see Him there, other than that nobody saw Him). When Nityananda Prabhu took that bhog, then it was distributed to everyone. Thousands and thousands of people came there at that time, and everybody took prasadam and was very happy.

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami made a very big festival—so many people came there that some of them even stood in the Ganges up to their chest and asked for some prasadam. You can see the photographs of the festivals nowadays also—so many people come there, lakhs and lakhs of people, perhaps one-three hundred thousand people. The place there is very small, but so many people come to this festival. At that time also, many, many people came and took prasadam.

When the festival finished, Raghunath Das Goswami again paid his obeisance to Nityananda Prabhu, and Nityananda Prabhu put His foot on his head and said, "Now you can go. Now your bondage is gone, you must go now." After that, at the time of Durga-puja, some one-two months later, he got a chance to leave his family house and then he met with Mahaprabhu. This time, Mahaprabhu told him, "Yes, now Krishna has given you His mercy. Now you can stay here and serve Svarup Damodar. Your name will be 'Svaruper Raghu' (Svarup's Raghu)." (There are many Raghunaths—there is Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, another Raghunath, et. al. so Mahaprabhu told him his name would be 'Svaruper Raghu.') In this way, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu engaged Raghunath Das Goswami in the service of Svarup Damodar.

This is how Srila Raghunath Das Goswami left everything. Srila Prabodhananda Saraswati gives one very nice example. Sometimes, you are going somewhere by train, and suddenly you feel you need to go to the bathroom to pass stool—there is suddenly so much pressure in your stomach; but there is no bathroom, no toilet on the train. As soon as the train stops at some station, you run to the bathroom, and when you finally pass stool or urine, you feel so happy. In the same way, when Srila Raghunath Das Goswami left everything—his family, his land, his landlordship, all his opulence, his kingdom, etc.—he left it all like stool and urine, and he felt much relief after that.

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami left his house in Adisaptagram (Bengal, it is not far from Panihati) and walked all the way to Puri. He walked for twelve days, and all this time he only thought about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and he only took some milk three times during those twelve days. On the way, he would walk all day long, and at night he sometimes would stay in some goshala (cows' house) in some forest or jungle. This is how he passed twelve days until he finally reached Mahaprabhu in Puri. This is how strong was his desire to serve Mahaprabhu.

After that, he stayed in Puri, and when Mahaprabhu and Svarup Damodar left, he was very sad and wanted to commit suicide. He went to Vrindavan to commit suicide, but when he met with Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami, he became very happy, he said, "What I have got from Rupa-Sanatan is more than I have got even from Mahaprabhu and Svarup Damodar!" Sivji Maharaj says, "Aham vetti, Suka vetti, Vyasa vetti na vetti va. I know it, Sukadev Goswami knows it, but Vyasadev may or may not know it." Even Vyasadev, who composed Srimad Bhagavatam, who gave his mercy to Sukadev, may not know it, but Sukadev knows it. So, here too we see that Mahaprabhu gave His mercy to Rupa and Sanatan, and Raghunath Das Goswami says that what he had got from Rupa and Sanatan was even more than what he had got from Mahaprabhu and Svarup Damodar. In this way, he stayed with Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami in Govardhan, Vrindavan. You all know that when we go for Vrindavan parikrama every year, we first do Govardhan parikrama, and we visit his bhajan-kutir and samadhi-mandir on the bank of Radha Kunda, at Govardhan. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu always prayed, "Nija-nikata-nivasam dehi govardhana tvam: please, give me some place to stay near Govardhan..." and finally he got that place in Govardhan—he stayed on the bank of Radha Kunda and did much service to Vaishnavs, composed so many slokas, etc.

These pastimes clearly illustrate the importance of mercy—without Nityananda Prabhu's mercy, without Gurudev's mercy, we cannot reach our proper destination, we cannot reach the Lord. We cannot come to the Lord without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu. This is the main lesson of this pastime.

We can also remember Srila Raghunath Das Goswami's character when he was in Puri. At some point, he would stand at the simha-dvara gate (the main gate) of the Jagannath Temple and wait for somebody to give him some prasadam. After some time, he thought, "No, "simha-dvare bhiksa-vrtti—vesyara achara (Cc, 3.6.284). I stand here and wait for somebody to come to give me prasadam, it is not good—I behave like a prostitute!" He left that. Then, he started eating what even Tailanga cows could not eat,

simha-dvare gabhi-age sei bhata dare
sada-gandhe tailangi-gai khaite na pare

"All the decomposed food is thrown before the cows from Tailanga at the Simha-dvara gate. Because of its rotten odor, even the cows cannot eat it."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.316)

Jagannath prasadam is sold at Ananda Bazaar, and when that prasadam is not sold, after two-three days it becomes rotten and even cows could not eat it. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami would collect that rice, wash it and take it with some salt. Once, Mahaprabhu wanted to taste it—He came to Raghunath Das Goswami and said, "You are eating alone and not sharing with Me!" Svarup Damodar tried to stop Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, do not take it! This is very rotten rice! It is not suitable food for You!" But Mahaprabhu did not listen, "No, I want to taste it! He is eating alone and not sharing with anyone, but it tastes so nice!" Mahaprabhu showed in this way His affection to Raghunath Das Goswami.

Also, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami's character was such that whenever he saw a Vaishnav he would pay obeisance to them—even if he saw the same Vaishnav ten times a day, he would pay him obeisance ten times. Such was his humility (dainyata). Before he started standing at Simha-dvara, he would also take prasadam at an almshouse where prasadam was distributed to all poor people. At that time, when his father had heard that his son had become a beggar, he could not tolerate it and started sending him much money. He sent him four hundred mudras, it was a lot of money at that time, something like forty lakhs rupees now. What did Raghunath Das Goswami do with that money? He started distributing it—he would give Vaishnav seva and give pranami (donation) to Vaishnavs. When this news reached Mahaprabhu's ears, Mahaprabhu did not like it. He thought that all the sadhus had become excited and were waiting for Raghunath to give Vaishnav seva because they thought they would get prasadam and pranami there, but in this way pratistha (name and fame) would come to Raghunath Das Goswami. Mahaprabhu thought it was not good for him—He also said,

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

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

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

"This money comes from a visayi, from a materialist, and if you take prasadam arranged with that money, then your mind, you heart will become dirty—proper Krishna Nam can never exist in a dirty heart."

When Srila Raghunath Das Goswami understood that Mahaprabhu did not like that Vaishnav seva, he stopped it. He told his father not to send him any more money. He understood, "Because of this Vaishnav seva, pratistha is coming to me; I am using this money for my own purpose or for Vaishnav seva, it is not good because this money comes from my father, a visayi (materialist)."

Gurudev also told me once: if a brahmachari who lives in the temple takes money from his father or parents and uses it to buy what he wants, if he buys some food that he likes and does not take prasadam properly at the temple (instead, he goes outside and takes some food here and there), then it is very bad. Bringing money from the family, doing what you like, not taking prasadam—this is not devotional activities. If somebody does this, they will lose their devotion. That is because then some ego comes to the person that, "Oh, I am not taking, not using Gurudev's money—I am using my father's money!" This is what Gurudev told me once, and I understood a very nice thing at that time.

In this way, we can understand that without the mercy of Gurudev, without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, we cannot reach our proper destination—we cannot reach Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or Lord Krishna. This is the main meaning of this festival.

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Give Your Life for Service

Chira-dahi danda-mahotsav in Sripat Panihati Dham
Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 June 2020, part 2

Devotee: Today is also the day when Sripad Parvat Maharaj left.

Yes, it is very sad. He did so much service in Kolkata, he did collection for Gaura Purnima and that collection is still going on. Last year, Sripad Mahayogi Maharaj and Sripad Parivrajak Maharaj did it, and this year Sripad Parivrajak Maharaj and Sripad Sajjan Maharaj. Sripad Parvat Maharaj's receipt book is there and they go now and give the news that Sripad Parvat Maharaj is no more now, and they do some collection in his name.

Sripad Parvat Maharaj had a cancer, and I am very sad to have lost his association. Srila Gurudev was very happy with his service, and I am also very happy with his service mood. He did a lot of collection, and he would not take a car—he would go by the metro and bus. He would go office to office, collecting donations for Gaura Purnima. He did this service every year, only last two years he could not come. He told me he was very sick and could not come. What can we do? It is Krishna's will—if Krishna takes somebody, who can stop Him? Sripad Parvat Maharaj's service finished here and Krishna took him to His place. We must always remember his service.

I was very happy when he would come—he always came before Gaura Purnima. He would be present for Sriman Nityananda Prabhu's appearance day—he stayed with me in Ekachakra, then stayed in Sevak Bhavan in Kolkata, did some collection and joined the programme at Gaura Purnima. What can we do? Everybody has to leave this world, but for as many days as we stay in this world, we must serve the Lord, we must serve Vaishnavs and devotees, we must give love and affection to devotees. We must give our everything for the service to our Gurudev—we must give our heart, mind, body, speech, everything for the service of devotees and Srila Gurudev. This is how we must continue our spiritual life.

Also, on this day of chida-dahi mahotsav, Raghav Pandit came there. He saw the festival was going on and Nityananda Prabhu was taking prasadam—he said to Nityananda Prabhu, "O Prabhu! I have cooked so many things for You at my house. Who will take it?" Nityananda Prabhu replied, "Raghunath is making this festival here now, I will stay here, but I can come to your house in the evening and take prasadam at your house then."

Raghav Pandit's sister Damayanti made so many kinds of achar, kasandi, etc. (Now many devotees also send some achar to me.) Achar means pickle. She would make various kinds of pickles for Sri Chaitanya Mahaparbhu, and Raghav pandit would make one big box, put all the pickles in it, and carry it on his head all the way to Puri—he would walk there with Nityananda Prabhu and Sivananda Sen. They would reach Puri by Ratha-yatra time. Those preparations were famous as "Raghaver jhali" (Raghav Pandit's bags). When I go to Jagannath Puri and come to Gambhira, I also always get that prasadam from Raghav Pandit that they bring from Panihati to this day.

I pray to Lord Nityananda Prabhu today that everybody, all of our devotees may be safe and secure because all over the world people are suffering so much. I saw today in the news that we have lost 2,500 of our fellow companions in Brazil and Mexico—2,500 people have expired today. In India also, 300-400 people expire every day. This virus is spreading now much to Mexico and Brazil, and here also it is increasing day by day. We must be careful with our health, especially those who are very old, who have some diseases and who do not have a very strong immune system. We must be always careful with this situation because this disease is increasing very much.

Anyhow, by the mercy of Gurudev, we cannot stop our service. We still have to go to different places. What can we do? I have been today also to some devotees' house and I tried to keep some distance from them. This distance is not a distance from the heart or mind, it is only some distance from the body.

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Perfect House Life

Chira-dahi danda-mahotsav in Sripat Panihati Dham
Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 June 2020, part 3

Sri Upadesh 3, Guidance 3 describes grihastha life, how one should create and maintain their grihastha life. It is necessary to understand it.

You can stay in householder life, you can stay in your house, but that house must be always a place for practising Krishna consciousness. I see that even those who live in our temples may not be following properly, they do not come to the mangal-arati, etc. because they become lazy, but I have seen so many householder devotees who follow everything very nicely. Alone or with a family, they live in a house, they make mangal-arati, sing, then cook and offer the bhog, etc.; whereas I have seen in the temple that many sannyasis do not come to the mangal-arati (they sleep), they do not come to the evening arati (they sleep again), etc.

I have told many times what the husband's attitude to his wife should be like. Once, a devotee came to Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj and said that he had got married. Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj said, "No problem. You will work and do the shopping, and your wife will cook and offer the bhog. After that, your wife will take that prasadam first and you will take her remnants." Then you will understand that your wife is not for your enjoyment. Your wife is a servitor of the Lord, and you are her servant. Do not think, "I work, I give money, etc." Also, you must not have sex. Do you understand? A husband and a wife stay together and they can have sex only to beget a child, nothing else. Sex is only for getting a baby.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj told so many things about it. One time also, when Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj came to Nabadwip from Vrindavan, he used to stay in some public bathroom. Somebody asked him, "Prabhu, you are staying in this bathroom, are you not getting the bad smell?" Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj replied, "I can tolerate this bad smell, but what I cannot tolerate is the pocha-grihasthas (rotten householders), or the griha-medhis (householders engrossed in the affairs of the household)—those who are engrossed in the attachment to their family."

"Aram haram haya—easy life is sinful." People create a comfortable life for themselves, enjoy with their family, grandchildren, enjoy with everything. Moreover, I have seen so many foreign devotees who actually get married at seventy-eighty years. They are going to die tomorrow, but today they get married, and not only that—they marry young fifteen-twenty-year-old girls who are fit to be their granddaughters. These are not proper grihasthas; such people are griha-medhi, they have too much attachment to their family.

You can live in a house, but you will always think about Krishna, think about the temple, think about Gurudev.

ye dina grhe bhajana dekhi
grhete goloka bhaya

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

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

If you worship the Deities every day, your wife cooks for the Deities every day, you offer bhog every day, you chant every day, you do kirtan every day—then it is not a house, it is Goloka Vrindavan. This is Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's words. However, if your house is only for enjoyment, then it is a house, then you are a griha-medhi.

I am telling very strong things, somebody may not like it, perhaps. I know many do not like me because I speak directly.

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Pride and Devotion

Chira-dahi danda-mahotsav in Sripat Panihati Dham
Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 June 2020, part 4

Does anyone have any other questions?

Question: If some pride comes that I have become a very good mridanga player, I can do very good puja, or maybe I am a good preacher—is that kind of pride good?

That kind of pride is also not good, but somebody can respect it. Why will pride come? If somebody is proud, "I sing kirtans well!", "I can give proper class!"—this is pride. I am nothing, I cannot do anything, I am simple and I am foot dust of devotees. Sometimes, when somebody took sannyas, Gurudev would say to them, "Today you are becoming a servant of everybody." But we think, "I have become a sannyasi, and now all the brahmacharis and householders will serve me!"—this kind of ego comes. We are not able to do anything.

Everybody has some ego—I know how to play the mridanga properly, I know so many good songs, I know so many good lectures, I know so much siddhanta, I have become a big pandit. This is a symptom of falldown.

Question: How did Nityananda Prabhu call Chaitanyadev to the celebration at Panihati?

Nityananda Prabhu called Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when Raghunath Das Goswami was making the festival, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu must come. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came there to see the festival, but only those who are fortunate souls could see that. Our eyes are full of dust,

aprakrta vastu nahe prakrta-gochara
veda-puranete ei kahe nirantara

"Spiritual substance is never within the jurisdiction of the material conception. This is always the verdict of the Vedas and Puranas."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 9.195)

When our heart becomes clean (nirmal chitta), when our eyes become clean, then we can see everything. Because our eyes are too much full of dust of maya, we cannot see proper things.

When you offer bhog, you also remember Gurudev, remember Krishna, remember Gaura Nitai, remember the Lord, and you do the offering—and They also must come and take that offering that you are giving with heart and soul. When you give something with heart, Krishna takes it. Give an offering with Tulasi leaves and after that you can take that prasadam—this is called prasad-seva.

prasada-seva karite haya,
sakala prapancha-jaya

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

(Saranagati, 31.5, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

If we take prasadam, the five diseases can be removed from 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).

Are there any other questions?

Question: What is devotion?

What is devotion? Have you not read books? The answer to this question is there.

Devotion means attachment, a very strong attachment to proper things. What devotion do you mean? Devotion to Krishna or devotion to your family, devotion to your child, devotion to your mother, devotion to your husband, devotion to your Guru? Krishna-bhakti (devotion to Lord Krishna) is love and affection for Krishna consciousness.

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

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

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

Devotion means having a strongest faith that Krishna will protect me, that Krishna will take care of me, that Krishna is taking care of me. You can read about it in Saranagati. It means having a strongest faith that if you worship Krishna, all worship is done—if you worship devotees of Krishna, all kinds of worship are automatically done.

* * *

Gaudiya Siddhanta

Chira-dahi danda-mahotsav in Sripat Panihati Dham
Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 June 2020, part 5

Question: We see that some devotees in Chaitanya-lila are more attracted to Nityananda Prabhu, they always stay with Nityananda Prabhu, but Srila Raghunath Das Goswami seems to be more attracted to Mahaprabhu because he prays even to Nityananda Prabhu, "I want to go to Mahaprabhu." We also see that Nityananda Prabhu is always happy to distribute Mahaprabhu and His message, but Mahaprabhu's nature seems to be a little different—He is more restrictive and strict. Could you please explain these two types of nature?

Mahaprabhu told Nityananda Prabhu, "Preach about Lord Krishna in Bengal," and Nityananda Prabhu knows who is Lord Krishna, who is Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu is a form of Krishna overwhelmed by the mood of Srimati Radharani (Radha-bhave vibhavita).

sri-radhayah pranaya-mahima kidrso vanayaivasvadyo
yenadbhuta-madhurima kidrso va madiyah
saukhyam chasya mad-anubhavatah kidrsam veti lobhat
tad-bhavadhyah samajani sachigarbha-sindhau harinduh

"'What is that great glory of Sri Radha's love? What is My extraordinary loving sweetness and charm that Sri Radha enjoys? And what is the joy Sri Radha feels by experiencing My sweetness and charm?' Yearning to taste these three sentiments, the moon—Krishna-chandra—was born from the ocean of the womb of mother Sachi."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 1.6)

Krishna thought one day, "Why does Radharani cry for Me? Why does She chant My name? What sort of taste is She getting? I want to taste that! I need to taste that!" Then, Krishna came as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to taste the mood of Radharani, and that is called separation. Mahaprabhu's pastimes in Puri, in Gambhira, with Raya Ramananda and Svarup Damodar are described in the last portion of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita; it is fully separation (viraha-lila).

Knowing all this, Nityananda Prabhu thought, "If I tell people about Krishna, they will not be able to understand it." Here in Bengal, people always joke with Krishna's lila—they cannot understand, they do not know what is parakiya-prema, what is parakiya-bhava. "Parakiya-bhave jaha brajete prachara: the relationship with Krishna is manifest in Vraja as paramour love." Here in Bengal, there is too much sahajiya. People do not like parakiya-bhav, they think that Krishna does wrong things in these parakiya pastimes. That is why Nityananda Prabhu does not preach about Krishna, He preaches about Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu left His family, came to sannyas life; as a sannyasi, He gives proper guidance and follows proper practice and behaviour (acharan), He shows people what is a sannyasi's life; coming as a devotee, Mahaprabhu chants, dances, laughs, cries, etc.

And Nityananda Prabhu said,

bhaja gauranga, kaha gauranga, laha gaurangera nama re
ye jana gauranga bhaje, sei amara prana re

"Worship Gauranga! Say Gauranga! Take Gauranga's Name! Those who worship Gauranga are My heart and soul!"

"Those who worship Gauranga, who chant the glories of Gauranga, are My heart." In this way, Nityananda Prabhu is more involved with Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

We also favour more Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu. You know that in his later days, Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Maharaj did not chant on his japa mala, instead he would only chant, "Doyal Nitai, Doyal Nitai. Nitai Gaura hari bol, Doyal Nitai." Our life is also like this. We cannot think of our life without our Gurudev. We are devotees of Nityananda Prabhu, devotees of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Krishna Himself says, "Those who say they are My devotees, are not My devotees. My devotees are those who say they are devotees of My devotees." But some people say, "Oh, we worship Krishna." You were asking the other day about Baladev Vidyabhusan, and Srila Janardan Maharaj explained it very nicely. Some sampradayas worship only Krishna. Mirabai also thinks that she has already got Krishna, but even the Vraja gopis did not say, "I have got Krishna!" Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur—they all cry for Krishna. The Vraja gopis never say, "I have got Krishna-prema!" But Mirabai says, "I have got Krishna-prema." This is why we do not worship Mirabai. She says she worships only Krishna, but we are not like that. We worship Radha-Krishna, and Radha-Krishna's combined form is Gauranga Mahaprabhu; and if we are to worship Gauranga Mahaprabhu, we must follow Nityananda Prabhu. Those who worship Gauranga Mahaprabhu but do not worship Nityananda Prabhu, follow the half-hen logic (ardha-kukkuti-nyaya). This is what Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says.

One time, Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's brother invited Gunarnava Misra to their house, and he worshipped only Gauranga, he did not give any respect to Ramdas Minaketan only because he was a great devotee of Nityananda Prabhu. Ramdas Minaketan was shocked to hear that, and when Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami found out about this, he fought with his brother. That day, at night, Nityananda Prabhu came to Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami in a dream and called him, "O Krishnadas! Come! Come to Vrindavan. Do not stay here in Jhamatpur any longer. Come to Vrindavan!" And next day Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami went to Vrindavan, where he got everything—there he also composed his Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita...

* * *

Practise More and Better

Chira-dahi danda-mahotsav in Sripat Panihati Dham
Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 June 2020, part 6

Question: What service can give us humility so that we can ask for forgiveness of our offences?

When you do service, it is possible to commit some seva-aparadh; nonetheless, you must stay within service and always do your service. If you think, "Oh, if I do some service, seva-aparadh (some offence) will come, so I better leave this service and not do it"—this is not good.

As for humility, humility comes through service. It is very important. Sometimes, we do puja and we become proud of it, some ego comes; or we become a temple manager and we get the ego that, "I am the manager!"; and if you become a guru, then even more ego comes—it is a very difficult situation. So, we must always practise humility, tolerance and giving honour to others—we must practise it through service. Any service you do, even if you are cleaning toilets, you must remember this.

I remember Sripad Siddhanti Maharaj and his service. Every year he would come to Nabadwip before Gaura Purnima and clean all toilets himself, it was his service. He would put on a gumcha and clean all toilets. One time, he came to Nabadwip late, and I had already arranged for some sweeper to do that service. When he came and found out about it, he was very angry—he told me, "All right, give me some money to get the toilet cleaning things." He went to the market and bought some phenyle, detergent, and cleaning tools. After that, he again cleaned all the toilets. He is a sannyasi, he always accompanied Srila Gurudev in his world tours, but he did that kind of service.

I also remember Risabdev Prabhu. Gurudev told me that when he was in America, he stayed at his house. Risabdev Prabhu had given his house for all the devotees to stay, and one night, when Gurudev came out of his room to go to the bathroom, he saw Risabdev Prabhu sleeping in the doorway of his room. He asked him, "What happened, Prabhu? Why are you sleeping here?" It turned out that Risabdev Prabhu had given his own room to Gurudev.

So, we can hear so many examples from Gurudev. Gurudev always tells about the qualities and qualification of devotees. I consider myself a very fallen soul, I have no quality or qualification, but Gurudev has engaged me to serve you all—I am trying to do it, and I will keep trying to do it until my death.

Question: How to form detachment and develop love for Krishna on the daily basis?

It comes through practice. Take shelter of a bona fide guru and practise. Practice makes perfect. If you practise, attachment will automatically come. You know, if a baby is born in your family, the more affection you give to the baby, the more attachment gradually comes to that baby. You have your Deities, Radha-Krishna, Mahaprabhu, and you must serve them properly, then affection and attachment will come automatically.

Once, a pujari from Nabadwip wanted to go to Vrindavan. He came to Gurudev to ask him for permission, "Gurudev, can I go for Vrindavan parikrama?" Gurudev asked him, "If you go to Vrindavan, who will take care of your baby? Have you arranged for somebody to take care of your baby?" 'Baby' means Radha-Krishna and Mahaprabhu, the Deities. This is what Gurudev told that pujari.

So, practice makes perfect. It is necessary to practise properly. You must practise and practise every day, with attachment to your service. Also, you must think tonight what service you will do tomorrow and how you can improve and increase that service (how to do more and better). If you do this, then you will get a chance to have proper attachment to service and to Krishna.

Question: What is the importance of chanting the Holy Name in the street?

It is important because through that some people will come. Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad went to America alone—he sat under a tree chanting with karatals, and some hippies came to him, he preached to them. This is how the mission started. Also, when you chant kirtan in the street, some trees, birds, etc. can hear that kirtan—that wave of the sound vibration (sabda-taranga) enters their ears and gives them benefit. I saw also when we did street sankirtan in Russia, so many crazy people came to join us, but after that they came with us in the bus to the temple, we preached to them, and they became devotees.

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
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Jay Srila Janardan Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Jay Sri Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu ki jay
Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Sri Raghunath Das Goswami's danda-mahotsav ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Dandavat.

* * *

Service Code

Kolkata-Worldwide, 14 June 2020, part 1

I am very happy to see you all. By the mercy of Gurudev, we are all trying to serve Gurudev's mission together. You are all my friends, my godbrothers, my guru-varga, you are all my well-wishers, and you always help me in the service for the Mission. You are giving so much energy, so much enthusiasm to me to do some service. Even in this pandemic time, we also do not stop our programme, we do not stop doing some service to the devotees. This kind of disease, this kind of problem will always come—when you are going to start some service, some problem will always come, but we will overcome all problems and succeed in our spiritual life. That is our main thinking and main vision. Our aim in life is to make our guru-varga, our Gurudev and Vaishnavs happy.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that Goloka-Adipati and Vaikuntha-Adipati (Lord Krishna and Lord Vishnu) do not always or easily accept service from this material world (sakuntha jagat, limited mundane world). We always do service with some little fault, little mistake, and the Lord does not easily accept such service, but if we ask great Vaishnavs, Gurudev, for forgiveness, they will always forgive us. Vaishnavs and Gurudev always take truti-yukta seva (defective, faulty service)—service with some mistake or fault. They accept it easily.

I remember one time Gurudev was taking prasadam that had been offered to the Deities. There was some boiled and mashed potato with a little chilli, salt, etc. When Gurudev tasted it, it turned out that there was no salt in it. Gurudev asked his servitor, "Has this been offered to the Lord?" The servitor said, "Yes, it has been offered to the Deities. I have brought it from the Deities' plate." Gurudev was very angry. He told, "This is truti-yukta seva, faulty service—you did not put salt in it. I can take it because it is Krishna's prasad, but I do not know how Krishna will accept this service."

The Lord does not accept service with mistake—everything must be clean and properly done. We are fallen souls, that is why we do not go to serve the Lord directly, we always go through a Vaishnav, through our Gurudev. We do service through Gurudev and through Vaishnavs, and Gurudev always rectifies us—he always says, "This is not good," "This is good," "This is not good," etc. This is how we get trained. We have got a good trainer and we have got good teachings from our Gurudev.

We must try to serve the Lord properly. As I have just said, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that Vaikuntha-Adipati and Goloka-Adipati do not accept service from this mundane (sakuntha) world, but the Guru and Vaishnavs accept our faulty service. Even if there is some mistake in our service, Guru and Vaishnavs easily accepting it, but Krishna will not accept it. That is why, it will be good if we serve the Lord through Gurudev. We do not go to serve to the Lord directly, we always go through a great Vaishnav or Gurudev. That is the main thing. And we are very happy that we have got a bona fide Guru—our beloved Gurudev Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad. If we follow this, we can easily understand how we can make our guru-varga and Vaishnavs happy through our service.

* * *

Love for Guru, Not Yourself

Kolkata-Worldwide, 14 June 2020, part 2

Our time is very short, this life is very short, we must not be lazy. We must not lose our time—we will always be punctual in our service and we will engage in proper activities, proper service to our Gurudev, to our Gurudev's Mission. We will give love and affection to and take proper care of Gurudev's Deities, Gurudev's mission, and Gurudev's devotees. That is our reality, and we can attain it through practice.

Practice makes perfect. We must always think how we can improve the quality of our service. Everybody does not have the same service quality, everybody may not have facility for the service to the Lord, but we must serve through love and affection, through our heart to the best of our capacity. Our heart and mind must be always clean. Do not give any place to dirty things—always remove dirty things from your heart. We must be simple Vaishnavs. We must practise simple living and high thinking.

Our thinking is focused on the highest things, and we must reach our goal, we must go to our proper place, the place where we have come from. It is only possible for a human being, and by the mercy of the Lord we have got this human body, we have got a bona fide teacher, a bona fide guru. Then, we must do our service properly always remembering him.

Sometimes, you think, "I will not do this service," but Krishna's service will always be fulfilled. If you do not do it, then it will be your loss because somebody else will do that service, it is not a problem. Service can never be stopped. If somebody does not do their service, then some other devotee will come and do it. So, we must try to do our service to the best of our ability, as soon as possible, as much as possible. We will do our best, and we will give best things to our Gurudev.

Actually, we are becoming very selfish—we always think about ourselves, we always think about our own happiness, but we do not know whether happiness will come or not. Besides, the happiness you get in this material life, is very temporary—sometimes happiness comes, sometimes sadness comes. For a devotee, whether it is happiness or sadness, it is the same. We must realise what it means to be a proper disciple and we must try to be proper disciples of our Guru. A disciple always thinks, "When will Gurudev chastise me?" To get chastised by Gurudev is a disciple's happiness. Devotees know, "If I get chastised by Gurudev, it is the mercy of Gurudev." You can read in the scriptures also—when Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu praised Srila Sanatan Goswami and chastised Srila Jagadananda Pandit, Srila Sanatan Goswami said to Him, "Prabhu, You are giving bitter to me, and You are giving sweet to Jagadananda Pandit."

One time, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also beat Srila Advaita Prabhu. To test Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Advaita Prabhu one time started preaching mayavadi conception, and Mahaprabhu came to his house and beat him. Srila Advaita Prabhu was happy, he said, "Yes, this is what I wanted!" Another time, in Sri Puri Dham, Mahaprabhu asked Srila Srivas Pandit, "Srivas, who do you think Advaita Prabhu is? Who can you compare him to? Tell Me." Srila Srivas Pandit replied, "I would compare Advaita Prabhu with Sukadev Goswami or Prahlad Maharaj." Hearing this, Mahaprabhu became very angry and slapped Srila Srivas Pandit! Then He took a stick and was about to hit him, but Sriman Advaita Prabhu stopped Him, "Prabhu, please forgive him—he does not know what he is saying." After that, Sriman Mahaprabhu glorified Advaita Prabhu. Who is Advaita Acharya? Sriman Mahaprabhu explained that 'Advaita' means the Lord, and 'Acharya' means he who comes to this world as a devotee to preach and spread Krishna consciousness. This is who is called 'Advaita Acharya.' And who are Prahlad Maharaj and Sukadev Goswami? They are babies compared to Advaita Prabhu—Prahlad Maharaj and Sukadev Goswami belonged to a younger generation, but Advaita Acharya is so much higher than them, he belongs to a much more senior generation. This is how Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explained the glory of Sri Advaita Prabhu. He chastised Srivas Pandit,

eta bada vakya mora nadare balili
aji bada srivasiya more duhkha dili

"He dared say such things about My Nada (Caller)! Srivasiya has greatly distressed Me today."

mora nada janibare achhe hena jana
ye mohare anileka bhangiya sayana

"Is there anyone who knows the glories of My Nada, who has aroused Me from sleep and brought Me here?"

prabhu bale,—"ahe srinivasa mahasaya!
mohara nadare ei tomara vinaya

The Lord said, "O great Srivas, is this how you respect My Nada?"

suka-adi kari' saba balaka uhara
nadara pachhe se janma janiha sabara

"Suka and others are like his children. Everyone knows that they are all junior to Nada."

advaitera lagi' mora ei avatara
mora karne baje asi' nadara hunkara

"I have appeared here only because of Advaita Prabhu—his loud call is still ringing in My ears."

sayane achhinu muni ksiroda-sagare
jagai' anila more nadara hunkare

"I was lying in the ocean of milk, and My Nada's loud cries woke Me and brought Me here."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanda, 9.288, 294-298)

Angry, Mahaprabhu spoke, "Srivasiya, what did you say?! You do not know anything! What are you saying about Advaita Prabhu? He is My 'nada' (নাড়া)—he has pulled Me down from Goloka (Vrindavan) to this Bhuloka (material world). He did that. With Tulasi leaves and water of the Ganges, he shouted and called Me here. He has brought Me to this world." In this way Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu glorified Sri Advaita Acharya...

* * *

Service Eagerness and Attachment

Kolkata-Worldwide, 14 June 2020, part 3

Srila Gurudev would always chant,

emana durmati samsara bhitare
padiya achhinu ami
tava nija-jana kona mahajane
pathaiya dile tumi

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

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Saranagati)

"Tava nija-jana" means Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's associate, or parsada.

tomare tarite sri-krsna-chaitanya
navadvipe avatara
toma hena kata dina-hina jane
karilena bhava-para

"Sri Krishna Chaitanya has appeared in Nabadwip to deliver you. He has brought many humble souls just like you to the shore of the ocean of material existence."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Saranagati)

This is the glorification of Mahaprabhu, told by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

This pure conception of Krishna consciousness, our spiritual line that is given to us by Srila Gurudev and Srila Guru Maharaj, is very sweet. It is necessary to connect with it and to have faith; it is necessary to have proper surrender (saranagati), and to have humility, tolerance, to give honour to others.

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."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Sri Siksastakam Giti)

Dainya, daya—be kind, be humble, and give honour to others. Always reject name and fame in your life—we must always reject pratistha.

kanaka-kamini, pratistha-baghini,
chhadiyachhe yare sei ta vaisnava

"Those who have given up money, women, and fame, are the true Vaishnavs."

(Vaishnav Ke? 11)

We can practise through singing all these wonderful songs.

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari

"Being merciful to the souls, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode."

atyanta durlabha prema karibare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana

"To distribute the most rare form of divine love, He teaches surrender, which is the life of the devotees."

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana

"(1) Humility, (2) self-submission, (3) embracing the Lord’s guardianship, (4) maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me'..."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Saranagati)

It is necessary to be humble, tolerant and patient. Patience is necessary in everything. The problem is that our tolerance power is very little—if somebody chastises us, we cannot tolerate it. If somebody chastises you, if somebody uses some bad words towards you, why must you be hurt? If somebody says something bad to you, if somebody swears you, what is the problem? You must think that they are suffering very much, that is why they are using such words, but we do not mind it because if somebody scolds us, then our tolerance power will increase, it is good for us.

bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"(5) Engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, (6) rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion ..."

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"These are the six types of saranagati, and if you can surrender in all the six ways, Sri Nanda-kumar Krishna will hear your prayer."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Saranagati)

This is a very nice song.

manasa, deha, geha, yo kichhu mora
arpilun tuya pade nanda-kisora

"I have offered my mind, my body, my household, and whatever else may be mine at Your feet, O Nanda Kisor!"

sampade vipade jivane marane
daya mama gela tuya o pada varane

"In good times and in bad, in life and in death, all responsibility has gone away by embracing Your feet."

marabi rakhabi yo ichchha tohara
nitya-dase prati tuya adhikara

"You may kill me or protect me as You wish. You have full authority over Your eternal servant."

"Marabi rakhabi"—"You can kill me, You can keep me, I do not mind it. Prabhu, I am always at Your service. I am always ready for Your service, for Your order, and I am always waiting for Your order. Whatever order comes from You, I am always ready to do it." Devotee must be this kind of soldiers of the Lord, of Gurudev. "I am always ready to do service." It is necessary to be an active servitor, not an inactive servitor.

There are so many servitors in this world, and everybody does some service, but only very few of them actually have service attachment (seva-asakti). It is necessary to be attached to your service. Another thing is that sometimes we do something and we always become proud of our service. Do not be proud. Pride comes before a fall. Always remember this.

We are tiny servitors—what can we do for the Lord? We are small, we are like a mosquito, like some small bird. How much are we capable of doing for the Lord? Still, we will try. You have probably read in Ramayana that when they were making a bridge to get to Lanka, all the monkeys headed by Hanuman brought so many huge stones to make the bridge, and at that time there were also some squirrels that helped them. How did they do it? They would go to the ocean, dip their tails into the water, then cover their tails with sand, come to the bridge and then shake off the sand where the bridge was being built and pat it down with their tails to press the sand down. Then they would go back to the ocean and repeat it again and again. Little by little they were helping. We must also try to be like this—we will also try to do something. Everybody does big, big service, and we can also try to do some small service.

* * *

Our Greatest Aspiration

Kolkata-Worldwide, 14 June 2020, part 4

Actually, I was in Nrisingha Palli yesterday and the day before yesterday also. Today is Sunday, I have a class, so I told them that I had to leave today. I will go back there again in two-three days, I have some service there. The lockdown is being gradually relaxed, so we should resume our preaching, we should again start to preach Krishna consciousness, to make programmes. We will start making programmes keeping some social distance. Also, devotee will soon be able to travel from some countries. I think that they will start international flights from July.

We always live with so many viruses around us, so what is the problem? It is one virus more, but as it is we always stay with so many elements in this world. When Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj lived in Nabadwip, he stayed in a public toilet during some time. Somebody asked him, "Prabhu, you are staying next to a public toilet, there is too much bad smell. How do you tolerate it?" Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj replied, "I can tolerate this smell, but there are some materialist people in this world whose smell is very strong—that smell I cannot tolerate. I do not want their association."

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

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

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

Sriman Mahaprabhu told this to Srila Raghunath Das Goswami when he used to take money from his father and use it to give Vaishnav-seva. Mahaprabhu was not happy with that, and He said that to him. "Visayira anna khaile malina haya mana." Gurudev also always told that. If you take money from materialist people, it is very dangerous to try to digest it. Yet, those who are proper devotees, proper Vaishnavs, they give everything for the service of their Gurudev, so it is not a problem for them—no reaction will come to them. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, but if you do not produce any action, then why will any reaction come? Watch out. We must be always very careful with this.

We sometimes cannot consider ourselves a proper disciple—we always consider ourselves a guru. That is the problem in our life. Prakasananda Saraswati, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, et.al. always dissed Mahaprabhu, but after that Mahaprabhu defeated them. How did Mahaprabhu defeat Prakasananda Saraswati, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, and Digvijayi Pandit Keshav Kashmiri? Mahaprabhu defeated them by giving very sweet examples from Srimad Bhagavatam. In the case of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, even when defeated, he was not fully convinced—only when Mahaprabhu showed him His six-armed form (sad-bhuja rupa—the Lord's form in Satya-, Treta-, Dvapar-, and Kali-yuga) did he finally understand it and surrender himself at the lotus feet of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

That was the case of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, but we should see the examples of Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami, Namacharya Srila Haridas Thakur. How did they live? What was their lifestyle? You know, Haridas Thakur never even went inside the Jagannath temple. When Jagannath prasadam came to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Mahaprabhu took it, then Haridas Thakur accepted those remnants of Mahaprabhu's prasadam. He would chant the Holy Name loudly. We can see his example. Mahaprabhu gave him a place near His house—Mahaprabhu stayed in Kashi Mishra's house in Puri, and Mahaprabhu arranged for a place near Kashi Mishra's for Srila Haridas Thakur to stay with Him. Later, we can see how much separation Mahaprabhu felt when Srila Haridas Thakur's niryan pastime happened-when Srila Haridas Thakur left his body. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself made all arrangements, we can see how much He served Srila Haridas Thakur when he left his body. You all know this, we are not going to explain it now again.

In this way, the Lord Himself came to us as a great teacher, as a great acharya—the Lord Himself came to rescue all of us, and after that He sent His associate to rescue all of us because we are all fallen souls. We consider ourselves fallen souls—we have no quality, no qualification to serve Vaishnavs, but we can still try to serve. Because the Guru and Vaishnavs are always very kind, they will accept our service, so relying on their kindness, we will try to serve them properly, we will try to help them in some way. That is our greatest aspiration.

* * *

Treasure of Devotion

Kolkata-Worldwide, 14 June 2020, part 5

Are there any questions from anybody?

Question: How should we preach in the West? How to approach people here?

Do not tell about so many rules and regulations, do not give too complicated things. Try to tell what you know. Tell them about the chanting of the Holy Name. Show it also by your own example—be honest, be humble, give respect to others, give love and affection to others. Tell them what is our real destination—back to God, back to home, this here is not our real home. Tell them like this. Your home is Goloka Vrindavan, we have come from there and we must go back there. How will you go there? Only through chanting the Holy Name and service to devotees.

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

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

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

And,

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva
iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

"Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name, and serve the Vaishnavs. Sanatan, besides this, there is no other religion."

You must be kind to jiva souls. Give them much love and affection, and tell them everything gradually. Do not hesitate, tell it to them. Tell properly what their real life is. This is not our life—we can leave this body at any time. Also, we and our body are not the same. We must tell it. We and our body are not the same. This is the main thing. We are atma, and atma always wants to serve Paramatma, atma is a part of Paramatma. Paramatma and atma exist in every body in this world, and at any time we can get any body in any life. We always keep changing our bodies—just as we change our clothes, we also always change our bodies. You can tell these things to them, step by step, and you can eventually convince them. They will ask some questions, you can read Srimad Bhagavad-gita and explain some slokas to them.

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)

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

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

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

You can explain some slokas like these to them, and they can easily understand it. They should read our books. Distribute some of our small books to them like Home Comfort, Original Source. Original Source is Gurudev's book, it is very small, but very nice things are written in it. You can distribute this book. It is a very nice book. You can give this Original Source book to them, and they can easily understand it.

Actually, everybody will leave their body, what is the problem? Everybody will die one day, but you have got this human body, so what is your duty? They must understand that. What is your duty? Tell them that they do not use this human body in the proper way. We are not meant to live like cats and dogs. What is the difference between a human body and a cat's or a dog's body? Cats and dogs sleep, eat, and enjoy, and we do the same things with this human body, but this is not our duty. We have got so many facilities—eyes, mouth, ears, etc. What will we do with them? Will we only eat and hear nonsense things? No. We will chant the Holy Name, we will hear Hari-katha, we will see Deities, we will bow ourselves down at Gurudev's lotus feet, at the Lord's lotus feet. This is what we are meant to do. Tell it to them, and they will be happy to hear it, they will feel much peace. Always give them some good advice, always show them a good mood and good advice that is given in Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavad-gita.

Are there any other questions?

Question: Could you please explain the first verse of the ninth chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita?

The first sloka is very easy. The Lord Himself says,

idam tu te guhyatamam, pravaksamy anasuyave
jnanam vijnana-sahitam, yaj jnatva moksyase 'subhat

“The Supreme Lord said: I now reveal to you, who are without envy, this most hidden treasure of knowledge of pure devotion, with direct realization of Me, knowing which you will be liberated from inauspiciousness-from all that is opposed to devotion.”

Sri Bhagavan, the Lord Himself, told, "My kirtan is very sacred, it is the highest thing. To understand it, it is necessary to have pure devotion. If you hear it with pure devotion, you will get liberation from this material world."

"The Supreme Lord said: I now reveal to you, who are without envy, the most hidden treasure of knowledge (these are very hidden things, guhyatama) of pure devotion, with direct realisation of Me, knowing which you will be liberated from inauspiciousness, from all that is opposed to devotion."

* * *

Questions and Answers

Kolkata-Worldwide, 14 June 2020, part 6

[A devotee asks a question.] I understand your question. How will we do service without offence? We will try to avoid offences. Sometimes, offences are also removed through service. Anyhow, we must not stop our service. Sometimes, you think, "Oh, I am going to do some service, but if I do it, offence will come, so better I not do it, I will stop it." No. We must continuously do our service. Guru and Vaishnavs are very kind and merciful—if we have a good heart and a good mood, Guru and Vaishnavs will always mercifully remove our offences.

Question: You were talking about tolerance, how we must show tolerance when we get some bad words or insults, but sometimes we show we tolerate it but inside we do not tolerate it. How can we increase our mood of tolerance, not just show it externally, but to have internal tolerance?

No, we must be clear—our internal and external mood must be clear. If you show one thing externally and have another thing internally, it is not good. You show something externally and you have another feeling internally, this is not right, we must be tolerant properly and we must be simple-hearted. If something is white, you must say it is white, however sometimes we will keep quiet, we will try not to say anything. It is necessary to have such a mood. For example, somebody is white (good), and you say they are white (good), but the person may get angry; or somebody is black (bad) and you say they are black (bad), and the person will get angry. Then we must understand when to say something and when not. We should not say anything, we will try to tolerate everything. We must try to be like this. Sometimes, however, to keep the devotees' mood in the proper line, we have to tell the truth. This is what I did at the last programme—I told you all what Gurudev said. I had not said anything for ten years, but I thought that many devotees wanted to hear something from me. Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Maharaj spoke about Gurudev, and Gurudev also had to explain it himself, and at the last programme I told everyone what Gurudev had explained himself, I gave that same explanation to everybody. If somebody is perhaps unhappy about it, I can ask them for forgiveness. Please forgive my offence. This is all I can do. What else can I do? If they are Vaishnavs, they will forgive my offence.

Does anyone else have questions?

Question: What is sahajiya bhajan and how can we avoid it?

Sahajiya bhajan? Where? In the Western countries? There is not so much sahajiya bhajan in the Western countries. Sahajiya bhajans are always here in India. For example, there was a big gathering in Nrisingha Palli yesterday, they were doing sahajiya bhajan there, and I had to listen to it from my room there in Nrisingha Palli. I did not see any sahajiya in the foreign countries. There are some mayavadi gurus in the foreign countries, and that is even worse than sahajiya because sahajiyas at least think that Krishna has a form, but mayavadis do not believe that—they say that everybody is God. This is mayavad thinking. Mayavad is very dangerous, even more dangerous than sahajiya. What is sahajiya bhajan? If somebody sings some song with some fancy tune, you cannot tell them, "This is sahajiya!" You cannot say like this.

Question: Srila Param Guru Maharaj says we should utilise everything in service, even the things that may not necessarily be desirable, the things that are perhaps sad or dangerous. How can we use everything in service, even sad and dangerous things?

Yes, you should use everything is service, of course. How shall I explain it to you? What is sad and dangerous? For example, we can see in Srimad Bhagavad-gita that Arjuna does not want to fight his relatives because he feels it is very sad and very dangerous—so many of his relatives will die in this war. However, Krishna tells him, "You are involved with the illusory environment, that is why you are thinking that you do not want to fight, that you do not want to involve yourself in this war. Even if something is dangerous, even if something is sad, you should consider it properly and engage yourself in this fight with your relatives." In this way, whatever happens, even if sadness comes, even if unhappiness comes, we should still use everything in the service of the Lord.

Gurudev told me once, "I will leave my body one day, and even on that day you must not stop offering the bhog to the Lord." And you could see that when Gurudev left his body, even on that day the offering, arati, kirtan, all services were going on. That was a very sad day for us, Gurudev left his body, but we still used everything for the service of the Lord. So, whatever comes, even if your life is in a dangerous position, will you remove yourself, will you withdraw yourself from service because of that? No, this is not right. Even if your life is in danger, you are never to withdraw yourself from your service. This is how we must use everything in the service of the Lord. For example, when Prahlad Maharaj's father gave poison to him, he was happy thinking Prahlad Maharaj would die, and Prahlad Maharaj happily drank that poison—he did not think whether he would live or die, he always thought about the Lord. This should be your attitude to unhappiness or danger. You can use everything in the service of the Lord. Everything that exists, is meant for the service of the Lord.

Question: How can we know that Gurudev is happy with us, with our service?

Self-realisation is necessary. What is service? Suppose Krishna wants a samosa, if you can give Him a samosa, then Krishna will be happy. Then, you can easily understand what kind of things Gurudev is happy with, you can observe his mood, his teachings, what makes Gurudev happy. That is why I say that realisation is necessary.

For example, I was teaching one sannyasi yesterday. I told him how much seva attachment it is necessary to have, and I gave him an example. Now, I sometimes switch off my mobile phone because people disturb me, but in Gurudev's time I never switched off my mobile phone. Even when I went to the toilet, I would always keep the phone in the bathroom where the soap is kept; I always kept the phone with me thinking what if Gurudev calls me. He could call me at 2:30, at 3 o'clock in the morning. If I go to the bathroom to take shower, there is so much noise, I may not hear his call, and if Gurudev calls me and I do not answer, he will be angry. So, I kept the phone with me even in the bathroom in case Gurudev called me. This is my experience in Gurudev's time. I told that sannyasi: if I call you and you do not answer, you give me some excuse (ajuhat, অজুহাত—it means you show me your two hands, but you keep something else behind), you say you could not do it or that you did not hear the call because you were in the bathroom. It will not do. If you go to the bathroom, keep your phone there—I am calling you, why are you not answering? Bathroom is not an excuse. This is what I told him.

So, you can realise yourself whether Gurudev is happy or unhappy, you can understand it through your service. It actually depends on the practitioner. Practitioners must be simple-hearted and have a clear heart, then they will understand easily what Gurudev wants and what makes Gurudev happy.

Question: Srila Gurudev told me that in Vaishnav tradition, it is not possible to offer a cake, that it is always sweet rice—he said sweet rice would please the Deities more than a cake, that cakes belong to the Western civilisation.

It is not a problem. Krishna does not always live only in India—Krishna lives in the Western world too. That is why, we sometimes also offer arepa, sometimes some noodles, cakes, sometimes we offer rasam, tofu, pizza, etc. What is the problem?

We hear that this year the chariots during the Ratha-yatra festival in Jagannth Puri will not be pulled by devotees—they will be pulled by elephants. The High Court suggested using machines, but the Odisha government said that machines were no good, they said elephants could pull them. But I am thinking that chariots will not go with elephants—the chariots cannot go from Nilachal to Sundarachal without devotees. Krishna will not go from Dvaraka to Vrindavan without His devotees. Every year, all the devotees, all the Vraja-gopis, take Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra there, but this year devotees cannot enter there...

[Update: On 19 July, the Supreme Court finally ruled that there shall be no chariot festival in Jagananth Puri at all this year due to the ongoing pandemic situation. Then, on 22 June, the Supreme Court of India has changed its ruling and allowed to hold Sri Ratha Yatra in Sri Jagannath Puri without public attendance on the plea of the servitors of Sri Jagannathdev Temple.]

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Nitai pada kamala', 'Hari Haraye Nama Krsna' and then takes last questions.]

Question: How can my son get sukriti to live in Krishna consciousness?

He should listen to the class, listen to kirtans, he needs good association. Actually, sukriti comes from previous lives—if he could do some good, auspicious works in his previous life, then sukriti will come. Is he vegetarian now?

Devotee: No, he is not.

Why not? Why does he take meat?

Devotee: My wife forcefully gives it to him.

Then, your wife must first be serious about Krishna cosnciousess, then your child will learn from his parents. How old is he?

Devotee: Six years old.

Oh, he has no capacity to understand whether his father does good or his mother does good. When he understand, "My father is good, he lives in the right way," then if he has some sukriti, he will gradually change by the mercy of Gurudev, by the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. Take him sometimes to the programmes there in Singapore. Devotees make some programmes, some house to house programmes, you can join those programmes with your son. It is necessary. Good association is necessary. He should learn from Doyal Nitai Prabhu, from Vishnu Prabhu, Ramananda Prabhu—they are all children and they have all become good boys, they are vegetarian. Also, in Malaysia, all sons of Rama Ratan Prabhu have become devotees. Take your son to good association. Join devotees' programmes—Ravindra Krishna Prabhu, Jaya Vardhan Prabhu make programmes in Singapore, join those programmes, keep contact with them. Also, teach your son how to bow down to the Lord, how to offer dandavat pranam to the Lord, how to make offering to the Lord, how to chant kirtans, how to play the mridanga. This is how he will learn, this is how he will practise. Practitioners must always practise. Join programmes, but remember that if you want to make your son a devotee, you must give your energy for that.

I have seen Ravindra Krishna Prabhu's son, how he trained him. When we were doing Govardhan parikrama, I was very surprised to see him—he walked and played the mridanga during the whole parikrama! How many kilometres is Govardhan and Vrindavan parikrama, but he carried the mridanga and played it, like a big boy. When I was his age, I could not do that, but he practises very nicely. Not only that, you know, Ravinda Krishna Prabhu's house in Singapore is like a palace—I have not gone there, but I know that his house is a palace, but his son walks in the sun like a simple boy. He reminds me of Srila Raghunath Das Goswami. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami was a big landlord, but he would go begging door to door. Your son can learn from Doyal Nitai, you can see how much austerity that boy can take. When he stayed here in India, he stayed in a simple room, in a simple house. Your son can learn from him. You know, when the Lord was in Dvaraka, He got so much opulence there, but when He later became Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and took sannyas, He would sleep on the ground...

Question: How can we always think about Krishna consciousness and Gurudev even though our mind is very distracted?

Is your mind disturbing a lot? Mind is always very naughty, that is why Gurudev always tells not to listen to your mind. You always have a good intelligence, you must beat your mind through that intelligence. Mind is always naughty, it always goes everywhere, to bad places, to good places, to any place. Do not follow your mind. Follow what Gurudev says. Your mind goes here, there, everywhere, but you must always concentrate your mind on practising Krishna consciousness.

For example, when you go to school, you come home from school and you must first complete the lesson that you have got today, then you will go to school (college, university) the next day. So, you must think tonight what service you will do tomorrow, and make a list of services that you will do tomorrow. You can make this list with a pen, in your heart or in your mind, but you must plan tonight what service you will do tomorrow, and do that service. This is my advice. Join programmes every day, come to magala-arati, wake up properly. Sleep less, eat less. If you eat too much, then you will want to sleep too much. This is how you must concentrate your practising life.

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)

Always avoid wearing fancy clothes, always avoid eating fancy food. It is necessary to do this.

I am giving my full obeisance to all the devotees, to Srila Janardan Maharaj, Srila Ashram Maharaj. Please forgive my offence. Dandavat. I was very happy to see you all. Thank you very much.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
All the sannyasi-vrinda ki jay Sripad Bhakti Bandhav Puri Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Niskam Shanta Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Vijnan Muni Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

* * *

Observing Gundicha Marjan

Kolkata-Worldwide, 21 June 2020

You should clean the place where you are staying, clean the toilet, clean the bathroom, and also clean your heart through chanting the Holy Name, through chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Clean your heart. On this day, you must clean the place where you stay, clean every room, Deities' room, etc. Do not call a sweeper (a cleaner). We always call a sweeper, but we ourselves are lower than a sweeper, then why is it necessary to call a sweeper? We can clean our toilets ourselves.

In this lockdown period, not everybody can go to the temple, but if you have an opportunity to go to the temple, go there tomorrow and clean the temple, do service there. Sometimes, the temple may not be thoroughly cleaned, then you can clean the temple, clean the Deities' room, Deities' dress room, Deities' outfits, etc. There are so many services at the temple, you can do any service there—clean the plates, clean the toilets, clean the Tulasi garden, clean the flower garden, cleaning the nat mandir, etc.

The important thing is that you must do it with sravan and kirtan—when you clean, you will chant. In Mahaprabhu's time, when everybody cleaned and swept the temple, they all chanted, 'Krishna, Krishna.' We too will chant in this way. Tomorrow is Gundicha Marjan, everybody will join it and clean their hearts through sravan and kirtan, through practising.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Special Day of Special Mercy

Sri Ratha-Yatra festival,
Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 June 2020, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa-kula-churamani Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Jay Jagannathdev's Ratha Yatra maha-mahotsav ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
All the sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
Jay Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Bandhav Puri Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Rasik Sannyasi Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Ujjval Sajjan Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Vaibhav Parivrajak Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Devotee: Jay Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Sri Srimad Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay. Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

By the mercy of Gurudev and Lord Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadra, we are present here today.

I spend this Ratha-yatra time in Puri every year, but even though this year we could not go there, my mind, my heart, and everything is still in Puri with all the devotees. I told you the day before yesterday that I would come in front of you on this Ratha-yatra day, so we have assembled now here. I was a little busy with some service in the morning, after that I turned on the television and saw all Ratha-yatra in Puri—it happened without the participation of devotees and there were not so many people, perhaps one-two hundred people only. I saw the festival from the beginning. When Lord Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra come to Their chariots, King Gajapati performs "pohandi vijay" (sweeps and cleanses the chariots), and then first Baladev's chariot called Taldvaj starts off, next is Subhadra's chariot Darpadalan, and Sri Jagannathdev's chariot Nandighosh goes last. It happens like this every year. I saw that by 5-5:15 p.m. the chariots had almost reached Gundicha Bari. This year, I watched everything on television.

Anyhow, by the mercy of Gurudev, I am very fortunate to be able to meet today with you all, with all the devotees all over the world. It is my great fortune. Today is a very special day for our Gaudiya sampradaya, and devotees celebrate this day in all of our temples. We always spend this time in Puri and make a festival there, but today we have also made a small festival here without a large gathering—keeping some social distance, we are making a programme and meeting with you all through this electronic technology. It is very nice, I am very happy about that.

During this chariot festival, Mahaprabhu would dance in front of the chariots, and when the chariots would stop sometimes, He would touch the chariot with His head, and the chariot would start moving again. This is how the chariots went to Gundicha Bari in Mahaprabhu's time. Also, Mahaprabhu showed the Gundicha-marjan pastime, it was yesterday. It is the day when temples and hearts are cleaned. I have told you about it.

Today is also a good occasion, the day of Ratha-yatra, the day when Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra journey to Gundicha temple. Our Gaudiya sampradaya always happily observes this festival. Also, having special affection for this festival, our Gurudev made a temple and a Sevak Bhavan (guesthouse) in Puri on the order of Param Guru Maharaj, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Now, our devotees can go to Puri from time to time. Gurudev said that Mahaprabhu had rejected Nabadwip and accepted Puri—when Mahaprabhu lived in Puri, He stayed in a place called Gambhira. We always visit it when we come to Puri. I know that when devotees come for Gaura Purnima, they also sometimes visit Puri with some sannyasi or leader. There may be some difficulty for you to go inside Jagannath Temple (there is a restriction for all foreign devotees)—on the one hand, even if we only pay our obeisance from outside, it is sufficient for us; on the other hand, at the time of Ratha-yatra, Lord Jagannath comes out in His chariot and bestows His mercy all over the world. Therefore, we are very fortunate to be getting mercy from Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra, and, even though we are so far, we pay our obeisance to Them from here. Sometimes, we also think that it is so crowded, we cannot come close to the chariots, but the truth is that we actually have no eyes to see this Deity of Lord Jagannath. Even Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself said, "I do not have that kind of vision to see Lord Jagannath!"

One time, Sriman Mahaprabhu went to Jagannath Temple, but after the snan-yatra they say that Jagannath has a fever, so it is not possible to see Jagannath for fifteen days. Being not able to see Jagannath, Sriman Mahaprabhu ran to Allarnath. When He came there and saw the Deity of Allarnath, He saw Jagannath there, and when He fell on the ground to pay His obeisance to the Lord, the stone floor melted under His body. That stone is still there—you can see the marks from His chest, head, hands, etc. You can go to Allarnath (it is not far from Puri) and see it. We always come there, pay our obeisance and sit there for some time. Foreign devotees are also restricted there, they cannot go inside Allarnath's temple. [The melted stone His Divine Grace mentions is kept in a small temple outside the temple of Allarnath, so foreigners are allowed to see it.]

We visit so many places when we come to Puri... Also, Haridas Thakur never went inside Jagannath temple. Every day, Mahaprabhu would come to the mangal-arati, and after that He would go to see Haridas Thakur and then to bathe in the ocean. Haridas Thakur said, "Sriman Mahaprabhu goes to see the mangal-arati every day, after that He comes to see me—in this way I get the mercy of Jagannath through Him."

During His last twelve years, Sriman Mahaprabhu was very disturbed and had become almost like mad tasting separation—He showed that He had become Srimati Radharani and was tasting the separation from Lord Krishna that Radharani felt. So many things happened in Puri at that time... Once, He jumped into the ocean and the ocean carried Him sixteen kilometres away to Konark where a fisherman found Him...

Also, King Prataparudra wanted to meet with Mahaprabhu, but Mahaprabhu said, "He is the king, and I cannot meet with a king because if I do, people will see it—what will they learn from Me? They will criticise Me. It is not good for a sannyasi." Still, King Prataparudra was very eager to meet with Mahaprabhu, he always thought about it. King Prataparudra did very much service to all devotees during the Ratha-yatra time—so many would come at that time, and he would serve everybody. Even Svarup Damodar, Raya Ramananda, Nityananda Prabhu told Mahaprabhu, "Please, give Your darshan to Raja Prataparudra." Finally, Mahaprabhu became tired and very angry, He said, "If you speak about it again, you will never see Me here again! I will go to some other place." Then, nobody said anything again. However, Nityananda Prabhu is very clever. (You know that you cannot reach Mahaprabhu without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu. That is our line.) So, Nityananda Prabhu gave King Prataparudra some guidance—He said, "When the Ratha-yatra festival is going on, all the devotees will be chanting, dancing, and Mahaprabhu will be dancing too, and when He gets tired, He will go to Balagandi Udyan (Jagannathdev's garden) and take some rest there. At that time, you will leave your your king's dress, wear a Vaishnav's dress and come there to massage His legs, and while massaging His legs, you will recite this sloka from Srimad Bhagavatam."

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)

King Prataparudra did everything that Nityananda Prabhu had told him. As soon as Mahaprabhu heard this Bhagavatam sloka, He embraced the king and kept saying, "Bhurida! Bhurida!" "Bhuri-da" means a great donor (data). Who is a great donor in this world? Those who distribute the Holy Name, who distribute Hari-katha, Krishna-katha, who distribute Krishna's message all over the world. There are so many 'donors' in this material world, but our guru-varga are great donors because they distribute the Holy Names, they distribute the Lord's message all over the world.

There are so many pastimes in Jagannath Puri—Pradyumna Misra's talk with Raya Ramananda took place in Raya Ramananda's house, etc. There is no time today to tell so many things, but I would like to tell the history and pastimes of Lord Jagannath…

* * *

Follow Rules and Regulations

Sri Ratha-Yatra festival,
Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 June 2020, part 3

There are so many places in Sri Puri Dham. There is Atharnala where Nityananda Prabhu broke Mahaprabhu's danda and threw it into the Bhargi River. There are also pastimes of Srila Gadadhar Pandit there. There, Ramachandra Puri disturbed Mahaprabhu. Srila Madhavendra Puripad also came from Baleshwar to Ksir-chora Gopinath. There is also a place of Saksi Gopal where the story of bara vipra (old brahman) and chhota vipra (young brahman) took place. We visit so many places when we come to Puri—Saksi Gopal's temple, Ananta Vasudev's temple, Sivji Maharaj is also there. We cannot go there this year, but we can still remember all these places from here, and that is also visiting. Our mind must always stay in the holy dham:

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

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

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

You may not be able to always physically stay in Mathura, but you can always remember, always recite the glories of the holy place, always remember the holy dham in your heart, mind, everything, and it is the same as residing in the dham. We visit many auspicious, filled with pastimes places in this world—Sri Nabadwip Dham, Sri Mathura Dham, Sri Purusottam Ksetra and others; but we must always remember:

tirtha-phala sadhu-sanga, sadhu-sange antaranga,
sri-krsna-bhajana manohara
yatha sadhu, tatha tirtha, sthira kari' nija-chitta,
sadhu-sanga kara nirantara

"The result of visiting a place of pilgrimage is sadhu-sanga (pure devotees' association) and being drawn to the exclusive service of Sri Krishna. A place of pilgrimage is where a sadhu (pure devotee) is. Always keep the association of pure devotees and firmly fix your mind by such association."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Kalyan-kalpataru)

A holy place (tirtha) is where there is a Vaishnav (sadhu). Wherever a Vaishnav stays, that is a holy place, that is Goloka Vrindavan. I heard once from Gurudev that one time Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad had some abscess (some infection) in his back and suffered with very much pain. At that time, he wrote a letter to Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj saying, "Maharaj, you live in Nabadwip Dham, in Koladwip, and you are engaged in bhajan, but I am living very far away with mlechhas. I am suffering in so many ways here." In reply, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote, "Maharaj, you are Nityandana Prabhu's saktyavesa avatar—wherever you may be, wherever you are staying, that is always Vrindavan, it is always a holy dham there." So, it is does not matter where a devotees lives because,

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)

Where is Goloka Vrindavan? It is the place where devotees every day worship Deities, every day offer bhog to the Deities, every day do arati, etc., where they practise achar-nistha (practise properly, with unflinching regularity).

We always follow rules and regulations. That is the main thing. There are sixty-four types of viddhi-marga (prescribed regulations) or bhaktyanga (limbs of devotion). You know what they are, I list them at the end of the Calendar. For example, we observe and fast on Janmastami, we observe fasting on Nrisingha-chaturdasi, we observe and fast on Gurudev's appearance day, we follow Ekadasi properly, etc. These are all a part of sixty-four angas, or limbs of devotional processes. We must follow them all one by one, all sixty-four(!) limbs.

Even Sriman Mahaprabhu told His mother, "You must follow Ekadasi," but we sometimes forget to fast on Ekadasi, we sometimes cannot tolerate Ekadasi. I have told you this story many times. Once, a foreign devotee wrote to Gurudev asking, "I work at a ship making factory, and I work with a huge hammer that weighs ten kg. It is a very hard labour, so if I fast on Ekadasi, how will I be able to work?" Gurudev replied, "I did not tell you to do a full fast (not to eat anything). If you have to work hard, you can eat five kilo of potato in the morning, what is the problem?" We mostly only do not take grains [*beans, seeds, certain vegetables, etc.] on Ekadasi, but we can take so many things on Ekadasi (fruit, potato, dairy, etc.). Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur relaxed the rules so much, he even said that since people here in India or outside people cannot do a full fast, or if somebody has a health problem and cannot fast in the morning, then they can make some potato, etc. and take it in the morning, it is not a problem.

You must follow rules and regulations. Always. Always avoid dyuta, pana, striya, suna (gambling, intoxicants, illegal sex, slaughter). Gambling, drinking alcohol, taking marijuana—you cannot do this. I have heard that some devotees are now cultivating marijuana! This is not good! Even if you do not eat meat, but if you sell or cook fish, if you cut, cook or distribute meat, then you are an offender! This is very wrong, those who do it are all offenders! Sometimes we cut someone some slack—when somebody comes to us and says, "O Gurudev, my son wants to eat meat, my daughter wants to eat meat"—what can we do?—we say, "OK, cry and cook for your husband or children." Otherwise, sometimes when somebody cooks meat, some smell comes and even if you just feel the smell, it is also one kind of eating.

Follow rules and regulations properly. This is good for everybody. Do you understand? Our line is strict about it...

jihvara lalase yei iti-uti dhaya
sisnodara-parayana se krsna nahi paya

"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, 3.6.227)

We always follow our tongue—we take whatever our tongues asks for. Sometimes, we think, "Oh, I want to buy a samosa outside." It is OK, you can buy that samosa, but you must buy it, first offer it to the Lord, and then you can take it. If you cannot control your tongue, this desire will come to your heart—your heart will become dirty, and the power of lust (kama-sakti) will become strong, dyuta, pana, striya, etc. will start coming (you will feel desire for gambling, intoxicants, illegal sex, etc.). When this happens, sakti (lust, power) increases and becomes strong, that is why in our line we never take onion and garlic, for example. Onion and garlic are very strong and they make you very angry, it turns your consciousness into an angry mood. Such food is tamasik and rajasik, but you must take only sattvik food. Our Gaudiya guru-varga always follows this—they take only sattvik food, not tamasik, not rajasik. Try to understand this.

I remember now one thing that Gurudev said. Sripad Bhakti Ananda Sagar Maharaj from London used to live in the Land of Nectar (a land near Sri Nabadwip Temple), and Gurudev told him one day, "I live here, why do you stay there, at the Land of Nectar? You can go there, but why not stay with me here?" Then Gurudev added, "I guess, your disciple makes much fried paneer on Ekadasi, that is why you go there... This fried paneer is giving you too much disturbance, you will see it one day." I remember these words of Gurudev, it was more than twenty years ago.

That is why, it is said that if you cannot control your tongue, you will not be able to control anything—you will not be able to control your anger or control your consciousness. Always take proper sattvik prasadam.

prasada-seva karite haya,
sakala prapancha-jaya

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

(Saranagati, 31.5, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Do not eat very fancy things, eat simple things.

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)

Mahaprabhu told Srila Raghunath Das Goswami: Vaishnavs are always engaged in Nama-sankirtan and they take only the things that are sufficient to fill their stomach—sak (greens, spinach), patra (leaves), phal (fruit), mul (roots). Eating too much and sleeping too much is very bad. Ahara, nidra, bhaya, maithunam cha (আহার, নিদ্রা, ভয়, মৈথুনং চ, eating, sleeping, fearing, mating). The more you increase these things, the more they will increase. You sleep six hours today, six and a half hours tomorrow, seven hours the day after tomorrow, then you will sleep eight hours, and so on. Today you eat five chapatis, tomorrow you can take six chapatis, and the day after tomorrow you will be taking ten chapatis. Do you understand? This is how you start eating too much, and if you eat too much, you will sleep too much. Control your food. Ahara, nidra, bhaya, maithunam cha. Control these things—the more you increase these things, the more it will increase. If you want to increase these things, you will increase it, in the same way if you want to reduce these things, you can reduce them. For example, I take three chapatis today, and tomorrow I will take two chapatis. This is how you can reduce it gradually.

I am also trying to do that. During this lockdown period, I have gained three kg weight and my doctor chastised me very much. He said, "I giving you two months. If you cannot reduce your weight in two months, I will not see you." I have gained weight because it is lockdown and I am becoming a little lazy—I am not going to so many places now because I am afraid of the coronavirus. I sometimes go out, but not so much, that is why I have gained much weight. The doctor told me, "It is very bad! Come after two months, but first you must drop these three kg, then come." So, now I am trying to do that, I am trying to reduce my prasadam. I will now take two-three chapatis in the evening, not more than that, and small chapatis, not Bihari style chaptis (one Bihari chapati is one kilo!).

I have told you many things today. We should follow these things. I know it is easy to say it, but it is hard to follow it. I also cannot follow everything, but I am telling, telling, telling about it, then one day I can also make myself a proper good boy. I also want to become a good boy...

Sixty-Four Devotional Practices (Bhaktyanga)

(1) Taking shelter at Sri Guru's feet.
(2) Accepting initiation
(3) Serving Sri Guru
(4) Asking and learning about true religion
(5) Following the sadhus' path
(6) Sacrificing one's own enjoyment out of love for Krishna
(7) Residing in Krishna's abode
(8) Accepting only what is required to maintain one's life
(9) Observing Ekadasi
(10) Honouring myrobalan trees, banyan trees, cows, brahmans, and Vaisnavas
(11) Avoiding offences to the Name and the Deity
(12) Giving up non-devotees' association
(13) Not making many disciples
(14) Not studying partially and commenting upon numerous texts
(15) Being indifferent about loss and gain
(16) Not becoming subdued by lamentation
(17) Not disrespecting other Deities or scriptures
(18) Not listening to blasphemy of the Lord or His devotees
(19) Not listening to village talk (any talk that pertains to sense gratification)
(20) Not disturbing others with one's mind or words
(21) Hearing about the Lord
(22) Chanting about Lord
(23) Remembering the Lord
(24) Worshipping the Lord
(25) Praying to the Lord
(26) Serving the Lord
(27) Having the mood of the Lord's servant
(28) Having the mood of the Lord's friend
(29) Surrendering oneself to the Lord
(30) Dancing before the Deity
(31) Singing for the Deity
(32) Expressing one's heart to the Deity
(33) Offering obeisance to the Deity
(34) Standing up out of respect when the Deity or a devotee arrives
(35) Following the Deity or a devotee in the procession
(36) Visiting holy places and Temples of the Lord's Deities
(37) Circumambulating the Deity
(38) Reciting hymns
(39) Chanting japa
(40) Chanting in congregation
(41) Honouring incense, garlands, and so on, that have been offered to the Deity
(42) Honouring maha-prasadam
(43) Participating in aratis and festivals
(44) Visiting the Deity
(45) Offering what is dear to oneself to the Deity
(46) Meditating
(47) Serving Tulasi
(48) Serving devotees
(49) Serving the Lord's abode
(50) Relishing Bhagavatam
(51) Endeavouring solely for Krishna's sake
(52) Looking for the Lord's mercy
(53) Celebrating festivals with devotees honouring the Lord's Pastimes
(54) Surrendering in all respects
(55) Observing Kartik and other rites
(56) Marking the body with devotional symbols
(57) Marking the body with the Lord's Names
(58) Adorning the body with offerings of flowers made to the Deity
(59) Drinking the Deity's charanamrta
(60) Associating with sadhus
(61) Chanting the Name
(62) Hearing Srimad Bhagavatam
(63) Residing in Mathura
(64) Faithfully serving the Deity.

* * *

Serving Gaura Nitai Deities

Sri Ratha-Yatra festival,
Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 June 2020, part 4

Question: I heard they were going to use elephants at the Ratha-yatra this year.

No, they did not. At first, the Supreme Court did not give permission to hold Ratha-yatra this year, but after that Prime Minister and Home Minister appealed and gave pressure to the Odisha government, they filed a petition with the Supreme Court saying that if Ratha-yatra did not happen this year, there would be no Ratha-yatra for the next twelve years, it would have to be stopped for the next twelve years. So, the government became afraid and allow to hold Ratha-yatra, but with one-two hundred people attending. All pandas were tested for coronavirus and only after everyone made sure they all tested negative did they get the permission.

Question: Did they pull the carts?

Yes, with ropes. I watched the full telecast on Odisha channel, up to 5-5:30 p.m. It was very nice, but actually I have no eyes to see Lord Jagannath because my eyes are full of dust of maya, illusory environment.

Are there any other questions from anybody?

Question: What should be the correct vision of the Colombian devotees regarding the service to Their Lordships Sri Sri Guru Gaura Nityanandajiu?

Gurudev always says to those who serve Sri Sri Guru Gaura Nityananda that it is actually a little difficult to serve Radha Krishna and Mahaprabhu and it is easier to serve Nitai Gauranga because They are always merciful and do not take any offence. We are fallen souls, we are mlechhas, we have no quality or qualification to serve Deities, we do not know so many mantras, that is why it is much easier for us to serve Lord Nityananda, Gauranga, and Gurudev. Nityananda Prabhu is non-different from Gurudev, that is why we worship Lord Nityananda and Gurudev.

Actually, what is the question? The correct vision regarding Deities is "sraddhaya sri murtir sevan"—you must serve with love and affection and with full faith. Gurudev saw those Deities, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj saw those Deities, then you must serve those Deities properly, give Them proper love and affection. This is how you will serve Them. Here, we have Gaura Nitai in Puri, we have Nitai Gauranga in Nrisingha Palli and Ekachakra. Having Gaura Nitai rather than Radha-Krishna and Mahaprabhu is not a problem. In another way also, Gauranga Mahaprabhu is Radha-Krishna's combined form, and Nityananda is Gurudev. This is how you can serve these Deities.

Question: I have been reading that in Mahaprabhu's time there were two kinds of rice. One kind of rice is made for Deities (they took the paddy and husked it mechanically, sometimes this rice came out a little broken), and the other kind of rice is what many people took (parboiled, it is pre-boiled in some hot water and then husked). The second, parboiled, type of rice is not considered suitable for offering to the Deities because it has been partially cooked by somebody. I was wondering about this because when we buy rice, it is husked and each grain is perfect, not broken...

I also see that there are two kinds of rice in Nabadwip, one is parboiled rice and the other is atop rice. Atop rice means the paddy is husked without boiling it, it goes to the rice mill and comes out as atop rice. For example, we use this type of rice (Govinda bhog rice) to make sweet rice. Mostly Western devotees like this rice because it is white. This rice is called atop rice. It is not parboiled (pre-boiled). Gurudev could not tolerate this rice, he would get dysentery from it, and I also cannot tolerate it for the same reason. That is why every time Gurudev went abroad, he would carry his own rice, you know that. I also do the same—wherever I go to, I always search there for parboiled rice.

Other than this, it is not a problem, you can offer any kind of rice. If devotees like atop rice, you can offer that. Some other missions, like babaji missions, offer only atop rice, not parboiled rice, because it has not been pre-boiled. Now, they boil rice first at rice mills, then dry it (not in the sun, but inside a machine), and then sell it. All rice is now machine produced. So, there are two kinds of husking mills—one produces atop rice, and the other produces parboiled rice. Every year I go to maybe five hundred rice mills to collect rice, and I see all kinds of mills. Devotees can offer whichever rice they like.

Question: Do they give you parboiled rice when you go collecting?

Yes, of course. Almost all rice we collect is parboiled. We also get some atop rice, but Bengali people here do not take white atop rice, they like parboiled rice.

Question: What is that parboiled rice called in the market place?

Siddha chal, boiled rice, and the other one is atop rice.

Question: Sometimes, devotees say that they do not eat so much rice, they like pasta.

It is not a problem. They can offer pasta, they can offer arepa, it is not a problem. When Nitai Chaitanya go to Venezuela, America, etc., They become like children, so They take pasta, chowmein, cakes, etc.

Question: Is it OK to cook pre-packaged pasta and rice available in the market?

Yes, but some noodles have onion and garlic inside. Do not use that.

Question: No, I means dry pasta without flavour that you cook by itself in water.

Yes, it is not a problem. I went to the market today and also bought that kind of pasta. There are some castes where there are many restrictions. For example, at the temple of Jagannath they do not use any foreign things like potato, tomatoes, chilis, etc.—they say that all these things have come from abroad, so they do not use it when making Jagannath prasadam, not even chilli. Also, they do not use all kinds of dal—they only use urad dal. There is some difference at the temple of Lord Jagannath, but when Jagannath goes to Malaysia, He easily eats potato, tomato, tofu, etc. there.

* * *

Eternal Humble Prayer

Sri Ratha-Yatra festival,
Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 June 2020, part 5

Question: Can you tell us about Sri Svarup Damodar? Today is his disappearance day...

Svarup Damodar is an incarnation of Lalita Devi and you know also that Svarup Damodar always helps Mahaprabhu, especially during the last period of His pastimes when Mahaprabhu experienced the pain of separation. Srila Svarup Damodar and Srila Raya Ramananda were always there helping Mahaprabhu. You know that when Srimati Radharani felt too much separation from Lord Krishna, at that time Lalita and Visakha would give so much nourishment to Her; in the same way, Srila Svarup Damodar also gave much nourishment to Mahaprabhu. Both Svarup Damodar and Raya Ramananda stayed with Mahaprabhu all the time, from morning to evening. Also, sometimes some devotees or scholars would write something and wanted to present it to Mahaprabhu, but it had to first go through Svarup Damodar—first, Svarup Damodar would see it and if he thought it was correct, then Mahaprabhu could see it otherwise it would not go to Mahaprabhu. Once, a big writer brought something written to present to Mahaprabhu, but Svarup Damodar did not approve what was written, so that written piece could not go to Mahaprabhu. So, Svarup Damodar was very intimate, very close to Mahaprabhu.

This is what we remember today, on his disappearance day. Srila Svarup Damodar was with Mahaprabhu, and when Mahaprabhu felt separation from the Lord, at that time Srila Svarup Damodar helped Mahaprabhu in many ways. This is what we can remember. Actually, there are so many pastimes in his life. The main thing that we should remember is that Srila Svarup Damodar is an associate of Mahaprabhu, and Srila Svarup Damodar was Mahaprabhu's intimate associate during Mahaprabhu's hidden pastimes (guhyatama-lila). We remember Srila Svarup Damodar in this way...

Are there any other questions?

Question: How can we surrender properly? How can we become strong, always follow Guru's instruction and increase sincerity in the heart?

How to do that? Follow what Gurudev has told you. What do I show you? You can see that. You can see the example of Gurudev, how Gurudev surrendered to his Guru Maharaj. You can see the example of all guru-varga, how our great guru-varga surrendered to their Gurudev, and you will understand it easily. Gurudev told me two things, "If I tell you that the sun rises from the west, you must believe it. Also, suppose you are walking with Gurudev and suddenly say, 'Oh, Gurudev, there is a snake over there!' but if Gurudev says, 'No, it is not a snake, it is a rope,' you must believe it."

Question: We have heard that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu are the Supreme Lord, but this is only my understanding—how I can convert it from merely knowing it to realising it in the core of my heart?

Yes, it is a very nice desire. You can do it through service.

Always sing,

sri krsna chaitanya prabhu daya kara more
toma vina ke dayalu jagata majhare

O Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! Be merciful to me. Other than You, who is merciful in this world?

Always pray to the Lord. Always pray through Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's songs.

parama karuna pahu dui jana
nitai gaurachandra
saba avatara-sara siromani
kevala ananda-kanda

Nitai and Gaurachandra are the two most merciful Lords. They are the best, the crest-jewels, of all Avatars and the only source of joy.

Always sing this. Always pray, "When, Prabhu, will You place Your lotus feet on my head? When will You place Your lotus feet on my head? When will You engage me in Your service? I have no quality or qualification to serve You—but please engage me, please let me serve You!" Always pray to the Lord in this way, humbly. Everybody should pray to the Lord, "I always do some wrong. My habits are very bad! When I was young, when I was a baby, I acquired all sorts of bad habits, and my habits are still very bad, I cannot control myself. All my elements—my eyes, ears, etc.—go in a bad direction. Please show me the right way. How can I serve You? I have no quality, no qualification, I am such a tiny thing, I am such an incredibly low and small thing—please accept me as Your dog. Please..." Always pray and cry to the Lord in this way...

Another thing is that you must always give more importance to preaching programmes because:

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

We must follow what Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu have told us! What does Nityananda Prabhu sing?

bhaja gauranga, kaha gauranga, laha gaurangera nama re
ye jana gauranga bhaje, sei amara prana re

"Worship Gauranga! Say Gauranga! Take Gauranga's Name! Those who worship Gauranga are My heart and soul!"

This is what Nityananda Prabhu says. Our Param Guru Maharaj Om Vishnupad Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj always told in his later days, "I will not chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra any more. Now I will chant only 'Doyal Nitai, Nitai Gaura Hari bol, Doyal Nitai, Nitai Gaura Hari bol.'"

We always chant,

gurudeva!
krpa-bindu diya kara' ei dase
trnapeksa ati dina
sakala sahane bala diya kara
nija-mane sprha-hina

"O Gurudev! Give this servant a drop of your mercy, and make me more humble than a blade of grass. Please give me the power to tolerate everything and to be free from any selfish desires."

"When will I be able to tolerate everything? When will I be able to tolerate my Gurudev's chastisement? Please give me such power so that I can tolerate everything." Always think about this.

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

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

(Saranagati, 19)

"I am giving everything to you!"—do not only say it, you must actually do it. You say, "Yes, I am giving everything to you," but in the meantime you always keep the key with you. You say, "O Gurudev, everything is yours, all money is yours," and inside you think, "Yes, everything is yours, but the key from the place where I keep the money is with me." This is not surrender.

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Dangerous Query

Sri Ratha-Yatra festival,
Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 June 2020, part 6

Question: If Paramatma is in the hearts of all living entities, how is it that there are so many violent and corrupt people here in Venezuela who are destroying the country?

Why do you see bad things? You must see that everything is good. Whatever may be going on, something good will come out of it. Everything that comes is good. Something is necessary, that is why something is happening, but some good things are coming, you must wait for that.

Question: When Srila Prabhupad went to San Francisco, he installed the Deities of Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra there and even called that temple New Jagannath Puri...

Different Vaishnavs have different vision. They are all our guru-varga and we cannot make any offence to our guru-varga. If they decide to make New Jagannath Puri in San Francisco, then what is our problem? We are not going to make any complaint against our guru-varga. We must give respect to what they do. That is our simplicity and our tradition. We do not think, "Why did he do this? What did he do that?" It is our guru-varga and what they have done is final for us. We cannot question them, "Why did he do that?" Otherwise I will have to go and ask Srila Prabhupad or send him a message saying, "Prabhupad, why did you do that? Please give an answer."

Question: Some of older devotees came to Krishna consciousness in Srila Guru Maharaj's times (Srila Sridhar Maharaj's times), then they continued their service with Srila Gurudev (Srila Govinda Maharaj) and now, of course, with you. Some of us have got some instructions from our Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Gurudev, so how are we to harmonise that instruction that has been given to us in our service to you?

Gurudev told me that we cannot make everybody happy, that is why some disagreement sometimes comes, some problems sometimes come. I have seen with my own eyes how Gurudev himself dealt with his godbrothers. Sometimes he would make a little bit of some illusory environment also. We must see how Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Gurudev harmonised with everybody...

What can I do? What can I say now? I am saying it from my heart—all devotees give so much love and affection to me, that is sufficient for me, I do not want anything more. All devotees, all senior devotees, all very senior sannyasis give so much respect to me—I think that I am not a proper person to get that respect, but they give respect to Gurudev, they have a lot of love and affection for Gurudev, that is why they give so much respect and honour to me. I think I am not a proper person to get it, but anyhow Srila Gurudev finally chose me for this position, and as many days I will live in this world I will continue to serve everybody with my love and affection. That is my view and my wish.

This is how you can also harmonise with some devotees. Actually, everybody does not get this kind of an opportunity to serve their guru—some devotees lose faith, some devotees go their own way. In Gurudev and Guru Maharaj's time also, devotees from so many countries took initiation from Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, but later they went away to other temples, they left for other missions. Gurudev told them everything, he said what would be their position. Anyhow, they run their own way...

I was instructed by Gurudev, and I told Gurudev that for as many days as I am alive, until I have one last drop of blood in my body, I will not leave his devotees—I will always stay with his devotees. I will always stay with you all, with all of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math family. I have promised this to my Guru, and I will try to keep that promise. That is my vision...

Question: What should a devotee do if they have been affected by some witchcraft or black magic?

What?! Black magic? Nonsense! Do not believe it. What is this? Chant the Holy Name and be happy, and all 'black magic' will go away. Chant the Holy Name.

All right, I was very happy to see you all. Thank you, everyone.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
All the sannyasi-vrinda ki jay

There are so many sannyasis present today—Srila Janardan Maharaj, Srila Ashram Maharaj, Srila Trivikram Maharaj, Sripad Puri Maharaj, Sripad Sajjan Maharaj, Sripad Sannyasi Maharaj, Sripad Sadhu Maharaj, Sripad Parivrajak Maharaj, I have also seen Sripad Niriha Maharaj was also there from Nrisingha Palli, Sripad Shanta Maharaj, Sripad Muni Maharaj, Sripad Mahayogi Maharaj.

All the sannyasi-vrinda, all the brahmachari-vrinda ki jay
Jay Subhadra, Baladev, Jagannathjiu ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

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