Śrīpāda Śuddhādvaitī Mahārāja: Śrīla Gurudeva, Śrīla Gaura Govinda Mahārāja used to say that Śraddhā (implicit faith that by performing bhakti all other subsidiary activities are automatically accomplished) and sukṛti (spiritual credits accrued by performance of bhakti in previous lives) are interrelated; they are linked. We hear that according to previous sukṛti we get sādhu-saṅga. Still, all of us Westerners took birth in the families of cow-eaters. Is that why it is seen that the Śraddhā of most Westerners remains komala (weak) for a very long time?
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: It may be; it may be.
Śrīpāda Śuddhādvaitī Mahārāja: We had accumulated sukṛti, but still we took birth in the families of mlecchas.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Yes.
Śrīpāda Śuddhādvaitī Mahārāja: So, how much sukṛti was there?
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: We think that Western persons live in bhoga-bhūmi.
Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja: The place of enjoying material life.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Not sādhana-bhūmi (the place of sādhana-bhakti). But now, by the grace of mahā-puruṣas, selfrealized souls, they are coming in the devotional line.
Śrīpāda Śuddhādvaitī Mahārāja: But their sukṛti is meager?
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: It may be that their sukṛti is okay. Otherwise, how is it that they are now becoming advanced? Padmanābha Mahārāja and all others here were cow-eaters, but just see the transformation. See how they have become advanced.
Śrīpāda Nemi Mahārāja: His question is this: If we had the sukṛti to get the saṅga of a very beautiful sādhu, then why did we take birth in the family of cow-eaters? It seems strange that both would be there?
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: But now you do not take cowmeat; do you?
One more point. Even if you would have eaten cow-meat throughout your life, but in the end of your life, by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa or guru and Vaiṣṇavas, you chant only a few holy names, all your sins would go away.
Have you read about the pastime of Ajāmila? He not only ate meat, but he engaged in numerous abominable sinful activities. Still, all his sins disappeared by chanting nāmābhāsa, a semblance of the pure holy name of Lord Nārāyaṇa. So, there is nothing to fear or worry.
Śrīpāda Padmanābha Mahārāja: Can it also be possible that someone was a devotee in his previous life, but then committed some heavy vaiṣṇava-aparādha and was cursed to take birth in some bhoga-bhūmi or in a family of cow-eaters? Is that also possible?
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: It may be; it may be. If one commits guru-aparādha, he must get some sinful result.

Walking with a Saint – Morning Walks and Conversations 2007
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