The following is an excerpt from a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Paxton, Australia, on February 25, 2002

 

Yugala-kiśora dāsa: Gurudeva, I have a very simple question. One of the devotees mentioned in your class that one attains a quality of śraddhā according to one’s degree of sukṛti (spiritual pious activities accumulated over millions of lives), and yet I heard that Śrīla Prabhupāda said that he is creating the sukṛti of his disciples. So I see a little bit of a paradox there. If a person only attains the association of a great sādhu like Śrīla Prabhupāda due to sukṛti, why did he say, “I am creating their sukṛti”?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: You have not understood. Not everything can be explained in a word or two. What was said in class?

Vrajanātha dāsa: According to our sukṛti, past impressions…

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Sādhu-saṅga may also create new sukṛti.

Vrajanātha dāsa: That is what Yugala-kiśora Prabhu is saying now. He doesn’t know how to reconcile the two ideas.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: A person indeed gets association with sādhus as a result of past impressions, and it is also true that his present sukṛti is also created by hearing from pure devotees. More inspiration will come from this, and he will advance. Okay?

Yugala-kiśora dāsa: Yes.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: By good association, he is getting new sukṛti, and this is added to the past impressions explained in the śloka:

bhaktis tu bhagavad-
bhakta-saṅgena parijāyate
sat-saṅgaḥ prāpyate pumbhiḥ
sukṛtaiḥ pūrva-sañcitaiḥ

(Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa 4.33; Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 10.279)

[“Bhakti becomes manifest through the association with the Lord’s devotees. The association of devotees is obtained through previously accumulated piety.”]

Sañcitaiḥ sukṛti means a vast accumulation of sukṛti (spiritual pious activities [such as visiting temples and holy dhāmas, observing holy days, serving devotees, hearing śāstra, honouring prasādam, etc.] performed without knowledge or without realisation). This includes past and present sukṛti. When that accumulated sukṛti acquires strength, the aspiring devotee will take more and more advantage of sādhu-saṅga.

Devotee: To answer Yugala-kiśora Prabhu’s question and reconcile the two understandings, can we say that those of us who met Śrīla Prabhupāda, as well as those of us who met Śrīla Prabhupāda through his books and his movement, could do so by dint of millions of past births’ sukṛti. Then, by associating with him and serving him, he gave us more sukṛti so that we could meet you?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: It is all right. This is because I never cheat. I’m trying to give you whatever pure bhakti I have in my heart. I don’t have any desire for self-gain at all.

Dīna-bandhu dāsa: Gurudeva, you mentioned that only the śuddha-bhakta can convey all tattvas (established philosophical truths), along with many pastimes and śāstric evidences. You said that only he can give these things. However, we see that many devotees become highly learned and can also discuss various tattvas, drawing from numerous śāstric evidence. Are they really giving that tattva just because they can remember it? Or is it only deep within the heart of the śuddha-bhakta?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: They can give as much as they have. As much as they are pure, as much as they have bhakti within them, that much they can help. Nārada and Śukadeva Gosvāmī will significantly help you. Those who are not pure cannot help like these pure devotees, but they can help according to their ability, which depends on their stage of bhakti.

Vrajanātha dāsa: Dīna-bandhu Prabhu is saying that a devotee may have learned so many things…

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Learning alone will not suffice. I never went to college, and I’ve read neither ka, kha, ga, anusvara, nor visarga (the ABCs of Sanskrit grammar). I know many Sanskrit scholars in Mathurā and other parts of India who can recite the four Vedas in various melodies, such as hrasva, dīrgha, and pluta. They are very learned, but they have no bhakti at all. Many of them are totally influenced by Māyāvāda, and even those who are not give less preference to bhakti than to worldly responsibilities and money-making. They are constantly involved in politics, making money, and pursuing their material interests. I know so many renowned and learned people of this calibre.

Come to the University of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Try to come to, and believe in, the school of Śrīla Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, who became totally blind in the last stage of his life due to his severe renunciation. Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja was also illiterate, and he could not even write his own name in Bengali. Still, he was accepted as the Guru of the most learned person in the entire universe at that time: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. We should try to be like them.

Gaura-premānande.

Source: Purebhakti.com

Image(s) made possible by Pixabay.com, Krishnapath.org.in, Keystone Press / Alamy Stock Photo and / or Bhaktiart.net

Unless indicated otherwise, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)