The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Malaysia on March 12, 2002 (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology Volume 83)

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: After one year or two years, he will think, “Oh, this is bogus. Why am I here?” If he has no taste for chanting the holy name, for association, for hari-kathā, for service, then what does it mean? What does it mean? You don’t know? I will slap you if you do not reply. What will be the result?

Devotee: He will leave if he has no taste.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Certainly. He will think, “Why am I here? It would be better if I were in my country, Norway or Sweden — no harm. I will chant there, and I will be a very high-class devotee. Why be here?” A devotee who is really in the association of high-class devotees will gradually be like Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. How did Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī develop? Gradually, gradually, gradually. He left his home and came to Mahāprabhu, and from there, he gradually developed.

When he was at the height of his meditation, he came to Rādhā-kuṇḍa, and his heart was burning and melting. This is the thing. He never thought, “Why am I in the association of Mahāprabhu and Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāya Rāmānanda?” Will he think like this? Will he give them up and think, “I should be in my home, and I will chant there?” Gradually, he will become tṛṇād api sunīca. Do you know the meaning? What does tṛṇād api sunīca mean?

Devotee: To be humbler than a blade of grass.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Why? What does grass do? If you keep your feet on it, it will not protest. But then again, it will be upright, and again it will stand there. So, a Vaiṣṇava is always like that, more humble than that. What is taror api sahiṣṇunā?

Devotee: To be tolerant like a tree, providing shade even though its branches are being cut, providing fruits and not asking anything in return.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Even if anyone is throwing stones at it, it will give fruits. What is amāninā mānadena?

Devotee: Respecting others adequately and not expecting any respect.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Don’t desire any respect from others; otherwise, you will be gone. You should hear very patiently and very carefully. You should listen and keep all these things in your heart as a treasure, as if they were more precious than gold. When you read anything, go deeply into it. Not that: “I will just now have to go to my job, ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca,’ ” offering praṇāma and anyhow, doing ārati very quickly and taking prasāda. Don’t do this. Try to know and follow all the principles from śraddhā to prema, and beyond. Follow Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Devotee: But Gurudeva, sometimes it is so difficult.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: It is not difficult at all. Where there is sincerity, there is nothing difficult in this world. If sincerity is present, anyone can cross the Himalayas and climb Everest, and can even jump across the Pacific Ocean and all other oceans. Nothing will be difficult for him.

If all the devotees in our line have practised and have attained prema (love) for Kṛṣṇa, then why can’t we also? We should think, “I must do so.” There is no word ‘difficult’ in the devotee’s dictionary. You may be taller and more physically powerful than I, but my mind and my heart are very strong. Try to follow. These are my blessings; you should try to take them. This is prasādam (mercy).

(Audio break)

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: There is so much glorification of Śaṅkara. In this world, he descends in the form of the five elements: air, water, fire, ether, and earth. Śaṅkara appears like this. What we see as a stone or anything is a form of earth. There is also a water form, Ambuliṅga (Ambu means ‘water’ and liṅga means ‘symbol’ or ‘form’). There is also an ambara-liṅga in the Himalayas. Ambara means ‘sky.’ Thousands of pilgrims go there to take darśana of the ambara-liṅga. In the sky, it seems that a śaṅkara-liṅga is there. Sometimes it is not seen. This is the ambara-liṅga.

There is a fire liṅga (agni-liṅga), and also an ether liṅga (ākāśa-liṅga). These are the five elements through which creation is done. In this way, Śaṅkara appears in all forms. Through this, Śaṅkara creates the whole world with the help of chāyā-śakti, māyā-śakti, that is, prakṛti (material nature).

Śaṅkara very, very easily becomes pleased. There was once a demon who heard that Śaṅkara is Āśutoṣa, who becomes very, very pleased and easily gives benedictions. He went into a forest and saw that there was a śiva-liṅga there. He was offering so much water, as well as milk, and sometimes bael leaves, and everything. But for so many days, he could not have the darśana of Śaṅkara. He became very angry and, taking a large bael fruit, he struck the śiva-liṅga. At once, Śaṅkara appeared there and said, “Oh, you should take any benediction.”

“I was worshipping you, but you were not coming. But now, by hitting this liṅga, you at once came.” Śaṅkara is like this. In the Skanda Purāṇa, so many stories have been written.

There was a hunter who went hunting in the forest. It became night, and so he took some water in his pot and climbed up a bael tree. He saw a deer come, and a tiger was about to kill it. It was about nine in the evening. When he saw the deer about to be attacked, he at once became afraid, and one drop of water and one bael leaf fell where there was a śiva-liṅga.

After that, the deer was weeping and praying to the tiger, “I have a baby; please don’t kill me. I am going to give milk to my child, but I will return very soon, and you can eat me then.”

The tiger said, “How can I believe you?”

“You should believe me.” That deer made so many promises, and thus, the tiger let her go. Seeing this, the hunter became very amazed. “How did a tiger allow his food to return?” It became about twelve at night, and again some bael leaves fell from the tree, and also some water fell onto the head of that śiva-liṅga.

The deer had gone to her abode and told her baby, “O my son, today you can take as much milk as you can.”

“Why, mother?”

“I will have to return to be eaten by a tiger because I have promised him I would do so.” In the meantime, the sister of the deer arrived and said, “I will go in your place.” The child was also saying, “I will go too.” The husband of that deer also said, “I will go too.” They were all quarrelling, so all four of them together came to the tiger.

When the tiger saw this, he became very happy and wondered, “She told me she would come alone, but she is coming with three other deer.” Seeing this, the hunter also became amazed, and thus the branches shook, causing some more bael leaves to fall, and also some water again fell on the śiva-liṅga. It was about three in the morning.

After that, the mother deer said, “You should eat me.” But the baby deer was saying, “You should eat me.” The husband deer was also saying, “You should eat me,” and the sister deer was saying, “You should eat me.” The tiger was puzzled. “Who should I eat?” Like this, it became morning, and at last the tiger told the deer, “You should all return; I will eat no one.”

Seeing the mercy of this tiger, again the branch shook, and some more water and bael leaves fell on that śiva-liṅga. The hunter did not know that water and bael leaves were falling on that liṅga, but at once, Śaṅkara appeared there and said, “I will give you whatever benediction you want.”

He told Śiva, “I want to be very wealthy, and my body should be very attractive and strong.”

“Yes, you can be like this.” So Śaṅkara is Āśutoṣa Mahādeva. Also in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is said that there was a king named Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva. He had two arms, but he had knowingly given himself the name Vāsudeva, thinking, “Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā is not four-handed. I am Viṣṇu. I have four hands.” He made two more artificial hands and joined them with his body and declared, “Kṛṣṇa should stop saying that ‘I am Viṣṇu; I am four-handed Vāsudeva.’ He should give up His name.”

He sent a messenger to give this message to Kṛṣṇa. Hearing this message, Kṛṣṇa smiled. Not smiling, He laughed. “Hu, hu, hu, hu! I will have to do something.” And he went to fight him.

The messenger told him, “Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva is saying You that You should give up Your name. He is saying that You should surrender unto him and give up this name.”

Kṛṣṇa said, “I am coming to surrender.” Saying this, He took His bow and arrow, along with His cakra, and went there. A big fight took place there. The friend of Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva was Kāśī Nareśa (the king of Kāśī). Pauṇḍraka called him, and he also came with his entire army, so a big battle ensued. Kṛṣṇa took His cakra and at once cut the head of that Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva. Kṛṣṇa again threw His cakra, and the head of Kāśī Nareśa was quickly cut, and it fell in Kāśī in front of his wife and children, who all began to weep.

In the meantime, the cakra burnt down all of Kāśī. At that time, Śaṅkara ran away from there. He was thinking, “Where to go? Where to take shelter?” He then ran away to Bhuvaneśvara, and there he took shelter of Jagannāthadeva, “Save me! Save me! This cakra is coming and burning me.”

Then, He stopped that cakra, “Stop! He is My devotee.” Śaṅkara also went to Navadvīpa, to Hari-hara-kṣetra. He went there and took shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He performed very great austerities, and then Caitanya Mahāprabhu told him, “You should go to Bhuvaneśvara,” and then he came there. There are many stories, but tomorrow, in the early morning, we will have to leave this place around six.

Śaṅkara always chants, “Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa,” especially, “Rāma Rāma Rāma Rāma.” Through the power of this chanting, he can grant liberation to the whole universe. Those who take shelter of Śaṅkara, at the time of death, Śaṅkara recites “Rāma Rāma” in their ear, and very soon they are liberated. Gaura-premānande! Śaṅkara-deva ki jaya!

There is one thing I want to tell you all. Don’t think, “Gurudeva has left, so we should be weak.” Try to meet occasionally and discuss hari-kathā with each other. Also, sometimes go on nagara-saṅkīrtana like Nityānanda Prabhu did, or Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura did. This is not a kind of karma. You can also distribute books at that time. But you should also read those books thoroughly and know all the tattvas (established truths) and try to develop your Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

It would be better if, on the day of Kṛṣṇa’s birthday, Mahāprabhu’s birthday, and other important days like this, you meet together and make a program in a way that, “If Mahārāja were here, he would be pleased.” In this way, preach. There are one hundred and fifty people present here now. When I come here on my next tour, I want to see that five hundred people are here. And the year after that, I want to see five thousand people here.

Be very humble towards one another and show love and affection. Those who are coming now, be very humble to them. Give prasādam to them. Don’t quarrel among yourselves, never, never. Thus, you should be very ideal. You should follow the rules and regulations, especially as you have seen at the time of Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura, at the time of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and at the time of Narottama Ṭhākura. We should try to be like that, following all Vaiṣṇava etiquette.

Then you can preach my mission. Otherwise, others will think, “Oh, Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja is nothing. His disciples are bogus. They are quarrelling among themselves.” You should not do so; otherwise, it may be an offence. My blessings to you all. Next year, if I hear you are doing well, then I will come. But if I hear you are quarrelling, then I will not come. Gaura-premānande!

Source(s): Purebhakti.com, Serve Love – Bhakta Bandhav (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology transcribed and edited by the Bhakta Bandhav Team)

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)