The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Boven-Leeuwen, The Netherlands, on May 7, 1996 (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology Volume 1)

 

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: In 1965, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja requested me so many times that “You should come with me.” I replied, “I cannot give up my guru-sevā, but later on, I can come and join you.” But I think that a mahāpuruṣa – do you know the word mahāpuruṣa? The great persons, great devotees, who are not attached to māyā, who are beyond māyā; what they say becomes true. They are satya-saṅkalpa, established in truth; they cannot say anything that is a lie. They will not. That is why, at that time, he told me to join his mission and come to the Western countries to help him with my kīrtanas and words. Now, for this, he is dragging me here. So, he is the primary cause. But I think Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the primary cause, and after that, he is the secondary cause.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said in Caitanya-caritāmṛta that everywhere in the world, His name, Kṛṣṇa’s name, Gaura-Nityānanda Prabhu’s name, and Rādhikā’s name will be spread and kṛṣṇa-prema will be distributed everywhere. We all know what the Name is. The Name is Kṛṣṇa Himself with Rādhikā, but now, because we are bound by māyā, by chanting “Rādhā” and “Kṛṣṇa” or “Hare Kṛṣṇa,” we are not seeing Kṛṣṇa Himself and Rādhā Herself. But actually, the name is Himself and Herself, Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā. At first, they appear to us as a sādhana. Now we are doing nāma-sādhana. Kīrtana is sādhana. Sādhana means practice. But when it matures, we see that when we say “Rādhā” and “Kṛṣṇa” or “Hare Kṛṣṇa,” then Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa will appear in Their divine forms: Śrīmatī Rādhikā on the left side and Kṛṣṇa in a dancing mood, with a three-fold bending form.

Devotee: Tri-bhaṅga.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Yes. They will appear in front of us. We will see Them by the grace of Guru and Gaurāṅga.

And actually, I want to tell you that Vrajanātha Prabhu and Vṛndā inspired me to come. Because I was penniless like Svāmījī, when he came, he was penniless. He (Vrajanātha Prabhu) told me, “You’ll not have to worry about anything. We will manage everything.” I told him I would sit on the plane, but…

Devotee: Travel by plane.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: No, no, I will board the plane, fly, and then I will disembark from the plane on arrival. I have nothing to worry about, such as eating, managing, or anything else. Going here and there, I will give a class, with my little knowledge of English, and do kīrtana and hear kīrtana. And I desire that the devotees who, for whatever reason, have left ISKCON, who were connected with Svāmījī but now have left – some of them have left ISKCON, some are chanting, and even those who are chanting that have left – I desire that they return, with new energy. I will help them to attain [complete] Kṛṣṇa consciousness (kṛṣṇa-prema). I want to embrace all those who wish to return. And for the devotees who are doing all these things – harināma, kīrtana, sādhu-saṅga – with much energy, they should do it so that bhāva-bhakti may appear. Bhāva-bhakti, meaning the mood of bhakti, should appear.

Bhakti is divided into three divisions: first sādhana-bhakti, then bhāva-bhakti, and then prema-bhakti. I know you all understand my language because you are all devotees. It will be difficult for new people, but many learned devotees can explain it.

So sādhana-bhakti. I think that we have not even entered sādhana-bhakti. Our bhakti is not sādhana. This applies to me but not to all devotees. (Devotees laugh) Because Rūpa Gosvāmī has written in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu that we are living with all kinds of offences and anarthas. Anartha means, what is the meaning of anartha?

Devotee: Unwanted, bad habits.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Bad habits. There are so many kinds of anarthas. At first, sometimes we are very interested in chanting Hari’s name, but after some time, we have no interest or taste. When we take our mālā in our hands, sleep comes, and we do like this (Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja nodded and devotees laugh). This is also an anartha. Sometimes, we have so much energy, and sometimes no energy. These are all anarthas. Sometimes, the mind is disturbed, “What should I do? Should I leave everything, my wife, children, home, and everything? Should I do kīrtana and all other things in the renounced order? What to do? Sometimes they think that they should live together with all their families. What to do? They are not fixed on what they should do. Sometimes, they accept so many kinds of viṣaya. Viṣaya means?

Devotee: Sense objects, sense enjoyment.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Enjoying. Taking everything, tasting everything. And sometimes, they want this to be given up. We struggle like this with our minds. We have no determination. We cannot fix our minds on whether we should live with children in the gṛhastha-āśrama or become a renunciant. Do you know what is the gṛhastha-āśrama?

Devotees: Married life. Household life.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Yes. Or should we go in… what life?

Devotee: Renounced order.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: The renounced order, leaving all these things.

We should try to create a family, if you are gṛhastha, a family like the gopīs, a family like the Pāṇḍavas. Do you know of the Pāṇḍavas? Arjuna, Bhīma, Nakula, Sahadeva, Yudhiṣṭhira, and Draupadī. Kuntī is their mother. Abhimanyu is Arjuna’s son. Having all relationships, we go to Kṛṣṇa. We take everyone with us. But sannyāsīs, those in the renounced order, cannot take anyone. (Devotees laugh)

Devotee: He can take his followers. (Devotees laugh)

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: So we can be anywhere but with no attachment. But there will be the attachment that, “My son is Kṛṣṇa’s servant, my daughter is Kṛṣṇa-priyā, Gaura-priyā.” Understand the meaning of Gaura-priyā and Kṛṣṇa-priyā? My daughter is the beloved of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality. My brothers, my sisters, my mother, everyone. And when we are in the renounced order, we should think that all the guru-varga and all their followers, disciples, … actually, the disciples are not my disciples. They are very near and dear to me. He [someone in the renounced order] has no abhimāna.

Devotee: False ego.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: He has no false ego, that they are all my disciples. If we have [accepted] any devotees or disciples, we have accepted them not like disciples but like friends with whom we can do kīrtana, to whom we can tell some hari-kathā, kṛṣṇa-kathā. Because there is a scarcity of devotees, we have gathered and found some devotees. Among them, we will speak hari-kathā because not everyone will hear kathā. Thus, we have made a very good group in the name of disciples, but they are not disciples.

Prabhupāda Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta used to say, “I am offering praṇāma to all the devotees.” They were all the disciples of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, but he offered praṇāma to them because they reminded him of Kṛṣṇa and Śrīmatī Rādhikā. “They are saving me from so many things and helping me not to forget Kṛṣṇa. So I am bowing down to the lotus feet of all the guardians, all these disciples – not disciples, my friends.”

A good and qualified teacher or guru does not think like this [that all are my disciples or servants]. Rūpa Gosvāmī never thought like this. Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was like a disciple, like his own brother, like a friend. Because in that world, there are no disciples. Nothing. There are disciples only here. So I never think that anyone is my disciple, but I think… I joke with everyone, with Tuṅgavidyā, with him, like my bosom friends. I think that Prabhupāda also, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī, thought like this. He helped all his disciples like his friends. Young, young girls and boys. He had so much affection for them. So, I am so pleased to be here among such good devotees.

So please try to attain niṣṭhā. Do you know what is niṣṭhā? At first, there is śraddhā, and when śraddhā matures, it becomes niṣṭhā. Niṣṭhā is a good, high thing. Then, the mind is fixed; there is no doubt in any siddhānta. No doubt. At that time, māyā will not attract one. At that time, we will chant harināma, yet with no taste, but we see that without chanting Hari’s name, there is no remedy. So even if there is no taste at the time of niṣṭhā, we know that without His name, there is nothing, not anything, that will take us to Kṛṣṇa.

If there is sleep, if sleepiness is there, if there is alasya …

Devotees: Laziness.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Laziness, but still we should do it like one of the disciples of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī who was a senior Vaiṣṇava. He was the mother of the whole institution…

Devotee: Narahari Prabhu.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Narahari Prabhu. At night, at 12 or 2 a.m., he chanted harināma, and if he became sleepy, he would tie his śikhā somewhere. Like this, he used to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and if…(Pretending to fall asleep, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja lets his head fall forward and then snaps back as if woken up by the pulling of his tied śikhā. Devotees laugh) This is a symptom of niṣṭhā. Without niṣṭhā, we cannot go up to ruci. In niṣṭhā, the aim and object of our bhajana-sādhana is fixed.

What else do we need? At that time, the good association of a rasika and tattva-vit Vaiṣṇava, tattva-darśī, is necessary. Do you know what tattva-darśī means? Who is a tattva-darśī?

Devotees: One who is fixed in the principles. Realized.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: One is going… one is established in gītā-siddhānta. And after that, when the Gītā is completed and manifests in one’s life, bhāva begins.

Now comes the question, “What will be the goal of our sādhana-bhajana?” If there is no goal and a goal is not fixed, like ‘What do we desire? Where do we go? What do we achieve?’, then bhajana has not reached niṣṭhā. It is not naiṣṭhika-bhajana yet, and we have not come to the stage of doing sādhana. We are only chanting, like sweeping. That is the abhāsa of bhajana. Ābhāsa means?

Devotees: Semblance.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Semblance. After this, we will come to niṣṭhā and associate with someone qualified. We will be fixed on the goal of our bhajana. Do we want to go to heaven? Do we want to go to Vaikuṇṭha? Would we like to go to heaven and say, “Oh God, give me bread and butter?”

Devotees: (Devotees laugh) No…

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Do we want to go to Dvārakā-purī? And do you want to serve Dvārakādhīśa as Rukmiṇī?

Devotees: No…

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: No? (Devotees laugh) It is very rare in this world for those who will have service under Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā – they are more than Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa and Rāma-Sītā. Then what do you know? What do you desire? What is the goal of life?

I only know Caitanya Mahāprabhu. I only know Nityānanda Prabhu. I know their disciple, Rūpa Gosvāmī, who Caitanya Mahāprabhu ordered to give His heartfelt message to this world. That is what we desire.

Why has Caitanya Mahāprabhu come to this world? Not for the yuga-dharma, not to establish the yuga-dharma. What is the yuga-dharma [for Kali-yuga]? Nama-saṅkīrtana. The nāma-saṅkīrtana in all other yugas is different from the nāma-saṅkīrtana [in the Kali-yuga] when Caitanya Mahāprabhu appears. It’s so different. Here, the name is with prema, and in other yugas, when Kṛṣṇa does not appear, then the name only takes one to Vaikuṇṭha, not to Vraja.

So we should try to follow Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and if we want to follow Caitanya Mahāprabhu, we should know Rūpa Gosvāmī very well and try to follow him. Rūpa Gosvāmī has given quite a relationship with Kṛṣṇa. For example, Sanaka, Sanātana, Sananda, and Sanata-kumāra have no relationship, although they know that Kṛṣṇa is higher. They know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality, they know, but they have no relationship, and that is why they have no mamatā (possessiveness) at all. Do you know what mamatā means?

Devotees: Affection.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Affection. They cannot have this. Rejecting everything in this world – ‘na iti, na iti,’ meaning, ‘not this, not that, not this’ – they say everything in this world is an illusion and that Kṛṣṇa has no form, no attributes. Kṛṣṇa is brahma. Do you want this goal? No. Then comes Hanumān. Do you know of Hanumān? Hanumān. He is serving Śrī Rāmacandra so much. In the day and night, he used to serve Rāma the whole time. But we don’t desire that also. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has not told us so. Why? What has Caitanya Mahāprabhu come to give?

anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śacī-nandanaḥ

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.4

[May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.]

He has come to give unnatojjvala-rasa. This is not in Ayodhyā, this is not in heaven, this is not in Dvārakā. Even in Mathurā, it is not there. Even in Śrīdāma and Subala, unnatojjvala-rasa is not there. They are so near and dear to Kṛṣṇa: Sudāmā, Subala, Madhumaṅgala, and so forth. They are all playing together, but this thing is not there. Even in Nanda and Yaśodā, something is lacking: unnatojjvala-rasa. They cannot serve Kṛṣṇa with their whole body, whole moods – they cannot. Only the gopīs can serve Kṛṣṇa in every respect.

So we must have a goal: to be the maidservants of the gopīs. This is the thing. But it needs qualification. Without qualification, if we do [bhajana] without knowing [the goal], having no taste at all, it will not do. We should chant Hari’s name, hear hari-kathā, having that goal. And if we are fixed on that goal, then, by the association of good bhaktas, we will desire kṛṣṇa-prema. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has appeared to distribute this kṛṣṇa-prema to everyone through the medium of the name:

sei dvāre ācaṇḍāle kīrtana sañcāre
nāma-prema-mālā gāṅthi’ parāila saṁsāre

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 4.40

 [Thus He spread kīrtana even among the untouchables. He wove a wreath of the holy name and prema, with which He garlanded the entire material world.]

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it has been written that nāma is like a kamala (lotus flower), so sweet, so fragrant, so soft, having all positive things and a very beautiful form. And the thread is kṛṣṇa-prema. So, like stringing flowers together like a garland with prema, do you understand? Caitanya Mahāprabhu placed that garland of prema around the neck of everyone. Even animals. Animals, trees, grass, and even persons like Jagāi and Mādhāi, what to speak of devotees. He said that you should give this harināma to everyone you see, but you should consider whether one is a proper person, qualified person to receive the name. Don’t give this to those who have no faith in this. What is the meaning?

The meaning is that we should not give dīkṣā. Dīkṣā means initiation, giving this name to them. They can hear only. We are chanting and remembering with so much sound when doing kīrtana, and cows are hearing, trees are hearing, the grass is hearing. So the main thing is that if they are not devotees or of the opposite mood, even if they hear and become angry, they will still hear, and it will work in their hearts. But you should not give them initiation – they can hear. We should initiate them when we see they have some faith by association.

So we should have a goal. If we have a goal, then we can progress. And then we are doing sādhana. If we want money, we will start a business to earn money. For example, bhāva-bhakti. This is our aim, and we are chanting Hari’s name, hearing hari-kathā, living in Vraja or anywhere else, but the mind will be in Vraja. If we cannot go there by the body, we can be there by mind, having a good association, and always hearing hari-kathā. Always read or hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in which everything is given. But everything is under lock and key. If a good devotee in the line of the guru-paramparā comes and gives [guidance], we can achieve this.

So we should try to be a sādhaka. Bilvamaṅgala was a sādhaka. Rūpa Gosvāmī, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, and all other gosvāmīs were liberated souls. Not only liberated, they were eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa and Śrīmatī Rādhikā. But yet, they have practised very strictly. They have shown us how to do bhajana. We should try to do it. If we cannot do it like them, we will still have to try it like this:

saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau
nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau cātyanta-dīnau ca yau
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-guṇa-smṛter madhurimānandena sammohitau
vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau

Ṣaḍ-gosvāmy-aṣṭaka (6)

[They would pass their time by daily chanting a fixed number of holy names, singing particular songs, and offering regulated obeisances [to saints, deities, and the Lord’s pastime places]. Thus they fully conquered the urges of eating, sleeping, recreation, etc. Always considering themselves to be unlimitedly lowly and insignificant, they became enchanted in sweet rapture by remembering Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s qualities. I worship Śrī Rūpa, Sanātana, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, Raghunātha dāsa, Jīva, and Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmīs.]

Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau. Do you know this? Saṅkhyā–pūrvaka–nāma–gāna–natibhiḥ. We should chant a fixed number of rounds [the number of times someone daily chants the holy name] and vow not to chant less than this. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī has told that if a man, a devotee, does not chant one lakh of the holy name daily, then Kṛṣṇa will not take anything from his hand. But our ācāryas have told us that one lakh means one lakṣa. What is the meaning of one lakh?

Devotee: 100,000 names, or 64 rounds.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Yes. We should also do it with one lakṣa, or an aim: Kṛṣṇa is our beloved and the servant of Rādhikā, and I am the servant of Kṛṣṇa. Jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa [It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa]. This is the aim, and this is a lakṣa.

But while chanting, it should be that one name is equal to so many names. How? If we aim to chant while our mind is not going here and there, it is very hard, but it can come. (Devotees laugh) Then faith will come. What if someone says that if you chant the names for the whole day and night, who will cook and manage your living, clothes, and everything? Who will do all this? Śrīla Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita has answered this question. Not doing anything. He had a wife, children, and such a big parivara. What is the meaning of parivara? Family. But doing nothing, always with karatālas, “Haribol Haribol! Haribol Haribol!”

Devotees: Gaura-premānande Hari Haribol!

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: At night, he would also chant: Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. Always. Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked him, “You are chanting harināma day and night; you know you have children, your wife, and your house to maintain! From where will it come?” He replied, not saying anything. (Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja claps while saying:) One, two, three.

Devotee: Clapping three times.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “I don’t know the meaning of this. What is this?” (Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja claps, devotees laugh)

Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita said, “I know and have so much faith that if I chant Kṛṣṇa’s name and I do kīrtana of Kṛṣṇa,” — in the Gītā, Kṛṣṇa has said, ‘If My devotee is not doing anything for his support, I will bring everything and manage everything for him. I will take all these necessary things to My bhakta, and I will manage and carry them on My head or My waist…’ ”

Devotees: Shoulders.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: “ ‘Shoulders, I will carry it on my shoulders.’ ”

Once, a devotee said that He [Kṛṣṇa] would not [personally] carry [His devotee’s needs] on His back because He is God, and he crossed out this line in the Gītā:

ananyāś cintayanto māṁ
ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ
yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham

Bhagavad-gītā 9.22

[But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.]

“Whatever necessities there are for a bhakta, I will carry all these things and manage to give him everything.” [Kṛṣṇa said like this,] and the brāhmaṇa crossed out this line. He then went to beg but did not get anything from anyone that day. By midday, he was so worried that he returned home. But before that, a boy about the age of twelve Who was very beautiful, sweet, and soft, not black, but…

Devotee: Black. (Devotees laugh)

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: … because [there is] no word for this. Kṛṣṇa is not black. He is not black. He is so beautiful. He came in the form of a boy, carrying loads here and there. Sweat was coming from everywhere. He was wearing a pītāmbara (yellow shawl), and He came and knocked on the door: “O Guru Mā (wife of Gurudeva), O mother, where are you? Open the door.”

The brāhmaṇī was there, and she was so poor that she had no proper clothing, just some worn and torn scraps. She came and opened the door, and that boy entered the room with so many heavy loads: rice, dāl, so many vegetables, ghee, butter, sugar – everything was full. He put them down there and started taking long breaths.

The brāhmaṇī asked, “From where you are coming? Who has sent you?”

The boy said, “My teacher, my spiritual master. That brāhmaṇa, your husband, has sent Me. He collected many things and told Me, ‘You should take it to my house.’ I told him I was a little boy; how could I carry it all? But yet he told Me, ‘You should go! Obey my orders. Carry out my orders.’ Not only that. I was delayed for some moments, and He scratched My back. You can see …”

The brāhmaṇī saw and began to weep, seeing that a scratch was there and was bleeding.

“Oh, You are bleeding!” she said. Weeping, she continued, “When my husband will come, I will look at him and ask, ‘Why have you done so? You are so cruel now? You were not so before. You have become so cruel.” In the meantime, she requested that boy, “You should wait a little; I am making arrangements for prasādam. I am going to cook very nicely and in no time. I will cook, and you should take it. My husband will come, and then you may go. You should rest; stay here for a while.” Saying this, she went to the kitchen and began cooking.

In the meantime, the brāhmaṇa came and knocked on the door. She was angry. She went and opened the door and told him, “You are so cruel that you have scratched a boy who is so sweet and generous! Such a little and soft boy, such a beautiful boy, who said he is your disciple.”

“I have not seen him. I don’t have a disciple. It is 3 p.m., but I have not received anything from my begging. I have not told anyone to come here and have no disciple.”

“No, no. You are telling a lie. That boy cannot tell a lie. You should come with me and see how you have scratched Him.”

He went there and saw no boy, but everything was there. The lady began to search everywhere. “Where is He? Where, where, where? Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa?” No Kṛṣṇa. Then he began to weep. The husband began to weep because the boy was Kṛṣṇa, and He had come to fulfil His promise in the Gītā. He did this. Then both began to weep loudly, thinking, “Kṛṣṇa has come here, but we could not recognize Him.”

Devotees who have niṣṭhā have so much faith that Kṛṣṇa will arrange everything for them and that He will carry all these things. If a disciple, a devotee, is like this, he will always chant Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare… No danger will come, no problem, nothing. (Devotees laugh) A gṛhastha should be like this, and if this is the bhāva you have, then you will be a sādhaka, really a sādhaka.

I want to be a sādhaka like this, and I wish that those who have not yet become like this – perhaps you have become qualified like this, but for those who are not qualified like this – I pray to Kṛṣṇa they should become qualified like this.

Gaura-premānande Hari Haribol!

Source(s): Servelove.com & Bhakta.org (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology transcribed and edited by the Bhakta Bandhav Team)

Image(s) made possible by Pixabay.com, Krishnapath.org and/or Bhaktiart.net
Unless indicated differently, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)