[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on July 8th, 1997, in Holland, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 21]
Srila Gurudeva: If you want to be a pure devotee, you’ll have to follow Rupa, Sanatana, Raghunatha, Jiva Gosvami, and all six Gosvamis. You’ll have to follow Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Prabhupada, and all. You’ll have to follow them. If you are not following them, you cannot progress. You are saying, “Oh, Prabhupada has ordered us only to do sixteen rounds, not more than that.” This will not do. He has told like this for beginners, those who are always absorbed in worldly things. We will have to chant twenty-four hours a day. We will have to give our energy for twenty-four hours. Then that kind of nistha and ruci will come. We are only giving some concession that, “Oh, you should chant only one time even, no harm.” For boys, little boys, this has been given. To give impressions, to increase their sraddha and nistha and all other things.
Sankhya-purvaka-nama-gana-natibhih, chanting at least one lakh holy name. Then Krsna will accept your offering. Chanting without giving your mind here and there, then Krsna will take what you offer. If you are saranagata, then He will take.
sad-anga saranagati hoibe jahara
tahara prarthana sune sri nanda-kumara
Sri-Krsna-Caitanya Prabhu Jive Daya Kori verse 5
[The youthful son of Nanda Baba, Sri Krsna, hears the prayers of anyone who takes refuge in Him by this six-fold practice known as saranagati.]
If anyone is accepting this saranagati, then Krsna will hear anything from that person. Otherwise, He will not hear anything. He will think, “You should cry and weep and die and die.” He will not hear you. If there is saranagati, then He will hear something. That is why He has sent Guru, “You should hear them. I am not going to hear them.” If he is saranagata to Gurudeva, then He will hear you. Otherwise He will not hear anything. We will have to practice and we will also have to be dependent on the mercy of Krsna.
Both together will bring us to our goal. Then we can reach our goal. So begin from Upadesamrtam, vaco vegam. Try to follow this. You should take that book and really know the meanings and try practicing it in your life. Krodha means anger. Then lust, the desire to taste with the tongue. This tongue should not do anything wrong. Try to control it, that is vaco vegam. This tongue is the root of all kinds of anarthas and all kinds of devils, so we should try to control it. Especially lady devotees should try to control their tongues. They cannot keep anything secret. They will say, “Oh, you should not tell this anybody.” Then she will tell to others, “Oh, you should not tell this to others.” [Devotees laugh] Then she will say, “You should not tell this to others.” Then the whole world will know about this. This is a very big problem.