Srila Gurudeva: Srimad-Bhagavatam states:
abhyarthitas tada tasmai
sthanani kalaye dadau
dyutam panam striyah suna
yatradharmas catur-vidhah
Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.17.38
[Maharaja Pariksit, thus being petitioned by the personality of Kali, gave him permission to reside in places where gambling, drinking, prostitution, and animal slaughter were performed.]
Avoidance of these basic prohibited activities is not bhakti in and of itself, but it will take us to the door of bhakti. Dyutam means ‘gambling,’ panam means ‘intoxication in the form of cigarettes, bidis, tobacco, the masala of tobacco, and marijuana,’ all of which surely bring lust in a day, or two, or three. The intelligence of such persons who take these intoxications disappears, and they leave the path of bhakti; that is sure. Here in the first canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Sukadeva Gosvami has prohibited the taking of all these intoxicants for all kinds of devotees.
In India, some so-called Vaisnavas of Ramanandi take opium, ganja, pan, and very big water pipes, imagining that the high flame of their water pipe indicates their exalted Vaisnava status. Moreover, in their dangerous tamasic condition (the mode of ignorance), they become naked and quarrel with each other. Try to avoid this maha-maha poison.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains in Jaiva-dharma that if one has any desire for making money or for sense gratification, he should not take the dress of a renunciant (vesa). Similarly, Srila Rupa Gosvami tells us in Upadesamrta:
vaco vegam manasah krodha-vegam
jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat
Sri Upadesamrta 1
[One who can control the forces of speech, mind, anger, belly, tongue and genitals is known as a gosvami and is competent to accept disciples all over the world.]
If one who is not in this stage is given siddha-pranali, then it is not siddha-pranali; it is the pranali, or process, to go to hell. We must endeavor to be very strong in following our Guru-parampara. Our Guru-parampara is right, and their so-called Guru-parampara is artificial. Their so-called siddha-pranali is only about one hundred years old, whereas our real siddha-pranali has come from the ancient Vedas and Upanisads. We see that Sankara gave siddha-pranali to the four Kumaras, and Narada gave it to other qualified devotees. We certainly accept the concept of siddha-pranali, but in the right process and at the right time.
There are some groups in Vrndavana whose followers say that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura has no siddha-pranali and no Guru-parampara. They also say that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has no Guru-parampara. We must think about this very deeply and carefully. Who was the Guru of Pariksit Maharaja? We know that he had a family Guru, a priest, someone like Sandilya Rsi; but he heard Srimad-Bhagavatam from Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, who is a bona fide Vaisnava—renounced, detached from worldly desires, quite free, and who had been given all realizations from his father and Guru, Srila Vyasadeva. Pariksit Maharaja heard Srimad-Bhagavatam from him, and as a result of such hearing—not even practicing—he went directly to Goloka Vrndavana. Moreover, Srila Sanatana Gosvami has explained in Brhad-bhagavatamrta that Pariksit Maharaja became a gopi in the service of Radha-Krsna Conjugal. This is the real process.
[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on April 28th, 1998, France, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 27]