The Touchstone
Once, a poor brahmana came to Sanatana Gosvami and said, “I heard you possess a lot of wealth. Please give me some wealth.” Sanatana Gosvami gave him a touchstone that he had found and thrown out in a pile of garbage. The brahmana took this, but soon returned to Sanatana Gosvami and said, “This touchstone is maha-kala—death personified for me. If I accept this and leave, people will kill me in order to steal the stone from me. Also you kept it in such a neglected place, which means that you must possess some wealth much greater than this.”Sanatana Gosvami replied, “If you throw away the touchstone as I did, then I will give you something that is far more valuable than this.” The brahmana threw it away and offered his faithful obeisances to Sanatana Gosvami. Then Sanatana Gosvami initiated the brahmana into the chanting of harinama and blessed him so that he could chant continuously. In this way, he learned that harinama is the true cintamani—transcendental touchstone.
We all came to Guru, Vaisnavas, and the holy dhama, but we hold on to so much garbage. When Prabhupada Sarasvati Thakura went to Srila Gaura-kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja and asked for diksa, Babaji said, “From top to bottom, you are covered with so many things. You have so much erudition. You are such a great, respected scholar. How can I give you anything more?” Our Guru-varga showed us this pastime to instruct us, that all these material possessions, titles, and conceptions we possess are actually hindrances to the attainment of our spiritual aspiration.
Learn from Sakhas
This third verse of Siksastakam corresponds to the cowherding pastimes in krsna-lila that occur in the morning, until around 11:30 a.m. Despite the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter, everyday Krsna and the sakhas take the calves for grazing in the forest.
The sakhas never say that there is too much rain to go out, nor do they complain about any other weather condition. They never tell Krsna that they cannot go to the forest with Him because it involves strenuous activities like crossing waterfalls, climbing hills, and walking on stones and thorns. They are all very tolerant.
After taking some breakfast from their mothers, they leave for the forest and remain there until around three o’clock in the afternoon, when they return home. They stay with Krsna in the forests and gardens everyday for approximately six hours. They have great fun with Krsna, but also, endure many difficult and dangerous circumstances. Many demons attack them in the forest.
The sakhas have deep faith in Krsna, so they never fear anything. For example, they did not get disturbed when they went inside the mouth of Aghasura. How can such deep faith also come to us? After the sakhas had fallen unconscious due to the poison of Kaliya, Krsna jumped inside the Yamuna and started to wrestle with the snake. But despite this occurence, the next day the sakhas did not tell Krsna that they would not go to the forest with Him anymore.
If we stay close to Guru-pada-padma and the Vaisnavas in the same way that the sakhas remain close to Krsna, then we will be trnad-api-sunicena and taror-api-sahisnuna. Then there will never be any problems. Otherwise, as soon as the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter comes, as soon as we are faced with difficulties, we will give up our practice of bhakti.
Ravana sent many demons to the Dandakaranya forest to disturb the sadhus and rsis in the forest. What did they do when they were attacked? Did they run away? People come to the asrama to engage in bhajana, but as soon as some fighting or difficulty occurs, they run away, back to their hometown. But Mahaprabhu did not teach this.
These rsis all went to the asramas of Agastya Rsi, Bharadhvaja Rsi, and other rsis. Before this, they were independently staying in their own bhajana-kutira, and did not take shelter anywhere. For this reason and by the Lord’s desire, these demons came.
Similarly, if we do not take shelter of Sri Guru-pada-padma and rather stay independently on our own, many demons will come and disturb us. But if we take shelter and develop the mood of trnad-api-sunicena taror-api-sahisnuna, then there will be no problems in life.
Ramacandra went to the asrama of Agastya Rsi and saw deer and lions sleeping next to each other, and tigers that were affectionately licking horses and dogs. Usually a tiger sees a dog as a rasagulla, but in this asrama they had forgotten all violence and enmity. Due to the power and influence of Agastya Rsi, the tigers started to eat grasses, leaves, fruits, roots, and prasadam. This is the power of sat-sanga.
This is why we should take shelter of a pure Vaisnava, who is trnad-api-sunicena taror-api-sahisnuna. Otherwise we will be cheated by demons that will attack and defeat us, and will never be able to perform kirtaniyah sada harih.
Don't Be Like a Parrot
There was a person who daily taught his parrot to say, “Rama Rama Radhe Shyama, Hare Krsna Hare Rama.” After some time, the parrot was saying this mantra continuously. But one day a cat came and attacked the parrot, who then forgot all his chanting and just called out, “Kaw, kaw, kaw!
So how will we do kirtaniyah sada harih? We must become humble and learn to tolerate everything. And this is only possible by taking shelter of Guru-pada-padma and the Vaisnavas who possess this.
nitai-pada-kamala, koti-candra-susitala
e chayay jagata juray
heno nitai bine bhai
radha-krsna paite nai
drdha kori dharo nitair pay
By taking shelter of Sri Guru-pada-padma’s lotus feet the heart will become cool and peaceful. Then no one will be able to disturb us.
Perfect Examples
So, Krsna went to the forest with the sakhas, where they would play in the fruit trees, swim in the ponds, and play in other ways. Sometimes, however, demons would come and attack them. Therefore, the sakhas never go far away from Krsna.
Once, they went some distance from Krsna, and all of a sudden the forest lit on fire and the sakhas became surrounded by the fire. They called out to Krsna for protection, and then He came and swallowed the fire. This pastime shows that the cause of problems in life is distancing oneself from Krsna. There will be no kirtaniya sada harih if one is distant from Krsna.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu and all his devotees started harinama-sankirtana. They did not disturb anyone, but many people were against them and instigated a big fight. Haridasa Thakura did not disturb anyone in his life, but the Kazi, the Mullah, and all the Muslims complained about him. The king ordered his soldiers to beat Haridasa Thakura in front of all the Hindus in twenty-two market places and thus kill him. Even so, Haridasa did not get disturbed, because he was practicing kirtaniyah sada harih. This is most important.
Please, Keep Us Away from Material Wealth
The Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.3.19) states:
nityartidena vittena
durlabhenatma mrtyuna
grhapatyapta pasubhih
ka pritih sadhitais calaih
Wealth is a perpetual source of distress, it is most difficult to acquire, and it is virtual death for the soul. What satisfaction does one actually gain from his wealth? Similarly, how can one gain ultimate or permanent happiness from one’s so-called home, children, relatives and domestic animals, which are all maintained by one’s hard-earned money?
One dog finds a bone and carries it away thinking, “I will go to a secret place and chew this bone. Then some nice rasa will come out.” He goes and he tries so hard to chew the bone that his teeth start bleeding. Tasting his own blood, he thinks the bone to be very tasteful.
Another dog is watching and wondering what he is secretly chewing in the corner. This other dog starts barking and hearing this, another ten or twenty dogs come. Together they attack the dog with the bone, who then leaves, and they continue to fight with each other over the bone.
Before you had nothing, but now that you have acquired a house, car, animal, or a nice garden, dacoits and cheaters have come and are attacking you. If you have any position in this world, then how can you chant krsna-nama? How will you be peaceful? People never pray to God, “O Prabhu, save me from having a mundane post and position. Save me from the respect of others, from worldly opulence, and name and fame. I pray to You for this blessing.”