Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Nirmala Dīdī has a question. She is asking: Whenever you come, so many new people get initiated, and after you leave they don’t get trained. They hardly come to any programs, and the devotees generally don’t take the time to go to them. Nirmala Dīdī wants to ask for your blessings to be able to give classes and train people.
Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: She should take the responsibility. She should train others, because she is senior now. The wife of Jagannātha Prabhu, Kṛṣṇa-līlā, is also expert, so she should also give training. And Jagannātha Prabhu is more qualified than any brahmacārī or sannyāsī.
I give harināma initiation, and then I leave for another place. Devotees then become somewhat weak and no longer have much enthusiasm – but the seed (bīja) is still there. This seed cannot be destroyed. Later the ‘rains’ come, at which time that seed will sprout. In other words, when I come or other preachers come, such as Tīrtha Mahārāja and Dāmodara Mahārāja, and also when Jagannātha Prabhu is here, this is like rain. When this rain comes, the seeds of devotion in the new initiates sprout and grow. If one commits offenses to śrī gurudeva and to Vaiṣṇavas that seed will be destroyed, otherwise it cannot be destroyed.
There is also a type of grass that burns during the summer, but the root remains. Later, when there is rain, it grows again.
A businessman checks every evening to see how much money he has made that day. He checks to see whether he has made any profit or incurred any loss. If he has made profit he is very happy, and if he has made no profit or loss, that is okay. However, if he has incurred any loss, he becomes concerned and wonders, “What did I do to bring this loss?”
Similarly before we go to sleep, we should consider whether our bhajana is improving, diminishing, or remaining at the same level. If it is increasing, that is good – it is unlimited, so it can be always increasing. If it has remained at the same level, we must consider how it can increase. If it is decreasing, if the mind is not attracted to bhajana and hari-kathā and is always running after material enjoyment or concerned about maintaining business, the children’s education, or getting a house, car, and other things, then we must consider how to improve.
So, be careful.
Excerpted from the Gaudiya Vedanta Publication "Walking With a Saint"
Lautoka, Fiji
January 16