Our Bhakta Bandhav Transcriptions of Srila Gurudeva’s hari-katha.
In this world we trust various persons. In the transcendental world – in other words, regarding transcendental subject matters – whom should we trust? We cannot see the transcendental world by our eyes, and we cannot touch it with any of our senses. So how can we have an idea of the transcendental world, and how can we decide who the Supreme Personality of Godhead is? We have seen the body, but we have not seen the soul…
…What is God? What is the soul? You can realize this only in this human body; otherwise it is not possible. If you are an animal, a tree, a creeper, or an insect, you cannot realize this; you cannot understand all these truths. You can understand something only in this human body. You have some intelligence given by the Lord, so try to use it…
First try to offer yourself – your whole being. For grhasthas (householder devotees) this is very hard, but they may also offer themselves. As the Pandavas, the gopis and Ambarisa Maharaja did, householders can do. Ambarisa Maharaja was a king with a very big kingdom. He had sons, daughters, and wives, but he was a suddha-bhakta (pure devotee) because he offered himself…
…One day, one of the brahmacaris was giving a class and saying that all householders are rotten. He told his audience, “They have nothing to do with bhakti. We strong brahmacaris and sannyasis can preach and do bhakti, but not these rotten householders.” At that time…
…While chanting Hare Krsna and thinking about all of these things, gradually your mind will be controlled. In our sampradaya, especially in the line of Srila Rupa Gosvami, devotees do not have to do anything separate to remove anarthas (detrimental thoughts and habits). We simply engage our minds all the time, second by second, in chanting, remembering, reading, and worshipping Krsna twenty-four hours a day. In this way our minds cannot go here and there, and we can conquer anarthas easily. We have a taste in these processes that assist us in entering bhakti…
Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna in the mood of Radhika. This means that Radha and Krsna are both honoring Ekadasi in Jagannath Puri. On the Ekadasi evening, the panditas of Jagannath Puri brought all kinds of prasadam in a big dish – dahl, laddu, puri, katchoris and so many other preparations. You know how delicious Jagannath prasadam is. So they brought it, and kept it in front of Caitanya Mahaprabhu while He was doing kirtana with His associates…
…We should try to chant and always think about how we can advance in our devotion. I will help you in all respects like a friend. You should always think of yourself as my darling daughter and not anything else.
…We shouldn’t engage ourselves in making unnecessary rules and regulation, in management, and in other extraneous efforts. A division should not be made among devotees. We should always see if our love and affection for Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa has advanced or not. If it is the same, then we should realize that we are still in the same stage we were in, twenty years back. Our activities are not helpful…
…who is a strong reservoir of love for Kṛṣṇa. In the sea, an anchor holds a boat still, similarly, by the anchor of our devotion to Gurudeva, we will remain fixed in devotion. So, the āśraya, the abode of love is Gurudeva. If we will offer anything to him, whether we are a realized soul or not, our offering will be accepted by the disciplic order…