retirement
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Imported quote 14459 Malayadhvaja, the great king, was certainly a maha-bhagavata, topmost devotee. By executing devotional service, he begot many sons and disciples for propagating the bhakti cult (sravanam kirtanam visnoḥ). Actually, the entire world should be divided among such disciples. Everyone should be engaged in preaching the cult of Krsna consciousness. In other words, when disciples are grown up and are able to preach, the spiritual master should retire and sit down in a solitary place to write and execute nirjana-bhajana. This means sitting silently in a solitary place and executing devotional service. This nirjana-bhajana, which is the silent worship of the Supreme Lord, is not possible for a neophyte devotee. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura never advised a neophyte devotee to go to a solitary place to engage in devotional service. Indeed, he has written a song in this connection:
(More...) "My dear mind, what kind of devotee are you? Simply for cheap adoration you sit in a solitary place and pretend to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, but this is all cheating." Thus Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura advocated that every devotee, under the guidance of an expert spiritual master, preach the bhakti cult, Krsna consciousness, all over the world. Only when one is mature can he sit in a solitary place and retire from preaching all over the world. Following this example, the devotees of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness now render service as preachers in various parts of the world. Now they can allow the spiritual master to retire from active preaching work. In the last stage of the spiritual master's life, the devotees of the spiritual master should take preaching activities into their own hands. In this way the spiritual master can sit down in a solitary place and render nirjana-bhajana.
(More...) Imported quote 14460 Just as in the vanaprastha stage the wife follows the husband, similarly when the spiritual master retires for nirjana-bhajana, some of his advanced devotees follow him and engage in his personal service. In other words, those who are very fond of family life should come forward in the service of the spiritual master and abandon so-called happiness afforded by society, friendship and love. A verse by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his Gurv-astaka is significant in this regard. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadaḥ. A disciple should always remember that by serving the spiritual master he can easily advance in Krsna consciousness. All the scriptures recommend that it is by pleasing the spiritual master and serving him directly that one can attain the highest perfectional stage of devotional service.
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