service / servant

Bhakti means devotional service. Every service has some attractive feature which drives the servitor progressively on and on.

Bhakti means devotional service. Every service has some attractive feature which drives the servitor progressively on and on. Every one of us within this world is perpetually engaged in some sort of service, and the impetus for such service is the pleasure we derive from it. Driven by affection for his wife and children, a family man works day and night. A philanthropist works in the same way for love of the greater family, and a nationalist for the cause of his country and countrymen. That force which drives the philanthropist, the householder and the nationalist is called rasa, or a kind of mellow (relationship) whose taste is very sweet. Bhakti-rasa is a mellow different from the ordinary rasa enjoyed by mundane workers. Mundane workers labor very hard day and night in order to relish a certain kind of rasa which is understood as sense gratification. The relish or taste of the mundane rasa does not long endure, and therefore mundane workers are always apt to change their position of enjoyment. A businessman is not satisfied by working the whole week; therefore, wanting a change for the weekend, he goes to a place where he tries to forget his business activities. Then, after the weekend is spent in forgetfulness, he again changes his position and resumes his actual business activities. Material engagment means accepting a particular status for some time and then changing it. This position of changing back and forth is technically known as bhoga-tyaga, which means a position of alternating sense enjoyment and renunciation. A living entity cannot steadily remain either in sense enjoyment or in renunciation. Change is going on perpetually, and we cannot be happy in either state because of our eternal constitutional position. Sense gratification does not endure for long, and it is therefore called capala-sukha, or flickering happiness. For example, an ordinary family man who works very hard day and night and is successful in giving comforts to the members of his family thereby relishes a kind of mellow, but his whole advancement of material happiness immediately terminates along with his body as soon as his life is over. Death is therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheistic class of men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by devotional service, whereas the atheist realizes the presence of God in the shape of death. At death everything is finished, and one has to begin a new chapter of life in a new situation, perhaps higher or lower than the last one. In any field of activity, political, social, national or international, the result of our actions will be finished with the end of life. That is sure. (More...)

Bhakti-rasa, however, the mellow relished in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, does not finish with the end of life. It continues perpetually and is therefore called amrta, that which does not die but exists eternally. This is confirmed in all Vedic literatures. The Bhagavad-gita says that a little advancement in bhakti-rasa can save the devotee from the greatest danger, that of missing the opportunity for human life. The rasas derived from our feelings in social life, in family life, or in the greater family life of altruism, philanthropism, nationalism, socialism, communism, etc., do not guarantee that one's next life will be as a human being. We prepare our next life by our actual activities in the present life. A living entity is offered a particular type of body as a result of his action in the present body. These activities are taken into account by a superior authority known as daiva, or the authority of God. This daiva is explained in the Bhagavad-gita as the prime cause of everything, and in the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that a man takes his next body by daiva-netrena, which means by the supervision of the authority of the Supreme. In an ordinary sense daiva is explained as destiny. Daiva supervision gives us a body selected from 8,400,000 forms; the choice does not depend on our selection, but is awarded to us according to our destiny. If our body at present is engaged in the activities of Krsna consciousness, then it is guaranteed that we will have at least a human body in our next life. A human being engaged in Krsna consciousness, even if unable to complete the course of bhakti-yoga, is allowed to take birth in the higher division of human society so that he can automatically further his advancement in Krsna consciousness. Therefore, all bona fide activities in Krsna consciousness are amrta, or permanent. This is the subject matter of The Nectar of Devotion. (More...)

This eternal engagement in bhakti-rasa can be understood by a serious student upon studying The Nectar of Devotion. Adoption of bhakti-rasa or Krsna consciousness will immediately bring one to an auspicious life free from anxieties and will bless one with transcendental existence, thus minimizing the value of liberation. Bhakti-rasa itself is sufficient to produce a feeling of liberation because it attracts the attention of the Supreme Lord, Krsna. Generally, neophyte devotees are anxious to see Krsna or God, but God cannot be seen or known by our present materially blunt senses. The process of devotional service as it is recommended in The Nectar of Devotion will gradually elevate one from the material condition of life to the spiritual status, wherein the devotee becomes purified of all designations. The senses can then become uncontaminated, being constantly in touch with bhakti-rasa. When the purified senses are employed in the service of the Lord, one becomes situated in bhakti-rasa life, and any action performed for the satisfaction of Krsna in this transcendental bhakti-rasa stage of life can be relished perpetually. When one is thus engaged in devotional service, all varieties of rasas or mellows turn into eternity. In the beginning one is trained according to the principles of regulation under the guidance of the acarya or spiritual master, and gradually, when one is elevated, devotional service becomes automatic and spontaneous eagerness to serve Krsna. There are twelve kinds of rasas, as will be explained in this book, and by renovating our relationship with Krsna in five primary rasas we can live eternally in full knowledge and bliss. (More...)

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Without revelation by the spiritual energy, one is unable to offer prayers glorifying the Lord. Any amount of philosophical speculation or poetic expression by mundane persons is still considered to be the action and reaction of the material energy. When one is actually enlivened by the spiritual energy, all his senses become purified, and he engages only in the service of the Lord. At that time his hands, legs, ear, tongue, mind, genitals-everything-engage in the service of the Lord. Such an enlightened devotee no longer has any material activities, nor has he any interest in being materially engaged. This process of purifying the senses and engaging them in the service of the Lord is known as bhakti, or devotional service. In the beginning, the senses are engaged by the direction of the spiritual master and sastra, and after realization, when the same senses are purified, the engagement continues. The difference is that in the beginning the senses are engaged in a mechanical way, but after realization they are engaged in spiritual understanding. (More...)

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The renounced order of life is never meant for begging nor living at the cost of others as a parasite. According to the dictionary, a parasite is a sycophant who lives at the cost of society without making any contribution to that society. The renounced order is meant for contributing something substantial to the society and not depending on the earnings of the householders. On the contrary, acceptance of alms from the householders by the bona fide mendicant is an opportunity afforded by the saint for tangible benefit of the donor. In the sanatana-dharma institution, almsgiving to the mendicant is part of a householder's duty, and it is advised in the scriptures that the householders should treat the mendicants as their family children and should provide them with food, clothing, etc., without being asked. Pseudo-mendicants, therefore, should not take advantage of the charitable disposition of the faithful householders. The first duty of a person in the renounced order of life is to contribute some literary work for the benefit of the human being in order to give him realized direction toward self-realization. Amongst the other duties in the renounced order of life of Srila Sanatana, Srila Rūpa and the other Gosvamis of Vrndavana, the foremost duty discharged by them was to hold learned discourses amongst themselves at Sevakunja Vrndavana (the spot where Sri Radha-Damodara Temple was established by Srila Jiva Gosvami and where the actual samadhi tombs of Srila Rūpa Gosvami and Srila Jiva Gosvami are laid). For the benefit of all in human society, they left behind them immense literatures of transcendental importance. Similarly, all the acaryas who voluntarily accepted the renounced order of life aimed at benefiting the human society and not at living a comfortable or irresponsible life at the cost of others. However, those who cannot give any contribution should not go to the householders for food, for such mendicants asking bread from the householders are an insult to the highest order. Sukadeva Gosvami gave this warning especially for those mendicants who adopt this line of profession to solve their economic problems. Such mendicants are in abundance in the age of Kali. When a man becomes a mendicant willfully or by circumstances, he must be of firm faith and conviction that the Supreme Lord is the maintainer of all living beings everywhere in the universe. Why, then, would He neglect the maintenance of a surrendered soul who is cent percent engaged in the service of the Lord? A common master looks to the necessities of his servant, so how much more would the all-powerful, all-opulent Supreme Lord look after the necessities of life for a fully surrendered soul. The general rule is that a mendicant devotee will accept a simple small loincloth without asking anyone to give it in charity. He simply salvages it from the rejected torn cloth thrown in the street. When he is hungry he may go to a magnanimous tree which drops fruits, and when he is thirsty he may drink water from the flowing river. He does not require to live in a comfortable house, but should find out a cave in the hills and may not be afraid of jungle animals, keeping faith in God, who lives in everyone's heart. The Lord may dictate to tigers and other jungle animals not to disturb His devotee. Haridasa Thakur, a great devotee of Lord Sri Caitanya, used to live in such a cave, and by chance a great venomous snake also was a copartner of the cave. Some admirer of Thakur Haridasa, who had to visit the Thakur every day, feared the snake and gave a suggestion to the Thakur to leave that place. Because his devotees were afraid of the snake and they were regularly visiting the cave, Thakur Haridasa agreed to the proposal on their account. But as soon as this was settled, the snake actually crawled out of its hole in the cave and left the cave for good before everyone present. By the dictation of the Lord, who lives also within the heart of the snake, the snake gave preference to Haridasa and decided to leave the place and not disturb him. So this is a tangible example of how the Lord gives protection to a bona fide devotee like Thakur Haridasa. According to the regulations of the sanatana-dharma institution, one is trained from the beginning to depend fully on the protection of the Lord in all circumstances. The path of renunciation is recommended for acceptance by one who is fully accomplished and fully purified in one's existence. This stage is described also in the Bhagavad-gita as daivi sampad (Bg. 16.5). A human being is required to accumulate daivi sampad, or spiritual assets; otherwise, the next alternative, asuri sampad, or material assets, will overcome him disproportionately, and thus one will be forced into the entanglement of different miseries of the material world. A sannyasi should always live alone without company, and he must be fearless. He should never be afraid of living alone, although he is never alone. The Lord is residing in everyone's heart, and unless one is purified by the prescribed process, one will feel that he is alone. But a man in the renounced order of life must be purified by the process; thus he will feel the presence of the Lord everywhere and will have nothing to fear (such as being without any company). Everyone can become a fearless and honest person if his very existence is purified by discharging the prescribed duty for each and every order of life. One can become fixed in one's prescribed duty by faithful aural reception of Vedic instructions and assimilation of the essence of Vedic knowledge by devotional service of the Lord. (More...)

The Lord, being the source of everything that be, is the origin of all austerities and penances also. Great vows of austerity are undertaken by sages to achieve success in self-realization. Human life is meant for such tapasya, with the great vow of celibacy or brahmacarya. In the rigid life of tapasya, there is no place for the association of woman. And because human life is meant for tapasya, for self-realization, factual human civilization, as conceived by the system of sanatana-dharma or the school of four castes and four orders of life, prescribes rigid dissociation from woman in three stages of life. In the order of gradual cultural development, one's life may be divided in four divisions: celibacy, household life, retirement, and renunciation. During the first stage of life, up to twenty-five years of age, a man may be trained as a brahmacari under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master just to understand that woman is the real binding force in the material existence. If anyone wants to get freedom from the material bondage of conditional life, he must get free from the attraction for the form of woman. Woman, or the fair sex, is the enchanting principle for the living entities, and the male form, especially of the human being, is meant for self-realization. The whole world is moving under the spell of womanly attraction, and as soon as a man becomes united with a woman, he at once becomes a victim of material bondage under a tight knot. The desires for lording it over the material world, under the intoxication of a false sense of lordship, specifically begin just after the man's unification with a woman. The desires for acquiring a house, possessing land, having children and becoming prominent in society, the affection for community and the place of birth, and the hankering for wealth, which are all like the phantasmagoria or illusory dreams of life, encumber a human being, and he is thus impeded in his progress toward self-realization, the real aim of life. The brahmacari, or a boy from the age of five years, especially from the higher castes, namely from the scholarly parents (the brahmanas), the administrative parents (the ksatriyas), or the mercantile or productive parents (the vaisyas), is trained until twenty-five years of age under the care of a bona fide guru or teacher, and under strict observance of discipline he comes to understand the values of life along with taking specific training for livelihood. The brahmacari is then allowed to go home and enter householder life and get married to a suitable woman. But there are many brahmacaris who do not go home to become householders but continue the life of naisthika-brahmacaris, without any connection with women. They accept the order of sannyasa, or the renounced order of life, knowing well that combination with women is an unnecessary burden that checks self-realization. Since sex desire is very strong at a certain stage of life, the guru may allow the brahmacari to marry; this license is given to a brahmacari who is unable to continue the way of naisthika-brahmacarya, and such discriminations are possible for the bona fide guru. A program of so-called family planning is needed. The householder who associates with woman under scriptural restrictions, after a thorough training of brahmacarya, cannot be a householder like cats and dogs. Such a householder, after fifty years of age, would retire from the association of woman as a vanaprastha to be trained up to live alone without the association of woman. When the practice is complete, the same retired householder becomes a sannyasi, strictly separate from woman, even from his married wife. Studying the whole scheme of disassociation from women, it appears that a woman is a stumbling block for self-realization, and the Lord appeared as Narayana to teach the principle of womanly disassociation with a vow in life. The demigods, being envious of the austere life of the rigid brahmacaris, would try to cause them to break their vows by dispatching soldiers of Cupid. But in the case of the Lord, it became an unsuccessful attempt when the celestial beauties saw that the Lord can produce innumerable such beauties by His mystic internal potency, so there was no need to be attracted by others externally. There is a common proverb that a confectioner is never attracted by sweetmeats. The confectioner, who is always manufacturing sweetmeats, has very little desire to eat them; similarly, the Lord, by His pleasure potential powers, can produce innumerable spiritual beauties and not be the least attracted by the false beauties of material creation. One who does not know, foolishly alleges that Lord Krsna enjoyed women in His rasa-lila in Vrndavana, or with His sixteen thousand married wives at Dvaraka. (More...)

This is an example of asuric life. Atheists can advance materially and create an extremely comfortable situation for the senses, but because they are controlled by the senses, they cannot be satisfied. This is the effect of modern civilization. Materialists are very much advanced in enjoying money and women, yet dissatisfaction prevails within human society because human society cannot be happy and peaceful without Krsna consciousness. As far as material sense gratification is concerned, materialists may go on increasing their enjoyment as far as they can imagine, but because people in such a material condition are servants of their senses, they cannot be satisfied. Hiranyakasipu was a vivid example of this dissatisfied state of humanity. (More...)

For a devotee, being situated in the heavenly planets and being in the hellish planets are equal, for a devotee lives neither in heaven nor in hell but with Krsna in the spiritual world. The secret of success for the devotee is not understood by the karmis and jnanis. Karmis therefore try to be happy by material adjustment, and jnanis want to be happy by becoming one with the Supreme. The devotee has no such interest. He is not interested in so-called meditation in the Himalayas or the forest. Rather, his interest is in the busiest part of the world, where he teaches people Krsna consciousness. The Krsna consciousness movement was started for this purpose. We do not teach one to meditate in a secluded place just so that one may show that he has become very much advanced and may be proud of his so-called transcendental meditation, although he engages in all sorts of foolish materialistic activity. A Vaisnava like Prahlada Maharaja is not interested in such a bluff of spiritual advancement. Rather, he is interested in enlightening people in Krsna consciousness because that is the only way for them to become happy. Prahlada Maharaja says clearly, nanyam tvad asya saranam bhramato 'nupasye: "I know that without Krsna consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy." One wanders within the universe, life after life, but by the grace of a devotee, a servant of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, one can get the clue to Krsna consciousness and then not only become happy in this world but also return home, back to Godhead. That is the real target in life. The members of the Krsna consciousness movement are not at all interested in so-called meditation in the Himalayas or the forest, where one will only make a show of meditation, nor are they interested in opening many schools for yoga and meditation in the cities. Rather, every member of the Krsna consciousness movement is interested in going door to door to try to convince people about the teachings of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the teachings of Lord Caitanya. That is the purpose of the Hare Krsna movement. The members of the Krsna consciousness movement must be fully convinced that without Krsna one cannot be happy. Thus the Krsna conscious person avoids all kinds of pseudo spiritualists, transcendentalists, meditators, monists, philosophers and philanthropists. (More...)

So in the modern trend of civilization, people may say that this is slave mentality. It is very good idea: "Why shall I become a slave? I shall become the master." But one does not know that this consciousness, that "I shall become the master," is the cause of his sufferings. This philosophy has to be understood. (More...)

So this is our position. But why this struggle is there? I am being forced to serve, but I don't wish to serve. What is the adjustment? The adjustment is Krsna consciousness, that if you become servant of Krsna, then your aspiration to become master, at the same time your aspiration of freedom, is immediately achieved. Just like here you'll see one picture of Arjuna and Krsna. (More...)

You have served your senses so many lives, life after life, 8,400,000's of species of life. The birds, they are also under senses. The beasts, they are also under senses. The men, human being, and everyone, the demigods, everyone within this material world, they are after senses, serving the senses. But Krsna says that "You just surrender unto Me. Just agree to serve Me. Then I take charge of you." That's all. Aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucaḥ. (More...)

That is explained by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: jivera svarūpa haya nitya krsna dasa [Cc Madhya 20.108]. That is his real charactertistic. He is eternal servant of God, or Krsna. This is characteristic. So if you don't serve God, then you have to serve dog. But you have to serve. You see practically: so many godless persons, they have no family, no affection, no position, no home, nothing, but still he keeps a dog to serve. This is the characteristic. Because he has nothing to serve, he has no wife, no children, no..., nothing, so he must have somebody-keep a dog. Just see practically. He cannot avoid service. That is your characteristic. If you don't serve God, then you have to serve dog. Now make your choice, whether you shall spoil your life by serving dog and become next life a dog, or by serving God, you, next life you become a god. Make your choice. This is Krsna consciousness movement. If you want to become a dog next life, that is must. Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram [Bg 8.6]. (More...)

Prabhupada: By practically knowing he's a... Are you independent, anyone? Everyone is servant. He's serving his senses. That's all. He's servant. He's never master. But he has become the servant of maya or senses. That's all. He has to change only; instead of becoming servant of maya, be servant of Krsna. Servant he is. Where he'll go? How he will become master? To remain a servant is his position. He cannot become master. That is false pride. As soon as he wants to be master, that is false pride. That is maya. "So if I am servant, then I have to serve. So why shall I serve the senses' dictation? I will serve Krsna, what He says." So he's self-realized immediately, within a second. Where is the difficulty to become self-realized? Hmm? Is there any difficulty? He must know that "I am serving. I am never master-but serving the senses, that's all, whims of the senses in the name of independence." That is not possible. Very simple philosophy. One who understands, he's self-realized. And if he preaches, then he becomes recognized. On this principle we shall help everyone. "Come here. Stay with us nicely-nicely you can-but serve Krsna. We take responsibility." Organize in this way throughout the whole world. Give them shelter; give them food; give them cloth. That is the most benevolent welfare activity in the human society. So here people have generally tendency to come to the beach to enjoy. "All right, we shall give you a place. Come on. Stay here. You haven't got to pay anything for food or lodging. Simply attend arati, classes." They will do. "For experiment, three days' period, you see." (More...)

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 16th March along with the enclosure of the letter received from Detroit City Municipality. It is very encouraging. Regarding the drug-addicted young boys and girls in your country, we can give them the best service as it is already evident from our practical movement. Most of my students were drug addicted formerly and now having taken to Krsna Consciousness, they have given up everything and rapidly progressed toward spiritual realization. There is a Vedic injunction that one has to realize Krishna nicely and then he becomes perfectly wise. Here is a good opportunity to get cooperation from the government in the matter of our Hare Krishna Movement. Our process of helping the misguided youth should remain the same. Namely, they should join the different services in the temple; chanting, dancing in ecstasy with Hare Krishna Mantra. They must be cleanly shaved, with tilak, have saffron robes, take prasadam, attend classes, chant 16 rounds of beads daily, etc. We are sure anyone who joins us will be free of all material disease including craziness and madness. Actually everyone in this material world is a crazy fellow; he doesn't know the aim of life. Even the erudite scholar doesn't know what is God or how the material world was created; so many things they do not know. So if the government officials want to take our help they must arrange for giving a nice place so we can accommodate the students concerned, according to our method. Such centers should be well equipped with temple, lecture room, sleeping quarters, kitchen, etc. as we have got everywhere. So try to convince the authorities that everyone will come to Krishna Consciousness, following our method, which is pure. Then craziness and madness will automatically disappear. This is practical welfare. So our movement should be very vigorously pushed on. But those who push must be pure; then it will be effective. (More...)

Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 10th June, 1972, and with great pleasure I have noted the contents. I was wondering what you are doing, so I am very glad to hear your report of getting the very nice temple in Edinburgh. I think it is Krishna's desire that you have got that place in such perfect location, so now apply yourself very seriously and take advantage of this opportunity for spreading Krishna Consciousness all over that city and in other places in Scotland. The price of 13 Pounds a week for such a large place is not at all bad. Yes, take the place for as many years as they will agree to.

Because there is close proximity of many students, the important thing to give them is our book and literature. They are interested to get knowledge, but the materialistic knowledge will lead them astray from real goal of their intelligence, and all of their credits in education will only add up to so many zeros. But if you yourself are very much well-acquainted with our Krishna philosophy, you will be able to convince them that if they make Krishna or God the center of their learning process, never mind they're scientists, chemists, politicians, whatever they may be, if they put Krishna in front of so many zeros they will come out with a huge sum and their life will be very much perfect. If you require assistance for preaching to the student class, I think Revatinandana can come there and preach very nicely to the scholarly class in their own language. Now in our philosophy classes, each day I am discussing one of your western philosophies and so far we have discussed many, many philosophers like Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Marx, like that, and now we are discussing Darwin and other scientists from your western countries. Because they have missed the central point that we are not the controllers of nature, rather we are controlled by nature, and because they do not see that there is a Supreme Controller who is controlling even the nature, therefore their vast research and display of intelligence is only so much waste of time. It is just like a child. A child may play with the imitation of another child and the child will hold the doll and play with it as if it is real. But the parents who gave the child the doll, they know good and well the child is nonsense but they tolerate and enjoy sometimes. Just like my sisters used to prepare for me some imaginary puris from their toys of very small cooking things, and I used to pretend I was eating them and we were quite happy that this was the same thing just like our parents were doing. We did not know we were nonsense, one nonsense cooking, another nonsense eating, but our father knew we were nonsense. So it is like that in this material world, everyone is acting more or less like children clinging to some play things provided by the Father and taking them very seriously. But when we become actually wise and see things from the point of view of our Father and take his instruction, then we make progressive advancement out of the childish nonsense state of life or life in this material world.

Now organize the temple very nicely and request tourists to come in, and with many flowers you can decorate the whole hall with flowers and it will be very much attractive. You can make a sign-board that says "Guests are requested to offer a flower to the Deity". The flower market is nearby and any gentleman will bring flowers, and give them prasadam. A gorgeous temple means many flowers, beautiful decorations, and prasadam distribution. Some sort of kirtana must go on continuously. Further, chanting 16 rounds must be completed, that is our spiritual strength. And I am very much stressing nowadays that my students shall increase their reading of my books and try to understand them from different angles of vision. Each sloka can be seen from many, many angles of vision, so become practiced in seeing things like this. If we are selling the books but we do not know what is inside the book, that will be a farce, especially if you are preaching and selling books to the students of Edinburgh.

Now I am coming to London very soon for your Rathayatra Celebration, and I shall be very happy to see you all, my beloved disciples there in England. You mention one very large festival being held there in Edinburgh from July 20 to August 9, so if you can arrange some big, big, meeting for me to speak there and address the public at large as well as the students, that will be very nice. One thing, I am already scheduled to speak in Paris on July 21, 22, 23, so if you arrange some meetings at the Edinburgh Festival, you should schedule them for last part of July or early August accordingly.

The best thing is to always serve Krishna and depend upon Him at every moment and everything will come.

Hoping this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

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Please accept my blessings. Your letter of December 23, 1972, is in hand and I can very well understand your dilemma, it is apparently a common feeling amongst the devotees from your country who come to India for some time. Of course you are educated and trained up in another way, so the style of living as it is found here in India may not be to your liking. That is natural. And if you are also at the same time little sickly, that will aggravate your disappointment. So I have no objection whatever. You may do as you think best. But that is a fact, many good men such as yourself are required here in India to complete the works that are started in various places such as Vrndavana, Mayapur, Hyderabad, Delhi, like that. But this is difficult work, and it will require very strong devotees, who are also healthy. There may not be always the facility for regulative practice of devotional principles as you have found them in your country, therefore since you are adjusted in that way, you have lost your enthusiasm due to irregular habits. Of course, in the more mature stage of Krsna consciousness one is not affected by such conditions of material nature, being always fixed in his idea and determined to push on on Krsna's behalf despite all kinds of unfavorable circumstances, but that stage of mature realization will come later. For the time being, you are having little difficulty, so I think you will require the regulated household life as you are suggesting. But unless the basic determination to become successful in Krsna consciousness is there, any type of occupation or any place where you are serving Krsna will similarly become a source of restlessness and troubling of your mind. Therefore, my advice to you is simply this: that you search out in yourself whether that basic determination and faith in our Krsna consciousness program is strong in you, and whether if, by going here or going there or doing this or doing that, this determination and faith will be enhanced. Sometimes Krsna may put us into some difficulty just to purify us and force us to advance in Krsna consciousness. The devotee should always see his difficulty in this light, that Krsna is so kind upon me for creating this condition of struggling, thus He is relieving me of so many billions of lifetime of sinful reactions by this very insignificant and temporary condition of suffering something. Or if our attachment for Krsna is not yet developed, and there is still attraction for the ordinary life of householder life, together with friends, family, children, working, like that, that is all right, by that process if one contributes something of his income to the preaching work and attends himself with family the temple for the class and kirtana, gradually he will get some enthusiasm and develop his attachment for Krsna. But that is the slow and troublesome way, and I know that you are so intelligent boy, along with your good wife Saradia, so you may do as you like, but it would please me very much if you will dedicate yourself and your wife completely to the preaching work. That is important. Running-on of factories, family, these are ordinary businesses and anyone may do them, any ordinary man, but you are not ordinary man, that I know. My best advice to you is that you do not bother yourself by so many speculative thoughts and thus only aggravate the situation further. But if you are unhealthy with liver infection, that is another thing. So first of all you must get back your healthy condition. For that, living in Europe or America may be better for you, that I do not know. But in any case, remember always that you have now got this golden opportunity of human form of life, and it is not by accident that you have met your spiritual master and have become involved in Krsna's work, therefore remember these things and try to utilize your best intelligence and energy to take advantage of the situation and without any further delay take yourself to the perfectional platform of your life. The activity most recommended by Krsna and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu for taking oneself to the perfectional stage in this Age of Kali-yuga is this sankirtana or preaching mission. So if you will be able to form yourself into the first-class preacher, that will be best for you and for others also. Your wife may also assist you in your important activities of spreading Krsna consciousness. She is a very nice painter and artist, and she is very sincere and serious also, so you may together utilize your spot-life as preachers of Krsna consciousness, that will be the better occupation. There is no harm for having children, that is no impediment for preaching endeavor. But too much attachment for children, home and work will spoil your opportunity to get very quickly the mature benefit of Krsna consciousness or self-realization.

Hoping this meets you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

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No. 5 to Tirthanga dasa

I do not know how these doubts have come upon you. Why bother about all these things? They are not very important. Everything is explained in Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, why you are still asking? If you believe whatever the material so-called scientists are saying, that is your business, but I do not believe any of their so-called observations in outer space by the blunt material senses can be true without any doubt. So why you doubt Vedas and not scientists. I cannot even see into the next room, how I can see anything very surely so many millions of miles distant? But if someone who has been there tells me, then I can know everything about that place. So we must have to take the authority of experienced persons to get the truth, and what experience our so-called scientists have got? Can they deliver even an ant from the miserable conditions of this spot-life, from birth, death, disease, and old age? No. They have spent simply millions of dollars to make a show of their so-called learning and the resul is a handful of dust, that's all. So we are not very much impressed by them, neither we take their version as perfect. They will say that millions of years ago the human beings were primitive hunters. But if we see Vedic language, we can understand that their thought and language and intelligence was not that of primitive men, no. If you are looking for some excuse to doubt, then maya will always provide you. So this or that you may find out something flaw if you want. But Krsna says surrender unto Me and I will give you all protection, perfect knowledge of everything. You should not go to modern scientists for perfect knowledge. They cannot supply that. Krsna will supply you. Of course, sometimes there is allegorical reference in the Vedas, just like the body is called the city of nine gates, like that, so we may sometimes misunderstand due to our imperfect reading. Even it is true that they have landed on the moon, so what is their accomplishment? If I come to Earth planet and land in the Sahara desert, then I say, "Oh, this planet is a barren desert, no one lives here?" The moon may be like that or like this, so what does that help to our Krsna consciousness movement. We have nothing to do with moon planet or this planet and that planet in Krsna consciousness. We simply want to serve to Krsna, that's all. Do not be disturbed by these things. Simply go on with your work in positive mood. That will be best for you and for other also. After all intelligence to understand Krsna is not within the range of your material senses. You cannot make any experiments and calculations and expect to find Krsna. But if somehow or other you are fortunate enough to find out a pure devotee of the Lord, then you get opportunity to him, and as you surrender Krsna gives you the intelligence by which you may come to him, that is sure. No other process will give us any intelligence to understand things as they are, except Krsna consciousness. (More...)

Prabhupada: Never, never, never. That is his insanity. Anyway, as soon as one thinks, "I am independent," that is another insanity. He is under control. Just like a man is thinking, "I don't care for the state laws." He's insane. He will be forced to accept state laws in the prison house by the police. But he thinks, "Oh, I am a prisoner, but I am still independent." He is slapped by the police, but he still says, "I am independent. Go on slapping." That is insanity. Is it not insanity? The police slap him, and he says, "I am independent." Do you think that is independence? That is the sort of independence we are having. We are always kicked by maya, yet we are thinking ourselves independent. This is insanity. We do not think how we are independent. One is servant of his senses, he cannot refrain from enjoying his senses for an hour, and he is thinking himself independent. That means he is insane. He cannot think properly. Where is his independence? He cannot be independent. He is born dependent; he is part and parcel of God. His constitutional position is dependent. The child might declare independence, but what is the meaning of that independence? Danger, that is all. He is simply inviting dangers. A child says, "Oh, I don't care for my parents. I shall cross the ocean; I shall go everywhere." So if he is allowed to do that, then he's simply inviting dangers. And if he remains under the protection of the parents, he is always safe. So these living entities declaring independence are insane and are suffering from different kinds of insanity. They cannot be independent. Let them think very deeply, but they cannot be independent. They are thinking themselves independent of God, but they are dependent on their senses, that's all. And some intoxication. They voluntarily accept dependence of something-maya. That's all. Who is independent? Is there anyone independent? Nobody is independent. To think of independence is maya. The best thing is that since I am dependent, let me remain dependent properly. Then I am protected. So is your question answered? Material consciousness means thinking oneself falsely independent. That is material consciousness. Falsely. He is not independent, but he is thinking falsely, "I am independent." This is maya. Just like in a dream, he is falsely thinking there is a tiger. There is no tiger, but he is actuated by this false impression: "Oh, the tiger is eating me! He has attacked me! Save me!" So this material existence means that because he is insane he is thinking there are so many problems. "The tiger is there! He is attacking me!" This, that, oh, so many, he is creating so many things. But they're all false. But he is attacked by that false hallucination. That's all. This is maya. Everyone is thinking, "Oh, there are so many problems I have to solve; I have to make this much. I have this-" But he actually has no problems. His only problem is how to accept Krsna. That's all. And Krsna is so kind He says, "Yes, you accept Me. Simply chant 'Krsna'; I am yours. That's all." But I am so unfortunate that I cannot chant it. All problems are solved simply by chanting Krsna. Etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan. Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, "O Krsna, You are so kind that You have come to me in the sound vibration 'Krsna.' I can very easily chant, and You will remain with me. But I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction even for this." When you see people and tell them, "Chant Hare Krsna and you'll get everything," they'll not believe it. And if you say, "I'll press your nose, you pay me $50, and I'll give you some nice mantra. And you move your head like this, your leg like this," then they will say, "Oh! Here is something!" [laughter] "So this Swamiji says simply chant Hare Krsna! What is this?" Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, "You have become so easily available in this age, but I am so unfortunate that I cannot accept this." This Krsna consciousness is so easily being distributed, but they are so unfortunate that they cannot accept. Just see. And if you give them a bluff, if you cheat them: "Ah, yes, welcome!" Yes. They welcome it, and cheaters are always ready. "Customers are being cheated, so let me take advantage of it." My Guru Maharaj used to say that this world is the society of the cheaters and the cheated. You have the association of cheaters and cheated. So we want to save people from this society of cheaters and cheated. (More...)

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So Devahūti, although mother of Kapiladeva, because she is woman-not only woman; because she is going to be disciple or the student-she is presenting herself as very humble student, not that superior mother. No. Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya [Bg 4.34]. One has to learn. The first condition is pranipata. Prakrsta-rūpena nipata, complete surrender. Pranipatena. Then pariprasna. Sad-dharma-prcchat. First of all, pranipata, full submission; then pariprasna, guided by seva, service. We have to please the spiritual master, the teacher, by service. This whole bhakti process depends on service attitude. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. I have several times explained this verse. Ataḥ sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaiḥ [Cc Madhya 17.136]. (More...)

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Therefore guru, guru is servant of Krsna, but he is accepted as Krsna. Saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastraiḥ. This is the verdict of all sastra. Guru never says that "I am Krsna. I am God. I am Bhagavan." No. He never says. He is not guru then. He will say, "I am the most humble servant of the servant of the servant of God," not direct servant-servant, servant, servant, servant, hundred times down. Gopi-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dasa-dasa-dasa-dasanudasaḥ [Cc Madhya 13.80]. This is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's words. Gopi-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dasa-dasa-dasa-dasanudasaḥ. The more you become servant, servant, you are perfect servant. Don't try to become direct servant. That is not possible. You cannot become direct servant. You first of all become servant of the servant. The guru is the servant of Krsna, and you become his servant. Then you..., you are bona fide servant. That is our real position. (More...)

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So service we have to... That is our natural..., natural instinct. We are giving service. But being contaminated, that consciousness, citta, being contaminated by these material elements, we are trying to give service in different way. Somebody is interested in giving service to the family, to the community, to the society, to the nation, to the humanity, to the more and more, but all these services, they are contaminated. But when you begin your service in Krsna consciousness, that is perfect service; that is perfect life. So the Krsna consciousness movement is trying to raise the human society to the perfect platform of rendering service. (More...)

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So because these activities, devotional activities, are on the spiritual platform, all of them are Absolute. It is not that if you are hearing but you are not chanting, then your result will be little less than the other who is hearing and chanting. No. It is Absolute Truth. Just like if you taste a sugar candy, lump of sugar candy, from any side you taste, the sweetness is there. There is no difference that if you taste this side, then it is more sweet than the other side. Krsna is complete, Absolute Truth. So any side. If you become expert in hearing, that is as good as one is engaged in other eight processes or nine processes. That is stated in the sastra. Just like Pariksit Maharaja. He simply listened. He did not do any other process. Sri-visnu-sravane pariksit. They got liberation simply by executing one of the nine different processes. So sri-visnoḥ sravane pariksid abhavad vaiyasakiḥ kirtane [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu ]. Pariksit Maharaja got liberation simply by hearing. And Sukadeva Gosvami, he got liberation simply by chanting. And similarly, Prahlada Maharaja, he got liberation simply by memorizing, smarane; Laksmiji, simply by serving the lotus feet of Narayana. (More...)

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The real question is how can we remain unpolluted by material contamination while in the material world. It was Rūpa Gosvami who explained that we can remain uncontaminated while in the world if we simply make it our ambition to serve Krsna. One may then justifiably ask, "How can I serve?" Obviously this is not simply a matter of meditation, which is just an activity of the mind, but of practical work. Love of Krsna's service can only be attained by working for Krsna. In such work, we should leave no resource unused. Whatever is there, whatever we have, should be used for Krsna. We can use everything: typewriters, automobiles, airplanes, missiles-anything. If we simply speak to people about Krsna consciousness, we are also rendering service. If our minds, senses, speech, money and energies are thus engaged in the service of Krsna, we cannot be considered to be existing in material nature. By virtue of spiritual consciousness, or Krsna consciousness, we transcend the platform of material nature. It is a fact that Krsna, His expansions and His devotees-that is, those who work for Him-are not in material nature, although people with a poor fund of knowledge think that they are. (More...)

When devotional service is performed with our present senses, it is called practical devotional service.

The Lord then explained to Sanatan Goswami about the various types and symptoms of practical devotional service. When devotional service becomes practical-to be performed with our present senses-at that time it is called practical devotional service. Actually, devotional service is the eternal life of the living entity, and is lying dormant in everyone's heart. The practice which invokes that dormant devotional service is called practical devotional service. The purport is that a living entity is constitutionally part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. The Lord is compared to the Sun, and the living entities are compared to the molecules of sunshine. Under the spell of illusory energy, that spiritual spark is almost extinct. But, by practical devotional service, one is again revived to his natural constitutional position. When one is practicing such devotional service, it means that he is going back to his original normal position of liberation. Such devotional service can be practiced with one's senses, under the direction of a bona fide Spiritual Master. (More...)

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