Text 21: The symptoms of a sādhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his charact ineristics are sublime.
Text 22: Such a sādhu engages in staunch devotional service to the Lord without deviation. For the sake of the Lord he renounces all other connections, such as family relationships and friendly acquaintances within the world.
Text 23: Engaged constantly in chanting and hearing about Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the sādhus do not suffer from material miseries because they are always filled with thoughts of My pastimes and activities.
Text 24: O My mother, O virtuous lady, these are the qualities of great devotees who are free from all attachment. You must seek attachment to such holy men, for this counteracts the pernicious effects of material attachment.
Text 25: In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin
yāvat te māyayā spṛṣṭā
bhramāma iha karmabhiḥ
tāvad bhavat-prasańgānāḿ
sańgaḥ syān no bhave bhave
TRANSLATION
Dear Lord, as long as we have to remain within this material world due to our material contamination and wander from one type of body to another and from one planet to another, we pray that we may associate with those who are engaged in discussing Your pastimes. We pray for this benediction life after life, in different bodily forms and on different planets.
yatra bhāgavatā rājan
sādhavo viśadāśayāḥ
bhagavad-guṇānukathana-
śravaṇa-vyagra-cetasaḥ
tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic-caritra-
pīyūṣa-śeṣa-saritaḥ paritaḥ sravanti
tā ye pibanty avitṛṣo nṛpa gāḍha-karṇais
tān na spṛśanty aśana-tṛḍ-bhaya-śoka-mohāḥ
TRANSLATION
My dear King, in the place where pure devotees live, following the rules and regulations and thus purely conscious and engaged with great eagerness in hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in that place if one gets a chance to hear their constant flow of nectar, which is exactly like the waves of a river, one will forget the necessities of life — namely hunger and thirst — and become immune to all kinds of fear, lamentation and illusion.
Manaḥ-śikṣā
by Raghunath Das Goswami
gurau goṣṭhe goṣṭhālayiṣu sujane bhū-sura-gaṇe
sva-mantre śrī-nāmni vraja-nava-yuva-dvandva-smaraṇe
sadā dambhaṁ hitvā kuru ratim apūrvām atitarāṁ
aye svāntar bhrātaś caṭubhir abhiyāce dhṛta-padaḥ ||1||
O mind, I grasp your feet and beg you with sweet words: Please cast away all hypocrisy and develop intense, unprecedented love for the spiritual master, Vrajabhumi, the people of Vraja, the Vaishnavas, the brahmins, your initiation mantra, the holy name, and in remembering the fresh young couple of Vraja, Radha and Krishna.
na dharmaṁ nādharmaṁ śruti-gaṇa-niruktaṁ kila kuru
vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pracura-paricaryām iha tanu |
śacī-sūnuṁ nandīśvara-pati-sutatve guru-varaṁ
mukunda-preṣṭhatve smara param ajasraṁ nanu manaḥ ||2||
O mind, don’t concern yourself with the duties and impious deeds described in the Vedas. Rather, intently serve Sri Sri Radha-Krishna in Vraja. Always remember that the son of Sachi is the son of Maharaja Nanda, and that the guru is Mukunda’s dearmost.
yadīccher āvāsaṁ vraja-bhuvi sa-rāgaṁ pratijanur
yuva-dvandvaṁ tac cet paricaritum ārād abhilaṣeḥ |
svarūpaṁ śrī-rūpaṁ sa-gaṇam iha tasyāgrajam api
sphuṭaṁ premṇā nityaṁ smara nama tadā tvaṁ śṛṇu manaḥ ||3||
O Mind! If you desire to reside in Vraja birth after birth, and if you desire to directly serve the youthful Divine Couple there with attachment, then with intense love always remember and bow down to Srila Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, to Srila Rupa Gosvami and his elder brother, Srila Sanatana Gosvami, and to all their associates and followers, and then listen to them.
भवापवर्गो भ्रमतो यदा भवे-
ज्जनस्य तर्ह्यच्युत सत्समागम: ।
सत्सङ्गमो यर्हि तदैव सद्गतौ
परावरेशे त्वयि जायते मति: ॥ ५३ ॥
bhavāpavargo bhramato yadā bhavej
janasya tarhy acyuta sat-samāgamaḥ
sat-saṅgamo yarhi tadaiva sad-gatau
parāvareśe tvayi jāyate matiḥ
Synonyms
bhava — of material existence; apavargaḥ — the cessation; bhramataḥ — who has been wandering; yadā — when; bhavet — occurs; janasya — for a person; tarhi — at that time; acyuta — O infallible Lord; sat — of saintly devotees; samāgamaḥ — the association; sat-saṇgamaḥ — saintly association; yarhi — when; tadā — then; eva — only; sat — of the saintly; gatau — who is the goal; para — of superior (the causes of material creation); avara — and inferior (their products); īśe — for the Supreme Lord; tvayi — Yourself; jāyate — is born; matiḥ — devotion.
Translation
When the material life of a wandering soul has ceased, O Acyuta, he may attain the association of Your devotees. And when he associates with them, there awakens in him devotion unto You, who are the goal of the devotees and the Lord of all causes and their effects.
भक्तिं मुहु: प्रवहतां त्वयि मे प्रसङ्गो
भूयादनन्त महताममलाशयानाम् ।
येनाञ्जसोल्बणमुरुव्यसनं भवाब्धिं
नेष्ये भवद्गुणकथामृतपानमत्त: ॥ ११ ॥
bhaktiṁ muhuḥ pravahatāṁ tvayi me prasaṅgo
bhūyād ananta mahatām amalāśayānām
yenāñjasolbaṇam uru-vyasanaṁ bhavābdhiṁ
neṣye bhavad-guṇa-kathāmṛta-pāna-mattaḥ
Synonyms
bhaktim — devotional service; muhuḥ — constantly; pravahatām — of those who perform; tvayi — unto You; me — my; prasaṅgaḥ — intimate association; bhūyāt — may it become; ananta — O unlimited; mahatām — of the great devotees; amala-āśayānām — whose hearts are freed from material contamination; yena — by which; añjasā — easily; ulbaṇam — terrible; uru — great; vyasanam — full of dangers; bhava-abdhim — the ocean of material existence; neṣye — I shall cross; bhavat — Your; guṇa — transcendental qualities; kathā — pastimes; amṛta — nectar, eternal; pāna — by drinking; mattaḥ — mad.
Translation
Dhruva Mahārāja continued: O unlimited Lord, kindly bless me so that I may associate with great devotees who engage in Your transcendental loving service constantly, as the waves of a river constantly flow. Such transcendental devotees are completely situated in an uncontaminated state of life. By the process of devotional service I shall surely be able to cross the nescient ocean of material existence, which is filled with the waves of blazing, firelike dangers. It will be very easy for me, for I am becoming mad to hear about Your transcendental qualities and pastimes, which are eternally existent.
Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj compares the power of Hari-katha to the destructive power of acid.
Giving advice on how to carry on Sriman Mahaprabhu’s preaching movement:
Sincerity of heart is the real capital. If it is found anywhere, then Guru and Krishna will always be on that side. … God willing, one’s endeavours will grow. They will grow according to the sincerity of feeling. … These people will have to begin in a humble way. Their sincerity and goodness will be their capital. They will not have so much grandeur, money, or men. In a mild way, heart within and God overhead, they may launch their missionary work.
hridi kritva harim gehat pravrajet sa narottamah
(Srimad Bhagavatam 1.13.27)
A narottam sannyasi has been qualified in this way: with Hari and Guru in his heart, he leaves the world and connects his individual interest to the cause of the Supreme. Gehat [from home] means from individual consideration. A narottam sannyasi renounces home and devotes himself to the public’s interest, to the distribution of Guru and Hari to one and all.
From Sri Rupa Goswami Socak
1) If Rupa Gosvami had not appeared in Kali-yuga, who would have opened the great store-house of vraja-prema and distributed its contents freely?
2) Just as a swan separates milk from water, who could have separated the rasas to taste them? Abandoning everything, he performed bhajana in Vrndavana and wrote his rasika literatures.
3) When the yellow forest flowers blossom and fruits ripen, he lived like a bee taking the nectar from lotuses – who could have understood the nectar he was collecting?
4) Who could have understood Krsna’s lilas in Mathura and Vrndavana? How could we have known the sweet vraja-lilas and the love between Radha-Madhava?
5) By the mercy of his lotus feet, all can sing about and attain such divine bliss. The surrendered Madhavadasa is always praying to embrace Rupa’s glories.
Text 15: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, about whom glorification, remembrances, audience, prayers, hearing and worship can at once cleanse the effects of all sins of the performer.
Text 16: Let me offer my respectful obeisances again and again unto the all-auspicious Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The highly intellectual, simply by surrendering unto His lotus feet, are relieved of all attachments to present and future existences and without difficulty progress toward spiritual existence.
Text 17: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa again and again because the great learned sages, the great performers of charity, the great workers of distinction, the great philosophers and mystics, the great chanters of the Vedic hymns and the great followers of Vedic principles cannot achieve any fruitful result without dedication of such great qualities to the service of the Lord.
Text 18: Kirāta, Hūṇa, Āndhra, Pulinda, Pulkaśa, Ābhīra, Śumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.
Text 19: He is the Supersoul and the Supreme Lord of all self-realized souls. He is the personification of the Vedas, religious scriptures and austerities. He is worshiped by Lord Brahmā and Śiva and all those who are transcendental to all pretensions. Being so revered with awe and veneration, may that Supreme Absolute be pleased with me.
Text 20: May Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is the worshipable Lord of all devotees, the protector and glory of all the kings like Andhaka and Vṛṣṇi of the Yadu dynasty, the husband of all goddesses of fortune, the director of all sacrifices and therefore the leader of all living entities, the controller of all intelligence, the proprietor of all planets, spiritual and material, and the supreme incarnation on the earth (the supreme all in all), be merciful upon me.
