Sadhu-sanga and Institutions

[Guest guest]

The following letter to the Editor appears in the most recent Sri

Krishna-kathamrita (No. 6). Madhavananda Prabhu's response is of interest to

all members of the Krishna conscious society.

 

Sadhu-sanga and Institutions

 

It seems that although we receive the favor of sadhu we are

frequently not able to comprehend or keep it. What does it depend on? Our

good luck, sukriti?

And please be merciful to this fallen soul and tell her why Srila

Gour Govinda Maharaja said that he wanted to show people who are leaving

Prabhupada's movement and going outside for so-called higher association,

that everything is here in ISKCON, in his Guru Maharaja's movement, and that

there is no reason for them to leave.

- Aradhana Priya Dasi

 

Reply

 

To get the mercy of sadhu we have to qualify ourselves internally by

following their instructions, as our Guru Maharaja would say, "as it is,

without adding your own deliberation to it". If we really receive the favor

of sadhu then there is no question of ever losing it. However, due to our

offences we may become temporarily separated from it.

The association of sadhus is not something that can be gained by any

mundane endeavor, because it is not possible for the conditioned soul to see

who is a genuine sadhu and who is not. The only hope that we have to obtain

such association is the mercy of Krishna. Krishna wants us to have

sadhu-sanga more than we do. We should chant Hare Krishna and cry in our

heart. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur has described:

"At the dawn of our spiritual life we sincerely and with complete

submission and self-surrender pray to God for receiving the

protection of Sad Guru. The Supreme Lord perceiving our earnestness

and devotion with a view to guide us on the true path will send a

real guru to us. Otherwise it is impossible for us to find Sad Guru

by our own fallible energy. If we guide ourselves by our own energy

we shall come across the pseudo-gurus and being caught hold of them

by their temporary pleasing manners, run down to hell".

The Harmonist, p. 139 Vol. XXVII, No. 5 Oct 1929.

Regarding your second question: Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami

remarked many times that he wanted to show devotees that everything was in

Srila Prabhupada's society and that it was not necessary for anyone to go

outside. He did not express this out of any dogmatic or sectarian feelings

or because of enmity to anyone. From his boyhood he was friends with many

Vaishnavas from a wide variety of groups and he was always affectionate and

respectful in his dealings with everyone. He spoke in this way because he

saw ISKCON as his Gurudeva's seva-sanga. He had faith that if devotees

sincerely served Srila Prabhupada and Krishna then it was not necessary for

them to go elsewhere, that Krishna would provide everything they needed to

make advancement. He taught that regardless of what institution one may be

affiliated with, devotees should render faithful loving service to the

mission and instructions of their respective gurus. By thus pleasing the

spiritual master one would obtain all perfection.

In an August 1994 interview for the Srila Prabhupada Centennial he

was asked, "What can we do to bring devotees back to ISKCON who have left?"

His reply was that devotees should simply speak nice krishna-katha and have

nice Vaishnava dealings with others. If that was done, he said, then no one

would want to leave the society.

 

Reprinted with permission.