DEPENDENT ON MERCY

[Guest guest]

A conversation with

Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja-----------

Devotee: It is said that hearing about

Krishna is as good as seeing Krishna.

Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, that verse is there

in the Bhgavatam — srutekita-patham,

the process of bona fide hearing [bh. 3.9.11].

, if you hear then you will be able

to see. premañjana-cchurita-bhakti vilocanena —

you will be endowed with that eye. [brahmasa

hitā 5.38] By hearing from the

lips of a pure vaiava, that premñjana, the

ointment of love, will be smeared on your eyes.

Then you can see. By hearing krsna-katha

regularly — the heart will be cleansed

of all dirty things — hdy anta

stho hy abhadrani. [bh 1.2.17]

Devotee: You have said that in

kali-yuga there is no such thing as

achieving perfection via sadhana,

so what is the purpose of

sadhana?”

Gour Govinda Swami: We have

to do some sadhana because the

guru has told us to do it. We must

obey, but we are not dependent on

it. We are completely dependent on

mercy. What sadhana can we do in

kali-yuga? We have been doing

sadhana for so many years and

what have we attained? So many nasty things

are still there. But the guru has told us to do it,

so we are doing it.

Devotee: So is there any benefit from

chanting extra rounds on ekadasi?

Gour Govinda Swami: Yes. If the guru tells

you, you have to do it. Unless you execute and

obey his order, how can you get the guru’s

mercy? And that mercy is very powerful.

Devotee: In our heart we have to cry for

the mercy. We have no qualifications.

Gour Govinda Swami: What qualification

do we have? We have nothing, being so fallen,

most degraded, no good qualities, only bad

things and nonsense. Disqualification is our

qualification. So what sadhana can we do?

Although we are doing it, because the guru

has told us, we are not dependent on it. We

are only dependent on the mercy.

— Questions following a lecture on Srimad Bha /images/graemlins/smile.gifgavatam 30 March 1994