Find fault with my own damned mind and think like the vaishnava mahajan who sings..

[krsna]

This Wicked Mind

 

By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur

 

From an English Lecture given at

The Calcutta Gaudiya Math the evening of 7 Dec 1936:

 

This wicked mind, which is never to be trusted, should be broomsticked every morning with such warnings as, "Be not anxious to find fault with others, or to declare thyself a true sincere, bonafide bhakta, which certainly thou art not!"

 

There is an adage to the effect that "para-carccakera gati nahi kona kale — a man who is habituated to criticize others conduct will never prosper!"

 

Let others do whatever they like, I have no concern for them. I should rather find fault with my own damned mind and think like the vaishnava mahajana [his father Thakur Bhaktivinode, from Saranagati] who sings:

 

amara jibana, sada pape rata

nahiko punyera lesa

para-sukhe duhkhi, sada mithya-bhasi

para-duhkha sukha-karo

 

"Ever engaged in vicious activity... and without the slightest trace of virtue in me. A liar as I am, always sorry at others pleasures and merry at other’s sorrows, troubles and cares."

 

We should always remember this song and engage our mind ceaselessly in hari-bhajan. We should not run about attacking others with dissuading policy; such conduct behooves only deceitful persons and not preachers.

 

[krsna]

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati

 

Question: Are sin and offense the same?

 

Answer: No. One commits sin by disobeying the rules of so-ciety, but one commits offense by showing disrespect to the lotus feet of Vishnu and vaisnava.

 

Offense is a million times more dangerous than sin. Sin can be destroyed by atonement, but offense cannot be destroyed that way.

 

Only by taking the all-beneficial names of Sri Sri Gaura-Nityananda, the friends of the fallen, can one make offense go away.

 

— From Prabhupada Saraswati Thakur.

Mandala Publishing

Group. Eugene Oregon. 1997.