Will it be more helpful if we become sannyasis???

krsna · March 20, 2005

NOT BY DRESS ALONE

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada

Question: Will it be more helpful if we become sannyasis?

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada: <font color="blue"> Never. The external garb of a sannyasi will not help anyone. If a devotee thinks that gurudeva is his life and soul, and serving gurudeva is his life’spurpose, then he will become a real sannyasi.

One has to become a devotee-sannyasi by being attached to gurudeva and the holy name. But those who will not serve Krishna under the guidance of gurudeva will have bad association, and will face disaster. They will never know the Supreme Lord, nor will they ever be able to serve him.

In this world, it is possible to take the garb of a sadhu and deceive others. But the omniscient Lord, who is the giver of the result of karma, will not let them get away with it. Those who are taking the garb of a sadhu and spending their time in bad association are only hurting themselves. Those who rely on others instead of relying on God face only misery. </font color>

— Excerpted from Prabhupada Saraswati Thakur. Mandala Publishing Group. Eugene, Oregon.

krsna · October 31, 2005

The last message of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur before His disappearance on 23 December, 1936 at Sri Gaudiya Math, Bagbazar, Calcutta.

"I have given trouble to many persons. As I have been compelled to speak the undeceitful truth, and have urged persons to worship God (Sri Hari) sincerely without deceitfulness, many persons may even have considered me to be their enemy. By inspiring them to be eagerly devoted to Sri Krishna sincerely without ulterior desires and deceitfulness, they will someday be able to understand why I have given trouble to them.

All should propagate the teachings of Sri Rupa and Raghunatha with great enthusiasm. Our highest and ultimate goal of life is to become the holy dust-particles of all the devoted successors of Srila Rupa Goswami. All of you should remain intimately united with whole-hearted allegiance to the Grace-Incarnate-Form-Gurudeva-(the Absolute Counterpart of the Supreme Lord) with the purpose of propitiating Him, Who is identical with Absolute Undivided Knowledge. All should live in this most perishable world somehow within limited means only for the object of worshipping Sri Hari. Don't give up Haribhajan in spite of hundreds of calamities, hundreds of scoldings and hundreds of harassments. Don't be disheartened to see that most of the conditioned souls of the world are not adoring the message of unadulterated pure devotion to Sri Krishna. Don't give up hearing and chanting 'Krishna-katha' (the glories of Sri Krishna- His Name-Form-Attributes-Pastimes), which is the life and only wealth of a true devotee. Always chant Harinam being humbler than a blade of grass and more forbearing than tree.

We cherish the desire of dedicating this body, which is equal to an inert mass of matter, a product of the material energy of the Lord, for oblation to Sankirtan-yajna of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu along with His personal associates. We are not desirous of getting the worldly name and fame of becoming a renowned man of action (Karmabir), or a god of piety (Dharmabir), but rather, we want to be the dust of the lotus feet of Srila Rupa Goswami, which is our actual wealth and our 'be-all and end-all'. The pure devotional channel of the flow of succession of Srila Bhakti Vinode Thakur will never be stopped. All of you should take the vow of propagating this pure devotional flow of thought with more earnestness and perseverance to fulfil the desire of Srila Bhakti Vinode Thakur. Amongst you there are many deserving proficient persons who are competent to do this-

We pray repeatedly by holding grass between our teeth- 'We only want to be the dust particles of the lotus feet of Sri Rupa Goswami in every birth'.

As long as we are in the grip of the shackles of non-eternal relations of this world prison-house, there will be, inevitably, numerous inconveniences and difficulties but we should neither be infatuated by those discomfitures nor should we think that our object of life is only to endeavour to remove disadvantages. It is necessary for us to have a clear conception of what our objective will be during our very existence in this world and how our eternal life will be after the removal of all worldly drawbacks and difficulties. It is also expedient that we should have a solution for whatever problems we face in this world in regard to attraction and repulsion, that is to say, whatever we want and whatever we do not want. As much as we shall remain aloof from the Lotus Feet of Sri Krishna, as much will be the grip of worldly attractions and repulsions. We can realise the transcendental sweetness of the loving service of Sri Krishna when we are eligible to perform chanting of the transcendental Holy Name- 'Sri Krishna' that is beyond the domain of worldly attraction and repulsion. Krishna-katha apparently seems startling and perplexing. All so-called human beings are struggling more or less, knowingly or unknowingly, to eliminate obstacles causing hindrance to our realisation of the Eternal Objective. Our only necessity is to have access into the Blissful Transcendental Abode, transcending all feelings of conflict.

We have no attachment or detachment to anybody in this world. All arrangements in this world are momentary. It is essential for everybody to get the Highest Objective- Absolute Bliss. Let all of you be blessed by getting the service of the Original Absolute Counterpart- Grace Incarnate Form of the Supreme Lord by means of the attributes of one-pointed devotion and concord. Let the holy stream of the sacred devotional thought of the associates of Srila Rupa Goswami continue to flow uninterruptedly. We should never be indifferent under any circumstances to Sri Krishna Sankirtan-yajna, which can bestow sevenfold principal attainments. When there will manifest increasing devout devotion to Sankirtan, we will achieve all attainments. Let all of you propagate the teachings of Sri Rupa-Raghunatha with great enthusiasm and undaunted spirit, taking absolute shelter of the personal associates of Sri Rupa Goswami".