Better to set the example rather than to criticize

“…I have noted your several complaints against the devotees but it would be better to set the example rather than to criticize the defects of the devotees.

We should always remember that we recruit members from people in general.It is not expected that every one of our members should be immediately to the standard qualification.

The best thing for you is to set the example by your personal behavior and try to reform the others, not by criticizing but by friendly behavior. If sometimes there are any disagreements, we should try to forget such incidences and be always in friendship with each other…”

(Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja, Excerpt from a letter to Vrinda – Nairobi 14 October, 1971)

Taste is the key for understanding bhakti-tattva

svalpapi rucir eva syad bhakti-tattvavabodhika
yuktis tu kevala naiva yad asya apratisthata

BRS 1.1.45/JD ch. 13 p. 309

One can comprehend bhakti-tattva when one has gained even a little taste for sastras that establish bhakti-tattva, such as Srimad Bhagavatam.

However, one cannot understand this bhakti-tattva by dry logic alone, because logic has no basis (when it comes to transcendental reality), and arguments are always inconclusive.

From Sri Slokamritam

The first two Signs of Pure Bhakti

Pure bhakti, unmixed with karma and jnana, is like a wish-fulfilling creeper appearing in the field of the senses.

This bhakti is the refuge of those devotees who firmly vow (dhrita vrata) never to seek any fruits except bhakti, like bees (madhu vrata) who are obsessed with the desire to taste only nectar. The very life of this creeper is a favorable attitude for service for the pleasure of the Lord. Like a touchstone, the very presence of bhakti makes the heart and senses gradually lose their iron-like material qualities and acquire pure golden spiritual qualities.

As a sprouting creeper grows upwards and unfurls two leaves, in the process of sadhana bhakti, two qualities make their appearance. The first is called kleshaghni (relief from material distress) and the second is called shubhada (beginning of all auspiciousness).

From Sri Madhurya Kadambini of Srila Visvanath Cakravarti Thakura

Choti Si Kishori

choṭī sī kisorī mere āńgana meń ḍole re
pāva me pāyaliyā bāke jham-jhamā-jham bole re

A young girl is wandering in my courtyard and Her anklebells are jingling.

maine bāse pūchī lālī kahā tero nāma re
hāsa hāsa ke batāve boto rādhā mero nāma re

When I asked Her, “Lali, what is Your name?” Laughing, She told me, “My name is Radha.”

maine bāse pūchī lālī kahā tero gāva re
mīṭhī mīṭhī bole mose barasāno mero gāva re

When I asked Her, “Lali, where is Your village?” She sweetly replied, “My village is Varsana.”

maine bāse pūchī lālī, kauna tero sasurāla re
śaramāke yo bole mose jāvaṭa grāma sasurāla re

When I asked Her, “Lali, who are Your in-laws?” Coyly She replied, “My in-laws reside in the village of Yavata.”

maine bāse pūchī lālī kauna tero bharatāra re
muskarāke bolī mose śyāma mero bharatāra re

When I asked Her, “Lali, who is Your beloved?” Smiling She replied, “My beloved is Syama.”

maine bāse pūchī lālī, khāogī kā mākhana
āhā, āhā bole, mere āge pīche ḍole re

When I asked Her, “Lali, will You eat some butter?” She replied, “Yes, yes” and began prancing around Me.

candrasakhī bhaja bāla kṛṣṇa chavi
sapane me āke mose mīṭḥī mīṭḥī bole re

Candrasakhi worships the beautiful boy Sri Krsna Radhika came in a dream and spoke so sweetly and the jingling of Her anklebells was so charming.

Singer: Sriman Krishori Mohan Das and Srimati Sudevi Devi Dasi

Sri Guru never dies

Those who think that I will soon die and then they can take over and become Guru, are guru-drohi (offenders to Sri Guru).

Sri Guru never dies, never, ever.He continues to live in the heart of those disciples who are chaste and loyal to him. And what is loyalty? Loyalty is when you act according to the desire of Sri Guru, not according to your own desire.

This is the mood of the gopis. They only want to please Radha and Krishna and fulfil Their desires. They have no self-interest whatsoever. Please try to understand this and take it into your heart.

(Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami Maharaja, LA, May 2005)

The Jiva in Maya

Apart from the ever-liberated devotees, there are the conditioned souls who always turn away from the service of the Lord.  They are perpetually conditioned in this material world and are subjected to the material tribulations brought about by different bodily forms in hellish conditions.

Due to his being opposed to Krsna consciousness, the conditioned soul is punished by the witch of the external energy, maya.  He is thus ready to suffer the threefold miseries; brought about by the body and mind, the inimical behavior of other living entities and natural disturbances caused by the demigods.

In this way the conditioned soul becomes the servant of lusty desires, and when these are not fulfilled, he becomes a servant of anger and continues to be kicked by the external energy, maya.  Wandering and wandering throughout the universe, he may by chance get the association of a devotee physician, whose instructions and hymns make the witch of external energy flee.

The conditioned soul thus gets into touch with the devotional service of Lord Krsna, and in this way he can approach nearer and nearer to the Lord.

C.C. Madhya 22, 12-15

Does anyone in this world respect a real devotee?

In a world full of cheaters, cheaters are respected. Pure devotees who do not misguide people are not respected in this world. It has become fashionable to be cheated by those who misguide people in the name of Hari-katha.

Genuine devotees and those who expose non-devotees are often mistaken for ordinary people because non-devotees and cheaters mislead ordinary people by calling these devotees thieves. In this way they try to sustain their own cheating. The illusory energy does not allow the living entities to become sincere at any cost.

Therefore she arranges various tricks to keep people away from the association of real devotees.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada