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Personal touch

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Preface and Introduction

Only the devotee, or he who is in personal touch with the Supreme Lord, enters into the Vaikuṇṭha planets or the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet.
BG Introduction:

One who desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman is at once transferred to the brahmajyoti of the Supreme Lord and thus attains the spiritual sky. The devotee, who wants to enjoy the association of the Lord, enters into the Vaikuṇṭha planets, which are innumerable, and the Supreme Lord by His plenary expansions as Nārāyaṇa with four hands and with different names like Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Govinda associates with him there. Therefore at the end of life the transcendentalists think either of the brahmajyoti, the Paramātmā or Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In all cases they enter into the spiritual sky, but only the devotee, or he who is in personal touch with the Supreme Lord, enters into the Vaikuṇṭha planets or the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 1

One must be completely freed from all material attachment and be situated on the plane of transcendence, which alone will help the devotee get in personal touch with the Personality of Godhead.
SB 1.6.21, Purport:

One can go out into the forest to attain spiritual perfection, but that does not mean that one can see the Lord personally there. One must be completely freed from all material attachment and be situated on the plane of transcendence, which alone will help the devotee get in personal touch with the Personality of Godhead. The best method is that one should live at a place where the transcendental form of the Lord is worshiped. The temple of the Lord is a transcendental place, whereas the forest is a materially good habitation.

The demigods are also associates of the Lord without personal touch, whereas the direct associates of the Lord are in constant personal touch with Him.
SB 1.15.49, Purport:

Vidura was an incarnation of Yamarāja. As an eternal servitor of the Lord, he displayed his devotional activities very ardently and lived a life of a pious man, so much so that a materialistic man like Dhṛtarāṣṭra also got salvation by his instruction. So by his pious activities in the devotional service of the Lord he was able to always remember the lotus feet of the Lord, and thus he became washed of all contamination of a śūdra-born life. At the end he was again received by the denizens of Pitṛloka and posted in his original position. The demigods are also associates of the Lord without personal touch, whereas the direct associates of the Lord are in constant personal touch with Him. The Lord and His personal associates incarnate in many universes without cessation. The Lord remembers them all, whereas the associates forget due to their being very minute parts and parcels of the Lord; they are apt to forget such incidents due to being infinitesimal.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

One of the gopīs, namely Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, was so much absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa by dint of Her personal touch with Him that She actually began to talk with a bumblebee.
Krsna Book 47:

One of the gopīs, namely Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, was so much absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa by dint of Her personal touch with Him that She actually began to talk with a bumblebee which was flying there and trying to touch Her lotus feet. While the other gopīs were talking with Kṛṣṇa's messenger Uddhava, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī took that bumblebee to be a messenger from Kṛṣṇa and began to talk with it as follows: “Bumblebee, you are accustomed to drinking honey from flower to flower, and therefore you have preferred to be a messenger of Kṛṣṇa, who is of the same nature as you. I can see on your mustaches the red powder of kuṅkuma which was smeared on the flower garland of Kṛṣṇa while it was pressed against the breasts of some other girl who is My competitor.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

One can actually associate with the Lord personally, and by such constant personal touch with the all-spiritual Lord, one will become spiritually self-realized.
Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

The Supreme Lord, the Absolute Truth, is all spirit, and therefore His name, fame, and pastimes are nondifferent from Him. All of them are identical. In other words, the holy name of the Lord is the Lord Himself, and this can be understood by realization. By chanting the holy names of the Lord, which are innumerable, one can actually associate with the Lord personally, and by such constant personal touch with the all-spiritual Lord, one will become spiritually self-realized. This process of self-realization is very suitable for the fallen souls of this age, when life is short and when people are slow in understanding the importance of spiritual realization, prone to be misled by false association and false spiritual masters, unfortunate in every respect, and continuously disturbed by innumerable material problems.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

But only the devotees, those who have practiced personal touch with the Supreme Lord, they enter into the Vaikuṇṭha planets or in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet.
Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

So any transcendentalist who at the end of life, either he thinks of the brahmajyoti or meditates upon the Paramātmā or thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in either case, they enter into the spiritual sky. But only the devotees, those who have practiced personal touch with the Supreme Lord, they enter into the Vaikuṇṭha planets or in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

Kṛṣṇa's personal touch is so sublime that Kṛṣṇa is carrying order of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 31, 1973:

Prabhupāda: Surpasses all kind of liberation. There are five kinds of liberation: sāyujya, sārūpya, sālokya, sāmīpya. But a pure devotee does not want any of such liberations. Dhiyamānāṁ na ghṛnanti (?). Even liberation is offered. Kṛṣṇa offers liberation very easily. But Kṛṣṇa's personal touch is so sublime that Kṛṣṇa is carrying order of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira is sending letter, handed over to Kṛṣṇa, and He's carrying to Duryodhana. So Nārada was very much surprised that this stage of dependent on devotee is very, very difficult to achieve. To achieve liberation is not very difficult, but when Kṛṣṇa becomes dependent on the order of a devotee, that is very difficult to achieve. So therefore pure devotional service surpasses all kinds of liberation.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

If you want personal touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then you have to adopt this devotional service, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.137-142 -- New York, November 29, 1966:

So if you want God, Kṛṣṇa, then there is no other way except this devotional service. Neither yoga, neither philosophical speculation, neither ritualistic performances, nor study in the Vedic literature, neither penance, austerities... All these formulas which are recommended for transcendental realization, they may help us to advance to a certain extent, but if you want personal touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then you have to adopt this devotional service, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There is no other way.

Festival Lectures

When you make a spiritual master you have got personal touch.
His Divine Grace Srila Sac-cid-ananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Appearance Day, Lecture -- London, September 3, 1971:

Śyāmasundara: "Can you associate through a book?" she asked.

Prabhupāda: Yes, through books, and also personal. Because when you make a spiritual master you have got personal touch. Not that in air you make a spiritual master. You make a spiritual master concrete. So as soon as you make a spiritual master, you should be inquisitive.

Correspondence

1967 Correspondence

I wish that after finishing your M.A. exams that you be fixed up and come for some time to Vrindaban in my personal touch.
Letter to Janardana -- New York 22 July, 1967:

I wish that after finishing your M.A. exams that you be fixed up and come for some time to Vrindaban in my personal touch. In the meantime, just go on organizing your Montreal center, and the Indian gentleman, Professor Dwivedi may be induced to take a more substantial interest in the temple. When I come back, I shall install Radha-Krishna Murti in the temple, and I hope it will be a great center for the society and for both Canada and the Indian community.

1968 Correspondence

One who is in personal touch with Krishna, their spiritual bliss is incomparable.
Letter to Gurudasa -- Los Angeles 14 December, 1968:

It is just like that in the milk, there is butter, but if you want concentrated butter, you have to churn milk and take out the butter. Similarly, Krishna is spread everywhere by different potencies but when there is question of love, we have to be in direct touch with Krishna. That is personalism. The heat of the impersonalist sunshine and the heat in the sunglobe is far different. One who is in personal touch with Krishna, their spiritual bliss is incomparable. The spiritual bliss derived from impersonalist realization is just like a drop of water in the presence of the Atlantic Ocean. That is the difference between personalism and impersonalism.

Page Title:Personal touch
Compiler:Labangalatika, ChandrasekharaAcarya
Created:13 of May, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=1, SB=2, CC=0, OB=2, Lec=4, Con=0, Let=2
No. of Quotes:11