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Practical devotees

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

One must be practical devotee, pure devotee. When he speaks, you should receive Bhāgavata, the message of Bhāgavata, Bhagavad-gītā from him.
Lecture on SB 1.2.18 -- Vrndavana, October 29, 1972:

Now one may say that "He's not following strictly the rules." But intentionally, if he's doing so, then it is very risky. He'll fall down. But by chance, if he does so, the next line says, kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā. Because he's sticking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will be again reformed. Kṣipram. Very soon, he'll be reformed. These are, the things are there. Therefore it is said, naṣṭa-prāyeṣu. Not that completely one becomes perfect. Even prāyeṣu, almost perfect, still, almost, not that completely, abhadreṣu, he has, he's trying to give up all bad habits, unwanted things. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣu abhadreṣu. How it is possible? Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā (SB 1.2.18). Not saptāhaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā, officially. This is karma-kāṇḍīya. "I sit down for one saptāha in a year, and then 357 days I do all nonsense." No. Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. One has to serve bhāgavata.

Bhāgavata means this, one who is related with Bhagavān. Bhāgavata. From bhagavat-śabda, from the word bhāgavata, bhāgavata. So bhāgavata means the grantha-bhāgavata, the book Bhāgavata, and the devotee bhāgavata. So either you read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam... But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam should be relished, understood through person bhāgavatam. It is recommendation. Svarūpa Dāmodara, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's secretary, personal secretary, he chastised one brāhmaṇa. He wrote something wrong, and after all, he gave him advice that "If you want to study Bhāgavata, then bhāgavata paro giya bhāgavata sthāne(?), try to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a devotee, not from a professional man who is earning his livelihood by reading Bhāgavata." He must be practical bhāgavata. Then you will gain. Sanātana Gosvāmī has also said that avaiṣṇava-mukhodgīrṇaṁ pūtaṁ hari-kathāmṛtam. Hari-kathā, amṛta, nectar, but still, although it is amṛta, it is not to be received from the mouth of a nondevotee. One must be practical devotee, pure devotee. When he speaks, you should receive Bhāgavata, the message of Bhāgavata, Bhagavad-gītā from him. Avaiṣṇava-mukhodgīrṇaṁ pūtaṁ hari-kathāmṛtam, śravaṇaṁ naiva kartavyam. Do not hear. Reject. Professional readers. Reject immediately. Those who are earning their livelihood by the Bhāgavata reading profession, you should immediately reject. This is the injunction. Not that "Oh, here is Bhāgavata. Here is Bhāgavata. I must sit down." No. Sanātana Gosvāmī says no. Śravaṇaṁ naiva kartavyam.

General Lectures

Unless you associate with practical devotees, you cannot understand or you cannot relish the transcendental nature of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, April 10, 1971:

So we do not know what is Hari, what is God, what is Kṛṣṇa, and what is our activity to please Him. That we have to learn. That we have to learn satāṁ prasaṅgāt, by association with devotees. Satāṁ prasaṅgāt. Just like if you are a businessman, suppose a sharebroker, if you are a member of the stock exchange, your business is flourishing. You get more opportunities. The scientists, they make some association. Every particular... The lawyers, they make an association, Bar Association. That is needed. The engineer, they make an association. The doctors, they make a medical club. Similarly, if you have to learn Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you have to admit yourself with the society for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is necessary. Satāṁ prasaṅgāt mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ. Unless you associate with practical devotees, you cannot understand or you cannot relish the transcendental nature of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ. Pleasing, rasāyanāḥ. Relishing some mellows, transcendental mellows. How? Satāṁ prasaṅgāt. Simply in the association. Sādhu-saṅge sato vṛtte. Rūpa Gosvāmī instructs that,

utsāhān dhairyāt niścayāt
tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt
sādhu-saṅge sato vṛtteḥ
ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati

If you actually..., if you are actually serious to understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you must be very much energetic, utsāhān: "Yes, I shall learn this art verily in this life." You must be fixed up, dṛḍha-vratāḥ. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is called dṛḍha-vratāḥ. Bhajanti māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ. That determination should be "Yes." Just like Dhruva Mahārāja, five-years-old boy. Nārada Mahārāja said, "My dear boy, you are king's son. You cannot undergo so much severe austerity. Why you are feeling so much insulted by your stepmother? Please go home." And Dhruva Mahārāja replied, "My dear sir, what you are saying is all right. But I am a son of kṣatriya. I am unpolite. I cannot accept your advice. I must see God. Please show me the way how I can get Him." That is determination, a five-years-old boy saying, "I must see God in this life. If you know something, how to do it, please explain that. Don't try to deviate me." That is determination.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Dāsya-rasa. (indistinct) (break) ...practical devotee, he cannot become (indistinct).
Morning Walks -- October 1-3, 1972, Los Angeles:

ayatīrtha: So in this way, the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa are in complete agreement.

Prabhupāda: Thus he becomes the (indistinct) of Kṛṣṇa.

Rāmeśvara: The other teachers, they don't talk...

Prabhupāda: When is Ekādaśī?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Ekādaśī?

Rāmeśvara: Tuesday is Ekādaśī.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Tuesday, tomorrow?

Rāmeśvara: Our calendar says Tuesday. It's obvious when they talk about their teachers that they never talk of service to Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Therefore, they have no realization. Our relationship is service. So one who is not engaged in the service of the Supreme, he has no realization. Whatever little realization he has got, that is called śānta-rasa.

Jayatīrtha: Dāsya realization is (indistinct).

Prabhupāda: Dāsya-rasa. (indistinct) (break) ...practical devotee, he cannot become (indistinct).

Jayatīrtha: (indistinct) what you were speaking about yesterday, that if someone claims to be a teacher but he doesn't actually have real knowledge, then he's simply cheating.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Rāmeśvara: There's nothing practical that they say.

Prabhupāda: Eh?

Rāmeśvara: They say nothing practical.

Prabhupāda: That means they do not follow any practical. That is their rascaldom. Nothing practical means they do not know what is the practical realization of God. That is their ignorance. And still they are claiming to be teachers. That is cheating. Just like these so-called scientists, they are theorizing, but they cannot practically prove. Therefore, their knowledge is imperfect. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). Jñānavān, the wise, after many, many births' cultivation of knowledge, when he surrenders, that is practical. Simply knowledge is useless, theoretical. When he practically surrenders, that is end of knowledge. That is perfection.

Page Title:Practical devotees
Compiler:Visnu Murti
Created:02 of Feb, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=2, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:3