So you should be very, very careful. Don't go to hear any Māyāvādī. There are many Māyāvādīs in the dress of Vaiṣṇavas. Śrī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has explained about them, that ei 'ta eka kali-celā nāke tilaka gale mālā, that "Here is a follower of Kali. Although he has got a tilaka on the nose and neck beads, but he's a kali-celā." If he's Māyāvādī, sahaja-bhajana kache mama saṅge laya pare bala. So these things are there. You have come to Vṛndāvana. Be careful, very careful. Māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile (CC Madhya 6.169). There are many Māyāvādīs here, many so-called tilaka-mālā, but you do not know what is there inside. But great ācāryas, they can find out.
- śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi
- pañcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā
- aikāntikī harer bhaktir
- utpātāyaiva kalpate
- (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.101)
They create disturbance only. Therefore we have to follow the Gosvāmīs, Gosvāmī, Gosvāmī literature, especially Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which we have translated in The Nectar of Devotion. Every one of you should very carefully read and make progress. Don't be victimized by the Māyāvādī so-called Vaiṣṇava. It is very dangerous.
Therefore it is said, sa saṁhitāṁ bhāgavatīṁ kṛtvānukramya ātma-jam (SB 1.7.8). It is very confidential subject matter. He taught it, instructed to Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Ātma-jam. Like father, like son. There is no difference between son and disciple. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita has equalized,
- tasmāt śiṣyaṁ ca putraṁ ca
- tāḍayet . . . na tu tāḍayet
- lālane bahavo doṣās
- tāḍane bahavo guṇāḥ
That is the, I mean to say, Vedic system—to teach the son and teach the disciple. If one cannot teach the son—the son is disobedient—he should give up his family life. Otherwise, a father is in obligation to teach the son properly. But if it is not possible . . . Sometimes it so happens as family members, they do not take care. Otherwise, Vyāsadeva's son is expected to become Śukadeva Gosvāmī. If not, such family connection should be given up. Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyasya varjanam (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 11.676). Family life, if it is favorable for advancing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it should be accepted; otherwise it should be rejected. Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyasya varjanam.
So what was the qualification of Śukadeva Gosvāmī which induced Vyāsadeva to teach him this saṁhitām? Śukam adhyāpayām āsa nivṛtti-niratam (SB 1.7.8): he has no more attraction for material world. That is the qualification. Nirvṛtti. There are two kinds of life: nirvṛtti and pravṛtti. Pravṛtti means materialistic, karmīs. Generally karmīs, they have got tendency to enjoy this material world. That is called pravṛtti. Pravṛtti-mārga. Pravṛttes tu . . . Pravṛtti is natural inclination. Anyone who has come to this material world . . . Pravṛttir eṣā bhūtānām. Everyone is in the pravṛtti-mārga. What is that pravṛtti-mārga? The pravṛtti-mārga is these things: sex, meat-eating, intoxication, like that. This is pravṛtti-mārga. Pravṛttir eṣā bhūtānāṁ nivṛttes tu mahā-phalām.