Chapter Three: On the Way to Śrī Vṛndāvan Dhām

A lecture by
His Divine Grace
Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj

When Mahāprabhu would hear the name of ‘Vṛndāvan’, He would become ecstatic in bhāva, in prema, and would lose His senses in divine love. While describing His travels in Vṛndāvan, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī said, “I cannot even express His mood.”

When Mahāprabhu was in Purī Dhām during the time of Lord Jagannāth’s Ratha Yātrā, Svarūp Dāmodar would sing and the Lord would dance in ecstasy. Mahāprabhu Himself would not sing so much, but Svarūp Dāmodar would sing, and He would dance.

In one way Vṛndāvan is a very difficult place — whether going, leaving, moving around, or living there, everyone must be very careful. When Jagadānanda Prabhu wanted to go to Vṛndāvan, Mahāprabhu gave him four instructions:

śīghra āsiha, tāhāṅ nā rahiha chira-kāla
govardhane nā chaḍiha dekhite ‘gopāla’

“If you want to go to Vṛndāvan, you can go, but don’t stay too long. Don’t climb upon Govardhan Hill even to see the Gopāl Deity there, and always stay with Rūpa and Sanātan. Take their guidance and don’t leave their association.” These were three of His directives and the fourth was, “Don’t imitate the Vraja-vāsīs.”

Jagadānanda Prabhu was Mahāprabhu’s good friend and is considered an incarnation of Satyabhāmā. He was extremely attached to Mahāprabhu and sometimes would show his affection in unusual ways. Mahāprabhu instructed him: “Don’t imitate or intimately associate with the Vraja-vāsīs.”

Jagadānanda Prabhu knew everything about the rules and regulations for living in the Holy Dhām, but Mahāprabhu showed Himself as thinking he was not so qualified. He therefore gave some instruction, “Jagadānanda wants to go to Vṛndāvan alone, but I do not feel that it is good.” In this way He checked him many times.

Lastly, Jagadānanda was very sad to see Mahāprabhu’s renounced mood. He could not tolerate it, so he did not want to always stay with Mahāprabhu. Instead, he wanted to go to Vṛndāvan. At that time Mahāprabhu gave these four directives to him and gave him permission to go: “You can go, but do not stay for long because everywhere there is some work of illusion, Māyā. Māyā covers everything in this mundane world. It may be Vṛndāvan, Nabadwīp, or Purī, but everywhere there is some covering of Māyā, and if you stay too long in such places, you may be attracted by Māyā’s work and so make some offences to the Dhām.”

Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur says in his book Śrī Nabadvīpa-bhāva-taraṅga: jaḍamāyā bhūmi jala dravya yata āra. What we see in Nabadwīp Dhām, that is all jaḍa, mundane. But actually inside of that mundane form, when Māyā will mercifully remove the cover, we will see the real form of the Dhām.

Even to see the outside of the Dhām is beneficial, but if we make aparādh, offence, it is detrimental to our spiritual life. And if we cannot see properly the real transcendental Dhām, at least we should try not to see the opposite thing — to see it as only mundane.

When Mahāprabhu experienced mahābhāva for seven days in Śrīvās Paṇḍit’s house, the different devotees saw Him in different Forms. Devotees of Rāmachandra saw Mahāprabhu as Rāmachandra, devotees of Viṣṇu saw Him as Viṣṇu; others saw Him in the Form of Nṛsiṁhadev, and yet others saw Him as different incarnations of Viṣṇu.

In that gathering Mahāprabhu restricted Mukunda Prabhu: “I shall not give you darśan.”

Mukunda remained outside the house, weeping. Seeing him crying, the devotees reported to Mahāprabhu, “Mukunda is very sad and he wants to end his life by drowning in the River Ganges. He does not want to maintain his body if he cannot see Your Form. He is continually crying outside.”

Mukunda sent a message with the devotees asking Mahāprabhu, “When shall I see Your Form?”

Mahāprabhu answered, “After crores of births he will be able to see Me.”

Hearing this, Mukunda became very happy and began dancing outside the entrance, “Oh, after only crores of births I will again see Mahāprabhu! Therefore, I have no problem. Crores of births I can tolerate to again have His darśan.”

Hearing that, Mahāprabhu was happy and said, “Now he has already crossed those crores of births and he can see Me — he can come immediately.”

So the devotees called Mukunda, “Oh Mukunda, come, Mahāprabhu is calling you.”

But Mukunda said, “Mahāprabhu said ‘after crores of births’, then how can I go there now? If I go now, I will not be able to see the real Form of Mahāprabhu. Only after crores of births shall I be able to see, but not now — if I ‘see’ Him now, that will not be really seeing Him, it will be illusion. So why shall I go there? I do not want to go there now.”

Real vision is necessary, and that is the main thing. Otherwise, seeing the Deity, the Dhām, or anything else is only an exercise of the eye; it is not actual vision, and we shall not gain real benefit from that. But Mahāprabhu said, “Now his crores of births have gone, and he can come and see Me.”

Mukunda very much chastised himself that he had done wrong, and so had caused Mahāprabhu to at first refuse him entrance. Mahāprabhu then showed His real Form to him.

The main thing is that without devotion and transcendental knowledge we can neither see the real Vṛndāvan Dhām nor the real Nām, Rūpa, Guṇa and Līlā (Name, Form, Qualities, and Pastimes) of the Lord. All these are transcendental; therefore, we cannot see them with our mundane eyes — that is the main thing.

If we go to Vṛndāvan or stay in Nabadwīp, the same is true, but still these places are Holy Dhāms, and they emanate auspiciousness. We can touch a drop of that if we stay there without offence. In that way we can touch the glow of that jyoti, that effulgence. The Dhām is covered by illusion, but even so, there is some brilliance, and that glow or brilliance of the Dhām may touch us if we stay there without offence. But if we stay there too long, we may become overly familiar, and then that glow may leave us. That glow is something like light, but it is more than that; it is the transcendental world and it is fully conscious.

It was for our instruction that Mahāprabhu advised Jagadānanda, “Do not stay in Vṛndāvan for a long time as there is more possibility of making offence, and do not go upon Govardhan Hill because this Hill is a form of Kṛṣṇa.”

In the scriptures it is mentioned that Govardhan has two forms: one is as a servitor, and the other form is as Kṛṣṇa Himself who accepts service from the devotees. So Mahāprabhu instructed Jagadānanda, “Don’t go upon Govardhan Hill, and when you stay in Vṛndāvan, you must stay with Rūpa Goswāmī and Sanātan Goswāmī. Under their guidance no problem will arise, and there will be less chance to make offence. If you stay with them, you will not make any offence there. Staying with Rūpa-Sanātan is also a great responsibility, but by My order you can stay there securely and follow their guidance.”

Later there was a Pastime where Jagadānanda became very angry with Sanātan — but that is their līlā. Actually, Jagadānanda Prabhu is a pārṣad (eternal associate) of Mahāprabhu, but Mahāprabhu is always teaching us through His devotees.

The main principle is that when we go to Vṛndāvan, we must follow a devotee. To keep ourselves within the proper conception, we must take the shelter, āśraya, of a real devotee; otherwise, if we think, “I will do bhajan alone in Vṛndāvan”, it may be most unbeneficial.

Many of Śrīla Prabhupād Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s disciples wanted to do bhajan there, but Śrīla Prabhupād Saraswatī Ṭhākur did not agree with that. Not only that, but after he himself went to Vṛndāvan, he expressed: “I am very unfortunate; I did not see there even one proper, perfect devotee.”

There were many bābājīs in Vṛndāvan at that time, many of whom were famous and widely acclaimed to be siddha-mahāpuruṣas (perfected souls). But, with his hands held to his forehead, Śrīla Prabhupād Saraswatī Ṭhākur said, “I did not see any perfect Vaiṣṇava in Vṛndāvan. This is my misfortune.”

So we must be cautious with our knowledge. Knowledge is a type of power and should be used wisely. This caution has been given to us in the books. But transcendental knowledge is another thing; still, if we can use even mundane knowledge wisely, we must gain some benefit. It was for this reason that Mahāprabhu told Jagadānanda Prabhu: “When you are in Vṛndāvan, use your knowledge wisely and you will be benefitted. Follow Rūpa and Sanātan Goswāmī, not by imitating their practising life, their sādhana, but by following their directives.”

The scriptures advise us, “You must follow what Kṛṣṇa says, but you are not to try to imitate what He does.”

The advice of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is, “Do not even think to imitate Kṛṣṇa or His powerful devotees. Lord Śiva digested an ocean of poison, but you have no capacity to do that. If you try, you will die.”

We have much news of the transcendental world such as through the scriptures, but only when we can use that wisely and properly will we be benefitted; otherwise, we will be the losers. Everywhere there is some danger, so we should always exercise caution.

Vṛndāvan Dhām is transcendental, though the word ‘transcendental’ does not seem sufficient to properly describe it. We can say ‘spiritual world’, but that is also insufficient. Vṛndāvan Dhām is chinmay Dhām; it is transcendental, it is conscious, but it is also more than that.

Rūpa Goswāmī gave a very nice śloka about that world and that type of ecstasy:

vyatītya bhāvanā-vartma yaś chamatkāra-bhāra-bhūḥ
hṛdi sattvojjvale bādhaṁ svadate sa raso mataḥ

He says vyatītya bhāvanā, that plane is over and above whatever we can reach with the fullest extent of our knowledge. It is far beyond our understanding; it is inconceivable to us, but at the same time it is so nice that we cannot even imagine it. But it is our own property, and we can get it. Not only can we get it but we must get it one day; otherwise, we have no hope. Today or tomorrow, or maybe after millions of births, but we must get that. There is no other way for us.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam says:

nṛ-deham ādyaṁ sulabhaṁ sudurlabhaṁ
plavaṁ sukalpaṁ guru-karṇadhāram
mayānukūlena nabhasvateritaṁ
pumān bhavābdhiṁ na taret sa ātma-hā

We must utilise this chance of our human birth immediately. We now have this human body, and it is very suitable for practising Kṛṣṇa consciousness. With other bodies like those of cows, horses, or trees, consciousness is insufficient. We are fortunate because now we have a human body — not only a human body, but a civilised human body with developed consciousness having taken birth in a suitable place. We are not as jungle-men. Therefore, having this human form with developed consciousness, one who does not take the opportunity to practise Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a suicidal person. There is no certainty whether we will get another chance, so we must immediately take advantage of this opportunity.

Devotee: Śrīla Mahārāj, in the English civilisation we never heard before about Goloka, or chinmay Dhām. In English there are no words to properly describe these things. So, how are we to suitably express them?

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: In some way we shall try to give a description. We shall try to give some general direction. Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī did that also in his verse:

vyatītya bhāvanā-vartma yaś chamatkāra-bhāra-bhūḥ
hṛdi sattvojjvale bāḍaṁ svadate sa raso mataḥ

It is beyond your intelligence, beyond your whole civilisation, everything. Perhaps we can know up to the fullest extent of our civilisation, but it is beyond that.

Devotee: Rūpa Goswāmī can express this using Sanskrit and Bengali words, and Your Divine Grace can also. But how shall we translate the word divya? If we say divine, that indicates only heaven; and if we say consciousness, that is only general consciousness. There is no word for Goloka, and no word for chinmay. We need to translate into English, but we don’t have the appropriate words, then what shall we do?

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: We will always try our best to express everything properly according to our capacity.

Even our own understanding may not be real, actually, although our feelings tell us it is. In my own childhood when I used to hear songs about Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-līlā, sometimes I would sit as if unconscious while imagining those Pastimes. I would visualise what is happening there, what Kṛṣṇa is doing, what His associates are doing, and many things. Now I think differently, but at that time I thought what I saw was real. And when I would hear or sometimes sing the goṣṭhya-līlā songs (songs about Kṛṣṇa’s cowherding Pastimes), I became fully attracted — not only attracted but completely charmed. Captured by that illusion, I considered myself as also going with that party for herding cows. That is an auspicious thing, no doubt, but now I can understand it was one kind of illusion, and by the grace of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj I was protected from being too much involved with it. In this way no bad reaction came to me.

Now I am worshipping from a distance the whole of that realm, but at that time I was thinking, and very heavily feeling also, that I was actually part of that līlā. Now I can understand it was something, but not the real thing. So there may be many things, but everything is mixed with the mundane conception.

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and Śrīpād Jājāvar Mahārāj used to talk together, and sometimes those talks were very heavy. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj always supported the consciousness line whereas Śrīpād Jājāvar Mahārāj always analysed and categorized everything; he would see things from an analytical viewpoint. Analysing may not always be bad, but when you want to stand in the plane of consciousness, and if you can stand there, then you can see everything, otherwise not. Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur says:

vichakṣaṇa kari’ dekhite chāhile
haya ā̐khi-agochara

If you want to analyse everything, it will disappear from your view. When you go to put your eye to that subject to look, scrutinise, and analyse, it will then disappear. If you take that approach, it will be very difficult for you. But if you stay in the real conscious plane, everything will appear before you.

There are two kinds of appearance — real appearance and illusory appearance. Where there is mundane consciousness, something is appearing, but we can say that is illusion. That illusory appearance may sometimes be achieved by the application of the power of the yogīs, or by the use of drugs, but it is all illusory. By controlling the senses, the yogīs can stay in some plane of consciousness, but that is not the real Kṛṣṇa conscious plane.

yamādibhir yoga-pathaiḥ kāma-lobha-hato muhuḥ
mukunda-sevayā yadvat tathātmāddhā na śāmyati

What we may see through the practice of yoga — yama, niyama, āsan, prāṇāyām, dhāraṇā, dhyān, etc. — is also the shadow, not the real thing. Through yoga, at best we can see only the light of Paramātmā and have some connection with Him. But we cannot attain to the Pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and the world of Kṛṣṇa through that method.

In Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā, it is said:

premāñjana-chchhurita-bhakti-vilochanena
santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
yaṁ śyāmasundaram achintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

“When my heart is full with Kṛṣṇa-prema and my eyes are decorated with the love of dedication and they get that transcendental vision, then I shall be able to see in my heart and everywhere those Pastimes of Vṛndāvan.”

Devotion is the necessity. Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī clearly says that only by devotion is one able to feel and see everything.

Sometimes devotees would ask Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, “What should I think about when I chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra? Should I think of the Deity, or the devotees, or their paraphernalia?”

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj would reply, “No, nothing — you only pray to Śrī Nām, ‘Please show Your Form’, and chant without offence. When that transcendental Nām-prabhu will appear in your heart, your body will also become transcendental, chinmay-deha.”

The scriptures give us many directions about how to practise devotional life. They are something like instructions from an expert who can make a particular thing. An expert in electronics can build several tape-recorders or radios every day. It is very easy for him. He is qualified so he can give instructions to others about how to do it: “If you do like this, and this, you will also be qualified and you will find it to be a very easy thing.”

The scriptures come to us in a similar way. Vyāsdev and other ṛṣis and munis are very expert and they express, “If you try to practise in this way, it is very easy.” But actually to go to that plane is very hard. We see that there are many disturbances, many offences, and other obstacles.

When one tries to start a generator, it is first necessary to do some cranking. A lot of power is required and it is troublesome and difficult, but once the generator is running, it can produce full power — maybe a thousand kilowatts or more. At first though, when one tries by hand to start it up for generating power, it is difficult. Similarly, our present stage is hard for us, no doubt, but once we get going, it will be easier. In the practising stage one feels something: some happiness, cleanness, enthusiasm, and many things.

The first class stage, the highest stage, is when we can firmly stay in the plane of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and that is the paramahaṁsa stage. In many places it is recorded that everything comes from Kṛṣṇa and everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. To be fully in that consciousness is the paramahaṁsa stage. When that consciousness will come, we shall easily harmonise with everything. In the midst of the whole environment, we shall be able to tolerate everything.

When Kṛṣṇa established the Pañcha Pāṇḍavas in their kingdom, He said to Kuntī Devī, “Now everything is settled here. Stay here happily. I am going to see My Dvārakā, My kingdom, and see how things are going on there.” Kṛṣṇa was ready to leave by chariot, and while standing in front of everyone, Kuntī Devī approached Him and prayed:

vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat tatra tatra jagad-guro
bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād apunar bhava-darśanam

“My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are thinking we are very happy now, but actually it is not so. We are very sad because You are going back to Dvārakā. I do not want this kingdom. I can leave everything if only You will stay here; but now You won’t stay, so rather I am praying that those earlier days of danger will again come to us, and that these present ‘happy’ days will leave! I want those dangerous times because during danger we get Your presence, and with Your presence comes all auspiciousness. Whoever sees Your face will not take birth in this mundane world again.”

The main point is that at first when we start in our devotional life, some trouble must come, but once we are running, we will go very easily. We shall feel it to be a very easy thing to practise Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When we are established in the faithful plane, we will have no problem. Only it is necessary to stay in the faithful plane, and then our chariot will run. However, the beginning part is difficult because our soul is covered by ahaṅkār; thus, we cannot differentiate between the ahaṅkār and our soul. It is therefore necessary to engage in the initial cleansing practices in order to differentiate properly.

ahaṅkāra-nivṛttanāṁ keśavo nahī dūragaḥ
ahaṅkāra-yutānāṁ hi madhye parvata-rāśayaḥ

The obstruction is our ego, ahaṅkāra. Ahaṅkār means false ego, but that definition is not very accurate. Ahaṅkār means a particular kind of world — a whole world with so many things within it. “My mother, my father, my brother, my wife, my house, my garden, my everything. And: I can do this, I can do that, I have done it; and before me, my father did this and that.” The ahaṅkār world is a very big world! It is not only ego; to say only ‘ego’ is not sufficient, but it is an expanding world. If we can detach ourselves from that egoistic world, then immediately we can establish ourselves in the faithful plane, and after that we will have no problem. Therefore, I described the paramahaṁsa level as the plane from which, in our earlier analogy, the ‘generator’ is already running. Śrīla Prabhupād Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur came into this world to teach us the practical paramahaṁsa class by his conduct, writings, and speech.

Many things may be wrong according to the mundane law, but everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. In Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā (18.17) Śrī Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna:

yasya nāhaṅkṛto bhāvo buddhir yasya na lipyate
hatvāpi sa imā̐l lokān na hanti na nibadhyate

(“He who is free from egotism (arising from aversion to the Absolute), and whose intelligence is not implicated (in worldly activities) — even if he kills every living being in the whole world, he does not kill at all, neither does he suffer a murderer’s consequences.”)

The point Kṛṣṇa is making is that no sin will touch you if you stay in that faithful plain of the transcendental world.

Many symptoms come in a practitioner’s life. The first symptom is enthusiasm — and by the inspiration of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj many newcomers were very eager in their peaching: “My Guru said I must preach and he said everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa; everything is Kṛṣṇa’s property, and we are the servitors of Kṛṣṇa, so we must use everything.” In this way they very enthusiastically preached in the West. Within our mundane law it is offensive to take property from a hotel, for instance, but some of them did not care for that. They thought, “They are making offence because they have the mentality, ‘It is my property; it is my hotel.’ But actually they are all thieves; we are not thieves.”

Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj gave the real conception of Kṛṣṇa consciousness no doubt, and if we are one hundred percent pure, then we shall have no problem. But if we are not cent-percent pure and if there is any tendency to imitate, some problems must come. Imitation is hard to recognise — and if we cannot recognise what is imitation and what is pure, we will be faced with problems. So it is necessary to differentiate between what is imitation and what is pure.

Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj spread the wave of Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world, and now the time has come for preaching the conception of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. My hope is a very deep hope — I am always hoping in a very big way — and I am always surprised to see in which way Kṛṣṇa consciousness is spreading all over the world.

Mahāprabhu said:

pṛthivīte āchhe yata nagarādi-grāma
sarvatra prachāra haibe mora nāma

“My Holy Name will be preached in every town and village of the world.” It is a miracle that it has happened in only a few years. If we think about it, we cannot believe how it is possible Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj tried very hard for his first year in America, but he could not successfully achieve anything. For one year he tried so hard to get that generator going, but when it started, then immediately the whole world lit up through Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Maybe sometimes we make some offences, perhaps even forty percent of the time we are making some offence. It is our birthright! Because we have taken birth in this mundane world, we can’t help but do some imperfect work. But with so much offence in the world we are astonished and cannot guess in which way Kṛṣṇa consciousness has spread all over the world. Seeing the result of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj’s preaching, we are very much enlivened.

Śrīla Prabhupād Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur also tried very hard to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When the Gauḍīya Maṭh first started, all the imitation sampradāyas became very fearful and they wanted to kill Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s mission, and wanted to kill him also, but they were not successful. He tried very hard and established sixty-four centres in India and also sent his devotees outside India to Germany, England, and America. He tried in that way but he was not so successful with the overseas preaching. After his disappearance some disturbance came to his mission, but still some of his disciples, like Śrīpād Bon Mahārāj and Śrīpād Goswāmī Mahārāj, tried very hard to preach.

Śrīpād Goswāmī Mahārāj was sent by Śrīla Prabhupād Saraswatī Ṭhākur to London. At one stage he had no money at all, not a farthing. He had a stove in which it was necessary to put four pennies in order to cook, but even that money he didn’t have. He thought, “What shall I do now?” Soon afterwards the cleaner gave him an envelope and explained he had found it under the table, or perhaps in the door, “Please see what it is.” Śrīpād Goswāmī Mahārāj opened it and saw a cheque for 1300 pounds. He was surprised!

Previously, he had written to the Mahārāj of Baroda: “I am in much trouble for lack of money; please send me something as a donation” — and now that money had come. His immediate concern was for some breakfast; otherwise, with no food he would get sick, but how to realise the money? That morning, as soon as the bank opened, he went to cash the cheque, but as he had no account, the bank clerk asked him for some identification: “You are Mr. Goswāmī? Can you show that?” He had no proof of identity and also being Indian he was perhaps not very conscious about that. However, the previous day he had attended a meeting, and his photo was published in that day’s newspaper. Suddenly, he saw the newspaper lying on the counter and he pointed it out to a bank official, “I attended that meeting; look there is my photo.” Then that man immediately gave him the money!

Anyhow, Śrīpād Goswāmī Mahārāj tried very hard in London but was not so successful. Maybe he planted some seeds in the soil of England, but it is very true that he was not successful in achieving anything substantial. Also Śrīpād Bon Mahārāj tried in Germany, France, and America but he also wasn’t so successful.

Many years later, Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj tried and he was successful. He had also tried to preach in India but without much success, but his intention had always been to go to the West to preach, and he eventually did so. That history you know: for one year he tried to generate something there. Then it took off by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa and Nityānanda Prabhu, and its light spread all over the world in such a short time. I am very surprised and also full of joy in my heart. I am thinking, “How is it possible?”

When Buddhism, ‘Śaṅkarism’ or whatever other ‘ism’ appeared, it took such a long time before they were accepted by the people. Or it would sometimes take the influence of a king or some special event to help a particular conception to spread and be preached widely. In whatever way, it generally took a very long time. But within five to ten years Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj was able to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. And Mahāprabhu foretold it:

pṛthivīte āchhe yata nagarādi-grāma
sarvatra prachāra haibe mora nāma

When we see this, we feel very happy in our heart and think, “Here a transcendental thing must be present!” We may be able to see or not see, that is another thing, but we can feel it is present there.

So, I am not immediately looking at any fault of the devotees. What the devotees either in the West or East are doing, I am thinking they are doing very nicely. I immediately remember Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj and Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and feel, “Maybe they are doing a little wrong, but that is no problem.”

I do not know what is the will of Kṛṣṇa and Mahāprabhu now, but real Kṛṣṇa consciousness has spread, no doubt, so there is a substantial serving chance for the conditioned souls. And I think that in some way or other it must spread more, and everyone will be benefitted in that way.

We see many Āchāryas in this world. Perhaps they are not all perfect but somehow they are trying and at least they are doing some raw, first cultivation. When cultivating crops there must first be ploughing, then planting the seed, then watering, etc. In that way we can say the work is going on very nicely.

When there is a war, many soldiers die. Also many women, children, property, and other things are lost. In a war it is inevitable; it must be so. So this is also one kind of war — with Māyā, Durga. It is a revolt. Some revolutionary environment has been created by Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, and others. So some will die or be injured, but the gates of Durga’s prison-house have been broken. Otherwise, how is it that people all over the world are chanting ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa’? The revolution has already erupted, and in the fighting some may be injured and some may die, but the gate has been broken, and the prisoners are running to Vaikuṇṭha.

Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur described the Pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī in a very respectful way. From his writings we can understand what is our highest destination. At the present time there may be some difficulty in different ways for many people, but this special type of knowledge, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, will come to the prisoners sleeping under Māyā.

The prisoners were sleeping but now with this consciousness they have woken up; a revolt has broken out in the prison, and they are escaping. We are so fortunate that in our time it has happened and we are seeing it. It could have come in the past or it could have come in the future, but we are so fortunate to see the revolution happening now. We have seen many things and we have had the association of the Generals and soldiers — that also is our fortune. Now if we can proceed to our destination in a harmonised way, that will be ultimately fruitful for us all. Hare Kṛṣṇa.