Letters of Love and Compassion

The Lord, situated in the hearts of all living entities, directs their senses. But He directs in terms of the surrender of the living entity , and in the case of a pure devotee He directly controls the senses. 

Because kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya. If you are not strong enough, then association will induce or influence. If you are not a Vaiṣṇava, then if you go in a brothel or a liquor house, then you will be influenced by the drunkards and prostitute-hunters. But if you are strong enough, then you will... The effect, you will give your effect of association; they will be Vaiṣṇavas. That is the difference. ....... So that is the explained.  Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya  [Bg. 13.22]. If you are strong enough, then the lower qualities will not affect you. And if you are not strong, if you are weak yourself, then where you are going to convert, they will induce their infectious quality, and you will be victimized. So  kāraṇaṁ guṇa saṇgo 'sya. ....... When one is infected with tamo-guṇa and rajo-guṇa, the symptoms will be that he is very greedy and lusty. This is the symptom. If one is very greedy and lusty, then you should know that he is infected with rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. And if one is

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  kīṭa-janma hao yathā tuyā dāsa bahirmukha brahma-janme nāhi āśā “Let me become an insect in a place where Your devotee is present, because if I fall down in the dust of the feet of a devotee my life will be successful.” Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says,  bahirmukha brahma-janme nāhi āśā:  “I would not want to be a Brahmā and not be a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.” Because we are in ignorance,  māyā,  at any time we may forget Kṛṣṇa. Therefore we must always engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that we shall not forget Him . That is indicated by Kuntīdevī by the words  śravaṇa-smaraṇārhāṇi.  The word  śravaṇa  means “hearing,”  smaraṇa  means “remembering,” and  arhaṇa  means “worshiping the Deity of Kṛṣṇa.” One should always engage oneself in hearing about, remembering, and worshiping Kṛṣṇa. All the centers of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are opened only for this purpose – to facilitate chanting, dancing, and worshiping so that we shall not forget Kṛṣṇa.   Sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ:  if we always think o

SB 2.4.15 yat-kīrtanaṁ yat-smaraṇaṁ yad-īkṣaṇaṁ yad-vandanaṁ yac-chravaṇaṁ yad-arhaṇam lokasya sadyo vidhunoti kalmaṣaṁ tasmai subhadra-śravase namo namaḥ Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, about whom glorification, remembrances, audience, prayers, hearing and worship can at once cleanse the effects of all sins of the performer. The process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be very vigorously propagated all over the world . Simply by seeing the Deity or simply by joining in chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mantra,   people will derive tremendous benefit. If one performs  kīrtana,  chanting, one will be able to think of Kṛṣṇa. One may think, “I danced for two hours and chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa. What is the meaning of this?” This is  smaraṇa,  thinking of Kṛṣṇa. One may even think, “I foolishly chanted ‘Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa’ for two hours.” But that also is  smaraṇa.   Because the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spreading, people are purchasing our books about Kṛṣṇa.

Now here also, in this verse, Kuntī continues to express herself with humility. This humility is very good in devotional service. Therefore Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches us, tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā: “One should be more tolerant than the tree and humbler than the grass to make progress in spiritual life.” This is necessary because for one who is living in this material world there will be so many disturbances, just as if one were traveling on the ocean. One cannot expect a very peaceful situation on the ocean; even a big ship may also be unsteady, and at any moment there may be tumultuous waves. Similarly, in this material world we should always expect danger; one cannot expect a very peaceful life within this material world. The śāstra, the Vedic literature, says, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (Bhāgavatam 10.14.58): at every step there is danger. But if one becomes a devotee, then one can escape (māyām etāṁ taranti te). If one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in the be