Letters of Love and Compassion

With His followers in the renounced order, however, Lord Caitanya was very strict. He even banished Junior Haridāsa, an important kīrtana leader, for glancing lustfully at a woman. The Lord told him, “You are living with Me in the renounced order, and yet you are looking at a woman with lust.” Other devotees of the Lord had appealed to Him to forgive Haridāsa, but He replied, “All of you can forgive him and live with him. I shall live alone.” On the other hand, when the Lord learned that the wife of one of His householder devotees was pregnant, He asked that the baby be given a certain auspicious name. So while the Lord approved of householders having regulated sex, He was like a thunderbolt with those in the renounced order who tried to cheat by the method known as “drinking water underwater while bathing on a fast day.” In other words, He tolerated no hypocrisy among His followers.

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 ...

 https://youtu.be/h0-eEc438zo?t=2477

  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 no...

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, peopl...

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...

  Prabhupada Memories DVD 1 Hridayananda Goswami, Hari Sauri, Atma Tattva - YouTube

 https://youtu.be/Fb51Dljeoc4?t=2501

https://youtube.com/shorts/EDBqa7sVD44?si=pqJqPpBeoN0_i0S9 https://youtube.com/shorts/0ormKlcw6ZU?si=6PRRHClcjDY9RbmG

The significance of this particular verse is that Dhruva Mahārāja acted exactly according to the advice of his spiritual master, the great sage Nārada. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī also advises that if we want to be successful in our attempt to go back to Godhead, we must very seriously act according to the instruction of the spiritual master. That is the way of perfection. There need be no anxiety over attaining perfection because if one follows the instruction given by the spiritual master he is sure to attain perfection . Our only concern should be how to execute the order of the spiritual master. A spiritual master is expert in giving special instructions to each of his disciples, and if the disciple executes the order of the spiritual master, that is the way of his perfection. SB 4.8.71

kva cāhaṁ kitavaḥ pāpo brahma-ghno nirapatrapaḥ kva ca nārāyaṇety etad bhagavan-nāma maṅgalam kva - where;ca - also;aham - I;kitavaḥ - a cheater;pāpaḥ - all sins personified;brahma-ghnaḥ - the killer of my brahminical culture;nirapatrapaḥ - shameless;kva - where;ca - also;nārāyaṇa - Nārāyaṇa;iti - thus;etat - this;bhagavat-nāma - the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead;maṅgalam - all-auspicious. Ajāmila continued: I am a shameless cheater who has killed his brahminical culture. Indeed, I am sin personified. Where am I in comparison to the all-auspicious chanting of the holy name of Lord Nārāyaṇa? PURPORT Those engaged in broadcasting the holy name of Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, through the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should always consider what our position was before we came and what it is now . We had fallen into abominable lives as meat-eaters, drunkards and woman hunters who performed all kinds of sinful activities , but now we have been given the opportunity to chant the Hare Kṛ...

 https://youtu.be/9OZaTrOn8xA?t=3968  (Click this link)

SP gives example of Raghunath Das Goswami Used to drink only drops of buttermil for every 3-4 days. And used to work 22 hrs a day. Sometimes would not even sleep. Just like a person from africa may feel cold in america, but american person feels normal for him he is not effected by cold.  Because the african person is conditioned tp african environment. The ability to tolerate is simply a question of conditioning

Everyone is addicted to hearing of the activities of another person, whether a politician or a rich man or an imaginary character whose activities are created in a novel. There are so many nonsensical literatures, stories and books of speculative philosophy. Materialistic persons are very interested in reading such literature, but when they are presented with genuine books of knowledge like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, Viṣṇu Purāṇa or other scriptures of the world, such as the Bible and Koran, they are not interested. These persons are condemned by the supreme order as much as a hog is condemned. The hog is interested in eating stool. If the hog is offered some nice preparation made of condensed milk or ghee, he won’t like it; he would prefer obnoxious, bad-smelling stool, which he finds very relishable. Materialistic persons are considered condemned because they are interested in hellish activities and not in transcendental activities. The message of the Lord’s activities is nect...

Here the word nivṛtti-dharma-niratāḥ means “constantly engaging in executing religious activities for detachment.” There are two kinds of religious performances. One is called pravṛtti-dharma, which means the religious activities performed by the gṛhamedhīs for elevation to higher planets or for economic prosperity, the final aim of which is sense gratification. Every one of us who has come to this material world has the sense of overlordship. This is called pravṛtti. But the opposite type of religious performance, which is called nivṛtti, is to act for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Engaged in devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one has no proprietorship claim, nor is one situated in the false egoism of thinking that he is God or the master. He always thinks himself the servant. That is the process of purifying consciousness. With pure consciousness only can one enter into the kingdom of God. Materialistic persons, in their elevated condition, can enter any one of the plan...

Persons who work at their prescribed duties, not for sense gratification but for gratification of the Supreme Lord, are called niḥsaṅga, freed from the influence of the modes of material nature. Nyasta-karmāṇaḥ indicates that the results of their activities are given to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such persons appear to be acting on the platform of their respective duties, but such activities are not performed for personal sense gratification; rather, they are performed for the Supreme Person. Such devotees are called praśāntāḥ, which means “completely satisfied.” Śuddha-cetasaḥ means Kṛṣṇa conscious; their consciousness has become purified. In unpurified consciousness one thinks of himself as the Lord of the universe, but in purified consciousness one thinks himself the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Putting oneself in that position of eternal servitorship to the Supreme Lord and working for Him perpetually, one actually becomes completely satisfied. As...

The same judgment is confirmed here, and the word kāma-mūḍha, meaning one who has lost his sense or is infatuated by the lust of attraction for sense gratification, is used. Kāma-mūḍhas are bereft of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and devotional service and are infatuated by a strong desire for sense gratification.

While discharging devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one should not be miserly . He should not unnecessarily show that he has renounced this world. Actually, renunciation is not possible. If one renounces his palatial building and goes to a forest, there is actually no renunciation, for the palatial building is the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the forest is also the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If he changes from one property to another, that does not mean that he renounces; he was never the proprietor of either the palace or the forest. Renunciation necessitates renouncing the false understanding that one can lord it over material nature. When one renounces this false attitude and renounces the puffed-up position that he is also God, that is real renunciation. Otherwise, there is no meaning of renunciation. Rūpa Gosvāmī advises that if one renounces anything which could be applied in the service of the Lord and does not use it for ...