Question: How can we recognise a Guru or Vaisnava? How can we know who we should serve under and take guidance from?
Srila Govinda Maharaj: It is very difficult to recognise a Vaisnava.
vaisnava chinite nare devera sakati
mui kona chhara sisu alpa-mati
«Even the demigods cannot recognise a Vaisnava. So how shall I ever recognise one?»
It is very difficult to recognise a Vaisnava, but we can have some idea about who Vaisnavas are through the definitions of a Vaisnava given in the scriptures. Visnur asya Devata iti Vaisnava: someone whose worshippable Lord is Visnu is a Vaisnava. This is a standard definition. In Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave a variety of definitions of a Vaisnava:
«ataeva yara mukhe eka krsna-nama
sei ta’ vaisnava, kariha tahara sammana»
«Someone who has once chanted Krishna’s Name is a Vaisnava. He should be respected.»
«krsna-nama nirantara yahara vadane
sei vaisnava-srestha, bhaja tahara charane
«Someone who constantly chants Krishna’s Name is a great Vaisnava. He should be served.»
yahara darsane mukhe aise krsna-nama
tahare janiha tumi ‘vaisnava-pradhana’
«Someone whose association makes others chant Krishna’s Name is the greatest Vaisnava.»
After Prabhupad Srila Saraswati Thakur travelled throughout all of Vrndavan on parikrama, he slapped his forehead and said, «I am so unfortunate. I have come to Vrndavan to see the Vaisnavas, but I have not seen even one Vaisnava.» How could he say this? Everyone in Vrndavan is a Vaisnava; everyone there worships Krishna and at least sometimes says, «Krishna, Krishna». There is some Vaisnavism within everyone there. Through Srila Saraswati Thakur’s expression we can understand that it is necessary to realise that there is a gradation among Vaisnavas. Srila Saraswati Thakur meant that he did not see a pure Vaisnava on his Vrndavan parikrama.
If we see that someone has any of the qualities of a Vaisnava, then we must consider that he is a Vaisnava and give proper honour to him. We can first consider that anyone who leaves the association of other persons and joins in the association or ashram of the Vaisnavas practising Krishna consciousness has some Vaisnava quality. And if someone who comes is recognised by Gurudev or an authority as a Vaisnava, then we must consider that he is a Vaisnava. Whenever Gurudev says that someone is a qualified Vaisnava, then we must believe that and surrender to that qualified Vaisnava.
Srila Guru Maharaj also explained to us other ways of practically understanding who is a Vaisnava. He gave many examples: someone whom the Vaisnavas are happy to see is a Vaisnava; someone who is happy to see the Vaisnavas is a Vaisnava; someone who is happy to serve Vaisnavas is a Vaisnava, and so on. There are many varieties of definitions of a Vaisnava.
There is a very nice story in the Mahabharata about the difficulty of recognising a Vaisnava and the practice of respecting someone who is recognised as a Vaisnava by an authority. After the great Rajasuya sacrifice, Krishna, as well as many munis and rsis, took prasadam at the mansion of the Pandavas. Lastly, Krishna told the assembly, «When this Rajasuya sacrifice has been properly completed, a bell will ring.»
Bhimasen heard Krishna’s statement and took it seriously. When the sacrifice seemed to be finished and everyone had been satisfied with prasadam, the bell did not ring. Bhimasen asked Krishna, «Why is the bell not ringing? You said it would ring automatically when the sacrifice was successfully completed. Have we done something wrong?»
Krishna said, «You have served prasadam to so many people, but you have not served all the Vaisnavas. There is a Vaisnava who lives in the jungle under a tree not too far from your mansion. He was not invited to the sacrifice, and he has not taken prasadam. Because he has not been served, there is some fault in your sacrifice, and it cannot be considered fully complete.»
Bhimasen and Arjuna understood that they needed to serve this Vaisnava, but they knew that on their own they could not recognise him. Arjuna asked Krishna, «We cannot recognise who this Vaisnava is on our own. Please come with us and show us who he is.»
Krishna accompanied Bhimasen and Arjuna to the jungle and showed them, «A great Vaisnava lives near that tree in that broken thatched hut. He lives near you, but he does not come to your festivals. He has no hankering for anything mundane, even food.»
Arjuna and Bhimasen went up to his hut and with folded palms said, «O Prabhu, please come and take prasadam at our sacrifice.»
The Vaisnava said, «Oh! You are Arjuna and Bhimasen. You have come to invite me, and it would be very offensive for me to not accept your invitation.»
He responded very humbly in this way. Bhimasen and Arjuna said, «Krishna Himself has said that you are a Vaisnava. Please come and accept something from us.»
That Vaisnava never went anywhere or took anything from anyone, but when he was invited by Arjuna, Bhimasen, and Krishna Himself, he accepted and came to take prasadam.
Draupadi was a very expert cook, and she prepared many varieties of food. She offered the Vaisnava very opulent prasadam. Others fanned him and gave him much nourishment. When he took the prasadam, he mixed all the different preparations together and took them all at once.
After he left, the bell still did not ring. Bhimasen again asked Krishna, «What happened? You said that if we fed that Vaisnava, everything would be finished and fulfilled.»
Krishna said, «You must have made some offence. You have called him and fed him, but you must have somehow made an offence to him.»
Krishna asked Arjuna, «When you called him and fed him did you make any offence to him?»
Arjuna said, «No. I do not remember making any offence.»
Bhimasen also said, «No. I do not remember making any offence.»
Yudhisthir and everyone else present also said, «I do not remember seeing any offence made to him. I don’t know what offence has been made.»
Finally, Krishna asked His dear friend Draupadi, «Draupadi, have you done anything?»
Draupadi confessed, «I cooked so many varieties of prasadam for him, and when I saw him mix all of them together, I thought that he did not know how to properly accept this opulent prasadam. My thinking in this way may have been an offence.»
Krishna said, «Yes. You are right. This was the offence. He should be called and fed again.»
The next day Krishna and Arjuna went and called the Vaisnava again. They brought him to the mansion and fed him again. When he took prasadam, the second time the bell began to ring, and the sacrifice was complete. This story shows us that it is very difficult to recognise a Vaisnava, and that it also may be difficult to respect him even when we are told that he is a Vaisnava.
It is very essential to follow a pure Vaisnava and happily try to practise Krishna consciousness under his guidance. Through our mundane knowledge we cannot understand who is a Vaisnava and who is not. So we must pray to Krishna, to Nityananda Prabhu: «I do not know who my Guru is. I do not know who the Vaisnavas are. Please reveal them to me. Please give me the association of a proper Guru and real Vaisnavas.»
Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur gave us very important advice about the position of the Vaisnava in one of his songs. He explained how to recognise the Vaisnava and receive his mercy:
ami ta’ durbhaga ati vaisnava na chini
more krpa karibena vaisnava apani
«I am so unfortunate, unqualified, and insignificant: I do not have the qualification to understand who is a Vaisnava or Guru. I do not have the capacity to discover who is a Vaisnava and who is not. This is a very difficult situation for me. My only hope is that the Vaisnavas are merciful; they are oceans of mercy (krpa-sindhubhya eva cha) and can give me proper consciousness of who is a Vaisnava and who is not: they can reveal themselves to me. If the door of my good fortune will open, then the real Vaisnava will be merciful to me, and I will be able to understand his position. If I am a good boy, a good man, and I am humble and tolerant, and I give honour to others, then I will automatically attract the real Vaisnava and receive his mercy and blessings. If I proceed with humility and tolerance, and give honour to everyone, then I will automatically honour the real Vaisnava, and he will choose me to be a servitor of the Vaisnavas.»
It is through the quality of our own practice that we can attract the vision of the real Vaisnava and receive his mercy, affection, and service connection.
The question of how to recognise a Vaisnava is a very important question, and it is actually everyone’s question. Here we find the answer in Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur’s song, and it shows us that self-realisation is the best for us. If I want to be a Vaisnava and associate with real Vaisnavas, then I must ask myself, «Am I a Vaisnava or not? Am I actually capable of associating with Vaisnavas?» This type of self-examination is best for us.
Atmanam viddhi: it is necessary to know your own self, to understand whether what you are doing, eating, and giving are really for the satisfaction of Guru and Vaisnava. Self-knowledge, self-realisation, is best for us, and through that we will be promoted. If we are fully dedicated to the Lord, then help will come to us from His side. We must examine our own level of dedication. There is an Urdu or Arabian word, saltamami, which means a calculated account of a year’s debit and credit transactions. We must make a saltamami of our own life: «Every day the sun rises and sets. What am I doing and giving each day during that time? Day by day is my practising life increasing or decreasing? Am I dedicated externally or internally?»
We must scrutinise what we are doing from morning to evening every day and make an account of that. It is necessary for us to realise how much good and bad was present within us in our previous days, and also to realise that whatever others are doing or will do is not so important for us. The biggest question for us must be what we are doing and what we are giving. If we can analyse ourselves in this way with a saltamami every day, then we will become more perfect.
It is necessary for us to realise that we will get proper results in our spiritual life if we perfectly try to do our practice. It is no doubt difficult, but there is no other way to get out of the illusory environment. We must try as much as possible by us. It is necessary to see what is happening in our own lives. If we are not careful about our own activity, then we will be cheated.
uttisthata jagrata prapya varan nibodhata
ksurasya dhara nisita duratyaya
durgam pathas tat kavayo vadanti78
We must awaken, arise, and practise our own spiritual life, even if the path may seem like a razor’s edge. Durgam pathas means that our spiritual path may not be very easy to pass through and may even seem to be impassable. But we have no other alternative. So we must try and proceed.
Question: Sometimes we get discouraged for one reason or another in our spiritual life. How can we best keep our enthusiasm strong?
Srila Govinda Maharaj: We must always follow the directions of Sriman Mahaprabhu. Then we will be enriched with humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others, and more and more our searching spirit will increase. It is necessary to develop within ourselves the qualities and qualifications for association with sadhus. Without humility we will not receive anything from others, without tolerance we will not be benefitted by others, and without giving honour to others we will always be disturbed. If we will try to cultivate these three qualities within ourselves, then quickly proper results will come to us.
Whatever spiritual wealth you have, that is your property. And whatever spiritual wealth I have, that is my property. If I want to increase my spiritual property then I will have to look to you and find what more you have than I.79 In this way the tendency to associate with and learn from others will grow within us through the quality of humility. This is the best process to get association.
If we can sincerely practise in this way we will get proper association with the Lord’s servants. By the grace of Sadhu, Guru, and Vaisnava our enthusiasm in spiritual life will increase more and more. They are always giving us hope; they are never making us hopeless. Any situation may come before us, or we may commit any offence, but they are always giving us some hope and some service to the Lord. Our enthusiasm will grow through their association. Association is the best thing for conditioned souls to get more enthusiasm in their practising life.
We should not be frustrated. The ego is very bad. Ego destroys so many things. But our ego will go down if we cultivate and increase within ourselves the qualities of humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others. I am seeing that ego destroys our enthusiasm. What can I do? I can only give advice. If anyone will follow it they must be benefitted. Ego is very dangerous for everyone, and to leave ego is very difficult.
Question: Maharaj, how can we recognise when we are suffering from false ego? How can we see ourselves under that influence? How do we know when we are displaying our false ego?
Srila Govinda Maharaj: It is only possible to recognise it through realisation. Suppose someone says to you, «This is your ego.» Your ego will not want to give that chance to them. But at that time if you will try to realise what they said and why they said it, if you try to realise how much there is something positive and beneficial for you in their statement, and how much is perhaps negative opposition, then you will be able to control your ego.
We have established ourselves within an egoistic position, so there is no other way our ego can be controlled than by our own realisation. Since the time when we were growing up we have chosen our own path and established ourselves upon our egoistic mountain. Only our own realisation can solve our problem, and it is best when our own realisation will come to us. Otherwise, if you have some faith in a particular person whom you consider superior to you, you can go to him and take his advice. If you can take his advice wholeheartedly, then also your ego will go down. There is no other way. Good association is always beneficial for everyone. But our ‘good association’ must really be association that is good for us.
Question: How do we know who we should associate with? How can we recognise good association?
Srila Govinda Maharaj: This is a very good question and a difficulty for everyone. We must consider that we have some realisation and that our realisation has some power. Through that we will try to understand what will be good for us and whose association will be beneficial for us.
First we will try to know about someone, «Does he have affection for me or not? Does he have love for me or not? Does he consider what will be good for me or not? Is he sober in his relations with others or not?» In this way we will try to understand something about someone from our side. But at the same time we will pray to our Lord, «Give me good association. I have no capacity to discover who will be very good association in my life.» It is necessary to both pray to the Lord and have some realisation from within our own self. In this way, from both sides, we will try to recognise good association. Also, in another way, if you have full faith in someone, you can ask him directly, «Is this person good association for me or not? Is that person good association for me or not?» Then from him you will also get some help. These are the general guidelines.
Devotee: Maharaj, I read that Srila Guru Maharaj said, «My relationship with someone should be seen by that person’s relationship with the Centre and the Centre’s relationship with that person. That is, if my Gurudev has much affection for that person and that person has much affection for my Gurudev, then I will think that that person is good association for me.»
Srila Govinda Maharaj: A little difficulty will come from that idea when someone wants not temporary but permanent association. Based on that idea someone’s choice will not be perfect. Sometimes through illusion we are misguided, and we need to take advice from an affectionate and wise friend. He may be a Guru or a Vaisnava, but he must have a neutral personality and pure Vaisnava qualities. He must not be envious. He must always be trying to help others and not be trying to misguide others or pursue personal interests. A person of that type will be most helpful for us.
If we have full faith in Guru then we can ask Guru directly, «Will this be good for me or not?» If the Guru has a good idea about that, then that is very good. But we are not always in the association of Guru. So we also have to try to realise and understand what will be good and what will be bad for us. In this way, many are misguided, and in this way also, many are benefitted.
The main obstacle on our spiritual path is enviousness. Envy is very bad. I always see this, feel this, and am disturbed by it also. What shall I do? In the second verse of Srimad Bhagavatam there is a short expression that is very important, sweet, and suitable for conditioned souls: nirmatsaranam satam.80 This expression gives light to everyone: «Be pure and free from enviousness. Appreciate others.» This advice does not mean we should become pure like alloyed steel, but that we should become pure like gold. If we can make ourselves into generous, non-envious persons, then we will become pure like gold.
In this material world everything is moving up and down; everything is always shifting its position. Someone is becoming rich, someone is becoming poor; someone is becoming wise, someone is becoming foolish. Everything everywhere continues to move up and down in this world, but we must try to isolate ourselves from that and avoid being envious of anyone. We may not be able to understand how it will be possible, but we still must try. There is no other way to proceed in our spiritual life.
We will be able to harmonise everything when we truly take shelter at Krishna’s lotus feet. Krishna is Reality the Beautiful, and with His connection we have the chance to feel the full form of His qualities and beauty. When we have the opportunity to get everything through our connection with the Lord, then we do not need to be envious of anyone else.
Srila Guru Maharaj trained me from my childhood: «Serve the Vaisnavas without enviousness.» If we see a devotee doing our job better than we are, then we must consider that he is doing good for us. We should not be envious of him. When a devotee is doing so much that I cannot do, I praise him for that. I do not criticise him.
We know that whenever anyone does something there must be something right and something wrong in their action. No one has full knowledge or is completely wise. Srila Guru Maharaj used the phrase, «To err is human» in one of his articles. All the Vaisnavas want to be right; they want to do things right, and they try heart and soul. We should always consider their service efforts and overlook their faults. This is necessary for our society.
If according to our knowledge it seems to us that someone is not serving perfectly, then we should not be angry with him, and we should not be envious of him. Rather, we should look at our own self. If we feel the desire to criticise others, then we should first try to criticise our own self and find our own faults.
atmaiva hy atmano bandhur atmaiva ripur atmanah
Srimad Bhagavad-gita (6.5) explains that I can be my own worst enemy and I can be my own best friend. When I criticise others, then I act as my own worst enemy. When I criticise myself, then I act as my own best friend. If we can continue our practising life in that way, then we will get a good result. «He may be bad, but why should I not be good? I see some bad quality in him, but I cannot correct him. So why should I not try to be good and correct myself? I shall be good; whether he is good or bad is another thing. First of all I shall be good, knowing that I will be benefitted if I proceed in that way.» We should look after ourselves in this way. That is very good for the continuation of our practising lives.
We must try to proceed in this way, otherwise we have no hope. There are so many practitioners around us who are not perfect. Everyone has some imperfections. If we act like a drain inspector, always looking for the faults of others, then we will be offenders, and we will not properly honour the devotees. Who is a perfect devotee? It is very difficult to find a devotee who is fully dedicated to the Lord‘s service. Still, we can think that every devotee has some devotion.
Once one of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur’s disciples, Sripad Siddhanti Maharaj, came to speak with Srila Guru Maharaj. When they were speaking in a relaxed mood, Sripad Siddhanti Maharaj said to Srila Guru Maharaj, «Maharaj, I consider that all of our godbrothers are Vaisnavas. Because they were all servitors of Srila Saraswati Thakur they have some Vaisnava quality. But, side by side, I have seen that all of our godbrothers have difficulties, faults, and bad qualities. I have decided to put our godbrothers into some categories. Someone is a foolish Vaisnava, someone is a wise Vaisnava, someone is an envious Vaisnava, someone is a simple Vaisnava, and so on.» Sripad Siddhanti Maharaj explained many different categories of Vaisnavas, and Srila Guru Maharaj laughed so much to hear that.
Everyone is a Vaisnava. This is correct. But how much? It is very good to use the idea of percentage. Someone may be five per cent Vaisnava, someone may be ten per cent Vaisnava, someone may be twenty per cent Vaisnava, and someone who is one hundred per cent dedicated to the Lord is a real Vaisnava. If we consider all of the devotees in this way, that will be perfect.
We should not hate others. Everyone has some quality, and with that quality they are enjoying. I also have some quality, and I live in my own zone with that. Internally I may know something about someone’s behaviour, but externally I will see the Vaisnavas’ qualities and proceed carefully. Otherwise I will be the loser, and I may become an offender. It is true that some persons may do wrong, and it is also true that it is not good to follow someone who is doing wrong. Still, when I see someone doing something wrong in front of me, I should not hold any grudge against him or be envious of him. I can ignore that wrong while I try to make myself a perfect servitor. This is the only way to live harmoniously in society. I have considered this many times, and in this way we must be careful about Vaisnavas and non-Vaisnavas. Otherwise we will be cheated and may become an offender.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has given us the supreme formula to collect the good qualities of others, properly relate to everyone, and harmonise everything:
trnad api sunichena taror iva sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih81
Within His formula Mahaprabhu gave us three very nice rules. Trnad api sunichena: be humble and do not disturb anyone. If we are humble, then we will not be a cause of anger for others, and everyone will be merciful to us. Taror iva sahisnuna: tolerate everything going on in this mundane world. We are insignificant souls; we should not demand so much for ourselves. If we are tolerant, then we will not make any unnecessary disturbances for ourselves or others; in that way we will avoid the sinful, reactionary environment. Amanina manadena: give honour to everyone without desiring honour for yourself. Everyone has some ego, and we do not want to disturb others’ egos. We should humbly give honour to everyone, even to persons who are not honourable. Everyone has some good qualities, so why should you not give honour to them? What is the difficulty for us? If we give honour to everyone, then everyone will be happy with us, and not only will they not disturb us, but they will help us in our practising life.
The conditioned souls always think that they are already qualified. That is their misfortune. When someone sees himself as the biggest he cannot see anything beyond himself. He can only see tiny things like ants and insects. When someone sees himself clearly and feels himself to be small, then he can see the highest and biggest things around him. It is hopeful for us to see ourselves not as the best or greatest, but as the least and smallest: to see that we have a great need for improvement. Whatever good qualities we may have are already our property which no one can take away from us. If we see good qualities anywhere in others, we should try to collect them. We can always collect goodness from wherever we find it through our practice of humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others.
Mahaprabhu’s formula states that anyone who is humble and tolerant, and gives honour to others without expecting honour for himself can properly practise Hari-nam-sankirtan. This teaching of Mahaprabhu gives us the proper spirit of spiritual life. When we follow the practice of humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others, we will not do anything wrong to anyone, and we will not make offences to anyone. If we give honour to everyone, then we will never be in danger of making an offence to a Vaisnava (Vaisnava-aparadh). It is completely necessary to avoid making offences to Vaisnavas because the Hare Krishna mahamantra descends to us from the upper level through the Vaisnavas.
Mahaprabhu gave us His formula because we cannot recognise Vaisnavas. What can we do when we cannot recognise a Vaisnava? We can give honour to everyone, even to persons who do not appear honourable to us. If we do so, then we will always give honour to the Vaisnava, even though we may not recognise him. Generally, we can understand that we should honour a Vaisnava; there is no question about that. But because it is difficult to recognise a Vaisnava we should give honour to everyone, even to someone who appears to have nothing. The Lord resides in the heart of everyone, and everyone is a Vaisnava by nature. We must honour everyone; then we will always proceed clearly in our spiritual life. This is very important.
I always say that this procedure given by Mahaprabhu is the best procedure for practising spiritual life. Why? Because we are always doing something wrong, and we must avoid that. All souls have a very high prospect and property — they are all actually eternal servants of the Lord. Someone may be a tiny, insignificant soul who has not realised his own wealth, but we must give honour to everyone, no matter who they are. That way everyone will be merciful to us. If we do not make any enemies and rather make everyone our friend, then our practising life will proceed smoothly. We must proceed to our destiny, and for that we need the blessings of everyone, especially all the Vaisnavas, in our practising life.
We need everyone’s help and goodwill, and if we proceed to our destiny according to Mahaprabhu’s formula, then everything will be very beautiful, fair, and good. We should be merciful to ourselves by giving honour to others. Then the whole world will become our friend, and all of the Lord’s servants will be merciful to us.
Even when we understand the idea and mood given by Mahaprabhu in His formula trnad api sunichena, it is still very difficult for us to follow. I have spoken about Mahaprabhu’s formula my whole life, and so many people have heard about it from me. It is very easy to hear about it. And it is very easy, and very good, to speak about it with others also, no doubt. The difficulty is focusing on it in our own lives and following it properly. What Mahaprabhu has given as the aim and objective of Vaisnavism is actually very difficult to follow. Some persons have spent a long life in Krishna consciousness — thirty, forty, fifty, sixty years — but not become enriched with the three qualities of humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others. There is an expression in Bengal,
vaisnava haba bali’ chhila mora sada
trnad api sloke padi gela vada
«I had a strong desire to become a Vaisnava, but when I heard that I needed to follow Mahaprabhu’s prescription of trnad api sunichena … then I felt very hopeless: ‘How will I ever become a Vaisnava?’»
Everyone struggles to remember Mahaprabhu’s formula and practise it properly. Sometimes we easily forget it and do something wrong. But when we come back to our good sense, we can immediately begin practising it again. Every time we can start again anew, and there is no problem with that. We forget, our sense comes back to us, and then we can again do good with our life. In that way we must try to go on and make ourselves perfect.
Faith is our first necessity in this practice, and under the guidance of faith we can proceed properly in the line of Krishna consciousness. So many disturbances may come to us, but we can cross over them by faithfully trying to practise Mahaprabhu’s simple formula: humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others. We are not always successful, but we are trying to do that. We should not be disappointed or frustrated. We must see that whatever situation comes to us has been given to us by Krishna, and we will try to harmonise that situation through our practice of humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others. If we are not able to harmonise something and practise properly, then we can faithfully pray to our Master: «You see everything, and You properly look after everyone; please do whatever is best for me.» This type of faith in the Lord’s protection over us is necessary to have behind our practice of Mahaprabhu’s formula.
If we chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra with the qualities of humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others, we will certainly get a proper result. Mahaprabhu has promised us this, and even Krishna will not be able to check our result because our result will come to us through His devotee’s devotee. Humility, tolerance, and the offering of respect are the essential qualities of a devotee. Everyone must maintain those qualities in their devotional lives. If anyone is successful in practising Mahaprabhu’s procedure, then they will be very, very close to liberation, and after liberation they will see and feel how everything is transcendental and all right, by the will of the Lord.
How humble we are, how tolerant we are, and how much we give honour to others is the quality of our existence in the line of Krishna consciousness. This is the teaching of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, Prabhupad Srila Saraswati Thakur, and my Guru Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj.
78 «Arise! Awake! Find a master and learn from him. The wise say the path is sharp as a razor’s edge, difficult to traverse, and arduous (impossible to traverse without a Guru).»
bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta-sangena parijayate
sat-sangah prapyate pumbhih sukrtaih purva-sanchitaih
«Devotion arises through the association of the Lord’s devotees. The soul attains the association of devotees through his previously acquired sukrti.»
dharmah projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam
«Srimad Bhagavatam teaches the supreme dharma, which completely rejects all cheating and is for sadhus who are non-envious.»
81 «The Lord’s Name is to be chanted constantly with more humility than a blade of grass, tolerance like that of a tree, respect for everyone, and without desire for respect from anyone.»