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Dear Prabhujis and Matajis,

Hare Krishna. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

 

One of the most often used phrase among devotees is 'Devotee association'. There is a lot of emphasis given in devotional service to this aspect called 'sadhu sanga', usually refered to as 'Association of devotees'. It is true that it is one of the most important factor in the cultivation of our devotional service, or rather the foremost important factor. That is why great acaryas have longed for and cried for getting association of devotees all the time.

 

We also long for devotee association. We pray to Krishna for the same. However we are not able to get it all the time. At the most, we get devotee association for a brief period. Krishna is anyway the benefactor of everyone. After all we are not asking for any material desires, it is only a spiritual desire.  So Krishna should not have any second thoughts in fulling this desire. Krishna knows better than me what is good for me. So He should be giving me in plenty, what I need the most. Still why we are not able to get that association in plenty? This question was running in my mind today. Somehow the thought struck me, "Krishna is giving me only that much association which I deserve and which I can manage." Because honestly speaking, I am not ready for 24 hours devotee association yet. As of now I am only 'acting' as a devotee for a few hours in a day. So if I get 24 hours devotee association, then I have to 'act' like a devotee and remember Krishna throughout the day which is not possible for me. The show can go at the most for 3-4 hours only. I realized that my aim of getting devotee association is not for serving them or pleasing Krishna, but rather for my own sense gratification and self-glorification. Because of this material motive, Krishna holds back the devotee association and gives only that much which I am qualified for.

 

The great acaryas were able to cry in separation of the Vaishnavas, were longing for their association and were able to forget eating, sleeping etc in that process. The reason is because the sole purpose of their desire for devotee association is to remember Krishna, serve Krishna and His dear devotees. This must be our motive too when we ask Krishna for the association. The beautiful verse from Srimad Bhagavatam 3.25.25 says this:

 

 

"In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin."

 

Srila Prabhupada says a very powerful statement in the purport: "Association with devotees means association with the Lord." This statement defines the term 'association of devotees' completely in a nutshell. When we do not get association of devotees, we should examine ourselves, "Is my motive pure?", "Am I going to talk krsna-katha or gramya-katha?", "Am I going to serve the devotee and Krishna, or am I just looking for some feel-good factor about myself or some ego boost?" The only reason we want to associate with devotees should be to glorify the Lord and serve the Lord and His devotees, nothing else. If we are in this state, Krishna will arrange for the association more than what we ask for. Actually we should genuinely cry for devotee association if we are convinced that there is no other way to progress in devotional service. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has shown us this practically when he sang with all humility, "ohe vaishnava thakura tomaara kukura, boliyaa jaanaha more - O Vaishnava, please accept me as your dog." Because he felt that, by being born as a devotee's dog, he can keep taking prasadam, serve the Vaishnava and directly attain the Supreme abode. Prahlad Maharaj, when offered the benediction of direct eternal association with Lord Nrsimhadev, politely denied it and requested that he be given the association of his Guru Maharaj Srila Narada muni instead.

 

Devotee association is not a cheap thing. We can get it only after millions of years of sukrti. And its ultimate effect is that it can take us directly to Goloka Vrindavan! So let us develop the intense desire for the association of devotees with a pure motive and we can be rest assured that the Lord will do more than the needful to take us back to Him. Let us conclude by meditating on this powerful verse from SB 4.30.34:

 

 

"Even a moment's association with a pure devotee cannot be compared to being transferred to heavenly planets or even merging into the Brahman effulgence in complete liberation. For living entities who are destined to give up the body and die, association with pure devotees is the highest benediction."

 

Thank you very much.

Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,

Kalacakra Krsna das