Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Visnur aradhana means one must become a Vaisnava, and Vaisnava means regulated life, not destroyed everything, finished, to become hogs. That is not Vaisnava. Vaisnava means regulated, end—to, how to satisfy Visnu. (BG lecture 1.43, London, July 30, 1973)
Sarve sukhino bhavantu. Vaisnava desire is not exploitation. Vaisnava desire is that "How others will be happy, how they will understand Krsna, how they will get happiness in this life and next life." This is Vaisnava. Satisfied, in any condition. Not that "I must have all these things; then I'll be satisfied. Otherwise, I'm going from the temple." (laughter.) No, this is not Vaisnava qualification. You must live with the devotees, even if you are not satisfied. Any condition, you should be satisfied. Because as soon as you leave the company, you become again rogues, again demons. (SB lecture 2.3.13-14, Los Angeles, May 30, 1972)
Vaisnava does not approach Krsna directly. That is not Vaisnava. This is impudency. You cannot approach Krsna. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has taught us, gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasa-dasanudasah [Cc. Madhya 13.80]. This is the process. (SB lecture 7.9.28, Mayapur, March 6, 1976)
So actually, all the Vaisnava acaryas, Madhvacarya, Ramanujacarya, Nimbarka, and Visnu Svami, there is no difference of opinion, but they have explained the Absolute Truth more vividly in their own angle of vision. Otherwise there is no difference. They never say that God and the living being are one. They will never say that. That is not Vaisnava philosophy. That is Mayavada philosophy. (lecture of Science of Krsna, Hyderabad, April 14, 1975)
Vaisnava is always humble, meek and humble. That is Vaisnava. Vaisnava is powerful, but still he is very meek and humble. So here is the sign. Prahlada Maharaja is so qualified that immediately Lord Nrsimhadeva put His hand on the head: "My dear child, you have suffered so much. Now be pacified." This is Prahlada Maharaja's position—immediately accepted by the Lord. But he's thinking, "I am so lowborn in the family of passionate family." Ugra-jateh. He's not proud that "Now Nrsimhadeva has touched my head. Ah. Who is like me? I am the greatest personality." This is not Vaisnava. (SB lecture 7.9.8, Mayapur, February 28, 1977)
"Actually," Prabhupada said, "this is a fact. One has to be blessed by a devotee to become a devotee. And he who is the servant of the servant of the servant—one hundred times removed—is not worse than one who directly serves the guru. If one thinks, 'Because I am direct servant, I am better than others,' then he is not a Vaisnava. To offer one's respects to Guru and not to his disciples, this is wrong. This is not Vaisnava. One has to be humble and try to serve all Vaisnavas—not some and not others." (Hari Sauri Dasa, A Transcendental Diary 1 - November 1975 - April 1976. TD 1-9: Sri Dhama Mayapur. January 28th, 1976.)
So we should have firm faith, niscaya. Niscayat..., utsahad dhairyat niscayat. But niscayat; at the same time, you should not sit idly. You should work according to the direction of the spiritual master. Tat-tat-karma-pravartanat. "Now Krsna has given me assurance. Now let me sleep. Everything will come automatically." No. Tat-tat-karma-pravartanat. The spiritual master says, "You must do this. You must do that." That is called tat-tat-karma-pravartanat. Not that "Now I am initiated and..." That is going on in so many places. The guru says, "You think of me. Everything will be all right." I do not wish to name, but a very big ashram, they simply sit idly, and the guru has advised that "Think of me," that's all. This is not Vaisnava principle. Vaisnava principle is you must act according to the order of spiritual master. That is also an order. But the Vaisnava spiritual master orders according to the sastra. Sadhu-sastra-guru-vakya. Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, cittete koriya aikya, ar na koriho mane asa. This is the instruction of our acarya. (SB lecture 3.26.30, Bombay, January 7, 1975)
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