“You see devotees, the acharyas they pray that, “Please, if I don’t get back to You in lifetime let me immediately take birth in the family of Your devotees!”

You see so many children here, they are fortunate to have taken birth in the family of devotees. It’s the opportunity for them to get the mercy of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

If some how or the other we can create the environment for them to grow up in, in our homes, which will be so conducive in our communities that they will be able to get a taste, for the nectar in Krishna Consciousness while they are still under the shelter of the parents and then they’ll be able to  have it their whole lifetime.”

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“In the Chaitanya Mangal it mentions that Lord Chaitanya said, “I’m going to flood India, but later someone will come, one of My commanding general devotees and he will spread it to the distant places where sinful people are living. People who have escaped from the mercy in India and who are far away…Don’t worry, we’ll get them too! I’m going to send the CLEANUP OPERATION. My devotee will go and spread the sankirtan everywhere else.”

Srila Prabhupada Ki Jaya! Srila Prabhupada Ki Jaya!

So because of Srila Prabhupada’s mercy we can also get this mercy of Lord Chaitanya. We can chant the holy names. We can get the mercy.

Yesterday, so many people on the beach, Byron Bay, they were able to get the mercy. Thousands of people getting Krishna prasad, seeing Lord Jagannath, what to speak of seagulls, sharks. Even the sharks didn’t bite anybody yesterday (laughter). Must have been too much filled with ecstasy.

Lord Chaitanya is giving us this complete form of Mercy!”

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“The conditioned souls are hopelessly entangled in this material world. There is no way of getting out of this material world by their own effort. Simply by their own effort, they’ll remain stuck.

We require the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in order to get out of the material entanglement.

daivi hy esha guna-mayi · mama maya duratyaya

Duratyaya…very difficult to overcome this material nature.

mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te

Those who surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, they can easily cross over this ocean of material illusion. Therefore we are totally dependent upon getting the mercy of the Lord. Without His mercy we just remain stuck.

We may try, we can move up and down within the material but to get free from it, we need the mercy of the Lord.”

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“If you use your mind, your words and your activities in the service of God, or Hari, or Krishna in this lifetime, then by utilizing all your activities, all absorbed in the spiritual contact with the Supreme Lord, then you’ll be even while you are alive, you’ll be liberated.

Jivan Mukta….jivan means alive and mukta means liberated. Liberated while alive.  So we want to teach people how to spiritualize their consciousness.

Actually Narada Muni, he was chanting Hare Krishna and when he died, it is said that it was like a lightning bolt. He told his disciples how it happened, that he was chanting and meditating and then all of a sudden it was just like being hit by a lightening. And he was illuminated and he could see his spiritual form, his eternal blissful spiritual form and he could see the material body lying there, but there was like no pain, it was just like he just got liberated and it was just a natural transition. So that’s also the perfectional way of it happening.

But even while alive, like we saw Srila Prabhupada, everything he did was offered to Krishna, everything that Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was doing was dedicated, and he was a liberated person even while living in the material world. Just coming in his presence you could feel a difference, because everything he was doing was dedicated to Krishna.

So we like to train people to be liberated from their Karmas, while living in the material world so that they can be at peace with themself and be able to help others.“

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“People are being a human being, we should be concerned not to neglect this opportunity we have to fully develop our consciousness.

Why someone would take animal birth? Of course one thing would be thinking about the animal at the end of life. Other thing is to develop a consciousness which is more suited to the next birth being an animal birth, than a human being.

Like say somebody is drunk all the time, or something, that’s just always in a stooper. They’re not, they don’t want to be very conscious of whats going on. Human being is much more aware of the realities than an animal. Animal’s consciousness is you know,  blocked into a limited sphere of understanding. So they would prefer to not have to deal with the problems of life. That’s why they are remaining intoxicated.

So at time of death, they may get such a birth, that they can just, you know… ignorance is bliss, or…. They don’t have to deal with it, and just deal with the priorities of life like eating, sleeping, mating and defending.

But that’s a big waste. As a human being, we’ve have already gone through 8 Million 400 Thousand species of life of transmigration, a kind of spiritual evolution of consciousness. And being a human being, we should actually perfect our human life by fully developing our potential.“

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“There is a verse in the Nectar of Devotion that says, when you chant and dance, when chanting Hare Krishna and you clap your hands, just liken when people clap their hands and the birds fly off, as many Karmas fly off from your account…your bad Karmas.

As while you’re chanting and clapping your hands, as birds will fly off from the fields, so it’s a good impetus….Haribol….Hare Krishna! (Everyone Clapping)“

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“ We know that one good fragrant flower in the forest can give the good name for the whole forest, so like that in the parampara one good disciple will glorify the whole parampara.

So His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad because he took this message around the world he has created a very good name for the disciplic succession following Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

So we all must be very careful to do the same thing to be a good example of His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

I dont feel myself so qualified but I am trying; I am trying my best and I want my disciples, well-wishers, like god-brothers, god-sisters like everyone also try to do what they can to carry on Srila Prabhupada’s mission. This is my primary message.”

Celebrating this most-auspicious appearance day of HH Jayapataka Swami Gurumaharaj, with Guru Vandana Music Video. A humble dedication to His Holiness, on the occasion of his 61st Vyasa Puja Celebrations, 26th March 2010.

Courtesy: http://www.illuminize.com

“ As Vyasa Puja we can see how the Guru Tattva is broader perspective. We have a personal relationship and we are getting strength from that, we are getting personal instruction over doing our service as our personal offering to the Guru, to Krishna through the Guru.

At same time we see beyond that we are trying to please all the previous acharyas, we are getting shelter from Srila Prabhupada, from the previous acharyas from Vyasadev, from Gaur and Krishna.

So this is all coming down in a very natural way. Nobody can see how it is working. It happens automatically. Now how the devotees are feeling happiness, how they’re feeling inspiration by surrendering to the Guru, nobody can analyze very easily. But factually we see that it’s happening.

So if we follow this proper attitude, if we are serving Guru, not that he is God, but he is representing God, he is like God, he is the external manifestation of God and through him we are serving the previous acharyas and Krishna, then everything is perfect.”

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“Guru is there to decide whether something is applicable for us or not, because he is taking that responsibility, the disciple also take vows to follow his instruction. So if you follow the instructions of a bonafide guru, he will get you back to Godhead.

But if one doesn’t follow, then how the Guru can get you back? If someone is having doubt, they should get that doubt clarified as quickly as possible. First with the vaishnavas, if not possible then go to the Guru and get your doubt clarified.

Guru is the one Supreme Court, the final verdict. Whatever the decision then the disciple follows that.

Otherwise sometimes it gets confusing also in ISKCON there may be may spiritual masters and sometimes they give different instruction for a devotee. Someone says, yes you should get married, someone says you should not get married, someone says you should do this, you should do that! Then one gets confused what should I do?

So then the spiritual master can clarify, because the Spiritual Master has taken the commitment, ‘I have to get you back to Krishna, even if it means that I have to take birth again to get you back!.’So he has taken responsibility.

So it’s important that we have proper spiritual master. That’s a single important decision. Ofcourse to take in the bonafide disciplic succession and get the mercy of Prabhupada and Krishna, take initiation eventually from the bonafide spiritual master and keep on serving under the shelter of the entire Guru Parampara.”

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“By expressing our realizations, this is one way of worshiping, which is one way of partially repaying the debt. Because glorification is one service. We can only repay the debt by service.

shrunvatam sva-kathaah krishna punya shravana kirtana

So by shrunvata, by hearing, by chanting, by remembering the activities of a bonafide spiritual master, Krishna is pleased and the disciple is repaying to some extent a little bit of the unlimited debt.

Someone may be very shy, may feel, how can speak in front of so many people. But we should rise above that shyness, whatever it is, whatever our humble contribution, whatever we have received from Guru we can express to others..”

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“Now how Krishna has helped us through the via-media of the Spiritual Master? What realizations we have received, what help that we have received from the spiritual master, what understanding we have about guru tattva, what special mercy we have received… these things are shared by the devotees at the time of the Vyasa Puja homages.

Sometimes even the godbrothers speaks something about a fellow Vaisnava to share with his disciples, or sometimes initiated disciples of other Gurus, they also share things from their experience. Or it may be that, there may be uninitiated devotees who have not yet decided who should be their spiritual master, but they have received some spiritual help from someone. So they share this with the devotees.

Actually Krishna is helping from within as Chaitya Guru and without as the Diksha and Siksha Guru. So we express these realizations and these experiences as a way of appreciating Krishna, how He is helping us through this particular Guru.

So if one know that this particular representative is helping devotees, then that also instills faith in general people and in the devotee, that by connecting with this representative, we will get the spiritual mercy that we require. We will get that connection with Krishna that must be there.”

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“Srila Prabhupada said, “If you apply something at least in India, to the President, you have to submit to the local collector. The collector will submit to somebody else..somebody else, then secretary you go, then to the President.

So our system is like that. So it not that I am training my disciple to worship me…’Man Worship‘. I am getting some honor from them for nothing.

No it it not that, whatever honor, whatever respect, whatever presentation you are giving to your spiritual master, it will go to Krishna by parampara system.

This was Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja address in 1973.”

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“The whole purpose of Krishna Consciousness is to develop our pure Krishna Consciousness and the first qualification, first thing we should do, in the Nectar of Devotion, is find the shelter of a bonafide spiritual master.

We serve under the shelter of a bonafide spiritual master, and then after sometime we take initiation. After taking initiation then we get further instruction and the things progress from there, we offer our service to the Guru.

So Prabhupada said, the first qualification of a Guru is to be a disciple. Chadiyace vaisnava seva, nistar paiche kebab. If there is anyone who claims to be Guru who is not a disciple, then he is NOT a bonafide Guru.

A bonafide Guru must first be disciple of his Guru. Even Krishna is ‘Gurur Guru’. He is the Guru of all Gurus. He also accepted a Guru just to show us how it is absolutely essential.”

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“If I were to describe myself it would be, ‘Bhakti hina, kryia hina, jnana hina, mantra hina.. the particular verse that we offer and beg for forgiveness and no qualification absolutely before coming in contact with His Divine Grace Srila Abhay Charan Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

So then, after meeting Prabhupada and his devotees, then we can see guru kripa hi kevelam. If there is any good quality that I have acquired, it was simple by the mercy of Guru.

Many of you may be born in Brahmana families and may have learned many slokas and suktas before meeting the Krishna Conscious movement. Ofcourse one should not be proud of that. You see that we did not have such an opportunity. Whatever we learned was after meeting Srila Prabhupada. Before that we even never heard of Krishna. We never heard of Bhagavad Gita. We never heard of Hare Krishna maha mantra.

So then we can see everything is due to the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, for us.”

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“Prabhupada explains, Vyasa Puja address in ’72, just like in our country when there was British rule, there was a Viceroy, the king’s representative, so naturally when the Viceroy used to go to some meeting many people used to present valuable jewels, valuable, because just to honor him. But the law was that not a single of the jewels or contribution, the Viceroy could touch. It was going to the royal treasury. The Viceroy should accept on behalf of the King all contribution, but it goes to the King.

Similarly this day, Vyasa puja day, whatever honor, contribution and feeling is being offered to the spiritual master, it is, again as we have received the knowledge from upwards, similarly this respect also goes from the downward to the upward. This is the process.

So the spiritual master is the teacher of the student. He has to teach the student how to send back his respect in contribution to GOD. In other words whatever worship is being offered, the Guru accepts on behalf of Vyasadeva, on behalf of the previous acharyas and offers to them.”

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“Prabhupada said in a Srimad Bhagavatam lecture about what is our relationship with the Guru, 1974. He said, ‘We must be DEBTOR! Guru. Debtor to the spiritual master, to the sages, to the saintly persons, because we are getting knowledge from them.

Therefore the Vyasa Puja is there. Once in a year the disciples are worshiping the spiritual master and trying to repay what he has received from the spiritual master.

Why we respect the Guru, Prabhuapda explains, because he does not manufacture. He says what he has heard from the acharyas. Exactly like the child, what he has heard from his father, from the superior, he speaks. So that is the position of Guru.

Guru is respected as good as God….why?…only for this qualification, that he does not speak anything nonsense. He speaks only what he has heard from the acharyas.”

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“We wander from birth to birth. Even we go sometime from one day of Brahma to another taking so many countless births. Going from one universe also to another universe, one creation to another creation.

Because once we’re in a Brahmanda or Universe, we cannot leave until Lord Brahma dies or unless we get liberation. Either end of Brahma’s life or our liberation. So we are here in the material world for a very very long time.

Guru Krishna Prasadaye Paye

We pray to Krishna to get a bonafide spiritual spiritual master, to be in a bonafide disciplic succession. Actually when we take initiation from a spiritual master in a bonafide disciplic succession, we are connected with Lord Krishna, with Vyasadeva, with all the previous acharyas.

Once one has taken initiation in a bonfire disciplic succession, there is never any reason to change one’s disciplic succession because already the relationship is established. So we pray to Krishna to reveal to us who is our spiritual master, to show to us the bonafide disciplic succession.

So we find that in the age of Kali, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s disciplic succession embodies the essence of all the other disciplic successions. That it is giving us clearly the highest purpose of life. That it is giving us Krishna Prema, which otherwise is very difficult to achieve.

Therefore the wise person, the intelligent person will take shelter of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement and disciplic succession.”

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“If one carries..fulfills the order of the Guru carefully, one can cross over all obstacles in spiritual life. Vedas also say sarva deva moyi guru.

Within the Guru are all the Devas. So in the vaishnava tradition of our sampradaya, instead of worshiping Ganesha when we begin anything auspicious, which is the normal Karma Kanda system, we worship Guru.

Om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
Caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

Within the Guru, Ganesh is there, all the Devas are there. So that is our system. We always first, adau guru, we first worship the Guru in any auspicious ceremony. When we do deity worship, we first do Guru Puja. Then we do the other worship.

So by mercy of Guru, we get the mercy of Krishna.”

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“Our mind is always trying to project itself as the centre of the universe. Sometimes we find that people who start rendering devotional service love to talk about themselves, ‘how dear they are to their guru, how important they are to the world, what great devotees they are and how successful their preaching is.’ Maybe their egos need to be glorified, but it is very painful to hear a person always talk about himself.

On the other hand, how blissful it is when a person always talks about Krishna, Guru and devotional service not putting himself in the centre. But the tendency of the mind is to reflect the false ego platform and try to see the self as having a separate role from Krishna’s.

To make the mind humble and actually take a service attitude requires an abrupt change of perspective. To do that, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura has encouraged that the mind be smashed down to silence. His instruction is that we should pick up a mental broom or shoe and beat our minds a hundred times. It is quite humiliating to be hit by a broom, because it is meant for sweeping dirty things off the floor. Similarly what could be worse than being hit by a pair of shoes.

One who is experienced in material life knows that there are many fair-weather friends, people who show interest only when one has money or position. A powerful or rich man has many such friends, but when the influence of the money is gone then so are such friends.

Actually only Krishna is our real friend and relative. Those who are connected with each other on the spiritual platform are also real relatives because such relationships are spiritual, heart-to-heart, soul-to-soul.

Gajendra, the King of elephants, was surrounded by his wives, children, and other elephants, but none could help when the crocodile in the water captured him. Feeling helpless, he prayed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Who is above all the demigods and human beings, and Who is creator, maintainer, and destroyer of everything.

In response to his sincere prayers, Lord Visnu personally came and delivered him.

Jayapataka: Krishna said, “I am the cause of remembrance and forgetfulness.”

Prabhupada: Yes. Generally devotee dies remembering Krishna, generally. But even if for material condition he cannot, then Krishna is taken charge.

Panca-dravida: What was the arrangement with Bharata Maharaja?

Prabhupada: And there is no question of hopelessness, no. We have to do our duty very seriously. Then everything is all right.

Panca-dravida: So with Bharata Maharaja, that was special arrangement?

Prabhupada: No. It was…. It was punishment. He became so much, I mean, attached with the animal that he forgot his duty in devotional service. That is stated. Forgot. He neglected. Therefore he was punished, but he remembered that “I did it.” You cannot neglect your duty. Then Krishna is always with you. [break] …way, a soldier is dying in duty, immediately the government takes charge of the whole family. So that is…. Why not Krishna? [break] …Krishna visvasa palana. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has said. You know this song? Avasya rakñibe Krishna visvasa palana.

Jayapataka: “If one maintains his faith, then Krishna…”

Prabhupada: Ah! Yes. One should maintain his faith that “Krishna will give me protection. And my duty is to serve Him.” That’s it.

Jayapataka: Why did Krishna have all the demigod worship put in the Vedas?

Prabhupada : Hm?

Jayapataka: They put… Vyasadeva put all the demigod worship in the Vedas.

Prabhupada: For the karmis. Ksipra bhavati… What is that? Kam kanta…

Jayapataka : Karmanam siddhi.

Prabhupada: Karmanam siddhi yajanti iha devata. Who is interested to take bhakti immediately? Nobody is interested.

Jayapataka: They can get their material facilities from Krishna also.

Prabhupada: Yes. That is recommended. First of all sastra recommends that if you want this thing you worship this deity, this deity. In this way, at last it is said that you can get anything if you worship Krishna. That is said.

Akamah sarvo kama va moksa kama udara dhi tivrena bhakti-yogena. That is for the purpose that if he wants to take advantage, material benefit from Krishna, then Krishna bhajana will be there, gradually they will forget this material benefit. They will become pure devotee. Just like Dhruva Maharaja became. Svamin krtartho ‘smi vara na yace.

“Pure devotional service is unconditional and favorable to the Lord’s desire. Since it is Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s desire that His devotees preach cooperatively the glories of the holy names of Krishna, pure devotees unhesitatingly perform this activity at all times under all circumstances.

The thought that an individual will “in his own way” spread Krishna consciousness outside of the sankirtana movement authorized by the previous acaryas is inconceivable for a pure devotee of the Lord.

There is no alternative for one who wants to achieve perfection in Krishna consciousness in this lifetime other than to remain within the shelter of the Krishna consciousness movement and cooperatively work together for the satisfaction of Guru and Gauranga!

“Those who are depending on God, they’re actually stable and steady in their situation. Otherwise material life, one minute things can go pretty good and the next minute, things can suddenly change. We think how easy it is for a human body to be killed. It’s almost a miracle that how we’re alive. I mean see, it doesn’t take much. A car accident, falling of one storey building anything. Somehow Krishna’s mercy we’re alive. It’s a kind of a miraculous thing.

So, in this time, if we actually take the stock of our life and take it as an opportunity in these times of world crisis, to become more fixed up in our spiritual life, to regularly chant hare Krishna, to regularly come to the temples, to make our home as a real ashram. Grihasta home should also make their home as an ashram for their whole family with putting Krishna in the center.

You go in the Navadvip parikrama and visit the homes of different devotees like Murari Gupta. He was a devotee of Sita Ram, he worshipped Sita Ram deity and he had a temple. He lived in a grass hut but made a stone temple for the deities. So, the temple is still there. The Sita-Ram-Laxman-Hanuman deities are still there. Like this Grihastas, they must also worship Krishna whether in a photo form or in a small deity form or whether they construct their own temple.

Prabhupada : …niharam iva bha… It is called nihara. As long, as soon as the sun becomes strong, immediately, everything finished. Just see. This… What is called fog, or…?

Jayapataka: Just like when you came to the West, Prabhupada, you cleared away the fog.

Prabhupada: At least, I tried for that. Whatever is done it is done by Krishna . [break] …keeps intelligent to the sincere servant. Otherwise, everything is done by Krishna . So if you, one is sincere to Krishna , he will act everything rightly because the direction is… Buddhi yoga dadami tam. The perfect direction is there. I do not know why people denies to take direction from Krishna . He gets perfect direction. But he does not like to take. What is this tree?

Jayapataka: The imli, I think.

Prabhupada: Imli.

Jayapataka: Not imli? They call that…

Prabhupada: No, no, not imli. Imli’s different. This way, up to that river? [break] …vasudeva-parayana. Vasudeva-parayana, means Krishna  conscious person, they solve all questions by one thing, Krishna  consciousness. Exactly like the sun solves all the problems of this nihara, foss. It is called foss?

Jayapataka: Fog.

Prabhupada: Fog.

Jayapataka: Mist.

Prabhupada: Niharam iva bhaskara. Let the scientists do it in their scientific way, drive away the fog. Is there any process? Eh? In the ocean, when there is fog like this, they have to stop all the ships and cry, (makes sound like fog horn:) onnnh, onnnh, so that they may not collide. I have seen it when I was coming, going to USA. Where is Mohanananda? He is here? No. Mohanananda? Hare Krishna .

The difference between other camps and our: they call these men from their daily, I mean to say, life, householder’s life, for this purpose for a week or so, but they are not dedicated. Here, in our camp, all our people are dedicated to the cause. That is the difference. So they cannot surpass your activities.

Jayapataka: Because you are dedicated, Srila Prabhupada.

Prabhupada: Yes, everyone should be dedicated, I or you. Does not… That is the success of life. Dedicate your life for Krishna . That is the perfection. Even there are some faults, even dedicated life is noble life. Maybe, due to our past habits, we may commit some faulty action, but that dedicated life is sublime. Api cet suduracaro bhajate mam ananya-bhak, sadhur eva sa mantavyau [Bg. 9.30].

Morning Walk
March 4th, 1974
Mayapur
Reference: Vedabase Folios

“We change our name at initiation, but if we  don’t change the consciousness, then what is the use?

Our point is that the consciousness has to be purified. It says in the first Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam ‘janata agha viplavah’, that in every shloka and every verse of the Srimad Bhagavatam, it has the potency to create a revolution in our sinful consciousness

Similarly we should be detached from our materialistic point of view and become attached  to cultivating and developing this type of spiritual knowledge, so that we can actually very systematically purify the consciousness. If we don’t purify the consciousness, what is the benefit of practicing?

Real benefit comes from purifying the consciousness and then engaging that purified consciousness in devotional service.

It doesn’t matter what externally one’s birth might have been, but if one’s consciousness has become purified, then they are elevated. And they become eternal consort or associate of the Lord. They become connected with the Lord eternally.”

“Preaching Krishna consciousness is the Ultimate Shelter for the followers of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Preaching Krishna consciousness is non-different from Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu—it is an extension of His own transcendental pastimes.

Those who have deviated from the path of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and yet want to cheat themselves and others that they are still, in fact, true followers of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu or otherwise genuinely on the bonafide spiritual path create distorted philosophies and unauthorized systems to substantiate their false claim . They criticize the real followers of Lord Caitanya and the authorized process of Krishna consciousness being bewildered by their materialistic minds and false egos.

The first verse of “What Kind of Devotee Are You?” is more than a nuclear blast destroying these misconceptions to ashes . Therefore, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has repeatedly referred to this verse of his writings to protect all sincere seekers and followers from these fatal dangers along the path of Krishna consciousness. ”

“His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has used the appropriate analogy of Cream.

Cream naturally rises to the top of the milk, and similarly, if the devotee’s Desires are pure, light and free from all material contaminations, that pure desire will pull one higher and higher in Devotional Activities.

There is no need to be misled; one should exclude all other desires except one- to be the servant of the servant, in other words, to be a pure Vaisnava.”