How to Associate with the Devotees ? | SB 3.25.25 | Mauritius | 8 Jan 2020 | Gopal Krishna Goswami

So we just said a few minutes ago, we are continuing to discuss on the theme that we discussed a few days ago. We earlier discussed that Pīrānava is inviting his mother to Urimamūrti. You get attached to the saintly person. Why? Because if you are attached to the saintly person, then you will also be attached to what instructions he is giving. Otherwise, attraction is just sentimental. And then Lord Kṛṣṇa, they further explain what the qualities are of these saintly people. And then Lord Kṛṣṇa continues to emphasize the importance of getting attached to whatever is transcendental. And he certified, attached to the same person opens the door for liberation. Attachment to the materialist opens the door for bondage. Now, on the same theme, Lord Kapiladeva is again repeating the essential point, but from a different angle. In the earlier verses, he said, attached to a sadhu. He described what the nature of a sadhu is.

Inequalities.

Now he is saying in association with devotees. Now, what is the association of pure devotees? Discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Lord is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear. So our lives will be so focused that we are able to get Spiritual association. Is somebody translating in Hindi? Spiritual association, as you've heard time and again, is paramount. Now the muni explains to Dhruva Maharaj in the fourth canto that we can possibly have three levels of association. One is associating with more, more divine. The other is associating with those who are equally divine. And the third is— what else?

No!

Associating with those who are less divine. Third is associating with those who are more advanced, equally advanced, and less advanced. How do you reciprocate in these different levels? Nanak Dev Ji explains that when you have the facility to associate with those that are more advanced, then you become joyful. And the way the— in the Bhagavad Gita, example is given, when the peacock sees the clouds for the first time, when the phoenix sees them, it dances in ecstasy. Don't ask me why. I'm not in a position to tell you why. But it's in the Bhagavad Gita, because when it sees the clouds for the first time, it dances in ecstasy. A farmer, he looks at a cloud, he's happy. So when you have the opportunity to associate with those who are more advanced, you should become joyful. And when you meet somebody equally advanced, you should make friendship. And when you meet somebody less advanced, you should Should? It's a big ambition. Now, in the midst of the world wars, he will be joyful. Now this is the desire of every devotee. In the podcast, you read the story of Guru Angad Maharaj, how he went to the forest. To the forest? Sure. They forgot. They were performing seva, charity, eating once in 3 days, once in 6 days, and the food's very dry now. So the Lord was very pleased by Dhruvala's charity, and he revealed 'Ask them for.' Then the Lord said, 'Whoa! For my sake, you and the men, so many are standing here. Ask me for any benediction that you want.' What is your words? My dear Lord, if you want to give me a benediction, 'Give me the benediction that I may always associate with those who are more advanced. Because when I associate with more advanced souls, I will receive knowledge that will help me cross over these sands.' I can afford to die. The reason why association is recommended because it helps one to realize what is the real philosophy, what a real devotee is. Therefore, when you have the opportunity to associate with those who are more advanced, you become joyful. Now what Prabhupāda explains, the material situation, if you associate with somebody more advanced, They try to pull him down. He just became big by accident. He cheated and got a good job. I don't want to cheat, so— Then he tried to justify. But, so in a mature situation, when you meet somebody more advanced, what do you do? You try to pull him down. You try to discredit him. In spiritual life, you meet someone more advanced, you don't try to pull him down, rather you listen to the message that the sage is giving. When you meet somebody more equally advanced, Radha Mohini says, what do you do? What do you do?

Make friendship.

What does friendship in spiritual life mean? We all know what friendship in material life means. Friendship in material life means, "I facilitate your sense enjoyment and you facilitate mine." You're partners in crime. And when that cannot be realized, then what happens? And they get separated. That's why divorce rate is getting high and high everywhere. That's why relatives, members of a family, get separated. So, but in mature spiritual life, it means somebody is so ignorant, Friendship is spiritual life means we work together to fulfill the mission of the Lord. We work together to serve the Lord. In the 4th canto, there's a very nice explanation on the pratyayasas. The prasad raaval, the sons of a king, called King Prithinaparikṣitā, and they performed extreme austerity. Their father was busy making plans for sense enjoyment, and Nārada Muni came over there uninvited, and started preaching to them. The pratyeka is performed They said it was 10,000 years. So the Lord told them, "I am very pleased with all of you." There were several brothers. "I am very pleased with all of you." Why? Who knows? Because all of you are engaged cooperatively in rendering devotional service. Therefore, ask me for any benediction if you want. A lot of the prachetas are very pleased with all of you, with all you brothers. I have only one occupation. What's that? Devotional service. Because all of you are engaged in devotional service together, I'm really pleased with all of you. So I'm asking for any benediction you want. So Prabhupāda in the purport elaborates on this principle and explains However, in the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, if you all work together to fulfill the mission of Prabhupāda, he used to comment on the United Nations. He used to say, "United Nations was formed to bring peace." But what is it actually doing? Disuniting nations. So the Lord told the Pratyāsa, "I may be with all of you, but all of you have only one occupation, devotional service." So that should be our goal, even in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness society. We should all have one occupation. What's that? Prending devotional service. Divine occupation, devotional service is the essence of all religion. So, Lord has explained that, "I am pleased because all of you have one association." Prabhupāda used to comment on this. He used to say, there is a famous English phrase, United we stand, divided we fall. I think you learn that in school everywhere. United we stand, divided we fall. If we all work together keeping Kṛṣṇa in the forefront, then we'll be united. And if we are endeavoring If each one with our own agenda, then we won't be able to get united. So you can be united if you have a single-pointed goal, but if you are multi-pointed, then it's hard to remain united. Prabhupada gave an example. He said there was a father who was being massaged by his sons. Every son was trying to please the father. Actually, every son was trying to please the father, but they ended up beating the father because they were doing the massage, and they actually ended up beating the father. So the father said, "Are you beating me or massaging me?" Prasad RAVAL said, You take one blade of grass, it has no strength. But if you combine all the grasses together, then try to break it, you won't succeed. So our goal on the devotional path should be to please Kṛṣṇa, pray to Lord Caitanya, process of śraddhagati. Śraddhagati means? So in listening the process of śraddhagati, what Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, our goal should be to be consistent with the desires of the Lord. In other words, the Lord's desire should be Arjuna's desire, not that my desire should be Krishna's desire. Presently we all aim for that, my desire should be God's desire. But as you advance spiritually, or through your mentality, God's desire is my desire. So when you are associated with somebody equally advanced, you make friendship. And Rūpa Gosvāmī in Urdhvaśrama talks about the 6 rasas that one can exchange with devotees. What is the famous one? Telārikarāntī, famous with the Prajñātī. It's in Lakṣmaṇa, 6 rasas. What are they? Evade your mind. Those are more advanced. Take instructions from them. Give charity. Accept charity. Sir Prasad, Ye Prasad. And the fourth one is, evade your mind, take instructions. So many times we have doubts, and we don't always reveal those doubts and get them clarified. What happens? Our spiritual life gets interrupted. Srila Prabhupada Swami says, in an association of devotees, if you have any doubts, questions, Revealing the mind to those who are more advanced. Revealing the mind to those who are more advanced will have value only if you are also going to take the instruction. You go to a doctor, tell him, "This is my plan, this is my problem, this is my problem." Doctor says, "Here's the medicine and the diet." "Sorry, I don't want it." Then they have to go anywhere, they are going to do without it. So, if you really might know the word "worth," they can trust it. In the scriptures we see that the devotees of the Lord ask questions again and again, just like, just like when Jadbāhāna was being instructed very Hogwarana. He gave the instructions. Then Narada, King Ravana said, "I have not fully understood. Can you please elaborate?" Then King Ravana, Jambavan elaborated the instructions. So, you really have to open your mind to know the more important, and take instruction. Give charity, accept charity. What do we have to give in charity? What do we have? Big bag, my Lord? Give in charity this transcendental knowledge. Take instruction. Serve Kṛṣṇa, accept Kṛṣṇa. So Prabhupāda says, the International Society for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, was formed to facilitate the sikh rasa of the manjari devotees. So when you associate with devotees, then in your dealings with each other, they are based on the sikh rasa. And if we practice this, Lord will help. Lord Prabhupāda said, "You take one step towards the Lord, the Lord takes ten steps." And what is the third type of association? Third type of association is associating with those who are less advanced. When you meet somebody who is less advanced, then what do you do? Take compassion. What does compassion really mean? Giving a truthful message. Sometimes the truth hurts, but the truth has to be spoken. Prabhupāda gave a lecture in Rishikesh in '77, and either Prabhupāda spoke very strongly, and sometimes he used the word rāska and phū. He can do it, but we can't. So there was one American lady in the audience. She said, "Swamiji, a sadhu should not speak so boldly." So Prabhupada said, "When you have a boil, it passes away. What will you do? Blow over the boil or press the boil?" So the truth has to be spoken. So when you meet somebody less advanced, you display compassion. Compassion is one of the qualities of Asadhu. Earlier in this chapter, Arka Pillai Dev has explained qualities of Asadhu. Tejshwagrunigaha, Sudhasavadayinam, Ajnana vasanavasandha. Sādhu, sādhu purusha na. One of the qualities of a sādhu is karunika, merciful, compassionate, and the compassionate nature is manifested by the worship of Kṛṣṇa. So, avaiśyama is parāduḥ kaduḥ ki, seeing others in distress, he gets distressed. So, displaying compassion really means giving them the Truthful Message. If a genius may think displaying compassion means building a big hospital, building a big educational institution, like people in India think, you may build a big hospital, you may give them the best medical care, But if you haven't changed his heart, you have not helped him. He will entangle them more. Suppose you— sick person becomes healthy with your mercy, and he re-engages in sinful activities again. What's the result? It will not help the individual. So the real compassion is even people does not even know it. 5,000 years ago, the sages were assembled in Dhamma Shravana, and they were so concerned that they wanted to know what would be the symptoms in Kali Yuga and what would be the suggestions before. So the nature of a devotee is to be compassionate, and one way you display compassion is by distributing books. And then we think, "These books are outdated. They're not relevant today." They're as relevant as they were in the beginning. Why? Because every day we meet people who are reading these books and get woken up to the philosophy. So compassion means to preach. Yau go an hai na. That is also compassion. So Prasad encouraged us to do book distribution. Why? Prasad said, "You may talk the philosophy, explain the philosophy, but then he will forget it. If he reads a book and rereads it," Then everything can be apart. So compassion means to preach, and that preaching spirit is essential for a Vaishnava. The Lord Kripilai is saying, associate with devotees. We just explained the three levels of devotees, three levels of association, and in this social devotees especially when the pastimes of the Lord are very relishable. Like, we talk about spiritual topics with a materialist, he falls asleep. But you talk with a spiritualist, he'll be enthusiastic. Sometimes a spiritualist also falls asleep. But generally, so, so, it is so, you know, devotees, the discussion of the pastime is very pleasurable. Now one thing that we see everywhere, even after we come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we retain some of our bad habits. And one of the bad habits that we retain is Prajāpa. When we meet each other, we take part in Prajāpa. We love to talk about Prajāpa. But our goal should be to drive away, to reduce Prajāpa and increase Prismaṭṭhana. King Daśaratha was the father of Lord Rāma. So whenever somebody would come to his palace, he would say, "What is your progress on the journey back to Godhead?" So when we meet each other, we should be saying, "What is your progress on the journey back to Godhead?" Take up a topic, any story, discuss it, and our discussion should focus more on spiritual activities, not on the weather or how do you feel. How are you? You don't understand and reply, "Very well." But in reality, no one is very well. So we should be engaged in cultivating spiritual topics. Now what happens according to Kapiladeva? He says, if you remain, if you engage in discussing Kṛṣṇa-kathā, then you will get fixed on the devotional path. Right now we are not fixed. Is that right? We are very, very more initiated, want to go even Brahman, but to say that I'm totally fixed, I'm as solid as a rock, is not the reality. People do get liberated and go back to the true life. Whereas we build the habit of engaging in Krishna-katha, Then you will get more faith. Prabhupāda Swami has described how one progresses on the spiritual path. Adau śraddha-saḍha-sādhu. In the initial stage, you should have this feeling that I must cultivate spiritual life. I want the real thing. Real message. And that is devotional service. When you have the sincere desire that you want a genuine path, then the Lord gives you what? Sadhu association. Adho śraddhatata sadhu. That association of sadhu comes in two forms. One is a devotee sadhu, one is a book sadhu. Book sadhu means preaching, public preaching. Recently I met somebody in India and I asked him, "How did he come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" He is a young businessman. This man's business is to repair trunks. Baggage. Somebody gave him a trunk to fix up. He emptied the whole suitcase, but he forgot to empty 3 or 4 books of Prabhupāda. They were forgotten in the suitcase. This man opened the suitcase, to get his suitcase fixed. Then he saw some books of Prabhupada. He said, "Can I borrow these books?" So he started reading those books. And reading those books, he became Kṛṣṇa conscious. But he didn't even buy those books. Somebody just forgot to empty the suitcase completely. In other words, he got it accidentally. There was a Sambhavan devotee in New York, in America. So I asked him, "Where is your devotee?" So he was being driven by his friend in a car, and in the back of the car he had a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. So he asked his friend, "Can I borrow that Bhagavad Gita?" You know, heard about the Gita. He heard about it briefly in his college. He was an American. He said, "Can I borrow that book?" His friend said, "Why do you want to borrow? Take it. I have no interest in this book." So then he asked his friend, "If you have no interest in the book, how do you have it in your car?" He said, "I met a Hare Krishna monk." He was so enthusiastic that I could not tell him no. I bought the book. So when you go to preach, we have to be enthusiastic. Then your preaching will have some result. But if we just go and just to mark our attendance, I mean, They won't give the same result. Once, I may have told you this story before, once in 1976, we had arranged for Prabhupāda a display of books in a big bookstore in Bombay. But after one month of heavy promotion, not many books were sold. So when Prabhupāda enjoyed his final rest afterwards, the books were not many, the books were sold. And Prabhupāda said, "My books are distributed because of the enthusiasm of the devotees." And in a bookstore, naturally, no one is really enthusiastic. So being enthusiastic, uttaha nishkayāt rārya, the Prabhupāda may say, on the devotional path, Be enthusiastic. Once, Meghan Goddard asked Prabhupāda, "How can I be humble and listen to books?" We have to go back to listen to books. We have to listen to the sages. So Prabhupāda said, "Be a lamb at home and a lion outside." You don't become a lion at home and a lamb outside. You are a lamb at home. A lamb is very gentle animal. And you become a priest. Priest like a lion. So when you meet somebody less advanced, you display compassion. So over here, we associate and follow the process, then Lord Kṛṣṇa says, you become fixed on the devotional path. And by becoming fixed on the devotional path, that opens the door for liberation. So, further, in the concluding line of the purport, Prabhupāda makes one very important point. Association with devotees means association with the Lord. Isn't that a beautiful statement? Prabhupāda says association with a devotee means association with the Lord. The devotee who makes this association develops the consciousness for rendering service to the Lord. And then becomes situated in a transcendental position of devotional service. It gradually becomes perfect. So when you have sincere, the Lord guides you to a sadhu. Sadhu engages you in Shravanam, Kirtanam, and then subsequently the heart becomes more clear. You keep endeavoring, then you get fixed and you reach, and you get to the nirsaṣṭhiti. So associating with devotees means associating with the Lord. Why is that? Because the devotee should be engaged in discussing Kṛṣṇa-katha. They are saying the Holy Name is non-different from the Lord. Is the Holy Name different from the Lord? No, it's not different from the Lord. It's descending from the spiritual world. How can we chant the Holy Name again and again? Because it's coming from the spiritual world. Similarly, the message of the Gītā and the Bhāgavata Mōṣava. In the Bhāgavata, the first canto, you read, 'Prasādam.' After he saw that His sister was installed on the throne. He thought it was appropriate for him to leave this for material world. And when he was leaving, the Lord was there at his bedside, and meditating on the lotus feet, he departed. The Prabhupāda says, "If one is fortunate enough," to be hearing the Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā while leaving his body, then he will obtain the same result that Maitreya would achieve while meditating at the Lord's holy feet while leaving his body. So the point is, message of Gītā is no different from the Lord. The message from the Bhāgavatam, not different from the Lord. There Guru Mahāprabhu says, "Associating with devotee means associating with the Lord." And many times we become complacent in the devotional association. We, we are not enthusiastic. We minimize the bhakti association, and what happens? That gradually affects our spiritual life. So Prabhupada built these temples so that we assemble together, we associate together, and when we associate, our focus should be Kṛṣṇa-lākṣmaṇa. Each of us should evaluate, how much Krishna-katha did I take part in today? How much Krishna-katha did I do? So, every— you engage in Krishna subject matters, then the heart will get cleared. So to summarize, Lord Kripiladeva is continuing to explain the importance of sense organs. Importance of spiritual association. And when you associate spiritually, take part in Shreem Brzee, now what happens? What happens? Chaitanya Marginal. Your heart begins to get cleansed. Just initiation doesn't cleanse your heart. Initiation is just the beginning. But we should continue to associate. So in order to advance spiritually, you need the medicine and the diet. Prabhupāda explained, "Our medicine is śrīmad-Bhāgavatam-kīrtanam, and our diet is practical service." We should be keen, chant and hear. And render back to Kṛṣṇa. And the more we get absorbed in hearing and chanting, the more we become fixed on the devotion of Bhagavan. So to summarize, in this section of the Bhāgavatam, there are very beautiful verses that highlight the need for spiritual association. And if we associate with saintly people, If you cultivate the mood of humanity, humanity as we discussed the other day, is of the essence, then you will also be able to cleanse the heart. Keita dharmam, bhajana. The Holy Name cleanses the heart. Kṛṣṇa-kathāra cleanses the heart. And when you cleanse the heart, what happens? 'Anandam buddhi'— 'joyful mind'— you get unending spiritual pleasure. Material pleasures have a limit. Is that right? Prasad RAVAL used to say, 'You stand on the banks of the sea, you see the waves, but there is a limit.' There is no limit to the waves of the spiritual ocean. Experience more and more happiness. So, we should endeavor to associate, look forward to association, and how do you— if you engage in reading, that will help a lot. One of our big defects is we don't read enough. Am I right? We should be reading Prabhupāda's books more. Prabhupāda said, "These books are not just for distribution, they're also for reading." And if you endeavor, Kṛṣṇa will help.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Thank you. Any other question if you have? Yes. So are all of you serious about getting more involved in Krishna Katha?

Yes.

How will you do that? How will you do that? By chanting, reading.

Reading is very important. Yeah, yeah.

Because when they read the books, they read the philosophy, they associate with Prabhupāda, that has an effect. Because why did Prabhupāda say they should remember books? When they purposely associate with Prabhupāda's teaching and the teaching of the other ācāryas, And then, place it in your heart. That's what Prasada said. This should be my book.

Okay.

Okay, more questions? Yes, Advaita. You feel, you feel his presence. Well, when you read these books given by Prabhupāda and the Acharyas, tell us to preach. Just like Prabhupāda's Bhāgavad-gītā is based on Mahādhyaṇapṛṭabhūsaṇa presentation. And when Prabhupāda was indicating the purpose of the Bhāgavatam, he would have in front of him the commentaries of the previous acharyas. He would take the essence.

Okay. he was a businessman in India, and he used to travel to abroad. So he said he was in San Salvador, and he was wandering from hotel to hotel. So one day when he was cleaning the hotel room, he found in front of a pizza a green recipe book, and he said, what is this? Why they have thrown this book here? So he picked up the book and he spread it Something very similar to what you said.

In Los Angeles, we had a female devotee who was working in the campus, cleaning the room. Of the students. See, the students in the summer vacation when they are going home, they— whatever they don't want, they throw away. She was cleaning. She found one of Prasad Raaval's books coming back inside the wastepaper basket. She started reading it, going to the temple and looking what to do with it. I thought it's something more interesting. I want to read it. Classical story. I was in Russia 2 months ago, and I asked one of the devotees there, "How did he become a devotee?" He was my disciple. So he said he was a Christian missionary of the National Catholic Church. 4 out of 5 years. It's a 5-year course before you start preaching. He had finished 4 years and he was just entering the 5th year. Someone gave him Bhagavad Gita in Russian. He started reading that book and he ended up becoming a devotee. Even though he had 4 years of feeding behind him. I'll tell you another story. This is also a Russian story in Ukraine. There was a thief who broke into someone, devotee's house in the night with his thief. And when he broke in, the devotee just stretched his hands without, you know, feeling. He said, "Let me run," and he took whatever came in his hand. And what came in his hand was the Bhagavad Gita. So he started reading the Bhagavad Gita, and he ended up throwing it away. But these books are very powerful. Okay, more questions? Yeah.

In the association of true devotees, there is a question about that. So, that people who are less devotees will be more happy?

When you get the opportunity to associate with pure devotees, you're more happy. But nevertheless, associate with devotees even if they're not pure. And we behave ideally, then they also get reformed. We can't say, "There's no pure devotee in the Phirag temple, so I'm not going to go there." You still go there. Okay. Yes, you tell me something.

Why is it like sometimes the senior devotees are troubled to accept the junior devotees for advancement?

Well, we should be happy if we see some devotee advancing. I mean, according to your statement, it appears that the senior devotee is not happy when the junior is advancing. I don't think so. I think when, when the devotee sees somebody else advancing, he should be happy and get inspiration. If I am unhappy to see others advance, it means I am envious and jealous. If I am envious and jealous, then that is something wrong.

Yes. I'm sorry. Envyous and jealous. A signal of materialistic growth.

Envyous.

Life extension.

I can still be as a body and still be as envyous. The moment you get initiated, doesn't mean that all your anathas are gone. You have to make— when you enter the medical school, it doesn't mean you enter the school, you become a doctor. You will eventually become a doctor if you pass all the years. So, becoming a— there are different shades of devotees. It's not that you become a Brahmin today, So you become a pure devotee. You have to keep endeavoring. Here in America, they have a car rental company called Avis. You know that? They probably are in Mauritius too. They rent cars at the airport. They have a slogan, "We try harder." So what they're saying by that is, You go any car rental company, we try harder to please you. So we should constantly endeavor to eliminate the inner self. Okay.

Yes. Many smart devotees do not take care of their old age parents. Old servant and you say, 'Do not worry, Vishwanath will take care.' Well, I think devotees do take care.

I meet so many devotees who say, 'My mother is getting old, my father is getting old.' I mean, we don't say, Don't take care of your aged parents, etc. We don't teach that. The only thing we teach is don't compromise and give up your consciousness. So, if you have to take care or make some arrangement by which they can be taken care, that's responsibility.

Yes. Yes, I respect that a lot. There's also a question, actually, I was thinking, because each group of person, and most of the time I've noticed that after dissolving our own group, a lot of organization have developed their separate— yeah, and like they have influence, like we strong, we have other English organization. So how, what are the signs that, I mean, how can we solve this division of the religion of the world? And how can we bring all together as one?

Prabhupāda was once taking part in an assembly. We had different Hindu groups present. And Prabhupāda said, The following mantra: One God, Kṛṣṇa. One book, Bhāgavad-gītā. One mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa. If you drop these three, cover their head, there will be unity. They don't want to accept these three. So there is so much disunity. One God, Kṛṣṇa. One book, I will give one mantra.

Thank you very much for your answer. And I have another question regarding one of the tests that our books have described regarding the ego of a person. How can someone know that his ego is dropped or is agape?

One symptom of ego dissolving is you want to become a servant of everyone.

Na, na, na.

Normally we don't want to be a servant. We want to be the boss, calling the shots. We need to say, "I am ready to serve everyone. Ready to serve the Vaishnava." Any more questions? Two more questions and then we'll stop.

I would like to ask a question on behalf of all Prasads who have no children. They are serving as God in so many ways, but unfortunately some devotees always insult us. One such comment is, "If you have no child, you are useless." and all these things, sir? Please, sir.

Repeat the question.

On behalf of Prasad Raaval, sir.

What's the question?

They are serving Swami in so many ways, but unfortunately some devotees are always concerned by commenting like, if you have no time, You are useless.

You are?

You are?

I'm hearing this for the first time. Yes, because you don't have children, they get insulted. I think it's crazy. You should not insult anyone. We should be respectful, sweet, honorable. If we insult devotees, that will be an impediment on the journey back to Godhead.

All right? Can you please enlighten us on how to deal with a devotee who is extremely envious?

Prasad RAVAL. We chant the holy names attentively. And we chant, we engage in Kṛṣṇa-katha, all these anarthas will go away. The reason these anarthas are still there is because we don't read and chant properly.

Yes. What is the difference between an advanced devotee and a senior devotee?

But you can't get to give one answer for all. Advanced devotee can also be a junior devotee. It's not that you have to be necessary to be a senior devotee to advance. And the symptom of advanced devotee is following Prabhupāda's instruction. And anyone can do that. All right? You can't say, "You are only doing it for money," and you can't advance. I know people who just join and they are so serious.

Okay? At times we confuse Prajnapāma for Nīkṣṣṭhara-pāma. Example: discussing the character of devotee behind his back. How do we deal with this?

Well, we are doing prajñālpa but we think we are doing kṛṣṇa-katha. Anybody wants to say the second part?

Yes, let's discuss the character of the motive behind this class.

If there is something positive— I am not saying you can't discuss if you see something wrong. But it should be presented in an amicable way, respectful way. Otherwise, how will you correct somebody who is wrong? But we should do it peacefully. Just like the Bhagavad Gita says, "Vairashyati avadat," you speak the truth, but speak it pleasingly. So I want to thank you, devotees, for your nice response. I didn't expect so many devotees to be here for the Arulam class on a working day. There was a good crowd yesterday morning also. Thank you very much. Let me take leave for more of your prayers.

Hare Krishna.

Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Krishna Krishna! Hare Hare! Hare Rama Hare Ramana Maharshi! Lama Lama Ale Hale!

Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!