Sarasvati Thakur

Initiation into Spiritual Life

The good preceptor although he appears to belong to this world is not really of this world. No one who belongs to this world can deliver us from worldliness. The good preceptor is a denizen of the spiritual world who has been enabled by the will of God to appear in this world in order to enable us to realise the spiritual existence.

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The Appearance of Sri Madhvacarya

In Bengal, everyone from the Gaudiya sampradaya who is serving Sriman Mahaprabhu is a follower of that senior Vaisnavacarya. His other name is Sri Madhvamuni. This matha has been named after him. Sri Krishna Caitanyadeva is the eighteenth descendant from Sripada Ananda Tirtha, or Purna Prajna. The seventeenth descendants are Sri Advaita Prabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu. These three prabhus accepted Sri Madhvamuni into their disciplic succession.

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Unalloyed Theism

“Why should that Supreme Soul, the principal Transcendental Object, not imbibe the all-encompassing conception? That is to say, why should He not include both non-matter and matter, both the part and the whole, and why should He not incorporate both ends of the continuum of variegated realities?”

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Upamanyu – The Ideal Guru-sevaka

The disciple who follows his guru’s orders and teachings, rather than imitating his actions and practices, will never be deprived of his guru’s mercy. Rather than taking the Āṣvinī Kumāra’s advice to imitate the actions of his guru, Upamanyu followed his guru’s order. He refused to eat the healing cake without his guru’spermission.

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The Nature of True Devotees 

The devotees are ever engaged in the service of God. No tendency towards anything else, no other thought or deed besides that service, finds any opportunity to cast its shadow over the souls of those bhakti-yogīs, who are incessantly communing with God and are entirely dedicated to Him.

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Your Son Is a Servant of Kṛṣṇa

Read Śoka-śātana and Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata. When Mahāprabhu accepted sannyāsa, he told his elderly mother, his wife Viṣṇupriyā-devī, and the residents of Navadvīpa: “I am but a human being. I am connected to you in a variety of relationships. When I go, you should establish all those relationships with Kṛṣṇa, instead of with Me, and thereby give Me the chance to serve Hari independently.” 
 

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Śrī Nāma-sevā in Śrī Dhāma

The holy name (śrī nāma) of Śrī Vaikuṇṭha (the spiritual dimension) has descended to this earth, and it is in śrī dhāma that śrī nāma has been deposited. The performance of nāma-sevā does not bestow kṛṣṇa-kāma-sevā, service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s desires, which is the true and ultimate objective, upon one who disconnects oneself from śrī dhāma.

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Duties of a Married Man

If married men think: ‘I must not give any of my money, which I consider reserved for Krishna, to the poor and deprived”, then they are really showing symptoms of wretchedness, cruelty and lack of compassion for others. They should not consider that giving charity to the poor is a fruitful activity. This kind of mentality shall make their hearts hard and they will suffer of greed. As a result of this they shall not want to spend their money, not even on the devotional service to the Supreme Lord, which is the ultimate goal in life. This will invite offenses in the service.

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Who is a True Guru?

From whom should we hear the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? We should hear and learn the Bhāgavatam from a true Vaiṣṇava, for it cannot emanate from the mouth of one who is not a bhāgavata, or true devotee. Pretending to ably recite it just leads others astray. He who does so is himself deceived and as such, deceives others. How can the Bhāgavatam, which is not different from Śrī Bhagavān, really play on the tongues of the professional readers who pose as conversant scholars when reading it before others, but who have no true devotion to Śrī Bhagavān due to being engaged in worldly enjoyment? On the plea of discussing the Bhāgavatam, they simply gratify their own senses instead of the senses of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

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The Standard of Living in Gaudiya Math

Please preach the kirtana of the Supreme Lord, even if in doing so you have to incur debt; then in order to pay off that debt, you will have to be even more engaged in seva. When your creditors put pressure on you, you will be forced to beg more alms. Again, as the pious householders will not give you alms unless your character and conduct are pure, you will be forced to preserve a pure lifestyle with great determination and care. I will not leave one penny for you, so that in future you won’t indulge in laziness and you won’t be able to give up your devotional lives full of hari-kirtana and hari-seva

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