Question : At this moment my whole material and spiritual life is messed up. I feel I need to make some adjustments in my life. I do not know how to do it, because I am afraid that I will make things only worse. Please advise me how to continue with my sādhana in a more balanced way. Can You advise whether to come to India or not this time?

Srila Gurudev :

Gurupadāśraya

In Padma Purāṇa it is mentioned –

guravo bahavaḥ santi śiṣya-vittapaharakah
durlabhah sad- guruṁ devi śiṣya-santā-pahārakāḥ

O Devi, there are many gurus who are expert in plundering the wealth of their disciples, but it is very rare to find a bona fide guru, who can remove the miseries of his disciples. Getting a bona fide guru is not so easy. It is very difficult. A guru who desires worldly opulence is not an actual guru. You should realize the position of a guru. Actually, I am not a guru. Our gurudev is actual guru.

I told them (aspirants, votaries) to accept His shelter; not to accept my shelter. Because it is my Gurudev's order, I have to instruct everyone to take His shelter. If you take shelter to Him and surrender to Him, then everything will come automatically. We should surrender to a pure devotee. Then those transcendental feelings will descend to us. Without the mercy of devotees it cannot happen. It cannot be attained from non-devotees.

This world is filled with non-devotees. They see only material things. We are surrounded by worldly people. We see them and desire worldly benefits. If we do not get worldly benefit then we become disturbed. Internally we want worldly benefit; we do not want Him (Śrī Krishna), actually. If anybody wants Him, then he will not give any kind of blame to anybody. Never. He thinks, 'I am the cause of my difficulties. Nobody else is the cause.'

Dhruva had been taught, 'You should not have any kind of hostile mentality to anybody in this world. If you have such hostile mentality, you will not get Supreme Lord.'

And immediately he finished (effaced) everything from his heart and chanted (the Lord's name). We should not blame others.

You can come to India. If Lord wishes you will get sādhu-sanga. Sādhu-sanga cannot be attained everywhere. It is not so easy. But when one will become fit, he will have the tendency to come and he will have an opportunity to get such company of sādhus. Now we are surrounded by worldly things totally. So we are not giving our whole-hearted attention or whole-hearted mentality to Supreme Lord Śrī Krishna. We are giving our mind to worldly things. So those things will come. They will be prominent. And that will disturb you.

Actually it is very difficult to get a real devotee in this world. Very difficult. When Nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa Oṁ Viṣṇupad 108 Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur Prabhupād was present, those who came in His touch immediately accepted. After His disappearance they found that they had become powerless. How? Previously they were going everywhere without fear. When they were in contact with Him they were fearless but after He disappeared they felt powerless. They experienced this. But those who want to get the actual benefit, they will try to do bhajan inspite of that.

Human birth is rare

We have got His teaching. He had instructed,

labdhvā sudurlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte
mānuṣyam arthadam anityam apīha dhīraḥ
tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anumṛtyu yāvan
niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt
(Śrīmad Bhagavatam 11.9.29)

'After innumerable births, we have been born as human beings. Therefore, this human birth is very rare. Although it is impermanent, it bestows the highest benefit of serving Supreme Lord and to get the highest object permanently. It is the actual duty of all human beings to try utmost to achieve the highest welfare. Therefore a person who has got the actual knowledge will endeavor for highest eternal welfare before another death occurs because in all other births we can get connection with non-eternal worldly objects, which cause intense suffering.

Śrīla Prabhupād had commented on this verse for one month. He instructed to all those who went to Him, asked them to stay there itself and stopped them from going home. They stayed there only. Can we do? It is not so easy

You should submit your prayers to Supreme Lord Śrī Krishna and Śrīmatī Rādhā Rani – Śrī Rādhā krishna, “You kindly rescue me.” Then you will be rescued. He will rescue anybody if prayed from the heart. Perform pūjā, pray to Śrī Rādhā krishna. By your own efforts you will not get. When the impetus to serve Supreme Lord will come to you, you will be sent to a person where you will get more impetus. Without your wanting how He (Lord) will come? Actually we want worldly things. We may show from outside but from inside there is no feeling. It is difficult for them (may be referring to devotees outside India) because they will not find actual devotee. In this world all are surrounded by material people.

Śrīla Bhaktivinode Ṭhākur has said that the devotion we perform will never be lost. Those who desire from inside will get Supreme Lord for sure. After the disappearance of Mahāprabhu many apa-sampradāyas (non-bona fide paths) have cropped up but now it will not happen again. He said that. So you have to take this opportunity.

You should meditate on the following bhajan by Sachidāndanda Śrīla Bhaktivinode Thākur:

jibana-samapti-kale koribo bhajana,ebe kori grha-sukha'
kakhan e katha nahi bole vijna-jana,e deha patanonmukha

Those who have got the actual spiritual knowledge will never say, 'At the end of my life I shall perform bhajan, but now I want to have mundane worldly pleasures' because they know that this body is perishable any moment.

aji va sateka varse avasya marana, niscinta na thako bhai
yata sighra para, bhajo sri-krishna-charana jivaner thik nai

Death certainly must come - either today or in about hundred years, so do not remain in unworried state. Begin worshiping the lotus feet of Krishna as early as possible, because it is not certain when we will get human birth again. We may become bird, beast or anything. Whatever we think at the time of death, we'll become that. We should not waste this human life like birds and beasts. Only a human being can have the knowledge about eternal and non-eternal and can perform bhajan. If there is no knowledge how can we perform bhajan? Nobody can say for sure that we'll get this opportunity again. You have to consider it's value.

samsar nirvaha kori' ja'bo ami vrindavana
rina-troy sodhibare koritechi suyatana

'I shall settle (take care of) my worldly life and later I shall go to Vrindāvana. To purify myself of the three debts (debt to parents, debt to sages, debt to other human beings) I shall endeavor very hard now'.

e asay nahi prayojana
emon durasa vase, ya'be prana avasese,
na hoibe dina-bandhu charana-sevana

Such hopes are useless. By the influence of such undesirable longings or desires, your life will depart in the end without serving the lotus feet of dīna-bandhu, the dear most Friend of the fallen.

yadi sumangala chao, sada krishna-nama gao, grihe thako, vane thako, ithe tarka akarana If you want the supreme eternal welfare, then just chant the Holy name of Śrī Krishna always whether you live in the house or in the forest. All other arguments are simply useless.

Inspite of all your difficulties, I have got the hope that I'll get your company for our spiritual benefit.