Quotes from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.
1. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s instructions in Sikastakam, “param vijayate Sri-Krishna -Sankirtanam” is the only motto of the Gaudiya math.
2. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna is the only enjoyer. Everyone and everything else is the object of his enjoyment.
3. Anyone who does not serve Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is ignorant and a killer himself.
4. To learn to tolerate is one of the most important responsibilities of those living in the math.
5. Rupanuga devotees offer all glory to the original source instead of depending on their own strength.
6. Those who perform assorted religious activities can not serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
7. Become united with one purpose and serve Hari.
8. Where there is discussion about Hari, that is a place of pilgrimage.
9. We are not pious, sinful or learned or ignorant, we are the carriers of the dust of the feet of the Supreme Lord Sri Hari and we are initiated by the mantra “kirtaniyah sada harih.”
10. My advice is, do not criticize others. Try to rectify yourself.
11. Our supreme duty is to serve the residents of Vraja who are afflicated by Krishna ‘s departure to Mathura.
12. A pure devotee knows that everyone is the spiritual master. Therefore, a pure devotee can be jagad-guru.
13. If we want to follow the path of true auspiciousness, we should give up the countless opinions of people and only hear the words of the vedas.
14. Whatever is auspicious should be desired.
15. An intimate devotee does not have any other desire besides serving the followers of Sri Rupa Goswami.
16. There is no other way of associating with transcendence besides hearing.
17. As soon as we lose the shelter of a protector, everything around us will become our enemy and attack us. Topics about Krishna spoken by a genuine saint are our only protector.
18. A flatterer can never become a guru or a preacher.
19. It is better to remain in millions of species like birds, beasts, insects and worms than become deceitful. One who is free from deceit receives auspiciousness.
20. Vaisnavism is the other name of simplicity. The servants of the paramahamsa Vaishnavas are simple; therefore they are the best brahmanas.
21. The only duty of the most merciful persons is to transform the degraded taste of people. If you can save even one person from the great force of MahaMaya, then that will be a greater act of philanthropy than opening millions of hospitals.
22. Those who have not learned to develop their propensity to serve the Supreme Lord from self realized souls, no matter how pleasing their association may be, it should never be desired.
23. Preaching without practicing is nothing but a ritual of karma-kanda.
24. If one just serves the Supreme Personality of Godhead and his devotees, his attachment to his household will diminish.
25. Our main disease is to collect objects that are not related to Krishna.
26. We have not come to this world to become an artisan of wood or stone, we are only peons of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy.
27. We will not stay in this world for a long time. Only if this body falls singing of the glory of Lord Sri Hari will our birth in this body be successful.
28. The only desired object in our life is to collect the dust from the Lotus feet of Sri Rupa Goswami, who fulfilled the desire of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
29. This material nature, which is averse to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is an examination hall. Tolerance, humbleness, appreciation of others, etc., are favorable to develop our devotion to Hari.
30. In every birth one gets a father and a mother. But one may not get instructions for his ultimate benefit.
31. Although the activities of a devotee and the misdemeanor of a pseudo-devotee appear to be alike, there is a heaven and hell difference – like milk and limewater.
32. Those who mistake dishonesty to be honesty (or a crook to be saint) will fall into great difficulty, as a person who tries to cheat an iron-smith by supplying him bad steel.
33. As soon as we get to know the absolute truth, we should become fixed in it. Instead of wasting a single moment of time left, we should be engaged in serving Sri Hari.
34. Many people mistake ‘imitation’ to be ‘following’. These two words are not the same. To play the role of Narada in a play is ‘imitation’ but to follow the path of devotion according to Narada Muni is ‘following’.
35. He who is constantly absorbed in discussing about Sri Hari is a saint. One who is constantly engaged in serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a saint. One who in all his endeavors tries to serve Krishna is a saint.
36. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead Narayana offers Himself, something remains unoffered, but a devotee can offer the Lord completely.
37. Do not try to become a guru to become envious. Do not try to become a guru in order to become absorbed in material attachments. But if you become my unalloyed servant, if you have acquired my potency, there is nothing to fear.
38. A bonafide spiritual master is non-different from Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one cannot say that the spiritual master is the personal manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one will not be able to utter the holy name of the Lord.
39. In order to teach us how to serve Him, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself appears as the spiritual master.
40. A living entity can not derive real benefit by reading hundreds of books or pretending to render devotional service according to his own ideas.
41. Being cheated by those who mislead people in the name of hari-katha has become a sort of religion in this age.
42. Someone will be able to understand the profound meaning of the impartial truth that is being spoken fearlessly after hundreds of lives or hundreds of yugas. Unless hundreds of gallons of hard-earned blood is spent, we will not be able to make people understand the truth.
43. The Lord does not accept anything offered by those who do not chant one hundred thousand names of the Lord each day.
44. Association is the principle impetus in human life to serve Sri Hari. Due to association of non-devotees, one gets material prosperity. Due to the association of devotees, the spirit soul gradually becomes absorbed in serving Sri Hari. This is the greatest shelter for a human being. Never become averse to that.
45. Whenever there are material difficulties, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes the shelter and allows one to serve him.
46. As long as one has anarthas, one does not receive the good fortune of becoming a servant of Srimati Radharani. Those who discuss the transcendental pastimes of Srimati Radharani, the dearmost servitor of Sri Krishna, are sense gratifiers, covered enjoyers and prakrta-sahajiyas.
47. When anarthas will be removed due to chanting the Holy Name, then Krishna ‘s form, qualities and pastimes will automatically manifest from the name. There is no need to make an endeavor to artificially remember His form, qualities and pastimes.
48. All of you preach the message of Rupa Goswami and Raghunatha Dasa Goswami with great enthusiasm. Our supreme desire is to become the dust at the lotus feet of the followers of Sri Rupa Goswami.
49. Do not give up devotional service even if there are innumerable dangers, countless insults and endless harassment. Do not become disheartened that most people in this world do not accept the message of unalloyed devotional service. Never give up your devotional service and hearing and chanting about Krishna which is your everything. Always chant the Holy Name becoming more humble than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree.
50. We do not want to become great fruitive workers or religious leaders; all we want is to become the dust at the lotus feet of Sri Rupa Prabhu. That is our original identity.
51. We should never display any kind of aversion towards sankirtana-yajna which is perfect sacrifice, complete with the seven forms of sacrifice. If we have gradually increasing love for that, then everything will be accomplished and we will attain ultimate perfection. Just preach the words of Rupa and Raghunatha with enthusiasm and courage, with complete dedication to the followers of Sri Rupa.
52. If I stop preaching the unbiased truth due to fear that people will not like it, I am accepting the non-vedic way, rejecting the vedic way. Then I become an atheist and I lose my faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the personification of truth.
53. In this material world there are only two representatives of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; the transcendental sound vibration of the Holy Name, and his eternally transcendental deity incarnation.
54. The deity is worshipped by the Holy Name – sentient is served through sentient.
55. For the pleasure of the Lord, His devotees call Him by His Holy Name to render service unto Him, not to fulfill their own desires.
56. The deity is the merciful incarnation of the eternal form of the transcendental Supreme Personality of Godhead of the spiritual sky (Vaikuntha). It is direct proof of the personal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vaishnavas do not imagine whether God is a person or impersonal. They are not idol worshippers.
57. Just as the purports of the vedas have been briefly described in the Brahma-sutra and the vedanta-bhasya, the conclusion and purport of the Srimad-Bhagavatam has been similarly described in a brief and accurate way.
58. Unless one studies Srimad-Bhagavatam under the guidance if a bonafide Vaishnava acharya, he will not be able to understand the real purport of the Brahma-sutra. Srimad Bhagavatamis the original commentary of Vedanta-sutra.
59. Sri Jiva Goswami specifically explained that Srimad-Bhagavatam is the original commentary of Vedantasutra.
60. The word “devotion” can not be applied to anything besides ‘Krishna ‘. ‘Krishna ‘ is the only subject of devotion. Brahman is the object of knowledge, Paramatma is the object of nearness, but Krishna is the only object of service.
61. Every word has a two-fold aspect; conveying a meaning based on knowledge and a meaning based on ignorance. The aspects of words that indicate something other than Krishna, Visnu or Sri Caitanya, conveys the mearning based on ignorance. In knowledge everything indicates Krishna and signifies Krishna.
62. What the ignorant masses understand about the ‘Krishna ‘ is not the real object of the word Krishna. In other words, ‘God’, ‘Allah’ and even the Sanskrit words ‘Isvara”, ‘Paramatma’ etc. only indicate a great energy coming out of Krishna. They do not indicate the total aspect of the word ‘Krishna ‘.
63. There is no work as auspicious as serving the spiritual master. Of all worship, the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the greatest. But the worship of the lotus feet of the spiritual master is even greater than the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unless this is firmly realized we can not understand what saintly association means; we cannot understand what the shelter of a spiritual master means; we cannot understand that we are dependent and he is our maintainer.
64. If we take shelter of the lotus feet of the spiritual master, we can become free from illusion, fear and distress. If we wholeheartedly beg for his mercy without any deceit then the spiritual master bestows all auspiciousness upon us.