Without Understanding These 3 Things, Bhakti Does Not Take Root! // 11/05/2026

Discourse of Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj — to listen to the complete discourse, watch the video above.

Full Discourse

O Vrindavani! Your lotus feet, sweetness of love's nectar fills the heart completely, O Madhupate! Remembered with affection, peaceful, most cool, take refuge, most peaceful [sudden deep breathing sound] Supreme existence-consciousness-bliss, ocean of dense bliss, ocean of love, ocean of knowledge, dispassion, bhakti, prosperity, infinite powers, the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna Chandra who, making Arjun the instrument, is imparting such nectarous wisdom. If we listen with faith and conviction, contemplate with focused mind and reverence for its importance, and embody it in our own conduct, we must develop conviction in ourselves.

[Throat clearing sound] Without conviction, life is wasted. The entire moving and non-moving world is being deceived by maya. Each and every breath of ours is going in vain. We have nothing to gain. Existence must be erased. If we want to experience liberation and supreme bliss in life, then existence must be erased. Through sadhana, by purifying the intellect, it is known that the sense of individual life that has come to us has come with the body. The gross body, the subtle body, the causal body, our nature, the inner faculties, dharma, the five elements, this bodily creation [nasal sound].. It is in this very thing that the sense of "I" and "mine" has become the cause of our degradation.

Otherwise, in the nature of the Self, there never was any difference, never will be any difference, there is no difference now. To thrust into the pit of forgetfulness is the nature of maya. To awaken memory is the effect of bhakti. If you are a bhakt, then you should have remembrance of your true nature, remembrance of your chosen deity, and forgetfulness of the body, the world, and pleasures. If you are moving about by holding truth-sense in this maya-created creation, then your sense of importance becomes firm. Your sense of the body becomes firm. Your sense of happiness in pleasures becomes firm, then birth and death also become firm. Look within yourself. Among crores, only one may wish to attain jivan-mukti.

Among those who wish this, only a rare one gets the path. Only a rare one walks on that path. Only a rare one attains that knowledge of truth. Without peace coming first, one cannot advance on any path. Peace — 'Sarvam Khalvidam Brahm / Nananastkinchan' — peace has settled. Except for the one Lord, there is no place, nor will there be. Except for the one Brahm-nature Self, there is no place, nor will there be. This experience — now upon this, the leelas of the body occur: dasya-bhav, sakya-bhav, vatsalya-bhav, kanta-bhav, sahachari-bhav. If shanti-bhav has not come, then how will these other bhavas arise?

Because shanti-bhav is the foundation of all these bhavas. Without a foundation, how will the palace be built? The upasak removes importance. Removes the sense of the body. And here such a reverse wind is blowing that we make every effort so that our importance increases. Let people know us, that we are something. This is the effect of maya. This is jini-maya, which keeps even great sadhakas and scholars ensnared. Importance from whom? Whose importance? What kind of importance? Search for the answers to these questions in your heart. Whose importance? From whom is importance? What kind of importance? Soon it will be understood. But maya doesn't give so much leisure that you can sit in the dwelling of your heart and contemplate this. Just keep wandering outside. See, the fruit of dwelling in Shri Dham Vrindavan is infallible. Welfare happens. Such is its effect. Your degradation will not happen. But you must reach near Shri Ji and caress the beloved girl, the beloved boy. This happens only through the company of rasiks. Those who have given their lives with honor to the dust of Kishori Ji's feet, in whose desires have been destroyed in the dust of the nikunj, for whom the beloved girl, the beloved boy alone is life — this happens only through the grace of rasiks, through obedience to their command, through the worship they have given.

Otherwise, there are many destinies. To escape degradation does not mean to be immersed in Premanand. There are descriptions of many good destinies. Shri Bhagvan is saying — at the back, in the context that was running before the celebration — that Supreme Person, Paramatma, pervades and dwells throughout the entire world. That is obtained through exclusive bhakti. 'Bhaktya Tanmayaya Labhya' — through exclusive bhakti, as the supreme fruit, the Paramatma that pervades everywhere must be obtained. Whoever obtains that will not be reborn.

Because the wave was in the ocean alone. The ocean itself was waving. When the wind disturbance disappeared, only the ocean remains. Just so, the one Supreme Brahm, Paramatma substance is playing in diverse forms for sport. When this feeling awakens within you, attachment and aversion will be destroyed. When the sense of the body is destroyed, then you also are that. 'Tasmat Tajene Bhed Bhav / Brahm-vid Brahm Bhavati' — knowing, you become. Now becoming the form of Bhagvan, with that Lord, one tastes the relish of divine leelas. The upasak should walk this path with patience. This path of exclusive bhakti is not an easy path.

It is very difficult. The form of bhajan is not merely moving the beads. Existence must be erased. Importance must be erased. Learning-form importance, caste, wealth, youth, pride must be abandoned. 'Taktak Dekhe Jahan Rahan Bhakti Nidan' — where there is pride of learning, pride of caste, pride of wealth, pride of youth, pride of family, where one's own importance exists, one's own influence exists, one's own lordship exists, bhakti does not settle there. The heart becomes completely blocked. Great men have thoroughly investigated and spoken this truth. 'Rahan Bhakti Nidan / Svang Sab Nagar Nar Ke Vishayn Hath Bikay Na Rijhvan Bhrataar Ke' — one adopts such pretense like a courtesan adorning herself to seduce others for money. Similarly, whoever gets caught in the pride of learning, pride of knowledge, pride of wealth, pride of youth, pride of family — one only acts out pretense, performs. One pleases worldly people, not Hari. Without discrimination, without dispassion, without bhakti, without truth — know this to be godless, deceptive cunning, so know this as hypocrisy, be cautious. Exclusive bhakti is not a sport, and there is no divine sadhana simpler than this.

Simple it is for those who have sold themselves to exclusive devotion. For the name of Priya, they have sold themselves. Whatever name, mantra, and upasana we received—our existence is finished. The new birth given by the guru, the upasana offered at the feet of the guru—through this, vasana is destroyed. As vasana is destroyed, divine feeling is attained. All of this becomes easy and simple. But when sadhana happens through the process of ego, great obstacles arise in it. Many kinds of hindrances appear such that the upasak cannot bear them. Without protection, there is no delay in falling.

There is no delay in falling. Everything that was done becomes dust and dirt. This is why those who worship Bhagavan through exclusive feeling attain Paramatma. That is, they attain the experience that in every fiber of ice, water alone dwells. Water is in the form of ice. Ice is water. That is, Bhagavan alone has taken the form of creation. This creation is Bhagavan alone. There is no other.

vasudev sarwam iti so mahatma sudurlabh.
Vasudeva is all; such a mahatma is exceedingly rare.

Vasudeva alone, by His will, dwells in the form of all beings.

There is no other. He is the creator, He is the one who creates. This wisdom comes through the grace of the guru. Otherwise, in other sadhanas there are paths. But the path from which there is no return—that alone is to Shri Bhagavan. His path is only exclusive devotion. Shri Bhagavan Himself describes it:

yatra kale twanavrittin jatin lokam cha yati sah.
The soul attains a state from which there is no return..

O Arjun, best among the descendants of Bharata—the yogi upasak who departs the body at that time attains eternal realization. That is, they do not return again. And those who depart through another path attain return. That is, they are born again. We describe that path.

Listen, the Lord says: the path from which, upon going, there is no coming back. In the living state, there remains no attachment to anyone and no aversion to anyone. You are becoming liberated. In the honor of the body, in its favorable conditions, in its pleasures, there is no attachment. In the disgrace of the body, in its unfavorable conditions, in its suffering, there is no pain. You will become liberated—no, you are already liberated. You are already jivanmukta. This is the state that arises when, by the grace of Bhagavan, exclusive devotion awakens in the heart. This does not come from the thinking of the intellect.

This is the state. Just as we have our bodily condition—look, we have to do some thinking. All the realms of ignorance—all are illuminated. Desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride, jealousy, outwardness—the state exists, but thinly. The bearing of the mind's insult, the bearing of suffering—no, this is the state. That state comes in the heart of the exclusive devotee. The exclusive devotee is one who: grasps steadiness in one place. We have no steadiness anywhere. Wherever, whenever, whatever favorable condition we find, we become that. This is not the nature of the exclusive devotee.

The nature of the exclusive devotee is: even if the breath leaves, let not our steadiness be broken. Let not steadiness depart. The awakening of steadiness is the pure form of devotion. Our steadiness is only the body and no other steadiness. Just let the body remain comfortable, free from disease. Honor, fame, glory—this is bodily steadiness. We do two or four malas of japa and it seems we are great saints, great devotees. Our nature of devotion is this: that we do not remain. Where are you standing? Your entire being stands burdened. We have no concern for the body, no concern for the mind.

Understand first: what is the nature of the exclusive devotee? Our body, our mind, our life are dedicated. Accept this. When it is dedicated, then as He moves, so it is. Now our existence is finished. One illusion remains: "Through sadhana, I will attain something." Nothing is attained through this because foolishness remains hidden. He is saying: in your nature, there was no difference before, there is no difference now, and there will be no difference in the future. Sadhanas and non-sadhanas make no difference in your nature. Your acceptance—wherever it has happened—that alone needs to be removed.

Your acceptance has happened in this bodily form. Your acceptance has happened in the antahkaran. Your acceptance has happened in belief. This insistence—until it does not fall away, what can sadhana do? And in it, consolidation will continue. This matter will not be understood by everyone. Only the worthy vessel will understand this through the grace of the guru. Oh, do nothing, beloved. This doing—to remove this attachment to doing, sadhana is taught. You are Brahma-svarupa. You are Bhagavan-svarupa. Only then will you reach the service of the Beloved. This embodied, living, individual consciousness cannot glimpse anything there.

tejo rup nikunje kalantare prapya pindasthitam.
The luminous form reaches Nikunj and dwells within the body.

You—luminous form—acknowledge this five-elemental body and forget the servitude to Priya. It is a steep path to climb; you will not be able to climb. To have darshan of Barsana's beloved Ladi Ji, when the time comes to go and your legs do not work, then Shri Ji arranges the palanquin from Her own people. Those dwelling there—they travel in the palanquin. It is their practice to carry. To reach Nikunj, our legs are not strong. Even Brahma's are not strong—he who created us. Let alone others. You must sit in the palanquin to go. What palanquin? When the rasa of Shyama and Shyama enters each letter—then Shyam and Shyama manifest. The letters are near, manifesting.

ras upasna, ras upasna ka bhav, ras upasna ki paddhti.
Rasa is upasana; rasa is the feeling of upasana; rasa is the method of upasana.

The heart, by the grace of Gurudev, holds these. Each and every letter, entering through the listening ear, forms the svarupa within. Then, sitting in the palanquin of feeling, becoming the Beloved's svarupa, you reach Shri Ji.

This is not within your capacity. Even when great ones like Vyasa, Suvan, Prasad—body, mind, intellect—when these are not within our capacity, then it becomes like this. All faculties become without qualities. What practice can anyone do in me? Now there are four special devotions given by the guru—Vrindavan rasa nistha, Naam nistha, Guru nistha, Isht nistha. From these four, just grasp one firmly. Just grasp one. It is like spreading out a sheet with four corners. Grasp one corner firmly. Pull the entire sheet, and it will come. The entire fullness, the entire feeling will awaken in your heart.

Grasp just one nistha. Now the simplest and easiest nistha seems to be Dhaam nistha. But it is not. It seems very simple. What is dwelling in the Dhaam? But when we think in our minds about dwelling in the Dhaam, the mind gets frightened first. The mind creates fear. Then there is longing for money. Then there is talk of arrangements. Then there is the web that is spread here. Do not understand it like this. This is Bhagavan's Dhaam. Here Mahari is openly manifest. The manifest Mahari of Maya is the President's palace. There is special security. Here the soldiers are not lust and anger—the warrior himself is manifest.

Desire and hatred are manifest as embodied forms. Because if you slip, you will be struck down. Now we need here someone who can guide us. That is the rasi jani, the one devoted to the Dhaam, the lover of the Dhaam. They teach us the way. Without the way of love, there is no entry into the land of love. So first, to practice Dhaam nistha, reflect: I am dead. Only from here will Dhaam nistha come. If you are alive, you cannot remain in the Dhaam. Is there any strength in you while alive? Do you have strength or not? Bank balance, family, money—as long as these remain, you will not be in the Dhaam. You will be in desire and hatred. You will remain in lust and anger. You will wander in ego about the body, not wander in the Dhaam. There will be no contemplation of the Dhaam, no thinking: How is my beloved boy, the dark one, playing in Nikunj, being rocked from bower to bower? These are the well-proven words of the great ones. For Dhaam nistha, first I am dead. Mind killed, body surrendered. Just keep the body under control. It is not that you kill the mind and conquer the body. You are neither killing the mind nor conquering the body. Now you need help. That help is given by the rasi jani of Vrindavan rasa. Rajrani gives it. The air of here gives it. The vines and leaves give it. But keep your attention on those who are ready to erase their existence, who are ready to have their throats cut.

Here, surrender all in the soft feet of the fair one. Nowhere, no other refuge, no strength at all. Once, Shri Jiva Goswami Ji was reading a pada. As he was reading, he saw a pada—"O sakhi, I am dyed in Shyam's color"—the complete pada of Gadhadhara Bhatt Ji. Oh, we had never even heard the name Gadhadhara Bhatt before. That is, he is not within our Braj Mandal. So how can one be dyed in Shyam's color? Without serving the dust of Braj, without taking refuge in the feet of the Swamini, without the association of the rasik ones, how can one be colored in the shringara rasa? How can that rasa be colored? "Sadhu samgam satya kari, kare kalank bichho. Parsuram paarsi bhayo kanak jalohi."—Without the touch of the philosopher's stone, how did iron become gold?

It could not have. Sadhu samgam, the association of rasik jani, is the touch of the philosopher's stone. If you keep your existence, then this is a blemish in surrender. This is what is not understood. A very strange web of Maya. When you reflect with great subtlety, it seems only if Hari saves you, can you be saved. Just as Bhagavan said, "Who surrenders to Me, Maya cannot touch. Otherwise it is very subtle." It strikes you down so that you only wring your hands, saying now we cannot even grasp it. It has gotten away. This is the blemish in surrender. No other strength at all. I am calling out, be careful! Your life will be wasted. Do not take any other refuge. If you take any other shelter, your path will change. Just one trust, one strength, one hope, one faith in your beloved deity's feet. And this awakens only through sadhu samgam satya kare—those who dedicate their lives to the words of the saints.

Only they obtain this benefit. When Shri Jiva Goswami Ji [spoke], without single-minded love, one cannot be colored in Shyam's color. And without the association of those with single-minded love, single-minded love does not come. The pen of the scholar is different. The pen of the lover is different. What is written through imagination with intellect—just by reading one line, you know this is intellectual. And there is another kind—experiential. All the padas of the great ones, all the vanis—these are not intellectual. They are a state. They are seeing.

They see it and write it down. The pada of Gadhadhara Bhatt Ji was telling of him. It is within that. He is colored. So how can one become colored like that? Single-minded love—this is a rare thing. The rarest thing. When Bhagavan Sri Ram was pleased with Kag Bhushundi, he said, "Go, you have obtained wisdom with knowledge, supreme knowledge." And he gave many blessings. But Ka Bhushun remained peaceful. Then he said, "Lord, we had no desire for all this. Whatever our desire is, please give us that through your grace." What did he say? Single-minded devotion. Bhagavan did not say it from his mouth. Single-minded devotion—they hide it. Ka said, "You are very clever. If single-minded devotion comes, then all this—childhood things—knowledge, renunciation, wealth—all these are [dismissive sound]. Even if you are a knower of all fourteen sciences, even if all four Vedas are memorized, even if all eighteen Puranas are memorized, even if all nine rasas and scriptures are memorized—but it is not necessary that single-minded devotion will come from that.

If there is no ananya bhakti, and this is all that there is in what is being described, then without ananya bhakti, all of this becomes worthless. That person's intellect is such that whether you load a brick on a donkey's back or load gold on it, or put the Vedas on it—to that donkey, it is all just a burden. This is the very teaching that Goswami ji is expressing: "Jog Kujog and Gyan Ajnan—jahan nahin Ram Prem Pradhan." If the discriminating characteristic of love does not awaken in bhakti, then that yoga is misguided yoga, that knowledge is ignorance. The person in whose heart ananya bhajan has not come, in whose heart ananya bhakti has not awakened—even if that person's life is ever so grand, even if all the Vedas and Puranas have become part of their memory, we can say they are very learned. But it is all without fruit.

Once, the most revered Shiv Baba Ji Maharaj was wandering on the banks of the Ganga. Near Kanpur, somewhere ahead, a Bhagavat reading was happening. He was giving a discourse on the Yoga Vasistha. Baba also sat down. He remained in the ecstatic state. Always in God-consciousness, in Brahman-consciousness—there was such beautiful exposition of spirituality through the Yoga Vasistha that Baba felt the desire to meet this scholar. When he finished the discourse, they met, and Baba asked: "Tell me truly—what you were speaking about, have you experienced it yourself? Or is this just from the scriptures?" The scholar replied: "No, Maharaj, I only describe the knowledge from the scriptures. I have not tasted this directly."

Baba said: "Yes, that is fine. But perfection will only come when you experience it yourself." The scholar replied: "But we are householders. We give discourses. We live according to our disciplines and rules. Life is continuing. But we have not yet made it our aim to realize the ultimate truth." Then the revered Baba said: "It is not necessary that one who possesses scriptural knowledge has therefore attained Brahman-knowledge. It is not necessary that one who recites all eighteen Puranas has therefore attained ananya bhakti. It is possible that someone who cannot speak elaborate words may be saturated with ananya bhakti. It is possible that one cannot explain matters of ultimate realization, yet has attained tattva bodh. The essential matter is that exclusive devotion to the Lord's lotus feet comes into the heart."

When Sri Jiv Goswami examined this—this pad came:

Sakhi ho, Shyam rang rangi, aha dekhi bikaye gayi
Vo murti surat maa chikne ki aavaz
Pagi sakhi ho, Shyam rang rangi
Sang hu to apno supno soi rahi, ras khoi jag ho
Aage dekhi pare, sakhi ne nyaro hoi
Ek jo meri akhiyan mein nish raho kar bhagy
Charavan jaat suno sakhi, sodho Kanhaiya
Kaun kaso kaho, kaun pati aave
Kaun kare bakvad, kaise kah kaho jat
Gadhadhak gunge ko gun swad

Sakhi ho, Shyam rang rangi, Shyam rang rangi—after hearing this pad, Sri Goswami ji prepared a letter and sent it. Both the ascetics hastily went. "Without the beloved Radha, how can one ascend into Shyam's color? This is the great concern. Write love on paper and bring it here." They came to the well in the courtyard. There sat the beloved in the form of rasa. They asked her, and from there they learned her name. "Whatever place you dwell—Mount Govardhan, Vrindavan, the abode of the Lord—upon hearing the name, they became unconscious, they fell, their lives returned."

Sri Jiv Goswami examined the entire pad and understood that this is not mere versification. The feeling of being a jiva has not been destroyed. There is still the sense of body and mind. A pad composed merely through intellectual understanding has no honor in the assembly of the rasiks. Those who are established in self-knowledge, those seeing in samadhi—Sri Swami Maharaj, Sri Hit Maharaj, Sri Hariram Vyas, Sri Bhatt Devachary, Sri Harivyas Devachary—all these great souls, whatever they see, they are writing. It is not imagination, nor is it stealing some words from someone else's pad and writing them down. This is the state: vision itself. Until you are not ready to write, do not pick up the pen. When you are not worthy of writing, then when the pen rises, that is the true pen—because the Lord Himself is making it write. What is your capacity? Twenty, twenty hours, brother ji, you are only cleaning the vessel of your thought. Twenty hours you open the pen and keep it—consciousness ends. What have you written? Later you read it yourself: "What have I written? What has Shyam Sundar written?"

When I write, then it is not the pen. When He writes, then I am not. By seeing the inner nature of this pad—that when I am sleeping, He is present in my dream, and when I am awake, then who is this Shyam Sundar who goes to tend the cows? He is before my eyes, awakened in dream, in deep sleep, awakened—or is it a dream, or is it deep sleep? He never leaves me at any moment. So when did He go to tend the cows? I ask: "To whom shall I tell this? No one will believe me."

"To whom shall I speak? Who is my husband? Who will come? Who will listen to my talk? Gadhadhuri says the heart speaks—this is like a mute's taste of jaggery, the taste in the mouth." Without the dust of the feet of Sri Radha, Sri Bhrijeshhwari, Sri Ladli Ji, and without Her rasiks, how could anyone be colored with Shyam's color? It is impossible. "Where is the composer of the pads from? Some city. Very well." A letter was written by Sri Jiv Goswami: "I wish to meet them. How have they been colored with Shyam's color?" So the state is deep. Without Vrindavan, without the dust of Vrindavan, without the rasiks who love Vrindavan's dust, how can this happen?

Anaradhya Radha Padabodha Bhojan Renu Manashit Vrindavat
Tad Padabhasit Tad Bhava Gambhir Chitan Kuta Shyam Sindhu Rasa Syavacha

Without serving the dust of the lotus feet of Sri Swamini, Sri Ladli Ji, without worshipping Her, without the dust-servers, the rasiks, and without the refuge and dwelling in this Vrindavan Dham, which is adorned with the footprints of the beloved, how can anyone be colored with Shyam's color?

That is, it is not possible. It is astonishing that she is speaking this, "I am colored in Shyam color." But the verse is telling us that she is colored in Shyam color. Because the way in which speech is colored, how deeply it is colored—speech reveals this to the experienced ones, those who themselves are colored in that same color. Those colored in worldly matters will understand worldly speech, and those colored in divine matters will understand divine speech. The worship of Shri Radha's lotus feet, the abode of love, Vrindavan—this is what creates the one mad for Shyam color. The one who is mad for Shyam color, for the rasa of beauty and sweetness—only such a one becomes qualified for the supreme sweetness. One who has gone to immerse themselves in the ocean of Shyam rasa needs these three things absolutely.

Without these three things, no one can become colored in Shyam color. Radha's lotus dust—Mahaprabhu Harivansh Chandra, as he says, "Even Brahma, Rudra, the pleasure of Narada and Bhishma and others—even these great divine souls whom one cannot easily bring to mind—that such great ones should be brought under control, the power for instant subjugation, the infinite power contained in the dust of Radha's feet—I remember the dust of Radha's lotus feet." In this way, Shri Krishna becomes instantly subjugated by the mantra of control, and becomes subdued. The dust of Vrindavan, the queen of the land, has such infinite power because it is blessed by the footprints of the Maharani, the Queen of Queens.

First, the service of this dust marked by the footprints of Shri Kishori Ji. Second, firm refuge and dwelling in Shri Dham. Third, the company of the rasiks of Vrindavan. Only then does one enter this rare rasa of beauty. In Shyam color, then comes this state: when awake, He stands before you. When sleeping, He is before you in bhava. In dreams, you are playing with Him. In waking, in dreams, in deep sleep, in all states of manifestation, He is there. The worshipped Lord is not attained through repetition of the name from many births. "Maybe I did bhajan in a past life, so now I will do it again." No. It comes through the company of the rasiks, through the grace of the Queen of the Land, through the grace of the Dham.

Shri Jiva Goswami Ji said that the color of Priya and Pritam's love is applied only when there is one who applies the color. Who is the one who applies? The rasik people of Vrindavan. And here never even heard the name. Gadadhar Bhatt Ji—under the shelter of some rasik Mahapurush or some—how is this color? The color is here, the vessel for the color is here, and the one who applies it is here. Yet how came such bhava in the mind? Filled with love, he wrote a letter, "In this Shyam color, how did you become colored? Without the dust of Vrindavan, without dwelling in Vrindavan, without the company of Vrindavan's rasiks, we are amazed—that you are colored. This is certain, but how did you become colored?"

All the dhams exist, but Vrindavan is the supreme dham. All dhams should have supreme bhava for one's worshipped Lord, and the dham of the worshipped Lord should also have supreme bhava. But those who have asked for the dust have asked only for Vrindavan dham. Wherever the dust of the Queen has been requested, the words "Braj dust" come. "Braj dust." Throughout the three worlds, in the various dhams of God, no matter which dham any worshipper is from, when the matter of the Queen's dust comes, the matter of Braj dust comes. Because this is the dham of love. God has other incarnations and birth-lilas with other dhams, greatly auspicious ones. In the great auspiciousness, nothing is lacking. Because of God, and yet this dham of love, Vrinda's forest is such that whoever comes from any path—any seeker from any tradition—comes here and obtains the love of their worshipped Lord from this Queen of the land. The one who is a pure lover, an exclusive lover, then this Queen of the land gives exclusivity and pure love. If Brahma-knowledge is desired, it will happen very quickly. If the love of Shri Ram's lotus feet is desired, it will happen from here. Even today there are saints. They are not only worshippers of Radha's feet. They come to the worship ceremony of Bihari Ji. Mouni Baba, carrying the tilak of great Shri Siyaram Ji, comes running. They are old yet they run, living near Sudama's cottage. They do great service to the Shaligram Lord. They say, "From the day the dust of Vrindavan touched us, I don't know what happened. We forgot that there is anyone else anywhere else to go. Till now we stand before Bihari Ji himself, saying, 'Baba, till now we have not gone to Barsana.' From Vrindavan dham, about 24 years ago, Pujyapad Shri Mathura Das Baba Ji came for Braj pilgrimage. A lifelong worshipper of Siyaram Ji, dedicating life to Vrindavan, singing the stories of devotees, they reached their Lord. Narayan Swami, a sannyasi—the dust here had its effect, they became mad for Shyam Sundar. Anyone from anywhere—this Queen of the land makes them mad.

"Bewildered, they wander in rasa, seeking the matter of love." Vrindavan is like only Vrindavan. Taking a letter, Jiva Goswami, his own people went to the city where Gadadhar Bhatt Ji dwelt. First, one would go outside for toilet and bathing in the well. Early morning, they reached there and found him sitting at the well doing his dental cleaning. They asked him, "Where is Gadadhar Bhatt Ji?" "I know him by reputation, the news came; a letter was sent to him; he took it to his head; whether reading it or not, he quickly came to Vrindavan. When he met Shri Goswami Ji, his eyes filled with tears; forgetting his body, he held steadiness; that same one sang, read all the scriptures with wonderful tales of Krishna, colored with the rasa, emotion filled every limb."

"We, brother, want to meet Gadadhar Bhatt from Vrindavan." Pujyapad, ever-memorable Shri Jiva Goswami Ji—they became overwhelmed by the verse, overwhelmed by Vrindavan. It seemed as if something happened to them. No answer came. Overwhelmed, they stood. No one nearby. Then when other people came to get water at the well: "Brother, what happened to him? In your village, does someone named Gadadhar Bhatt Ji live?" "For him we—" He said, "This is Gadadhar Bhatt who became overwhelmed." Seeing the astonishment, "At just hearing the name Vrindavan, we came from Vrindavan. This is the refuge. He spoke, 'How should one take the refuge of Vrindavan?'"

Such is life in Vrindavan, the very breath is Vrindavan, everything is Vrindavan. Just as some beloved is thinking of her cherished beloved, and a message comes that he has called for you—how must she feel? Until now we have only heard and by hearing we have believed in him and devoted our lives to him. His message has come. What must be the state of one who has already devoted her life, whose beloved is Vrindavan, who has loved Vrindavan? Our everything is Vrindavan, our breath is Vrindavan, our life is Vrindavan. We came from Vrindavan. When they heard the message, they were overwhelmed. When they learned it was Shri Gadadhar Bhatt Ji himself, that wonder they had felt upon reading his letter passed away—for here was one who was such a lover of Vrindavan.

Such deep shelter is his. For him, such love is not rare. He washed his face with water. The overwhelm passed. He sat up. The letter said: Revered Shri Gosai Ji has been holding his heart together again and again for you, thinking that the lover of Vrindavan has brought me to his memory. This is only by the grace of Laddali, by the grace of this abode, by the affection of the resikas of Vrindavan. Shri Ji's own home is no almshouse, that your remembrance should occupy it. There is no leisure there for that. If it happens, it is only because Laddali rains upon you. That is no almshouse—the remembrance that comes, keeps coming. If your single-pointed devotion, your exclusive feeling, your exclusive love for your deity is not awakened, then see—where it is, it continues naturally. Every moment, unceasing, it continues as long as consciousness remains. Look—some person's attachment to some object, to some place, the thinking colored by attraction and aversion continues. So too, for the exclusive devotee—the name of the beloved, the form of the beloved, the leela of the beloved, the abode of the beloved, their divinity, flows perpetually, ceaselessly, constantly.

In that, there is no doer. This state is not an intellectual thing. It is like when you are sitting on a train. You are not constantly remembering, "Where must I go? Where must I go?" You are not repeating it. The train is moving. The journey is happening. Where must I go? You are not remembering it. You have not forgotten where you are going either. You are not saying repeatedly, "I must go to Mughal Sarai. I must go to Mughal Sarai." You are not remembering where you are going and you have not forgotten either. There is some such state.

You are not doing bhajan either. Because once you stop doing, what is happening? Constant bhajan is happening. Now how does this state come about? First, to bring you to this state, the name—swas do bilok chalt hai, inko bhed nako ko bhave shas, naam hi shasa naam swas ko bhed mitave—up to here is your responsibility. Dissolve the distinction. You do it. Then beyond that, rom rom aur rag rag bole—now your responsibility ends. I did the doing. Now every fiber and every cell speaks. Then something of the taste of the name is found. In this very body is Vrindavan. In this very body is the divine leela of the beloved, continuing unceasing, endless—for those devotees who have dissolved the distinction, for whom the name and the devotee have become one, for whom the name has settled into the heart, every vein and nerve speaks Radha, Radha, Radha. And there, the saints who came from the divine abode and the lovers there—they have written a letter for us. What is this auspicious current? What must have been their state of feeling? When one truly loves—not a love born of mere desire, not a love born of bodily identification, but actual love, a clinging such that life itself becomes unbearable—when that one's message comes, only they know what it feels like. What can one give? One becomes fulfilled.

Every fiber of the heart becomes joyful, becomes moved toward one's deity, toward one's beloved. The resikas of Vrindavan—if they think of us, that is everything. Everything is accomplished. When their thought is on the beloved, on the beloved, and your remembrance comes, the karmic bonds are cut, the impressions of birth and death are all reduced to ash. That is why it is said: Keep the company of resikas. If ever grace flows, that when the beloved is speaking with the beloved and your matter is brought up—Laddali, who is one of yours—that is enough. Yes, filled with such feeling, they abandoned the pitcher, the bucket, everything, and set out. This is the surrender of Vrindavan. Now the call of the beloved has come. At home, did they go back and tell? They told: We are going to Vrindavan.

Listen now, see this—we are going to Vrindavan. From the well itself they set out. To the divine abode of Shri Vrindavan they came in eagerness. In bliss, those two saints were—whom Revered Shri Gosai Ji had sent. This divine abode of Shri Vrindavan is my beloved's abode. How does it feel? You know, when they came from Varanasi for the first time, when they arrived at Mathura station—for the first time in their life—someone said, "Welcome to the city of Shri Krishna." It was written at the station. What must they have felt then? Such eagerness, such great leela of the Lord! This was not something they kept with themselves. In renunciation, one is not even allowed to touch it. So they were just sitting there. Mathura—where was it? Never seen in life. Some people were sitting, discussing, and among them someone was speaking incorrectly about the scriptures. A little I was saying, I was influenced by them.

[Someone] took out five rupees. Where are you going? To Mathura? Yes, we're also going to Mathura, so we said come on. There's no need to ask now - when you come to Mathura, let us know. So where will you stay? We don't know yet. Anyway, where are you going? You said you're going to Vrindavan. To Vrindavan? Where in Vrindavan? Raman Reti - I've heard that name. That's not Vrindavan's Raman Reti, that's Gokul's Raman Reti. That Raman Reti. Okay, okay, so stay with us tonight. Alright.

So we remember, he got down at the station, his family was with him. He brought us and where he seated us, outside, it was written "Radheshyam Guest House, Mathura." There were guards, so he went inside and told us, "Please sit, we'll call you." He didn't call. We went to the garden. "Baba, let's go." He was saying - probably his family members told him that this is a young baba and you should do this - you should do this. So he said, "Who is this?" We said, "We don't know." So how can we keep you in the guest house? He was saying this, so we sat outside. He said, "Let's go. So where should we go?" Meaning, some introduction would help.

Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing. When we came out, he ate paan, holding a water pot like this. "Jai Shri Krishna." It felt nice that someone was speaking Krishna. At about 11 o'clock at night, "Jai Shri Krishna." Where are you from? There was such beauty, such form - like Shiva's form, with matted locks, the three-eyed one, holding a staff and kamandal. Where are you from, baba? He said, "From Kashi." Yes, you can see it. You've come from Kashi? Where will you stay? We don't know. He brought us like this, like.. "Come baba, I am the personal priest of Dwarika." Ah! His house was like a palace. He took us - we said we won't go inside, we just came out - he brought so many kinds of offerings. From the ghats, the ghats - one who lives in the ghats when he brought this, and this cream, this - he brought so much! He fed us. He said, "Baba, sleep. In the morning when it's light, wherever you say, we'll send you." We said, "No, from here tell us the path to go to the Yamuna." He said, "In the morning, everyone goes from here to the Yamuna."

We said our practice is to wake up at 2 o'clock. We'll leave from here. We reached the Yamuna, bathed, and then asked, where is there darshan here? They said Mathura birthplace. Some devotees go to Mathura.

Birthplace - we went to see Keshav Dev Ji. It was the first darshan. Not of Shri Lal Ji in the beautiful three-bend pose - no. Always we'd seen the Shiva linga, worship it, and the unique oneness of Lord Shankar. What we saw, I mean - as if separated from someone since countless births like that - not able to cry out loud, really crying. Because for the first time we saw the Lord in this form, and that - I mean when they want to drag, there's a particular leela to it. Now we sat down. Now when crying has started, he is a devotee city. All of Mathura, it has great glory in the scriptures. It is said that Shri Hari forever dwells there day and night, Shyam Sundar.

The servant absorbed in the experience of Mahaprabhu also says - Mathura, Krishna dwells eternally, day and night Shyam does not leave his side, all his leelas are told there.

Now treasures of tulsi garland and prasad and so much money accumulated in front of us. Some hundred rupees, some five, some ten. There was even a priest. We said, "We don't touch money." Take it. He said, "Baba, wait a couple of days." We said, "No, we have to go to Vrindavan." So he said, "Okay, you have to go to Vrindavan." One said you have to go to Vrindavan - he arranged it. He put us in an auto. Vrindavan - Atal Lachchi - one by one thing now we remember. Atal Lachchi - so when we got down there, "Baba, where do you have to go?" We said, "Raman Reti." Raman Reti - now this Raman Reti, it's not your own - it's the one on Sunderapur Road. We didn't know, so he told the rickshaw driver. "How much will you charge?" Fifteen, twenty rupees - whatever - the Raman Reti driver dropped baba. It was Ekadashi. The parikrama was going on. The first in Vrindavan was on Ekadashi day - the parikrama. There must have been such a crowd in Vrindavan - we were walking along with it.

Where to go, no one knew. There was a silent baba who had come. He was a great saint. He looked toward us and came. He was also in renunciate robes. I mean, he showed great affection - we didn't know he'd come from Kashi. So alright, let's eat something. He called him. How can we tell you - several days, I mean, this manifest Vrindavan you're seeing - for several days by the grace of Mahadev, I mean, what divinity, what feeling - when the Lord draws you, the earthly scene doesn't remain. This is chidananda, this, this Vrindavan is chidananda. In the first sight itself - Vrindavan. Gadhadhara Bhatt Ji saw such a form - he became overwhelmed. Come to Vrindavan with the feeling of Vrindavan. Never come with amusement or a city feeling. When Pujya Sri Nivarkacharya Ji Maharaj, Shri Ji Maharaj would come, he would first get down from the car and bow to Vrindavan, put the dust on his forehead, then move ahead. This is very much the palace of the Beloved. As much honor as you give it, as much feeling with which you see it, that much will Vrindavan be illuminated.

Here no man or woman lives. This is all external vision. Here there are only sakhis. Without grace you cannot even think in your mind. Don't even speak of coming physically. You are worthy of the grace of our beloved Radha. That's why you've come. Don't think you've come with money. Sri Radhika's grace is for everyone. But the thing is you don't honor grace. You honor money. You honor behavior. You honor acquaintance. If you honor Sri Ji's grace, then you'll understand the matter. How much happiness must Sri Gadhadhara Bhatt Ji have received when he had the darshan of Jiva Goswami Ji.

All this - I mean the Lord and there is no difference in them. Pujya Shri Rupa Ji Maharaj, Shri Sanatana Ji Maharaj, and in their lineage too. Shri Ji Goswami Ji is the son of Anup Ji and disciples like that. See what devotion - when such glory is attained, what is devotion? A scholar once came and reached Pujya Sri Rupa Goswami Ji. What is to be said of Rupa Goswami Ji's intellect - the intellect with which Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Dev was drawn and came himself to bestow grace. Think about you, and by their strength the kingdom was run.

They were not merely intelligent in an ordinary way. But when that same intelligence was directed toward the lotus feet of Shri Krishna, what words could describe its glory? Truly, no one could defeat them through argument. They came and easily wrote it down. Look, saints and lovers of God always nurture humility. Never pride. Now if someone fails to understand their humility and thinks they have defeated them by showing pride, that is a measure of their shallow intellect. Saints always nurture humility, because our beloved has affection for humility, so it comes naturally.

Humility is not artificial but natural for them. They even signed their own defeat. And with great pride they said: we have defeated Rupa Ji, Rupa Goswami Ji. Then Pujya Shri Jiva Goswami Ji was coming back after bathing in the Yamuna when he heard them saying they had defeated our guru Ji. What crooked intellect is yours, that you use the word "defeated" for such a great soul? I am just their insignificant servant. Sit down—whatever scriptures you have studied, whatever grammar you know, all of it, put together in front of us and we will silence you in a moment.

Yes, Goswami Ji destroyed his pride entirely, because when a disciple is fit to receive guru's grace, such capability comes naturally. When he went and told Rupa Ji that he had defeated that scholar and come back, Rupa Ji said: why did you do this? He replied: Lord, I could not bear the word "defeated" used against you. You have not understood Mahaprabhu's teaching. If you do not understand my words, how can you be my disciple? Mahaprabhu said: be lower than the grass. How could you have defeated him? You could not have become lower than him.

Will our heart find happiness in this? He just got puffed up thinking "I won." That's all the happiness he had, isn't it? You defeated him. Go, we disown you. Tell me, what was your fault? Was there some fault? There was no fault. Every disciple should do this. When you hear your guru being insulted, your guru being disrespected, your guru being diminished, how can you sit with that person? How is this possible? Life is not something to be thrown away. Now when the guru has said "we disown you," what life remains?

He became very dejected. When hunger got severe, he would ask for flour, mix it with water, and his stomach would swell. Now he needed a little flour to digest. Once or twice when hunger came, he would ask for flour, mix it with water, and he fell ill. Then he went begging in one place. Pujya Shri Sanatana Goswami Ji called out for alms, but there was some delay. "Oh mother, give it, there's a delay"—and she said: "I have a better baba than you. He comes and drinks flour mixed with water. Now for some days he has not been coming." Who is such a saint in the Braj Mandal who lives with such intense renunciation? When they learned about this, when they went there, they saw Jiva's condition and wept—the guru has disowned him, what life remains now? Now it is only as long as the breath remains. The breath keeps moving, so we must just let the breath go. When the guru has disowned us, we move on. In that condition, Shri Pujya Sanatana Ji was actually the elder, but in the matter of renunciation, Shri Rupa Ji came first, which is why it is said: Rupa, then Sanatana. Though Sanatana was the elder, Sanatana Ji went and said: are you not following Mahaprabhu's command? If you have punished him, saying he is not following Mahaprabhu's command, what command are you following yourself? Mahaprabhu's word is: have mercy on the jiva. Is this not a jiva? This is the beginning of mercy. Look at his condition—what was his fault? Accept him. When the command is coming, acceptance is what matters. How wonderful is this surrender! Look at the surrender in both matters—what is the value of keeping the body when separated from the guru? Where are the states of love then? How can the beloved be obtained through bodily pleasures? Great bliss came from meeting Shri Jiva Goswami, and there was discourse on the nectar of love for the Beloved. Harirama Vyasa Ji was an amazing scholar. When he met Mahaprabhu, he felt that all his study until then had been incomplete. And the Beloved had such a love-color upon him that an even deeper love-color was added.

Now it began to seem that before such great souls, our devotion, our knowledge, our love all seem very small. How are the disciples in the tradition of love—Shyama and Shyam! As long as the thread of remembrance of the Lord has not been woven, as long as your meditation on the Beloved has not reached that place, what happiness can there be in meditation on the Beloved? All of spirituality lies in unbroken meditation, and no one pays attention to this. We cry ourselves hoarse. When you ask "where are you?" saying "where are you?" You don't stay in place. You are doing actions, so your inner meditation should be running.

And when you are sitting inactive, then meditation should definitely be running. But you people, check this yourselves: every day you hear satsang, almost every day the same things are said. But you don't pay attention to unbroken meditation. You leave here and talk joyfully about other things. As long as you don't apply your free mind to unbroken meditation, it won't work. After meeting Shri Jiva Goswami, speaking with love-emotion about the love-play of Shri Vrindavan, Jiva Goswami Ji said: once recite that pad you composed yourself. Speaking with love-emotion and love-struck, he began to recite.

When they heard his voice and the attraction of Shri Krishna's love was so great, they said: now we give you this service. Every day you will tell the discourse on the Beloved to the residents of Vrindavan. Every day you will narrate the story of Shri Krishna. Because in your voice we have seen the nectar of Shri Krishna's grace. Your voice is such that whoever hears it will certainly become filled with Krishna-devotion. Certainly they will develop dispassion toward worldly things. When the guru gives an order, it brings a special color. One should never perform any practice without the command of the guru.

Whether it is a particular practice, a particular discourse, or making particular disciples—whatever is done for people's welfare, if their command is to speak the discourse, then no one can corrupt you. Your discourse will take on such a colour that Sri Krishna's love will infuse it. Make disciples for the welfare of the world, and a blessed God—no obstacle can reach Him. There must be guru's command. Without it, like a lightbulb, light and fame increase and then vanish. But what comes from the guru's grace and blessing continues through kalpas and kalpantaras.

Look—by the guru's grace and blessing, when Sri Devcharya Ji commanded, "Sing the bhaktas' stories," then for Sanaatan, how would the bhaktas' stories be known? These great souls did not write from imagination. Look, it appeared to them thus, and those great souls were telling all their experiences. It was commanded: perform Sri Krishna discourse, Sri Krishna discourse. Now Sri Krishna discourse started happening daily. The discourse took on such a colour that people from far and wide would come, and when Sri Gadadhar Bhatt Ji spoke, everyone of all views would agree. Now when they hear Bhagavat discourse, there is siddhant as well, and when they hear siddhant, brahmacharya and restraint emerge within them.

There was a name—Kalyan Singh, a Rajput by caste, a warrior. Discourse took on an unprecedented colour. A near dwelling, suffering the pain of dwelling elsewhere. O friend, abandon the play of laughter! The companion of Kama became afflicted. Nearby became distant. Make new arrangements for lust to awaken! The maiden begging goes forth, and pregnancy comes. Twenty rupees—say the raga! Near Vrindavan, in the village of Dhorariya, there was a Rajput commander named Kalyan Singh. When he heard of the glory of Sri Gadadhar Bhatt Ji's discourse—that satsang is deeply attractive—he came. Such an impact fell that now he would contemplate that discourse, and the next day again. Now he had become a rasa-lover of the discourse.

His heart began to resolve: I do not want any pleasures. I want Sri Krishna. That is it. This is the fruit of satsang. Attachment to pleasures began to fade. The sense of the body began to dissolve. Affection for Sri Krishna began to grow. Now his wife, who was there, would see him coming home no longer laughing or speaking, with a grave demeanor. He found his prasad and departed. He sat in solitude, doing naam jap. He was contemplating the discourse. In household life, all the leelas happen. Now she was afflicted with the pain of desire. She approached him—he neither spoke to her nor looked at her nor spoke. So it seemed to her that Sri Gadadhar Bhatt Ji had destroyed her completely.

"Ever since he started going to the discourse, it has been like this. Now what shall I do? My husband has slipped from my hand. He is no longer mine. How do I get him back?" She resolved: I will devise such a trick that the one who recites the discourse—I will blacken his face. Only then will disbelief come. If disbelief comes toward him, then my affair will succeed. This is a strange play. When Sri Tukaram Ji Maharaj would perform kirtan and do Bhagavat glory, everyone would be absorbed in supreme bliss. Tukaram Ji did not have affection for them, but someone who held affection toward him said, "One day, come, let us take him." Such an attraction came to him that he became a disciple. Now that same thing—now here, Narad's teaching: hear, man and woman, you must abandon the home and become a beggar. Shave your head, apply ash, wear yellow, go away! Abandon householder life—nothing will work. Husband and wife both, take renunciation, dwell in solitude, do bhajan, contemplate Sri Ji. The wife thought: Tukaram has destroyed our life—because this is life, the householder life: eat and drink. But he was of a very bitter nature. She grasped her husband's feet and said: "Your liberation has happened, no? What is this? He is the one who abuses me, and here I am grasping his feet."

She said, "Look, just once show grace to me too. Bring your guru, and tell him about me also." He said, "Guru Ji is very compassionate. He will certainly come. Bring him tomorrow." She placed ten liters of water in a pot and set it on the fire. Tukaram Ji came and entreated him, saying: "My wife, who is absolutely a non-believer, is becoming a believer by your grace. If by your vision of feet she becomes a disciple, I will be blessed—because in bhakti she creates great opposition. Then both will become bhaktas." The saint, the compassionate one, came. He was seated. She came and paid obeisance. "How fortunate that you have come! Just as one does not look at an enemy, so is she—she is the one who destroyed all our happiness." She said, "Sit, Maharaj." The husband said, "Why are you sitting? Get engaged in some service." As soon as he moved away from there—because she was grasping his feet, she moved away from him—ten liters of water, which had been on the fire for hours, was boiling furiously. She brought the boiling water and poured it on Tukaram Ji's head. We have read Tukaram's words—he is saying to Vitthal: "Look how I am burning." That is, extreme suffering. This is the payment received for transmitting bhakti into another's heart.

Is he not slashed with a scythe? He receives curses, receives slander, the body receives suffering. That is why it is said of saints that they are the sacred pilgrimage grounds as they walk and move. That is why the whole world bows at their feet. Now that woman, who was Kalyan Singh's wife, found no remedy. What shall I do? How shall I create disbelief? So it is not just Kalyan Singh's wife—whoever is destined for welfare, maya thinks for them: what shall I do, what shall I do. Now he is slipping from my grasp. I will cast every net. Those who are slippery will slip away; those who are firm will move forward. She sat, just thinking, when a beggar woman came asking, "Give me something, give me something." And she was pregnant. She called her. She called her. "Alright, what do you want?

He said, today's meal is not just a meal—I'll give you 20 gold coins. When you need anything for your child's proper care, I'll provide it. You listen to what I tell you and follow it. He has 20 gold coins and daily food and provisions. Whatever you ask, do that. And those who beg—someone like Kalyan Singh's wife—she made a firm resolve in her mind that unless we have faith in the katha-speaker, our matter will not come right. Take note: in the path of welfare, this tendency that causes obstacles—we call out loudly for this above all—it will cut your connection.

If you have a relationship with Hari and your guru, then no one in the three worlds can harm a hair of your head. But when ill fortune comes, your understanding changes first. Your connection is cut. Then Maya will torment you—you'll see. That's why they say "gone, gone—" it seems to him, "where have you gone?" You don't even care. Having abandoned Radha's name and the nectar of its taste, you nourish this body for things that become waste and filth within hours—you abandon the feeling of prema, the path of prema, to satisfy the cravings of the senses. Have you understood Maya's trickery? But understanding comes only when it does. You've drawn a curtain where the light is coming from, so in that darkness he'll rob you blind.

You won't even know it. Saadhu jag mein kaamini si re raja rank savan ke ghar mein baagin ho ke paisi re basti chhan kare banvasa chavat sukhe paat re daav pare tahu ko mare de chhati mein laat re gyaani guni sur aur pandit ye to sarv seyaane re sudhe hoe pare phansi mein tiriya hath bikane re teen lok mein ko na chhada de daad tar mara re haridaas har sumiran lage to bhagwan ubara re nirantar bhajan karne wale ko ye maya thaas nahin sakti. Not at all, brother—those with great knowledge wash their feet on the locks of their heads, but that is Maya. God is most wondrous.

The meaning is simply: Trahima keval hari mame prapdte. Maya drowns those who don't take refuge. When the power of desire is strong, it feels like God will certainly be found, that He'll come through our worship. But this rare thing—we'll get it only a little. Our fortune has opened up. Or opposite thinking. And the one who is a clever worshipper understands: Maya has put forward a question. I must give the right answer. Then our next step will be prepared. But there, nothing is even understood.

Now Gadaadhar Ji was giving the katha and she came, gave him 20 gold coins, and said: Go tell him that I've given this. Now the time is coming for it to appear, and you're sitting here giving the katha. Who will manage the arrangements? Come tell him in the gathering. Now that beggar woman, seeing the 20 gold coins, thought: what's the difficulty in saying it this way? I'm walking door to door begging anyway.

Gadaa Gadaadhar Bhatt, jo ki katha mein prakash kaho aho kripa kari ab meri sudhi lijiye da laudi sang lobh rang chit bhang kiye die bataye: "Please do my work." He said, "You sit. If you do jaap daily, sin won't touch you. I've gone to give you sight. The listener suffers pain. To speak lies harms, truth protects. Hear and be content." — According to how Kalyan Singh's wife had explained to her, the beggar woman came to Vrindavan. When the gathering had filled up for the Bhagvat discussion, she came and spoke: Maharaj, you're giving everyone teachings. Have you thought about me at all? You've made me pregnant—with child—and now the time is coming. You're sitting here giving the katha. You never asked again. You didn't even speak to me. At least make some arrangement.

The beggar woman's greed was making her say such wrong things. The whole gathering fell silent. Among them, the weak ones said: Look at this! Before everyone he gives knowledge, renunciation, devotion—he made a beggar woman pregnant. Oh, such a leela it is! It's all fraud and show! They stood up and left. The sincere ones said: We'll kill her with our own hands. How could she speak like this against our guru? This is a trick, a fraud, a drama. I'll kill her! A clamour broke out. The gathering was ruined.

Gadaadhar Bhatt Ji said: Peace, peace, peace. Everyone be quiet.

He said, come, come, sit. I remember you daily. Don't you know who you're talking to? Do you know what it means? I remember you daily. Who are you speaking with? With tricky Shyam-sundar. I remember you daily. Don't you know? What great grace—that He came in this form, remembering you as I do. Come, you did very well to give me your sight. You sit. He who gave this will provide for it. What cunning in his words—He said: He who gave this will provide for it, and I remembered you daily. Now no one can understand what Maharaj is saying. It's as if he knew you before. Is there something? What's this? How strange! Maya works in such points—she has made great ones slip at such points. These are the points where the light born of devotion to God is shining, and Maya spreads darkness—these are her infallible arrows. If by God's grace it becomes empty, so be it; otherwise it's an infallible arrow. One arrow shot, and your entire reputation is covered in dust.

A great sorrow is stirring in the listeners' hearts. He called for peace and seated them, but they began: My heart still says there's some trick happening. Some drama is being played. But why is Maharaj speaking like this? That I remember you daily? Meaning: he who gave will sustain. You sit. Meaning: if she's addressing you—if you're saying you gave, what are you saying? He who gave will sustain. What does this mean? The matter is true, isn't it? We're hearing it, aren't we? Some said: He's speaking truth, because Maharaj is also saying it. Those whose hearts were dedicated began to cry out loudly: I'll give my own life, but I can't bear this! Now the turmoil spread. The whole gathering heard the beggar woman's words and everyone there made this resolve: either we'll give our lives or take hers—because this One makes me so ecstatic daily in the Bhagvat discourse, intoxicates me with such rasa!

Whose words contain such rasa. If such a person were consuming poison, how could this happen? This means they are being deceived, and all the listeners are saying that either my life should leave now, or if I am given an order, I would kill them. Let the earth split and let me be swallowed. The listeners say their eyes filled with tears, they became restless. Memory was lost. Radhika Vallabh Das shone forth with manifest light. This brought suffering to the gathering. He heard and was called. Speak the truth, please. Do not take the life of the jiva. Fear is everywhere. He said happiness was taken. The knowledge was seized. Black sword struck and slayed. The auspicious was done. He showed us mercy. There is no compassion from the saint guru. If harm comes to the honor of the sant sadguru, then it becomes the duty of the disciples.

All the listeners are saying that this earth should split and I should fall through. I should not hear these words again. My death alone is proper. I cannot hear such criticism of my guru. Tears flowed from their eyes in sorrow. There was a sant named Radhika Vallabh Das who was very discerning. He saw this beggar's condition and understood that this was drama. He said to Gadhadhar Bhatt Ji, just give me two minutes, I will not harm them, just give me two minutes, and he took the beggar's hand and took her aside and said, if you tell the truth, I will give you the gift of life. If you lie even a little, I will cut you and throw you away. In that instant she began to cry and speak that I did this because of twenty gold coins. The wife of Kalyan Singh showed me and made me speak in the gathering. She brought me into the assembly. So she told that the wife of Kalyan Singh showed twenty gold coins, golden coins, and she said, speak like this, just speak and I came and spoke like this. Now she was afraid. When she told everything, Kalyan Singh became furious. He drew his sword and ran toward home saying, I will cut this wicked wife into pieces. Shri Bhatt Ji stopped him.

This is the satsang I have heard so far. This is the fruit of satsang—that you take up anger and resort to violence? No, brother. Our task is to remain firm on our path. Maya's task is to obstruct our work. If we become obstructed, we are defeated, are we not? We should not become angry. We should not be defeated. We should keep our attention on the path of our Lord. This happens in life. This is how it is. There are many such examples. The seeker should, whatever the circumstance be, if you walk on the path of love, on the path of the Lord, let no harm come to others, and let your steps not stop.

This principle should be held in life. And this strength comes from divine grace. This is not mental strength. This is spiritual strength. With such strength, there is the capacity to show mercy even to those who slander. To bring welfare even to those who create misfortune. This is why Vrindavan dham cries out for receiving this grace. The rasa lovers here, the queen of this land, will make you so capable. No influence of Maya will be able to defeat you. Always remain in continuous contemplation of Shyama Shyam, and keep the goal before you that I must attain the vision of God in this very birth.

Your goal will be certain. Your goal alone is the attainment of God. What is the use of a life without a goal? When the mind desires, the mala moved. When the mind desires, whimsical conduct. This should not be so. This life has been given to be tested on the touchstone, to burn. When you burn, you will shine like gold. You will reach the service of the Beloved. The rest of the discussion goes to Shri Radha Vallabh Lal Ji.

This text is taken from the video's auto-generated captions — there may be errors in words. Please listen to the video for the authentic discourse.

Original video: Shri Hit Radha Kripa (YouTube)