Bhaktivinode Thakur explains that it is the Lord's pleasure that is the goal and not the austerities, and if at any time one perceives that the Lord is not pleased by one's austerities, then one should re-evaluate such austerities and put them back in perspective so that one does not foolishly think that it is pain in it itself which is pleasing to the Lord.
October 16, 2012, Budapest