Niranjana Swami's Quote Of The Day

Topic

November 20

For those who have no taste for hearing and chanting, their only means of purification is to execute their duties according to varna and asrama, and gradually become elevated to the status of Vaishnava. But for those who have a taste for hearing and chanting, they get their inspiration and strength from the spiritual platform, and thus can accept whatever duties are prescribed for them and execute them as a matter of duty. The point is that they are not dependent upon the taste from the duty itself. They are getting both taste and strength from sadhana, and can remain steady in their duty because their life is nourished by something other than their duties.
The example is of Kholaveca Sridhar, who was satisfied selling plantain leaf cups and plates every day, even though it was not a very lucrative business. He lived in what appeared externally to be poverty. However, he was fully satisfied because he was absorbed in the holy name. He was neither constantly thinking of changing his job from one day to the next, nor was he thinking of renouncing his duty. He performed his work as a matter of duty, giving half of his earnings for the worship of Ganga devi, and was satisfied.
(Collected Letters to My Disciples, Vol 3, Pg 47, last Paragraph)

November 19

It is simply not possible to go on carrying such weighty responsibilities without the necessary spiritual strength. It can be done for some time, but the kind of pressure devotees take from responsibilities with the minimal amount of material return cannot be sustained for any long duration of time unless there is spiritual strength and a taste from hearing and chanting.
(Collected Letters to My Disciples, Vol 3, Pg 47, 2nd Paragraph)

November 18

Sraddha means to have complete faith that without chanting the holy name, all one's subsidiary duties (work, family, society, body, pious activity, etc.) will always remain incomplete.
Incomplete fulfillment of duties means incomplete fulfillment of the self.
(Collected Letters to My Disciples, Vol 3, Pg 46, 3rd Paragraph)

November 17

In the absence of physical association, execution of instructions (both past and present) become the foundation for protection against maya, of which chanting is of the
utmost importance.
(Collected Letters to My Disciples, Vol 3, Pg 46, 2nd Paragraph)

November 16

It takes inspiration to be able to chant your rounds every day. Srila Rupa Goswami explains that on the spontaneous platform, the inspiration comes from one's spontaneous attachment to the
service itself. But on the platform of vaidhi bhakti, the inspiration must come from the spiritual master and from the revealed scriptures. My point is that whether out of duty or out of spontaneous love, there must be inspiration in order to engage in devotional service. Your primary duty, therefore, is to draw on your greatest source of inspiration to help you to chant every day. Even if you chant all of your rounds, but just do it begrudgingly, your progress will be hindered. Bhakti cannot be generated mechanically. Bhakti is eternal. It must be awakened by our practice in sadhana bhakti.
(Collected Letters to My Disciples, Vol 3, Pg 44, 3rd Paragraph)

November 15

Earning a livelihood is one of the duties of a householder. If you must earn a livelihood from making music, then by all means it is acceptable to do this. But it should not be justified by calling it your service. Earning a livelihood is a support to your service. Your service is hearing, chanting, and propagating the pure holy name (the holy name distributed without any desire for remuneration). If you have no time to propagate the pure holy name, then use the fruits of your livelihood to support those who are propagating the pure holy name.
(Collected Letters to My Disciples, Vol 3, Pg 43, 5th Paragraph)

November 14

Whatever responsibilities you take on in this stage of your life, if you make kirtan—especially kirtan in the association of devotees who have a taste for it—an integral part of your life, you will become very dear to Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada came to give us the pure holy name, imbued with the full rasa of ecstatic love for Krishna. I cannot think of anything that could make Srila Prabhupada smile more than to see his followers, for many generations to come, relishing the taste of the pure holy name.
(Collected Letters to My Disciples, Vol 3, Pg 40, 1st Paragraph)

November 13

Until we chant purely, we are all offenders to the holy name to one degree or another. There are three stages in chanting: the offensive stage, the clearing stage, and the offenseless stage. One comes to the clearing stage, and can continue to make progress in that stage, by the attitude in his chanting. That attitude is the sincere desire to clean the anarthas from our heart and to stop committing offenses. To do that, we must look deeper inside ourselves.
(Collected Letters to My Disciples, Vol 3, Pg 36, 2nd Paragraph)

November 12

A devotee can always try to fix his mind on service to the Deity form of the Lord, and when the mind becomes steady in such service, the Lord will reciprocate by arranging for His devotee to personally serve His arca-vigraha form. As in the example of Madhavendra Puri, Lord Gopal arranged everything so that Madhavendra Puri could serve Him.
(Collected Letters to My Disciples, Vol 3, Pg 33, 2nd Paragraph)

November 11

Your faith in me as someone who will not mislead you is something that you must determine yourself. Although I can help you with that too—and I must help you with that—I cannot demand that of you. I can only help by being the type of example of a spiritual leader, spiritual father, and friend which brings out that trust in you. Pointing to scriptures and demanding submission to me on that basis is not what makes faith. I must live the scriptures, and you must study them and decide for yourself if my example and instructions are something worthy of being accepted as a guide for molding your life.
(Collected Letters To My Disciples Vol 3 Pg 26, 2nd Paragraph)

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