This is when śreyaḥ-kairava-candrika, the moon rays of good fortune, comes, but it can be a dangerous stage and requires great caution. At previous stages, we cry to Kṛṣṇa when we experience punishment due to our own misdeeds, but when we gain so much respect, we can easily forget Him. Therefore we should never become distracted by wealth, property, disciples, big temples, or great renown. If a lot of money gets donated, will you be thinking about this money day and night and forget to remember kṛṣṇa-līlā? Will you become proud because of this wealth, Lakṣmī, which is truly only the property of Śrī Hari?
Once, a dog approached Mahārāja Rāmacandra, who is able to understand even the language of the animals. The dog was weeping and said, “While I was sleeping in the street, a brāhmaṇa-paṇḍita beat me and broke my legs. How will I survive, now that I am lame?”
Lord Rāma answered, “I have no adhikāra to punish the brāhmaṇas. I will call Vaśiṣṭa and ask him for advice.” After the situation was explained to Vaśiṣṭa, he asked for the accused brāhmaṇa to come to the royal court. When he arrived, Vaśiṣṭa asked him, “Why did you beat the dog?”
The brāhmaṇa replied, “He was lying in street and not getting out of my way.”
The dog became upset and said, “I was sleeping on only half of the road. Why didn’t you just pass by on the other half? I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I was just sleeping. Why did you beat me?”
Rāmacandra then asked Vaśiṣṭa for the adequate punishment, who suggested that the dog himself should decide.
The dog said, “There is a large Kali temple in the kingdom. The largest of its kind. It is very grand and has so much wealth and opulence. The brāhmaṇa should become the ācārya of this temple.” Upon hearing this, the brāhmaṇa started dancing and called out, “Today I have become blessed. I will become guru. Oh Lord Rāma, this is a great benediction!”
Later on Lord Rāma asked the dog, “Why did you give him this punishment, which appeared to him like a boon?”
The dog replied, “In my past life I was the guru of this temple, but due to my faults and misdeeds, I have now become a dog. So much wealth came to me, but I never spent it for the service to the deities, or for guru and the sādhus. My only interest was for the rasagullas, rabri, malpua, and gold that were donated, and I spent my nights collecting and counting everything. This man is very greedy. When he becomes the ācārya, soon after he will fall from that position and become a dog. Then he will learn from his arrogance and greed.”
Everything that comes should be used in the service of Hari, Guru and Vaiṣṇavas. If one misuses Kṛṣṇa’s energy, there is no guarantee where one will end up. This story is an example from tretā-yuga. In this age of Kali, we can witness the story of a disciple who had no real relation with his guru. After the guru’s disappearance, he became the ācārya, but instead of giving spiritual guidance, he was more interested in making lots of money by doing business. He opened a temple, but all his disciples started to fight and ended up shooting each other. At the end, they even killed their guru. These people had no relation with harināma.
Being close to Śrī Guru is a precarious position, in the sense that these people tend to believe that they, without any personal qualification or realization, are high-class devotees and worshipable like their guru. Also, there is the danger of accepting a guru who is not bona fide. At the time of dīkṣā, one offers himself to guru, and is then accepted by Kṛṣṇa. But if a so-called guru says that his disciples belong to him rather than to Kṛṣṇa, then that person is a hypocrite and a cheater. Therefore, always stay under the guidance of a pure guru, such as Śrīla Gurudeva. He will give you the qualification for kṛṣṇa-sevā and vaiṣṇava-sevā. He will make your body transcendental. And without his mercy, you will always be endeavoring to accumulate material wealth, name, and fame.
I heard from Śrīla Gurudeva that after Prabhupāda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s disappearance, many of his disciples went to Vṛndāvan and Jagannātha Purī. There they deposited a lot of wealth they had collected in British banks with the intention of living off the interest and doing so-called bhajana. However, when India gained its independence, the British banks closed and the devotees thus lost all their money. Some of these disciples came to Param Gurudeva, lamenting, “O my dear Keśava Mahārāja, please give us shelter. We have lost everything and are now helpless.”
Param Gurudeva told them, “Please come. Kṛṣṇa has very kindly taken your anarthas and false ego. Now you are clean and can come and do bhajana.” They stole people’s blood in the form of money and therefore they became homeless.
Param Gurudeva sent many godbrothers to Śrīla Gurudeva in the Mathurā temple. He ordered Gurudeva to arrange pure ghee, butter, and fruits for them, but Gurudeva did not have anything there. Gurudeva was always engaged in bhajana. He never went for bhikṣā. There were a couple of old bābājīs who would go on bhikṣā and somehow they were maintaining everything. In those days, the householders were sometimes very rude to the sādhus that were begging alms from door to door.
Śrīla Gurudeva used to give very strong classes, and because many devotees couldn’t understand Gurudeva’s mood, they complained that his classes were always like a punishment. Nevertheless, Gurudeva would not compromise and always told everything as it is.
At the stage of sādhana, the sādhaka may sometimes get tormented and taunted by others. One must tolerate this, knowing it is for one’s own purification. There is a story of a tridaṇḍī-sannyāsī who used to go for mādhukarī. But instead of giving him alms, the householders would beat him with his own daṇḍa and throw mud at him. Despite their tormenting, the sannyāsī would always remain peaceful, and prayed:
tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.8
One who accepts as Your mercy the results of his own karma, be they happiness or distress, who endures them with an undisturbed mind, and who maintains his life by offering himself unto You by body, mind and words, is eligible to attain Your lotus feet, which are the shelter of liberation.
We should follow the example of this sannyāsī when we experience anything negative in the environment.
Now we will hear about vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. The lotus flower grows from the soil. The stem is under water, but the lotus flower itself does not touch the water, and when the sun rises, the lotus blooms. The sun cannot dry up the lotus because it is connected to the water and soil.
Vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam means the realized knowledge that Śrī Guru, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, the Vrajavāsīs, and the Vraja-devīs, are everything to me. They are my sustenance. I will never leave them and engage in karma, yoga, or jñāna. In Vṛndāvana, vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam is present—our sustenance and life is there. In Vraja, the Vrajavāsīs have pure knowledge. They use everything in Kṛṣṇa’s sevā, and never misuse anything.