[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on July 8th, 1997, in Holland, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 21]
Srila Gurudeva: So try to keep your tongue under your control. We should not criticize anyone. Those who are doing wrong even, don’t criticize them. If you are powerful enough to change his mood, then you can criticize, otherwise not. For their good, you can criticize, and if you are powerful enough to change, then you can do like that. Krsna knows all these things, but why does He not control directly? He tells, “Don’t do this,” but He cannot tell what I am telling. He will just look and see that it is happening. So the Vaisnavas are more merciful. We should try to follow all these things. Atyaharah prayasas ca prajalpo niyamagrahah. Follow all of these things. Then utsahan niscayad dhairyat tat-tat-karma-pravartanat. Then dadati pratigrhnati guhyam akhyati, this sloka. Then krsneti yasya giri tam manasadriyeta diksasti cet. You should try to honor all by mind. If he has taken initiation, then with body and everything you should do pranama. And if he is truly a Vaisnava, not criticizing anyone, not doing ninda (blasphemy) to anyone, always twenty-four hours absorbed in Krsna, chanting, remembering, and especially twenty-four hours absorbed in His asta-kaliya-lila, then fully surrender yourself at that person’s lotus feet and serve him by mind, heart and everything. Try to become that person’s servant. If you have no taste in chanting and remembering, still you’ll have to do it by practice. Daily you will have to do this. Do or die.
“I will have to chant sixty-four rounds.” If you can’t do that, then no less than forty-eight rounds. If not that, then at least thirty-two rounds daily. But daily you will have to do. “I must hear.” If sleepiness is coming, no harm. We should take some chili powder and give it to our eyes, no harm. We will supply from India a plant which you take here and like this our whole body will itch. I know. No sleep at all will come. For not a single paisa I am giving a very simple and very good thing. In your ceiling or anywhere make a hole and have a rope binding your sikha on that. Then at night, you can sit like this and chant, “Hare Krsna,” tying your sikha very tightly. If you will do like this, then no sleep will come. These are practices. I have seen people doing this. I also used chili powder in the beginning. So, you can use this and control all these things. If you have the desire to serve Krsna, you’ll have to do like this, all these things. Then, if you have no taste, taste will come. Always doing, doing, doing, doing, doing.
Always try to be in Vrndavana under the guidance of a very rasika tattva-jnana Vaisnava, chanting the names of Krsna like Radha-Ramana, Radha-Govinda, Madana-Mohana and Syamasundara. Syamasundara, like what kirtana? ‘Syamasundara, Madana-mohana, Vrndavana-candra.’ Like this. Being absorbed in this, remembering the pastimes of that very name. Why was that name used. Why was the name Radha-ramana name used? Why? Who used this? Who used Radha-Ramana? The gopis, Lalita, Visakha. Who used Gopinatha? Srimati Radhika, “Gopinatha, you are the natha of the gopis.” Like this. We will have to remember all these pastimes.