Srila Gurudeva: First, you should know that anger and lust are both enemies on the path of devotion to Krsna. I have told you and Srila Rupa Gosvami has told us to control all of our senses:
vaco vegam manasah krodha-vegam
jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prithivim sa sisyat
-Sri Upadesamrta 1
[A wise and self-composed person who can tolerate the impetus to speak, the agitation of the mind, the onset of anger, the vehemence of the tongue, the urge of the belly and the agitation of the genitals can instruct the whole world. In other words, everyone becomes a disciple of such a self-controlled person.]
What is the meaning of this sloka? For whom did Rupa Gosvami write this? For a sadhaka, for those who want to do sadhana. What is the meaning of sadhana? You should try to learn the actual meaning of this word. There are three syllables‚ “Sa-dha-na.” First divide it into two, ‘Sa-dhan.’ ‘Dhana’ means wealth and ‘sa’ means that by which we can attain that wealth. What is that wealth? Krsna-prema. Do you want krsna-prema? Do you all want krsna-prema? Then what should we do?
Sadhana. You should ‘sa-dha.’ What does sa-dha mean? To endeavor for that, to practice ‘sad.’ Then by that ‘sad’ you will have that ‘dhana.’ That very process is sadhana. By this, we can get the wealth of devotion and love for Krsna. If you are not doing this, if you are only speaking about this but not practicing yourself, then you don’t really want that. If a man is in raja guna...what is raja guna? There are six things, “vaco vegam manasah krodha-vegam.” What is vaco vegam?
Like if I abuse a man or if I call him a rascal or if I call any lady a prostitute and say other things that should not be told to others. Anyone will say, “I think that this person is a rascal and she is a prostitute,” because he has no control over this tongue. Understand? How can we control our own tongue? If you are not controlling your tongue, if you are a slave of krodha and kama, how can you achieve that highest kind of wealth? For little things, like this itching, we are lusty. We are such rascals. If we have anger and lust, then we cannot control our tongue. We should try to control them. How can you do this? Oh, without the help of pure devotees, you cannot do this. This wealth is so rare. If you want to have that wealth, the highest kind of wealth in the three worlds, you should first surrender to any living Guru. If you want this then you should surrender to anyone. If you surrender to Gurudeva—okay. If not to him then to a siksa-guru or bhajana-guru.
[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on December 20th, 1998, Bali, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 24]