Srila Gurudeva: Those who are neglecting hari-katha, they are very ignorant. So you should try to serve, to cook vegetables, and preach so much. Nowadays I am seeing that we are not preaching so much. During the time of Svamiji, there was so much nagara-sankirtana with so much inspiration. Distributing so much. All the little girls like Vrndavana Vilasini, at the age of sixteen, being so beautiful like a rose, she used to go to distribute at airports. They were distributing so much. If anyone came to ridicule them, no harm. Nowadays there is no sankirtana, no big distributions, nothing. They are not even hearing hari-katha. They are doing nothing. What will be the result of this? You will be sick and negative. You should try to do all these things. We should preach like at the time of Svamiji.
I have not heard that you are making any plan to be in nagara-sankirtana, never. Why? What are you doing? Anyone will say, “Oh, I am writing.” What are you writing? There is no need of writing. If we are not preaching, then what is the use of traveling everywhere? We could have stayed in India and done our writing. So why did you come with me here? Why? Why did you come here? “Oh, I am translating.” What are you translating? What are you translating? You have come here to preach, so why are you not going here and there and meeting with ignorant people and trying to call them here and meet with them and discuss something? Why are you not giving them books and going on nagara-sankirtana? Be energetic like this.
Otherwise, there is no need of being here. I will return to India and there I will do all these things. You should try to do all these things. Try to know the inner moods of Gurudeva and devotees. Not going on offering and offering for hours and hours. Krsna will run away from there and the devotees who are senior, they will think, “Oh, they are wasting my time.” Understand? All of you should try to follow all these things and be very energetic. You should go and do nagara-sankirtana. You should try to make a plan for this and try to follow all these things that I am saying internally. We have come to preach so our preaching should be there. We should think, “How can we help them?”
With pity and compassion, we should try to help others and to serve Gurudeva. We are indebted to our Gurudeva because he caught hold of us from so many villages, being ignorant, and he gave us such a high class of thought. To please Gurudeva and to be merciful to all, we should try to help others. This is preaching. Don’t neglect all these things and try to know the inner mood of Gurudeva. I want that all should be enthusiastic in preaching here and there. Understand? Gaura premanande!
[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on December 5th, 1998, Malaysia, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 25]