He Teaches Devotion By Practicing It Himself

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When Our Tirtha Mahārāj when came to the maṭha, he would do so much hāriṇam and he gave up eating and became mad chanting while shedding tears. Then Gurujī [Śrīla Bhakti Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāj] engaged him in sevā and he performed it with such dedication.  He underwent so much trouble and attended so many court cases to reclaim Prabhupad's birthplace at Jagannath Purī.  When I was in Kolkata I had seen that he went into the kitchen and did all the cooking when the cook was not available, and he also personally cleaned the vessels when the necessity arose.  

He considered all sevās are guru-sevā, whether cleaning the lavatory, doing arcanā, preparing rotis, or sweeping the floor— all are guru-sevā; no sevā is big or small. Without thoughts like this, one cannot become a guru, one cannot do bhajan.  

We are narrow-minded, we are not simple-hearted or open-hearted. Only the simple-hearted can understand Mahāprabhu's teachings.  With deceitful hearts, we cannot understand.  

We are just platform speakers, we speak from the mouth but do not follow what we speak. Mahaprabhu's teaching is:

āpani ācari’ bhakti śikhāimu sabāre

(Caitanya-caritāmṛita, Ādi, 3.20)

[I shall accept the role of a devotee, and I shall teach devotional service by practicing it Myself].

Without accepting and honoring the teachings ourselves, we cannot teach others. This is the most important teaching.  We have to perform bhajan ourselves and also inspire others to perform bhajan.  We will not speak as per our mind's dictates, we will speak what we heard from Gurudev.  

During Punjab pracār your Gurujī used to always say, "I have standing orders from my Gurudeva that wherever you go you speak what you heard from Gurudev, not anything from your mind."  See his humility, simplicity.  He would only say that while in Punjab he got a chance to speak in broken Hindi, so please don't only see my language but grasp the feelings behind them. He would speak with such humility. In spite of being such a great scholar and laureate, he would speak with such humility.

—Param Pūjyapāda Bhakti Prabodh Viṣṇu Daivat Mahārāj

spoken in Hindi, English translation

Source: Gokul India



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