CHANTING AND PREACHING IS THE MOVEMENT OF CAITANYA MAHAPRABU
1.)Sept 16 1976
Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi. That is His (Lord Caitanya’s) mission. It is not that “Become a big Vaiṣṇava and sit down and imitate.” This is all rascaldom. So don’t follow this thing. So at least we cannot advise you in that way. We have learned from our Guru Mahārāja that preaching is very, very important thing, and when one is actually an experienced preacher, then he is able to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra without any offense. Before that, this so-called chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, you may practice without any offenses…And giving up all other business to make a show of a big Vaiṣṇava, that is not required. Thank you very much. (end)
2.)Madhya 12.135 purport-
The word jīva–hiṁsā (envy of other living entities) actually means stopping the preaching of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Preaching work is described as paropakāra, welfare activity for others. Those who are ignorant of the benefits of devotional service must be educated by preaching. If one stops preaching and simply sits down in a solitary place, he is engaging in material activity.
3.)SB 2.3.24 purport-
The whole process can be summarized as follows: The advanced devotee who chants the holy name of the Lord in a perfectly offenseless manner and is friendly to everyone can actually relish the transcendental taste of glorifying the Lord. And the result of such realization is reflected in the cessation of all material desires, etc., as mentioned above. The neophytes, due to their being in the lower stage of devotional service, are invariably envious, so much so that they invent their own ways and means of devotional regulations without following the ācāryas. As such, even if they make a show of constantly chanting the holy name of the Lord, they cannot relish the transcendental taste of the holy name.
4.)Dec 10 1976 Hyderabad lecture
So anyway, from 1922 to 1933 practically I was not initiated, but I got the impression of preaching Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s cult. That I was thinking. And that was the initiation by my Guru Mahārāja. Then officially I was initiated in 1933 because in 1923 I left Calcutta. I started my business at Allahabad. So I was always thinking of my Guru Mahārāja, that “I met a very nice sādhu.” Although I was doing business, I never forgot him.
Some conclusions–
I find the above 4 statements very instructive. In the first one Srila Prabhupada tells us how to arrive at the conclusion of chanting Hare Krsna maha mantra without offense-one must become a preacher of Krsna Consciousness. The second statement he tells us that if we don’t preach (in some way or other) that means we are envious of others. Why is that? Because we are allowing by our laziness, others to remain in ignorance and not care at all about them. The third one he tells us that we can only relish the chanting of Hare Krsna mantra if we are not offensive to those Holy Names. We neophytes are envious for many reasons, one of which is we do not feel the urgent necessity to preach. And the fourth and final one Srila Prabhupada tells us the meaning of initiation that he originally received from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja. It was that he received the impression from his guru about preaching the transcendental cult of Mahaprabhu. And that he considered his initiation into the Sampradaya.
An interesting footnote–Today while I was taking a needed break from roto tilling one garden patch of weeds and grass (for the third time) and pulling all the plants out and re planting them , my body hurt, and it was getting hot so I sat down on one the garden chairs. Within a few minutes a car pulled into the driveway-it was three Jehovah Witnesses ! Krsna was so kind to me that while I was taking a break, he sent me these people to discuss Dharma . We talked a little about the garden then got into “religion”. It was very friendly, and they left in a happy mood. And I felt like I did something of value today. (Besides growing most of what we offer to the Lord at eat here !)
Hare Krsna
damaghosa das
One patch to go-this one isn’t so bad One done today-no more grass and weeds
In these two squash patches there are around 80 winter squash plants-all keepers
for over wintering food supply. This is the program Srila Prabhupada wanted us to all
follow-grow your OWN food.