Hearing

1. How can we become determined and courageous?

We must hear kṛṣṇa-kathā from the Lord’s agent. While hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā we have to lock up our
worldly experience and arguments. By hearing the powerful glorious topics of the Lord from a living saintly
person, all our anarthas—our weakness of heart—are destroyed and our heart is filled with strength. Then
our nature, which is to surrender to the Lord, will be awakened. In the surrendered heart, the self-
manifest truth of the transcendental kingdom will automatically manifest. This is how to know the truth. It
is impossible to know the Absolute Truth by any other means.
2. How is it possible to hear hari-kathā in the association of devotees if we live far from the devotees or
at home?
There is always discussion of hari-kathā in our Maṭha, and the residents there are also engaged in Lord
Hari’s service. It is our duty to associate in all respects with devotees for whom the Lord’s service is their
life and soul. That place where there is no kṛṣṇa-kathā is extremely unfavorable for bhakti, even if it is
filled with relatives and items for comfortable living. I simply think of Mahprabhu’s mercy when I see the
devotees in the Maṭha continually discussing hari-kathā and being eager to serve the Lord at all times.
Pious persons who desire their own good should visit the Maṭha from time to time and hear kṛṣṇa-kathā
from the spiritual master and the Vaiṣṇavas. If we have a taste for kṛṣṇa-kathā and a propensity to serve
Kṛṣṇa, then that taste will keep us aloof from bad association. By always reading spiritual magazines and
studying the literature written by the mahjanas while constantly begging for Śrī Guru-Gaurāṅga’s mercy,
we can attain the result of hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā from the mouths of the devotees. Although in this material
world we cannot always meet with devotees from the spiritual world, the pastimes and conversations of
the devotees who were contemporaries of Mahāprabhu have been permanently recorded in books.
Therefore there is no need for disappointment. If we live somewhere and discuss kṛṣṇa-kathā, we will
certainly attain auspiciousness and nothing can harm us.
If we simply engage in discussing topics of the Lord while living anywhere by the Lord’s mercy we can
realize the glories of devotional service, the Lord’s mercy, and come to remember the Lord in our day-to-
day life. A devotee should live wherever the Lord is pleased to keep him and should forget his own
material miseries. When the propensity to serve the Lord is awakened in the heart while discussing hari-
kathā in the association of devotees, then we will automatically remember Hari under all circumstances. In
order to test us, the Supreme Lord is always present behind what we can see. If we see the Lord’s mercy
behind each and every incident, we will no longer feel distress. The material world, material existence, is
the place where we are tested. If we wish to pass the test, we must hear kṛṣṇa-kathā from the pure
devotees. Even though at present we may not always have the opportunity to hear hari-kathā in the
association of devotees, if we continuously hear it in the form of discussing Vaiṣṇava literature, we will not
feel the absence of Vaiṣṇava association.
The Lord’s devotees always see the Lord everywhere, whereas those who are envious of Him do not even
believe in His existence. Being situated in the marginal position, sometimes we display a taste for serving
Hari and at the next moment become busy with sense gratification. If we simply develop a strong desire to
become intoxicated by serving Hari our propensity for material enjoyment will be vanquished. Material
enjoyment includes both temporary happiness and distress, but service to Hari pleases Lord Hari. We
should always remain eager to please the Lord.
3. From whom should we hear topics about Kṛṣṇa?
We should hear topics about the Supreme Lord from a bona fide spiritual master. For the Lord’s pleasure
we have to preach those topics to the inquisitive, not to the faithless, but we should hear from a spiritual
master, not an atheist. If by mistake we have accepted a nondevotee as guru, we should renounce him
and take shelter of a Vaiṣṇava.
4. From whom should we hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam?
We should hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from exalted spiritual masters and pure devotees who are fixed at
their own spiritual masters’ lotus feet. We cannot achieve auspiciousness if we hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
from those who are not bhāgavatas.
A person with loose character, who is always thinking of sense gratification, and who is only interested in
wealth and fame, can never recite Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In fact, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam does not manifest in
his mouth. Such a person simply gratifies his senses on the pretext of reciting the Bhāgavatam, and he
cheats himself and others. Rather, we should hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a spiritual master who is
constantly engaged in worshiping Hari or from a pure Vaiṣṇava whom the spiritual master recommends.
Then we can attain auspiciousness and devotional service to the Lord.
Those who have accepted Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as their life and soul actually recite it, serve the Lord, and
chant Hari’s holy name. We should associate with such devotees and offer everything to them. Because
such devotees do not engage in sense gratification they do not deceive themselves or others on the
pretext of serving the Lord, and they do not accumulate mundane fame like pseudo renunciants by giving
up objects meant for the Lord’s service, thinking them material.
A person from whom I would want to hear and with whom I would want to associate must be a follower
of the disciplic succession. The saintly person and the spiritual master never accept the path of sense
gratification. They follow the path of disciplic succession. The teaching that we should lead the life of
devotion the followers of our disciplic succession have received from their respective predecessor ācaryas
is, in turn, taught to others. Our ācaryas neither speculate nor concoct. People often accept spiritual
masters or associate with saints not for their ultimate benefit but to fulfill some self-interest. Nowadays it
is fashionable to accept a spiritual master, just as it is fashionable to keep a personal barber or
washerman. Associating with sadhus and hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā from them is fashionable too. How will we
benefit? Is it possible to attain good if we do not hear from qualified teachers? Those who want real
benefit should be careful about their association. Do not bring about your ruination by hearing hari-kathā
from so-called sadhus.
If out of good fortune and by the Lord’s mercy we attain the association of a real devotee, we should hear
from him submissively and with faith. It is our duty to engage every moment of our lives in the worship of
Hari without wasting even a second on other activities. We should be anxious to associate with sadhus.
We can carry on the mundane duties of life in any form of life, but to worship Kṛṣṇa in the association of a
bona fide spiritual master is possible only in the human form.
5. How can we go back to Godhead?
Lord Śrī Hari is the transcendental Absolute Truth situated beyond the material creation. There is no way
to meet with that transcendental object or Supreme Lord other than to hear about Him. Discussions about
Vaikuṇṭha, emanating from the lotus mouths of devotees, have extraordinary potency. When these
transcendental sound vibrations enter our ears, our consciousness is awakened and we become Kṛṣṇa
conscious. This is because these vibrations descend from Vaikuṇṭha into this world help us go back to
Godhead. Discussions about this world only help us go to hell. Śrī Caitanyacandra came to this world to tell
us about Vaikuṇṭha, but due to our own misfortune, the teachings of this most merciful personality do not
enter our ears. Only the fortunate can understand Mahāprabhu’s teachings. If we want to become
fortunate, we must develop the propensity to serve. Then Vaikuṇṭha topics and teachings will enter our
ears and we will understand them.
We must try to make spiritual advancement from our present position, and this includes hearing
enlivening discourses from living sources, bona fide Vaiṣṇavas. The moment we stop hearing hari-kathā
from and serving real devotees, Maya will swallow us. Thus it is our duty to give attention to wherever
actual hari-kathā is being discussed. Our constitutional propensity will be revived if we hear hari-kathā
from a living source through service-inclined ears. Then we will be able to realize or see the Supreme Lord
in our purified hearts. We can realize the Supreme Lord only by aural reception. Apart from hearing, there
is no way to go back to Godhead.
6. How is it possible to know the transcendental Absolute Truth?
Lord Śrī Hari is the transcendental Absolute Truth. We can know Him only by hearing with service-inclined
ears from the mouth of the spiritual master and the saintly persons. Whenever we hear something, we try
to analyze it with the help of our other senses in order to find out whether or not it is true. But we have no
power to understand whatever the spiritual master or the śastras explain without the help of ears tuned
to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is useless and foolish to try to understand the Absolute Truth through the blunt
material senses because the Absolute Truth is transcendental. We will never succeed in understanding
Him through dry argumentation. Therefore if we are fortunate enough to hear discussions about
transcendental subject matter from the lotus mouth of our guru, we should try to understand what he
says by practicing surrender, honest inquiry, and developing a service attitude.
7. Please instruct us: What are we supposed to do?
We request everyone, for the time being, to stop and lend your submissive and regardful ears. Put your
imagination and experience aside and hear a little bit of Vedic knowledge. I am in favor of transcendental
sound. If you walk with the heavy burden of the rubbish you have accumulated balanced on your head,
you will not be able to move an inch toward Vraja or the Lord. Those who are established as intellectual
giants should suspend their philosophy for some time and hear transcendental sound. Empiricism must
never be the medium for understanding. Devotional service is not supposition nor is it haphazard. Rather,
it is scientific. The concept of subordinating ourselves to the personal Godhead is called devotional
service.
8. How should we live in this world?
Go on hearing hari-kathā from the pure devotees and seeing this material world from the vantage point of
the Lord’s servant. Then you will have nothing to lament. Please concentrate your mind on subject
matters related to Kṛṣṇa. Hear attentively what the Supreme Lord instructs. What does He instruct? He
says, “O living entities! Although you have been averse to Me from time immemorial, you were originally
God conscious. You could have served Me, but instead you have been demanding service from Me. You
are trying to become masters by forgetting Me. But know for certain that you are never masters but are
always My servants.”
Lord Hari alone is everyone’s master; we are all His servants. Therefore, our engagement in this world is to
hear hari-kathā. Those who glorify Hari are spiritual masters, and those who hear from spiritual masters
are disciples. Listeners must be submissive and eager. That day is inauspicious when we fail to discuss
hari-kathā.
You should hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam every day. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam tells us that we have attained the
human form of life after many births; a human birth is extremely rare. Although it is rare, however, it
awards us spiritual perfection. By sincerely worshiping Hari with full surrender while renouncing our false
independence, we can attain the Supreme Lord in this lifetime. Therefore a sober person will try to attain
the ultimate goal of life, working at learning to surrender until he leaves his body. He will not waste a
moment. Eating, sleeping, mating, and defending are available in any form of life, but spiritual life is
available only to humans. We can find sense gratification in any species. We should not use the human
form of life to cultivate sense gratification but Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is the ultimate goal of human
life. Service to the Lord is the supreme destination for the living entities.
And we should know what service is. Pleasing the object of our service is called devotion. Lord Hari is the
origin, Lord, master, and object of everyone’s service. We are all His servants. Attaining Him and His
devotional service is our only duty, nature, and engagement.
The Supreme Lord is the complete whole and the worshipable Lord of the living entities. In order to
achieve His service, we must take shelter of His representative, the spiritual master. We must serve the
spiritual master, for he gives us information about the Lord. The spiritual master is our only selfless friend
and relative in this world. We can achieve perfection if we treat him as our best well-wisher. By serving
him with love and devotion, we will awaken our identity as the Lord’s servant and develop love for guru
and Govinda.
9. From whom should we hear kṛṣṇa-kathā if we wish to attain ultimate benefit?
The one who serves Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours a day can show us Kṛṣṇa. We must hear kṛṣṇa-kathā from
such a devotee or guru. Then our propensity to serve the Lord will be awakened. The maṭhas or temples
teach service to the Lord because such places are centers for the Lord’s service. What makes a temple or
maṭha attractive is that its atmosphere is surcharged with hari-kathā. If we hear the hari-kathā spoken by
a bona fide spiritual master to devotees who are dear to Caitanya Mahprabhu with surrender, honest
inquiry, and a service attitude, our perfection is guaranteed. We will certainly become fully Kṛṣṇa
conscious.
The Lord’s devotees see Śyamasundara in their hearts with eyes anointed with devotion. If such a devotee
favors us, we will also come to see the Lord in our hearts. We cannot see the Lord with our present blunt,
material eyes. We can only see the Lord through devotion-filled eyes. Our eternal perfection lies in
worshiping Kṛṣṇa. The moment we realize that we are Kṛṣṇa’s servant and Kṛṣṇa is our master, the door to
auspiciousness opens. We should know for certain that there is no object of worship in this world other
than Śrī Hari.
10. Can’t we hear without having “service-inclined ears”?
The Hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra is the predominating agent, and our ears are the predominated agent. This
means that the Hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra is the regulator, the Lord, and the ears are regulated or
subordinate. Whenever the ears want to become the controller, we cannot engage in pure hearing and
chanting about transcendence. Pure hearing and chanting about Hari are not possible with ears that want
to hear glorification of Hari in an enjoying spirit. We must render service to the object of service through
senses inclined to serve. To pretend to hear through ears that are fond of material enjoyment is an
offense, not a service. Therefore Śrī Rūpa Gosvmī Prabhu states, ataḥśrī-kṛṣṇa-namadi, na bhaved
grāhyam indriyaiḥ/ sevonmukhe hi jihvādau, svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ: “No one can understand the
transcendental nature of the names, forms, qualities, and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa through his materially
contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord
are the transcendental names, forms, qualities, and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.” (Bhakti
Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.234)
11. How can we become determined?
Hari-kathā should be heard from Hari’s devotees. By constantly hearing the powerful topics about Hari
from the lotus mouths of those who always serve the Lord, we will be able to understand the Lord’s
energies and glories. By faithfully and attentively hearing hari-kathā from a living source or a powerful
saintly person, we will become determined. Gradually, as we attain faith, attachment, and love of God, we
will achieve perfection. Then Maya’s prowess cannot defeat us.
12. What should the aim of our endeavors be?
We say, “Always hear hari-kathā. Associate with devotees and divert your enjoyment-prone heart toward
Kṛṣṇa’s service. Then your perfection is guaranteed.” Whatever karma you have will come automatically.
You do not need to endeavor separately either to escape it or to bring it about. If you endeavor for
anything, endeavor to worship Hari.
I am so engrossed in material enjoyment that I consider one who induces me to enjoy material happiness
my best friend, although he is actually my worst enemy. Neither am I interested in hearing the good
advice the selfless saints offer when they forbid me to indulge in sense gratification or to become attached
to matter. My real friends seem to be enemies. How unfortunate I am!
13. Why don’t you allow the singing of Lord’s conjugal pastimes in the Maṭha?
We do not object to hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. In fact, the Lord’s pastimes must be
heard and chanted. Only then will the conditioned souls’ natural taste or eagerness for hearing and
chanting about their own heroic activities and other forms of idle talk be destroyed. There is no substitute
for this. We should hear from devotees superior to ourselves. If we hear from others, we will gain nothing.
We should hear glorification of the Lord only from a spiritual master or pure devotee. A real devotee
thinks, “I will hear hari-kathā only from my spiritual master’s mouth and hear and discuss the Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam Śrī Sukadeva Gosvamī spoke. I will hear glorification of the Lord as it was inaugurated by
Caitanya Mahaprabhu, or discuss Lord Kṛṣṇa’s names, forms, and qualities. I will discuss the Lord’s pure
devotees, who are fully dedicated to their spiritual master.”
However, there is no difference between chanting about the Lord’s pastimes and chanting about the
mellows of the Lord’s conjugal pastimes and we should therefore not think that one is higher and the
other lower. Hearing about the conjugal pastimes requires qualification. Living entities with anarthas can
hear and chant about the pastimes of Lord Gauraṅga and the childhood pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. If people
try to hear and chant about the confidential pastimes between Śrī Radha and Kṛṣṇa they will find
misfortune rather than auspiciousness. Hearing and chanting about Śrī Śrī Radha-Kṛṣṇa’s confidential
pastimes is certainly the best way to worship the Lord. It is, however, improper and even offensive to sing
about such pastimes in public. A person wishing to attain auspiciousness must obey these words from the
mahajanas, pana bhajana kathā na kahibe yatha tatha: “Do not disclose your confidential mode of worship
to anyone and everyone.” We should sing the holy name’s glories, offer prayers to the Lord, and chant the
glories of the Lord’s service where people of different natures and statuses are assembled. If we are
qualified, we can hear about the Lord’s confidential pastimes only in the association of like-minded
devotees, feeling our own mood according to our constitutional position. Otherwise we will receive an
opposite result. If in order to maintain this standard singing the Lord’s glories must be stopped altogether,
let it be so. We are interested in benefiting the people. It is Kali who keeps alive the public singing of the
Lord’s confidential pastimes simply to accumulate money and enjoy sense gratification.
14. Why do I lack faith in spiritual life?
Because we don’t hear topics about the Lord from the Lord’s devotees, we lose faith in spiritual life. By
hearing hari-kathā from a living source, we become faithful. But we will not become faithful if we listen
with a challenging mood. The Bhagavad-gīta states that we must hear with complete surrender, honest
inquiry, and a service attitude. Only then will we profit, develop faith in spiritual life, and receive the
opportunity to actually lead a spiritual life.
15. What is the special nature of the ears?
In this world, it is possible to gain experience about the transcendental object only through the ears. No
other sense, even the sense of sight, can help us. By manipulating the other four senses while keeping the
ear holes blocked we find ourselves floating on previously acquired experience and we remain in the dark
with our pride. Thus we drown further in the ocean of our own anarthas.
The materialists’ conceptions can be regulated and even changed if they use their ears to hear Caitanya
Mahaprabhu’s teachings. If they manipulate any of their other senses, they will never be able to give up
mental speculation. However, for hearing to be effective, the speaker must be transcendental, a pure
devotee. The speaker of transcendental sound vibration must be akiñcana if he is to remove the sense of
false proprietorship in the members of his audience.
16. Why do we not appear to be making advancement despite our repeatedly hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā?
How can we hear if we keep our ear holes blocked? Inattentive hearing yields no result. What to speak of
inattention, we must not hear only with the mind, because the mind is restless. Hearing means following.
What is the use of hearing if we do not follow what we have heard? That is why we must hear hari-kathā
with our life. Then we will attain auspiciousness.
17. In what direction does our taste move when we are hearing?
Whatever we hear draws our taste. We do not develop a taste for new things without having heard about
them. At present we are averse to the Supreme Lord, so we have no interest in hari-kathā. Rather, we are
fond of worldly topics. Sense objects that reveal themselves in form, taste, smell, sound, and touch
dominate our thinking and engage us in sense gratification. We want sense gratification. Therefore those
who give us more sense gratification are dearer to us than others. We simply run after immediate material
happiness and remain busy living our lives for sense pleasure. Consequently our intelligence gradually
becomes degraded. At present our only aim or taste, our only endeavor, is to oppose God.
We tend to speak only about the mundane, about products of matter. Whatever devotees speak,
however, is above mundane sound vibration. Such sounds are invested with extraordinary power. As soon
as they enter human ears, they awaken people’s spiritual consciousness. These sound vibrations can
penetrate Brahmaloka, pass over the Viraj River, and enter Vaikuṇṭha. The same sound that appears in
this world from Vaikuṇṭha takes us back to Vaikuṇṭha. The sound produced in the material sky stays in the
material sky for some time, then finally dissolves in that sky. Such mundane sounds take us to hell. Since
we are interested only in material topics, we are bound to suffer from restlessness. We will attain
auspiciousness only when we develop a taste for topics about Vaikuṇṭha and not otherwise.
18. Why are we unable to follow despite hearing hari-kathā?
Only the fortunate adopt a lifestyle suitable to performing devotional service. Those who are unfortunate
pretend to hear hari-kathā, but they are actually cheated because they do not hear with faith. If we are
blessed enough to really desire to serve the Lord, we will be eager to hear hari-kathā. Not only that, we
will understand it.
We have to make spiritual advancement from our present position. The Lord’s illusory energy is trying to
make us averse to the Lord at every moment. We are so foolish that we busily place Maya around our
neck like a garland. Therefore I tell you, Do not be fools! Be conscious. Be intelligent. Associate with a
living source. By associating with powerful devotees, all your obstacles will be destroyed and you will
achieve spiritual strength.
The moment you are left without a master or protector, everything around you will become an enemy and
attack you. As soon as you fail to hear about Kṛṣṇa from devotees, giving up your sincere service to guru
and Vaiṣṇavas, by taking advantage of the situation, Maya will devour you. Therefore your duty is to find
out where hari-kathā is being discussed and to pay attention to it. There are millions of people in this
world who worry about various insignificant matters; they cannot understand the purport of
transcendental sound vibration, which has descended from the spiritual sky. They cannot speak about
Hari. Rather, they speak like gramophones. There is no use hearing their advice, because it will simply
drown you in matter.