You are what you associate with, in general our consciousness gets molded based on our association . The more we associate with a particular kind of group more we develop the qualities and characteristics of the people in that group. This is true for spiritual advancement as well. If one is interested in becoming spiritually strong and attain the ultimate goal of life, Love of Godhead, he has to find out such an association which has like minded people and who are striving for the same goal. One should regularly associate with sadhus and saintly persons, in this way one will develop the saintly qualities of a sadhu and become freed from anxiety.
Caitanya Caritamrta says
’sädhu-saìga’, ‘sädhu-saìga’—sarva-çästre kaya
lava-mätra sädhu-saìge sarva-siddhi haya [ Madhya lila 22.54]
“The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.
The statement from Caitanya Caritamrta is not at all exaggerated the power of Vaisnava Association is inconceivable, a moments association with saintly person leaves a lasting impression in ones heart. Although one may not see the effect of this right away , but in time this impression in the heart will fructify and bear results. Scriptures give many examples in this regard.
One such story comes to mind is of the Hunter Mrgari, when Narada muni was travelling through a jungle, he saw many animals being pierced with arrows at very strategic points of their body , which was causing them a lot of pain, they were all crying in agony. Narada muni felt compassion for these animals and started thinking who was this cruel man , who was not killing these animals but causing them so much pain . Then he came across a hunter named Mrgarari, he told Narada Muni that he has been shooting arrows to these animals, when Narada muni asked why he was not killing them completely ,hunter replied that this is how his father taught him to kill the animals by giving them pain. On hearing this Narada Muni explained to the hunter the consequences of his action and how he would have to suffer in hell for lifetimes for causing pain to these living entities. Mrgarari immediately asked for a way be free from this karma . Narada muni instructed him to leave this profession and simply build a small cottage and chant Hare Krsna , he said that all the food that hunter and his family will need he himself will sent it .
The hunter followed the instructions of Narada Muni and when the people in the village heard that hunter has become a vaisnava they came to see him with offerings of food. After sometime Narada muni visited Mrgarari with his friend Prabat muni, On seeing his spiritual master Mrgarari was happy and ran towards him to offer his obeisances, however he saw some ants crawling in front of him and inorder to not kill any ants he was carefully leaping over them .
The same hunter who formely was ruthlessly killing animals is now not willing to even hurt a single ant, this is the power of association of a sadhu .
In order to make tangible spiritual advancement therefore it is of utmost importance that one regularly associates and hears from Sadhus. This is the very reason why Srila Prabhupada took so much pain to open you various centers all over the world to give everyone chance to associate with devotees and make their lives successful.
This age of Kali is characterized by hypocrisy and quarrel, we find this almost everywhere , between nations, societies, within the family and even between different religious groups, in such an atmosphere it is very difficult to find a real sadhu and associate with them to purify ourselves. Having said that this should be a impetus for us to look for real sadhu's associations even more than before. Instead people use this as an excuse to remain in darkness .
If one's life is in danger due to a terminal disease one will make every attempt to find a suitable doctor who can treat him and save him. Even though many doctors promise , not every doctor is successful or truly interested .Similarly we the soul are in a very precarious condition , with todays modern lifestyle everywhere we go we find the agents of Kali freely providing their association, however if we want to save ourselves it is a necessity for us to seek out that association of the sadhus who can save us from this danger. Just like there are many fake currencies in the market , however, by guidelines issues by the Government one can identify the fake from the real. Similarly using the guidelines from the Vedic scriptures one can identify fake sadhus from the real ones.
There are two kinds of Association that one can get Vapuh and vani . Vapuh stands for physical association of sadhus , which means to be in the proximity of the sadhus in their service like servant or assistants . Another association is that of vani, that is associating with the words of a sadhu. Acharya proclaim that associating with the vani of great souls is more important and effective , since vapuh association is not possible for everyone , however if one takes to heart the words of a sadhu and applies them in ones life with proper direction from the seniors one is truly associating with sadhus and will see the effect of such association. With the advancement in the technology it is now possible for everyone to associate with the vani of great souls thru recordings and live transmissions.
The point is without the proper association of real sadhus , it is impossible to make any spiritual advancement and one will be stuck in the turmoil of this material world.
Caitanya Caritamrta says
’sädhu-saìga’, ‘sädhu-saìga’—sarva-çästre kaya
lava-mätra sädhu-saìge sarva-siddhi haya [ Madhya lila 22.54]
“The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.
The statement from Caitanya Caritamrta is not at all exaggerated the power of Vaisnava Association is inconceivable, a moments association with saintly person leaves a lasting impression in ones heart. Although one may not see the effect of this right away , but in time this impression in the heart will fructify and bear results. Scriptures give many examples in this regard.
One such story comes to mind is of the Hunter Mrgari, when Narada muni was travelling through a jungle, he saw many animals being pierced with arrows at very strategic points of their body , which was causing them a lot of pain, they were all crying in agony. Narada muni felt compassion for these animals and started thinking who was this cruel man , who was not killing these animals but causing them so much pain . Then he came across a hunter named Mrgarari, he told Narada Muni that he has been shooting arrows to these animals, when Narada muni asked why he was not killing them completely ,hunter replied that this is how his father taught him to kill the animals by giving them pain. On hearing this Narada Muni explained to the hunter the consequences of his action and how he would have to suffer in hell for lifetimes for causing pain to these living entities. Mrgarari immediately asked for a way be free from this karma . Narada muni instructed him to leave this profession and simply build a small cottage and chant Hare Krsna , he said that all the food that hunter and his family will need he himself will sent it .
The hunter followed the instructions of Narada Muni and when the people in the village heard that hunter has become a vaisnava they came to see him with offerings of food. After sometime Narada muni visited Mrgarari with his friend Prabat muni, On seeing his spiritual master Mrgarari was happy and ran towards him to offer his obeisances, however he saw some ants crawling in front of him and inorder to not kill any ants he was carefully leaping over them .
The same hunter who formely was ruthlessly killing animals is now not willing to even hurt a single ant, this is the power of association of a sadhu .
In order to make tangible spiritual advancement therefore it is of utmost importance that one regularly associates and hears from Sadhus. This is the very reason why Srila Prabhupada took so much pain to open you various centers all over the world to give everyone chance to associate with devotees and make their lives successful.
This age of Kali is characterized by hypocrisy and quarrel, we find this almost everywhere , between nations, societies, within the family and even between different religious groups, in such an atmosphere it is very difficult to find a real sadhu and associate with them to purify ourselves. Having said that this should be a impetus for us to look for real sadhu's associations even more than before. Instead people use this as an excuse to remain in darkness .
If one's life is in danger due to a terminal disease one will make every attempt to find a suitable doctor who can treat him and save him. Even though many doctors promise , not every doctor is successful or truly interested .Similarly we the soul are in a very precarious condition , with todays modern lifestyle everywhere we go we find the agents of Kali freely providing their association, however if we want to save ourselves it is a necessity for us to seek out that association of the sadhus who can save us from this danger. Just like there are many fake currencies in the market , however, by guidelines issues by the Government one can identify the fake from the real. Similarly using the guidelines from the Vedic scriptures one can identify fake sadhus from the real ones.
There are two kinds of Association that one can get Vapuh and vani . Vapuh stands for physical association of sadhus , which means to be in the proximity of the sadhus in their service like servant or assistants . Another association is that of vani, that is associating with the words of a sadhu. Acharya proclaim that associating with the vani of great souls is more important and effective , since vapuh association is not possible for everyone , however if one takes to heart the words of a sadhu and applies them in ones life with proper direction from the seniors one is truly associating with sadhus and will see the effect of such association. With the advancement in the technology it is now possible for everyone to associate with the vani of great souls thru recordings and live transmissions.
The point is without the proper association of real sadhus , it is impossible to make any spiritual advancement and one will be stuck in the turmoil of this material world.
