Hare Krsna,
In the previous chapter (SB 3.30.5), we studied that once Indra, the King of heaven, was cursed by his spiritual master, Bṛhaspati, on account of his misbehavior, and he became a hog on this planet. After many days, when Brahmā wanted to recall him to his heavenly kingdom, Indra, in the form of a hog, forgot everything of his royal position in the heavenly kingdom, and he refused to go back. This is the spell of māyā. Even Indra forgets his heavenly standard of life and is satisfied with the standard of a hog’s life. By the influence of māyā the conditioned soul becomes so affectionate towards his particular type of body that if he is offered, “Give up this body, and immediately you will have a king’s body,” he will not agree. This attachment strongly affects all conditioned living entities.
This is the situation with all conditioned souls. We have forgotten our eternal identity (svabhava) and our relationship with the Supreme Lord Krsna. We are actually in amnesia with respect to our spiritual identity. We consider our body all in all and our bodily relationships as our own. Gradually we accept non-permanent things as our own and thereby increase our ignorance in the darkest region. We do not realize the workings of praseptamika and avaranatmika aspect of maya.
Therefore we need the associations of bonafide and compassionate sadhus to open our eyes and take us out our ignorance – just like Lord Brahma tried to do with Indra in the above pastime. In the association of sadhu sanga, we are enlightened to know who we are, what our constitutional position is, what our relationship with Krsna is, and what is the ultimate goal of life. Basically, sadhus remind us of sambandha, abhideya, and prayojana. Acaryas such as Srila Prabhupada repeatedly reminded us that we are not our bodies but eternal souls part and parcel of Krsna. Our constitutional position is that we are eternal servants of Krsna, and the goal of life is to develop love of Krsna (prema-pumartho mahan). Where would we get this transcendental knowledge without sadhu sanga?
Simply by associating with a pure devotee, we become advanced in Krsna consciousness. Sadhu sanga, or association with a devotee, means always engaging in Krsna consciousness by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra and by acting for Krsna. Chanting the Hare Krsna mantra purifies us. It gradually removes the covering of ignorance from our hearts. This chanting is therefore recommended by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Ceto−darpana−marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12] By chanting the names of Krsna, the mirror of the heart is cleansed, and the conditioned soul loses interest and attachment in everything external. When one is influenced by the external energy of the Lord, his heart is impure. When one’s heart is not pure, he cannot see how things are related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, by sadhu sanga, or association with devotees, one becomes perfectly pure in heart.
Real sadhus make us aware of the continuous cycle of births and deaths traversed by conditioned souls, and give us the remedy how to end this vicious cycle. Without their guidance and following their instructions, we run the risk of falling deeper and deeper into the Andha-tāmisra and Tāmisra hellish conditions, and after suffering there we get a hellish body like the dog’s or hog’s. The sadhus remind us that human birth is very rare, and it should not be wasted for asat activities. We have suffered endlessly in various bodies in the past. But after all these sufferings, if we get another chance in a human body and not reminded by sadhus that we should not waste our valuable time in the association of persons who are concerned with sexual life and palatable dishes, then naturally we again glides down to the same Andha-tāmisra and Tāmisra hells. This is why the association of sadhus is extremely important to get us out of the samsara of repeated birth and death.
Therefore all the great saints in the devotional line very strongly recommend the process of hearing. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced the congregational chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra to give everyone a chance to hear Krsna’s holy name, for simply by hearing Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, one becomes purified and end the vicious cycle of repeated birth and death.
This is why we always recite the beautiful prayer everyday –
om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah
“I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.”
This is the power of sadhu sanga. They remove us from the hellish path of ignorance and guide us to the transcendental path of knowledge and Krsna bhakti. Only Krsna consciousness can save us from the repeated cycle of birth and death.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 