02 Nov The Power of Hearing

A sadhu’s (saintly person) words are very powerful. We do not know when they can shatter our false ego and how the message of Krishna penetrates our hearts. Until this happens, the only thing we need to do is to sincerely hear.  By hearing from a saintly person, all realizations come. 

I consider myself very fortunate to hear from one such sadhu, my Guru Maharaja (spiritual master), His Holiness Srila Romapada Swami Maharaja. I have been hearing Guru Maharaja’s lectures for almost five years. Two years ago, in one of the classes, Gurudev was sharing how he was trying to selflessly distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books for a good twelve to fourteen years. That sentence completely touched my heart. By introspection, I told myself, “Here is a person who has completely dedicated his whole life to spreading Krishna consciousness to please his spiritual master.”  Questions came into my heart such as, “But what am I doing to push the sankirtana movement, apart from honoring prasadam and personal sadhana? Why do I not also engage in the book distribution service to please Guru Maharaja and Srila Prabhupada?”  Since then, I have been trying to regularly distribute books and I send reports to Gurudev whenever possible. 

It is said in the sastras that by the mercy of a guru, even a dumb person turns into an eloquent speaker. Similarly, I, who was kind of a shy person before, can get a little strength to participate in and experience an amazing transcendental seva—solely by hearing Romapada Swami Maharaja’s powerful words. I am never going to give up such a wonderful service. Jai Srila Gurudev! Jai Srila Prabhupada!

– Srida Das