## Chapter XVIII Preaching Is More Important Than Chanting In Seclusion and Visiting Holy Places ### 1. One should endeavor to preach and not imitate exalted devotees by chanting in a secluded place: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains in his *Anubhāṣya, *"A person who has attracted the attention of the spiritual master by his sincere service likes to dance and chant with similarly developed Kṛṣṇa conscious devotees. The spiritual master authorizes such a devotee to deliver fallen souls in all parts of the world. Those who are not advanced prefer to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra *in a solitary place." Such activities constitute, in the language of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, a type of cheating process in the sense that they imitate the activities of exalted personalities like Haridāsa Ṭhākura. One should not attempt to imitate such exalted devotees. Rather, everyone should endeavor to preach the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in all parts of the world and thus become successful in spiritual life. One who is not very expert in preaching may chant in a secluded place, avoiding bad association, but for one who is actually advanced, preaching and meeting people who are not engaged in devotional service are not disadvantages. A devotee gives the nondevotees his association but is not affected by their misbehavior. Thus by the activities of a pure devotee even those who are bereft of love of Godhead get a chance to become devotees of the Lord one day. In this connection Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura advises that one discuss the verse in *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, naitat samācarej jātu manasāpi hy anīśvaraḥ *([[sb/10/33/31|10.33.31]]) and the following verse in *Bhakti-rasāmrta-sindhu:* > anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham upayuñjataḥ nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. 1.2.255) One should not imitate the activities of great personalities. One should be detached from material enjoyment and should accept everything in connection with Kṛṣṇa's service. *— Cc. Ā*di *[[cc/adi/7/92|7.92]]* ### 2. One should preach and not prematurely retire to a solitary place: One should not take to the demoniac activity of claiming to be a Vaiṣṇava just for false prestige, without performing service to the Lord. But when one engages oneself in the devotional service of the Lord, automatically the Vaiṣṇava reputation comes to him. There is no need to be envious of devotees engaged in preaching the glories of the Lord. We have practical experience of being advised by the so-called *bābājīs *in Vṛndāvana that there is no need to preach and that it is better to live in Vṛndāvana in a solitary place and chant the holy name. Such *bābājīs *do not know that if one is engaged in preaching work or in glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the good reputation of a preacher automatically follows one. One should not, therefore, prematurely give up the honest life of a householder to lead a life of debauchery in Vṛndāvana. *— *Kṛṣṇa,* Vol. 3* ### 3. Two kinds of devotees: goṣṭhyānandī and ātmānandī: ... there are two kinds of devotees of the Lord. One is called *goṣṭhyānandī, *which means those who are preachers and have many followers for preaching the glories of the Lord and who live amongst those many, many followers just to organize missionary activities. Other devotees are *ātmānandī, *or self-satisfied, and do not take the risk of preaching work. *— *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam *[[sb/3/24/34|3.24.34]]* ### 4. Preaching is more important than staying in or visiting Vṛndāvana or Jagannātha Purī for one's own personal satisfaction: ****Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then told Nityānanda Prabhu, "Please hear Me, holy man: I** **now request something of You. Kindly grant My request. Do not come to Jagannātha Purī every year, but stay in Bengal and fulfill My desire."**** The mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is to spread the only medicine effective in this fallen Age of Kali—the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra. *Following the orders of His mother, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was residing at Jagannātha Purī, and the devotees were coming to see Him. However, the Lord felt that this message must be spread very elaborately in Bengal, and in His absence there was not a second person capable of doing it. Consequently the Lord requested Nityānanda Prabhu to stay there and broadcast the message of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The Lord also entrusted a similar preaching responsibility to Rūpa and Sanātana. Nityānanda Prabhu was requested not to come every year to Jagannātha Purī, although seeing Lord Jagannātha greatly benefits everyone. Does this mean that the Lord was refusing Nityānanda Prabhu a fortunate opportunity? No. One who is a faithful servant of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu must execute His order, even if one has to sacrifice going to Jagannātha Purī to see Lord Jagannātha there. In other words, it is a greater fortune to carry out Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's order than to satisfy one's senses by seeing Lord Jagannātha. Preaching Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cult throughout the world is more important than staying in Vṛndāvana or Jagannātha Purī for one's own personal satisfaction. Spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission; therefore His sincere devotees must carry out His desire. *— Cc. *Madhya* [[cc/madhya/16/63|16.63-64]]* ### 5. A devotee must preach rather than sit in a solitary place: At the present moment we see that some of the members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness are tending to leave their preaching activities in order to sit in a solitary place. This is not a very good sign. It is a fact that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has condemned this process for neophytes.... Sitting in a solitary place intending to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra *is* *considered a cheating process. This practice is not possible for neophytes at all. The neophyte devotee must act and work very laboriously under the direction of the spiritual master and he must thus preach the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Only after maturing in devotion can he sit down in a solitary place to chant the Hare Kṛṣna *mahā-mantra.... *The point is that one should not try to imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura at the beginning of one's transcendental life. One must first become very mature in devotion and thus receive the approval of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Only at such a time may one actually sit down peacefully in a solitary place to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra *and remember the lotus feet of the Lord. The senses are very strong, and if a neophyte devotee imitates Haridāsa Ṭhākura, his enemies (*kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada *and *mātsarya*) will disturb and fatigue him. Instead of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra, *the neophyte will simply sleep soundly. Preaching work is meant for advanced devotees, and when an advanced devotee is further elevated on the devotional scale, he may retire to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra *in a solitary place. However, if one simply imitates advanced spiritual life, he will fall down, just like the *sahajiyās *in Vṛndāvana. *— Cc. *Madhya *[[cc/madhya/11/176|11.176]]* ### 6. Sādhus who undergo difficulties to preach are superior: Those who are preachers are superior to those who go to the Himalayas to meditate. It is good to go to the Himalayas to meditate for one's personal benefit, but those who undergo many difficulties in order to preach are superior. They are actually fighting for Kṛṣṇa's sake, and they are certainly more compassionate. Those *sādhus *who leave Vṛndāvana to go fight in the world, to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are superior *sādhus. *This is the opinion of Kṛṣṇa in *Bhagavad-gītā *([[bg/18/68|18.68-69]]): "For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear." If we want to be quickly recognized by Kṛṣna, we should become preachers. This is also the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It is not that one should remain in India; rather, one should travel all over the world to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness. *— TLK Ch. 11, text 24*