Sadhu-Sanga and Sat-Sanga

[ by Sri Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja ]

A lecture given in Bhubaneswar, India on September 28, 1995.
If you are very greedy, very eager to have sadhu-sanga, sat-sanga, the association of grantha-bhagavata and bhakta-bhagavata, first of all you have to give up duhsanga or asat-sanga. What is association? One may say that to come in close proximity to a person is association. But that is not the fact. Association takes place in the mind, in the heart. As long as there are desires for material enjoyment, desires for liberation, desires for mystic perfections, and other desires in your heart, then you are doing asat-sanga. Even though you may come and sit here, and even though you may be staying in the temple, if all these thoughts and desires are in your mind, you are doing asat-sanga, duhsanga. You are not doing real sadhu-sanga.

If your heart is not crying how to have the real association of grantha-bhagavata and bhakta-bhagavata, then you cannot get their association. Even if you don't go anywhere, if you just sit in one place, still you will have duhsanga. The example is Saubhari Muni. He entered into the water of the Yamuna and stayed there for thousands of years, but still he had duhsanga. In our minds there are hundreds and thousands of desires giving duhsanga to us. Is your stupid mind thinking about Krishna? Is your stupid mind thinking about the instructions of sadhu-guru-vaisnava? Is your stupid mind thinking about the instructions of Mahaprabhu and His dear devotees? If the stupid mind is not thinking these things, then you are doing duhsanga, asat-sanga. You are not doing sadhu-sanga at all. Externally or apparently you are staying in the temple but you are really doing asat-sanga.

We should think about it: Are these thoughts pleasing to Krishna? Are these thoughts pleasing to guru and Gauranga? Krishna gave His most confidential instruction, man-mana bhava - "Only think of Me" [Bg. 18.65]. Sriman Mahaprabhu gave the same instruction:

ki sayane ki bhojane, kiba jagarane aharnisa cinta krsna, balaha vadane

Whether asleep, awake, or eating your meals, think only of Lord Krishna day and night. With your mouths speak only of Him. [Cb. madhya 28.28]

Day and night, twenty-four hours, cinta-krsna, balaha vadane - think of Krishna and utter His name - in all conditions, whether sleeping, waking, or even when taking food. This is Mahaprabhu's instruction. So we should analyze what we are thinking about. Srila Kaviraj Goswami describes what is duhsanga:

'duhsanga' kahiye--'kaitava', 'atma-vancana' krsna, krsna-bhakti vinu anya kamana

Cheating oneself and cheating others is called kaitava. Associating with those who cheat in this way is called duhsanga, bad association. Those who desire things other than Krishna's service are also called duhsanga, bad association. [Cc. madhya 24.99]

Duhsanga means desiring things other than Krishna and krsna-bhakti. That is atma-vancana, cheating yourself, not cheating anyone else. If we don't think of the happiness and pleasure of Krishna, if we don't think of krsna-bhakti, if we think of something else and try to fulfill that desire, then even though we may be staying in the temple it is duhsanga. With this frame of mind or heart one cannot have the association of bhakta-bhagavata or grantha-bhagavata and one cannot render service unto guru, bhakta-bhagavata, or grantha-bhagavata.

Guru-pada-padma is very heavy, not light. Guru means heavy. He is gambhira-vastu - very grave. We cannot approach him. We cannot go to him. If we are fortunate and we can go, then it is to be understood that there will be no more material attachment, no more material world. Thereby we will enter into Vaikuntha. There will be no more dense darkness in our hearts, no more of these other thoughts in our minds, no more contamination. There will be no more duplicity, crookedness, and desire for name, fame, and prestige.

We should think deeply about it. We should make a self-inquiry: "Have we reached guru-pada-padma? Have we entered into his heart? Is he really merciful towards us? Is he really giving his darsana to us?" If he gives his darsana then there will be no more duhsanga! We are only pretending that we have done atma-nivedana, that we have surrendered. But we have not really surrendered. We have only been pretending, pretending, pretending for so many years, and also for so many years to come in the future. As long as we continue to act artificially we cannot approach guru, sadhu or vaisnava. We cannot get their mercy at all and therefore we cannot see their real form.

We will be cheated. We will get all external things.