by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝The terms jīva-sevā(service to other entities) and jīva-prema(eternal love for other entities) are fictions, contrary to conclusive truth, and are illogical. One will never attain the result of service to Śrī Bhagavān by serving the conditioned souls’ gross senses and becoming a regular purveyor of their bodily and mental demands. One can never attain a transcendental life of service by serving that which is inert or loving the illusory objects produced by māyā.❞...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝It is through Śrī Rūpa in particular that Śrī Gaurasundara has, in a very special manner, revealed the scriptures of bhakti-rasa. Śrī Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas take special pride in introducing themselves as śrī rūpanuga, the followers of Śrī Rūpa.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝When one reads spiritual texts on one’s own, often one does not attain the real result of hearing and reciting hari-kathā. That is why it remains imperative for one to hear the sounds issuing from the mouths of sādhu and guru. Only within a siddha (perfected) mantra is all potency manifest, and only that yields special results. Hence, there is more benefit and welfare contained within hari-kathā issuing from the mouths of the devotees [than from spiritual texts]. Dry skeptics who are bereft of sādhu-saṅga are incapable of appreciating the necessity and attracting potency of sādhu-saṅga.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝The many philosophical conclusions Śrīman Mahāprabhu has revealed and preached personally and through Svarūpa, the Six Gosvāmīs, and the Gauḍīya guru-varga in regard to determining the object of worship (upāsya-tattva) are not subjects that people inimical to bhakti can grasp. He has given the Gauḍīyas the instruction to give up unfavorable association in all respects.❞ ...

We have heard from Vedic scriptures and Guru that when a high-class Vaisnava is speaking hari-katha, we should think, "It is better not to perform parikrama of Govardhana, or Navadvipa, or anywhere else. Better that I hear hari-katha." Sri Giriraja Govardhana will give us His mercy only after the Vaisnavas have given us their mercy. Govardhana will not speak to us or instruct us, and therefore our hearts will not be so rapidly purified...

Javala was a widow. She had one young son named Satyakama. One day, Satyakama approached her and said, "Mother, I want to adopt a vow of sacred celibacy and take up residence in the school of my guru. But to do so, I must know my family lineage."

I am willing to be humiliated, reprimanded and heavily beaten by maya hundreds of times, but I cannot accept or tolerate the affectionate, transcendental discipline of Sri Gurudeva. Consequently, I forever relinquish devotional service to Krsna and thus I commit spiritual suicide...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝Maintain powerful enthusiasm and forbearance within your heart. If you envision the smiling faces of śrī gurudeva and the Vaiṣṇavas and remember their instructions and teachings, you will find peace of mind at all times, in all circumstances.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝You must put all manner of worldly tasks aside and chant one lakh daily, perform pūjā and arcana of the deity, study various sacred texts, and go to the maṭha to take advantage of hearing śrī hari-kathā. This is the special purpose of Kṛṣṇa’s saṁsāra, Bhagavān’s saṁsāra. Many believe that one lakh (lakṣa) of nāma means setting one’s lakṣya (focus) and chanting. But that is a one-sided notion. Chanting a fixed amount of śrī nāma means chanting with a steady heart, crying and weeping anxiously. One must complete one’s fixed number of rounds in that manner [with absorption].❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝Know that if you can gain rapt absorption in śrī nāma, that is total perfection. “Niḥśvāse na hi viśvāsaḥ – there is no certainty in breath.” Time carries on. Using this time properly is imperative.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝ In the month of niyama-sevā, one must, in a regulative manner, perform various limbs of bhakti, knowing “sevā se niyama – service is that regulation.” Every day, it is absolutely obligatory to perform worship (pūjārcana), behold ārati, attend class and kīrtana, study various sacred books, recite Dāmodarāṣṭakam and various stavas and stotras.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝But then, for a servant, there is no such thing as a break from service. In the field of service, there is neither concession nor commission; service is the only fruit of service. Even supreme, liberated personalities continue to worship Śrī Bhagavān and are preoccupied with service. Hence, under no circumstance can the sevaka or sevikā take a holiday or break from service.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝Only those who are bathed in the nectarean ocean of bhakti-rasa stand on the shores of this ocean of material existence as witnesses under the guidance of Śrī Rūpa and comprehend the real significance of the grand Ratha-yātrā festival of Mahāprabhu, who is Śrī Jagad-bandhu, the well-wisher of the whole world. What this festival really signifies is the sampradāya under the guidance of Śrī Rādhā drawing the son of the King of Vraja with the ropes of love from the realm of majestic aiśvarya pastimes, Śrī Kṣetra Nīlācala, to the land of sweet mādhurya pastimes, Sundarācala Vṛndāvana.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝I lived with pūjyapāda Vāmana Mahārāja for almost sixty years and had the opportunity to closely observe and understand him. He possessed all the qualities that are inherent in a Vaiṣṇava. By nature, he was simple, grave, humble, tolerant, overflowing with guru-niṣṭhā and inclined to serve the Vaiṣṇavas.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝If one perceives Kṛṣṇa’s character and deeds as political and superimposes immorality onto them, one will have to be bound for hell. The desire to destroy Śrī Bhagavān’s transcendental form turns the living entity into an impersonalist, a māyāvādī. Bhagavān’s worshipful form (śrī vigraha) is saccidānanda.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝During the month of Kārtika, if one performs pūjā (worship) to please Śrī Rādhikā, Dāmodara Śrī Hari becomes pleased, because Ūrjeśvarī Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the presiding deity of this month. The possessor of all potencies, Dāmodara Śrī Kṛṣṇa, does not accept worship without His svarūpa-śakti (intrinsic potency), otherwise known as hlādinī-śakti. Likewise, Śrī Rādhā-devī, that antaraṅga (intimate) or parā-śakti (supreme energy) rejects everything in the absence of Her prāṇanātha (the Lord of Her life). That is precisely why the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas under the guidance of Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara and Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī have accepted only the worship of rādhāliṅgita-vigraha Yugala (the Divine Couple when Kṛṣṇa’s form is embraced by Śrī Rādhā).❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝It is natural that every sādhaka is eager to know about Śrī Rādhikā, because without serving Her, attaining the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is a distant prospect. However, the truth of who She is can only be preserved if She is revealed or described as She is. Otherwise, all we perceive are deceptions that assert truth to be false or falsehood to be truth.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝Only if one has a sense of attachment for Śrī Bhagavān is there significance and fulfillment in reading and writing. Nowhere is there a better perspective than that given by Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That is why one must become thoroughly established in the conceptions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the king of devotional literature, the essence of all Vedānta, and the natural commentary on the gāyatrī-mantra.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝If there is difficulty in receiving teachings and instructions from sādhu and guruin person, scripture grants the provision of associating with sādhus in the form of sacred texts. The lives and words of exalted personalities are synonymous. Should the sādhaka and sādhikā study and discuss them, they reap the ultimate welfare for their souls.❞ ...

Vamana Maharaja is very grave and quiet, and there is another special quality that he possesses: I have seen many people, myself included, who give explanations from the scriptures and enjoy taking praise from others for it. But having known Vamana Maharaja for almost fifty years, I have never seen him do this, not even by accident. He is also very tolerant...