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Question: If someone is practicing Krsna consciousness and they are also hurting other devotees, but they continue to practice Krsna consciousness, it is better that, even though they are hurting devotees, isn’t it better that, good though that they are doing it and chanting Hare Krsna and taking the association of devotees? How does that balance out?

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Jayapataka Swami: Lord Caitanya is described as the most merciful of all avatars. Sabe avatara sara siromani keval ananda kanda. He is the crown jewel of all the incarnations of Godhead. He gave us the process which is simply blissful. He said, He would give love of Godhead to everyone, except to those who offend devotees. We should be very careful not to cause or inflict pain, or any offense to any devotee that is the only person that Lord Caitanya will not give love of Krsna. And somehow you see how Krsna consciousness spread so fast in the beginning in the West! Srila Prabhupada said that people were very sinful, but they had never committed vaisnava aparadh! Since there were no vaisnavas! Ha! Ha! In America! So with the coming of the devotees, started the vaisnava aparadh and then the preaching slows down, because by committing offences you lose the taste for doing devotional service. So it goes a lot slower. If someone practices, it is still to their benefit but they don’t reach the ultimate stage of love of Krsna. So we should be very careful, not to commit any offences to the devotees, especially what they call, vaisnava ninda, criticizing devotees, and we don’t realize even if the husband hits the wife, we know that it is illegal. It is not only illegal but also it is a vaisnava aparadh, because the wife is also a vaisnavi! Similarly, any kind of pain you inflict on a vaisnava, mental, emotional, physical, all these hurt Krsna because devotees are very dear to Krsna. So we should avoid that. We should think of some way, if we have committed vaisnava aparadh, or if we have been exposed to vaisnava ninda or criticism unnecessarily, we should go to those devotees and ask for forgiveness for any knowing or unknowing offence has been committed. And if they don’t forgive you, maybe they think who am I to be offended, then take some dust from their feet. I saw in Mayapur outside the GBC room, all the GBCs leave their shoes and go inside barefoot. Some devotee was going to each of the shoes and taking the dust! So somehow or another if you can get the dust from the feet or if you get their forgiveness, then that can be balanced out. And the very advanced devotees, they try to avoid hearing or speaking or doing anything offensive. It is alright to ask a question; we have a right to ask a question, but we should do that privately and we can ask the question that prabhu, ‘I see you are doing this thing, but I hear from the teachings that we should not do it. Is it something that we should do or not do?’ So something like that, you ask a question that is alright, but if you say, ‘Prabhu! YOU ARE DOING THIS ANARTHA! YOU ARE NONSENSE!’ That is not right! The guru can do that! The ordinary devotee cannot do that. So we should be very careful not to commit any offence. We should in that sense, we should be very careful. Lord Caitanya said, the mad elephant offence, the offence against a vaisnava is like a mad elephant, let loose in your vegetable garden! Ha! The mad elephant pulls out the trees, tramples all the vegetables! So it can destroy your devotional garden very easily. So somehow we should avoid criticizing each other, we should be very careful not to commit vaisnava aparadh. Somehow we should cooperate together and try to expand the Krsna consciousness, God consciousness. Hare Krsna!
24-NOVEMBER-2019 NEW PANIHATI DHAM, ATLANTA, USA