Guru Maharaj: You said that we are very aggrieved when a great Vaiṣṇava or a very close member, or a friend, leaves the world. So, I don’t know how you are saying all the things in the same breath. That the lamentation on the departure of a great Vaiṣṇava, is because we are feeling separation, we will not have association with the Vaiṣṇava again, during this lifetime. But a friend or family member, that lamentation may be material also. So, the point is that as Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad-gītā, that a person never dies. The ātmā lives on. So if a great Vaiṣṇava leaves, we know that he goes back to Godhead. In one sense we are happy, but we are deprived of his association, and in that way we lament. But a friend or relative leaves, that may be material, and we may lament, but actually as Kṛṣṇa said, we should not lament, because people never die
06-Aug-2020 Śrīdhām Māyāpur, India