Volume 7 - Prabhupada

- - --340 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 19tate mali yatna kari' kare avaraQaaparadha-hastira yaiche na haya udgamaSYNONYMState-therefore; mali-the gardener devotee; yatna kari' -with great attention;kare-makes; avaraQa-protective fencing; aparadha-of offenses;hastira-of the elephant; yaiche-so that; na-not; haya -there is; udgamabirth.TRANSLATION"The gardener must defend the creeper by fencing it all around so that thepowerful elephant of offenses may not enter.PURPORTWhile the bhakti-lata creeper is growing, the devotee must protect it by fencingit all around. The neophyte devotee must be protected by being surroundedby pure devotees. In this way he will not give the maddened elephant a chance touproot his bhakti-lata creeper. When one associates with nondevotees, the maddenedelephant is set loose. SrT Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said: asat-satigatyaga,-ei vaiQava-acara. The first business of a Vaiava is to give up the companyof nondevotees. A so-called mature devotee, however, commits a greatoffense by giving up the company of pure devotees. The living entity is a socialanimal, and if one gives up the society of pure devotees, he must associate withnondevotees (asat-satiga). By contacting nondevotees and engaging in nondevotionalactivities, a so-called mature devotee will fall victim to the mad elephantoffense. Whatever growth has taken place is quickly uprooted by such an offense.One should therefore be very careful to defend the creeper by fencing it in-thatis, by following the regulative principles and associating with pure devotees.If one thinks that there are many pseudo devotees or nondevotees in the KraConsciousness Society, one can keep direct company with the spiritual master,and if there is any doubt, one should consult the spiritual master. However, unlessone follows the spiritual master's instructions and the regulative principlesgoverning chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord, one cannot become apure devotee. By one's mental concoctions, one falls down. By associating withnondevotees, one breaks the regulative principles and is thereby lost. In theUpadesamrta of SrTia ROpa GosvamT, it is said:atyahara/:1 prayasas caprajalpo niyamagraha/:1jana-satigas ca /au/yam caar;fbhir bhaktir vinasyati