Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #48 – Sādhus of Vṛndāvana

Sādhus of Vṛndāvana [1]

A question recently came to my mind. I have lived here in Vṛndāvana for almost forty-four years. Why?

Of course, the main reason I am here is that my sevā, or service, is here. I help pilgrims, especially from abroad, to enter, understand, and experience Vṛndāvana.

I am also here because there are sādhus or saintly people that live or visit here and I benefit from their association. And that is the subject of this week’s Monday Morning Greetings.

Sādhu I

A friend shared his efforts during Kārttika to deepen his attraction for the holy name of Krishna. He described a moment of intense disappointment and frustration. Despite his effort to just focus on chanting, he was not getting what he wanted. He subtly told me that he was so desperate that he almost began to question the practice itself. At that point his heart suddenly opened. His experience of the holy name became deeper than ever before.

The only thing separating us from a full revelation of God is our desire to embrace His grace. The sādhu’s extreme disappointment was only a reflection of his intense desire to be with Krishna and serve Him in the form of His holy name. I am grateful for such company.

Sādhu II

Another friend just arrived. Every year he spends the winter in Govardhana. His health is so chronic and debilitating that he can only leave his bed for five or six hours a day before again collapsing in exhaustion. We met and compared notes. He shared that although he is in more pain than ever before. his meditation on the holy name keeps on deepening. It confirmed for me a very important point — the holy name is non-different from Krishna. His appearance is therefore not ultimately dependent on one’s ability and effort to produce it. How else to explain meditation on the holy name increasing even when the body is ravaged with pain? The holy name manifests by its own will in response to one’s sincere desire to serve Krishna. The association of such devotees is priceless.

Sādhu III— A Remembrance

When word came to me that Śrīla Prabhupāda’s godbrother Akiñcana Krishna dāsa Bābājī was hospitalized and near death, I immediately rushed to the CFC hospital in Vṛndāvana. That was more than thirty-five years ago. Bābājī Mahārāja was famous for chanting the holy name non-stop day and night. Even Śrīla Prabhupāda described him as having no material desires and at the highest level of devotion.[2] Unfortunately, by the time I arrived he had already departed for Nandagrāma, the home of Krishna, where he would soon leave the world. As Bābājī Mahārāja had left the hospital only minutes before, the doctor was still in the room. I inquired from him about his patient’s condition. What he told me was astounding. Although Bābājī Mahārāja had been unconscious when the doctor put his stethoscope to his heart, he heard the constant repetition of the holy name. I didn’t doubt what I was told and years later it was confirmed. I was studying a book on classical meditation for a course I was teaching. It described that the perfection of chanting a mantra after years of concentrated practice is that the mantra becomes so deeply embedded in the subconscious that it continues non-stop without extraneous effort!

How fortunate to meet the sādhus of Vṛndāvana!

“The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.” (Cc. Madhya-līlā 22.54)

[1] This is a highly edited entry originally published from November 25, 2019.

[2] “Śrīla Prabhupāda himself had spoken of Akiñcana Krishna dāsa Bābājī as niṣkiñcana, ‘having no material attachments,’ and paramahaṁsa, ‘a swanlike pure devotee.’” From Akiñcana Krishna dāsa Bābājī’s obituary in Back to Godhead, June 1982.