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Following great personalities means

Expressions researched:
"great personalities means"

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

We have to follow mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ, great personality, the path of the great personalities. The great personalities means the devotees. We have to follow the path of the devotees.
Lecture on SB 6.1.14 -- Bombay, November 10, 1970:

So sādhava. Sādhava, Śrīdhara Swami is giving note, niṣkāma, those who have no desire. So this desire..., niṣkāma means those who have no desire for sense gratification. They are sādhu. And who are they? Devotees. Akāma. Their other name is akāma. They have no desires. Personally they have no desires. Their only business is how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. That is their only desire. That is natural. Because we are eternally servants of Kṛṣṇa, or God, our desire should be how to please God, how to please Kṛṣṇa. Just like obedient servant, sincere servant, they are always waiting for the order of the master, and they try how to please him, how to make him happy. Of course, this is not possible in this material world. Material world nobody is servant of anybody. Everyone wants to be master of another. Actually he does not serve anyone. He serves because he gets some money. So as soon as the money payment is stopped, immediately servant becomes disobedient. Therefore there is no service in the material world. It is exchange of money. The service is niṣkāma. That is brāhmaṇa, devotee. They do not expect anything from the Personality of Godhead. They want simply His satisfaction. Sādhava niṣkāmān yatra yasmin mārge. Therefore we have to follow mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186), great personality, the path of the great personalities. The great personalities means the devotees. We have to follow the path of the devotees.

(reads Sanskrit commentary) Śrīdhara Swami says that bhakti mārga, the path of devotion, is immune from all kinds of fearfulness because jñāna-mārga, jñāna mārga, the path of knowledge is full of difficulties. Because I am trying myself, I have no protector. I do not know if I am in danger who will give me protection. Jñānīs, they try to understand the Absolute Truth by dint of their knowledge. So Śrīdhara Swami says they are atahaya. Atahaya means without any protection. If they make any mistake... Just like a little student they are learning something, but there is protection of the teacher. As soon as he commits a mistake, immediately the teacher rectifies: "My dear boy, do like this." But anyone who has no teacher, no protector, simply trying himself, if he commits any mistake there is nobody protecting him. Therefore jñāna-mārga, the path of knowledge, is risky. Similarly, the path of karma is also risky. Mataraka(?). If you prosecute the path of karma, there is envy between the karmīs. If you become greater than me in execution of your fruitive activities, I become envious of you: "Oh, this man is making so much progress in business or in some other way, in practice. I could not do." So I become envious. Similarly, if I advance, my friend becomes envious. So karma-mārga is the path of enviousness. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavata says paramo nirmatsarāṇām (SB 1.1.2). The Bhāgavata is meant for persons who are absolutely free from enviousness.

Page Title:Following great personalities means
Compiler:Visnu Murti
Created:04 of Nov, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1