"Anyone who does not follow the instruction of the śāstras and live whimsically as very free to act, such person never gets perfection of life, no happiness, and what to speak of going back to home, back to Godhead." Especially in India, who are born as Indians, they have got a special facility to get this transcendental knowledge from śāstras. Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised, or ordered, to every Indian that "You make your life perfect by going through the śāstras and distribute this knowledge throughout the whole world for welfare activities." The exact words in Bengali is like this,
- bhārata bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra
- janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra
- (CC Adi 9.41)
Means anyone who has taken birth in this holy land of Bhāratavarṣa must make his life successful by going through the śāstras, and distribute the knowledge throughout the whole world.
Therefore I am appealing to my Indian brothers to take up this missionary work as ordered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Especially my appeal is to the people of South India, because all our ācāryas—Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka, Viṣṇu Svāmī, Śaṅkarācārya—they came out from South India. So I especially request gentlemen present here to take up this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement very seriously and join with us. (break) . . .says that before our next death comes . . . Death will come. We say generally, "As sure as death." For our next life, Śukadeva Gosvāmī advises . . . According to our Vedic principle, before death there is a ceremony which is called prāyaścitta, or atonement. He advises that when a diseased man goes to a physician, the physician, after diagnosing the disease, he gives the suitable medicine. If the disease is very serious, sometimes very expensive medicine is recommended. There is some example in the Caitanya Mahāprabhu's time. One gentleman, he was a big zamindar, landholder. He was converted into a Muslim. In those days, five hundred years ago, it was not very difficult to convert a person into Muslim religion. If a Muslim would take some water from his water pot and sprinkle on the body of a Hindu, he would become Muslim. In this way, so many people were converted into Muslims. So I am quoting these instances in this respect, because when in those days people would go to the brāhmaṇa to take advice for atonement, they would give so severe type of atonement that it was impossible to perform.