Lord Caitanya came to personally inaugurate and spread the sankirtana movement, but He never stepped out of India. That’s His mercy, so we could have the opportunity to serve Him by assisting Srila Prabhupada in his mission. As he jokingly said one time:

“Devotee: Prabhupada, they said that if Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted Krsna consciousness in the Western countries, why didn’t He go there Himself? That’s what they told us.

Srila Prabhupada: So He left the credit for me. (laughter)” (Morning Walk, Nellore, 4 January 1976)

We frequently hear about the glories and the importance of sadhu-sanga, association with devotees. In the Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu, Srila Rupa Goswami categorizes 64 principles for executing devotional service, which is explained by Srila Prabhupada both in the Nectar of Devotion and the Teachings of Lord Caitanya. From these 64 principles, five are especially important, since by cultivating these five principles we tend to automatically execute the others:

“…out of all of these the following five are most important: (1) to associate with devotees, (2) to chant the holy name of the Lord, (3) to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, (4) to live in a holy place such as Mathura or Vrndavana, (5) to serve the Deity with great devotion. These items are especially mentioned by Rupa Gosvami in his book Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu.” (Teachings of Lord Caitanya ch. 12)

In his purport on SB 2.1.2, Srila Prabhupada gives us a series of cues about what prevents us from cooperating in spreading Krsna Consciousness. The central point is envy, which comes from material consciousness. 

“The word medhi indicates jealousy of others. The grhamedhis, being interested in family affairs only, are certainly envious of others. Therefore, one grhamedhi is not on good terms with another grhamedhi, and in the extended form, one community, society or nation is not on good terms with another counterpart of selfish interest. In the Age of Kali, all the householders are jealous of one another because they are blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth”. (SB 2.1.2 purport)

We can’t demand to have the association of only pure devotees in this material world, especially if we are not pure devotees ourselves. We can read in the Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta that Srila Prabhupada was not rejecting anybody. Even the lowest person, if he had some sincerity, some propensity to do some service, however small, Srila Prabhupada would accept and engage him. He would “fan the spark” until it became a big fire, capable of incinerating one’s contaminations. Similarly, we should also see the good qualities of others and try to engage them in Krsna’s service, according to their natural inclinations. To those who are newer, we can teach (especially through our own example) and engage them in different services. To those who are more or less on the same platform, we can offer our sincere friendship and cooperation, and we can also engage the ones who are senior by inviting them to give classes, to lead kirtan, to lead different programs, and so on. If we act perfectly ourselves, relationship problems with others are going to be rare. 

Lord Caitanya said that His name will be chanted in all towns and villages of the world. Before Srila Prabhupada came to the west, this seemed something impossible, some kind of poetic exaggeration. Even many of Srila Prabhupada’s own godbrothers had no faith that this could become true in the literal meaning.

HG Suresvara Prabhu: When Satsvarupa Maharaja was compiling the Lilamrta — I was part of the team — he would assign us to interview people, but he gave himself the assignment of interviewing Sridhara Maharaja, back in the 1980s, before he passed away. So he asked a question to Sridhara Maharaja, he said: It was only our Prabhupada who had this order to go to the west and preach? And Sridhara Maharaja said: “No, no, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta was telling all of us this. That’s what he wanted us to do, he wanted to take all over the world.” 

In the past, sometimes book distributors would somehow develop an elitist mentality, giving others the message that book distribution was the best service, that everybody else was in maya, etc. This was not just offensive, but also counterproductive, since it created conflicts and alienated devotees who are not book distributors, but could also assist in different capacities if properly cultivated. Fortunately, this is not so common nowadays, but the same idea may reappear on occasion due to the influence of the material modes. 

When we distribute books, the idea is to distribute knowledge, to teach people about spiritual life, to help them become devotees. We try to create an opening, a situation where one can receive transcendental knowledge, so this knowledge can create some change in his life. Still, not so many people become devotees just because they read one of our books. Usually, after reading a book one becomes a little interested or somewhat convinced and then looks for more. After that, he meets another devotee who explains the philosophy to him, attends a program, takes prasadam and so on, until he comes to the point where he wants to join.

A lot of times, before coming to this point of taking a book and reading it, a person has many preliminary encounters: he hears the maha-mantra here and there, sees devotees chanting in the street, takes prasadam at the Govinda’s restaurant, etc. Such experiences purify him to some extent and elevate him to the point where he takes a book and wants to read it. 

The knowledge contained in the book, combined with all the previous sukrit he accumulated in the previous stages allows him to get a taste for Krsna Consciousness, which leads him to seek further contact with devotees. He may then visit a temple or home program and hear a little more about Krsna Consciousness, up to the point he decides to start practicing. By studying more deeply, he matures, straightening his resolve, up to the point of becoming a pure devotee and going back to Godhead. 

In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krsna discusses many different subjects. He starts with sankhya-yoga, the empirical knowledge that “I’m not this body”, the difference between spirit and matter. He also explains about Himself, God, and how we can get closer to Him while executing our prescribed duties. That’s karma-yoga. 

Karma-yoga means to remain in our material occupations and fulfill our duties, but to offer the fruits of our activities to Krsna, dovetailing our activities with Krsna Consciousness. For example, we have to eat. We hear that we should eat only prasadam, and strictly speaking, prasadam is when you cook for the deity, for the pleasure of the Lord, with elevated standards. At the same time, we can’t eat only in the temple, we also need to eat at home. So, what should we do? If one still doesn’t have this mentality of cooking solely for the pleasure of the Lord, then he can cook what he wants to cook, following the proper standards, but before eating, offer to the Lord. In other words, even if one is not yet on a pure platform, at least he can offer the fruits to the Lord, following the guidance of superior authorities. That’s one example of karma-yoga: It may not be pure devotion yet, but it’s a good start. 

Karma-yoga is already done without expectation: one just offers the fruits to the Lord, without expecting any material recompense in return. In contrast with demigod worship, which is normally conducted as a kind of business, in karma-yoga we are already on the level of just wanting to please Krsna. That’s why Srila Prabhupada doesn’t make much distinction between karma-yoga and bhakti-yoga in his purports, translating both as “devotional service”. In one sense there is no difference: they are just different steps in the same stairway.

The word “sankirtana” means, literally, “kirtana together”. Our whole process is based on cooperation and association, much different from the process followed by impersonalists and mystic yogis, which is based on solitary meditation and self-advancement. As devotees, we are the best example of the saying “united we stand, divided we fall”.

“I am the only gardener. How many places can I go? How many fruits can I pick and distribute? (Cc. Adi 9.34)

Purport: Here Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu indicates that the distribution of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra should be performed by combined forces. Although He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He laments, “How can I act alone? How can I alone pick the fruit and distribute it all over the world?” This indicates that all classes of devotees should combine to distribute the Hare Krsna maha-mantra without consideration of the time, place or situation.