Verse 2.1.239

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.1.239:

এতেকে ভজহ কৃষ্ণ সাধু-সঙ্গ করি’ মনে চিন্ত কৃষ্ণ মাতা, মুখে বল ‘হরি’ ॥ ২৩৯ ॥

एतेके भजह कृष्ण साधु-सङ्ग करि’ मने चिन्त कृष्ण माता, मुखे बल ‘हरि’ ॥ २३९ ॥

eteke bhajaha kṛṣṇa sādhu-saṅga kari’ mane cinta kṛṣṇa mātā, mukhe bala ‘hari’ || 239 ||

eteke bhajaha krsna sadhu-sanga kari’ mane cinta krsna mata, mukhe bala ‘hari’ (239)

English translation:

(239) “Therefore, O mother, worship Kṛṣṇa in the association of devotees. Think of Kṛṣṇa and chant the name of Hari.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

“Therefore, O mother, always worship Kṛṣṇa in the association of devotees and remember Kṛṣṇa within your heart while chanting the name of Hari with your mouth. If you give up the association of devotees, or if you attempt to worship Kṛṣṇa under the direction of a nondevotee, there is no possibility of your attaining the service of Kṛṣṇa.”

The necessity for chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa in the association of devotees is described in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (3.23.55), wherein Devahūti speaks to Kardama Muni as follows:

saṅgo yaḥ saṃsṛter hetur asatsu vihito ‘dhiyā sa eva sādhuṣu kṛto

niḥsaṅgatvāya kalpate

“Association for sense gratification is certainly the path of bondage. But the same type of association, performed with a saintly person, leads to the path of liberation, even if performed without knowledge.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.2.30) Nimi, the King of Videha, speaks to the nine Yogendras as follows:

ata ātyantikaṃ kṣemaṃ pṛcchāmo bhavato ‘naghāḥ saṃsāre ‘smin kṣaṇārdho ‘pi sat-saṅgaḥ śevadhir nṛṇām

“Therefore, O completely sinless ones, I ask you to kindly tell me what the supreme good is. After all, even half a moment’s association with pure devotees within this world of birth and death is a priceless treasure for any man.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (3.25.20) Lord Kapila speaks the following words to Devahūti:

prasaṅgam ajaraṃ pāśam ātmanaḥ kavayo viduḥ sa eva sādhuṣu kṛto

mokṣa-dvāram apāvṛtam

“Every learned man knows very well that attachment for the material is the greatest entanglement of the spirit soul. But that same attachment, when applied to the self-realized devotees, opens the door of liberation.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (4.22.19) Śrī Sanat-kumāra says to Mahārāja Pṛthu:

saṅgamaḥ khalu sādhūnām ubhayeṣāṃ ca sammataḥ

yat-sambhāṣaṇa-sampraśnaḥ sarveṣāṃ vitanoti śam

“When there is a congregation of devotees, their discussions, questions and answers become conclusive to both the speaker and the audience.

Thus such a meeting is beneficial for everyone’s real happiness.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (4.29.40) Nārada Muni speaks to Śrī Prācīnabarhi as follows:

tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic-caritra- pīyūṣa-śeṣa-saritaḥ paritaḥ sravanti

tā ye pibanty avitṛṣo nṛpa gāḍha-karṇais tān na spṛśanty aśana-tṛḍ-bhaya-śoka-mohāḥ

“My dear King, in that assembly of saintly persons, the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are heard and chanted with great

eagerness by the pure devotees. If one gets a chance to hear their constant flow of nectar, which is exactly like the waves of a river, one will forget the necessities of life—namely hunger and thirst—and become immune to all kinds of fear, lamentation and illusion.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (4.30.33) the Pracetas offer the following prayer to the Lord:

yāvat te māyayā spṛṣṭā bhramāma iha karmabhiḥ tāvad bhavat-prasaṅgānāṃ saṅgaḥ syān no bhave bhave

“Dear Lord, as long as we have to remain within this material world due to our material contamination and wander from one type of body to another and from one planet to another, we pray that we may associate with those who are engaged in discussing Your pastimes. We pray for this benediction life after life, in different bodily forms and on different planets.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (2.2.36) Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī speaks the following words to Mahārāja Parīkṣit:

tasmāt sarvātmanā rājan hariḥ sarvatra sarvadā śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca smartavyo bhagavān nṛṇām

“O King, it is therefore essential that every human being hear about, glorify and remember the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, always and everywhere.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (4.20.24) Mahārāja Pṛthu prays to the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha as follows:

na kāmaye nātha tad apy ahaṃ kvacin na yatra yuṣmac-caraṇāmbujāsavaḥ mahattamāntar-hṛdayān mukha-cyuto

vidhatsva karṇāyutam eṣa me varaḥ

“My dear Lord, I therefore do not wish to have the benediction of merging into Your existence, a benediction in which there is no existence of the nectarean beverage of Your lotus feet. I want the benediction of at least one million ears, for thus I may be able to hear about the glories of Your lotus feet from the mouths of Your pure devotees.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (5.12.13) the avadhūta Bharata speaks to Rahūgaṇa as follows:

yatrottamaśloka-guṇānuvādaḥ prastūyate grāmya-kathā-vighātaḥ niṣevyamāṇo ‘nudinaṃ mumukṣor matiṃ satīṃ yacchati vāsudeve

“In an assembly of pure devotees, there is no question of discussing material subjects like politics and sociology. In an assembly of pure devotees, there is discussion only of the qualities, forms and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is praised and worshiped with full attention. In the association of pure devotees, by constantly hearing such topics respectfully, even a person who wants to merge into the existence of the Absolute Truth abandons this idea and gradually becomes attached to the service of Vāsudeva.”

The saintly King Mucukunda prays to Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.51.53) as follows:

bhavāpavargo bhramato yadā bhavej janasya tarhy acyuta sat-samāgamaḥ sat-saṅgamo yarhi tadaiva sad-gatau parāvareśe tvayi jāyate matiḥ

“When the material life of a wandering soul has ceased, O Acyuta, he may attain the association of Your devotees. And when he associates with them, there awakens in him devotion unto You, who are the goal of the devotees and the Lord of all causes and their effects.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (6.11.27) Vṛtra offers the following prayer to the Supreme Lord:

mamottamaśloka-janeṣu sakhyaṃ saṃsāra-cakre bhramataḥ sva-karmabhiḥ tvan-māyayātmātmaja-dāra-geheṣv āsakta-cittasya na nātha bhūyāt

“O my Lord, my master, I am wandering throughout this material world as a result of my fruitive activities. Therefore I simply seek friendship in the association of Your pious and enlightened devotees. My attachment to my body, wife, children and home is continuing by the spell of Your external energy, but I wish to be attached to them no longer. Let my mind, my consciousness and everything I have be attached only to You.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (3.25.25) Lord Kapila speaks to His mother, Devahūti, as follows:

satāṃ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṃvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati

“In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.2.14 and 16-18) Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī speaks to the sages headed by Śaunaka as follows:

tasmād ekena manasā bhagavān sātvatāṃ patiḥ śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca dhyeyaḥ pūjyaś ca nityadā

śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ syān mahat-sevayā viprāḥ puṇya-tīrtha-niṣevaṇāt

śṛṇvatāṃ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ

hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṃ bhāgavata-sevayā bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī

“Therefore, with one-pointed attention, one should constantly hear about, glorify, remember and worship the Personality of Godhead, who is the protector of the devotees. O twice-born sages, by serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vāsudeva. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.”