{"id":70159,"date":"2026-05-08T01:23:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T05:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/?p=70159"},"modified":"2026-05-07T23:14:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T03:14:53","slug":"a-few-short-words-on-how-to-decide-who-is-a-sadhu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/a-few-short-words-on-how-to-decide-who-is-a-sadhu\/","title":{"rendered":"A Few Short Words on How to Decide Who is a Sadhu"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>One who criticizes a Sadhu who has surrendered exclusively to Krishna, because of his previous sins, or because of remaining traces of such deeds, is an offender of the Holy Name<\/span><\/h2>\n

Purva-papera gandhavasesa o purva-papa laksya kariya yini krsnaika-sarana sadhura ninda karena, tini namaparadhi<\/span><\/p>\n

When a preliminary enjoyment of Krishna-nama arises and someone even once chants the Holy Name, the results of his previous sins are destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Traces of previous sins may still remain in him for a time, but ultimately, they too are destroyed by the power of the Holy Name.<\/span><\/p>\n

Very soon, every trace of bad deeds disappears. Thus, such a person becomes known as parama-dharmatma[1]<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the period when these negative elements are still present and visible, ordinary people may still consider him to be wicked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeing his transgressions, they might criticize this sadhu. Furthermore, by pointing out his previous bad deeds, they can show contempt towards him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such a person is an atheist! By criticizing a Vaishnava, he commits an offense against the Holy Name. Krishna gets angry and he falls.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>The quality of a Sadhu is that he takes exclusive shelter of Krishna, but it is arrogance to identify oneself as a Sadhu<\/span><\/h2>\n

Krsnaika-saranatai sadhu-laksana, apanake sadhu baliya paricaya deoya dambhikata<\/span><\/p>\n

One who takes exclusive shelter of Krishna and chants Krishna-nama, by the mercy of Krishna becomes known as a sadhu.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only devotees of Krishna, and no one else, are sadhus. But those who declare, ‘I am a sadhu!’ are the avataras of arrogance[2]<\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>A few short words on how to decide who is a Sadhu<\/span><\/h2>\n

Svalpaksare sadhu-nirnaya<\/span><\/p>\n

One who says: I am a fallen person who has taken exclusive shelter of Krishna and whose mouth constantly chants Krishna-nama, such a person is a sadhu.<\/span><\/p>\n

A person who considers himself lower than straw, who is tolerant like a tree, who does not desire honor from others, who gives respect to everyone and whose mouth chants Krishna-nama, such a person can give Krishna-rati[3]<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>A Vaishnava who is absorbed in the Name is a true Sadhu, and insulting him is an offense<\/span><\/h2>\n

Nama-parayana Vaisnava-i sadhu, tan-ninda-i aparadha<\/span><\/p>\n

Any sadhu from whose mouth I hear the Holy Name even once, I call him Vaishnava and offer him respect.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Vaishnava is the Guru of the entire world. He is a friend of the world. A Vaishnava is an ocean of mercy for all Jivas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whoever insults such a Vaishnava falls into a hellish condition birth after birth.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no other way to achieve bhakti. Everyone can attain bhakti only by the mercy of a Vaishnava.<\/span><\/p>\n

The potency of Lord Krishna resides in the body of a Vaishnava. Only by touching his body can others attain Krishna-bhakti.<\/span><\/p>\n

The nectar from the lips of a Vaishnava[4]<\/a>, the water that has washed his feet and the dust from his feet, these three things are the most powerful.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> An extremely virtuous person.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Dambha-avatara refers to those who say they are sadhus without being so. They exploit the goodness of people to live comfortably.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Attraction towards Krishna.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> The remnants of his food or what he drank.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is a section of the book \u201cHarinama Cintamani (English)\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

To buy the complete book,<\/span>\u00a0click above<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One who criticizes a Sadhu who has surrendered exclusively to Krishna, because of his previous sins, or because of remaining traces of such deeds, is an offender of the Holy Name Purva-papera gandhavasesa o purva-papa laksya … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":54569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,189],"tags":[262],"class_list":["post-70159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-kadacha-eng","tag-harinama-cintamani-eng"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 06:27:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79115,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70159\/revisions\/79115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}