Always be careful in your dealings with devotees and never create any ill feelings in their hearts.

Creating ill feelings with the devotees will create impediments on one’s path. I will relate a story to reveal this truth.

One day in Vrindavan Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhupada sat rapt in meditation, feeling great bliss in his heart. While he was sitting in his samadhi he observed a wonderful pastime. The gopis were decorating Srimati Radharani while Krishna stood behind Her watching. Krishna revealed His presence to the sakhis, bringing an increasing festival of joy to their hearts, but Radharani was unaware that He was there. In many wonderful ways the gopis braided and decorated Radha’s hair. Then they placed a mirror before Her. As She gazed at the beauty of Her own face, Radharani also saw Sri Krishna’s moonlike face in the mirror. Radha became very shy and quickly covered Herself with Her cloth. The gopis happily laughed at this, and Srila Rupa Goswami also joined in their laughter.

Just at that moment a vaisnava arrived who was very eager to see Rupa Goswami. Seeing Rupa laughing, the vaisnava did not say anything, but feeling very sorrowful in his heart he went to see Srila Sanatan Goswami. [According to the tradition in Vrindavan, this vaisnava was a famous devotee named Krishnadas. It is said that Krishnadas was lame and unable to walk and that when Rupa Goswami laughed, Krishnadas thought that he was laughing at his disability.]

The vaisnava told Sanatan, “I went to see Sri Rupa, but when he saw me he suddenly burst into laughter. My heart filled with sorrow! I don’t know why he acted in that way. I didn’t say anything, but came to ask you about it.” Sri Sanatan then explained the true reason for Rupa Goswami’s laughter. Hearing this, the vaisnava became repentant at heart. Lamenting greatly, the vaisnava said, “Why did I approach him at that moment? Not understanding his heart, I have offended him.” The vaisnava became very agitated. Sanatan Goswami pacified him and made him peaceful again.

Meanwhile, when the vaisnava had felt offended, Srila Rupa Goswami suddenly lost his vision of the Lord’s pastimes. He became very disturbed and looked everywhere. Considering the situation carefully, he concluded that someone must have come to see him while he was absorbed in seeing Krishna’s pastimes. “I did not honor the person that came, and thereby I committed an offense.” Thinking in this way, Rupa also went to Sanatan Goswami’s place.

When he saw Prabhupada Srila Rupa Goswami coming, that vaisnava approached him. Falling on the ground, he offered his respects. With great humility he told Rupa, “O great soul, I have committed an offense to you. Please forgive me. Previously when I went to see you I did not understand that you were rapt in meditation.” Standing before Srila Rupa Goswami, the vaisnava prayed, “Please be kind and forgive me for my offense. If you are merciful to me, only then can my heart become peaceful.”

When he heard these words, Srila Rupa Goswami became very agitated at heart. Falling to the ground, he offered respectful obeisances to that vaisnava. Folding his hands, he said, “I have no power to say how great was the offense that I committed to you. Please kindly forgive me.”   

Both devotees were very humble and both were filled with bhakti-rasa. Forgiving each other, they both became peaceful. The two of them then went to Srila Sanatan Goswami. For a long time they all plunged into relishing nectarean topics of Lord Krishna. When everyone heard about this incident they all became filled with wonder.

Concluding this story, Srila Narahari Chakravarti cautions everyone:

O my brothers, please be very careful in dealing with the vaisnavas. Beg their forgiveness for any offense with your heart and soul.

Be careful not to see a vaisnava’s faults, and always sing their glories.

All of the previous great devotees have said, “No one can understand the behavior of a vaisnava.”

Although Srila Rupa Goswami is a highly elevated devotee very dear to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord used him to teach all of us of the dangers of vaisnava aparadha.

Hold the devotees’ lotus feet to your head and always dive in the nectar of pure devotional service.

(This article is concluded here.)

Mahaprabhu says:

yadi vaisnava-aparadha uthe hati mata
upade va chinde, tara sukhi’ yaya pata

If the devotee commits an offense at the feet of a vaisnava while cultivating the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his offense is compared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and breaks it. In this way the leaves of the creeper are dried up.

tate mali yatna kari’ kare avarana
aparadha-hastira yaiche na haya udgama

The gardener must defend the creeper by fencing it all around so that the powerful elephant of offenses may not enter.

One very, very wicked, very dangerous animal comes. That is a mad elephant. This is vaisnava-aparadha. Vaisnava-aparadha is a mad elephant. This dangerously wicked animal can still come. Even at this stage, if some sadhu or vaisnava commits aparadha at the lotus feet of such a dear vaisnava, then this mad elephant comes, breaks their fences, enters into their garden, and completely devastates everything. This elephant pulls the creeper out from its root and throws it away — finished. upade va chinde, tara sukhi’ yaya pata — Completely uprooted, the creeper becomes dried up. So one should be most careful that this dangerous and wicked animal should not enter into your garden. Take the utmost care to maintain this bhakti-lata creeper.

At this point I want to mention something about papa and aparadha. One should understand that there is a difference between sinful activity and offense. One may be a greatly sinful person who has committed many sinful activities in this life and previous lives, but all of these sinful reactions are like dhuli-lepa, layers of dust. They can be washed off very easily. But aparadhas are like vajra-lepa, very strong layers like a thunderbolt. They cannot be washed off. This is the difference. The reaction to sinful activities can be easily washed off.  If you merely chant Hare Krishna and attain the stage of namabhasa, then karmic reactions are washed away. The example  is Ajamila. He was a very sinful person. Chitragupta, who records all of the sinful activities of the conditioned souls, had made a very big book for him. When the Yamadutas came to take him, Ajamila uttered the name of Narayan. He was only calling his son, yet he attained the stage of namabhasa and his sins were completely washed off, finished.  So, sin is like  dhuli-lepa, a layer of dust, which is very easily washed off. But aparadha is a layer like a thunderbolt.

Even the Supreme Lord tells Durvasa Muni, “I cannot wash it off. No. It is vajra-lepa, a very strong layer.” If the Supreme Lord says He cannot wash it off, then who can? Only that vaisnava at whose feet you have committed aparadha can excuse you.

Jiva Goswami says that if a thorn has pierced your body on the heel, do you think that it will come out from the shoulder? It will only come out from where it was pierced — the same heel. That means you must go and approach that vaisnava at whose lotus feet you committed the offense. Only he or she can excuse you. No other vaisnava can excuse you. Even the Supreme Lord cannot excuse you. 

Sulapani, Sivaji, is a very powerful person. He is so powerful that he drank an ocean of poison. He has such potency. However, Vrindavan Das Thakur has said:

sula-pani-sama yadi vaisnavere ninde
tathapiha nasa paya, — kahe sastra-vrnde

iha na maniya ye sujana-ninda kare
janme janme se papistha daiva-dose mare 

Even if a person is as powerful as sula-pani, Sivaji, still if he commits vaisnava-aparadha, if he criticizes a vaisnava, sadhu, who is dear to Krishna, then he falls down from his most elevated position and he perishes.

If someone cannot understand this and still blasphemes such a vaisnava, sadhu, then life after life he’ll go to hell and suffer — janme, janme.

Mahaprabhu describes what punishment is awaiting such an offender:

prabhu bale, vaisnava nindaye yei jana
kustha-roga kon ta’ra sastiye lekhana

apatatah sasti kichu haiyache matra
ara kata ache yama-yatanara patra

caurasi-sahasra yama-yatana pratyakse
punah-punah kari’ bhunje vaisnava-nindake

It is written in the scriptures that one who blasphemes the vaisnavas will suffer from leprosy, after which he will be punished by the agents of Yamaraj again and again, in 84,000 births.

This is awaiting the person who does vaisnava-ninda, who blasphemes a vaisnava, sadhu. Not only do they go to hell but also all of their pitr-purusa, their forefathers, will also go to hell. Skanda Purana describes:

nindam kurvanti ye mudha vaisnavanam mahatmanam
patanti pitrbhih sardham maha-raurava-samjnite

hanti nindati vai dvesti vaisnavan nabhinandati
krudhyate yati no harsam darsane patanani sat 

There are six types of vaisnava aparadha: (1) One who kills a vaisnava. He is a great offender. (2) One who blasphemes a vaisnava. (3) One who upon seeing a vaisnava does not offer obeisances. (4) One who gets angry at a vaisnava, krodha kare. (5) One who upon seeing a vaisnava does not feel delighted. (6) Dvesti, one who thinks ill of a vaisnava in the mind. He does not speak anything but in the mind thinks, “Oh, who is that?” Skanda Purana says, patanti pitrbhih sardham maha-raurava-samjnite — Not only does such an offender go to hell but generations of his ancestors do also.