Sometimes people think they could practise Krishna consciousness alone, far away from the association of devotees. This is a utopian idea as without association our Bhakti could get mechanical and superficial. With association of other likeminded devotees we’d experience taste and also practical dependence on Krishna. It’s in association that we see Krishna; for other devotees remind us of Krishna by their example and teachings.
Srila Prabhupada writes in Srimad Bhagavatam (4.9.11, purport):
“Transcendental devotional service cannot be complete and cannot be relishable without the association of devotees…. Anyone who is trying to be aloof from the Krishna Consciousness Society and yet engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is living in a great hallucination, for this is not possible. Unless one is associated with devotees, his devotional service does not mature; it does not become distinct from material activities.”
A popular Akbar-Birbal story illustrates this principle:
During the freezing winter, a poor man claimed to Emperor Akbar that for a few gold coins, he could spend the night neck deep in waters of river Yamuna. Intrigued how any human could face the terrifying cold of Yamuna, Akbar accepted the man’s challenge. Accompanied by his clever minister Birbal, the emperor saw the man spend the night in water. During early hours the next morning, the man came out of the river and asked for the coins that he was promised. The emperor dismissed the feat by pointing to a small burning lamp across the other bank of the river. “You were drawing heat and warmth from that lamp”, declared Akbar, “and thus you cheated and are disqualified from getting the prize” Birbal protested that this isn’t fair, but the king, in no mood to argue, walked away.
Birbal promised the man he would help, and decided to teach the king a lesson.
The next day Birbal didn’t attend the king’s assembly. When the king asked a servant to enquire, Birbal sent a message that he would attend the court’s proceedings only when his kichadi (an Indian staple diet of a mixture of rice and split yellow lentils) is cooked. Curious at this strange reply, the king immediately arrived at Birbal’s doorstep and was surprised to see a huge pot kept on a raised platform while a small candle burnt fifty meters away. “What are you doing?” the king demanded an explanation, and Birbal replied, “Your majesty, I am cooking kichadi” “But how will it ever get cooked when you have put such a small fire, and that too at such a far distance away?”
Birbal smiled, “Oh emperor if a poor man could draw heat and warmth from a mere candle that was miles away, can’t I cook my kichadi from this fire?”
Akbar realized his mistake and immediately called for the man and amply rewarded him.
To properly cook the kichadi the fire needs to be in close proximity to the pot or else it would never get cooked in decades. Likewise, for a sincere spiritual practitioner, the fire of saintly association has to be close and intense. Or else even in decades, one would find spiritual progress slow. But with meaningful association of spiritually fiery devotees of Krishna, one would personally witness his own relationship with Krishna which like the kichadi in the story, develop quite fast.
