Guardians of dhāma.

The potency of the dhāma is easily felt, even by non-devotees. But for that potency to fully nurture one’s Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it is essential that one hear from those saintly persons who reside in the dhāma. After all, such saints are direct manifestations of the dhāma’s potency. By their words, which are always connected to the Lord and His pastimes, they are able to purify the sincere pilgrim’s heart, thus preparing a place there for Kṛṣṇa and His dhāma to appear. Liberated souls who visit or reside in the dhāma are like housekeepers, maintaining the purity of Kṛṣṇa’s abode by clearing away the accumulated effect of those sins pilgrims leave behind. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains, “Because it is said in the śāstra that ordinary men with sinful habits, they come to tīrtha, holy place, and actually they become purified. … But when such sinful garbage is accumulated, who will clear? It will be cleared by the saintly person, by their puṇya work. Tīrthī-kurvanti, tīrtha … Again they make it tīrtha.” (Lecture on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.5, Vṛndāvana, 7 December 1975) The importance of hearing from saints cannot be overstated, for the true value of either a pilgrimage to or residence in the dhāma is measured not in terms of the pastime places one visits, but in sādhu-saṅga. Although located in a geographical area, Vraja-dhāma is actually a state of consciousness. And one’s individual level of Kṛṣṇa consciousness — which is nurtured by and dependent upon sādhu-saṅga — determines his or her ability to substantially benefit from a pilgrimage to the dhāma; indeed, scripture condemns those who neglect the company of saints, referring to such persons as “cows and asses,” sa eva go-kharaḥ. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.84.13) One particular category of such animalistic persons are those who engage in the increasingly popular practice of making Vṛndāvana a tourist destination for materialists, who have no interest in saintly association and no faith in the dhāma. Business ventures of this sort yield little or no spiritual benefit. As Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “Sometimes materialistic people who have no spiritual understanding go to Vṛndāvana as tourists. One who goes to Vṛndāvana with such materialistic vision cannot derive any spiritual benefit. Such a person is not convinced that Kṛṣṇa and Vṛndāvana are identical.” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.281, purport) It cannot be over-emphasised that purity of heart alone can enable us to enter into the mysteries of the dhāma. In Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura’s words, viṣaya chāḍiyā kabe śuddha habe mana / kabe hāma herabo śrī-vṛndāvana: “When the mind will be completely purified, uncontaminated from material contamination, at that time it will be possible for me to see what Vṛndāvana is.” (Prārthanā 1.3) Such purification is dependent upon the association of great devotees, a practice that is most effectively realised through hearing from them.