I was told , “You have to become sober."

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Srila Prabhupada
Srila Prabhupada: the Perfection of Sobriety

I Was Told, "You Have to Become Sober."

Thought for Day--4 April 2026

As a young spiritual seeker, I received a powerful instruction from His Holiness Vishnujana Swami: “You have to become sober.” You can read about this pastime here in this excerpt from my memoir, The Divine Love Memoir.

One beautiful spring evening, I was attending a Krishna consciousness program conducted by His Holiness Vishnujana Swami at the home of Robin Ferris. (Robin was the person I mentioned earlier who was selling Hare Krishna literature and incense on his blanket at the hippie street market.) In those days, there was no such thing as bottled water. So, feeling thirsty at one point in the program, I stepped into the kitchen to get a drink of water. And who was in the kitchen with me? Astonishingly, it was Vishnujana Swami himself! We were alone in the kitchen, away from the crowd packed into the living room. He took the opportunity to give me a personal instruction, which went profoundly and deeply into my heart. It was one of the most poignant instructions I ever received in my entire life. He calmly and compassionately looked me squarely in the eyes and said, “You have to become sober.” In those countercultural days, our hippie philosophy was to always be high on something, to stay that way forever with no more coming down. Being sober was the opposite of the state of mind I had been trying to be in. So, when the swami told me I had to become sober, it was awe-inspiring. How profound was he!

If you would like to get a copy of my memoir it is available through the Amazon links below...

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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sd@worldleader.com

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Transcendental Reply

Hare Krishna Srila Gurudev 
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to you.

I have a question, but I don't know whether it is right or wrong to ask your Grace such types of questions. Please forgive me if I am doing the wrong thing.

Question: The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart in the form of Paramatma, then why do women have some restrictions on entering the temple hall during menstrual time? Some of my seniors said that there is no problem and I can enter the temple hall to hear lectures, but some other seniors said it is not good to enter the temple hall during menstrual time, even if I want to hear a lecture from a pure devotee. Whom should I follow? Kindly guide me.

Your Grace's aspiring disciple
Bhaktin Abhiremya
Trivandrum

Answer

From: Ljubljana, Slovenia

My Dear Abhiremya,

Please accept my blessings.
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

A women entering the temple during her menstrual cycle may be forbidden in smārta-vidhi. But it is allowed in gosvāmī-vidhi.

Smārta-vidhi refers to worship based on traditional smṛti rules, emphasizing external rituals, purity, and social qualifications, whereas gosvāmī-vidhi (bhāgavata-vidhi), as taught by the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas like Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami centers on pure devotional service to Krishna, prioritizing internal sincerity, chanting, and loving surrender over mere ritual correctness; thus, while smārta-vidhi focuses on formal procedure, gosvāmī-vidhi focuses on awakening genuine bhakti and is considered superior for attaining love of God.

Srila Prabhupada says that we follow gosvāmī-vidhi not smārta-vidhi.

I hope this meets you in the best of health and in a cheerful mood.

Your ever well-wisher,
Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Around the World Travel Schedule

My Schedule:27 March to Ljubljana, Slovenia
19 April to Kaunas, Lithuania
28 April to Tallinn, Estonia
30 April to Helsinki for Narasimha Caturdasi
1 May to Austin, Texas USA

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Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Sankarshan Das

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