(HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, Melbourne, Australia, 18th May 2012) Lecture: Bhakti Bhavana Q & A House program

I used to live in Vrindavan, which was a long time ago, when in the rural areas, the medical facilities were sometimes worse than the disease. I was in the Rama Krishna mission hospital at one time and the doctors were fighting over me:

‘It’s malaria!’

It’s typhoid!’

So fine I thought it was malaria. You had to buy your own medicine, so I was sending someone to buy me some malaria medicine and the typhoid doctors said to me:

‘You will die!’

I thought, thank you. I survived it and I got out of that hospital somehow or other. We used to have a book in our temple which was called, ‘Where there is no doctor.’ It was a very good book and very popular that everyone was reading it, me too. When I was reading it I thought:

‘Yes, yes I have that. Yes, I have typhoid. Yes, yes I have malaria as well, and I have the whooping cough also!’

Every page you read, and then you would think:

‘Yes I have that. I have these symptoms too!’

That was a super interesting book, and you can find it on the Internet. So anyway it doesn’t really replace the doctor, I can tell you that. Better go to a good specialist and let him figure it out and in the same way if you want to understand Bhagavad-Gita then you have to get it from a realized soul! Therefore, next to the Gita there must also be a Guru or Guru Parampara – different Gurus from different levels as teachers. There must be teachers. Alone doctoring with the Gita, then good luck, since you may cut your leg and think it’s a good idea!