Nīla Ratan Dās:
“Bābā blessed the gṛhasthas that if they would humbly acknowledge their inability to perform any sādhana, he would be the engine to pull them to the spiritual sky. But the family man must take full shelter at Bābā for that.
He must touch the lotus feet of the Sat-Guru; then it will be the job of the Guru to bring him to the spiritual world.
“Come here, remember the Guru, then let whatever happens happen.” Bābā is everything. One must hear Bābā’s instructions.
Bābā said:
“That is your bhajana, that is your pūjā. Work all day and remember Gopāl. The responsibility of pulling you to the spiritual sky will be mine. You must hold on to the engine. A job means working for Kṛṣṇa. panca putra sange nāce rāy bhavānanda (It is sung in the Vaiṣṇava community – ‘Bhavānanda Rāy danced in ecstasy in the kīrtan with all of his five sons. The whole family was a devotee and thus he did not suffer spiritual deprivation in household life’)”
Bābā preferred humble family men over proud renunciants, even if they were doing big quantities of sādhana. The family men humbly accept their own failure – “I cannot do bhajana, I have no time…..”
Bābā used to avoid those who made big claims of doing so many lakhs of nāma. The family men must see their family and job as Kṛṣṇa’s family and job and touch the genuine Guru.”
Nirañjan Prasād Dās:
“Bābā said that household life is not bad – it is good. He said:
“My householder disciples are my earnest servants, the true relatives of my Madangopāl. As they attend to their wives, sons and daughters they make Madangopāl the proprietor of their households. They can always come to me to frankly confess their transgressions, be it out of fear or out of devotion, and beg forgiveness. I am very pleased if they shed tears and lament about their plight. Why you make your family life difficult by considering it just family life? The Lord is your relative and your family.
Perform your daily duties while taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord, meditating on Him while externally performing your duties and playing the role of a worldly man. Just as the ladies in Indian villages can balance many pots of water on their heads while walking and talking with each other, similarly one can work hard to earn one’s living and at the same time remain perfectly fixed 24 hours a day in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is what we have to do.”
Mahāprabhu told Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī: antare vairāgya koro bāhire loka vyavahāra – “Be innerly detached and externally act like the common man.”
Bābā’s householder disciple asked:
“Bābā, how can we be devoted to the Lord?”
Bābā replied: “Take shelter of Śrī Guru’s lotus feet, believe Śrī Guru’s words, earnestly do bhajana according to Śrī Guru’s instructions, then surely the goddess of devotion will be pleased with you. ‘sādhya-vastu’ ‘sādhana’ vinu keho nāhi pāy – “Without practising no one can attain spiritual perfection.” Those who must work all day should at least in the evening do some japa and meditation, for the śāstras provide us with this hope:
krome krome pāye lok bhava sindhu kūle – “Slowly and gradually the people will reach the shore of the ocean of material existence.”
Amrita-Tarangini 