
Swami Prakashanand Q&A: The Path to Krishn’s Presence
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, a revered spiritual leader, guides seekers on deepening their devotion to Krishn. In this Q&A, Swami Ji highlights the role of the intellect in strengthening our emotional connection with God, encouraging us to reflect on the urgency of finding Krishn, and the spiritual loss of missing this rare opportunity.
Question & Answer with Swami Ji
Question: How can I come closer to God?
Answer: There are two forms of mind: the emotional form, and the intellectual form. The intellect is the governing power in your personality. Whatever your intellect decides to do you act accordingly. You want to see, you don’t want to see, you want to get up, you want to lie down. Your mind says all the time, “This is bad. This is good. Go there. Follow this.” It is all the decisive mind, the intellect.
The simple answer is, the more deeply you understand with your intellect that, “Oh, I must love Krishn, He is my only beloved,” the more deeply you feel for Krishn. If there is less understanding, there is less giving of the heart. If there is more understanding there is more giving of the heart. Understand and you have given your heart simultaneously. There is not even a fraction of a second delay.
I’ll give you an example. There was a little boy. His school was past a wooded area, so he used to get scared when he came home in the evenings. One day he told his mother. She said, “You have an older brother, he lives in the woods. His name is Gopal and if you need him, he will come.”
One day when he was coming home late, he got really scared, in the dark jungle with wild beasts, jackals howling. He called out, “Gopal, Gopal, Gopal, GOPAL!” He called as if he was going to die. Gopal had to come. Gopal means Krishn.
Now take this whole incident. The boy took it to his heart in the very beginning when his mother told him, “Your brother is there.” He liked the idea of having someone, but he was not that desperate. But when he saw the disaster, he was desperate, “Oh, I have to find my brother Gopal.” He gave his heart completely to Krishn and He had to appear.
The same thing happens with every devotee. First, how seriously do you take that He is yours? Then, how seriously do you take it that if you don’t meet Him in this lifetime, what may happen. There are two things, what you will gain by finding Krishn and what you will lose if you don’t find Him. Both things incite your excitement towards finding Him.
If we keep these two things in our intellect our heart is already given to Krishn – to the extent of our understanding of that Divine love, which Brahma sought for millions of years but did not find. Oh, that love?! How great it is. And if you lose this chance? You may lose millions, trillions of lifetimes. Who knows?
Conclusion:
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati emphasizes that a deep intellectual understanding of Krishn’s divinity naturally opens the heart to divine love. By recognizing the urgency of connecting with Krishn and understanding the profound loss if we don’t, we can strengthen our devotion and draw closer to Him in this lifetime.

Prakashanand Saraswati Q&A: Understanding Progress on the Path to Krishn
The teachings of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, a revered spiritual guide, are dedicated to guiding devotees on their path to Radha-Krishn’s divine love. Heemphasizes the importance of self-reflection and sincere devotion for spiritual progress. In this insightful Q&A session, Swami Ji explains the true markers of progress on the devotional path, highlighting the role of faith, reduced material attachments, and unwavering confidence in Krishn’s presence. Through his profound answers, he inspires seekers to trust in the grace of their Master and the transformative power of divine love.
Question & Answer with Swami Prakashanand Saraswati
Question: How can we determine how much progress we are making on the path?
Answer: There are many factors involved in progress. Your past sanskars and your present devotion are the main ones. Past sanskars include all kinds of good and bad sanskars. Present devotion includes present association, study, environment, attachments, faith, dedication, and discipline in doing devotions. All these factors determine your devotion. So it becomes difficult for your own mind to judge its progress. This your Master knows.
Progress means faith and confidence.
Suppose a devotee has received for the first time divine-love-consciousness and he feels a great thrill and longing in his heart, tears in his eyes, and another devotee is not feeling those things, but he has great expectations, hope, that Krishn will surely come to him soon. Outwardly both look very different, the first looks very highly evolved, the second just ordinary, but it may be the other way. The first one might not have that much confidence in Krishn coming quickly to him. The second one might have more confidence and faith in Krishn. So it is very difficult to judge on your own.
However, you can see your material attachment. Is it lessening or not? If it is not increasing, if it is staying the same it’s not bad. It should not be increasing.
How much faith do you have? Faith means how much confidence you have that Krishn will really come, “I will see Krishn, without doubt.” With this feeling, you feel a kind of closeness with Radha and Krishn, while working, or not working, even while sleeping you feel Krishn is always with you. So, both decrease in your material attachments, and an increase in your feeling of confidence and closeness with Krishn are a few indications of your progress. But don’t try to judge others. When you cannot judge your own progress exactly, how can you judge others?
If you want to know exactly where you are, think in another way. How much love, reverence, confidence, faith do you have in your Master and Radha Krishn? More than that they give you Their own Grace and blessings.
Conclusion: Swami Prakashanand Saraswati shares that true progress involves reducing material attachments, deepening our faith, and feeling closer to Radha-Krishn. Trust in your Master’s grace and their divine guidance to stay steadfast on the path of devotion.