66 The Nectar of Devotion

offered a favor by Maharaj Mansingh, the commander-in-chief of
Emperor Akbar, and Ripa Gosvami instructed him to construct a
large temple for Govindaji, which cost vast amounts of money.

So a bona fide spiritual master should not personally take any re-
sponsibility for constructing temples, but if someone has money
and wants to spend it in the service of Krsna, an dcarya like Ripa
Gosvami may utilize the devotee’s money to construct a nice costly
temple for the service of the Lord. Unfortunately, it happens that
someone who is not fit to become a spiritual master may approach
wealthy persons to contribute for temple constructions. If such
money is utilized by unqualified spiritual masters to live comfortably
in costly temples without actually doing any preaching work, this is
not acceptable. In other words, a spiritual master needn’t be very
enthusiastic for constructing temple buildings simply in the name of
so-called spiritual advancement. Rather, his first and foremost activi-
ty should be to preach. In this connection, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaj recommended that a spiritual master print
books. If one has money, instead of constructing costly temples,
one should spend his money for the publication of authorized books
in different languages for propagating the Krsna consciousness move-
ment.

Straightforwardness in Ordinary Dealings

There is a statement in the Padma Purana: ‘‘Persons who are
engaged in Krsna consciousness should never be disturbed by some
material gain or loss. Even if there is some material loss, one should
not be perturbed, but should always think of Krsna within Himself.”
The purport is that every conditioned soul is always absorbed in
thinking of materialistic activities; he has to make himself freed from
such thoughts and transfer himself completely to Krsna conscious-
ness. As we have already explained, the basic principle of Krsna con-
sciousness is to always think of Krsna. One should not be disturbed
in material loss, but, rather, should concentrate his mind upon the
lotus feet of the Lord.
