Q1.

One must very seriously follow in the footsteps of the Six Gosvāmīs - Śrī Rūpa, Sanātana,
Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa and Dāsa Raghunātha -

● To understand the mission of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and follow in His footsteps.
● Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung:
rūpa-raghunātha-pade ha-ibe ākuti
kabe hāma bujhaba se yugala-pīriti
“When I am eager to understand the literature given by the Gosvāmīs, then I shall be
able to understand the transcendental loving affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.
● So we must follow the footsteps of 6 Goswami's to understand the most exalted of all the
activities of Lord Kṛṣṇa are His pastimes of conjugal love with the gopīs.

Q2. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī was the leader of all the Gosvāmīs, and to guide our activities he gave
us this Upadeśāmṛta (The Nectar of Instruction) to follow.

As Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu left behind Him the eight verses known as Śikṣāṣṭaka, Rūpa
Gosvāmī gave us Upadeśāmṛta so that we may become pure Vaiṣṇavas.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has given many other books, such as Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu,
Vidagdha-mādhava and Lalita-mādhava.

Q3. Rūpa Gosvāmī, the leader of all Goswami of Vrindavan and gave us Upadeśāmṛta so that
we may become pure Vaiṣṇavas.

● Upadeśāmṛta(The Nectar of Instruction) is an ultimate guide for all serious practitioners

of Krishna Consciousness.

● It gives instructions to one for becoming a gosvāmī and then a pure devotee of the Lord.

● As Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu left behind Rūpa Gosvāmī, the eight verses known as
Śikṣāṣṭaka,he elaborated it into Upadeśāmṛta.

● It constitutes the first instructions for neophyte devotees. One should follow these
instructions very strictly. Then it will be easier to make one’s life successful.

Q4. The steps of advancement in spiritual life are as follows-

● In all spiritual affairs, one’s first duty is to control his mind and senses.
● Unless one controls his mind and senses, one cannot make any advancement in
spiritual life.
● Everyone within this material world is engrossed in the modes of passion and ignorance.
One must promote himself to the platform of goodness, sattva-guṇa, by following the
instructions of Rūpa Gosvāmī in Upadeśāmṛta and then everything concerning how to
make further progress will be revealed.
 ● Advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness depends on the attitude of the follower. A follower
of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should become a perfect gosvāmī.Go means
“the senses,” and svāmī means “the master.”
● The highest success in life is by becoming a gosvāmī and then a pure devotee of the
Lord.

Q5. In the Preface to the Nectar of Instruction Srila Prabhupada makes a very important
comment “Advancement in Krishna consciousness depends on the attitude of the follower.”

Srila Prabhupada has stated that anyone can become a pure devotee of Krishna immediately, if
he simply desires to. Advancement in devotional service means to purify our desires, and pure
devotional service means to be fully absorbed in serving Krishna without even the subtlest
desire for any personal sense gratification.

Only the most fortunate people can come to Krishna consciousness. People come to devotional
service for a variety of reasons. Some are seeking shelter from intense distress, others are
looking for a simple, alternative lifestyle, some come out of curiosity, to see what it is all about,
some because they want a cleaner, better life for themselves and their families. Some are
directly searching for God and the meaning of life.

Of course, real devotional service is completely unmotivated, even by desires for peace and
holistic well-being. Only such a surrendered attitude can bring complete satisfaction to the self.
Those who are most intelligent will, from the beginning of their practice of Krishna
consciousness, sincerely endeavor to be pure devotees of Krishna. Such an attitude is always
to be encouraged, for it is the essence of our movement.

Teachings of Upadeśāmṛta are same for all the practicing devotees,right from a neophyte to
advanced devotees and since all of us are dealing with Maya Shakti of Kṛṣṇa we always need to
be on our toes,to keep our guards on,to face her blows and to stick to regulated lifestyle in
mansa,vaacha and karmana.

Even when teachings are the same, why is that different devotees are on different levels of
devotional service.This is because of the level of consciousness,which is directly proportional to
their attitude towards Krishna Consciousness.

All of us,always have a question in front of us,before making any decision,even smallest one
like what I want to wear today,or what I want to do before sleeping today.Each and every action
shows our laxity or alertness towards Krishna Consciousness and shows how serious we are to
apply these teachings in our Day to Day life and what is our actual goal,is it really going back to
Home,back to Godhead or are we relaxed enough to take risk of coming back into this material
world,to give ourselves one more chance to taste Maya allurements!

So,the attitude of the devotee matters a lot and it is the STEERING wheel that will direct our
journey towards our ultimate goal,lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha Krishna.