After the morning walk the sannyasis have been coming into Prabhupada's room for a few minutes, eager for as much association with him as they can get. As he relaxed behind his desk waiting for breakfast he told them our preaching will go on only if we have spiritual strength. "We may have external strength," he said, "but success will only come if we have spiritual strength. Preaching programs will work only if there is purity."

Citing the example of one of his leading Godbrothers in the Gaudiya Matha, he pointed out that he had all kinds of material facility — money, mathas, etc. But what had he done for spreading Krsna consciousness? He explained that simply amassing material wealth will not bring spiritual success, nor does it signify success. He gave the example of milk touched by a serpent: It looks like milk, but it is spoiled.

"How do we keep our spiritual strength?" Prabhupada asked. We can keep our spiritual strength by being very strict Vaisnavas, he told us: by strictly following the principles and not giving any consideration whatsoever to maya's allurements. Maya is always trying to weaken us, he said, but if we think only of Krsna we will have spiritual strength; if we think of something else then we will have no transcendental potency. As always, Srila Prabhupada emphasized that we must remain strictly regulated and chant all our rounds every day.

From Transcendental Diary