Answer
This is a very sensitive question and must be understood carefully.
When we come to Krishna consciousness, we are entering the kindergarten of devotional service. Just as a child learning to walk falls down many times, a beginner in devotional life may also fall down repeatedly because of long-standing material conditioning.
The important question is not whether you fall down. The important question is: Are you still trying to move forward?
When a child falls while learning to walk, nobody concludes that the child should stop trying to walk. The ability to walk is already within the child. Similarly, the desire to become Krishna conscious is already within the soul.
Therefore, you should examine your heart:
Are you still attending the school of devotional service?
Do you still want to achieve Krishna consciousness?
Do you still get up and continue after falling?
Or have you become comfortable with material facilities and forgotten your spiritual purpose?
That is the real danger—not occasional failure, but losing the desire to progress spiritually.
Merely falling down does not mean you should abandon devotional service. You may stumble once in a while, but what about the remaining ninety-nine percent of the time when you are practicing devotional service? Those efforts are not lost.
A sincere devotee remains determined:
"Even if I fail a hundred times, I will not give up."
When he falls, he repents, learns from the mistake, and becomes more determined. He understands that Maya is very powerful, but he does not lose faith in the process.
All the medicines are available:
Chanting the holy name
Reading and hearing Krishna-katha
Association of devotees
Deity worship
Service to Guru and Krishna
Therefore, if you find yourself weak, take more intense treatment rather than becoming discouraged.
Failure is often part of success. Impatient people become discouraged because they do not see immediate results. But devotional service itself is the main process of purification. As long as you remain engaged in devotional service, you will gradually become free from sinful tendencies.
Srila Prabhupada has given us a powerful process:
Chant sixteen rounds
Follow the regulative principles
Associate with devotees
Engage in service
Perfection may take time, but the process is guaranteed to work.
Who causes us to fail? Primarily our contaminated mind. We are determined to follow Krishna's instructions, but the mind pulls us in another direction. The mind becomes purified through devotional service, especially through chanting the holy name.
The most important thing is to remain connected to sadhu, guru, and Krishna. As long as that connection remains intact, there is hope.
Therefore, devotees should not become disappointed. Maintain your fighting spirit. If you fall, get up and continue. Fall again, get up again. Every sincere effort makes you stronger.
You are not fighting this battle alone. Guru and Krishna are with you. In fact, Krishna wants to see how determined you are to rise again after each fall.
It is like a child learning to walk. The parent repeatedly supports the child whenever he stumbles. Eventually the child becomes strong enough to walk independently.
Similarly, through determination and continued devotional practice, one day you will become steady and free from sinful tendencies. Otherwise, what would be the meaning of saying that devotional service is all-powerful?
