Cleaning to Please the Lord

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble pranams. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

In Caitanya Caritamrta,  Madhya Lila Chapter 12 - "The Cleansing of The Gundica Temple", Mahaprabhu practically shows us the importance of cleanliness and the method of cleansing - the temple as well as our hearts - for both of them are residence of the Supreme Lord. 

Be it our home, or the temple or our hearts we must always keep them clean, free from any kind of contamination.  Only when we do so, will our mind be cool, and Krishna would love to reside in such a place.  Mahaprabhu did not just delegate the cleaning work to others, but personally cleaned the temple with His own cloth. He appreciated people who worked nicely and also chastised people if they did not pay proper attention. He requested those who cleansed well to teach others also.  In this way He encouraged everyone present there to clean the temple to the best of their ability - for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath.

The devotees used hundreds of brooms and hundreds of water-pots to cleanse the temples. One interesting thing to note is through-out the entire cleansing process the conversation between the devotees just involved two words - "Krishna Krishna". -"One person begged for a water pot by chanting the holy names “Krishna, Krishna,” and another delivered a pot while chanting “Krishna, Krishna. -Whenever anyone had to speak, he did so by uttering the holy name of Krishna. Consequently, the holy name of Krishna became an indication for everyone who wanted something." By avoiding unnecessary talks and by spiritualising even the minimum conversation required to carry out the service - by chanting the Holy names of Krishna, the devotees cleansed the Gundica temple and its surroundings very nicely. 

In Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17), Suta Goswami says:

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.

Uttering of Krishna's name leads to punya shravana - virtuous hearing - which definitely will lead to punanti - sanctifying the whole cosmos - including our minds. I pray at the lotus feet of Gurudev and Mahaprabhu that I give up my laziness and always sincerely endeavour to cleanse the impurities from my mind and house and make it a suitable place for the Lord  to pleasingly stay forever.

Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Sudarshana devi dasi.