Heart for Preaching

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Speaking online to devotees in Johannesburg
15 September 2018, part 1

Dandavat, I am very happy to see you.

In Gurudev's time, so many devotees would come from South Africa, and Gurudev also went there from time to time there. He told about South Africa and said he was always worried about it. Still, some devotees are continuing some preaching for Gurudev and Guru Maharaj, and it gives much happiness to my heart. I see the devotees and I am thinking that devotees's hearts will not be broken—they will always keep their heart for preaching for Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, for preaching for Gurudev and Guru Maharaj. That is why I still have some hope for South Africa. Before, I sent Sripad Narayan Maharaj—I told him to preach in Mauritius and South Africa and he did that, but Krishna gave his association and by His will He also broke that association. Past is past...

We are all servants of Gurudev, servants of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. We are actually not managers, not secretaries, not acharyas of the mission. That is not the question. We are all servitors. Somebody may be the leading servitor and others are servitors; or somebody may be the guardian of the servitors, and others are servitors—but everybody is a servitor. We are not managers, we are not secretaries.

In my own example, when I joined the temple, I did not come to see so many buildings—at that time there were not so many buildings, bricks and temples in Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Most buildings were built later, and at that time some were not even fully finished. At that time, there was Srila Sridhar Maharaj's samadhi and the main temple of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundar—even the good nat mandir was not there, it appeared after many years. You know how it happened. It was Gurudev's instruction and I myself was an instruments of my Guru—I followed whatever instruction came from him.

After that, after Gurudev's disappearance, many of those who are not related to Gurudev, who are jealous of Gurudev's activities and preaching, wanted to hijack Gurudev's mission, wanted to steal Gurudev's and Guru Maharaj's temple, and they are still creating disturbance at the temple, they are still doing nonsense at the temple.

Our duty is not that. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said that we did not come to this world to be labour workers or for bricks, sand and cement—we have come to this world to distribute the message of Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, to distribute His teachings everywhere, door to door. That is our duty, and you are doing that, I am also doing that. You are participating, helping me with these activities. That is why I am very happy to see that you are preaching.

Do not worry, do not become sad. If somebody wants to be a manager, if somebody wants to be a secretary, it is OK, let them do that. Do not worry about that. Sanatan Goswami, Rupa Goswami, Raghunath Das Goswami did not make so many temples—even Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself did not make so many temples. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lived in Kashi Misra's house, He did not live at any temple. Temples started appearing only after Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's time. And temples appeared not for eating, sleeping, and enjoying. If you think that the temple is for enjoyment, that it is not for service, it is a very big mistake, it is very wrong. Prabhupad did not make temples for that. The temple is not for anyone's own interest and enjoyment—the temple is for preaching, for service. If you make some big construction, a big building but there is no service going on there, then it is not a temple, it is not a holy place.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur writes that if you go to some place and there is no Vaishnav there, then it is not a holy place. You may go to many places thinking you are going to a holy place, but if there is no Vaishnav there, then why are you going there? Somebody thinks Gurudev's samadhi, Guru Maharaj's samadhi is there in some place, but a samadhi is only a building—if there is no Vaishnav in that place, then it is not a holy place. This is what scriptures, what Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says.

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