(6/7) Eating Up Old Rice

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar Temple, evening class,
11 February 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

One time, a sadhu came to a house, on the door of which was written (there are similar signs on big houses and flats in Kolkata, too): ‘No entry for hawkers and beggars.’ Seeing the sadhu with some books in his hand, the owner of the house got furious and came to beat him with a stick! He cried, ‘What is written on my door? Do you not understand?!’ The sadhu kept quiet and said nothing. The man chased him, ‘Go away! Go! Go!’ The sadhu did not stir – he remained standing there silently. The sadhu did not want anything from the man – he only wanted to engage him in the service of the Lord. In the end, the sadhu asked the man for some dry leaves that had fallen outside his house. (Sometimes, if they scold you too much for picking flowers from their garden, you can pick some dry leaves and use them for cooking. Even dry leaves can be used.) Then, the daughter-in-law of the man came out. It turned out that she was from a devotional family, so she was used to sadhus coming to their house. Her family were devotees, too.

So, the man beat the sadhu, swore the sadhu. Ten minutes passed, fifteen minutes passed, an hour passed – but the sadhu did not move and did not say anything. Then, the girl came. She picked a flower from a tree and gave it to the sadhu, saying, ‘Do not mind my father-in-law. He eats old rice. He is not used to this.’ After she gave him the flower and said this, the sadhu left.

The man, her father-in-law, asked her, ‘What mantra did you tell him? “He eats old rice?” What is this? What does that mean?’ She explained, ‘“Eating old rice” means that as the result of your previous births (because you did some good works in your previous lives), you are living now in this nice three-storey house and eating nice food – because you are living happily now, you forget the Lord, but you have not done anything for your next life.’ When the man heard this, he appreciated it, ‘What you are saying is very valuable. You must teach me more about it.’ The girl said then, ‘You must read Srimad Bhagavad-gita. All this is written in it.’

সর্ব্বধর্ম্মান্ পরিত্যজ্য মামেকং শরণং ব্রজ ।
অহং ত্বাং সর্ব্বপাপেভ্যো মোক্ষয়িষ্যামি মা শুচঃ ॥

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

‘Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair.’

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

‘Give up all religions and surrender to Me, I will take care of you.’

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

‘sraddha’-sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

‘Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

Your debt to your father, mother, rishis (sages), demigods – all your debts become cleared if you serve the Lord. It is not necessary to worship any gods and demigods separately if you worship the Lord. When you worship Lord Krishna, all other kinds of worship are automatically accomplished.

Always remember this, it will give you spiritual benefit.

[His Divine Grace then chants ‘Ke yabi ke yabi re bhai.’]

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CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 39 Mb
Length: 81 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Mahaprabhu's Order
2) Chad Kazi: Defeated Again
3) Listen and Learn
4) In Search of Real Benefit
5) Rescue Programme
6) Eating Up Old Rice
7) No Other Shelter