Meaning of Discipleship

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Lord Nityananda Prabhu's Appearance, morning class
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 25 February 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

It will not do to only speak about the glories of Sri Nityananda Prabhu with your mouth.

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।

গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

Only if you follow Gora's practice and conception can you get any result.

লোক দেখান গোরা ভজা তিলক মাত্র ধরি ।

গোপনেতে অত্যাচার গোরা ধরে চুরি ॥

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

You show the world you serve Gora simply by wearing tilak but secretly you misbehave. Gora will catch you, you thief!

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7)

Many of us are like that. We dress as sadhus, but how difficult it is to actually become a sadhu. I also say: "I have not been able to become a sadhu, but if I speak again and again about all these things, then I will become good one day. If I speak again and again about all these things, I can make myself pure, I can make myself suitable for the service of the Lord."

"Yar hate khai, tar hate khai, yar tar hate khai na (আমি যার হাতে খাই, তার হাতে খাই, যার তার হাতে খাই না). Krishna says that He does not take food from anyone and everyone—He eats from the hand of those whose hand He wishes to eat from." The Lord does not accept service or offerings from anyone and everyone.

ভক্তের জিনিষ প্রভু লুটিপুটি খায়
অভক্তের জিনিষ প্রভু উলটি নাহি চায়

bhakter jinish prabhu lutiputi khay
abhakter jinish prabhu ulti nahi chay

"The Lord eats anything and everything when a devotee offers it, but He does not want anything from a non-devotee."

The Lord does not want to take anything from non-devotees (those who have no devotion). He does not accept raja-bhog (royal opulent food), but if you feed the Lord with some rice and fire-baked eggplant with love and affection, extracting and smearing mellows of deep love from your heart, He will accept it. If you only fry a green chili or a dry red chili, He will take it and enjoy it more, but you must offer it with affection, with care, with love.

You live at your house and you know how you serve your husband, wife, and children. You must serve one with heart and soul; you must love one with heart and soul. In the same way, you must love the Lord with your heart and soul; you must love the Lord's temple with your heart and soul. If you think, "I have come here and got a room and I will go away leaving the room dirty," this is not right. You have come to the holy abode of your Lord, the holy abode of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, and if you go away leaving the room dirty, you will be making an offence. If you think those who are staying in the dham will take care of everything and you will come, stay like crazy and then go away leaving everything dirty, it is not right. People smoke bidi, cigarettes in the rooms—this is nothing but offences.

That is why, remember well what I am telling you. Everybody comes, chants kirtan with raised arms, but how many people have managed to come to this line? How many people have managed to become disciples?

Many comes to take the mantra. I have once given up and said, "I will not give any more initiations!" because people take initiation and do not practise anything after that, do not keep any connection with their Guru, do not keep any relationship with their Guru, never think about service to their Guru. Gurudev told that there are three kinds of people: guru-bhogi, guru-tyagi, and guru-sevi. Some want to use their Guru, want to use their Guru's things—they use their Guru's property for their own enjoyment (they are called guru-bhogi); some want to serve their Guru—they use everything, all properly, all materials in the service of their Guru (they are called guru-sevi); and those who do not listen to their Guru are called guru-tyagi—they do not respect, do not follow what their Guru and Vaishnavs say.

Therefore, I am praying to you all—you have all taken initiation, taken the mantra, but it is necessary to become a disciple. Every single one of you must become a disciple, every single one of you must take part in service. You have come to the house of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, and when you come here, you must utilise yourself for service. There are so many services here. You can sweep, you can wash the dishes, you can clean. If everybody sits down to take prasadam, then who will distribute prasadam? I cannot bring hired people for this. This is not right, you can tell it yourself. This is not a marriage house or some entertainment place. This is a festival of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu. You must come to this festival and engage yourself in service.

তদ্­বিদ্ধি প্রণিপাতেন পরিপ্রশ্নেন সেবয়া ।
উপদেক্ষ্যন্তি তে জ্ঞানং জ্ঞানিনস্তত্ত্বদর্শিনঃ ॥

tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam, jnaninas tattva-darsinah

"You will be able to attain knowledge by satisfying the divine master with submission, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. The enlightened souls who are learned in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will impart divine knowledge to you."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

First, it is necessary to surrender. I heard in the morning from upstairs (I was very busy and could not come downstairs) that you were singing,

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ।
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥
ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥
ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার ।
তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara
sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord's guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me', engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion. These are the six types of saranagati, and if you can surrender in all the six ways, Krishna will hear you."

Saranagati is the gist of devotion. Until and unless you become surrendered, you will not get any result or real benefit.

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