Proceed and Increase

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
17 June 2001

You know that Krishna is not far—Krishna is always in our heart. We are covered now by illusion, but if Krishna blesses us, if we surrender fully to Gurudev and he blesses us, if we get some mercy from him, then we can actually proceed and increase our devotional life.

It is your affection and love that has brought our Gurudev here. He was very sick, he is now over seventy-two years old and cannot actually walk so much, but your love and affection has brought him here. He has told me many times that the devotees here are very good and they are very affectionate, that is why we cannot ignore them. Although doctors had told Gurudev not to travel, he said to me and others also, "I must go, I cannot forget their love and affection."

I am also inviting you all to Nabadwip—come and see Mahaprabhu's birthplace, our temple in Koladwip. You know that Koladwip is aparadh-bhanjan-pat(!) and it is a temple made by Srila Sridhar Maharaj.

At first Srila Sridhar Maharaj did not want to make a temple. When his Gurudev, Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, left, Srila Sridhar Maharaj went to Vrindavan and wanted to do bhajan, but then he got something like daiva-vani (a message from heaven)—he heard Prabhupad, his Gurudev, say, "If you make something, do not eat it alone, distribute it to everybody! I have kept you here as a preacher of Sri Rupa Goswami, why are you sitting there, alone? Do you want to eat alone? Do you want to get me alone? Why do you not give anything to others, why do you not distribute what you have got to others?" After that, he came to Koladwip, this aparadh-bhanjan-pat. Nabadwip means "nine islands" (nava-dvip)—Rudradwip, Antardwip, Madhyadwip, Simantadwip, Godrumdwip, Ritudwip, Jahnudwip, Modadrumdwip, and Koladwip. Our Chaitanya Saraswat Math is in Koladwip, and it is an aparadh-bhanjan-pat—if you go there, your offences will be removed from your heart, all offences will go away.

Gurudev always says to me that we must chant Hare Krishna, this Holy Name that Mahaprabhu (nondifferent form of Radha-Krishna) brought in this world, without offence. Krishna gave a mouth to me not for eating—we must chant with this mouth. If you use this mouth only for eating, then Krishna said, "I have given you a mouth not for eating only, not for talking nonsense talk. I have given you a mouth so that you chant with it. If you do not do it, then next life I will send you to a cow's body!" A cow also has a mouth, but it does not talk with it, a cow's mouth is only for eating. In a human body, you eat a little bit, but when you go to a cow's body next life you will be able to eat so much. So, we all must chant this Holy Name that is non-different from Radha-Krishna, and keep good association (sadhu-sanga).

Good association does not mean eating with some good men or sleeping with some good men, no. Ants, insects, mosquitos, etc. sleep with the sadhus but they do not get any good association, it is not sadhu-sanga. Sadhu-sanga means getting some good advice from the Vaishnavs, it means, "I will do what they tell me, I will follow their advice." Eating together with a sadhu, sleeping on the same bad with a sadhu is not sadhu-sanga.

Anyhow, we are all fortunate because there are many devotees here, and the Vaishnavs and sadhus are all here, they have come to this country, and above all, our Gurudev is so highly qualified. Who is actually a Guru? A Guru is somebody who has come from Krishna's loka (Krishna's house). Krishna sends a Guru to preach to us. We are fallen souls, and Krishna sends a Guru to rescue us. Whatever we pray for, if we pray to the Guru, the Guru will send our request to Krishna and the Guru will also send us the response, the news from Krishna. This is the meaning of the Guru...

I am finishing here for today. If I have made any offence, please excuse me. I do not know things very well, there are many good Vaishnavs here, they are all senior Guru-varga, and I am actually a fallen soul, I am the lowest, I am like an insect in the stool, and I do not know anything. So, if there is any offence on my part, please excuse me. And I am inviting all devotees to come to Nabadwip to see any festival or for the Gaura Purnima festival. Come as soon as possible; as much as it is in my power, as much as I can help anyone, I will try. Please come to Nabadwip.

বাঞ্ছাকল্পতরুভ্যশ্চ কৃপাসিন্ধুভ্য এব চ ।
পতিতানাং পাবনেভ্যো বৈষ্ণবেভ্যো নমো নমঃ ॥

vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha krpa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

"Again and again I offer my obeisance unto the Supreme Lord's devotees, who are saviours of the fallen, oceans of mercy, and wish-fulfilling trees."

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