Disciple's Commitment

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Russia, 14 August 2003

How will you protect your seed of Krishna consciousness? Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Param Guru Maharaj, said to his disciple (i.e. our Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj), "Do not to listen to your mind, listen to me." Guru Maharaj told one day a story that happened to him.

Every night devotees made an offering (some rice, dal, etc.), but they did not finish it all, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj ordered to all his disciples that they must not throw away whatever maha-prasadam was left over at night, they had to take it the next day in the morning. One day, the prasadam was kept open at night, without a cover, and some insect, like a fly or a mosquito, got into it. When Guru Maharaj saw it, he exclaimed, "Oof! It is dirty! I will not take it!" but then he remembered what his Gurudev had said, "No, Guru Maharaj told me, 'Do not listen to your mind, listen to me,'" and immediately took it.

Gurudev sees everything. If your Guru orders you to do something and you think, "Oh, I do not want to go there," "I will not do it," "I will have some problem..."—if you always think about yourself, how will you then serve your Guru? You do not know what is good for you and what is bad for you. Gurudev knows it, he knows what is good and what is bad, so you must follow what he tells you to do!

দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ ।
সেইকালে কৃষ্ণ তারে করে আত্মসম ॥

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

"At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts them as His very own."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.192)

It means that when we take second initiation (diksa), we are paying a full dandavat—our eyes are down, hands stretched up—and we say, "O Gurudev, I am giving you a sword, you can cut me, you can kill me, you can do anything you want, it is not a problem. I will not say anything, I have my face down and cannot see anything." However when we get up, we forget it and start to show our mood—we say, "I will not do it," and so on...

Actually, we have so much ego, and because of that we are suffering and cannot proceed with our Krishna consciousness. We chant all day but the result is not coming because we make offences—seva aparadh, Nama aparadh, Vaishnav aparadh, we make them all. The word "Hari" and the Holy Name are actually not the same, "Hari" is just some letters, but what is the Holy Name? The Holy Name comes from the transcendental, upper level. Gurudev gives it to us from that level and we must chant it without offence. In this age it is virtually impossible, but we must not be discouraged—if we chant and chant all the time, then our dirt will be removed. We must chant the Holy Name and do some service. There are three main kinds of service: jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaishnava sevan—(1) we must not give any trouble to any jiva soul, (2) we must feel taste for chanting, and (3) we must serve the Vaishnavs.

Who is a Vaishnav? Somebody who has a tilak, neck beads and a sikha? Is this a Vaishnav? If we always engage in the service of Lord Krishna, if we chant the Holy Name—if we practise truly and every day—then we can understand, we can realise who is a Vaishnav. That is why we must continue our practising life.

Bhagavan Sri Krishna Himself came here in a devotee form to teach us, and after that His representatives, such as our Gurudev, Param Gurudev, came in the form of a devotee (they are nondifferent from Krishna because Krishna Himself has sent them here), and we must follow them, we must listen to what they tell us.

Where is Krishna (Hari kothay)? Krishna is in Krishna-katha (Hari-kathay), in hearing about Krishna (Hari sravane). By hearing about Krishna, you can see Krishna. If you serve Krishna, you will be able to realise it in your heart—through service you will feel, "Something is happening in my heart."

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