Exploring Possibilities

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Caracas, Venezuela
25 September 2009

Question: When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was travelling to Vrindavan, Sanatan Goswami suggested to Him, "Please do not go with too many people to Vrindavan." Is this recommendation for Mahaprabhu only or it can apply to other people as well?

No, it is not correct to say that many people must not go to Vrindavan. When we go to Vrindavan, we go for preaching—if you go there to do some bhajan, to stay there alone, quietly, then so many people is not good. In another instance, Mahaprabhu sent Sanatan Goswami to Vrindavan to find and excavate so many places (like Radha Kunda and others). When Sanatan Goswami told Mahaprabhu not to come with many people, he thought, "If He goes with so many people, then everybody will see Him and some pratistha can come..." When Jagadananda Pandit wanted to go to Vrindavan, Mahaprabhu told him, "You can go, but do not go there alone—always follow Sanatan Goswami."

Once, a sannyasi from a Gaudiya Math said to me, "Maharaj, I went to Vrindavan, but I did not see anything there. Actually, I do not like Vrindavan—I only saw the stools of monkeys there."

If you go to Vrindavan with devotees, then you can see everything, and if you go alone, you can fall down into a false position. Vrindavan is a very exceptional place—unless you go there with pure devotees, you cannot recognise there so many things...

Question: What is the meaning of audarya?

It means always distributing, udar—with open mind and open arms the Lord is distributing, He is not keeping anything. Krishna Himself comes as Mahaprabhu and wants to distribute the madhurya lila of Vrindavan (the pastimes of the gopis and Krishna).

Question: What is the difference between affection and a sentiment?

Sentiment is emotion. Sentiment and affection is not same, it is like devotion and emotion.

In Param Guru Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's time, one old lady once came with her grandson to pay dandavat to him. Srila Sridhar Maharaj was giving a lecture at that time, and when the boy heard him speaking, he began to cry. After the lecture, the lady said to Srila Sridhar Maharaj, "Oh, Guru Maharaj, do you see? My grandson is crying when he hears your lecture!" but Srila Sridhar Maharaj replied, "It is not devotion. It is emotion..." Such tears, such crying does not last long.

Gurudev said that if somebody could shed one drop of water from their eyes for the Lord, they are already a liberated soul...

Question: It is said in the Bible that when the angels and demons rebelled against God, they fell into the material world. Is there some comparison to this, perhaps in Srimad Bhagavatam, where it says that the spirit souls come to the material world because they become envious of God? Also, if we return to the spiritual world, is it possible that we can come back here in the same way, by becoming envious of God?

In Vaikuntha, there are two gatekeepers, their names are Jay and Vijay. I am going to tell it in short because it is a very long story. Once, Jay and Vijay had to come down from Vaikuntha. Narayan told them, "If you choose to behave as My enemy, you will come back in three births. If you decide to worship Me, then you will come back in seven births." Jaya and Vijay told, "Prahu, we want to come back to our own home, to You, as soon as possible. We do not want the human body... We choose to be Your enemy and come back to You sooner." So, Jay and Vijay became demons, Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa. Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa knew who the Lord was, Ravan and Kumbhakarma also knew who the Lord was, Dantavakra and Sisupal also knew who Krishna was, even Kamsa knew who Krishna was. Jay and Vijay knew that they would be rescued from that human body and would go back to their home.

It is the will of the Lord—everything happens by the will of the Lord. The Lord is very merciful—even if you are a demon, whatever kind of bad work you do, if at any time you surrender to Him just once, He will take you into His heart...

Question: What can we do to make the preaching strong and efficient even if we do not have enough sukriti to preach?

Without sukriti you cannot be sitting here. There is enough sukriti—it is practice that is necessary. If you are humble, tolerant and give honour to others, if you follow the instruction of a great bona fide Guru and Vaishnavs, then you can preach easily. If you think, "I do not have any quality," it is good—you must think like this.

Did you see what I say when some devotee gives me a garland? "Jay Guru Maharaj." It means that I always give the garland to his lotus feet. If you think, "I am doing everything, I am preaching, I am doing this, I am doing that," then there will be no preaching. But your idea is very nice—you think, "I cannot preach, I am unqualified," and this is a very nice mood.

Once in Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's time, his disciple asked him,

"Prabhupad, I cannot do bhajan (I cannot practise)..."

"Are you telling the truth?" Prabhupad asked him.

"Yes."

"Then something is happening."

If somebody says, "I cannot do anything, I cannot practise," this kind of mood is very nice. Prabhupad said also, "If somebody thinks, 'I am a Vaishnav,' then this is not a Vaishnav."

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