Vaishnav Aparadh: Seek Shelter

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

Question: How can we avoid Vaishnav aparadh?

It is easy; it depends upon the person. You can see how the Vaishnav aparadh comes.

Vaishnav aparadh can come in many ways. For example, Mahaprabhu's mother did some Vaishnav aparadh to Advaita Acharya; sometimes you are walking and touch somebody with your feet, it is also an aparadh—you can give dandavat and apologise; sometimes you are talking to a Vaishnav and use bad language, it is also an aparadh; sometimes mentally you think bad about somebody (for example you do not know something, but you think bad against some sannyasi or some brahmachari, you talk against them, that is also an aparadh). There are many ways.

There are many example also in Chaitanya-charitamrita. There was one Buddhist sannyasi who mixed some amedhya (untouchable) food with Mahaprabhu's food—amedhya means maybe some onion or garlic, something like that. Then, a big bird came there, picked that plate and took it away, and as it was flying with the plate, the plate fell on the head of that Buddhist sannyasi!

Another time, Srivas Pandit was doing kirtan. He was always disturbed very much by some naughty boys, so he would close the doors of his house. One time, somebody kept some empty wine bottle and other nonsense things outside his door—they wanted people to see it, then they would say, "Look! Srivas Pandit is doing kirtan and also drinking wine! I am also drinking wine and doing kirtan!" The next morning, all gentlemen became surprised, "Who has done this? Who has done this?" and all body of the man who did it became rotten, he got kusthavyadhi (কুষ্ঠব্যাধি, leprosy). That man's name is Chapal Gopal. He was sitting on the street, suffering so much. When he saw Mahaprabhu walking down that street, he began to call Him, "Please! Please rescue me! Please help me!" but Mahaprabhu said, "You are a very big offender, you made an offence to Srivas Pandit, I cannot rescue you. Your whole life, and life and life you will be in hell! If, however, you go to Srivas Pandit and ask him for mercy, ask him to rescue you, apologise to him, the Krishna will help you..."

হরিস্থানে অপরাধে তারে হরিনাম ।
তোমাস্থানে অপরাধে নাহিক এড়ান ॥

hari-sthane aparadhe tare hari-nama
toma-sthane aparadhe nahika edana

"If one offends the Lord, the Lord's Name delivers him, but if one offends you, O Vaishnav, one has no salvation."

If you make some offence to the Lord, Vaishnav can rescue you, but if you make some offence to a Vaishnav, even Krishna, Lord Himself, cannot remove that. "Krsna rusta hale Guru rakhibare pare, Guru ruste hale Krsna rakhibare nare" (কৃষ্ণ রূষ্ট হলে গুরু রাখিবারে পারে, গুরু রূষ্ট হলে কৃষ্ণ রাখিবারে নারে)—if Krishna, the Lord, becomes angry, Gurudev can protect; if Gurudev becomes angry, Krishna cannot protect you.

You can also read the book Sri Guru and His Grace—one very nice example is there, Gurudev made our Math's logo based on it. Suppose there is a lotus blooming in a kunda, pond. As long as the lotus is in the shelter of water and soil, the sun's heat cannot do anything, the lotus remains as it is, but if you take that lotus out of water and soil, it will dry in two-three minutes. Here, the lotus is like you, like me, like a jiva soul; water and soil are like Gurudev, and the sun is like the Lord. So, as long as the lotus is under the guidance of water and soil, the sun cannot spoil it means that when we are under the shelter of Gurudev, Krishna can protect us, but if we are removed from the shelter of our Guru, then Krishna cannot protect us. You can read this analogy in Sri Guru and His Grace.

আশ্রয় লইয়া ভজে তারে কৃষ্ণ নাহি ত্যজে,
আর সব মরে অকারণে

asraya laiya bhaje tare krsna nahi tyaje
ara saba mare akarane

"Krishna never leaves those who have taken shelter in Him. All others simply die in vain."

(By Srila Narottam Das Thakur, Prarthana, 17)

If you worship Lord Krishna without a shelter, it will bring no result. Gurupadasraya—you must take shelter of a bona fide Guru. One time, in a temple somebody asked me, "Oh, Maharaj, I have been waiting for initiation for ten years, but they are not giving me initiation..." I replied, "You have cultivated the land but you have not put the seed there, then how will the tree come? How will you get the fruit?" Ten years are gone like this. Day by day, time is going fast...

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