Simple and Sincere

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Speaking to the devotees in London
7 August, 2011, part 4

You must understand the main things. Gurudev told me, "It is not necessary to accumulate so much knowledge, or read so many scriptures." Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "Bahu grantha na paribe, bahu kalabhyasa na karibe (বহু গ্রন্থ না পড়িবে, বহু কলাভ্যাস না করিবে): it is not necessary to read so many books, it is not necessary to practise so many artificial things"—if you have pure devotion in your heart, that is sufficient. It is simple.

You know the story of Duhkhi, an old lady who stayed at Srivas Pandit's house (I always tell this story)—how did she get mercy? Strongest faith and desire are necessary. If you have desire, mercy will come. If you have a strong desire, then strong mercy will come—if you make one step towards the Lord, the Lord will make ten steps towards you. But you must make first step.

Some think, "Oh, I have no service!" but how will you get service if you do not go to the temple? How will you get service or mercy of the devotees if you do not get association of the devotees, if you do not chant the Holy Name? If you do not follow what Gurudev tells you to do, how will you get mercy of Gurudev? We must follow what Gurudev tells us.

How can we get his mercy? Through reading books, reading his scriptures. Gurudev and Srila Sridhar Maharaj wrote some books for us, you can read these books. Chaitanya-charitamrita is also good for you. Srila Sridhar Maharaj said that if all books were spoilt or burnt and only Chaitanya-charitamrita remains, it is sufficient. Only one book is sufficient, and that book is Chaitanya-charitamrita.

You will find there (in the discussion with Ramananda Ray) karma-misra-bhakti, jnana-misra bhakti, jnana-sunya-bhakti, jnana-sunya suddha-bhakti... And also the instruction to Raghunath Das Goswami. Mahaprabhu told him, "Go back to your home, do not show Me false renunciation."

অন্তরে নিষ্ঠা কর, বাহ্যে লোক-ব্যবহার ।
অচিরাৎ কৃষ্ণ তোমায় করিবে উদ্ধার ॥

antare nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara
achirat krsna tomaya karibe uddhara

"Be fixed internally, and behave like everyone else externally. Krishna will rescue you soon."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.239)

সে ছল সেকালে কৃষ্ণ স্ফুরাবে তোমারে ।
কৃষ্ণকৃপা যাঁরে, তাঁরে কে রাখিতে পারে ॥

se chhala se-kale krsna sphurabe tomare
krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare

"Krishna will reveal to you how you can come. Who can stop the one who has got mercy of Krishna?"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.241)

"If you get some mercy of the Lord, Krishna can take you back at any time." This is loving search for the lost servant. We are lost, but Krishna is merciful. Gurudev is very merciful—he picks us up and engages us in the service of the Lord. We are fallen souls, but Gurudev is very powerful, he can take us and engage us in the service of the Lord. This is called loving search for the lost servant—Krishna is searching for us; we are searching for our father and Krishna also searching for His sons. You must think about this.

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