Devotion to Devotees

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
22 January 2012, Nandigram (Andhra Pradesh, South India)

Krishna says, "If somebody says, 'I am Krishna's devotee,' they are not My devotee; but if somebody says, 'I am a devotee of Krishna's devotee,' they are My devotee." Narad Goswami asked the Lord, "Prabhu, where do You stay?" and the Lord replied, "I stay where My katha (Krishna-katha) is going on. I stay where My mother cooks for Me. I stay where Nityananda Prabhu is chanting and dancing. And I stay where My devotee prepares food for Me."

We forget Krishna, we forget our father! But He is searching for us, His lost sons—it is Loving search for the lost servant. We are searching for our father, and our father is also searching for His sons. We must go to our father. His associate comes here to take us to our real home...

It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita also: you think that you are cooking, that your family member is earning some money, but can you say who actually does it for you? We are not doing anything—Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is doing everything. If you really think about it, you can easily realise it. If we do not offer something to the Lord or His senior associate, it means we steal His things. That is why when you cook, you should offer what you cook to the Lord and then take prasadam.

I am inviting all of you to Bengal for Gaura Purnima and Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Come and do this parikrama. We come and go in this world, we always do this samsar parikrama, but I am inviting you all to come and get relief from this samsar parikrama—I am inviting you all to Nabadwip. You will get prasadam and a room there, it is not a problem, you do not need to pay any money, only get your train fare and come to stay in our temple for five-seven days. Every year, ten thousand people from seventy countries all over the world come for this Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Come and you can also enjoy at Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's birthplace. We also arrange Puri Dham parikrama and Vrindavan Dham parikrama. If you can do parikrama with devotees, you can get real benefit for your spiritual life.

Generally, why is it necessary to take initiation, why is it necessary to take a Guru? When we want to learn something, it is always necessary to take some Guru—if we want to learn to cook, we need a Guru (teacher); if we want to get to some school, it is necessary to have a Guru (teacher). In every field, you must have somebody to teach you. That is why a spiritual master is also necessary. Why do we go to the temple? There is a good story about this.

There was once a barber shop. In the shop, there was only one barber, and many visitors were in the line—they were sitting and talking, gossiping with each other. Then, a brahmachari entered the shop to have his head shaved. The barber saw that the man had a tilak and Tulasi mala and said, "In this world, there is no Lord, no Krishna, no God! If God existed, then why do people suffer? Why do floods come? Why do so many people die? Why do train accidents happen? There is no God in the world!" The brahmachari thought, "They are the majority here and I cannot defeat them..." so he did not say anything.

When he was walking from the shop, he kept thinking, "How can I defeat them? How can I turn that man into a devotee when his mind is polluted by those people..." Suddenly, he found himself at a train station. There, he saw a man who had not shaved for maybe ten years—he had very long hair and a very long beard. He grabbed the man and brought him to the barber shop.

"There is no barber in this area! There is no barber in this country!" said the brahmachari at the shop.

"Hey, what are you saying? I shaved your head only yesterday! Why are you saying there is no barber?! I am the barber!"

"If you are a barber, then why does this man have such long hair and such a long beard? Why has this man not shaved for ten years?"

"How am I to shave him if he has not come to my shop?!"

"So, yesterday you said that the Lord does not exist, you said there was no Bhagavan, but how can you say it if you never go to the Lord's temple, if you never go to Krishna's temple, you never go to the devotees of the Lord? If you stayed with a great devotee of the Lord, then you would see Lord Krishna."

If you stand and watch somebody play football, you cannot get the taste, but when they play, they get so much excitement and energy. If you want to play football, you must come and join a football team. Devotees chant, dance, cry, roll, etc. Why do they do this? They do not take whiskey, they do not take any liquor, they do not take ganja, pan, or anything like that, but what kind of taste are they getting when they are chanting? You must join that kind of association to understand it.

If you invite Krishna, Krishna will not come to you, but if you invite Mother Yasoda, she will take Lord Gopal, Krishna, on her lap and bring Him to you. You must serve the devotees. Gurudev said, "If you serve devotees, Krishna will come and serve you." You heard what happened in Kadam-khandi, Vrindavan—Radharani Herself came and cooked sweet rice for Sanatan Goswami and Rupa Goswami!

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