Wake Up! Wake Up!

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham, evening class, part 4
7 November 2012, translated from Bengali

There are so many beasts, birds, insects In this world, but there are not so many human beings. People say they follow the Vedas but actually do what is prohibited by the Vedas! Among millions of fruitive workers there is one wise man, among millions of wise men there is one liberated man, and among millions of liberated men there is only one devotee of Krishna...

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote so nicely in Sri Guru and His Grace: When a lotus is growing in a pond, the sun gives so much heat but the lotus blossoms so beautifully in the heat of the sun; but if you take that lotus out of the water, it will immediately dry up. So, it is said that the water and the soil are like the Guru, the lotus is like ourselves, and the sun is compared to the Lord—as long as the lotus remains in the shelter of the water and the soil, the sun cannot do anything to the lotus flower. Is it not so? In the same way, as long as we stay in the shelter of our Gurudev, the Lord cannot do anything to us, but once we come out of the shelter of our Gurudev, we will be similarly destroyed. "Guru bade Gauranga bhaje, sei papi raurave padi maje (the sinner who worships Gauranga without the Guru will fall into a terrible hell)."

We always want to get blessings, to get mercy of Gurudev. Mercy means kripa—"kore-pabe", you must do something (kore) to get something (pabe).

মায়ারে করিয়া জয় ছাড়ান না যায় ।
সাধু-গুরু কৃপা বিনা না দেখি উপায় ॥

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya
sadhu-guru krpa vina na dekhi upaya

"It is not possible to conquer maya by engaging in maya. I see no other way to get relief except for the mercy of sadhus."

('Ki rupe paibe seva', Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

Maya can attack us at any time. We have come to serve the Lord but we have not been able to serve—we do not get to take shelter of the Guru, we forget why we have come here. This is not good. Time is very short, we can leave at any moment, that is why we must use ourselves for the service of the Lord.

দুর্ল্লভ মানব জন্ম লভিয়া সংসারে ।
কৃষ্ণ না ভজিনু দুঃখ কহিব কাহারে ॥
সংসার সংসার ক'রে মিছে গেল কাল ।
লাভ না হইল কিছু ঘটিল জঞ্জাল ॥
কিসের সংসার এই, ছায়াবাজী প্রায় ।
ইহাতে মমতা করি' বৃথা দিন যায় ॥

durlabha manava-janma labhiya samsare
krsna na bhajinu—duhkha kahiba kahare?
'samsara' 'samsara' ka're michhe gela kala
labha na ha-ila kichhu ghatila janjala
kisera samsara ei, chhayabaji praya
ihate mamata kari' vrtha dina yaya

I have got a very rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Whom can I tell of my misery? Time has passed in the affairs of material household life, and I have got nothing—only became burdened... As if spellbound, I was attracted to this pointless material life, and being so much engrossed into it I pass my days in vain.

Kalyan-kalpataru, 3.2.4

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.

('Durlabha manava janma labhiya' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We must do Krishna kirtan (glorify Krishna, serve Krishna)! Now is not Satya-yuga, not Treta-yuga or Dvapar-yuga. It is Kali-yuga now. Mahaprabhu went door to door telling to the souls (we sing about it every morning):

জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার
তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ-ভার ।
নামাশ্রয় করি' যতনে তুমি
থাকহ আপন কাজে ॥

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

"Understand the essence: life is temporary and filled with all sorts of adversity. Carefully taking shelter of the Name, engage in your work."

জীব জাগ, জীব জাগ, গোরাচাঁদ বলে ।
কত নিদ্রা যাও মায়া-পিশাচীর কোলে ॥

jiva jaga, jiva jaga, gorachanda bale
kata nidra yao maya-pisachira kole

Sri Gorachand says, "O souls, awake! O souls, awake! How much longer will you sleep in the lap of the witch Maya?"

পিশাচী পাইলে যেন মতিচ্ছন্ন হয় ।

মায়াগ্রস্ত জীবের হয় সে ভাব উদয় ॥

pisachi paile yena mati-chchhanna haya
maya-grasta jivera haya se bhava udaya

"When someone is possessed by a ghost, they become bewildered. This condition overtakes souls bound by Maya."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.3)

We are attacked by ghosts and witches, who come and tell us so many things, and as a result we fall into this illusory environment. The scriptures say also,

দৈবী হ্যেষা গুণময়ী মম মায়া দুরত্যয়া ।
মামেব যে প্রপদ্যন্তে মায়ামেতাং তরন্তি তে ॥

daivi hy esa gunamayi, mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante, mayam etam taranti te

"My alluring, 'trimodal,' illusory potency is practically insurmountable. However, those who take shelter in Me can overcome this powerful obstacle."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

The Lord Himself says, "I have created Maya (illusory environment), you cannot conquer it; but if you just once surrender to Me then you can be released from this illusory environment." There is no other way!

You have got this human life for a reason. If you get this rare human life but do not practise as a human, you will again have to keep coming back, keeping wandering—you will again have to suffer so much.

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