Clear Your Mind

By His Divine Grace
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham
29 May 2013

Devotees should understand this.

A few days ago we were celebrating the festival of Sri Nrisingha Chaturdasi. We always chant, "Jay Nrisinghadev! Jay Prahlad Maharaj!" but I am surprised that they are asking Lord Nrisinghadev for something. Lord Nrisinghadev wants to give a boon to His devotees, it is not necessary to ask Him for anything. He wants to give you what you want, and we are foolish, but Prahlad Maharaj is not foolish: Prahlad Maharaj did not ask for anything.

Prahlad Maharaj said, "Prabhu, You want to give something, then please give some liberation to my father." "Pratihimsa tyaji' anye karabi palana" (not ill-treating others, nurturing them)— he did not hate his father, he tried to give him some advice. Even though Prahlad Maharaj had got so much torturing from his father and his father's men, he was not tired. His father tortured him and tortured, he was tired, he threw from a mountain, he threw him into water, but he could not do anything. In the end he told a schoolmaster to keep him carefully at a demon's school and teach him. But instead of studying there, Prahlad Maharaj would tell all students, all boys what had learned in the womb of his mother Kayadhu (it is all there in Srimad Bhagavatam). He explained what is our duty, what for we have got a human body.

If you have some particular interest or taste, you will get the facility for it in your next life. If you want to hear so many things, you will get another body, a body of a beast—their hearing power is much higher. If you want to see so many things, but how many kilometres can we see with our eyes' power? We cannot see so far, but if you get a bird's body and bird's eyes, then the power of your eyes will be ten times more. You like eating, but how much can you eat? A pig eats stool and it is so happy, so if you get a pig's body, you will be much happier in that body. What kind of happiness do you want?

Prahlad Maharaj did not hesitate. He was tortured so much, but our devotees cannot tolerate even a very small thing. After Gurudev left they think, "Oh, there is so much suffering, so much disturbance, why will I live in the temple? Better I do bhajan in my room or maybe go to a forest." If you go to a forest, your belly, your stomach will go with you and you will suffer so much! If you go to a forest, you have to climb trees, collect fruits, collect some dry tree leaves and boil them for your stomach because your stomach is with you, you cannot leave it in your house or temple. You come to a forest, but you take your stomach with you. Then what are you trying to get rid of your body for? Even if you die, how you will conquer Maya? Do you think that after death your suffering will finish? Do you think that Maya will go away from you after death? No. If you die, you will get another body and Maya will attack you again. Why do you want to lose your body quickly by going through such austerities?

Prahlad Maharaj suffered so much, but he could not forget Krishna, he never forgot Krishna, that is why he never worried. But devotees cannot suffer, devotees cannot tolerate. In Kali-yuga, there is very little patience in a human body...

So, despite all torturing, Prahlad Maharaj said to Lord Nrisinghadev, "Please, give some liberation to my father, please give him shelter." He forgave his father and asked the Lord to forgive his father's offence. That is one lesson.

Another lesson is this.

Nrisinghadev replied, "It is not a boon. I have already done this. Ask for something that I have not given, then it will be a boon." Then, Prahlad Maharaj said, "All right, You want to give me something, then please give that kind of boon so that this desire to ask for anything is removed from my heart and mind." This is the main lesson. It is necessary to understand it.

Gurudev also taught this. One time, a devotee came to Gurudev and asked him, "Please put your hand on my head." Gurudev said it was jnana-misra bhakti—you are asking for something for your own benefit. You should not ask Gurudev for anything—your duty is to serve your Guru, the Guru does not have to serve you, it is not his duty.

Although he does not have to serve you, Gurudev always serves—always gives lecture, gives shelter, and so on—because he does not think he is a Guru, he thinks he is a servitor. He may be a divine servitor, a guardian of devotion, but he feels he is a servitor and always serves the devotees. He gives us shelter and uses us in the service of the Lord—he picks us up from stool and keeps us at the lotus feet of his Guru, Krishna, the Lord. That is his duty, and he is doing that; and our duty is to serve him, but we forget that, we always think about our own interest...

So, my message is that we must learn from Prahlad Maharaj—learn from what wanted, what he said about the 'asking' desire. Bhakti Vinod Thakur told, "Nija sukha lagi' pape nahi dari: we are not afraid to commit any sin for our own happiness."

I am telling this to all devotees. Gurudev said that if you have service, you have mercy—you must always engage yourself in service. If your service is gone, then the mercy is gone too. Your Gurudev's hand is already on your head—you have got his mercy, you always have his shelter; but now you are drying up. You are already in the shelter of soil and water, but once Gurudev's mercy is gone (once you have no service), your plant dries up. What does 'drying' mean? You still have some internal material desires, that seed, bacteria, or virus is still inside you, and when you have no service, when the mercy is gone, all those bad elements start growing, the mind starts disturbing, and you fall down from your service, you leave your service. Be careful!

Do not only chant—when you always chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, you always make ten kinds of offences of the Holy Name. If you chant properly, you do not forget your service, do not forget your real path, but if you always chant and there is only Nama aparadh in your chanting (as it always is in this age of Kali), then better you chant the Name of Gaura Nitai, Doyal Nitai, Nitai Gauranga. There is no offence in chanting Their Names, so it will be good for you to also chant Their Names. And another thing is that you must always engage yourself in service, then all kinds of bad elements will be down—they will not be able to grow further.

Jay Gurudev.

· · • • • · ·

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

• Download (2.8 Mb)