Chastity and Service Attachment

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
24 February, 2013

A chair has four legs. If a chair has only one leg, it will fall down. So, your Guru is like one leg of the chair, the other legs will depend upon you. You have taken initiation, but you are not chanting properly, not practising properly, then you should understand that you cannot prosper, cannot increase your spiritual life. You may take the devotional seed, bhakti-lata bij (ভক্তি-লতা বীজ), into your heart, but if you put the seed and do not water it, then it will not grow. Sravan-kirtan jal: water means chanting, practising.

Some kind of disease may come also. Disease means, for example, there are many trees growing in a place, but if you see a tree cannot grow nicely because of many bushes, branches and other kutinati, you have to cut these unwanted bad elements, and the tree will grow. These bad elements are kama (lust), krodha (anger), moha (illusion), rup, ras, gandha, sabda, sparsa (enjoyment through form, taste, smell, sound, and touch). You must be careful.

Yes, you think you can chant, and you chant, but why then do you become tired?

If you walk one kilometre, you become tired. Even myself also, when I walk I become tired, but if I chant and walk for 3-5 hours, I am not tired. I am telling it as an example. If I walk to Bakara temple, oh, I am so tired, but when I chant kirtan and walk 3 hours, I am not tired because such is the power of the Holy Name. Actually, you can do anything for the service of the Lord.

There is a story of Dhanurdas: his wife went to a bad man for service to the Lord. And Gurudev told me, "You can go to a prostitute's house for service, begging some money from them. They sell and use their body for that bad selfish enjoyment to earn their living, but if you take some money from them and give it to Krishna, that money becomes good."

Even Gurudev told me also once about the Kaikhali temple. I said to Gurudev,

"Some brick renovation has been done around the pond."

"What will I do with the pond? Will you cultivate fish?"

"Gurudev, what will I do with the fish?"

"Sell that fish, and you can use that money for the service of Radha Ramana Sundar."

Somebody will eat that fish, but that fish is giving its life and some money is coming, so the fish is using its body for the service of the Lord. We give benefit to that fish.

In this way, Gurudev would teach me so much. He would give many examples and teach: what is called chastity, what is called sincerity. He would tell me about that all the time. Gurudev also said to me, "Everybody is doing some service, but only few devotees have attachment to their service—but that kind of attachment should come."

I am sad today to see these people. Some Bengali people come, their train is leaving, and they say to me, "We are leaving now..." They come, give some pranami, and leave quickly, but, "When will Gurudev come to my home? When will I come to Gurudev again? When will I go to the Lord? When will I see Nityananda Prabhu?"—that kind of mentality, that kind of desire is not coming to their hearts. That is my only sadness...

Once, I remember Gurudev called me from Nabadwip. At that time I had so much work there, but he told me to come immediately, "Come today, I want to talk to you." He told me to come in the morning at 3 o'clock, and I caught the first train at 4:15 and came to him. He told me something, "Oh, I called you for this purpose..." But he did not tell me to go, so I was sitting, took some breakfast, and 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 o'clock—I was still sitting and sitting, then he took prasadam, and in the meantime I was getting very annoyed, "I have so much work in Nabadwip, but what can I do? Gurudev is not saying anything." Finally, Gurudev smiled and said, "You are very busy in Nabadwip at this time, but now I have bound you, tied you here. You feel so bad, so anxious and annoyed because there is so much work. No! That is not work—that is karma! I am telling you, 'Sit here and do nothing'—that is service!"

Another time, I remember, Gurudev said to me, "Acharya Maharaj, how is your blood sugar?" I said the number for that day, and Gurudev said, "OK, do not eat sweet things, do not eat potato." After a while, some lady come in, paid dandavat and handed him a packet (Bengali ladies always come in, pay dandavat, give some sweets, money, a garland). Gurudev opened the packet and offered a sweet to me. I was about to take it when Gurudev cried,

"Hey! Just now I told you not to eat sugar, sweet!"

"You gave me your prasad. I did not try to do it, you gave it to me!"

"I am testing you!"

What is preferable? I am doing some service, this is service, and that is service too. Gurudev tells to do both things, and both are service, but you must do the service that is more preferable.

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