Sri Krishna Janmastami:
Path Back to Home

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
speaking to Mauritian devotees
Evening, 18 August 2014

Today is a very auspicious day, and you are present today on this occasion. Krishna's appearance day is today at midnight.

Krishna came to this world to rescue sadhus and demolish demons. In Kali-yuga also, the Lord appeared to rescue all the demons but in another way—with love and affection. In Kali-yuga, Radha-Krishna came to this world in the form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and He distributed the religion for the Age of Kali. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's conception is

হরের্নাম হরের্নাম হরের্নামৈব কেবলম্ ।
কলৌ নাস্ত্যেব নাস্ত্যেব নাস্ত্যেব গতিরন্যথা ॥

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

Only chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name—there is no other way, no other way, no other way.

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 7.76

Going door to door, He distributed the seed, the Holy Name, to all jiva souls as the religion for this Age of Kali.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also told in his lecture that he wanted to engage everybody for the service to the Lord. Why do our Gurupadpadma and our Guru Maharaj make centres and preach all over the world, in every corner? They want to use everybody for the service to the Lord.

Krishna Himself said, "You are worshipping many demigods, Mother Kali, Mother Durga, or Siva, and that puja automatically comes to Me, but your worship is not done properly, not with the proper rules and regulations." Krishna also said: who says, "I am a devotee of Krishna," he is not a devotee of Krishna; but who is a devotee of Krishna's devotees' devotees, he is a devotee of Krishna.

Another thing is that if you invite Krishna, Krishna will not come, but if you invite Mother Yasoda or Nanda Maharaj, they will bring Krishna to you. So, you can understand easily that if you want to worship Krishna directly, Krishna will not come, but if you worship His devotee—Mother Yasoda, Devaki, Baladev-tattva, Guru-tattva—then easily you can get mercy of Krishna.

So, try to understand Krishna's Pastimes.

One of the Pastimes of Krishna is when Mother Yasoda wanted to tie Him with a rope. That rope was always two fingers too short. She joined more rope, but it was again two fingers too short. She joined more rope, but again two fingers too short. Why was it two fingers too short? One finger is bhakter chesta (ভক্তের চেষ্টা), desire of the devotee, and the other finger is mercy of Krishna. When both are there, then you will get full mercy of Krishna. You will not get Krishna directly without serving His devotees, but if you serve the devotees of Krishna, then you can easily get mercy from Krishna.

We sing today this song Deva bhavantam vande,

মন্মানস-মধুকর মর্পয় নিজপদ-পঙ্কজ-মকরন্দে
দেব ভবন্তং বন্দে

manmanasa-madhukara marpaya nijapada-pankaja-makarande
deva bhavantam vande

"Oh Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances to You. May you place the bumblebee of my mind in the honey of Your lotus feet."

...Just now we finished singing the songs, for many hours this evening I have been singing, so many devotees came, and you also joined the festival, but we do not worship Krishna for one day only.

যে দিন গৃহে ভজন দেখি
গৃহেতে গোলোক ভায় ।

ye-dina grhe, bhajana dekhi,
grhete goloka bhaya

You can make your house Goloka Vrindavan if you worship every day, if you serve Krishna, do everything, but our life is very short, you know that. Param Guru Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj told, "Depending on what desire you have, you will get that kind of birth. If you have some material desire, you will get that kind of birth."

Then think about Krishna and think how much affection the gopis of Vraja, sakhis of Vraja have for Krishna. Their heart is full of Krishna, they have given their mind, their whole body, everything to Krishna, to the Lord. How is it possible? Even Laksmi Devi, even Siva, even Brahma could not do that. Gopis do not think about themselves, they think, "We can die if necessary." Vraja gopis are like a suicide squad, "We are like soldiers of the country; we are the suicide squad of Krishna." You must remember this.

Also, when Krishna had a headache, He needed some feet dust of His devotees. Narad Muni could not get it—even Krishna's wives, Rukmini, Satyabhama could not give it because they thought, "If we give our feet dust to Krishna, it will be a sin." But Vraja gopis do not think about themselves, Vraja gopis think, "It is for You, Krishna. If Krishna is sick, what is the use of us having legs—for whom? If we cannot use them for the service to the Lord, what are we keeping our legs for?"

We must offer everything—indriya, chaksu, karna, nasika, jihva, tvak, senses, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin—to our Lord; we must use everything for the service to the Lord. Uddhav Maharaj said, "What is our head on these shoulders for? It is only a burden. If you cannot bow down to the lotus feet of Krishna, bow down to the devotees of Krishna, then what is the use of this head? What are your hands for? What are your eyes for if you cannot see with these eyes the murti, vigraha of Krishna?"

You heard also the story of yajna patnis: the brahmins who were doing the fire sacrifice could not recognise Krishna, but their wives could serve Krishna. They wanted to stay with Krishna, to serve the gopis, but Krishna said to them, "Go to your home and worship My deity. It is nondifferent from Me. You can worship My deities, My vigraha, and in this way you will get Me. It is not necessary to stay with Me personally."

Krishna told many things, and we must understand what He says.

যদি গৌর না হ'ত তবে কি হইত
কেমনে ধরিতাম দে ।
রাধার মহিমা প্রেমরস-সীমা
জগতে জানাত কে ? ॥

yadi gaura na ha'ta tabe ki ha-ita
kemane dharitam de
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima
jagate janata ke?

"If Gaura had not come into this world in the Age of Kali, who would be able to glorify Srimati Radharani? Gauranga Mahaprabhu is a combined form of Radha-Krishna, so if He had not come, who else would have been able to glorify Srimati Radharani?" From this we can easily understand how important Srimati Radhika is.

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ-ভজন তব অকারণ গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing. The result is zero."

You should always serve the devotees. জীবে দয়া, নামে রুচি, বৈষ্ণব সেবা, jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaisnava seva. Mahaprabhu told this to Sanatan Goswami. Be kind, be merciful to the jiva souls. Jive daya means you can give some benefit, you can give some Krishna consciousness to them.

We have passed so many years, so many births, and we are full of dust, we are full of rust, that is why Krishna cannot attract us, and this is why we must practise properly:

শ্রবণং কীর্ত্তনং বিষ্ণোঃ স্মরণং পাদসেবনম্ ।
অর্চ্চনং বন্দনং দাস্যং সখ্যমাত্মনিবেদনম্ ॥

sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam
archanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam

Hearing, practising (chanting), remembering the Lord, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, serving the Deity, offering obeisances, considering oneself a servant, thinking of the Lord as of a friend, and full surrender.

Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.23

If you practise like this, properly, then slowly, slowly you can get nourishment and you will get the result—you will get benefit through hearing Krishna-katha. If you think that your mind and your heart do not want to hear Krishna-katha, then you must think that your karma bandhan has not finished yet: you are still bound by your karma. When you think that you have some attraction to hear Krishna-katha, that your ears want to hear Hari-katha, Krishna-katha, then you must think that something is coming, something is changing through hearing, through chanting.

শ্রবণং কীর্ত্তনং স্মরণং বন্দনং
'সাধুসঙ্গ', 'সাধুসঙ্গ'—সর্ব্বশাস্ত্রে কয় ।
লবমাত্র সাধুসঙ্গে সর্ব্বসিদ্ধি হয় ॥
সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণনামে—এই মাত্র চাই ।

সংসার জিনিতে আর কোন বস্তু নাই ॥

sravanam kirtanam smaranam vandanam,
'sadhu-sanga', 'sadhu-sanga'—sarva sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu sange sarva siddhi haya
sadhu sange krsna nama—ei matra chai
samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

Hearing about the Lord, chanting His glories, remembering Him and praying to Him... "Good association", "good association," all the scriptures keep telling. Only by good association can you get all perfection. And, "I want only to chant the Name of Krishna in the association of the sadhus—there is no other way to conquer samsara."

Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.23; Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.54; Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.13

You can get benefit only through good association.

You have heard also this story about Ramanuja Acharya. Ramanuja Acharya had a disciple, Dhanur Das, whose wife was also a devotee. Dhanur Das and his wife went begging and collecting, and whatever they got every day, they cooked that for the Lord, and also when some devotees would come, they would distribute that prasadam to them. When they went collecting, they did not go together: Dhanur Das went to one village, and his wife went to another village.

There was one naughty bad man, who always disturbed Dhanur Das's wife. He always said to her, "Come stay at my house. Not necessary to go begging—I will give you so many things, I will do this, do that. I will give you money, I will give you so much rice, dahl, vegetables. I will give you everything!"

She would just reply, "OK, OK, one day I will come to you."

One day Dhanur Das's wife said to her husband, "Go begging alone today, I have some work here in the house, I need to wash some clothes, etc. I will do some service today here." So, Dhanur Das went alone, and after a while somebody knocked at her door. She was alone, and she was very afraid. She thought, "Shall I open the door or not? Maybe it is that bad man... I am alone, and he knows where my house is..." She was afraid, but when she finally opened the door, she saw her Gurudev was waiting there. She was surprised!

She gave Ramanuja Acharya an asan, some seat, or a chair, "Gurudev, please sit here, I am going to bring some prasadam for you." There was nothing in her house, so she went to the house of that man who had been disturbing her:

"I have come to your house. You always call me, so I have come today. First give me what you can give."

"Please, wait, sit down."

"No, no, my Guru is waiting there. I told him to wait while I was bringing prasadam. I have no time to wait."

Then he gave her so many bags—rice, dahl, etc.

"How shall I carry all this alone? Come with me, you can help me."

He came with her. He sat in front of her Guru, heard some Hari-katha, Krishna-katha... She said to him, "Today I am inviting you to stay here with my Guru and hear some Hari-katha, Krishna-katha. I am cooking for everybody." She cooked, offered the bhog, and after that naughty man took prasadam, his mind became sane—he became a good man!

Do you see? Your mind can change in good association. It is always necessary to keep good association:

'সাধুসঙ্গ', 'সাধুসঙ্গ'—সর্ব্বশাস্ত্রে কয় ।
লবমাত্র সাধুসঙ্গে সর্ব্বসিদ্ধি হয় ॥

sadhu sanga sadhu sanga sarva sastra kaya
lava-matra sadhu sange sarva siddhi haya

"If even for one moment you can get good association, you will get a real benefit from it."

...Everything is possible to do for Guru seva. For the service to her Guru Dhanur Das's wife took the risk. "মারবি রাখবি—যো ইচ্ছা তোহার, marabi rakhabi yo ichchha tohara: Gurudev, you can kill me, or you can protect me—only you can do that." Those who depend upon Krishna, who are surrendered souls, they have no fear: only Krishna can kill.

ঈশ্বরঃ পরমঃ কৃষ্ণঃ সচ্চিদানন্দবিগ্রহঃ ।
অনাদিরাদির্গোবিন্দঃ সর্ব্বকারণকারণম্ ॥

isvarah paramah krsnah sach-chid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes.

Sri Brahma-samhita, 5.1

"He is the cause of all causes."

She depended upon her Guru, she was a surrendered soul, so she was not afraid: she went to that man's house for the service to her Guru. If you do something wrong for your Guru's service, no problem; but when we are doing wrong we are doing offence for our own enjoyment.

Once also Mahaprabhu was sleeping, lying down, and Govinda, His servant, had to cross Him. He did not hesitate: "I am going inside for the service to my Mahaprabhu; but I will not come out because I do not want to cross Mahaprabhu's body for my own rest, to take prasadam, no. I can cross Him only for His service—I can do anything for the service to my Guru."

You must understand in that story of Ramanuja Acharya's disciple, Dhanur Das, how what she did, she did for her Guru, for the service to her Guru.

Question: Maharaj, we have a hundred people here, what message can you give them?

I can only tell them the message that Mahaprabhu has given in this Age of Kali, and you can make the judgement. Mahaprabhu went door to door, urging, "This is not your house, this is not your address, I have come to take you home!"

Lord Himself comes in the form of Guru and tells us, "This is not your address. Come to your house. Come back to God, back to home! This is not your real home. Where you came from, that is your real house. You must go there."

You always think about heaven and hell, but it is temporary. Even Indra, the king of heaven, got a pig's body. By the curse of his Guru he got a pig's body, and after 12 years Brahma rescued him from that hellish situation. Even he had to get a pig's body.

When we were pigs, we took so much stool; when we were elephants, we took so many banana trees—but our hunger was not satisfied. Still we are taking some rice, dahl, chapati, but our hunger will not finish, there will always be some material desire, but if you surrender to Krishna, to His devotee, and if you worship Krishna, if you chant the Holy Name of Krishna, you will get real benefit, you can go to your real home.

You think, "I was born in Mauritius." I think, "I was born in India." Somebody else is from Nepal, America, London, but we all come from the same house.

Loving search for the lost servant: you are searching for Krishna, and Krishna is also searching for his sons. We are like His sons who He has lost, so He is also searching for us. By worshiping Him, by chanting His Holy Name, we can meet with Him and together we can go to our real home. Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

Back to God, back to home.

Heaven and hell are temporary. You do some auspicious work, you go to heaven, but it is temporary—when that result is finished, you have to come back. You do some bad work, you go to hell—when that work's result is finished, then you have to come back again. Do you understand? It is temporary. Bhagavatam told it, Srimad Bhagavad-gita also told it.

Where is our real home? It is Goloka Vrindavan. That's where we came from. Although we are jiva souls, we keep changing our bodies according to our material desire, our karma. Do you understand? This body is temporary. What is the real benefit? Chant the Holy Name and then you will get the real benefit, and you will go back to Lord Krishna, to your real home, and that is what is called "Go Back to Godhead."

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!
Jay Janmastami vrata ki jay!
Nitai Gaur premanande Hari Hari bol.

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