Surrender—Can We Do It?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Eve of Sri Nrisingha Chaturdasi,
2 May 2015, Sri Nabadwip Dham, part 6
Translated into English from Bengali

Janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi (birth, death, old age, and disease)—you can leave at any time, depending on the result of your karma. There is no guarantee that I will stay any longer, but devotees are never afraid of janma, mrtyu, jara, vyadhi. I remember when there was an earthquake, *** got scared and stayed in his room. I thought, "Why are you afraid? Will you serve the Lord like this?" It is necessary to have faith. This body will go, but tell me does a devotee ever leave the Lord? Never. You have heard about the pastime of Chhota Haridas. What did Mahaprabhu say?

যদি চাহ প্রণয় রাখিতে গৌরাঙ্গের সনে ।
ছোট হরিদাসের কথা থাকে যেন মনে ॥

yadi chaha pranaya rakhite gaurangera sane
chhota haridasera katha thake yena mane

"If you want to keep love for Gauranga, remember the story of Chhota Haridas."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.12)

You must always remember it if you want to keep love for Gauranga... Mahaprabhu punished Chhota Haridas to teach the world, but He also taught that after he got his punishment, he attained the Lord. Chhota Haridas stayed with the Lord. Externally he received a severe punishment and committed suicide, but when he committed suicide, he got the Lord. But Mahaprabhu did not allow Sanatan Goswami to commit suicide. When Sanatan Goswami said, "Prabhu I will throw myself under the wheels of the chariot," Mahaprabhu said, "No. Are you not ashamed of yourself? How can you want to destroy another's body? Is this your body?

দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ ।
সেইকালে কৃষ্ণ তারে করে আত্মসম ॥

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

"At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts them as His very own."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.192)

"When you surrender, at that time Krishna accepts you as His own! So, when you took initiation from Me—when you came to Me and said you wanted My shelter—you gave your body to Me!"

We hear this, but tell me can we do it? We do what we want. Gurudev tells us to do one thing, and we do the opposite. "Following the whims of your mind on pretence of doing service is not service." Without service to Gurudev, your service to the Lord is actually service to maya. Have you read this instruction of Srila Prabhupad?

Even if you go to all places of pilgrimage—Jagadananda Prabhu said, "I went there without the order of Mahaprabhu and I could not see anything!"—without service to the Guru, your service is service of maya. Whatever you do, wherever you go, you must always follow your Guru. Even if you practise all sixty-four devotional practices, but without following your Guru you will get nothing—you will get no result, you will be able to do nothing.

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