Maya's Family vs Krishna's Family

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Speaking online to Caracas
3 June 2015

So many devotees have come today... My question is why do you not come every weekend?

Maya is taking your time. You work six days a week, it is not a problem, but you must give at least one day for the Lord, for Gaura Nitai. Do you understand what I am saying?

You are busy with the attachment to your family six days a week, but you must understand that you have got a wife, you have got a son, a daughter, you have got parents, but who have you got it for? For the Lord! Who have you got all the happiness for? For the lord. But when you get it, you forget the Lord...

You can see Raghunath Das Goswami—why was he so happy? Because he was asakti-rahita (আসক্তি-রহিত)—he had no attachment to the mundane world. He had everything—so much wealth, so much property, a good wife—but he had no attachment to his wife, no attachment to all these mundane things.

Prabhodananda Saraswati also gave an example. Imagine you eat very much but after that you have constipation and cannot go to the toilet. You are keeping everything inside and it becomes so intolerable and painful, and when you finally go to the toilet and empty your stomach, you get so much pleasure. Just like that, you are hoarding money, things, property, etc. and become so attached to it, but you will not get pleasure from that. Only when you become detached, when you realise that everything you have is for Krishna, for service to the Lord, will you get the proper happiness.

If you want to make a family, I have no problem with that, but make a family for Krishna. Do not join a mundane family—join Krishna's family. Actually, you have already joined Krishna's family—you are already members of Krishna's family—and you must not lose your membership.

I am not telling you to leave everything, go to Hrisikesh, to some mountain, and go into false renunciation, (phalgu vairagya, ফল্গু-বৈরাগ্য). Even if you do that, it will not be proper renunciation. You think, "Oh, I do not like the temple life, I do not like the family life so much either. I will just go to the mountain, or some forest," but you cannot conquer Maya in this way because if you go there your belly will go with you, and there too you will suffer so much. Maybe you will just die there or maybe you will not die, but then your knowledge, your brain, will be lost (you will end up sick and feeble)—if you lose everything how will you conquer Maya?

So, I am requesting you all: you must try to come every weekend for the festival program. Try to come, OK? Bring some flower, bring some fruit—whatever you have. You must give something to Gaura Nitai. Some devotees can bring some cloth, some devotees can bring some fruit, some devotees can bring some flowers, even if you have nothing you can bring Ganges water and Tulasi for Gaura Nitai, and if you do not have even that, that is not a problem—give yourself to the Lord, to Gurudev.

Do you remember what Bali Maharaj gave? Bali Maharaj had everything, he lived in Vaikuntha Puri with his grandfather Prahlad Maharaj, do you remember how he gave everything to the Lord but still had to give something more? He could not understand what else he could give, but his wife said, "You forgot that you have not given yourself." Bali Maharaj then gave himself to the Lord. You too must give yourself to the Lord—you have nothing else.

You think you are suffering so much in Caracas because of money and food, but I have told everybody before: come and stay in Nabadwip, serve here and take prasadam happily. Do not worry, "What will I eat tomorrow? I have no money to go shopping..." Do not think what you will do—only think about your Guru's seva, then Krishna will think about you.

Those who left brahmachari life or sannyas life and went to family life, know how much they are suffering now. You work the whole day in the field under the supervision of your boss, and you are getting so much 'nourishment' from him (you know what kind of 'nourishment' this is). After work, you come home hoping for some peace, but there your wife is waiting for you to give you more 'nourishment' (you understand what that 'nourishment' is like). So, think twice before jumping into maya. You want to go swimming in the Ganges, but before jumping into the river, you must think: can you swim? Will you sink or will you float? If you jump and then think, there will be no way out for you.

Gurudev told once that if somebody accumulates some sukriti, Maya can take that sukriti away. I can give you an example. In Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's times there was a brahmachari, a very good kirtaniya. He lived in a village called Putsuri, near Bamunpara. At that time there was no temple or anything like that in Bamunpara; a lady gave some land and a house, and one-two brahmacharis lived there. That brahmachari was one of them. Later, he got married and had three daughters. He had two of his daughters married, but before the last daughter got married he died—suddenly, on an Ekadashi day, he had a stroke. Now that unmarried daughter and her mother tell me, "We have no food, what can we do? We do not have anything." They are suffering so much now. Gurudev's word in this regard is very correct. Gurudev said that the father had done some service for the temple in his brahmachari life and got some sukriti through that, and his daughter was now taking that sukriti because she wanted to take something from the temple—on the strength of the sukriti her father had accumulated she wants to use the temple. She wants to take something, but she does not understand that our duty is not taking, out duty is giving. So, you can see what result can come through maya...

Question: How can we develop the heart to heart relationship with the Guru?

Through service. Fulfil Gurudev's heart, Gurudev's desire, then there will be heart to heart connection.

Do not put your legs in two places, keep your legs in one place—if you have one leg in one boat and the other leg in another boat, you will fall down into the river.

Serve your Guru, serve the Lord with proper attention:

আনের মন রাখিতে গিয়া আপনাকে দিবে ফাঁকি ।

মনের কথা জানে গোরা কেমনে হৃদয় ঢাকি ॥

anera mana rakhite giya apanake dibe phanki
manera katha jane gora kemane hrdaya dhaki

If you go to satisfy the minds of others, you will only cheat yourself. Gora knows your thoughts, so how will you hide your heart from Him?

Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.4

Mahaprabhu said that if you try to make others happy, you are only cheating yourself. If a lady has a husband, that is sufficient—if she wants to make other men happy, it is not good for her, and she will not get benefit through that. It is necessary to have proper chastity. If somebody has a good husband, that is sufficient, you do not have to make anyone else happy. Keep full chastity to your Guru and do not get involved in social work—your job is to work for the Lord, not for others. You must give your heart to your Guru—do not give it to others!—then the heart to heart connection will come.

[Addressing a youth:]

Practise properly. Life is very short and you are wasting time on maya! You have got an opportunity from your childhood. I did not get this opportunity: when I joined I was a young man, not a small boy or a baby; I have wasted so many years on maya! You have got the chance now, if you neglect that chance, that is not good.

We are running behind maya, but we had that kind of enjoyment in our pervious lives...

According to the Indian law (I do not know how it is in the foreign countries), Gurudev said once, you get married and after your death your wife will take your blood. At that time I did not understand it, but it means that you do some government job and after your death your wife will get half of your pension (your blood)...

Question: When we cook for the Deities in the temple, we know we should be thinking about the Deities, but is it OK if we also think about the devotees—if we think, for example, that this devotee is allergic to some preparations?

If devotees think about devotees, it is good. When you cook for the Deities and you know somebody is diabetic, somebody is allergic to something, then you should follow these things, that is not a problem; but if you cook for the Deities and think, "I am diabetic (or he is diabetic), so I will not cook potato for the Deity," that is not good—the Deity does not have diabetes!

Question: Sometimes I feel I am alone and have no real connection...

What do you mean 'alone'? If you are alone, you can make devotees there and get their association. These are Gurudev's words.

Actually, you are not alone. Your Guru is always with you. You chant and serve the Lord, and the Lord is always with you. Who said you are alone? Do you think you are alone because you live alone? But if you serve Gaura Nitai you already have three members at your house! You think you cook for yourself, but it is not so: you have Gaura Nitai, your Guru on your altar and you cook for your Guru, for Gaura Nitai. How can you then say you are alone?!

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