Be Conscious and Cautious

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa Puja Adhivas, Bengali class
10 October 2015, part 2

As a result of great fortune we have got this birth to serve Guru, Vaishnavs, and the Lord, therefore we must utilise it properly. We must always think, "How will I engage this human body in the service of Govinda?" If we always have attachment to the lotus feet of the Guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord, then we will be able to reach their lotus feet.

Happiness and sadness always come in this human world, but even amidst sadness we can engage ourselves in the service of Guru and Govinda.

If you do not come, how can there be a festival? You have come, then there is a great joy, then there is a festival. When everybody would be leaving after Sri Ratha-yatra, Mahaprabhu would tell devotees, "Pratyabda asibe Gundicha dekhite (প্রত্যব্দ আসিবে সবে গুণ্ডিচ দেখিতে): you must come every year to see the Gundicha pastimes (at the time of Ratha-yatra)." In this way, you join different festivals throughout the year—you take the trouble to come, you spend money on the tickets, etc. Even though not everybody has such fortune to come here, many do come. This is very fortunate.

However, simply coming here and going having taken prasadam and not getting anything, that is not the point. We must ask ourselves, "What have I taken from here? What have I got?" Why did Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj create and Gurudev protect this temple? We must understand this deeply. I told you yesterday also—what will you get by chewing the peel of the sugar cane? If you take the juice, the sugar of the cane, then you will get some taste. In this way, you come here, you see the sights, you play around and go back, this is not the point. You come here, take some prasad and leave, but even taking prasad is one of the sixty-four devotional practices.

যে দিন গৃহে ভজন দেখি ।
গৃহেতে গোলোক ভায় ॥

ye dina grhe bhajana dekhi
grhete goloka bhaya

On the days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there.

('Suddha-bhakata-charana-renu' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

To live eternally in Vraja, you must enter a relationship (sambhanda) with your Guru, after that if you practise (abhidheya), you can understand the prayojana tattva (your destination, your true necessity). Otherwise you will not get any result. How can Krishna be pleased? How can we make Gurudev happy? If we can understand it step by step, then we will be able to understand the main teaching.

Gurudev often said that suppose there is a servitor who already has one leg in Vaikuntha and the other leg may still be outside, in the material world. If some bad fortune come, his leg that was already in Vaikuntha can be removed and go back to the material world. Maya Devi always tries to pull us, and she can pull the leg that is already in Vaikuntha and bring it outside. Many have fallen prey to that, but the Guru, Vaishnavs, and Bhagavan are extremely powerful:

দুর্দ্দৈবে সেবক যদি যায় অন্য-স্থানে ।
সেই ঠাকুর ধন্য তারে চুলে ধরি' আনে ॥

durdaive sevaka yadi yaya anya sthane
sei thakura dhanya tare chule dhari' ane

If by chance a servant falls down and goes somewhere else, glorious is that master who captures him and brings him back by the hair.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.47)

The mind of an unfortunate servant can go to another place, but the Guru and Vaishnavs can grab him by his hair and again engage in the service of Govinda.

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