Watch What You Wish For

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
25 October 2015

People do Durga puja, and say, "Dhanam dehi, vidyam dehi, rupam dehi, bharyam dehi, etc." Is this not the mantra they recite? "I want wealth, I want knowledge, I want a beautiful wife, I want to be admired, etc." And what did Mahaprabhu teach?

কৃষ্ণ যদি ছুটে ভক্তে ভুক্তি মুক্তি দিয়া ।
কভু ভক্তি না দেন রাখেন লুকাইয়া ॥

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If you ask Me for anything except devotion, I can give you those things—bhukti, mukti, liberation, everything—but I will hide devotion from you. You will not get devotion."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.18)

Imagine in the morning a father is about to go to work when his little daughter comes to him and starts crying, "I want to go with you!" What does the father do? He gives her a toy, he gives her a chocolate, and she forgets everything—she forgets all about going with her father.

So, you say, "O Lord, I want a car, I want a house, I want to be rich, I want everything," and the Lord will give it to you, but He will not give Himself to you. The Lord says, "I will not give Myself to you. I can give you a house, I can give you a good wife, I can give you much opulence, I can give you so many things, so many ornaments, but I cannot give you devotion—I cannot give you Krishna-bhakti. I will hide that!"

ভুক্তি-মুক্তি আদি-বাঞ্ছা যদি মনে হয় ।
সাধন করিলেও প্রেম উৎপন্ন না হয় ॥

bhukti-mukti adi-vancha yadi mane haya
sadhana karile prema utpanna na haya

"If in your heart you have a desire for enjoyment, liberation, or something else, then even if you practise Krsna consciousness, you will not get real love."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.175)

It says, "If internally you have some material desire, some material hankering, if you have some other bad elements inside, if you want some liberation, then even if you chant the Holy Name life after life, you will not get the result—you will not get Krishna-prema, you will not get love and affection from Krishna."

কৃষ্ণ যদি ছুটে ভক্তে ভুক্তি মুক্তি দিয়া ।
কভু ভক্তি না দেন রাখেন লুকাইয়া ॥

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If you ask Me for anything except devotion, I can give you those things—bhukti, mukti, liberation, everything—but I will hide devotion from you. You will not get devotion."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.18)

And what did Mahaprabhu also say?

ন ধনং ন জনং ন সুন্দরীং কবিতাং বা জগদীশ কাময়ে ।
মম জন্মনি জন্মনীশ্বরে ভবতাদ্ভক্তিরহৈতুকী ত্বয়ি ॥

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.29)

"I do not want wealth, I do not want knowledge, I do not want beauty, I do not want to be a poet. I only want causeless devotion to Your lotus feet. Give me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet so that I could do Your service life after life. I want to serve You, please give me that." This is Mahaprabhu's teachings.

চেতোদর্পণমার্জ্জনং ভবমহাদাবাগ্নিনির্ব্বাপণং
শ্রেয়ঃকৈরবচন্দ্রিকাবিতরণং বিদ্যাবধূজীবনম্ ।
আনন্দাম্বুধিবর্দ্ধনং প্রতিপদং পূর্ণামৃতাস্বাদনং
সর্ব্বাত্মস্নপনং পরং বিজয়তে শ্রীকৃষ্ণসঙ্কীর্ত্তনম্ ॥

chetodarpanamarjanam bhavamahadava nirvapanam
sreyah kairava chandrikavitaranam vidyavadhujivanam
anandambudh ivardhanam pratipadam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatmasnapanam param vijayate srikrsnasankirtanam

"The Holy Name of Krishna cleanses the mirror of the heart and extinguishes the fire of misery in the forest of birth and death. As the evening lotus blooms in the moon's cooling rays, the heart begins to blossom in the nectar of the Name. And at last the soul awakens to its real inner treasure a life of love with Krishna. Again and again tasting nectar, the soul dives and surfaces in the everincreasing ocean of ecstatic joy. All phases of the self of which we may conceive are fully satisfied and purified, and at last conquered by the all-auspicious influence of the Holy Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.12)

If you keep a mirror in your house but do not use it, it becomes covered with dust. Just like that, you have forgotten everything.

কৃষ্ণ ভুলি' সেই জীব অনাদি-বহির্ম্মুখ ।
অতএব মায়া তারে দেয় সংসারাদি-দুঃখ ॥

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha
ataeva maya tare deya samsaradi-duhkha

Having forgotten Krishna, the soul wanders throughout the universe. Being thus covered by illusion, the soul goes through all kinds of material suffering.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.117)

You forget everything... Like, if you keep a piece of iron outside, it will rust and a magnet will not be able to attract it. We have forgotten Krishna since such a long time that Krishna cannot attract us. That is why we must always, at all times, chant the Name of Krishna.

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)

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