Aloof and Focused

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham, speaking online to Venezuela
May 2015

If the senses are not controlled, you will get much suffering.

কাম-ক্রোধ আদি ছয় বাটপাড়ে দেয় ভয়
অবসান হৈল আসি বেলা

kama-krodha-adi chaya batapare deya bhaya
avasana haila asi bela

I am attacked by the six highway robbers lead by kama and krodha, and my life is coming to its end...

"Anadi karama-phale" by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur

Kama, lust, krodha, anger, lobha, greed, moha, attachment, etc. are a source of unhappiness. You want something, thinking, "I need this," but when you do not get it you become dissatisfied, unhappy, and your mind goes haywire. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told about it this, and I read it to you. If you cannot control your senses, you will not be able to do anything.

"When will Nityananda Prabhu be merciful to me? When will He force me to leave my pride and give me the shade of His feet?" [Pv, 10.16]

"Pride is the path to hell. Carefully avoid it, and humbly immerse yourself in the lotus feet of Radha and Govinda." [Pv, 10.15]

"The Lord bestows greater mercy upon the humble, and pride and humility do not co-exist." [Pv, 10.14]

"Withdraw your affection from the world."

Did you hear that?

"Withdraw your affection from the world and dedicate it to the lotus feet of Krishna." [Pv, 10.12]

"Brother, when you give up your pride, you will give up the world, and when you give up the world, your heart will become pure." [Pv, 10.11]

Otherwise your heart will not become pure... Those who are proud do not give respect to the Vaishnav devotees, they do not even have any regard for religion or irreligion: "Out of pride, they always remain idle and commit sins." [Pv, 10.5]

"Remember, glorify, and serve the Lord, and be kind to all beings. Do all this as a proper renunciant." [Pv, 9.34]

"Krishna may not give you friends and relatives, or He may give them and then take them away. Accept all such conditions as a source of joy." [Pv, 9.35]

The Lord gave you a wife, children, brothers, sisters, etc., He has given you everything. Having got everything you wanted, you forget the Lord, but the Lord can also take it all away from you and give you unhappiness instead. You can be given joy, you can be given sorrow, it is in the Lord's hands. People in this world do not understand it—they get everything they want (a house, a car, money, a guru, etc.), and as soon as they get it, they forget the Lord.

How beautifully it is written here:

"Krishna may not give you friends and relatives, or He may give them and then take them away. Accept all such conditions as a source of joy." [Pv, 9.35]

The Lord can take everything away from you, is it not? One day somebody is a king, next day he is a street beggar; one day somebody is a street beggar, next day he is a king. Such is the Lord's play.

"Consider your friends and relatives servants of Krishna, care for them as well as you care for yourself, and speak to them sweetly." [Pv, 9.33]

On the other hand, there are also people who on the pretext of service to the Lord, service to the Deity, serve visaya, their material desires.

যথাযোগ্য বিষয় ভুঞ্জ' অনাসক্ত হঞা

yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

Enjoy material things (visaya) as appropriate remaining detached from them.

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.238

You can take what is necessary to maintain your family, but without attachment to it.

What are the obstacles to our devotion?

1) Atyahar (অত্যাহার), eating too much.
2) Prayasa (প্রয়াস), saving money for future.
3) Prajalpa (প্রজল্প), taking nonsense with nondevotees.
4) Niyamagraha (নিয়মাগ্রহ), not doing what is in favour of devotion, and doing what is not in favour of devotion.
5) Laulya (লৌল্য), too much hankering, material desires, too much greed. And,
6) Janasanga (জনসঙ্গ), bad association.

Mahaprabhu told Raghunath Das Goswami, "Stay at home and always chant the Name of Krishna. As appropriate, interact with the world, remaining detached." [Pv, 9.19] You must be detached—you are staying at home, and you will be using money and other things, but you must be detached from it.

আসক্তিরহিত সম্বন্ধসহিত ।
বিষয়সমূহ সকলি মাধব ॥

'asakti-rahita,' 'sambandha-sahita,'
visaya-samuha sakali 'madhava'

When you are free from material attachment and establish relationship with the Lord, then you will see that everything around you is Lord Mādhav Himself.

'Vaishnav ke?' verse 12

Be detached (asakti) and maintain proper vision (sambandha).

"Those who Krishna is pleased with and blesses are truly fortunate within this world." [Pv, 9.12]

"The supreme mood of Goloka appears in their hearts, they attain Goloka in Gokula, and maya falls away from them." [Pv, 9.13]

Do not engage in false renunciation: it is not necessary to show others you are renounced; you must be a vairagi at heart. False, or show-off, renunciation is very bad. There are many 'renunciants' like this on the street—they wear tilak, do mala, play kartals, etc. They say they do one lakh Harinam every day, but they cannot even chant the full mantra, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare." They go, "Hare Krishna Rama Rama Hare Hare"...

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