Birth and Death (4):
No Fear

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham, India
14 March 2016

"কৃষ্ণকৃপা যাঁরে, তাঁরে কে রাখিতে পারে, krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare: Who can stop the one who has got mercy of Krishna?" (Cc, 2.16.241)

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu was a son of a very rich landlord. He and his father were the owners of this whole area from Kolkata to Nabadwip. Mahaprabhu took sannyas and come to Santipur, Advaita Prabhu's house, and from that day Srila Das Goswami Prabhu became attached to Mahaprabhu. He had tried to come to Him many times, but his father always took him back home because he worried, "Who will take care of all this property that I have?" Mahaprabhu also told him, "It is all right. Go back to your home, do not be crazy. It is not necessary to show false renunciation." His father found him a wife, as beautiful as a goddess, and married him to her (at that time they could not choose themselves, the parents always chose the wife).

অন্তরে নিষ্ঠা কর, বাহ্যে লোক-ব্যবহার ।
অচিরাৎ কৃষ্ণ তোমায় করিবে উদ্ধার ॥

antare nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara
achirat krsna tomaya karibe uddhara

"Be fixed internally, and behave like everyone else externally. Krishna will rescue you soon."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 16.239)

[Mahaprabhu told Das Goswami Prabhu:] "You should show everybody you do not care and stay as a householder, but in your heart you will always think about Me, and Krishna will give you His mercy. Krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare (কৃষ্ণকৃপা যাঁরে, তাঁরে কে রাখিতে পারে): Who can stop the one who has got mercy of Krishna?" (Cc, 2.16.241)

Anyhow, he finally got the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu and went to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu gave him service, told him to do Vaishnav seva, serve the Vaishnavs. You know what happened after that.

He wrote, "Nija-nikata-nivasam dehi govardhana tvam (নিজনিকট-নিবাসং দেহি গোবর্দ্ধন ত্বম্): please, keep me near Govardhan..." He had so much chastity for Srimati Radharani—he could not accept anything that came from a competitor of Srimati Radharani (Chandravali). Once, a Vraja-basi brought him a leaf pot with buttermilk and he did not accept it because it came from Chandravali's kunda. He thought, "I am a worshipper of Radharani. I worship Krishna, but under the guidance of Srimati Radharani; and Chandravali worships only Lord Krishna without the guidance of Srimati Radharani."

You can see my example also. When I joined the temple, everybody in my village criticised me, "Oh, that boy has become crazy. He got a good education, a good job, but he left his job, he does not take care of his parents—he went to a temple and became a sannyasi! What is this?! What for did we give him education?" My aunt, uncle, cousins and others always criticised me, but fortunately my mother died without any austerity, without any problem. She died happily, but their mother died without any food, without any treatment or medicine. I did not personally serve my mother, but Krishna served her. It is Krishna's duty—Gurudev told me, "If you serve Vaishnavs, Krishna will come and serve you," and I believe it 200%.

Sometimes there are three brothers, sometimes two brothers, or sometimes four brothers, but when their father asks, "Give me some food," they tell him, "Go to another brother!" When he comes to another son, his other son says the same, "Go to another brother!" When they become old, they are kicked around like a football—the ball is kicked to one house, and from that house it is kicked to another house. So much suffering...

"Krsna-krpa yanre, tare ke rakhite pare (কৃষ্ণকৃপা যাঁরে, তাঁরে কে রাখিতে পারে): Who can stop the one who has got mercy of Krishna?" (Cc, 2.16.241)

Question: In this world there is so much misery, how to lose the fear of material existence?

Through service.

If you want relief from janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi (জন্ম-মৃত্যু-জরা-ব্যাধি, birth, death, disease, and old age problems), you must practise Krishna consciousness properly. The answer is simple, and this is also the main thing.

You must follow the rules and regulations properly. You should accept what is favourable to devotion and reject what is unfavourable to devotion. You cannot accept what is favourable and also accept what is unfavourable. Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that you cannot drink milk and take tamak (তামাক, hookah) at the same time.

It is necessary to do service with heart and soul.

Question: What does 'properly' mean?

If you have the proper eyes, you will be able to see it. You cannot see it with these material eyes—you must see it with the eyes that you have in your heart, these are the eyes that are necessary.

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