Chaste and Sincere Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
8 February 2017, Sri Ekachakra Dham
Translated from Bengali

When Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu were in Kalna, they came to the house of Gauri Das Pandit. Having taken prasadam, They were about to leave, but Gauri Das Pandit said, "To come here was Your desire, but it is my desire that You do not leave—I cannot let You leave." Suddenly, there appeared Deities—Gauri Das Pandit looked behind and saw Deities standing there. Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu asked him, "Who will stay?" Gauri Das Pandit was puzzled—in front of him there were Gaura Nitai and behind him there were Gaura Nitai. Those Deities of Gaura Nitai are still there in Kalna. The sakti (power) of Nityananda, Jahnavi and Vasudha, also came from Kalna.

I was telling yesterday also how Gunarnava Misra committed offence at the feet of Nityananda Prabhu, at the feet of Ramdas Minaketan. Because Ramdas Minaketan was Nityananda Prabhu's servitor, Gunarnava Misra did not show any respect to him (he did not like Nityananda Prabhu). He could not recognise who Nityananda Prabhu was. The brother of Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami (who had invited Gunarnava Misra to their house) supported Gunarnava Misra. Ramdas Minaketan came to Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami and said to him, "What is your brother doing? What kirtan is he doing? Who does he worship? He shows respect to One, but not to the Other?" After that, when Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami went to bed, Nityananda Prabhu called him, "Listen, Krishna Das! Do not stay in Jhamatpur any longer, come to Vrindavan!" And Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami left for Vrindavan...

If we can spend this whole life engaged in the service of the Lord, in the service of our Guru, Vaishnavs, Bhagavan, we will attain happiness.

জীবে দয়া, নামে রুচি, বৈষ্ণব সেবা ।
ইহা বহি সনাতন নাহি আর ধর্ম্ম ॥

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva
iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

"Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name, and serve the Vaishnavs. Sanatan, besides this, there is no other religion."

You have read the Gita—Krishna says there, "If you worship Kali, Durga, Ganesh, Laksmi, whoever you worship, you are actually worshipping Me, but incorrectly [not following the prescribed process]."

অন্য অভিলাষ ছাড়ি, জ্ঞান কর্ম্ম পরিহরি,
কায়মনে করিব ভজন ।
সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণসেবা, না পূজিব দেবী-দেবা,
এই ভক্তি পরম কারণ ॥

anya abhilasa chhadi, jnana karma parihari
kaya-mane kariba bhajana
sadhu-sange krsna-seva, na pujiba devi-deva
ei bhakti parama karana

"The topmost process of devotional service is to worship the Lord with body and mind, giving up desires for fruitive activities and mental speculation. One should serve Lord Krsna in the association of devotees without worshipping any demigods."

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur's explanation of Srila Rupa Goswami's verse above)

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"Sraddha is firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.62)

Your debt to mother, father, sages, demigods, all your debts are cleared—if you worship Krishna, you do not have to worship any gods or demigods. You have heard also how Gopal said in Vrindavan, "Worship Govardhan! Why are you worshipping Indra? I am Govardhan!"

We must understand these things. We must be chaste, we must be sincere, we must accept these teachings. Taking shelter of Guru and Vaishnavs, serving the Guru and Vaishnavs is what is called bhajan (service). If you serve the jiva souls, the soul must get benefit. Following the whims of your mind in the name of service is not service—following the Guru and Vaishnavs, serving the Guru and Vaishnavs, satisfying them is called bhajan.

How long will we be in this world, tell me? Since time immemorial we have been averse to Krishna, and now, having crossed 8,400,000 species, we have got this very rare human birth:

দুর্লভ মানব জন্ম লভিয়া সংসারে ।
কৃষ্ণ না ভজিনু দুঃখ কহিব কাহারে ॥

durlabha manava janma labhiya samsare
krsna na bhajinu duhkha kahiba kahare?

"I have got a very rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Whom can I tell of my misery?"

We do not say that you are not allowed to have a family—we say that you must not engage in karma. Somebody can ask then, "If I am not allowed to engage in karma, it means I cannot go to work, I cannot do business?" It is not so. You must do what you do, but do it as service. If you engage in karma (if you do something pursuing the result for your own purpose), you will be bound by that karma and the result of bondage of karma is suffering in hell(!). You must do what you do but do it as service. A cat may carry a mouse in its mouth and the same cat may also carry its own kitten in its mouth—it looks the same, does it not? But the motive is not the same.

আত্মেন্দ্রিয়প্রীতি-বাঞ্ছা—তারে বলি 'কাম' ।
কষ্ণেন্দ্রিয়প্রীতি-ইচ্ছা ধরে 'প্রেম' নাম ॥

atmendriya-priti-vancha—tare bali 'kama'
krsnendriya-priti-ichchha dhare 'prema' nama

"The desire to gratify one's own senses is kama (lust), but the desire to please the senses of Lord Krishna is prema (love)."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 4.165)

If you do something for your own pleasure, that is karma.

নিজের পোষণ কভু না ভাবিব
রহিব ভাবের ভরে ।

nijera posana, kabhu na bhaviba,
rahiba bhavera bhare

"I will never think about my own maintenance; I will always remain within the shelter of loving attachment for You."

"I will never think about my own self."

False renunciates say, "I will not stay in the temple, I will go to a jungle—I will stay and practise meditation there." They will end up in "Gita samsara"... They may go to a jungle, but their stomach will go with them! You must leave false renunciation and accept proper renunciation, you must do service. What service have we done at the temple of our Guru Maharaj? How much have we been able to serve the temple of our Guru Maharaj? We must think about this.

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