Distraction of Attraction

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
21 February 2017, Tarakeswar
Bengali evening class, part 3

Who can do the kirtan of the Lord (who can chant the Holy Name of the Lord, who can glorify the Lord)?

দৈন্য, দয়া, অন্যে মান, প্রতিষ্ঠা বর্জ্জন ।
চারিগুণে গুণী হই করহ কীর্ত্তন ॥

dainya, daya, anye mana, pratistha-varjana
chari-gune guni hai karaha kirtana

"Humility, mercy, consideration for others, and giving up position are the four qualities needed to perform kirtan."

Those who can be humble and merciful to others, who can respect and give honour to others, and who can reject pratistha, name and fame. It is necessary to become detached from the material world,

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 Madhav Himself."

('Vaishnav ke?' verse 12)

You must have no material attachment but keep relation with the Lord, then you will see everything as Madhava. You live in a house, but you must understand that it is not your house, you are only a security guard. You must keep this relation. The property of the Lord needs to be guarded and you are doing it, do not consider it your house.

বিষয়ে যে প্রীতি এবে আছয়ে আমার ।
সেই মত প্রীতি হউক চরণে তোমার ॥

visaye ye priti ebe achhaye amara
sei-mata priti hauk charane tomara

"May I have the same affection and attraction to your feet that I now have for material things."

(Gitavali, 4.5, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

If you have some desires, it must be desire to do everything for the satisfaction of Krishna (Krishna-karmapana)—whatever you have is for the service of the Lord. When you cook, you should cook for the Lord; when you do business, do it for the Lord; you go to work, do it for the Lord—do everything for the Lord. Those who have such mood are devotees of Krishna. If you do not become a devotee of Krishna, you cannot serve devotees of Krishna, so you must become a devotee of Krishna, then it will be possible to serve a devotee of Krishna.

It is actually very hard to give up attachment—we want to give up material attachment, but so many years pass and we have not been able to do it. We cannot give up attachment to our family, home, wife, children, etc.

One time, two sadhus came to Haridwar and were sitting on the bank of the Ganges. In Haridwar, the water in the Ganges is very shallow but the current is very fast. Suddenly they noticed something black floating down the river. One sadhu said to the other one, "Look, it is a blanket! Let's take it out, we can dry and use it." The other sadhu said, "OK, you go."

So, the sadhu went into the river to catch the blanket but it turned out that it was not a blanket—it is was a black bear. The bear got caught in the swift current of the river and could not get out—it wanted to save itself, but it cannot get out of the river, it had to catch hold of something. The bear was very strong, so when it caught the sadhu, it did not let him go and the sadhu could not get out. The sadhu who stayed on the bank of the Ganges, shouted, "Let the blanket go! Come out!" the sadhu struggling in the water shouted back, "I am letting the blanket go but it does not let me go!"

In the same way, we too want to give up the material things but the material world does not let us go. Such is our condition.

বিষয়ে যে প্রীতি এবে আছয়ে আমার ।
সেই মত প্রীতি হউক চরণে তোমার ॥

visaye ye priti ebe achhaye amara
sei-mata priti hauk charane tomara

"May I have the same affection and attraction to your feet that I now have for material things."

(Gitavali, 4.5, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

How can you understand that you have devotion? We must have that same pulling attraction to the Lord that we have towards our sons, daughters, and wife. If we think and regret that we have not been able to engage in service, if we think about it, if we feel such kind of pull towards service, then love will come, and then you will be able to understand that you have some devotion.

When you go to school after ten years you take an exam and you can see your result and get a certificate, but how can you get a certificate here? You can ask yourself, "Do I like listening to Hari-katha or I like hearing different stories and watching TV series? What do I prefer doing?" If you like listening to Hari-katha, then you can understand that some devotion, some attraction and attachment to Krishna is coming.

It is necessary to surrender to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. Always remember this.

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