You Be an Instrument

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Translated from Bengali, part 11
27 January 2018, Sri Ekachakra Dham

You have heard what happened in Jhamatpur, about Gunarnava Misra and Ramdas Minaketan. One day, the brother of Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami arranged a big kirtan programme and invited a priest Gunarnava Misra who kept there a Deity of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, but not that of Nityananda Prabhu. When Ramdas Minaketan came there, Gunarnava Misra did not even give him a place to sit. Everyone acknowledged his arrival, but the priest remained busy with his puja. Then, Ramdas Minaketan went to Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami and said, "What is this? He gives respect to Gauranga, but not to Nityananda! Because I am a servant of Nityananda Prabhu, he did not even give me a place to sit. This is ardha-kukkuti nyaya (half-hen logic)!"

What does it mean? 'Kukkuti' means a hen. Half-hen logic means you keep the part that the hen gives eggs with and throw away the part that the hen eats with. This is called half-hen logic. It is written in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. I have heard about it from Srila Guru Maharaj, I asked him one day. If you cut the head of the hen, will you get any eggs from it? Therefore, if you give respect to one and not to the other, it is called half-hen logic.

That night, when the programme was over, Nityananda Prabhu gave a dream to Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, "Listen Krishna Das! Do not stay in Jhamatpur anymore, you must not associate with your brother, he is an atheist (pasanda, পাষণ্ড)! Come to Vrindavan!"

You cannot worship Gauranga and not worship Nityananda Prabhu. In the same way you cannot serve Krishna without Radharani. Once, one elderly devotee had an argument with Kolkata High Court judge over this matter. The judge said that in the scriptures there is only Krishna's Name, Radharani's Name is not mentioned anywhere, so why must we worship Radharani? The devotee called me and said, "Maharaj, I got your phone number, please save me! I have to prove to the judge that one cannot serve Krishna without serving Radharani." I told him some quotes from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Sri Chaitanya-bhagavatam, quotes of Param Guru Maharaj, Srila Prabhupad and the judge was convinced.

So, without service of Nityananda Prabhu you cannot serve Gauranga and without service of Radharani you cannot serve Krishna.

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ-ভজন তব অকারণ গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing."

When we were doing Nrisinghadev's temple, everybody said, "What is this? We worship Nrisinghadev here." I told them, "How can you worship Nrisinghadev alone? Laksmi Devi must be there too." That is what service in santa-rasa is.

Srila Guru Maharaj said also one thing, "We are only instruments."

Suppose you have a tractor, can a tractor run without a driver? It cannot—if you do not start the tractor, it will just stand there. In the same way, Gurudev and the Lord are the drivers and we are only Their instruments. There is a saying in Bengali also that says, "How can an musical instrument sound without a music player? (যান্ত্রিক না হলে যন্ত্র কেমন করে বাজে ?)" Suppose, you have a mobile phone and it rings, can you hear the person if you do not press the button? No. Only when you press the button can you hear anything in it. That is why, when you have a thing it is necessary to have those who operate that thing (if it is a music instrument, it is necessary to have a person who plays the instrument; if you have a mobile phone it is necessary to have a person who uses the phone). That is why, we must serve those who serve the Lord, we must serve the Lord's eternal servants. You cannot become a devotee without service to Vaishnavs, without service to Bhakti Devi. You cannot serve the Lord without service to Vaishnavs. Guru Maharaj also said that if you serve Vaishnavs, then the Lord Himself will come to serve you—the Lord Himself will come and do the service through you. It is necessary to have such faith, to always think about this.

'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 your mother, father, rishis (sages), demigods—all debts are cleared if you serve the Lord. No debt to your mother, father, ancestors, rishis (sages), demigods remains. Always remember this. If you serve the Lord, all debts are cleared.

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