(6/11) Value Your Service Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Adhivas of Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's tirobhav
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 12 August 2018, morning, part 6
Translated from Bengali

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

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

'Humility, compassion, giving honour to others and giving up your own prestige — become qualified with these four qualities and chant the Holy Name.'

(Gitavali, Sri Siksastakam Giti, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

It is necessary to have these four qualities to chant Hari-kirtan. It is necessary to be humble, compassionate, to give honour to others, and it is necessary to give up name and fame. We must always remember this.

You have come to hear and chant about the Lord (to do sravan and kirtan of Bhagavat-katha, Hari-katha). If you hear and hear about the Lord, the Lord will give you something. But remember one thing: two things cannot go together. If you do what is favourable (anukul), you have to give up what is unfavourable (pratikul). You cannot do both together because unfavourable things will slowly destroy your devotion. Guru Maharaj also often said that if even a drop of something putrid falls into milk, all milk will be spoilt. The same is true for the world of devotion. If you come to the world of devotion but Kali Ma takes even some smallest place within you, you will not be able to stay there.

It is said that it is very difficult to give up your own prestige or good name, but all prestige can go away within a second. You can lose everything within a second. Always remember this. If you cannot understand these things, you will not be able to understand anything.

There are six kinds of essential vitamins in milk, but if you drink milk and at the same time also smoke, then no matter how much milk you drink, tobacco will destroy all nourishing properties of milk. So, if you practise what is favourable (sravan, kirtan and so on) but you have desires (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), madness (mada), illusion (moha), envy (matsarya) and cannot give them up, you will not get any result. Until and unless you can give these unfavourable things up, you will not be able to progress on the path of devotion. That is why Mahaprabhu always said that we must have good qualities.

It is said also in the scriptures that if you take prasad, the pancha-rog (the five-fold material diseases) will go away. Those who are diseased must do prasad-seva. It will not do just to eat vegetarian food. You eat some vegetarian food at home, your uninitiated wife cooks for you and so on – this will not do.

বিষয়ীর অন্ন খাইলে মলিন হয় মন ।
মলিন মন হৈলে, নহে কৃষ্ণ-নাম গ্রহণ ॥

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile, nahe krsna-nama grahana

'If you eat the food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot chant the Name of Krishna.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.278)

When an uninitiated person cooks or serves you food, they have some material desires and bad qualities inside, and if you eat food from their hands, those material desires and bad qualities will come to you. But those who are initiated always cook for Lord Govinda – they cook for the Lord, offer bhoga to the Lord and give you the Lord's prasad after that. This is not the same as eating some vegetarian food from the hands of an uninitiated wife. You must understand and know this.

I have seen today that many of you came from shopping and went inside the kitchen. I was very sad to see this. And you have taken initiation. I saw you coming from outside, taking your shoes off and strolling into the kitchen. It is a very big offence. The Deities' room and the Deities' kitchen are two very sensitive places. You cannot go there randomly whenever you feel like. You must clean your hands and feet and then only enter there. It is not a place where your own food is cooked or stored. It is the kitchen of the Lord. You cannot go there. It is the kitchen of Lord Nrisingha, Prahlad Maharaj and Gaura Nitai. It is not your kitchen.

It is necessary to always follow viddhi-marga (formal rules and regulations). If you abruptly go to raga-marga, you will become a sahajiya (imitationist). Only when you consistently follow viddhi-marga can you enter raga-marga, and you can become a paramahamsa, far beyond viddhi-marga.

When I came to the temple, I became the manager within two years, and during all these years, I entered the Deities' room only two–three times. The first time was when there was a flood in 2000. I went into the Deities' room to help take the Deities upstairs. When the flood subsided, I went there to clean the room. And the second time was when we were painting the temple and I had to go inside to show the painter what to do. The third time was when they broke the locks and stole some Deities' paraphernalia. The police stood outside, and I went inside and showed what had been damaged or stolen. These were the three times I went there during the twenty-eight years since I came to the temple. As for the kitchen, I also went there very seldom. I did my service. Only when I was making temples, I taught devotees what to cook. But I do visit the outbuilding kitchens. It is necessary to always busy yourself with your service. If you make offences to service, service will go away from you.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 46.6 Mb
Length: 97 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Genuine Relation with Sri Guru
2) Pleasing Gurudev
3) Giving Gurudev Place In Your Heart
4) Gurudev's Transcendental Care
5) Live In the World of Faith
6) Value Your Service Life
7) Power of Genuine Devotion
8) Give Wholesale Attention
9) Harmonising Wisely
10) Seva-Sprha
11) My Humble Prayer to You