Trials and Tribulations (2)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Speaking online to devotees in Spain
8 September 2018, part 3

You can see that when you are going to do some service, some problem can come, some difficulty can come, but Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur writes,

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."

(Saranagati, 19)

We will not think about ourselves. If we think about our Gurudev, if we think about the Lord, the Lord will think about us—why is it necessary to think about ourselves? If you spend time on thinking about yourself, maintaining yourself, then you are losing your time—when will you get time to serve the Lord then? That is my question.

Have you heard Vasudev Vipra's story? How much tolerance Vasudev Vipra has! He had leprosy and so many insects lived in his body. The insects would eat his body and sometimes fell out of the sores, but Vasudev Vipra picked them up and put them back into his body again. He thought, "This body is useless, one day it will be ruined anyway, so if these insects are happy to eat my body, what is the problem for me?"

You know also the story of Gauridas Pandit. He lived and served Gaura Nitai in Kalna. He had a servitor named Chaitanya Das (later, his name became Hriday Chaitanya). This Chaitanya Das was not so educated, he did not know so much about the scriptures, but knew only how to serve his Guru, how to fulfil his Guru's desire.

One day, Gauridas Pandit told Chaitanya Das, his disciple, "The Deities are here and it is necessary to offer Them flowers every day. I have some land, but it is very difficult to make a flower garden there. Can you make a flower garden for the Deities?" Very happy to hear his Gurudev's order, Gurudev's desire, Chaitanya Das started making the flower garden.

In those days, there was not so much water, so people would have to bring it from the Ganges. So, every day Chaitanya Das went to the Ganges and would carry a big jar of water on his head to the temple. After a while, Gauridas Pandit thought, "I have told my disciple to make a garden. Let me see how he is getting on. He is always so busy with it that he does not even have time to come see me. I want to see that garden." So, he went to see the garden.

When Gauridas Pandit came to the garden, he became very happy, "So many good flowers blossoming! Very nice!" Gauridas Pandit was admiring the garden and waiting for his disciple, Chaitanya Das, to come back.

Soon, he saw Chaitanya Das coming slowly from afar, with a big jar of water on his head that he was bringing from the Ganges. As soon as Chaitanya Das saw his Gurudev, he removed the jar from his head, kept it on the ground and paid a full obeisance to his Gurudev. When Chaitanya Das was paying him an obeisance, Gauridas Pandit noticed that here was a big wound in his head infested with so many insects! Gauridas Pandit asked Chaitanya Das, "What has happened to your head?! You have such a big sore and so many insects, but you still carry water on your head! What has happened?" Chaitanya Das replied, "No, Gurudev, nothing has happened, nothing has happened." Gauridas Pandit immediately took him to a doctor who cleaned, bandaged his head and gave proper treatment.

Then, before his disappearance, Gauridas Pandit gave all charge of puja and other services to Chaitanya Das, but after Gauridas disappeared, many of his other disciples beat Chaitanya Das and kicked him out of the temple. Crying, Chaitanya Das walked away to Vrindavan. There, in Vrindavan, he would sit under a tree and chant the Holy Name.

After that, a big merchant (a big, rich man) had a dream one night. The Lord came to him and said, "My devotee has no house, he is sleeping under a tree. Can you make a house for him?" The next day, the merchant saw a man chanting the Holy Name under a tree and he asked him where he had come from, who he was, etc. Chaitanya Das told him everything. Then, the merchant asked him, "Can I make a house for you?" Chaitanya Das replied, "If you can make a house for Gaura Nitai, I will be very happy." Then, the merchant made a temple (house) for Gaura Nitai and Chaitanya Das. In this way, Chaitanya Das eventually became very famous, but the Kalna Temple of Gauridas has become ruined.

So, those who are great devotees do not think so much about the buildings and things—they only want to serve the Guru, want to distribute their Gurudev's message, their Guru Maharaj's message. That is the main thing, the main appropriate principle for them.

We must think about the service, we must think about preaching, we must think about the jiva souls. These are the main things for us.

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