Hold Your Ground

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Speaking to devotees in Caracas, Venezuela
20 October 2018, Dum Dum Park, part 4

You should tell this to everybody very strongly,

চারি বর্ণাশ্রমী যদি কৃষ্ণ নাহি ভজে ।
স্বকর্ম্ম করিলেও সে রৌরবে পড়ি মজে ॥

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje
svakarma karileo se raurave padi maje

"Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager, or worker) or asram (a celibate, householder, renouncer of the household life, or monk) you may belong to, if you do not worship Krishna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.26)

Who told that? Mahaprabhu. This is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's preaching. Whatever caste, creed, ashram you live in—even brahmachari, even grihastha, even sannyasi, even vanaprastha, even brahman, even ksatriya, even vaisya, even sudra—if you do not worship the Lord, you will go to hell. Mahaprabhu told this.

Also tell them this. Who can chant the Holy Name? Dainyata, daya—only those who are kind, who are humble, who can give honour to others, who can avoid name and fame (pratistha) can chant the Holy Name, otherwise not—someone may chant the Holy Name, but if they do not have these qualities that will not be the Holy Name. Mahaprabhu also said that if a devotee or someone comes, you should give them some prasadam, and if not possible, then at least you can tell them some sweet words.

You must have some space in your heart to keep your Gurudev there. That is always my earnest request to everyone—give some space in your heart for your Guru, for the Lord. But this is Kali-yuga—in this world so many people always think about name and fame, so many people are always behind kanak (money) and kamini (women)...

Give some love and affection to others. I am always with you all. I am always at your service. You can remember me at any moment—I am always with you. You may be physically far from here, but you always stay in my heart.

It is always necessary to keep good association and always avoid bad association. When I first joined the temple, I did not know anything about Krishna consciousness. One devotee (now I understand that he is not a perfect devotee) told me, "Why did you come to the temple? You are well-educated, why did you leave your job? You can get your job back, get married and make your own house." I thought, "That man is not helping me." He told me that I was a small boy, so I should sleep in his room. I stayed with him one night and then he started telling me those things. Although I was new, I understood that I had come to serve the Guru and Vaishnavs—I came to this line and wanted to be a brahmachari, but that man told me, "Why have you come here? Brahmachari life is very difficult. Who will take care of you when you become old if you have no money, if you have no property and wealth?" He told me many things that night, but I thought, "He is not helping me. That man is saying the same thing that Maya Devi is saying. Better I not sleep with him. Better I sleep alone." I was a new person and I was afraid to stay alone in a room—it is a big temple area, nobody in the entire building, there could be some ghost, etc.—but still I did not go to him again. I would speak to him sometimes, but other than that I always kept distance. Sometimes he asked me why I was not coming to him, but I would just say, "OK, OK, no problem, I will come, I will come."

Then, you must understand that you should talk to those who speak Krishna-katha, not gramya-katha. Sometimes people cannot understand what is gramya-katha and what is Krishna-katha. If you do not not surrender to your Guru properly, you will not be able to understand your Guru. If you cannot surrender to the Lord properly, you will not be able to understand the Lord. If you do not surrender to a Vaishnav, you will not be able to understand that Vaishnav. Even Brahma said, "I cannot recognise who is a real Vaishnav."

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