Devotional Business

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Govardhan Parikrama, Day One
7 November 2018, part 3

If you do not understand the meaning of kirtans, it will not stay in your mind then. When you chant, you must understand the meaning of the kirtan, then it will stay in your heart. If you do not understand something, you can ask about it. For example, we chant in the 'Vibhavari Sesa' kirtan 'Makhana-taskara'—what does it mean? 'Taskara' means 'a thief'.

ravanantakara makhana-taskara gopi-jana-vastra-hari
vrajera rakhala gopa-vrnda-pala chita-harivamsi-dhari

As Ramachandra, He is the destroyer of Ravan. Krishna is a butter-thief and the stealer of the gopis' clothes. He is a cow- herd boy in Vraja, and the protector of the other cowherd boys. He is a flute player who steals the hearts of all.

Anyhow, we have come here to this Aanyor village, we are paying our obeisance here and going now to Govinda Kunda in a village called Kothari. Mahaprabhu said,

vrndavane giya na thakiya chira kala
govardhane uthiya na dekhiya gopala

"When you go to Vrindavan, do not stay there for a long time and do not climb the Govardhan Hill to see Gopal."

Why did He tell not to stay there for a long time? Because if, seeing the behaviour and practices of the Vraja-basis, you want to become like them, you will become sahajiya and lose all knowledge of devotion (bhakti-jnan). Have you not ever thought about it? New devotees now come to the temple and start chanting "Radhe! Radhe!" Gurudev could not stand it. How does the saying go? Mukhe bole ra-ra-ra, dui nayane bahe dhara (মুখে বলে রা-রা-রা- দুই নয়নে বহে ধারা)—those who behold Srimati Radharani cannot even pronounce Her Name, they keep saying "Ra-ra-ra." This is told about Mahaprabhu Himself. He is the combined form of Srimati Radharani and Krishna, but He used to say, "Ra-ra," and when He saw Jagannath, He could not even say "Jagannath," He kept saying "Ja-ja, ga-ga." Yet our people come and start saying "Radhe! Radhe!"—are you Vraja-basis now? You must say "Gaura Haribol", "Hare Krishna." Do you think it is so easy to take the Name of Radharani?

When people say "Radhe Radhe" they come to you saying "Give me money!" Externally, they say "Radhe Radhe," but internally, what they are saying is "Money, money." Nobody likes to hear me say these things, and it is true that we should not tell unpleasant truths, but sometimes there is no way to avoid it. Such are the devotees of Kali-yuga.

On the one hand, you can see ** Prabhu—we came to Govardhan a few days ago, but he got to eat only yesterday, all the other days he was so busy with service that he did not even get time to eat! There is no want of food, etc. at the temple, even when devotees need anything, they can tell about it, but he did not ask for anything. How much some devotees serve. On the other hand, there are also devotees who practise Krishna consciousness on their own, observe all niyom-seva rules, do parikrama of Govardhan once and think they will go to Goloka Vrindavan! Before this happens, what must there be? Chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba (ছাড়িয়া বৈষ্ণব-সেবা নিস্তার পায়েছে কেবা)—without service to Vaishnavs, nobody can get any relief.

Do you know why Mahaprabhu sent Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami here? He told them to stay here and write books, preach Krishna consciousness, and arrange for a place to stay and prasadam for those who come from West Bengal, Bangladesh and other places. So, the duty of those who stay here in Vrindavan is to serve the sadhus who come from Bengal and other places—to give them a place to stay and to give them prasadam. This is what Sriman Mahaprabhu taught Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami. But many come here and become babajis—people become babajis and roam around looking for matajis and chanting "Money, money!"

One time, somebody asked Srila Guru Maharaj (Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj), "There are so many monkeys in Vrindavan—who were they in their previous life?" Srila Guru Maharaj said, "Those monkeys were babajis in their previous life." Monkeys always want to take your things away, and babajis come to people's houses, grasp their feet, eat nicely, chant the Holy Name(?) and keep coming to the Vraja-basis saying "Radhe Radhe"—you give them ten rupees, they run their lives with that, and when the money finishes, they go begging again.

বৈরাগীর কৃত্য—সদা নাম-সঙ্কীর্ত্তন ।
শাক-পত্র-ফল-মূলে উদর-ভরণ ॥

vairagira krtya—sada nama-sankirtana
saka-patra-phala-mule udara-bharana

"The duty of a renunciate is to always engage in Nama-sankirtan, and maintain your stomach with vegetables, leaves, fruit, and roots."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.226)

True renunciates do not expect anything from others. They know that if the Lord wants, He will provide prasadam. Those who do service, do not need to worry about prasadam, etc.—everything is provided for them.

At the outskirts of Sri Aanyor village.

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