Proper Care

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
4 January 2019, part 2

You are all fortunate souls because you chant the Holy Name, this Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and practise Krishna consciousness near Lord Nrisinghadev. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita told,

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"Having travelled throughout the universe and got the mercy of Guru, Krishna, a fortunate soul receives a seed of the devotional creeper."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.151)

Only a fortunate soul can receive this devotional seed (bhakti-lata-bij) from a perfect guru. However, sometimes we receive the seed, but we do not take care of the seed, sometimes we do not give water. 'Water' means sravanam, kirtanam. The problem comes when we do not practise sadhu-sanga, Nama-sankirtana, Bhagavata-sravana, Mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana ("devotees' association, chanting the Holy Name of the Lord, hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, residing at Mathura and worshipping the Deity with faith).

Sravanam and kirtanam are the main things in our spiritual life, they are the highest practices. Sravanam and kirtanam are always like water. If we do not practise sravan and kirtan properly, we will forget everything: if we do not practise properly, we will forget our service, we will forget our practising life. Maya Devi is always searching for a vacancy—she can attack you at any time.

By your fortune, by the mercy of Gurudev, some of you have got this connection and have already started to practise. We are also practitioners, we do not think that we are gurus, that we are great Vaishnavs. This is not our identification. We are also practitioners of Krishna consciousness, we also practise devotional activities. We also have to be careful—Maya Devi always sits near us and she can attack us at any time; she can take us away from the service of Krishna and use for her own service.

মায়ারে করিয়া জয় ছাড়ান না যায় ।
সাধু-গুরুর কৃপা বিনা না দেখি উপায় ॥

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya
sadhu-gurur krpa vina na dekhi upaya

"It is not possible to conquer maya by engaging in maya. I see no other way to get relief except for the mercy of sadhus."

('Ki rupe paibe seva', Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

There is no other way except the mercy of sadhu and Guru by which we can overcome attacks of Maya. Maya always gets her power from Krishna—you know that Krishna Himself said, "I created Maya, that is why it is very difficult to conquer Maya. You cannot defeat Maya. There is only one way to defeat her—how?"

দৈবী হ্যেষা গুণময়ী মম মায়া দুরত্যয়া ।
মামেব যে প্রপদ্যন্তে মায়ামেতাং তরন্তি তে ॥

daivi hy esa gunamayi, mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante, mayam etam taranti te

"My alluring, 'trimodal,' illusory potency is practically insurmountable. However, those who take shelter in Me can overcome this powerful obstacle."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

Lord Krishna said, "If you can fully surrender to Me—causeless, without any condition—then Maya will automatically run away."

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