(4/7) Srimad Bhagavad-Gita's Message

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Masulipatnam, Andhra Pradesh
6 January 2019, evening, part 4

[A devotee brings something to offer it to His Divine Grace]

No, offer this to the Lord, not to me! This is the property of Lord Krishna, I do not want to steal it! Srimad Bhagavad-gita told that those who have ego think, 'I am working', 'I am earning money', 'My wife is cooking', 'I am doing everything', but the fact is that you are not doing anything – Krishna is doing everything. Krishna also says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 'Everything that Brahma has created on My order exists for Me.' So, if you offer something to Krishna, to gurudev, then it will be nirguna – you will not get any reaction. I have told you earlier today that even when you drink a glass of water, you must think that this water comes from Lord Krishna. You may think that you are drinking this water because this water is for you, but it is not so. Sometimes we cannot make a proper offering, but we have to take something (drink some water, for example) – even at that time we must offer it remembering Krishna, remembering gurudev, then we can take it. If you do not do this, it means you steal Krishna's things. This is the main message of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. Therefore, when we take something, we do not take food, we are not eating; we offer everything to Krishna and we get His prasad.

All jiva souls want to serve Krishna. For example, you offer a garland to the Deities. Some garlands go to cremation places, some garlands go to wedding ceremonies or other festivals. But the flower plants that the garland you are offering is made of are fortunate because they get to be offered to Radha-Krishna. I have told previously that every day we kill many jiva souls for our own selves, and the reaction for that must come to us. Every action has equal and opposite reaction. But if you offer something to the Lord, no reaction will come.

Finally, Srimad Bhagavad-gita told,

সর্ব্বধর্ম্মান্ পরিত্যজ্য মামেকং শরণং ব্রজ ।
অহং ত্বাং সর্ব্বপাপেভ্যো মোক্ষয়িষ্যামি মা শুচঃ ॥

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

'Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

What does that mean? It does not mean that you must leave your job, leave your cooking and do nothing. No. It means that you must do everything for the Lord:

যৎ করোষি ষদশ্নাসি যজ্জুহোষি দদাসি যৎ ।
যত্তপস্যসি কৌন্তেয় তৎ কুরুষ্ব মদর্পণম্ ॥

yat karosi yad asnasi, yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya, tat kurusva mad-arpanam

'O Kaunteya, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give and whatever vow you may keep – do everything as an offering unto Me.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.27)

'Whatever you do, do everything for Me, not for yourself.' It is not necessary to leave everything (your wife, husband, family, everything), go to Rishikesh, live naked and chant the Holy Name, becoming a naga-sannyasi. This is false renunciation, or monkey renunciation. Monkeys also live naked, but if you go to Vrindavan, you will see that they always steal people's spectacles – externally, monkeys are very renounced (they are very 'tyagi': they do not wear any clothes and live in a very austere way), but whenever somebody passes by, they run to forcefully grab their things (fruit, spectacles, etc.). So, Srimad Bhagavad-gita tells us to give up karma, but it does not mean you must leave your job – it means that you must engage all your activities in service to Lord Krishna, then it will be service, not karma.

For example, in one house, the wife cooks for her husband and children; and in another house, a devotee cooks for the Lord and takes prasad after offering bhoga to the Lord. In both houses, they get food, but when you cook for the Lord, that becomes service, but in the other case, you cook for yourself, for your own purpose and the pleasure of your own senses. Pleasing the senses of the Lord is called service (seva), and pleasing your own senses is called lust (kama), or karma.

Sri Gurudev told that karma and service look the same. For example, a cat is carrying a rat in its mouth and later that same cat is carrying its kitten in its mouth: both actions look the same, but the implication is not the same because when the cat is carrying a rat, it is carrying it for its own food, but when it is carrying its kitten, it is not carrying it to eat it – the cat is carrying it for the service to the kitten.

— : • : —

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Loud and Loving Call
2) Transcending Bodily Existence
3) Why Do We Suffer?
4) Srimad Bhagavad-Gita's Message
5) Fulfil Your Quest
6) History of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math (1)
7) History of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math (2)