(4/4) Escape Ratty Life

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

Read books  – it is better than going to hear other things, to hear what others are saying. Do not listen to others. There are so many misconceptions. People say they are Vaishnavs, they are Vaishnav sampradaya, they are Sri sampradaya, they are 'idli' sampradaya, they are this, that. People say so many things, but they do not follow properly what Mahaprabhu told – they do not follow the pure conception, and they do not tell about Mahaprabhu's pure conception.

Some sampradaya says, 'Become a Krishna-bhakta!' But we are not Krishna-bhakta (devotees of Krishna)! What is the pure conception? 'Radhara dasira Krsna sarva-vede bole (রাধার দাসীর কৃষ্ণ সর্ব্ব বেদে বলে). Krishna is the property of the maidservants of Srimati Radharani. All Vedas say this.'

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ-ভজন তব অকারণ গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

'If you did not become devoted to the worship of Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna was in vain.'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Therefore, if you do not worship devotees and proper servants of devotees, that is not good. You must be a servant of devotees. It is not necessary to be a devotee of Krishna. Krishna Himself said, 'Those who say they are My devotees are not My devotees. Those who are devotees of My devotees are My dearmost.'

I was standing at the train station yesterday. The train was already coming, and we had to wait only, perhaps, five minutes for it to come. As I was standing and waiting on the platform, I saw many rats running here and there, and when some train pulled in, they quickly hid in their holes (their houses), and at that time I thought, 'Even these rats are happy with their houses.' Suppose you cook much opulent food, opulent prasad. If you bring a pig and try to give that prasad to it, it will not be happy; but if you give that pig a bucket of stool, it will be very happy. So, whether you live in a small house, in a multi-storey building with air conditioning or on the street, your days are passing as you are running everywhere living your life. Street dogs have no house, but they are passing their days, living their happy life. What is the difference between you and those dogs? Even rats eat, sleep and have a house in a hole under the train station – they also have a life, but what is the difference between their life and our life?

If you do not follow Krishna consciousness, what have you got this human body for then? What have we got these eyes, hands, head, brain, etc. for? If you do not use this body for Krishna consciousness – if you do not use these hands for the service to Krishna, if you do not use these legs to make the parikrama of the holy place – if you do not use in service to Krishna the instruments that Krishna has given you, then your life has no value, it is useless.

You have got a human body now – do not think that this is your last body. You will change your body again. What kind of body you will get in your next life depends on the result of your actions (karma). If you do not serve Krishna, you will get another body – you may go to heaven, you may go to hell. How many months, how many years, how many births and deaths you have been going through! You have been coming and going, and now you have finally got a human body. You must think what is necessary for yourself. Do not think always about your body. Air conditioner, hot water, this, that. No. Always think about yourself, always think about the jiva soul who you are. You are a jiva soul, you are not your body. Therefore, think about yourself and try to bring proper benefit to your jiva soul.

Therefore, those who are intelligent and who have got good association will search for Sri Krishna, where reality is beautiful. You want home comfort, you want to return back to home, back to Godhead. This here is not your home! Your father or grandfather built this house, and when they made it, they were the proprietors. Now you are the proprietor, and after you, your son (and then your grandson) will be the proprietor. You will not stay here forever. When you were born, you did not bring anything with you, and when your body falls dead, you will not take anything with you either. So, I do not know what for you are doing so much for your life here.

Do not waste your time. Do not think about tomorrow. Do not think, 'I will surrender tomorrow', 'I will take the Holy Name tomorrow.' You must realise that you can leave your body even in five minutes. Pariksit Maharaj got a seven days' notice before he died because he was fortunate: he got an opportunity to hear Srimad Bhagavatam during that time. But you do not know if you will get even seven minutes before you die. Khatvanga Maharaj also got a forty-eight minutes' notice, and he did not think about anything during that last time – he only surrendered to the Lord. All demigods came to him and wanted to give him heaven, but when he found out that there were only forty-eight minutes left in his lifetime, he thought, 'What will I do with heaven? Even if I take heaven now, I will still have to come back from there.' Hell and heaven are temporary – even if you go there, you will still have to come back from there. But when you come to your real home in Goloka Vrindavan, you will not have to come back from there – you will not have to be born and to die again; you will find your real home where you originally come from. You have been staying in so many places, swimming in so many material lives, coming and going, but you can get relief from that kind of situation...

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Path to Purification
2) What Is Good Association?
3) Stay Engaged in Service, Not Maya
4) Escape Ratty Life