(11/16) With Faith and Surrender

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ganga Sagar, evening class,
11 January 2019, part 11
Translated from Bengali

You have been listening for a long time today – do you have any questions? [Clamour coming from the kitchen] Why is everyone talking so much over there? Speak less! Only chant, 'Krishna', 'Krishna'. When you serve the Lord, you must chant, 'Krishna', 'Krishna' – listen to Hari-katha and do service with your hands. 'Sevonmukhe kaha Krsna Nam (সেবোন্মুখে কহে কৃষ্ণনাম). Chant the Holy Name with service mood.' Always chant Krishna's Holy Name when you do service, then it will be proper. Did you understand?

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

'My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We never think that we can die even at this very moment. Pariksit Maharaj got a seven-day notice that he had to die, but we do not know if we will leave in the next seven minutes or not – we will not get any notification. Only a fortunate soul can get this notification, but I do not know if I will die in the next seven days or seven minutes or not. Khatvanga Maharaj had only forty-eight minutes to live. Demigods came from heaven and told him, 'Maharaj, we have defeated the demons and returned our kingdom with your help. Please tell us what boon you would like get from us.' They actually wanted to give him heaven, but Khatvanga Maharaj replied, 'You are going to give me heaven, but first tell me how long I will live.' Then, the gods told him, 'Oh, you only have forty-eight minutes (one muhurta) left to live...' Khatvanga Maharaj said, 'Only forty-eight minutes? I will not lose a second then! I am taking shelter in the Lord.' He came to the Lord in this way.

It is not so easy to come to the Lord. If you keep a piece of iron outside, it will become rusty – the longer it is kept outside, the rustier it will become. If a piece of iron is very rusty, a magnet will not be able to attract it. In the same way, Krishna attracts us, but because our hearts are so dirty and rusty, we do not feel that attraction. We think that we have understood so many things, that we know so many things. The problem is that we have no surrender (saranagati).

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ।
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥
ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥
ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার ।
তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara
sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yahara
tahara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

'(1) Humility, (2) self-submission, (3) accepting that the Lord is your maintainer, (4) keeping faith that “Krishna will certainly protect”, (5) engaging only in what is favourable to devotion, (6) rejecting what is unfavourable to devotion. Lord Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender in these six ways.'

We chant this saranagati kirtan every day. There are six types, or limbs, of surrender. The problem is that we do what is favourable to devotion and at the same time we also do what is not favourable to devotion. Both cannot go together. If you do both, it is useless – if you continue like that, these unwanted branches (upasakha) will not allow your seed of devotion to grow. When you plant and take care of a tree, you must water it and you must also cut unwanted branches, then the tree will grow tall and strong. Such unwanted branches always appear on a tree on their own, and it is necessary to cut them off; in our devotional line, there are also some unwanted elements that will always keep appearing.

Therefore, we must always listen to what pure devotees say and we must always talk about pure devotees. They are always busy with the service to the Lord – without thinking about their own enjoyment, they always give their hearts and souls to serve the Lord. They leave everything and only serve the Lord. We must surrender to such souls. Without surrender to them, you cannot get any result or benefit. Service must be done out of love for them – we must serve the Lord out of love for the Lord. It is necessary to have faith and devotion.

Once, somebody told me, 'Maharaj, how am I to worship the Deities? I do not know any mantras...' I told him, 'That is your mantra. When you offer bhoga to the Deities, you should pray, "O Lord! I do not know any mantras, I do not have anything worthy to give You – I am extremely poor and bereft..."' You may offer only some plain boiled rice and sak, but that is the mantra you offer it with. What mantras do you need? When a mother feeds her child, does she do with with any mantras? When a wife feeds her husband, does she put food on the plate and sit down to recite mantras with folded palms? They do not. They feed their child or their husband like that. Then what mantra do you need to feed the Lord? Devotion and faith must come from heart. Then, when you offer bhoga to the Lord, you will arrange it nicely. The Lord Himself says, 'If a devotee offers me with faith a Tulasi leaf and some Ganges water, I accept it.'

[To a devotee] I saw you making some mistake – why do you throw away Tulasi leaves? Sahajiyas do this. You put Tulasi leaves when you make the offering, so those Tulasi leaves are offered, too. You must not take the leaves out and throw them away. There is no such prescribed rule (vidhi) – rather, it is a wrong rule (avidhi). When you offer something to the Lord, you put a Tulasi leaf on the offered item; after that, you distribute the leaves to devotees. You can also place a Tulasi leaf on the chest of the Lord. We offer something to the Lord and then receive it as His prasad – we remember the Lord and take it. 'Prasada-seva karite haya sakala prapancha-jaya (প্রসাদ-সেবা করিতে হয় সকল প্রপঞ্চ জয়): by honouring the Lord's prasad I shall conquer all worldly illusions' (Saranagati).'Prapancha' means five (pancha) diseases (roga): avidya (ignorance), asmita (false identification), raga (misdirected love), dvesa (aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment), and abhinivesa (being unable to give up unfavourable habits). 'Avidya' means any knowledge (vidya) except for devotion to Krishna.

জড়বিদ্যা যয়, মায়ার বৈভব,
তোমার ভজনে বাধা ।
মোহ জনমিয়া অনিত্য সংসারে,
জীবকে করিয়ে গাধা ॥

jada-vidya yata, mayara vaibhava,
tomara bhajane badha
moha janamiya, anitya samsare,
jivake karaye gadha

"All mundane learning is a manifestation of illusion (maya) and an obstacle to Your service. It brings about infatuation with the temporary world and turns the soul into an ass."

(Saranagati, 3.3)

If you do something for your own pleasure, it is not service to the Lord. Only if you do something out of love for the Lord will it be service.

আত্মেন্দ্রিয়প্রীতি-বাঞ্ছা—তারে বলি 'কাম' ।
কষ্ণেন্দ্রিয়প্রীতি-ইচ্ছা ধরে 'প্রেম' নাম ॥

atmendriya-priti-vanchha—tare bali 'kama'
krsnendriya-priti-ichchha dhare 'prema' nama

'The desire to gratify one's own senses is kama (lust), but the desire to please the senses of Lord Krishna is prema (divine love).'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.4.165)

You must always remember this. You must learn this, know and understand this. If you think, 'I know everything', 'I understand everything' – this is not good. You must do service with faith and surrender.

— : • : —

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Keep Trying
2) Highest Realm of Devotion
3) Bribing and Increasing Stool
4) What Is a Soul?
5) Service with Faith and Love
6) Core of Devotion
7) Set Your Heart for Govinda
8) Think and Learn
9) Think about Your Soul
10) Sadhya-Sadhan-Tattva
11) With Faith and Surrender
12) Surrender and Learn
13) Bhakta-Seva Pravritti
14) See Good and Do Good
15) See Through It
16) 'Lord Exists for Those Who Have Devotion'