(7/13) The Side-Tracked and the Drowning

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ganga Sagar, evening class,
Deity Manifestation Anniversary day
12 January 2019, part 7
Translated from Bengali

We want to leave visaya (material world and everything in it), but visaya does not want to leave us. In this regard, Srila Prabhupad told one story.

There were two sadhus who went to Haridwar in the winter. Many sadhus often go there; mostly, they are devotes of Lord Siva. Very few actually follow Lord Siva; most people imitate him – they tell bogus things and behave like heretics... There are groups that preach misconception (apa-sampradays) scattered all over the world: aul, baul, kartabhaja, neda, daravesa, saki, sahajiya, sakhibheki, smarta, jata-gosani, atibari, chudadhari, gauranga-nagari. We are told to never associate with these thirteen misconception schools.

When I was going to South India by train recently, the train stopped at some station on the way, and I saw there a big group of devotees, all dressed in black – black lunghis, black shirts, black pants and dhotis, black dresses, etc. Everyone was dressed in black. Some were wearing shoes, some where barefoot.

'What is this? Why are they all dressed in black?' I asked somebody on the train.

'Oh, they are a very big group in South India.'

'What group?' I asked.

'Ayyappa.'

It turned out that those ayyappa people consider themselves sons of Lord Siva. And how do they become Lord Siva's sons? They say very dirty things...

Before Krishna distributed nectar to demigods and demons, Lord Siva had drunk poison that arose from churning the ocean (as the result, he became known as Nilakantha, 'blue-throated').

After that, Lord Siva told Krishna, 'O Lord, I have seen You in many forms, but I have never seen Your Mohini form.' (When we go for Nabadwip Dham parikrama, we speak at Harihara Ksetra about this pastime described in Srimad Bhagavatam.)

'If you see My Mohini form, will you be able to control yourself?' Krishna asked in reply.

'Yes, I will!'

'No, you will not. But since you want to see My Mohini form, then I will show it you.' Saying this, Krishna turned into a beautiful fourteen-year-old girl.

I have told you before that Krishna can become Kali, but Kali can never become Krishna – just as you can make yoghurt, butter and many other things from milk, but you can never make milk from yoghurt. You can light many candles from a lamp, but the source of the light of all those candles is one, the main lamp. Therefore, Krishna can extend Himself into any form, but you cannot think that any form is actually Krishna.

So, Krishna became a young girl. She came walking slowly, playing with a ping-pong ball in her hands, throwing it up and down. She was very beautiful – a thin waist, beautiful hips, etc. Seeing Mohini's beauty, Lord Siva lost it – as the girl started walking backward from him, Lord Siva kept walking towards Her. (Krishna was playing with him.) Then, the girl suddenly began to run, and Lord Siva ran behind Her. When others saw it, they were astonished, 'Well, well, well! What has become of this big sadhu? He is running behind a girl!' Parvati also cried, 'Hey, wait! Hold on! Where are you off to?! I am your wife!' What wife! Lord Siva forgot all about her! He ran and ran and finally grasped Mohini. As Lord Siva embraced Mohini, Krishna again assumed His form.

There is a place in Nabadwip called Harihara, where one side of the Deity is Krishna (Hari) and the other side is Mahadev (Hara). Both Krishna and Siva embraced and became one Deity, and the Deity has two colours, one side is white and the other side is black. One time, some thieves stole that Deity (it is a Deity from Satya-yuga!). People looked for it everywhere but could not find it anywhere; after some months, they saw that the Deity returned to the temple on its own. The Deity went away and then came back again.

So, those heretics from South India say that when Lord Siva embraced Mohini, they had a child! What sort of things they say! They call themselves 'sons' of Lord Siva. That is why it is said that 'whatever is told in this world in the name of religion is complete cheating.'

পৃথিবীতে যত কথা ধর্ম্মনামে-চলে ।
ভাগবত কহে সব পরিপূর্ণ ছলে ॥

prthivite yata katha dharma-name-chale
bhagavata kahe saba paripurna chhale

'Bhagavatam says that whatever is going on in this world in the name of religion is complete cheating.'

(Based on Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.1.2)

What they are saying has no scriptural basis, no siddhanta. This is all nonsense. What will you say? This is what is being preached in this world... But you all are very fortunate to be here in Mahaprabhu's land – you took birth in Gauda-mandal, where Mahaprabhu appeared. Nobody knows where you will go in your next birth, but you still have time now, so practise Krishna consciousness! If you do not practise now, how will you be able to do it when you are old? When I came to the temple, I thought, 'If I had come earlier, it would have been much better, but I have come only now, I have wasted a lot of time...' There are many devotees in our Mission whose children become devotees from a very early age. Many mothers become disciples, so when they read Bhagavatam and chant the Holy Name, their children listen to it from their wombs. There are many devotees born like that all over the world.

You must always remember these things. These are all main things for spiritual life. Oh, I started telling you about leaving visaya but have digressed.

So, two sadhus were sitting on the bank of the Ganges in Haridwar. Suddenly they saw something black floating down the river. One sadhu told the other sadhu, 'Look, a blanket! If we took it out and dried it, we could use it at night. It is very cold here in the winter...' The other sadhu agreed, 'Yes, you are right, it is a blanket!' So, one of them went into the river to take the blanket out. (You know that the Ganges in Haridwar is not deep, you can even see the stones at the bottom, but the current is very strong.) The sadhu went into the river and caught that blanket. In fact, it was no blanket – it was a bear! The bear had fallen into the river and was carried away by the current, but it also wanted to survive, so when the sadhu caught it, the bear also caught the sadhu. (You know how people grasp to anything they find when they are drowning in an ocean. We are also drowning in an ocean of material illusion – as soon as we find even a straw, we clasp onto it to try to save ourselves.) So, when the sadhu grasped the bear and the bear grasped the sadhu, they began struggling in the water. When the sadhu who stayed on the bank saw it, he shouted, 'What is going on? Why are you not bringing the blanket? Leave it then! Leave it and come out!' The sadhu who was in the water shouted in reply, 'I am leaving the blanket, but this blanket is not leaving me!'

So, we all want to leave visaya (material world and everything in it), but visaya never leaves us. Always remember this... Those who are fortune will practise properly in the association of pure devotees and chant the Holy Name properly.

— : • : —

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Length: 89 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Clean Your Heart and Cultivate Devotion
2) Seva-Dharma and Mano-Dharma
3) Strive for Spiritual Subsistence
4) Where There Is a Will There Is a Way
5) Excreting Visaya
6) Live in Domain of Mercy
7) The Side-Tracked and the Drowning
8) Servants' Wealth
9) Live Thinking about Lord
10) Turtle Consciousness
11) Learn and Practise
12) Sadhu's Duty
13) Internal Asuddha