(11/11) Come to Nirguna Plane

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sundarpur, 18 January 2019, noon, part 11
Translated from Bengali

There is a group that says, 'Jive prema kare yei jana sei jana sevichhe isvara (জীবে প্রেম করে যেই জন সেই জন সেবিছে ঈশ্বর). Love God by loving others.' 'Jive prema' means love. Krishna and Mahaprabhu also come to give love, but today people call what happens between boys and girls love – if that love is not reciprocated, one kills the other. Is this what you call love? It is not! It is lust, not love. So, if you talk about 'jive prema', love for other souls, this is not only about love for humans – this love should include goats and cows, for example (are they not souls, too?). Then why do they cut goats and chickens? When Srila Prabhupad sent devotees for preaching, he would tell them to go village to village and loot – not to rob people's possessions but to kidnap everybody (bring them to this path). We chant in one of the kirtans, 'Ami sakti-buddhi-hina, ami ati dina, koro more atmasatha (আমি শক্তিবুদ্ধিহীন আমি অতি দীন কর মোরে আত্মসাথ): I have no strength, no intelligence, I am very poor. Please hijack me!' We come to hijack – but not to hijack anybody's money; we come to hijack you. You have wound up in this illusory environment, and we come to take you to Krishna's family (to give you entrance into the Lord's family).

These days people say many things, many bogus things. 'Eat whatever you like', 'Do whatever you want', 'Eat whatever pleases your soul.' The soul's duty is to serve Paramatma, but you are saying that the soul and the Supersoul are one and the same. What can I say then?

It is said in the scriptures that for us to survive in this world, we have to eat rice and other food. What does science say? For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. You say, 'If it is a sin to eat fish or meat, then what about eating rice, wheat and other things? Is it not a sin, too?' It is. That is why sadhus do not eat anything. Lord Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 'Everything that is created in this world is created for My pleasure.' So, when sadhus cook something, they cook it for the Lord and offer bhoga to the Lord. It is also said in Gita that 'If you cook something without offering it to Me, it means that you are stealing and that you will incur sin.' What else is there to explain then? Even when we breathe and drink water, we consume many living entities, killing them. We live by killing millions of living entities – this is our action, and we will have to suffer from reaction. How is it possible not to have any reaction? By coming to the nirguna plane (the plane above three modes of material nature). It means you must cook, work, run a business, do farming, but do it for the Lord. For example, what have you come here for? You did not come to enjoy and have fun – you have come to the Lord's arati, chant some kirtan and take prasad. On your way here, so many ants and insects were smashed under your feet. If you live in Krishna's family and do everything for Krishna, then you will not incur any sin. Do you understand what I am saying? So, even if you eat rice, wheat and other foods, yes, it is a sin (you are killing all those living entities) and it will bring about some reaction, but if you offer everything to Lord Govinda, then you will take prasad and no reaction will come to you. Remember this. If you give something to Govinda and then take His prasad, there will be no reaction. This is what is told in Gita: 'If you eat something without offering it to Me, this is stealing. But if you give something to Me and take it after that, it will be nirguna.'

Suppose you plant a tree. You plant it, thinking, 'The tree will bear fruit, and my family and I will enjoy it.' This is not right. You can plant something, but you cannot give life to any plant. The Lord gives life to every entity, so the Lord is the master, the owner. Understanding this, if you reject the fruit thinking that it does not belong to you, you become a false renunciate (phalgu-vairagi), but if you offer the fruit to the Lord, then you become a servant (sevi). This is a simple matter.

Actually, who has the right and the qualification to ask questions? Surrender.

তদ্­বিদ্ধি প্রণিপাতেন পরিপ্রশ্নেন সেবয়া ।
উপদেক্ষ্যন্তি তে জ্ঞানং জ্ঞানিনস্তত্ত্বদর্শিনঃ ॥

tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam, jnaninas tattva-darsinah

'You will be able to attain knowledge by satisfying the divine master with submission, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. The enlightened souls who are learned in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will impart divine knowledge to you.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

You think, 'I know everything! Let me ask him some question to test him!' You know, you cannot get everything just by reading books. If it was possible to learn everything from books, then there would be no schools, no universities. If you want to have the right to ask questions, you must first be fully surrendered (pranipatena), you must make honest enquiry (pariprasnena), and you must have service mood (seva-vritti). Enquiry must be honest: (1) Who am I (কে আমি, ke ami)? (2) Why am I suffering (কেনে আমায় জারে তাপত্রয়, kene amaya jare tapa-traya)? (3) How can I get relief from this suffering and austerity? How can I get benefit? (কিসে হিত হয়, kise hita haya)? (4) What is the eternal goal (সাধ্য বস্তু কী, sadhya vastu ki)? (5) How can I attain this main goal (সাধ্য বস্তু কী করলে পাওয়া য্য়, sadhya vastu ki korle paowa yaya)? This is what you must enquire after. How can I find the Lord?

When Ramananda Ray mentioned jnana-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with pursuit of knowledge), Mahaprabhu rejected it, 'This is external, go deeper.' People accumulate a lot of knowledge, but Mahaprabhu says this is superficial.

Question (from the same person): Please give me your blessing to get liberation from this situation.

Serve the Lord and practise Krishna consciousness. Accept and chant the Holy Name. Follow the rules and regulations. One of the rules is that you must not eat fish or meat, but I have told you just now that those who eat vegetarian food commit the same sin. Unless you offer everything to Lord Govinda, you will be committing the same sin as everyone else. One time, a judge, who was a member of Rama Krishna Mission, asked me in High Court, 'Do we not commit sin by eating sak and other vegetarian things?' I replied, 'We are taking prasad!' After I explained it to him, he understood what Gita says ('If you eat something after offering it to Me, it becomes nirguna, there is no sin in it').

Question: You said that helping others means bringing them to Krishna consciousness, but are there any other kinds of help, like feeding or helping others out?

No.

করিতেছ উপকার যাতে পর উপকার
লভে জীব শ্রীকৃষ্ণ-সেবায়

karitechchha upakara yate para upakara
labhe jiva sri-krsna-sevaya

'Your benevolent kindness is such that receiving it, souls get the benefit of attaining service to Lord Krishna.'

(Acharya Vandana)

If you take a flower or some fruit from a tree and offer it to the holy feet of Lord Govinda, then the tree gets some benefit. This is what is called 'help to others'.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 24.1 Mb
Length: 67 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Basis of Mahaprabhu's Conception
2) Learn the Ropes
3) Watered Down Conception
4) Become a Good Practitioner
5) Spiritual Selfishness
6) Do Not Overstep
7) Internal and External Devotion
8) Step Forward
9) We Are Servants, Not Devotees
10) Learn Proper Meaning
11) Come to Nirguna Plane