(10/14) Example of Vaishnav Quality

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Ishwarpur, 19 January 2019, part 10
Translated from Bengali

We must join and take part in the service to our guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord. I want to tell something to all those who still do not take prasad. What I will say is written at the beginning of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. Think about it yourself. You are studying science and so many other things, and it is said even in common textbooks that every action has some reaction. So, if you kill something, it will kill you later. If you scold somebody, they will scold you in return. This is called action and reaction. 'Itati marle patkale khete haya (ইটটি মারলে পাটকেলটি খেতে হয়). If you hit a brick, you will get hit by a brickbat' (synonymous to 'Tit for tat'). The famous scientist Newton said the same, 'Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.' This is proved by science. So, we live in this world, and every day, to stay alive, we kill thousands and millions of living entities. How is it so? Those who eat fish and meat can easily understand that they kill others, but even those who eat vegetables and other vegetarians foods also kill others (they cut spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, rice, wheat, etc.). Here in Bengal, everybody eats rice and rotis, so everybody kills wheat and rice plants. When we walk on the street, so many ants and other insects get killed under our feet, and if you drive a car, then even more creatures are killed. Even every time you take a breath, you kill so many living entities that live in the air (they enter your body and die and then you exhale them). Even when you drink water, there are so many living entities in water. This is how we survive in this world, killing millions of living entities. We do all these actions, but do you know what kinds of reaction we will have to reap as the result? Nothing but hell. There are many kinds of hell in this world (I have written about in Guidance 3, the book is coming out soon). For those who live like this, there is no other way but to go to hell. There is a solution though. It is given in Bhagavatam. The solution is to enter Krishna's family and take Krishna's prasad, then there will be no reaction for your actions.

The Lord says that everything that is created in this world is created for Him. All created living entities – trees, plants, insects, etc. – exist for the Lord's pleasure and service. Krishna says, 'None of you is an enjoyer, the only enjoyer is I. Only because you are overcome with ego, you think that you are working, you are running a business, you are doing farming – you think that you are doing everything, so you are the owner of everything. But you are actually not a master of anything.' Somebody says, 'Oh, I have given money, so the temple was built!' Actually, the Lord has given you some money, and you merely gave that money to the Lord's hand. It is the Lord's money – you were entrusted with that money and then gave it back for the Lord's service. The Lord wants all His devotees (His children) to serve Him. Even if you give ten rupees for the temple service, it is the Lord's money, and the Lord is using that money for His service through your hand. Lord Krishna is very merciful – He wants all souls to serve Him sincerely, genuinely, selflessly and come back to His abode so that they do not have to come back again and again to this material world. So, if a guru cannot save you from the jaws of death, this 'guru' can never be a real guru.

There are, perhaps, a hundred people present here. If I were to tell everybody, 'You can eat fish, meat, onion, garlic, masoor dal, etc. – eat whatever you want, do whatever you want (gamble, have illicit sex, kill others),' then you will see that everybody will come to take initiation. But when I say that you cannot do four things (you cannot gamble; you cannot drink alcohol, tea or smoke; you cannot mix with women; and you cannot kill anybody), you will see that there will not be even five–six people to take initiation.

So, you can understand that everybody living in this world have to reap some reaction to their every action. You can ask me what happens with all your actions that you had committed before taking initiation. The Lord says in Gita that He removes all your sins.

অপি চেৎ সুদুরাচারো ভজতে মামনন্যভাক্ ।
সাধুরেব স মন্তব্যঃ সম্যগ্ব্যবসিতো হি সঃ ॥

api chet suduracharo, bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah, samyag vyavasito hi sah

'If even a very sinful person serves Me exclusively with devotion, he should be regarded as saintly, for his resolve is perfect.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.30)

Even if very sinful people take shelter at the holy feet of the Lord, the Lord takes all their sins and utilises them in His service. If you read Gita, you will find all this mentioned there; this is the basics of devotion. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita tells even higher things. Mahaprabhu actually rejected Gita, saying, 'This is all external, go deeper.' Karma-misra bhakti? 'It is external!' Jnana-misra bhakti? 'It is external!' Jnana-sunya bhakti? 'Yes, this will do.' Even when Vishnu-bhakti was mentioned, Mahaprabhu said, 'This is external.' When householders, brahmacharis, vanapasthas and others do their duties, but Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita, 'Leave all these duties and only surrender to Me.' This is karma-misra bhakti: 'Whatever you do, do it for Me. Meditate upon Me, worship Me. Surrender to Me, and you will not know any sorrow.'

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

'Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

Your debt to your mother, father, rishis (sages), demigods – all debts are cleared if you serve the Lord.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Dearth of Hari-katha
2) Follow without Imitation
3) Higher Conceptions
4) Pursuit-Free Devotion
5) Dasya-Abhiman, not Prapya-Abhiman
6) Servant's Stance
7) Internal and External Mood of Servants
8) Highest Vaishnavs and Pseudo Vaishnavs
9) Example of Vaishnav Quality
10) Action and Reaction
11) In Search of Reality
12) Cutting Illusory Bondage
13) Love for Lord, Love for Yourself
14) Come to Serve Devotees