(12/14) Cutting Illusory Bondage

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Ishwarpur, 19 January 2019, part 12
Translated from Bengali

It is necessary to explain things to people. For example, if you give a lot of money to a drunkard, will that make him stop drinking? It is necessary to explain to them about the harm of drinking alcohol. We must go door to door and preach to people. Instead of giving money to drunkards, use that money for preaching to educate them, to teach them that drinking is harmful, then they will give up drinking. Otherwise, you give them money, and they will drink even more. You must deal with the root cause of the problem and administer the medicine for the root cause. Srila Prabhupad and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said that we did not come to this world to become carpenters and brick-layers – we came only to be Mahaprabhu's messengers. What do messengers do? People write letters, and they take those letters and deliver them to the recipients. So, Gaudiya devotees (Mahaprabhu's devotees) go door to door and preach Mahaprabhu's message to people.

জীব জাগ, জীব জাগ, গোরাচাঁদ বলে ।
কত নিদ্রা যাও মায়া-পিশাচীর কোলে ॥

jiva jago, jiva jago, gorachanda bale
kata nidra yao maya-pisachira kole

'Sri Gorachand says, "Wake up, souls! Wake up! How much longer will you sleep in the lap of the witch Maya?"'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'O soul! Stop sleeping! Wake up now! You have lost your address! You have lost your home, and I have come to take you there! You are in Maya's world!' We do not go door to door to collect rice or money. Giving rice, giving money and other things is not what we come to beg for. We only beg, 'Krsna bala, sange chala, ei matra bhiksa chai (কৃষ্ণ বল, সঙ্গে চল, এই মাত্র ভিক্ষা চাই). I am begging you for one thing only – come with Me and chant the Holy Name of Krishna!' What do we say to our gurudev? 'Ami sakti-buddhi-hina, ami ati dina, koro more atmasatha (আমি শক্তিবুদ্ধিহীন আমি অতি দীন কর মোরে আত্মসাথ). I have no energy, I do not have any power or intelligence. Please hijack me!'

Similarly, I have come here to hijack, too. I have not come to hijack the host's money or property – I come to hijack people. The host is actually already hijacked, but you have all been invited to come here, and I have come to hijack those of you who are still living in the illusory world, in material bondage of Maya and engage you in service to Radha-Govinda. Remember this. I want to pull you out of your bondage and engage you in service to Radha-Govinda and Gaura-Nitai. This is my purpose, and it is for this purpose that I have take so much trouble to come here.

The host has arranged this vaishnav-seva here, and many of you who have come are not initiated because you cannot give up small things. 'Small things' means cravings of the tongue. You can give up everything – money, women, even prestige – but you cannot give up killing. On the one hand, people kill eating fish and meat, and on the other hand, they kill eating cabbage, cauliflower, etc. Both is killing (jivahimsa). But those who have come to this path serve the Lord – they offer bhog to the Lord and take prasad. 'Ye dina grha bhajana dekhi grhete goloka bhaya (যে দিন গৃহে ভজন দেখি গৃহেতে গোলোক ভায়). On the days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there.' Where is Goloka Vrindavan? There are sixty-four limbs of devotion; among them, there are nine main practices; and among those nine main practices, these five are the most important ones:

সাধুসঙ্গ, নামকীর্ত্তন, ভাগবতশ্রবণ ।
মথুরাবাস, শ্রীমূর্ত্তির শ্রদ্ধায় সেবন ॥

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

'Associate with sadhus, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, listen to Srimad Bhagavatam, reside in Mathura and worship holy Deities with faith.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.124)

How does one associate with sadhus? You must read gurudev's books. Then, Nama-sankirtan – chant the Holy Name. Listen to Bhagavatam (listen to Hari-katha, as you are doing now). Living in Mathura means living where there are talks about the Lord, where there is service to the Lord. Lord Krishna resides wherever devotees talk about the Lord and serve the Lord, so when there is spiritual life practised at home, that home becomes Goloka Vrindavan. Only becoming a vegetarian is not the point. I keep telling you that you can offer whatever you cook – you do not need to cook anything special. What are you afraid of? Some people are afraid to offer bhog because they think they will commit some offence. They think, 'I am cooking meat and dishes with onions, garlic, etc. in a pot to feed my children, how can I cook for the Lord in it? It will be an offence!...' Many people call me and ask, 'My husband has taken initiation, but my children have not. Do I need to take bath after cooking for them?' You do not. You take a bath before cooking, so just cook for the Lord in a separate pot. What did Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj do? When he first went to America, his bags were stolen. He would go to some parks and chant there with kartals – some hippies (crazy-like people) would come and listen to his Hari-katha. At the place where Srila Swami Maharaj stayed, the owner kept beef in the fridge! But Srila Swami Maharaj cooked some rice, roti, etc. and kept it in the same fridge... He would go out to preach with books or chant kirtan on the street. Seeing him, some people become interested, and he would talk to them. One by one, some people started coming. At first, they would stop by hearing kirtan, and Srila Swami Maharaj would speak to them, would wash their brain, explaining that you and your body is not the same. Your parents gave you this body, but God has given you that which you are (your soul). In this way, people heard his explanation about the body and the soul and they would come to this path. Srila Swami Maharaj did not worry that when he came back in the evening to the house where he was staying, there were his rotis kept in the same fridge with some beef. He ate those rotis and did not worry about it. He did so much for Krishna's service! And you think, 'My husband/my parents/my children do not accept this path, then how will I offer bhog to the Lord? How can I cook onions, etc. on one side and bhog next to it? Dishes will touch each other.' You do not need to be afraid of all this. Why are you wasting your time with all these fears? Once your call comes, you will have to leave. You do not have much time left here. Many of you sitting here are already old...

Pariksit Maharaj got an advance notice that he would have to leave his body within seven days, but we will not get even a seven-second notice. Nobody can say when you will have to leave – it can be seven seconds, seven minutes or any other time. There is no guarantee. That is why I keep telling you: always practise Krishna consciousness, serve Lord Krishna. [His Divine Grace looks at the time] We must chant some kirtan now.

I have said and you have heard many things. If you want to come to this line, there is nothing to obstruct you. It is said that there are no fixed rules and regulations for chanting the Holy Name:

কি শয়নে, কি ভোজনে, কিবা জাগরণে ।
অহর্নিশ চিন্ত কৃষ্ণ, বলহ বদনে ॥

ki sayane, ki bhojane, kiba jagarane
aharnisa chinta krsna, balaha vadane

'Whether you are lying down, eating or waking up, incessantly think about Krishna and chant the Name of Krishna with your mouth.'

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat, 2.28.28)

You can be lying down in bed and chanting the Holy Name. Somebody asked me, 'Can I chant kirtans when I am lying down?' You can. You can chant on your beads, you can chant kirtans with kartals or clapping your hands. What is the problem? You can chant when you are lying down, eating, when you are waking up, at any time. There are no obstructions. The only obstruction is your tongue's cravings.

You cannot give up eating fish and meat, but when you are cutting meat, fish or anything else, you are cutting your own body – when you are eating fish, meat, etc., you are eating your own flesh. How so? Suppose you die now, what happens next? Your body is burnt and turns into ashes, and those ashes get mixed with soil or water. The body is made of five elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether), and when the body is destroyed, it again mixes with these elements. Then, another body is created again from these elements. It can be a dog's body, a cat's body, a goat's body or any other body. When you eat some fish, its body rots and also becomes mixed with soil. (Even Lord Krishna says that. When He ate soil and later opened His mouth for His mother, Mother Yasoda saw the entire universe within His mouth, and Krishna explained to her that everything is made from soil.) So, when you die, your body is mixed again with soil, and your soul gets another body. For example, if you eat some fish now, you have to get a reaction for that, so, as the result, when you die, some fish will be created from your body and your soul can get a cat's body and eat even more fish, raw (you know that cats eat raw fish). In this way, you will be eating your own body. So, when you are eating fish, meat, etc., you are eating your own flesh. Do you agree or not?

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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