(17/17) Live for the Lord

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bolpur, evening, 19 January 2019, part 17
Translated from Bengali

কিসের সংসার এই, ছায়াবাজী প্রায় ।
ইহাতে মমতা করি' বৃথা দিন যায় ॥

kisera samsara ei chhayabaji praya
ihate mamata kari vrtha dina yaya

'What sort of world is this? It is only a trick, a show. While I affectionately take it as my own, days pass by in vain.'

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)

Do we ever think that we can leave this world this moment? I am sitting and talking here now, but the next moment I can drop down dead and be taken to the ghat on the bank of the Ganges. Who have we been working so much for? We have come to this world for the Lord – we have promised Him, 'Prabhu, I will serve You' – but we have forgotten Him and ended up in this material world, drawn to our wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, friends and other people. I am not telling you to leave your family and come to live at the temple, but if you live with your family, you must practise Krishna consciousness.

You can see devotees sitting here – this is what they are doing. They wake up in the morning, cook, offer bhog to the Lord, take prasad. We have devotees in Hooghly now who live like that. In one family, the devotee wakes up, does mangala-arati, offers balya-bhog, chants five kirtans, then he goes out to get flower garlands; by the time he gets back home, he has done his mala on the way, and when he comes home, his wife cooks, he or she offers bhog to the Lord, they take prasad, and then he goes by motorcycle to the train station and does all his duties; in the late afternoon, he comes home and instead of sitting at a tea stall gossiping, he goes to take some rest, and in the evening, he does arati, kirtan, etc. They do not sit at tea stall, do not gossip about politics and family matters – they serve the Lord instead.

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥
অমানী মানদ হঞা কৃষ্ণনাম সদা ল'বে ।
ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ সেবা মানসে করিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

'Do not listen to village talks, do not speak about village news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself and give all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krishna and serve Radha-Krishna in your mind.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.236-237)

Those who serve Radha-Krishna in their minds never think about material matters. This is what the Lord has sent you here for, and if you can do it, then you do not have to leave your family – you can turn your family into Krishna's family. Then, you will also not have to suffer from any reaction because you will be offering everything to the Lord and taking His prasad. 'Kariya Krsnera samsara chhadi' anachara (করিয়া কৃষ্ণের সংসার ছাড়ি' অনাচার)—you must make your family Krishna's family and give up all unwanted and unfavourable habits.' You must live in Krishna's family and leave all bad habits.

There are four main bad habits, the dwelling places of Kali (kalaha, quarrel). You must remember what they are. (1) Gambling – playing cards, dice, chess. It is a waste of money. There are people who earn a lot, but they gamble all their money away and end up even selling their wives' gold jewellery. Buying lottery tickets is also gambling. You buy a lottery ticket, win two–five thousand rupees, but tomorrow you will again go to buy another lottery ticket and waste money. (2) Intoxicants – drinking alcohol, smoking ganja, eating paan, smocking bidi and cigarettes, and even drinking tea. You must not even drink tea. If you cannot resist tea and feel for it, put some chocolate in your mouth and suck on it, then you will slowly get out of this habit of drinking tea. People earn money and then sit and drink together at home – it is a waste of money and causes all kinds of problems. You can read many stories in the newspaper – one time, a boy came home drunk and killed his father... (3) Illegal sex – it means mixing with women out of wedlock. You can understand yourself what this is. You are married, but you mix with other women, or a woman is married, but she mixes with other men. How can a family live like that? (4) Killing – do not kill any living entities because Krishna lives within everyone (sarva-jive Krishna-adhisthan; সর্ব্ব-জীবে কৃষ্ণ-অধিষ্ঠান). There is Lord living in all living entities, even mosquitoes and flies. If you do something for the Lord, then it is permissible. I have explained it earlier. If you grow wheat, rice or potato, you have to use insecticide and kill so many insects, but if you grow this potato or other things for the Lord's service, then the Lord will take care of it – it will not be a sin. So, these are the four things (gambling, intoxicants, illicit sex, killing) where Kali lives and that must be given up. Do not eat any fish, meat, onion, garlic or masoori dal (lentils). It is said in the scriptures that if you eat masoori dal, it is the same as eating cow's meat. If you eat rice or other grains on ekadasi, it is also the same as eating cow's meat. You must not take any rice or rotis in ekadasi.

Both scriptures and common science say that fasting on ekadasi is beneficial. You eat many things every day, you eat many fried and spicy things, but it is good if you fast two times a month on ekadasi. You can eat some fruit, milk, potato, curd. Do not use mustard or sesame oil – you can use peanut oil or sunflower oil. You can use turmeric root, but do not use the ground powder sold at the market because it is not pure (they mix it with some rice powder).

Devotee: Can we take dal?

No, no pulses (beans, dals, etc.) are taken on ekadasi. You should fast until 12 o'clock (midday). If you have some stomach problems, you can eat earlier also. I myself also cannot fast – if I fast until midday, I get acidity and gas and I feel sick. I take some potato with black pepper in the morning. One time, somebody asked Gurudev, 'Gurudev, I work at a ship building company. I have to handle a ten-kg hammer, how can I fast on ekadasi?' Guru Maharaj replied, 'It is not a problem. If you get hungry, you can eat five kg of boiled potato in the morning and go to work.' I am diabetic, but I eat two kg of potato on ekadasi – in the morning, afternoon and evening. I do not normally eat potato, but I can eat it on ekadasi because it keeps me full – I can eat a few handfuls and stay full. For example, I do not take ripe bananas because they contain a lot of sugar, I do not drink milk because it causes a lot of gas in the stomach. Although I do not take many things, I still fast on ekadasi, and I do not die. It is not a problem. You think you cannot live without rice, but if you are hospitalised, you live on mere saline for several days – nobody gives you rice there. When I had a gall stone and had to have an operation, they did not even give me water. When I regained consciousness after the operation, I asked the nurse for a drop of water, but she did not give it to me. It was in Chennai, so I told the doctor in English, 'Your nurse is very cruel! I am so thirsty, but she is not giving me even a drop of water.' Then, the doctor took a dropper and put a drop of water on my tongue! I remember I was very upset. A good doctor will never tell you to take what is bad for you. In the same way, a good guru will never tell you to do wrong things.

I could tell you to eat fish, meat, etc., and I would have so many disciples, so much money, but I do not need all this – I do not come here for all this. A genuine guru will never promote bad things that will only further bind you with karma – on the contrary, a genuine guru will always promote beneficial things that will release you from karma. Remember this. Let us chant some kirtan now before we finish.

Devotee: What scripture can we read by reading which all scriptures are read?

Srimad Bhagavatam. We also have some scriptures, you can read them.

Devotee: What about Bhagavad-gita?

Yes, you can read it, but you must understand its meaning. It is necessary to practise in your own life. It is not enough to only know something – you must practise yourself. I have two small Upadesh books, volume one and two, you can read them. Also get the kirtan guides and chant kirtans on your own. You do not need to sing any nice tune or anything like that. The Lord does not want to hear nice tunes. When you chant kirtans, you must call out to the Lord, that is all there is to it. It is necessary to realise the meaning of what you chant or read.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Harinam sankirtan ki jay.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Self-Realisation
2) Seek Soul's Solace
3) 'Why Am I Suffering?'
4) Relief from Reaction
5) Escaping Life of Sin
6) Highest Attainment
7) Learn to Love Lord
8) From Hell to Heaven and Back
9) Sadhus' Clothes and Sadhus' Hearts
10) Genuine Gurus' Mission
11) Money Does Not Buy Devotion
12) Higher and Highest Devotion
13) Learn the Conception
14) Start Practising Sincerely
15) Make Effort
16) Cure from Material Misery
17) Live for the Lord