(5/17) Escaping Life of Sin

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bolpur, evening, 19 January 2019, part 5
Translated from Bengali

দৈবী হ্যেষা গুণময়ী মম মায়া দুরত্যয়া ।
মামেব যে প্রপদ্যন্তে মায়ামেতাং তরন্তি তে ॥

daivi hy esa gunamayi, mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante, mayam etam taranti te

'My supramundane trimodal illusory potency (alluring those who are averse to Me) is extremely difficult to overcome. However, this insurmountable potency of Mine can be overcome by those who exclusively surrender to Me.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

Maya Devi is created by the Lord, so we cannot overcome her, but the Lord has given us a way out. Created and empowered by Krishna, Maya Devi is so powerful that we cannot fight against her yourself, but if we (jivatmas) take shelter at the holy feet of Krishna or Krishna's devotee, then Maya Devi will see, 'Oh, how am I going to stop this one? I cannot stay here anymore because this soul has taken refuge in my Lord. I cannot fight against this soul anymore, so I should stay away.' The Lord gives us this reassurance, 'When a devotee, a soul, takes shelter in Me, Maya Devi goes away.' And once Maya Devi withdraws, we will be able to clearly see the transcendental abode of the Lord, we will be able to serve the Lord. When that happens, we will understand, 'My Supreme Father is the Lord, and my place is in Goloka Vrindavan. This is where I must go.'

This is where our home is. We are all children of the same father. We are not residents of Bolpur, America, India – our identity is that we are souls and eternal servants of Krishna. We must always remember this. We forget that we are eternal servants of Krishna, that is why sadhus come to our homes to remind us about it.

I began speaking about karma earlier. How can we give up this life of karma (life of action and reaction)? We can leave karma if we can enter Krishna's family and do everything for the Lord. Whatever you do (farming, trading, running a business, whatever you do to earn your living, even if you are a thief or a rogue), offer everything to the Lord. The Lord says, 'Offer everything to Me! If you offer everything to Me, you will be freed from the action-and-reaction sin.' You breathe, you drink water, you kill so many living entities to survive in this world, but what do you live for? Do you live to eat? No. You eat to live, but you live to serve Lord Govinda. Die to live. Srila Sridhar Maharaj often said this. Do not live to die – you must die to live... We do not live to only eat and dress these bodies; we must live to serve Lord Govinda. We have got this body to serve the Lord, so we must use it for service of the Lord. One may work, one may run a business, one may steal, one may kill, one may do any wrong, but if they do it for the Lord, then there is no wrong with that. I was asked recently, 'When we do farming and plant something, we have to use insecticide to protect the crops. Is it a sin that we kill so many insects?' What have you just heard? You are a devotee of Mahaprabhu, Radharani, Lord Krishna, so you use everything in Lord Govinda's service – you want good crops to serve the Lord, that is why you spray the plants. There is no sin in that because you do it for the Lord.

[His Divine Grace notices a devotee struggling to sit on the ground] Are your legs paining? Go and sit on a chair. It is not a problem, go and sit over there.

শ্রীহরি সেবায় যাহা অনুকূল ।
বিষয় বলিয়া ত্যাগে হয় ভূল ॥

sri-hari sevaya yaha anukula
visaya baliya tyage haya bhula

'If something is favourable to the service of the Lord, it is wrong to reject it considering it material or mundane.'

(Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's translation of verse 1.2.256 from Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu)

Go, go, there is nothing offensive about it. That is why we have kept so many chairs – if somebody cannot sit on the ground because their legs pain, they can go and sit on the chairs. If your legs are paining but you keep sitting on the ground, you will not be able to hear Hari-katha – or if you leave and go home because your legs are paining, it is not good. We must accept whatever is necessary for the service to the Lord. You think, 'Maharaj is sitting on a higher seat, how can I sit on a chair too?' No, you should think, 'Maharaj has given permission to sit on a chair. There is no offence in this.' When you read books, you sometimes need to wear glasses – you do not wear them to decorate your body or enjoy, but you wear them to see the time, to read or to drive a car. You must use whatever is necessary to serve the Lord. Sometimes, we also travel by plane. Scientists invented planes by the will of the Lord, so we can use it for the Lord's service. If I thought, 'I will come here on foot, I will not use a car!' it would have taken me a few days to come here. I came by car and people can say, 'Oh, a sadhu has come in such a luxury car!' I went to Ishwarpur in the morning, then to Amadpur, and then here. I have visited so many places, and if I were to go everywhere on foot, it would have taken me four months instead of one day. So, to preach about the Lord, devotees can use everything (cars, planes, etc.). Outside people use cars to travel and go for rides, but we use cars for the Lord's service. You are all family people, but you should become members of Krishna's family and use your life for the Lord's service, then whatever you do, there will be no sin, no reaction because you will be doing it for Krishna's service.

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)

If even a very sinful person takes refuge in the Lord, the Lord cleans away all their sins and engages them in His service. This is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita. So, do you understand now how we can become free from this life of action and reaction? We must become members of Krishna's family. Wherever you live, you must offer bhoga to the Lord. If you want to eat something (luchi, singara, etc.), you can earn some money, buy it and serve the Lord with that. Even if somebody has no capacity to offer anything, then they can offer Tulasi leaves with Ganges water. It is not a problem. What does Krishna say?

পত্রং পুষ্পং ফলং তোয়ং যো মে ভক্ত্যা প্রযচ্ছতি ।
তদহং ভক্ত্যুপহৃতমশ্নামি প্রযতাত্মনঃ ॥

patram puspam phalam toyam, yo me bhaktya prayachchhati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam, asnami prayatatmanah

'If one offers Me with devotion a leaf, flower, fruit or water, I affectionately accept that offering of the clean-hearted devotee.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.26)

Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that one does not serve the Lord with money – one can serve the Lord only with one's heart. If you are to serve Lord Govinda, you must give your heart. That is why Srila Prabhupad also said to his disciples, 'I will not leave a single rupee to you all. If I leave you even ten rupees, you will become lazy and stop practising Krishna consciousness.' We must know and understand these things. If we cannot understand this, we will not be able to get any result in our lives.

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Length: 98 min
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