(14/22) Gross and Subtle Cheating

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bolpur, noon, 20 January 2019, part 14
Translated from Bengali

We must attain Krishna-prema, divine love for Lord Krishna. This is not the love (prema) that people do nowadays. The love you see in this world is not love, it is lust. Lust and love are two different things. Love is affection, light, but lust is darkness. Do you not hear stories? You can see many stories in newspapers – what people do in this world is not love. One boy declared his love to a girl, but when the girl rejected his declaration, he killed her. Is this love? If you love somebody, can you ever kill the person? Is this what is called love? It is not; it is lust. Love means affection, affinity, care, etc.

There is a group that writes, 'Jive prema kare yei jana sei jana sevichhe isvara (জীবে প্রেম করে যেই জন সেই জন সেবিছে ঈশ্বর). Love God by loving others.' Does 'loving others' (jive prema) mean only loving other people? Are goats, cows and hens not living souls (jivas)? They talk about loving others, but then they cut chickens, goats, fish, etc. – they are only cheating people. They write about loving others on big signboards but then feed others with meat – it can never work like that. This is a wrong conception. There is also another group that says, 'Yata mat tata path (যত মত, তত পথ). There are many beliefs, so there are many paths.' If I make up my own teachings or conception (which is not found anywhere in the scriptures) and go about telling others about it, how will that work? Suppose I call you all to take prasad but then say, 'Oh, do not eat with your mouths. Eat with your ears.' Is this viable? Can you stuff food into your ears? Then how can any random idea be accepted as a path? Then why say that 'there can be many beliefs, so there can be many paths'? There are scriptures, and we must follow what is prescribed by the scriptures. Srimad Bhagavatam says:

পৃথিবীতে যত কথা ধর্ম্মনামে-চলে ।
ভাগবত কহে সব পরিপূর্ণ ছলে ॥

prthivite yata katha dharma-name-chale
bhagavata kahe saba paripurna chhale

'Bhagavatam says that whatever is going on in this world in the name of religion is complete cheating.'

(Based on Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.1.2)

What is going on in the name of religion in this world is all cheating! I told you yesterday that instead of worshipping Krishna, we turn Krishna into our menial servant. 'Give me this', 'Give me money' – so, the Lord is my servant, and I expect Him to give me whatever I want. That is why Srila Prabhupad said, 'Do not turn the Lord into your servant' and 'Do not turn the Lord into a bribe-taker.' For example, when people worship Saraswati, they bring some fruit, money, etc. and offer her anjali, saying:

ওঁ সরস্বতি মহাভাগে বিদ্যে কমললোচনে ।
বিদ্যারূপে বিশালাক্ষি বিদ্যাং দেহি নমোহস্তু তে ॥

om sarasvati mahabhage vidye kamalalochane
visvarupe visalaksi vidyam dehi namostute

'O great Goddess Saraswati, the personified knowledge possessing large lotus eyes! I offer obeisance to you, please give me knowledge.'

'Give me knowledge!' What does it mean? 'O Lord, I am giving this offering (anjali) to You, I am giving this money and worship to You, please give me knowledge in return.' Those who do this turn the worshippable Lord into a bribe-taker. You give God a bribe and expect a favour. This is wrong. It is the same in our devotional life. We must not want anything from the Lord. Our duty is to serve the Lord, so we must come to the Lord with a service mood.

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)

It is necessary to surrender, to make honest enquiry and to have service mood. What does honest enquiry mean? You must ask, 'Who am I? Why am I suffering? What is good for me? What is the goal in life? How can I attain this goal?'

How can we come to the Lord? Mahaprabhu explained the method.

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥
মালী হঞা করে সেই বীজ আরোপণ ।
শ্রবণ-কীর্ত্তন-জলে করয়ে সেচন ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
mali hana kare sei bija aropana
sravana-kirtana-jale karaye sechana

'Having travelled throughout the universe, some fortunate souls receive the seed of the devotional creeper by the mercy of Sri Guru, who is non-different from Krishna. As gardeners, they plant this seed and water it with sravan (hearing) and kirtan (chanting, practising).'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.19.151–152)

When you receive this seed of the creeper of devotion from a bona fide guru, you must water it. What is the water for this creeper? Sravan and kirtan: hearing about the Lord and chanting the Lord's Names (practising). We must take initiation from a bona fide guru and practise sincerely, properly – we will hear about the Lord, chant the Holy Name of the Lord; we will offer bhog to the Lord, etc. We must live like that every day.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Course of Life
2) Special Arrangement for Kali-Yuga
3) Beyond Religious Bigotry
4) Innermost Desires
5) Fortune, Faith and Frauds
6) Think about Your Real Self
7) Come to Krishna's Family
8) Seek Out Eternal Shelter
9) Proper Surrender
10) Misdirected Worship
11) Deepest Faith
12) Beyond Illusory World
13) Turn Home
14) Gross and Subtle Cheating
15) Watch for Milestones
16) Come Home with Me
17) All That Glitters Is Not Gold
18) Do Not Cheat Yourself
19) Soul's Plight
20) Eternal Transformations
21) Origin of Hinduism
22) Pig's Life, God's Life, Devotee's Life