(6/22) Think about Your Real Self

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bolpur, noon, 20 January 2019, part 6
Translated from Bengali

We have got this human birth having traversed 8,400,000(!) species. We were born as all kinds of plants, trees, insects, animals:

জলজা নবলক্ষাণি স্থাবরা লক্ষবিংশতি
কৃময়োরুদ্রসঙ্খকাঃ পক্ষিণাং দশলক্ষনম্
ত্রিংশললক্ষাণি পশবঃ চতুরলক্ষাণি মানুষাঃ

jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati
krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksanam
trimsal-laksani pasavah chatur-laksani manusah

'There are 900,000 aquatic species; 2,000,000 nonmoving living entities (trees, plants, etc.); 1,100,000 species of insects and reptiles; 1,000,000 species of birds; 3,000,000 species of beasts; and 400,000 species of humans.'

(Padma Purana, Vishnu Purana)

We were all kinds of species before, and we have been born as humans 400,000 times. Sometimes we were born as Muslims in Pakistan, sometimes we were born as Christians and Buddhists, sometimes we were born in uncivilised tribes that live naked and eat humans. There are such people who eat other people. If you go to China, you will see that people there eat insects, frogs, snakes. I have seen in West Bengal also that people bind a live pig by its legs, throw it into fire and then eat. You can understand where hell is... We have been born as all kinds of humans before, but now you have got a good human birth!

ভারত-ভূমিতে হৈল মনুষ্য-জন্ম যার ।
জন্ম সার্থক করি' কর পর-উপকার ॥

bharata-bhumite haila manusya janma yara
janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara

'One who has taken birth as a human being in the land of India should take advantage of this birth by bringing benefit to others.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.9.41)

Take advantage of this human birth by doing good onto others. What does it mean to do good onto others? For example, if I have a sore on my foot, I must use some ointment, but I must apply it at the root of the sore – it is necessary to see where the sore comes from and treat the root cause.

We have got this human birth after many millions of births, and we do not know if we will ever get a human birth again. If we are born as humans but behave like animals, then we waste this opportunity. Animals only sleep, eat, fear and procreate. I am not saying that you must not eat and sleep, but what you must understand is that life is not only for eating and sleeping! The Lord has sent you to this human body, and He has also provided food for you, there is no need to worry about food. This is not what the Lord has sent you here for. The problem is that we have forgotten why we have got this human birth.

I told you yesterday that our mothers and fathers give us only these bodies. Such fathers are called biological fathers. There are many kinds of fathers (pita). For example, we also have guru-pita (our Gurudev) and param-pita (the Lord). Our biological parents give us this body – if you take out your blood and compare it to the blood of your parents, you will see that it is the same blood. But what is it that makes your body move its legs and hands? It is called jivatma, the soul. Mahaprabhu was asked, 'Who am I?' If somebody asks you, 'Who are you?' you will say, 'My name is so-and-so', 'I am a minister', 'I am a king', 'I am an office worker', and so on. This is what we call ourselves, but these are all material identities that are assigned to us in this world. You are born in this world, your parents give you some name, and you consider it your identity. But when you leave this world, nobody will call you by that name anymore. So, what is your real identity then? You say, 'These are my eyes', 'These are my ears', 'These are my hands' – you call all this 'yours', so who are you then? This is what you must first understand. You must think about what is good for your soul (atma-kalyan). When Mahaprabhu was asked, 'Who am I?' He replied:

জীবের 'স্বরূপ' হয়—কৃষ্ণের 'নিত্যদাস' ।
কৃষ্ণের 'তটস্থা-শক্তি', 'ভেদাভেদ-প্রকাশ' ॥

jivera 'svarupa' haya—krsnera 'nitya-dasa'
krsnera 'tatastha-sakti' 'bhedabheda-prakasa'

'By its intrinsic nature, the soul is an eternal servant of Krishna; souls come from the marginal energy of Krishna and are simultaneously one with and different from the Lord.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.20.108)

'Bhedabheda' means 'bheda' (different) plus 'abheda' (non-different). It means that the soul is simultaneously different and non-different from the Lord. It is the same as a powerhouse and a bulb. You are using some bulbs here, but the light comes from the powerhouse that gives light to all Bolpur. One bulb cannot give light to the whole town, but it can give light to one house. This bulb is a partial power of the powerhouse. Similarly, the atma (soul) is a part of Paramatma (Supersoul). Now you can understand who you are.

The other day, somebody said during the class, 'Oh, jivatma and Paramatma are one and the same.' What is this? How can I be the same as the Lord? The man was trying to preach the mayavadi conception that the soul can eventually become Paramatma. This is nonsense. The soul can get liberation and merge into Paramatma. There are four kinds of liberation: sayujya (merging with Brahman), sarupya (having the same body as the Lord), salokya (residing at the same planet as the Lord), samipya (being an associate of the Lord), sarsti (having the same opulences as the Lord). There is an example that can explain it. Suppose there is some straw floating in the Ganges. At night a drop of dew is built up on that straw, and when that drop of dew sees the river around it, it thinks, 'Oh my! This Ganga is so great! This is an ocean! But I am so small – I wish I could become so great, too!' Then, that drop of dew falls and merges into the water, and its existence is nowhere to be found anymore. This is what liberation is.

Devotees do not want liberation.

ভুক্তি-মুক্তিস্পৃহা-বিহীন যে ভক্ত ।
লভইতে তাঁ'ক সঙ্গ অনুরক্ত ॥

bhukti-mukti-sprha bihina ye bhakta
labhaite tan'ka sanga anurakta

'I yearn for the company of that devotee who is completely devoid of all desire for worldly enjoyment or liberation.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

When you merge into the Lord, you will not lose your existence. But devotees hanker to serve the Lord – they want to spend their lives serving the Lord in various ways (making garlands, etc.). If we can live like that, we can return to Goloka Vrindavan and serve the Lord eternally.

We keep coming and going in this world:

কয় বার এলি কয় বার গেলি
তবু তত্ত্ব না শিখিলি ।
নিজের মাথা নিজে খাইলি
এ দোষ দিবি কারে ভাই ?

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e-dosa dibe kare bhai?

'Coming and going, coming and going, and never learnt anything. You have been eating your own brain, who will you blame now, brother?'

Who will you blame for this? You are your own enemy, and you are your own friend. Therefore, we must think about what is good for our souls. How long are you going to worry about this body? You must be selfish. What does it mean? It does not mean that you must be selfish about your food, clothes or money. No. It means that you must be selfish thinking about your real self, about your soul. You say now, 'This is my house', 'This is my room', but you can leave it at any moment – where will your house and room be then? You are the soul, so think about your soul!

This is what sadhus roam around, going house to house, for – they want to tell you about your soul and about what is good for it. You must think about what is good for your soul. Think about your supreme benefit. In that sense, you must be somewhat selfish. You cannot get great things unless you give up small things. You are so attached to these small things, to the cravings of your tongue. When you were born as an elephant, you ate and finished off so many banana trees. When you were born as a pig, you finished so many heaps of stool! But you still want more and more. You eat 100 grams of food today, but tomorrow you will want to eat 200 grams. You eat chhana-rasa today, tomorrow you will want to eat some bread or some other food. Your tongue will always want something – all these desires will keep springing up. But think a little about your own self, about what is good for you (for your soul). This is what Mahaprabhu told us.

— : • : —

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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