(9/12) Prison of Misconception

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vaishnav-seva programme in Begampur (Hooghly),
Early February 2019, part 9
Translated from Bengali

Where does Maya Devi get her power from? How can we free ourselves from Maya? You know from Gita that Maya Devi is very powerful, but where does she get her power? From the Lord. Getting her power from the Lord, Maya Devi keeps us incarcerated in her prison. We live at present in Maya Devi's prison house – we live within the bondage of illusory environment. But devotees do not live like that. They spend twenty-four hours a day serving the Lord. The Lord has given us twenty-four hours in a day, saying, 'These twenty-four hours belong to Me. You cannot forget Me even for a moment. You cannot stay away from Me even for a moment. Whatever you do always remember Me. Do not forget Me even for a moment!' Maya Devi is always looking for a hole, always looking how to remove you from Krishna's service – she is always looking for a moment when you give your attention to something else. As soon as she finds such a hole, she attacks and destroys you. We must always be conscious of this. Maya Devi gets her power from the Lord, but when any soul surrenders to the Lord, Maya Devi sees, 'Oh, this soul has taken shelter in my Master,' and she slowly released the soul. So, we must chant the Holy Name of Lord Krishna at every moment, all the time, whether we are eating, sitting, sleeping or doing anything else. Always serve Nama Prabhu. There is Nama Prabhu, and if you are to serve Him, you must follow this way. Who is Nama Prabhu? It is the Lord Himself. There is no difference between Nama (the name) and Nami (the holder of the name). If you draw distinction between the name and the holder of the name, this is heresy; just as if you think that the body and the holder of the body (the soul) are one and the same, this is also heresy.

There are many yogis in this world who practise medication, but this meditation is not the same gopis' meditation on Krishna. Many householder devotees talk about Mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaj. Mahaprabhu showed the example that after living as a householder, one can take sannyas – He did not show by His example that one should stay as a householder the whole life. Hearing this, many like to say, 'Oh, but Nanda Maharaj and Jagannath Misra lived in their houses all their lives!' We cannot compare ourselves to them! The Lord appeared in their houses, so why must they leave their service to the Lord and go to live in the forest? They already serve the Lord at every moment. How does that compare to us? You can understand this yourself.

You cannot become a Vaishnav without serving Vaishnavs. Therefore, it must never enter your mind that you have become a Vaishnav. '"Ami ta vaisnava" e buddhi haile amani na ha'ba ami ('আমি ত বৈষ্ণব' এ বুদ্ধি হইলে অমানী না হ'ব আমি). If I think, "I am a Vaishnav," then I will never stop expecting honour from others.' Remember this. Never think that you have become a Vaishnav. If you think you have become a Vaishnav, you will not be able to give honour to others.

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Size: 54 Mb
Length: 109 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Your Sreyo Must Become Your Preyo
2) Joy in Sadness
3) Who Will Understand?
4) Vaishnavs' Dignity
5) Read and Absorb
6) Sincere Self-Realisation
7) Mahaprabhu's Conception
8) Gist of Spiritual Life
9) Prison of Misconception
10) Learn and Live the Ideal
11) Service Alertness
12) Be Attached and Detached