(10/14) Who Are You Serving?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class,
16 February 2019, part 10
Translated from Bengali

Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj was tested in many ways, but he is an associate of Srimati Radharani. When he came to stay in Nabadwip, he made some kind of bed (perhaps, collected some dry leaves and made something like a bed with them) and slept near the cremation ghat. When somebody gave him some rice as alms, he would not cook it – he soaked it in some Ganges water, and when it became a little soft, he would take it (sometimes he used some salt, sometimes took it like that, without any salt). This is how Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's guru spent his days.

When we see that a bead broke on our beads, we start worrying, 'Oh, how will I chant the Holy Name now? I cannot chant on these beads now...' But no. It is not necessary to think like that. Actually, you are given Tulasi beads only for some obligation, so that you chant the Holy Name; otherwise, you will not chant at all. But Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji did not have any beads. He took some cloth, tied some knots on it and used that for calling out to the Lord, 'Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.'

When you have children at home, you call them by their name to attract their attention; otherwise, they will not hear you and will not answer to your call. I tell you all to chant the Holy Name, but many of you instead do ula-dhvani [guttural cries made with the help of the tongue]. If you try calling your children with ula-dhvani, will they answer your call? So, when you call Krishna, you must call Him by His Name ('Krishna!'); when you call out to Radha-Krishna, you must call out to Them by Their Names. We must call out to the Lord loudly. There is nothing to be shy about. You must do kirtan loudly. Srila Haridas Thakur would always chant kirtan loudly. There are souls that cannot speak or hear (animals, birds, trees, plants), so it is necessary to chant loudly so that the sound vibration can reach them, too. When the sound vibration of the Holy Name reaches a living entity's body, it can transform them.

We, too, were born as those trees, animals, insects, etc. according to the result of our actions, but now we are very fortunate to have got this human birth. We have got eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, mind, intelligence, ego, and we engage them in their corresponding activities, but we do not think about service to the Lord. We have forgotten the Lord! We have fallen into the bondage of illusory environment, and Maya Devi drags us into her games. I told you yesterday that if you put a piece of iron into fire, the iron will get power from the fire and will be able to burn clothes and other things; in the same way, getting her power from Krishna, Maya Devi removes such fallen, lowly souls as ourselves from Krishna's service and engages us in her service. We live in this world as servants and maidservants of Maya!

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

'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.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.19.151)

By the mercy of the guru and Krishna, some fortunate souls get the seed of the devotional creeper. After that, if they associate with sadhus and practise sravan and kirtan, their seed grows into a transcendental tree that bears the fruit of divine love. Then you can get service at Radha Kunda...

That is what sadhus and gurus want for you. The Lord is crying for you, 'Kabe Ama' Madhava asibe, kabe Ama' karibe sevan (কবে আমা' মাধব আসিবে, কবে আমা' করিবে সেবান). When will Madhava come to Me? When will he come to serve Me?' This is loving search for the lost servant. We are the Lord's lost servants. Many of you are attached to your parents, but your parents have given you these bodies – they have not given you that which you are (your souls). If you take your blood and compare it to the blood of your parents, you will see that it is the same blood. So, yes, your parents have given you your bodies, but they have not created that which you are – they did not create your souls. So, in this sense, your body is related to your parents' bodies, but your soul is not related to them. Your soul is related to Krishna. The soul is a part and parcel of Paramatma (the Supersoul), so only the soul knows about Paramatma and Paramatma's needs. Our minds are naughty, so we say all kinds of bogus things, such as, 'Eat whatever your soul desires!'

Just as a good doctor will never make patients take what is bad for them, a good guru will also not allow his disciples step on the paths of karma or jnana. Suppose you go to a doctor and discover that you have high blood sugar. The doctor will tell you not to eat potato and sweets, but you will object, 'But I like eating sweets! Just prescribe me some medicine. I have money, I can pay you.' If the doctor is good, he will say, 'I do not want such patients like you. I will get a bad name. You are going to die – what use is your money to me?' And if the doctor is bad – if the doctor is greedy for money and loves your money, not you – he will think, 'If I tell this man to go away, he will go to another doctor who will allow him to eat sweets and I will lose out on money.' In the same way, there are many gurus and sadhus roaming this world to satisfy their own senses and desires – they never think about your benefit. Such gurus can never be gurus.

গুরুর্ন স স্যাৎ স্বজনো ন স স্যাৎ,
পিতা ন স স্যাজ্জননী ন সা স্যাৎ ।
দৈবং ন তৎ স্যান্ন পতিশ্চ স স্যান্ন,
মোচয়েদ্ যঃ সমুপেতমৃত্যুম্ ॥

gurur na sa syat svajano na sa syat
pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat
daivam na tat syan na patis cha sa syan
na mochayed yah samupeta-mrtyam

'It is not your guru, it is not your family, it is not your father, it is not your mother, it is not your god, it is not your husband if that person cannot save you from the world of birth and death.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 5.5.18)

If a guru cannot save you from the deathly material life, such a guru must never be accepted. We keep floundering in this ocean of material existence, and if a person cannot save us from here, they must not be accepted as a guru – such people can never actually be a guru. You must come to a guru who will engage you in the service to the Lord, who will give you the right and qualification to serve Krishna, who can bestow upon you servitude to Srimati Radharani.

— : • : —

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Length: 144 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Students' Chastity
2) Parikrama Outline
3) We Cannot Ignore Nityananda Prabhu
4) Reaching Out to Nityananda Prabhu
5) Dasya-Abhiman
6) Be Sincere and Serious
7) Worship Nitai!
8) Illusion of Devotion
9) Vaishnavs' Qualities
10) Who Are You Serving?
11) Learn to Appreciate Service
12) Lesson for Householder Devotees
13) Covering Up Prejudices
14) Devotion to Devotion