(12/14) Lesson for Householder Devotees

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class,
16 February 2019, part 12
Translated from Bengali

I am telling all the householder devotees that you must learn how to live a proper life. Learn from the example of Srivas Pandit's devotion. Mahaprabhu told all householder devotees, 'Make sure that not a single day passes without chanting the Holy Name and without vaishnav-seva.'

How do you do vaishnav-seva? Does it mean feed Vaishnavs every day? No. If you listen to what Vaishnavs say and follow it in your life, that is vaishnav-seva.

You must think about Srivas Pandit. One time, somebody asked Mahaprabhu, 'Prabhu, where do You stay?' Mahaprabhu replied, 'I stay wherever Nityananda Prabhu is dancing (Nityananda-nartane), at the house of Srivas Pandit (Srivas-angane), at the house of Raghav Pandit (Raghava-bhavane) and at the kitchen of Sachi Mata (Sachi-mata-randhanasalay).' 'Bhaktera hrdaye sada govinda-visrama (ভক্তের হৃদয়ে সদা গোবিন্দ-বিশ্রাম). Govinda always rests in the heart of His devotees.'

Mahaprabhu told Srivas Pandit, 'Srivas, you must hold kirtans at your house. I will be present at your house every day, and some devotees will be able to see Me there.' So, every day, Srivas Pandit hosted kirtan, and after kirtan, he would give everyone prasad. Some people started criticising Srivas Pandit, 'Oh, he goes house to house begging, but he uses the money or food he gets to run his family!' When it reached Mahaprabhu's ears, Mahaprabhu thought, 'Disaster! People are making offences! If anyone commits an offence at the holy feet of Srivas, they will never get relief. What will become of them?' So, one day, Mahaprabhu came to Srivas Pandit and told him, 'Srivas, you are not to go begging from tomorrow.'

'What are You saying, Prabhu?' Srivas replied. 'I host kirtans at my house every day, and I must give devotees some prasad. I do not have any job, I do not do farming – how will I feed devotees then?'

'I do not know anything. I have told you that you are not to go begging from tomorrow.'

'All right. One clap, two clap, three clap.'

'What does that mean? What kind of language is that?'

'That is Bengal's language all right. I will see one day, I will see two days, but after fasting for two days I will not be able to fast anymore, so I will jump into the Ganges and take my life.'

Such was Srivas Pandit's strongest faith. He did not go begging after that, but so much rice, dal, vegetables came out of nowhere. He did not have to go begging anymore. Everybody would bring so many things – he did not even know who was bringing it or where it was all coming from. You know that all gods and goddesses want to serve the Lord, so some god or goddess would come disguised and bring something to his house.

That is why we must always think about service to the Lord. We must rely on the Lord, we must have faith in the Lord.

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

'Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

There are four kinds of faith: kamala-sraddha (soft, fragile faith), taranga-sraddha (flickering faith), drdha-sraddha (strong faith), sudrdha-sraddha (the strongest faith). 'Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari (শ্রদ্ধা-অনুসারী ভক্তি-অধিকারী). The quality of your devotion depends on your faith' (Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.64). The quality of your devotion depends on the quality of your faith. Always remember this.

Always try to practise Krishna consciousness. Always serve the Lord, your guru and Vaishnavs. Always live thinking about these things.

— : • : —

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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