(4/16) Sheltered and Shielded

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sriman Nityananda Prabhu's appearance day
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class
17 February 2019, part 4

Listen carefully to what I will tell you.

One time, Pujyapad Bhakti Hriday Bon Maharaj, a disciple of Srila Prabhupad, went for collection in Kolkata. Somehow, as he was walking around the city, doing collection, he appeared in a prostitutes' quarter. Realising eventually where he was, he was horrified, 'O Lord! Where have I come?!' As he was walking down the street, some prostitutes came out and gave him some small money. Devasted, Bon Maharaj came to Srila Prabhupad and said with tears in his eyes, 'Prabhupad, I have done a great wrong today. I am finished! All my spiritual life is ruined and destroyed! I am finished!' (Bon Maharaj had a PhD degree, and he could speak English as fluently as Bangali. I have never met him in person, but I have heard about him from my Guru Maharaj. And Bon Maharaj was also the first devotee whom Srila Prabhupad sent to preach in London.)

'What has happened?' Srila Prabhupad asked Bon Maharaj.

'I have been to a very bad place today.'

'Oh,' Srila Prabhupad replied, 'if you think that you have done a great wrong today, then I have been doing wrong all my life, too. Am I also doing wrong? I go to all kinds of places and bring people, brahmacharis like you, taking them out of their poisonous lives. You went to that quarter today, but what did you go there for? To beg and collect alms. They live in the stool of material life, but did you go to their houses to collect their hard-earned money or did you go there to enjoy? You went there to take their money, which they earn by selling their bodies, and you will use that money in the service of the Lord so that those women could get some benefit. You did not go to that place to enjoy, then why are you so worried?'

That was Srila Prabhupad's explanation to Sripad Bon Maharaj. Always remember this. Remember what Srila Prabhupad said. You must learn and know how to come to the Lord. Do not worry about any trifle matters – only chant the Holy Name and do service. That is sufficient. If you can live in this way, you will get supreme benefit. Always remember this, and always live in this way.

What is the duty of men? There is no other duty on the earth except for chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. The only religion of a human being is to chant the Holy Names of the Lord. Harinam-sankirtan is the only genuine religion in this world. This should be your life. If you hire a band and have kirtan chanted at your house once a year, they will come, sing, take your money and leave, but it will not bring any benefit to you. But if you chant kirtan yourself every day, then you will get some benefit through that. What benefit is to you if somebody else chants kirtan? Such kirtans will not awake the desire to serve the Lord in you. Such kirtans are of no use. A nice tune gives pleasure to the mind; such songs are just some flowery words.

Whose ears does Hari-katha enter? If we become fortunate enough to feel eagerness to serve the Lord, then Hari-katha will enter our ears – we will be able to hear it with our ears and keep it within our hearts. Those who do not have such fortune will think that they have heard Hari-katha, but they do not actually hear the meaning of what was said – they only become cheated. The moment we have no guardian over our heads, many enemies will come to attack us. The enemies are there inside us: lust (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), illusion (moha), envy (matsarya); eye-enjoyment (rupa), tongue-enjoyemnt (rasa), nose-enjoyment (gandha), ear-enjoyment (sabda), tactile enjoyment (sparsa); desire fr money (kanak), women (kamini) and prestige (pratistha). The moment we leave the Lord's shelter, all these enemies will pounce at us. But when we take shelter in the Lord, when we give everything up to the Lord to serve the Lord with our actions, mind and speech, then the Lord will protect us. It is necessary to have faith in this.

— : • : —

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Size: 53 Mb
Length: 110 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Nityananda Consciousness
2) Seek Real Help
3) External and Internal Contamination
4) Sheltered and Shielded
5) Make Effort
6) Collecting vs. Begging
7) Pure Association, Residence and Practice
8) Proper Utility
9) Our Sole Concern
10) Lord's Arrangement
11) When? And How?
12) Stay on Board
13) Service, Desire and Mercy
14) Mindless Service
15) Disciple's Folly
16) Love for Service