(4/11) My Appeal to You

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Hooghly District, preaching programme,
21 February 2019, noon, part 4
Translated from Bengali

I have been coming here for many years. Do not wait until you get old to start practising. None of us knows how long we will be alive in this world.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

'My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We work so hard every day! We are busy with our own things the whole day. But we must think about our souls, about what is good for us. Our parents give us these bodies, but they do not give us that which we are. I told you about it yesterday also. You must think who you are (try to get some atma-tattva-jnana). You are not the body that your parents have produced – you are a soul. This body is 'yours', but 'you' are the soul. We always say, 'This is my body', 'This is my name', 'These are my eyes', 'This is my nose', 'This is my head', and so on, but who am I who has all this? I am a soul, jivatma, an eternal servant of Lord Krishna.

'কৃষ্ণ-নিত্যদাস'—জীব তাহা ভুলি' গেল ।
এই দোষে মায়া তার গলায় বান্ধিল ॥

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

'The jiva soul forgot that it is an eternal servant of Krishna. Because of this mistake, illusion threw its ropes around the soul's neck.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.24)

This is what we forget, but we should not be like that.

We must all remember this. We are not these bodies. Our senses collection information for the body – eyes see, ears hear, nose breathes, mouth talks and eats, rectum releases stool, genitals release urine, legs take us from one place to another, hands allow us to grasp things, and so on. There are ten senses: we have five karmendriya (feet, hands, rectum, genitals, mouth), five jnanendriya (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin), mind, intelligence, ego. All these senses always do their work, but I am a soul, I am not this body – I am not related to the senses. We always worry about ourselves, thinking, 'What will I eat?', 'Where will I sleep?', 'What will I wear?' There is a person above everybody – the Lord – just leave everything to Him! He does everything; everything that happens happens by His will. We must always remember this.

There is karma (action), akarma (inaction) and vikarma (prohibited action). Even if you do something good (karma), you will get a good result and go to heaven, but one day you will still have to come back from there. To get real benefit, we must turn action (karma) into service (seva). If you do something for the Lord, that is service. You can wake up early in the morning, come to the mangal-arati of the Lord, chant kirtans, offer some balya-bhoga, take prasad and go to work; in the evening, when you come home, take a shower, offer bhoga to the Lord again, take prasad, and so on. If you do not work, you can also offer some bhoga in the afternoon. You can serve the Lord in any situation, regardless of whether you live in a jungle or a house.

কি শয়নে, কি ভোজনে, কিবা জাগরণে ।
অহর্নিশ চিন্ত কৃষ্ণ, বলহ বদনে ॥

ki sayane, ki bhojane, kiba jagarane
aharnisa chinta krsna, balaha vadane

'Whether you are lying down, eating or waking up, incessantly think about Krishna and chant the Name of Krishna with your mouth.'

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.28.28)

Always remember this. If we cannot remember this, we will never get supreme benefit. This is my most earnest appeal to you all:

জীবন হইল শেষ, না ভজিলে হৃষীকেশ ।
ভক্তিবিনোদ-উপদেশ, একবার নামরসে মাত রে

jivana haila sesa, na bhajile hrsikesa
bhaktivinod-upadesa, eka-bara nama-rase mata re

'Your life is finished, but you have not served Lord Hrishikesh (the Lord of the senses). Bhaktivinod instructs: Become mad with the Name's nectar just once.'

(Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Just once try to lose yourself in the nectar of the Holy Name. Practise Krishna consciousness, live a spiritual life, then you will get supreme benefit. Everybody must serve Lord Krishna, practise Krishna consciousness, then you will get the greatest benefit in the world. There is no time to lose! We will not be in this world for a long time. We have not come to this world to live here forever. We have to leave one day – nobody will be able to prevent it. Your doctor, your son, wife, daughter – nobody can keep you here; when the time comes for you to leave, you will have to leave. This is nothing to be sad or happy about. Never forget this. We live in illusory bondage only because we forget these things.

— : • : —

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Step Forward
2) Be Content and Focused
3) Pursue Eternal Wealth
4) My Appeal to You
5) Lord Vamanadev's Appearance
6) Bali Maharaj's Sacrifice
7) Lord Vamandev's Gift
8) Rusted Souls' Solace
9) Read and Remember
10) Accept Guidance
11) Devotional Propriety