(5/11) Lord Vamandev's Appearance

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Hooghly District, preaching programme,
21 February 2019, noon, part 5
Translated from Bengali

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)

Fortunate souls who come in touch with sadhus practise Krishna consciousness. If we practise Krishna consciousness, we can attain the highest benefit – we can get to serve our gurus, Vaishnavs and the Lord. That is why it is my exclusive prayer to you all that you may practise spiritual life. Practise Krishna consciousness, serve Lord Krishna. Our duty is to take shelter of a bona fide guru and live in submissive service to our guru. It is not possible to practise spiritual life without submissive chastity (anugatya) to the guru.

If your father chants the Holy Name, he will get benefit, but it will not give any benefit to you: just as when another person eats, their stomach gets full, not yours; in the same way, if you want to get benefit, you must practise yourself. You have two–three family members who are already practising, so you think that it is sufficient, but it is not so. Some people think that if a wife practises Krishna consciousness, her husband gets benefit. It is not true. The only benefit such a husband can get is that his wife's association can effect some change in him. Sometimes, the husband gets initiation, but his wife does not; or the wife gets initiation, but her husband does not – in such cases, sometimes the association of the initiated husband or the wife can gradually change the other, uninitiated person.

These are the things we hear the Lord always imparting. He has personally come many times, assuming various forms, to protect His devotees, to take His devotees' service. But many people cannot understand this... You have all heard about the pastime of Bali Maharaj and Lord Vamandev. I wrote about it in one of my books, and I would like to tell you about it today also.

Everybody knows that demigods enjoy very happy lives in heaven. One time, the Lord thought, 'They have got this heaven from Me. They have worshipped Me and come to heaven, but once they have come here and got all the opulence, they have forgotten about Me. They must suffer for this.' In the meantime, you all know that there were two famous gatekeepers in Vaikuntha, Jay and Vijay. The Lord turned them into demons and used them to create disturbance in heaven. As the result, all demigods had to flee heaven. Everything happens by the wish of the Lord. So, when demons kicked demigods out of heaven, the Lord assumed various forms to defeat demons and reinstate demigods. Can you imagine this? The Lord creates demons and then comes and destroys them. Everything happens by His will.

So, once, there was a king of demons called Daityaraj Bali (later he became known as Bali Maharaj). When the Lord became angry with demons and started to kill them one by one, the demons started to cause even more atrocities, so Aditi and Kasyap Rishi prayed one day, 'Our sons are suffering. O Lord! Please send us somebody who can defeat all these demons...' Soon after that, a son came to Aditi's womb. When the boy was born, they saw that He was very small – a dwarf brahman (vatu-vaman, বটুবামুন), but it was actually the Lord Himself.

You have heard about the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vamandev is one of them. It is said that Supreme Lord Krishna is One but He manifests Himself as Two, Krishna and Balaram. Balaram is Mul-Sankarshan, the maintainer of the world. From Mul-Sankarsan, there comes Sankarsan, Vasudev, Aniruddha and Pradyumna. From Aniruddha, there come three Vishnu forms: Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, Ksirodakasayi Vishnu and Karanodakasayi Vishnu. Then, finally, from Karanodakasayi Vishnu, there come ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu: Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar), Nrisimha (half-lion half-man), Vamana (dwarf brahman), Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. We sing about all these incarnations of Srila Jayadev Goswami's kirtan 'Pralaya-Payodhi-Jale Dhrtavan Asi Vedam'. So, Lord Vamandev is one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu – He came to bestow mercy upon Bali Maharaj...

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Length: 64 min
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