(8/11) Rusted Souls' Solace

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Hooghly District, preaching programme,
21 February 2019, noon, part 8
Translated from Bengali

কৃষ্ণ যদি ছুটে ভক্তে ভুক্তি মুক্তি দিয়া ।
কভু ভক্তি না দেন রাখেন লুকাইয়া ॥

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

'If devotees aspire for enjoyment or liberation, Krishna hides the knowledge about pure devotion from them and dismisses them, giving them enjoyment or liberation.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.18)

If you have other desires, the Lord will never give you devotion – He will take devotion away from you. That is why you must do service yourself. You think that you can wear tilaks and neckbeads and you have become a Vaishnav, but it is not so! It is necessary to serve Vaishnavs. You cannot even please the Lord also unless you serve Vaishnavs. 'Chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba (ছাড়িয়া বৈষ্ণব-সেবা নিস্তার পায়েছে কেবা). Without service to Vaishnavs, you cannot get any relief.'

Therefore, you must live following Vaishnavs, following gurudev's instructions.

গুরুমুখ-পদ্মবাক্য, চিত্তেতে করিয়া ঐক্য,
আর না করিহ মনে আশা ।

guru-mukha-padma-vakya, chitete kariya aikya,
ara na kariha mane asa

'Make the teachings coming from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart and do not keep any desires.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You must not only say it. You sing this kirtan, but do you actually keep the words from gurudev's holy mouth in your hearts? It is necessary to keep what gurudev says in our hearts and never forget it. I am praying to you all: please do not forget what I am telling you; always remember the Lord!

Falling into illusory bondage, we have turned away from the Lord and have been living in averse to the Lord since time immemorial. Just as magnet cannot attract iron if the iron is rusted – but once the rust is removed, the magnet will attract it; in the same way, if our rust is removed, Krishna will attract us. Our souls have become rusty – we surrender to illusion, Maya. Do you know how Maya's play works? If you put an iron rod into fire, you will see after some time that the rod becomes red – and if you touch that red-hot iron to some cloth, paper or touch it with your hand, the rod will burn everything. Before the rod was heated in fire, it would not burn anything, but the rod gets this power to burn things from fire. In the same way, Maya Devi gets her power from the Lord and can then take such fallen souls as ourselves away from the Lord. This is the game of Maya. She keep everybody away from the Lord and engages them in their own work. She turns us into her servants and maidservants. Becoming Maya's servants, we live in this world, roaming everywhere.

Those who practise spiritual(?) life without chaste adherence to the guru practise Maya consciousness – they worship and serve Maya; but those who practise spiritual life in chaste adherence to the guru practise Krishna consciousness – they worship and serve the Supreme Lord. These are Srila Prabhupad's words.

It is not possible to practise spiritual life in the conditioned state. Therefore, one must always follow their guru – adherence to the guru is not given up even in the liberated, perfected state. When we were reprinting Sri Gaudiya Gitanjali recently, I wrote there this divine message of Srila Prabhupad. You must read it and learn it by heart. Everybody must realise what is written there, it will give you great benefit.

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Size: 31 Mb
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