(8/8) Leashed and Lashed Life

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

Have you been listening attentively? You must practise what you have heard in your own lives. You can see so many old people sitting here – how much time do you all have left to live? I got a call from Dhatrigram yesterday. I told them many times, 'I may not see you next year,' and yesterday I got the news that it came true – the person passed away on the day of Gurudev's appearance festival. So, we never know when we will have to leave 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 never think that death can come to us this very moment. Instead, we always think, 'I will eat more, I will wear more clothes, I will get more things.' How long are we going to be in this world? We always think about the future and make so many plans... We should not worry about this.

Think about what I have said.

You have been listening to the class all this time – do you have any questions? If you cannot understand something, if you have any doubts, do not be shy – if you ask a question, others can also get benefit by hearing the answer. Raise your hand if any of you have any questions.

Question: Can a man be called Bhagavan (Lord)?

Who?

Question: A man.

No. Never say such things. A man can never be God. Only mayavadis say that man is God.

Does anybody else have any questions? Raise your hand. [Nobody moves.] Nobody has questions. All right, I will tell you a story about two dogs then. [Devotees laugh.] It is a nice story. Actually, even dogs can understand the purpose of Hari-katha if they keep listening to it.

One time, there was a programme in some place in Kolkata. Two dogs came there and listened to Hari-katha. The speaker said, 'I am inviting everybody to Nabadwip. Please come and do the dham parikrama. If you do this parikrama, you will be rescued from material bondage!' The two dogs sat there and listened to it. They could understand everything. (Dogs are very clever. Many rich people keep dogs in their houses. We also had dogs in our temple before – they were expensive dogs who guarded the temple.) So, when the two dogs heard that Hari-katha, they thought, 'Maharaj is saying such nice things, and he is inviting everybody to Nabadwip. Let us go and do this Nabadwip Dham parikrama, too!' They wondered, 'But how do we get to Nabadwip?' Then, they heard the speaker explain, 'Take a train at the Howrah station and get off at the Nabadwip Station; or take a train at Sealdah and get off at Krishnanagar, and take a bus from there; or, if you go by car, take NH 34 from Kolkata, drive up to Kalna, then past Ranaghat and Shantipur, after that to Krishnanagar, and from there to Nabadwip.' So, the two dogs went to Howrah and got on a train going to Nabadwip. As soon as they got on, people beat them and chased them off the train. The dogs were upset, 'How will we go there, then?' They got on a bus, but they were kicked out of the bus, too. Then, they decided, 'What to do, we will have to walk.' They had seven days before the beginning of the parikrama, so they started off the next day early in the morning. They ran the whole day and at some point became very hungry. They found some food at a store and carried on running. By the time they reached Barasat, they decided to take some rest. They climbed on a heap of sand and tried to sleep, but then some local dogs came and started barking at them, 'Where are you from?' They replied, 'We are from Dharmatala.' 'Oh, so you are not from here! You have come to sleep on our territory! Go away!' Have you ever seen street dogs barking? If some dog comes from outside, the local dogs start barking, 'This is my area! Why have you come here?!' So, the two dogs were again chased away and had to continue walking again. The evening came. They reached Barajaguli. Exhausted, they could not walk anymore. But when they climbed on some sand again, they were again chased away! They had to go away and carry on walking. By midnight, they came to Shantipur. They came to a closed sweets shop and lay on the veranda in front of the shop. After a short while, some local dogs came and again chased them away, 'What are you doing here? Have you come to sleep in our place?! Get out of here!' The dogs were frustrated, 'No rest for us...' They continued walking and in the morning the next day they were in Nabadwip. Then, they thought, 'Oh, it was good for us – we have made it in one day instead of seven days. Now we can spend more time in Nabadwip – we can see more places and visit more temples. We can lick the plates that devotees throw away.' So, the more they were disturbed on their way, the faster they were able to come to the Lord's holy place. In the same way, the more you are disturbed here in this material world, the faster you can come to the Lord.

If your wife and children are very sweet to you, you cannot leave them, but when they start beating you, then you will have no place to go to in your old age, so you will come to stay at the temple. The same is true about girls. They do not want to live at the temple, but when they get married and their new family abuses them, then they leave everything and come to the temple. First, you must be beaten, then you will think about the temple. Otherwise, do you think it is easy to come to practise Krishna consciousness when your family treats you with much affection? Actually, even if you are treated with affection now, you will understand later what that affection is.

That is why I am telling you all: you still have time now, so try to practise Krishna consciousness (do not delay). If you are ill, you must get treatment before it is too late; in the same way, you must also call out to the Lord when you still have time, not after it is too late.

'Vrddha-kala aola, saba sukha bhagala, pida-vase ha-inu katara (বৃদ্ধকাল আওল, সব সুখ ভাগল, পীড়াবশে হইনু কাতর): now old age has come and all happiness has fled – distressed by diseases, I have become miserable' (Saranagati). When you are old and sick, all your teeth fall out, your ears grow deaf – you have listened to all kinds of nonsense your whole life, and when you get old, you cannot hear anything anymore, 'Huh? What did Maharaj say? What God?' and when your eyesight goes down, you will not be able to read books or even recognise who is standing in front to you. This is the state we end up in our old age. Our senses run everywhere, but in the end they become so weak that we end up losing all beauty and strength. You used to have such a beautiful, sweet voice; you used to use nice Ponds cream on your face, use beautiful nail polish and grow nice long nails – but now you are old, your voice is gone, and nobody thinks you are pretty. This is the situation you end up in. How long more do you think you will be alive?

So, if you do not practise Krishna consciousness now, what will become of you later? You will not get any result. I am telling you – there is no time! Wake up!

উঠরে উঠরে ভাই আর ত সময় নাই
'কৃষ্ণ ভজ' বলে উচ্চৈঃস্বরে

uthare uthare bhai ara ta samaya nai
'krsna bhaja' bale uchchaihsvare

'Wake up, wake up, brother! There is no time! "Worship Krishna!" they call out loudly.'

(Acharya Vandana)

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Harinam sankirtan ki jay.

[His Divine Grace laughs: they have arrange for luchi for you all, so we are finishing now.]

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Size: 21 Mb
Length: 43 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Your Necessity and Interest
2) My Mission
3) Hari-Kirtan Comes from Heart
4) Come Forward
5) Do Not Cheat Yourself
6) Soul's Shelter
7) Genuine Devotion Comes from Genuine Devotees
8) Leashed and Lashed Life