(10/10) Sacrifice, Surrender and Succeed

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Hooghly District, evening programme,
22 February 2019, part 10
Translated from Bengali

...Bali Maharaj said firmly, 'I have given my word to a brahman, so I will keep my word.' Then, he took a kumandala pot and was going to recite, 'Om Vishnu' and pour water [a ritual performed to officially grant a gift to a brahman]. But then Sukracharya, determined to stop his disciple, used his yogic power to enter the kumandala and stopped water from flowing out of it. When Bali Maharaj saw that the water did not flow, he wondered, 'Why is the water not coming out? Has anything got stuck inside?' He took a straw and poked it inside the kumandala – the straw hit Sukracharya right into the eye, and, as the result, he became blind. It is said in the scriptures that if somebody obstructs service to the Lord, they lose some part of their body (anga-hani, অঙ্গহানি).

After Bali Maharaj poked a straw inside and the water started to flow, he said, 'Om Vishnu, Om Vishnu' and declared, 'I have granted You Your wish. I am giving You one step of land. I am giving You the second step of land.'

As soon as he said, 'I am giving You the second step of land,' Vamandev's one leg stretched out and captured all hell and the other leg stretched out and captured all heaven – and His entire body expanded and became so big that it covered the whole universe. All brahmans were astonished to see this. They started offering prayers to the Lord with folded palms.

Bali Maharaj prayed with folded palms, too, 'O Lord, You have mercifully come to rescue me!' But the Lord did not let him go so easily. He replied, 'Bali, what is this? Are you not going to keep your promise? You have said you are giving me one step of land, two steps of land, but where is My third step of land? Where am I to keep My foot to take the third step of land? Give me one more step of land!'

'O Lord, where will I get more land? You have taken everything with Your two steps. You have taken everything that I had.'

Actually, everything belongs to the Lord, so the Lord only took what was His. Still, He did not let Bali Maharaj get away with it.

'Oh, have you given everything?' He asked.

'Yes, You have taken everything! Is there anything left?'

'Yes, there is. Give Me My third step of land.'

'But how? I do not have anything else...'

'Think carefully. Is there nothing else left?'

'Yes, I have thought carefully – there is nothing else left.'

Then, Vindhyavali, Bali Maharaj's wise wife, came forward and whispered into Bali Maharaj's ear, 'My dear husband, do you not get it? The Lord keeps asking you if you have anything else to give Him, but you keep saying that you have given Him everything. Yes, you have given Him everything – but have you given Him yourself?' Then Bali Maharaj realised, 'Oh, that is true. I have not given myself!'

'O Lord,' Bali Maharaj prayed to the Lord then, 'I am giving myself to You.' (It is said in the scriptures also that we must give, submit ourselves to the Lord.) Saying this, Bali Maharaj fell down in a prostrate obeisance before the Lord. At this time, a third leg appeared from Lord Vamandev's navel – Lord Vamandev kept it on Bali Maharaj's head. Bali Maharaj got mercy.

This is how Lord Vamandev took His three steps of land.

'Bali, I am very pleased,' the Lord said. 'You have kept your word and given Me three steps of land. Now I want you to promise Me one more thing.'

'What shall I do now?'

'So far, I have been the receiver, and you have been the giver; but now I want to give you something, and you must take it from Me. Tell Me, what do you want?'

'O Lord, You have mercifully kept Your holy foot on my head. I do not wish for anything else.'

'No, no. You must take something. I have come to bestow mercy upon you, so I will arrange for a place for you to stay. You must stay in Sitalpuri in Vaikuntha, and I will become your gatekeeper there.'

So, from that time, Bali Maharaj stayed in Sitalpuri together with his grandson, Prahlad Maharaj. And Vamandev, the Supreme Lord, became their gatekeeper, just like Jay and Vijay. You can see that the Lord becomes a servant of His devotee. Therefore, if you serve devotees, the Lord will serve you.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

Let us chant a few kirtans now. But I must not chant alone. I have told you before that you are the ones who must chant kirtan. I have not come here to chant kirtan – I have come to make you chant kirtan. We have small and big kirtan books, you can get them and read them. Learn all the daily kirtans by heart. Always chant kirtans. No tune, no harmonium is necessary. People chant kirtans producing fancy beautiful tunes to please their senses and other people, but this is not Hari-kirtan, not Hari-bhajan – this is Maya-kirtan and Maya-bhajan. Just as you do not worship Deities for ten rupees, you do not chant kirtan for five–ten thousand rupees. Kirtan is not chanted to please others – kirtan is chanted sincerely, with heart and soul. If I eat, my stomach will be full – will that fill your stomach? It will not; the same as when you eat, it will not fill my stomach. In the same way, if I chant kirtan, you must not only listen to it, but you must also chant it. You must chant kirtans yourself. That is why sadhus, gurus and Vaishnavs come to take you from this world and bring you to Goloka, Vrindavan, where they engage you in Sri Radha-Govinda's service. You are practising to serve here, and after you practise and practise here, you can get a permanent service position in Goloka. As for the kirtans that are sung to please the audience, to recite some flowery verses, this is done only to impress others.

অসাধুসঙ্গে ভাই কৃষ্ণনাম নাহি হয় ।
নামাক্ষর বাহিরায় বটে তবু নাম কভু নয় ॥

asadhu-sange bhai krsna-nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate tabu nama kabhu naya

'Brother, the Name of Krishna never appears in bad association: the letters of the Name may appear, but the Name never does.'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.1)

If you want to chant the real Holy Name, you must do it in good association of saints.

'সাধুসঙ্গ', 'সাধুসঙ্গ'—সর্ব্বশাস্ত্রে কয় ।
লবমাত্র সাধুসঙ্গে সর্ব্বসিদ্ধি হয় ॥

'sadhu-sanga', 'sadhu-sanga'—sarva sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu sange sarva siddhi haya

'All scriptures keep saying, "Good association", "Good association". You can attain all perfection even just by a drop of good, saintly association.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.54)

Always remember this. [His Divine Grace chants kirtans.]

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Size: 27 Mb
Length: 56 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Service Greatness Is Not External
2) Srivas Pandit's Ideal
3) Sadhus' Dacoity
4) Short-Sighted Minds
5) Food for Thought
6) Quitting Maya's Play
7) Servants' Service
8) Lord's Arrangement
9) Bali Maharaj's Sacrifice
10) Sacrifice, Surrender and Succeed