(3/10) Sadhus' Dacoity

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Hooghly District, evening programme,
22 February 2019, part 3
Translated from Bengali

'Marabi rakhabi, yo ichchha tohara (মারবি রাখবি—যো ইচ্ছা তোহার). You can kill me or You can keep me, that is Your matter, it is up to You' (Saranagati). If He wants to kill one, He will kill one; and if He wants to keep one alive, He will keep one alive. We must rely on Him.

Why do then devotees go for collection? The Lord keeps money with some people. They think that all money is theirs, but everyone's money, wealth and property belong to the Lord; because of our ego, we enjoy with everything thinking it is ours. Sadhus come and, willingly, unwillingly, by hook or by crook, take something from people and use that for the service to Lord Govinda. They give people spiritual benefit. Whether it is for one, five or ten rupees, sadhus take trouble to collect it.

Many people tell about me, 'Oh, although Maharaj is not young, but he goes everywhere, leads all kirtans, gives classes. He does not take money for anything – he comes, gives class, chants some kirtan and if somebody wants to give some five–ten rupees, they give him, but where does he have the money to make so many temples? He is building a temple a year! Where does he get money? He must be smuggling, stealing or doing some dacoity!' Yes, of course, sadhus are dacoits. They come to rob people, but not for their own benefit! They take whatever people willingly give them and use that for the service to the Lord. The Lord's money is scattered all over the world in millions, and people are eager to give that money themselves. We must only think how we can use that money in the Lord's service.

We are alive in this world at the expense of killing millions of living entities. When we drink water, when we breathe, when we eat rice, wheat (not to speak of chicken, goats and other animals), we have to kill the living entities that were created by the Lord and for the Lord. Because we kill all these living entities, we will have to reap the result, or the reaction to our action. Whenever you do some action, there has to be some reaction. That is why we suffer in hell – as the result of our actions. There is no way to prevent it. But how is it possible to get relief and save ourselves from this life of action and reaction? By living a Krishna-centred life: by sacrificing our lives and living for Krishna.

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ।
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥
ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

'(1) Humility, (2) self-submission, (3) accepting that the Lord is your maintainer, (4) keeping faith that “Krishna will certainly protect”, (5) engaging only in what is favourable to devotion, (6) rejecting what is unfavourable to devotion.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We must become humble; we must fully surrender ourselves to the Lord; we must have faith that Krishna is our maintainer and protector. No one is my protector – only Krishna. No one is taking care of me – only Krishna. We must accept what is favourable to devotion, and we must reject what is unfavourable to devotion. If you drink milk and smoke tobacco, will your disease be cured like that? Can you take sugar medication and at the same time eat many sweets or much potato? You can never have a good health like this. In the same way, you cannot chant the Holy Name and eat meat, fish (kill others) – even if you do this, what you chant is not the Holy Name then.

I have told you today that it is not possible to chant the Holy Name if you have unwanted, inauspicious tendencies (anartha) within you. But in this state, you can chant Nitai-Gaura's Names. As you chant and chant Nitai-Gaura's Names, if you get Their mercy one day, then you will get taste for chanting the Holy Name of Lord Krishna. I keep telling you this again and again – you must remember this.

So, if you want to save yourselves from the life of action and reaction, you must make your life Krishna-centred – you must live as members of Krishna's family. This is what the people do here in this house. The husband and the wife at whose house we are sitting now live thinking about the Lord, serving the Lord, offering bhoga to the Lord and taking the Lord's prasad. They work for the Lord, they cook for the Lord, they wash the dishes for the Lord, they clean the house for the Lord, they make garlands for the Lord – whatever they do, they do everything for the Lord, for Govinda. And others can spend the whole day eating. If you think that your life is the same as these devotees' lives, then you are mistaken – it is a misconception. People think, 'Oh, they do all the same things at the temple that I do at home – they also have cows, they also grow trees and plants, and so on.' It is not the same. Those who live at the temple live caring for the temple's interest; but those who live in their houses live caring for their houses' interests. People worry about their houses and live amidst attachment to their hearth and home – through their houses, Maya Devi keeps them in her fist, making them do whatever she wants. Maya's play is like that.

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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