(9/10) Grasp onto Guru, Not Maya

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
26 February 2019, evening, part 9
Translated from Bengali

We are in the grasp of the witch Maya, we live as if possessed by a ghost. Just as when a ghost possesses somebody, they begin to talk all kinds of nonsense, we are also talking nonsense, thinking, 'This is my house', 'My room', 'My son.' When Mahaprabhu was in Puri, He personally (the Lord Himself!) went begging – He taught everybody by His example. All our guru-varga did the same, too. Like all our predecessor gurus, I took initiation from my gurudev and I am only trying to serve him.

We must think about the Lord.

দুর্দ্দৈবে সেবক যদি যায় অন্য-স্থানে ।
সেই ঠাকুর ধন্য তারে চুলে ধরি' আনে ॥

durdaive sevaka yadi yaya anya sthane
sei thakura dhanya tare chule dhari' ane

'If, by some misfortune, a servant goes in a wrong direction, glorious is the master who catches him by the hair and brings him back.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.47)

It is our duty to catch such souls by the hair and engage them in the service to Sri Sri Radha-Govinda. It is useless to live running behind material life and material families.

আসক্তিরহিত, সম্বন্ধসহিত,
বিষয়সমূহ সকলি মাধব ॥

asakti-rahita, sambandha-sahita,
visaya-samuha sakali madhava

'When you are free from material attachment and establish relationship with the Lord, then you will see that everything around you is Lord Madhav Himself.'

('Vaishnav ke?', Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur)

If you live in a family, you must live as only a guard (not a master). There must be no attachment, but there must be the knowledge of the relationship. Our lives in this world have some relationship: that is, our lives are directly related to the Lord.

শ্রীহরি সেবায় যাহা অনুকূল ।
বিষয় বলিয়া ত্যাগে হয় ভূল ॥

sri-hari sevaya yaha anukula
visaya baliya tyage haya bhula

'If something is favourable to the service of the Lord, it is wrong to reject it considering it material or mundane.'

(Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's translation of verse 1.2.256 from Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu)

You should not renounce anything; we are not false renunciates, neither are we sunyavadis (voidists) or mayavadis (impersonalists). We do not throw aside things that belong to the Lord. Voidists and impersonalists reject the Lord's things and pursue the conception of dristavad (positivism, in which the world exists and functions without God's presence) or nirvisesvad (impersonal Brahman). We believe that God is personal, we believe in Deities. 'Sraddha anusare haya bhakti adhikari. Your devotional qualification depends upon your faith.'

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

'Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

We have faith that if God bestows His mercy upon us, if we can serve our guru and Vaishnavs, then we can attain all success. Many people want to become Vaishnavs without serving Vaishnavs, but nobody can become a Vaishnavs unless they serve Vaishnavs. If we can dedicate ourselves to the service of Vaishnavs, then we can hope to become Vaishnavs. Who is going to give us the right to serve Lord Krishna? Krishna belongs to Srimati Radharani, and Srimati Radharani, in turn, is non-different from Sri Gurupadpadma. Therefore, if we can take shelter at the holy lotus feet of our gurudev, he will give us the right to serve Lord Krishna. It is necessary to be surrendered at his holy feet – such surrender must come to us.

— : • : —

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Size: 32 Mb
Length: 66 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Our Predicament
2) Life Worth Living?
3) Grow Up
4) Relief from Burden
5) Wrecked Intelligence
6) Misdirected Love
7) Devotion Comes from Devotion
8) Lost and Languid Souls
9) Grasp onto Guru, Not Maya
10) Surrender and Thrive