(8/8) Do Not Run After Knowledge

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
28 February 2019, evening, part 8
Translated from Bengali

Srila Prabhupad said, 'Do not read too many scriptures, do not practise too many things.' If I am thirsty and one glass of water can remove my thirst, what is the use thinking about a whole ocean of water? If I just drink one glass of water, my thirst will satiated, so why would I need a whole ocean? We do not need to read so many books – big-big volumes of Bhagavatam, Chaitanya-charitamrita, Garga-samhita, this book, that book, the Vedas, Vedanta. What did Mahaprabhu say to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya? 'I do not know anything, I do not know anything about the Vedas or Vedanta.' He is the Lord, so He knows everything, but showing humility He said that He did not know anything. All we know is that we live following our gurudev. We have a very gentle faith (kamala-sraddha), so we listen only to what our gurudev told us, we do not listen to anybody else. Always remember this.

Let us chant some kirtan now. Do you have any questions? Especially those who have not come to this line yet, do you have any questions? Nobody from here wants to take initiation – they are so unfortunate. Perhaps, their husbands or wives do not let them take initiation. Do you think that if your sons or daughters get married, then nobody will want to marry them? Is this what people are saying here? What is this? You must find good girls and boys for your children. Ah, they worry that they will not be able to eat anything? Do you think your daughter-in-law will run away if she does not eat fish and meat?

[A devotee says something and His Divine Grace remarks] Who is going to teach me how to work with a plough? Let them get on a bull and we will see if they can cultivate the land with me or not. I am sixty years old, let them come and try – we will see if they can keep up with me. You do not need to teach me these things... I took care of cows and bulls even in my chilhood, and when I came to the temple, I did all kinds of work – I took care of cows, I worked with bricks and cement, I did so many things. I build big buildings. They chant kirtan for ten minutes, get out of breath and stop... They do not understand it. I saw yesterday that your daughter-in-law does not do so much service, but do not worry, she will learn gradually. You must teach her well. If you do not prepare your family, who will continue doing Deity worship at home when you grow old? You say that she needs sukriti and fortune, but you cannot only think like that and do nothing. It is necessary to have desire, then mercy will come. If there is no desire, then nothing will happen – then, like Prahlad Maharaj, you will get a demon for a child. In Srila Sridhar Maharaj's family, some of them took initiation but did not really practise, and in our Gurudev's family, nobody came to this line – they all became demons (they all became guru-bhogi). In my hometown also, they are building a temple and doing so much now, but at my previous home they cannot give up their beloved rui and katla [popular types of fish]. They say, 'Oh, we stopped eating meat, but we cannot give up fish.' This is all greed of the tongue. Teach them to chant kirtan, give more importance to kirtan. As they chant kirtan more and more, they will come right.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

[Fried chillis' smell coming and His Divine Grace coughs] Do not feed the Lord fried chillies...

[His Divine Grace chants evening kirtans, concluding the evening programme.]

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Size: 25 Mb
Length: 51 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Steer Clear of Offences
2) Disciple's Life
3) Mahaprabhu's Standard of Cleanliness
4) Shift Your Priorities
5) Make No Mistake
6) Non-Negotiable Stance
7) Be Strong and Straight
8) Do Not Run After Knowledge