(5/12) Pivoted Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Festival anniversary,
4 March 2019, evening, part 5
Translated from Bengali

The other day, somebody asked me, 'Maharaj, we grow rice and potato, so sometimes we use some medicine against insects (to kill insects). Is it a sin?' In reply, I explained that if you use that potato for the service to Lord Govinda, then it will not be a sin; and if you grow that potato or rice for yourself, then it will be a sin. If you turn your family into Krishna's family, then there will be no reaction for what you do and you will realise that your room, your house are all property of the Lord.

How long will we be in this world? Perhaps, one hundred years. Actually, the span of life in this Age of Kali is 120 years, but people do not live so long anymore – people live for seventy–ninety years (they eat all kinds of modified, processed products, end up having a stroke or some disease and die). So, when Kali-yuga just started, people used to live 120 years, but now the lifetime has decreased – hardly anybody lives to ninety years old. Do you think you have time? You have got this human life having crossed over 8,400,000 species. It is not so easy. You think that you have a girl and a boy married and a child comes, but this is not so. There are 60,000 souls standing in a queue to get a human body; among them only one soul will get it, and the rest get born as insects, bugs, beasts, birds, countless aquatic species, and so on. This is how we have crossed all these 8,400,000 species before getting this human birth. We were born as goats, chickens, cats, dogs, sheep, snakes, frogs and many other species before, but now we have got this human birth.

দুর্ল্লভ মানব জন্ম লভিয়া সংসারে ।
কৃষ্ণ না ভজিনু দুঃখ কহিব কাহারে ॥

durlabha manava-janma labhiya samsare
krsna na bhajinu—duhkha kahiba kahare?

'I have got a very rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Whom will I tell about my misery?'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

So, born in this world, we live by killing millions of living entities. What is the solution to this life of action and reaction? If you consciously destroy others, you have to reap the result, and if you realise what scriptures say (what sadhus explain based on Srimad Bhagavatam and Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita), then you will know that it is necessary to learn to live a Krishna-centred life.

Suppose you do farming. You grow rice, and you must use this rice for the service to Lord Govinda. You can see devotees cooking today here in the pandal, and they also cook in the kitchen on all other days. Have you seen how they do it? They offer bhog to the Deities, and the rice that gets offered to Deities and is then taken by devotees becomes very fortunate.

We are neither enjoyers nor renunciates. For example, many people grow mango trees thinking, 'I have planted this mango tree, so my wife, children and I will eat nice mangoes.' This is not so. You can plant a tree, but you cannot give life to that tree. In the same way, you can plant some paddy, but whether or not rice will grow is up to Him. Everything happens by His wish. This is where the adhidaivik-jvala (suffering coming from the nature or demigods) comes from – Indradev and Varundev can send so much rain that all crops (potato, eggplant, rice, etc.) can be destroyed. This is the will of the Supreme Lord – nothing in this world can happen without His wish.

Therefore, you must live a God-centred life. You can do farming – do it for Govinda. You can run a business – run it for Govinda. You can go to an office or a shop to work – go there for Govinda. Do everything for Govinda. Whatever happens, what you do, do everything for Govinda. You can see that even when sadhus drink water, they first call out to the Lord or their gurudev, then they take that water. You must remember this. We must live a God-centred life (Krishna-centred life).

Make an altar and keep a picture of Deities on it – cook and offer bhog to Them. You think, 'Oh, I am cooking for my son/daughter so that they can eat when they come back from college', or 'I am cooking for my husband so that he can eat when he comes back from work,' but is there any guarantee that they will come back? But if you cook for Lord Govinda, then Lord Govinda will bring your children or husband back home. Do you understand what I am saying? These are the main things in our lives.

— : • : —

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Length: 56 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Pure Hearts' Kirtan
2) Worship of Lord Siva
3) Proper Worship Comes from Proper Identification
4) Know Thyself
5) Pivoted Life
6) Short-Lived and Short-Sighted
7) Do Not Cheat Yourself
8) Devotional Service
9) Temple Is Not Made of Bricks
10) Spiritual Foundation
11) Stray Souls
12) Embrace Sheltered Life