(2) Pointless Life and Pointed Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Lord Siva's Temple inauguration,
5 March 2019, evening, part 2
Translated from Bengali

You must never forget the Lord. It is to this end that Krishna, the Supreme Lord Himself, comes in Kali-yuga as Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Sriman Nityananda Prabhu. Krishna is one, but He manifests Himself as two when He comes to this world. He comes to this world and goes door to door, telling everybody:

জীব জাগ জীব জাগ গোরাচাঁদ বলে ।
কত নিদ্রা যাও মায়া পিশাচীর কোলে ॥

jiva jaga jiva jaga gorachanda bale
kata nidra yao maya-pisachira kole

‘“Wake up, soul! Wake up, soul!” says Gorachad (Golden Moon). “How long are you going to sleep in the lap of this witch Maya?”’

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'O souls! Stop sleeping! Wake up! You are possessed by a ghost!' When people are possessed by a ghost, they start saying jibberish; we are also in this state – we say, 'This is my house!', 'This is my home!', 'This is my son!', 'This is my family!'

কয় বার এলি কয় বার গেলি
তবু তত্ত্ব না শিখিলি ।
নিজের মাথা নিজে খাইলি
এ দোষ দিবি কারে ভাই ?

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e dosa dibe kare bhai?

‘Coming and going, coming and going, you never learnt anything! You have been eating your own brain – who will you blame for this, brother?’

How many times we have come to this world! When we were singing at the arati of Lord Siva earlier today, I saw there were so many insects and bugs attracted by the light. There were more insects there than the entire population of Bardhaman! They also got a life, a family – they probably live for fifteen days or one month only, but during this time, they are also born, they grow, they start their own families, they get children, grandchildren, they enjoy and have fun, and then, fifteen days later, they die. They came here attracted by the light. In this world, people are always attracted to beautiful sights, tasty food, fragrant smells, pleasant sounds and enjoyable tactile feelings. Our attraction to all this kind of enjoyment controls our lives.

We are always controlled by the desire to see nice things. Those insects see the light and think that they will get some nice food there, but when you wake up tomorrow and sweep the temple, you will see thousands and millions of insects lying dead on the ground beneath those lights. If you buy a tin of gur (molasses), you can see there a lot of ants – they get inside gur to eat, and even when they have eaten enough and their stomaches become full, they still think, 'Let me eat some more!' They eat, eat and eat and become so fat that they cannot move, so they die inside gur. That is why we sometimes find ants inside gur. They are driven by the desire for tongue-enjoyment. In the same way, we are drawn to enjoy sounds, smells and touch. All kinds of living entities live like that and end up dying because of their uncontrolled urges. This is what the life in this world is like.

This is the kind of world we have come to having got a 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 rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Who shall I tell about my misery now?’

সংসার সংসার করি মিছে গেল কাল ।
লাভ না হইল কিছু ঘটিল জঞ্জাল ॥

samsara samsara kari michhe gela kala
labha na haila kichhu ghatila janjala

‘I have wasted all my time on material life and family and have got nothing but garbage as the result.’

কিসের সংসার এই, ছায়াবাজী প্রায় ।
ইহাতে মমতা করি বৃথা দিন যায় ॥

kisera samsara ei, chhayabaji praya
ihate mamata kari vrtha dina yaya

‘What kind of life is this? It is only a trick, a show. I have wasted time taking this world and the people around me in it as my own.’

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

‘My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleep. It never occurs to me that death is there, waiting right next to me.’

(Sri Kalyan-Kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Does any one of us ever think that we can die tomorrow? I was starting to tell you about Khatvanga Maharaj just now. When there started a war between gods and demons, Khatvanga Maharaj came to the gods's side and with his help and blessing they won the battle and got back their kingdom in heaven. After that, they told Khatvanga Maharaj, 'Maharaj, owing to your blessings, we have got back our kingdom in heaven. Please tells us what boon we can give you. What would you like to get? We will give you anything you want. If you want a kingdom in heaven, if you want to stay here, we can arrange that.' Khatvanga Maharaj replied, 'I will take whatever you give me later, but for now please tell me how long I will live in this world.' The gods meditated for some time and then said, 'You have only one moment left to live.' In heaven, one moment is equal to forty-eight minutes. So, Khatvanga Maharaj had to leave his body in forty-eight minutes. Hearing this, Khatvanga Maharaj said, 'I have only forty-eight minutes left to live, so I do not want to waste a second! I am immediately surrendering at the holy lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna!' This is how he came to the Lord within those forty-eight minutes.

I told you also yesterday about Pariksit Maharaj. He was very fortunate because he received a seven-day notice: he was told that he would leave this world within seven days. He was a king, so he had to make a lot of arrangements for his kingdom, subjects and ministers. Everybody advised him, 'Leave that person in charge of this', 'Leave that person in charge of that', 'Give money here', 'Give money there', 'Meditate on impersonal Brahman', and so on. He got a lot of advice on what to do. If you hear that you will die in seven days or in a month, you will also worry about your things – you will run to LIC (Life Insurance Corporation), you will think what your sons will get, in whose name you must leave the land, and so on. Everybody is like that. But Pariksit Maharaj did not listen to anyone. Only when Sukadev Goswami came to him, then he listened to Srimad Bhagavatam from him during all those seven days. He got his solution through Bhagavatam.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }