(1/4) The Sick, the Slick and the Trick

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, evening class
20 March 2019, part 1
Translated from Bengali

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa-kula-churamani Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay.
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Nityananda Prabhu ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay.
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay.
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay.
Jay Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay.
Jay Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay.
Jay Sripad Bhakti Vaibhav Parivrajak Maharaj ki jay.
Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj ki jay.
Sripad Bhakti Amrita Paramarthik Maharaj ki jay.
Sripad Bhakti Tilak Niriha Maharaj ki jay.
Jay all the worldwide devotees ki jay.
Jay Sri Sri Gaura Purnima avirbhaver adhivas maha-mahotsav ki jay.
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Nabadwip Dham parikrama ki jay.
Parikrama-kari samasta bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Harinam sankirtan ki jay.
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Devotee: Jay Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay. Harinam sankirtan ki jay. Gaura premanande Hari bol

At last moment, Srila Janardan Maharaj came. He came the day before yesterday, but he was a little sick. He came from China, where he had been for preaching, and he has brought several Chinese devotees here – you can see them sitting with us today. Because Srila Janardan Maharaj was a little sick, he came later, only at the end of the parikrama. Srila Ashram Maharaj is also sick, but he went for the parikrama today (he is a little unwell now).

Today is the eve (adhivas) of Sri Gaura Purnima Festival, and tomorrow is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's holy appearance day, the day that we have been waiting for during the whole year. Every time when this festival passes, we start to wait for it again. This day is coming tomorrow, and it is a very big matter for us because Jagad-Guru Gaura Mahaprabhu appears on this day.

We are very fortunate to be born and to have got this human body in this Age of Kali. This age is called an ocean of faults ('kalau-dosa nidhi'). But even though there are so many faults in Kali-yuga, there is still one great merit and a source of joy for us in this age: the good news is that in the Age of Kali, Supreme Lord Sri Krishna appears as His Holy Name and as Gauranga Mahaprabhu (a combined form of Radha-Krishna). Appearing as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, He distributes His Holy Name in this world. His followers, who genuinely follow His teachings – who not only preach about His conception but also follow it – are very great devotees.

When we were taking breakfast today, you saw me sitting in the shade (in a pandal). A local man came up to me and said, 'Oh, Maharaj, please come tomorrow. There will be kirtan here, and we will be doing Gopal Puja!' They are doing Gopal Puja tomorrow! What do they do? They make a doll of Gopal from clay, worship Him for one day (they dance, drink, eat meat and enjoy the whole night), and the next day, they will throw Gopal into the Ganges. This is what they do, and they are telling me, 'Come every year!' I told the man, 'Yes, yes, I will come every year! But I will come to use your field so that devotees can take prasad, not to join your crazy festivals.' They do not actually practise spiritual life – they worship Gopal and then toss Him into the Ganges or into some pond. That man also called me to sit inside his house, but I told him, 'It is OK, I like it here, outside.'

So, tomorrow is the holy appearance day of Sriman Mahaprabhu. It is also a fasting day. If anybody cannot do full fast, we have some fruit here, you can take it. I do not want you to get sick as the result of fasting. So, if you have some problem and cannot stay with an empty stomach, you can take some fruit. Other than that, please fast tomorrow. There will be continuous reading (parayan) of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, some classes. If I get time, I will come downstairs, too. Other sannyasis will come, too. Spend the whole day in this way, and in the late afternoon, at four o'clock, we will start our main programme. During the day, there will be morning arati and class, then noon arati, the Lordships will be offered bhoga, but we will fast. Those who cannot fast at all can take some fruit, we do not have any objection.

Some people cannot fast because they have some gastric problems (acidity, etc.). I also suffer from this. For example, I take breakfast at eight o'clock every morning, but today we took breakfast at 10:45 a.m., and I had some acid reflux because of that (I had to take acidity medication). You know, I take twenty-two tablets daily. I dance and chant with you all – would you think that I am sick? You would not. But I take twenty-two tables every day... I take nine tablets at night, before going to bed. In the morning, I take four tablets before breakfast, five after breakfast, then two before supper and two after supper. Twenty-two daily... I am going on anyhow. So, to take my morning medication, I have to eat something. There is no point hiding it from you. It is not like we tell everyone that we have been fasting the whole day without drinking any water, but when we go to bath in a pond, we secretly drink some water while bathing. I do not want to do like that. I am telling you openly what I do. My condition is like that, but, in general, my health is good, there is no problem.

I was very sick earlier, but the Lord has kept me alive, and I am well now – the doctors also say that I do not have a problem. I have my doctor, and I see him every three–four months and I take my medication. So, to take my medication, I need to eat something. Today, there was some problem because I had not eaten. You saw me sucking on a chocolate (I had to take some chocolate because my blood sugar had dropped), but because I did that on empty stomach, I got acid reflux... I took a tablet later. Usually, I take my meals timely, but during the parikrama, these things happen. Sometimes, when I go out for preaching, I can also skip some meals. You often tell me, 'Come to my house', 'Stay at my house', so I travel to different places and may not always be able to have my meals timely. Still, I am carrying on, I am managing. I have been living at the temple for twenty-eight years now [as of 2019] – I was thirty-two when I came...

So, we will observe tomorrow's festival in this way. I am praying to you all: please fast if you can and if you cannot, you can take some fruit, etc. in the morning.

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)

The main thing is that you must serve the Lord. If you follow many rules and regulations and become sick, then it is wrong. For example, you fast the whole day from morning till night on Janmastami, but if this fast makes you sick, how will you serve the Lord? You must offer bhog to the Lord, you must do various services, but if you fall ill, then the Lord will not like it. Always remember this. That is why the rules and regulations were relaxed: you can fast on ekadasi and other fasting days, it is all right, but you must think what is necessary for your body. You must neither eat too much nor eat too little. This is how you must live.

I will chant just one kirtan now. Gurudev always chanted it on this day. After that, Srila Janardan Maharaj and others can speak.

[His Divine Grace chants 'Emana durmati'.]

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Length: 46 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) The Sick, the Slick and the Trick
2) Where Are You Rushing?
3) Limited but One-Pointed Life
4) Exclusive Discipleship