(11/15) Devotional Strictures

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, Sri Jagannath Misra Anandotsav
22 March 2019, morning class, part 11
Translated from Bengali

There are also six things that are unfavourable to devotion. We sing in the kirtan: 'Chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi' (ছয় বেগ দমি' ছয় দোষ শোধি'). Please subjugate my six urges and rectify my six defects.'

1) The urge of speech (vakya-vega). If somebody tells you something bad, it means that the person who is saying it is suffering, so you should apologise to them. And if they swear you more, then ask for forgiveness again.

2) The urge of the mind (mano-vega). Do not do what your mind wants to do.

3) The urge of anger (krodha-vega). Anger comes from desires.

4) The urge of the tongue (jihva-vega). It is the desire to eat more.

5) The urge of the stomach (udhara-vega). The stomach always wants to eat and eat.

6) The urge of the genitals (upastha-vega). You can understand yourselves what it is. It is women's and men's desire for mixing. You know, when some young boys take initiation, their wives come up and ask them some funny questions. One time, a boy took initiation, and his wife, who is still not initiated (she keeps refusing), came to me and asked, 'He has taken initiation, but will he be able to sleep with me now?' What am I to say to that? They already have two children, but they still have so much attachment. This is the urge of the genitals...

There are also six defects.

1) Overeating or hoarding (atyahara). It means trying to accumulate too many things.

2) Over-endeavouring (prayasa). It means wanting more and more and more.

3) Idle talks (prajalpa).

[To a devotee] What is he explaining to you over there? You are much senior than him – he can even take initiation from you! You know much better than him. It is said in the scriptures that if somebody has not taken initiation, they can read Bhagavatam and chant kirtan, but it only gives some mental pleasure. Therefore, you must keep the association of those who are senior to you, but if somebody is lower than you (if somebody's practice is lower), then you should not mix with them so much because they do not know the conception and they do not follow gurudev's instruction – they always live trying to attain some material gain.

*** left the temple to look after his mother, but is his mother alive now? Oh, your mother-in-law died, you mother is not dead yet. He does not know what is what (sambandha-jnana), he does not even know how one must serve sadhus. If you stay at the temple, you can learn it. They do not give prasad at home. Even when we went for a programme in their area, they could not even arrange it properly. You all know that I do not take luchis, etc., but foreign devotees take. You should know these things. I have servitors, and you should think of asking them what I take. They could not even cook some rice – they went to their neighbours and brought some rice from their house. They have no idea of how guru-seva should be done. I just left that place – I had a stomachache, but I just went away. It is necessary to understand what service is. That is why there is a saying (I heard it from Gurudev), 'Bend the bamboo while it is green; if you try to bend it when it matures, it will crack' (কাঁচায় না নোয়ালে বাঁশ, পাকলে করে ঠাস ঠাস; equivalent to English 'strike the iron while it is hot'). It means that you must teach people from their childhood – tell them, tell them and tell them, and then one day they will understand it; but if somebody is old, there will only be mad fighting.

You can see *** who among sahajiyas. He still has not been able to leave those ideas. He says that sahajiyas are also serving the Lord, but is it so? They cannot possibly serve the Lord or Vaishnavs. The Holy Name cannot come to the mouths of offenders. I have seen some people for a long time – they chant kirtan so much, but anyone and everyone can chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra (it does not mean that it is the actual Holy Name). No matter how much I explain to them, they do not understand anything about vaishnav-seva. They offer bhog to the Deities at home, but I have been to their house and saw the situation there – everything is mixed up there, Deities' things, family things, etc. Normally, devotees offer bhoga and take prasad, but when they heard I was coming, they told me, 'Gurudev, please bring some prasad for us.' They do not understand anything. So, what are they going to tell you? They must learn themselves first.

Everybody knows that our parikrama started from the ekadasi day. We usually fast on ekadasi. But children came and they want to eat – they have never in their lives followed ekadasi. The rule is that we do not give rice to anybody on ekadasi, and some people are too strict about it, but what is the point? You offer rice to the Deities anyway, and if you do not give them prasad, they will just go home and eat meat and fish at home. What is the problem for you if you give them prasad? Why cannot you save them from eating fish and meat and give them prasad instead? I told them, 'Give them prasad,' but my disciple(!) told me, 'No! If we do not take rice on ekadasi, why will we give it to others?!' I was taken aback. I told him, 'Listen to what I am telling you.'

3) Idle talks (prajalpa).

4) Following too many unnecessary rules (niyamagraha). It means you have no enthusiasm to practise devotion, but you are enthusiastic to do what is not related to devotion.

5) Materialists' association (jana-sanghancha). Associating with anybody except for devotees. What does association mean? If you go to the market to buy some eggplants, you speak to the sellers – is that association? It is not.

6) Fickle-mindedness (chanchal-buddhi). You come and listen from gurudev, and then you go to some other place and listen to what others say. You go to mayavadis, to sahajiyas, bauls, auls, kartabhajas. They all tell different things.

There is one man who took initiation yesterday. When Gurudev sent me for preaching, I went to all kinds of places. One time I came to a village called Kinkarbati. There are many devotees there now. They listend to Hari-katha, became attracted, and I brought them to Gurudev to take shelter. Sometimes, they would make some cakes there and would send them for me, and when we went there, they also treated us very nice. There was one bogus sadhu who used to come to their house from time time; and one day, the son from the family, who studied in grade six at the time, left the house with him. They searched for him everywhere. In the end, they found him.

Devotee: In a village called Palar.

When they came to that village, they saw the boy dressed as a guru and he was now called Krishna Das Goswami. A goswami! How audacious. Anyhow, I called that place, I spoke to the boy, explained to him that it was not right to cheat people, and so on. Slowly, I managed to bring him to this line, and yesterday he took initiation. Seventeen years later! What kind of guru was he? People take initiation from him and ate meat and fish. And they call him 'goswami'! Do you know the meaning of the word 'goswami'? A goswami is he who can control his senses. And Guru Maharaj says that many now write 'goswami' in their titles, and what does that mean? 'Go' means a cow, and 'swami' means a husband. Who is the husband of a cow? A bull (samra, ষাঁড়). Guru Maharaj would say, 'Oh, he has become a go-swami!'

That is why I wrote these things in my books. Buy and read them. There are many things going on in the name of religion. I wrote one of the chapters 'Is Religion the Cause of National Downfall?' Those who pretend to serve only use their guru. Never turn the guru or the Lord into your servant. O Lord, give me this. O gurudev, give me this! He is not your servant. I heard that if you want to get job at a primary school teacher, you must give a million bribe to a minister. What do we call the person who takes bribes? A bribe-taker. And you come to Kali and Saraswati with some food and money and ask, 'Please keep me healthy', 'Help my son find a job', 'Please arrange a good marriage for my daughter.' So, you turn a worshippable god into a bribe-taker and your servant. You expect God to serve you. The right mood is, 'I am trying to serve the Lord, and He may or may not take this service. It is His matter.' It is not necessary to think what result you will get for your service. Always remember this.

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CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 52 Mb
Length: 108 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Take Prasad
2) Stay Focused
3) Remember Your Service
4) Help Yourself and Others
5) Avoid Offences to Service
6) Avoid Offences to Holy Name
7) Avoid Offences to Vaishnavs
8) Avoid Offences to Holy Dham (Part 1)
9) Avoid Offences to Holy Dham (Part 2)
10) Avoid Kali's Places
11) Devotional Strictures
12) Devotional Strictures
13) Rejoice!
14) Outstanding Happening
15) Wholesome Vision