(10) Service Right Comes With Service Responsibility

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 1 April 2019, part 10
Translated from Bengali

It is necessary to have humility.

দৈন্য, দয়া, অন্যে মান, প্রতিষ্ঠা বর্জ্জন ।
চারিগুণে গুণী হই’ করহ কীর্ত্তন ॥

dainya, daya, anye mana, pratistha varjana
chari-gune guni hai’ karaha kirtana

‘Humility, compassion, honouring others and giving up your own prestige – become enriched with these four qualities and chant the Lord’s Holy Name and glories.’

(Sri Gitavali, Sri Siksastaka Giti, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Who has the right to chant kirtan? Those who have humility, who are extremely humble, who consider themselves very lowly, who treat others with respect and who do not want any honour or good name for themselves. Such souls get the right, the quantification to chant the Holy Name of the Lord. Who is a Vaishnav?

কনক-কামিনী, প্রতিষ্ঠা-বাঘিনী,
ছাড়িয়াছে যারে, সেই ত বৈষ্ণব ।

kanaka-kamini, pratistha-baghini,
chhadiyachhe yare, sei ta vaisnava

‘Those who give up money, women and fame the tigress are true Vaishnavs.’

(‘Vaishnav Ke?’, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur)

A great Vaishnav is one can give up money, women and fame. Always remember this.

Who can give one the right to serve the Lord? Whom does the Lord belong to? Lord Krishna belongs to Srimati Radharani – He is Her property. And Srimati Radharani is nondifferent from Sri Gurupadpadma. In other words, there is no difference between gurudev and Radharani. Therefore, if you take shelter at gurudev's holy lotus feet, gurudev can give you the right to serve Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani.

Our Mission's registered name is now Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math International. There is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and I have added the 'International' word. It is actually true – if you look at it, how many people are there from India? I am from Bangladesh myself. My driver is from India, this Prabhu over there is from Spain, that Prabhu over here is from Colombia, another Prabhu here is from Brazil. You are mostly from India. So, it is an international Mission. When we were making banners for Gaura Purnima, we wrote 'Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math International'. I also used this name for our land in Mayapur so that nobody can come and fight over the temple later. Otherwise, they will come and say, 'Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is ours!' That is why we use the word 'International'.

After Gaura Purnima, Rama Prabhu left on Monday (25 March), and I left the next day, on Tuesday. I spent one night in Kolkata, and then, on Wednesday, I took prasad at noon and started out again. On Wednesday morning, I went to the bank and Bada Bazar and bought three-thousand-rupee-worth pots and kadais. I sent them to our temple in Bankura and our Bardhaman temple. When they have big festivals, they do not have enough pots, so I told them, 'Every year you rent so many pots for the festivals – what for are you doing that? I will send pots to you, you can keep and use them.' Also, our Bankura temple is quite small and there is a problem with accommodation – devotees come there, but there are no bathrooms in the rooms and outdoors, and when people come for festivals, they have to struggle. So, I have started building three rooms and some outbuilding bathrooms. I have supervised the foundation, and four days later they have already erected the pillars. I visited Bakura on Wednesday, stayed there one night to look after the works and leave money and instruction, and after that, on Thursday, I left. On Friday I went to Ekachakra. We reached there by midday. After taking prasad, I spoke to the workers, found out what they needed and left them money. I did not stay in Ekachakra – I went the same day to Nrisingha Palli. You can see how much I managed to do over those few days.

In Nrisingha Palli, I had negotiated the purchase of two small shops in front of our temple for a bookstore (to sell books during Gaura Purnima). I did not have enough money with me at that time, and one man (a high school teacher) lent me some. After that, I left Nrisingha Palli on Tuesday and came back on Thursday evening. On Friday, I called him and told him to come to the temple. I gave him the money back. He had trusted me and given me that money, so I had to keep up the respect he had shown me. So, on Friday, I dealt with some issues in Nrisingha Palli and Krishnanagar, I went to Mayapur to resolve some problems there, too. On Saturday, I had a court hearing. After the hearing, I took prasad at noon and headed back to Kolkata on Saturday night. On the way, I got the news that a devotee had been hospitalised. He works at a railway station and he had fallen down earlier, before Gaura Purnima. After that fall, he started struggling with breathing when chanting kirtans. A few days ago, he felt worse and was taken to hospital. I thought, 'Even if I arrive one or two hours late, let it, I should go and visit him – he will get some peace.' I visited him, and I saw that he was out of danger – they discharged him today. I reached our Kolkata temple after eight in the evening and took prasad. The next day, on Sunday (31 March), I stayed at the temple because many foreign devotees were leaving, so I met and spoke with them. And then, yesterday, I took prasad at noon and came directly here. When I was passing Dhulagarh, I called **'s son. He was sleeping, so I woke him up. I told him to go quickly to the hardware store and tell the worker to come there – I was coming to the shop first. I met with the worker at the hardware store, talked to him. And today we can see that there has been a big change... By the mercy of the Lord, we should start the works tomorrow. Everything should go well.

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