(12/12) Do Not Be Afraid to Give

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bakultala, noon class, 7 April 2019, part 12
Translated from Bengali

I will tell you a story and then finish. This story shows what happens when you give something to the Lord. You must have heard about Bali Maharaj who was born in the family of demons. He was actually the king of demons: Daityaraj Bali Maharaj. Still, he got the mercy of the Lord.

When demigods lived in heaven, they became very proud, so Krishna created demons to check their pride. For example, you have heard about Jaya and Vijay, two gatekeepers of Lord Narayan, and how they had to be born first as Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa, then as Ravan and Kumbhakarna, and finally as Dantavakra and Sisupal. It took them three ages to return back to Vaikuntha.

So, one day Bali Maharaj's guru told him, 'Bali, the gods are winning very strongly, and your power is diminishing. You must arrange a big fire sacrifice.' Following the order of his guru, Bali Maharaj arranged a great fire sacrifice. He brought twenty-four brahmans and made twenty-four sacrificial altars, and each of the brahmans started a fire sacrifice, chanting continuously, 'Om svaha', 'Om svaha', 'Om svaha.' Bali Maharaj's guru also told him to invite all brahmans and give them whatever gift or presentation they asked him for.

Who knew that in the meantime the Lord appeared in the family of Aditi and Kasyap Rishi in the form of a dwarf brahman? Because He was also a brahman, He was invited to Bali Maharaj's sacrifice, too. He took an umbrella and started out for Bali Maharaj's palace. He was very short, so the umbrella was very big for Him, and when He was walking down the street, it looked like it was an umbrella walking. All the brahmans who were coming behind Him were taken aback, 'What is this? We cannot see any man carrying this umbrella – how is it that an umbrella is going down the road?' Not only that, the umbrella went so fast that nobody could keep up with it! Curious to catch that umbrella, some brahmans began to run, but no matter how fast they ran, they still could not catch up with it!

When Lord Vamandev arrived at the place of Bali Maharaj's fire sacrifice, He showed so much effulgence that it overpowered the effulgence of all the fires. Vamandev is the Lord Himself, but who could understand that? Anyhow, Lord Vamandev then stood in front of Bali Maharaj.

'You must be the famous dwarf brahman.'

'Yes, I am.'

'You have come on my invitation, have you not?'

'Yes, I have.'

'Then You must take some gift from me. Tell me, what do You want to get?'

'I am a small brahman, so My wish is also very small. I will not ask for much.'

'What do You want? Tell me.'

'I only want three steps of land. My feet are small, so I only want a small piece of land, the size of My three steps.'

'What is this? If You take three steps of land, what will You do with such a small plot of land? You will not even be able to build a house there! Ask for something else. You can get something bigger than that.'

'I have told you that I am a small brahman, so My desires are also small. I do not want anything else. Just give Me three steps of land.'

'Perhaps, you do not know it, but I am the master of hell, heaven and earth...'

'Yes, yes, I know everything. I know that you can give Me everything, but I do not want to take so much. I only want three steps of land from you.'

'Listen, if You will take a gift from me and then You go to somebody else to ask them for something more, my reputation will be tarnished.'

'No, no. I will not do that. I only want three steps of land.'

'All right, so be it. I will give it to You.'

No sooner had Bali Maharaj made this promise when his guru, Sukracharya, appeared.

'O Bali!' he said. 'What have you done?! Have you made a promise to this brahman?! Do you not know who He is? He is the Lord Himself! Can you not recognise Him?'

'Oh, but then it is good! If I can give something to the Lord, then it is even better.'

'No, no! Bali! Sometimes, to protect your wealth, you must also cheat and tell a lie. Tell this brahman that you cannot give Him what He wants.' (That was the advice of his demoniac guru.)

'No, I cannot do that,' Bali Maharaj replied. 'I have promised to give Him three steps of land, and I will give it to Him. How much is three steps of land anyway? Even if He is the Lord Himself, then He is the greatest recipient – I will not find a better recipient for my charity than Him.'

'You are being childish, Bali. Take your word back, do not give Him anything!'

'No, gurudev, I am not going to listen to you.' Bali Maharaj rejected his guru.

People say that once you take a guru, you cannot reject him, but here we can see that Bali Maharaj gave up his guru. You can recite a mantra and reject your guru. Prahlad Maharaj also had to give up his father. Bharat Maharaj rejected his mother because she was trying to teach him bad things (she wanted him to fight against Lord Rama). So, Bali Maharaj rejected his guru, but his guru did not let him go – he tried to 'save' him. Using his mystic power, he entered the kumandala pot that Bali Maharaj was going to use to grant the brahman's wish, and when Bali Maharaj took the pot in his hand and tried to pour water, saying, 'Om Vishnu', 'Om Vishnu', the water did not flow out. Bali Maharaj took a straw and started poking it inside the pot to clear its spout. The straw poked Sukracharya's eye, and after that, his name became 'Kana Sukra' (Blind Sukra)! Bali Maharaj's guru became blind in one eye. Anyhow, after that, the water started flowing, and Bali Maharaj said 'Om Vishnu' three times, granting Vamandev His three steps of land. At this time, Vamandev's one leg went to hell, and His second leg went to heaven – His whole body became so vast that it had taken the whole universe.

Everybody was astonished. 'What is this? What has happend to this dwarf brahman?' And Bali Maharaj knelt with folded palms before Vamandev.

'Bali,' Vamandev said, 'you must keep your word! You have given Me only two steps of land so far. One more step is left.'

'Prabhu, I do not have anything else,' Bali Maharaj replied. 'You have taken everything with Your two steps: hell, heaven and earth. What else do I have left now?'

'No, you do have something left. There is something more! You must give Me one more step of land. You have promised Me.'

You see?

ভক্তের জিনিষ প্রভু লুটিপুটি খায়
অভক্তের জিনিষ প্রভু উলটি নাহি চায়

bhaktera jinisa prabhu lutiputi khaya
abhaktera jinisa prabhu ulti nahi chaya

'The Lord eats anything and everything when a devotee offers it, but the Lord does not want to take anything from a non-devotee.'

(Based on Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.9.185)

The Lord comes and forcefully takes from His devotees.

Bali Maharaj started thinking, 'What else do I have? What else is there that I can give Him? He has taken everything...' He could not think of anything. Then, his wife, who was very intelligent, came to him. She whispered in his ear, 'Can you not understand. The Lord keeps saying that you do have something more to give. You have given everything to the Lord, but have you given yourself?' Then, Bali Maharaj realised, 'It is true! I have not given myself!'

'O Lord, I am giving myself to You,' Bali Maharaj said to Vamandev, falling before the Lord in a postrate obeisance. At this time, a third leg appeared from Vamandev's navel (He is the Lord, so everything is possible), and the Lord kept it on Bali Maharaj's head, saying, 'So far you have been giving to Me, and I have been taking from you. I am very happy with you, Bali, because you have kept your word. But now we will do the opposite.'

'What do You mean "the opposite"?' Bali Maharaj asked, perplexed.

'Now I will give something to you, and you will take it. Tell Me, what would you like to get?'

'Prabhu, I do not want anything. You have placed Your foot on my head – is there any greater gift than that? I do not want anything, dear Lord.'

'No, you must take something from Me,' Vamandev insisted. Then, He forcefully gave Bali Maharaj Sutalpuri, a place in Vaikuntha. There, Bali Maharaj stayed together with Prahlad Maharaj.

So, the Lord does not take your things. Do you understand it now? If you offer bhog to the Lord, He cannot eat it Himself without giving anything to His devotee. Therefore, always offer bhog to the Lord, do Tulasi parikrama, serve Tulasi, chant the Holy Name and buy the kirtan books: chant five kirtans in the morning and five kirtans in the evening. We have sung kirtans today (we sang a little more than five, but you can chant at least five). 'Gurudev krpa bindu diya', 'Sri Guru-charana-padma', 'Gurudev bada krpa kari' and other kirtans are prayers to the guru (guru-vandana). Then, there are also prayers to the Pancha-tattva: 'Sri Krsna-chaitanya prabhu daya kara more', 'Sri Krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'. There are prayers to Vaishnav Thakur: 'Ohe Vaishnava thakura', 'Ei-bara karuna kara vaisnava gosai'. There are prayers to Nityananda Prabhu: 'Nitai-pada-kamala', 'Akrodha-paramananda nityananda raya'. Then, there are prayers to Mahaprabhu: 'Gaurangera duti pada', 'Emana durmati'. And there are prayers to Radha-Krishna: 'Jaya Radha Madhava', 'Yasoda-nandana', and so on. Chant five kirtans every morning and evening. Learn them by heart. Chant the Holy Name. This will bring you benefit. I always pray that the Lord may bless you and bestow all auspiciousness upon you all.

Also, many of you could not come for Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama earlier this year, but try to come next year. I am going to Puri soon. If any of you want to come with us but do not have money for a train ticket, you can come to the Howrah station on 29 June – come to the Jagannath Express, and you can get on the train with me. Do not worry about anything. 'Krsna bala, sange chala, ei matra bhiksa chai (কৃষ্ণ বল, সঙ্গে চল, এই মাত্র ভিক্ষা চাই). I am begging you for one thing only – come with Me and chant the Holy Name of Krishna!' Money does not take you to the Lord. You must call out to the Lord with your hearts. I have told you that you cannot serve the Lord with ten rupees, neither can you chant kirtan for fifteen rupees. All the sahajiya kirtans, eight-prahar kirtan, twenty-four-prahar kirtan, this kirtan, that kirtan, aul, baul, kartabhaja, nera, darvesh, sani, sahajiya, sakhibekhi, smarta, jata gosai, atibari, churadhari, gauranga-nagari – all these bogus practices and apa-sampradayas will take you down a wrong path.

Remember all these things.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Harinam sankirtan ki jay.
Gaura-bhakta-vrinda ki jay.

— : • : —

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Length: 97 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Check Yourself
2) Spiritual Purity
3) Your Chance
4) Happy Existence
5) Look for Service, Not Excuses
6) Short Time, Short Life
7) Maya's Domain
8) Genuine Connection
9) Thoughtful Existence
10) Mature Vision
11) Places to Be Avoided
12) Do Not Be Afraid to Give