(8/12) Genuine Connection

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bakultala, noon class, 7 April 2019, part 8
Translated from Bengali

[After chanting kirtans and Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj addresses the assembled devotees, His Divine Grace resumes the class.]

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

'The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy and aspiring to serve him; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Vaibhav Parivrajak Maharaj and all the assembled gentlemen and lady devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this lowly soul.

It is a very good day today. Why? You may think that it is hot today and there are no fans, there is no good current because of the recent rains. Actually, we cannot do anything about this – these things are not in our hands. Whatever the Lord arranges, everything is His wish.

সর্ব্বধর্ম্মান্ পরিত্যজ্য মামেকং শরণং ব্রজ ।
অহং ত্বাং সর্ব্বপাপেভ্যো মোক্ষয়িষ্যামি মা শুচঃ ॥

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

'Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

'Leave all religions and surrender to Me. I have told you about many religions – leave it all. I will take care of you. You do not have to do anything – only surrender to Me and think about Me. Worship and serve Me. All your sins will be removed.' There are 330,000,000 gods – you cannot serve them all. If you serve one god, another god will be unhappy; but if you worship Krishna, then all other worships are automatically accomplished.

একলা ঈশ্বর কৃষ্ণ, আর সব ভৃত্য ।
যারে যৈছে নাচায়, সে তৈছে করে নৃত্য ॥

ekala isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya
yare yaiche nachaya, se taichhe kare nrtya

'Lord Krishna is the only supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.5.142)

The only controller and master is Krishna. It is said in the scriptures:

চারি বর্ণাশ্রমী যদি কৃষ্ণ নাহি ভজে ।
স্বকর্ম্ম করিলেও সে রৌরবে পড়ি মজে ॥

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje
svakarma karileo se raurave padi maje

'Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager or worker) or ashram (a celibate, householder, renouncer of the household life or monk) you belong to, if you do not worship Krishna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.26)

There are four varnas (brahman, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra) and four ashrams (brahmacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha and sannyas). You can live at home or be a celibate or even a monk, but if you do not worship the Lord, you will have to go to hell. I have wrote about it at length in Guidance 3. I have three volumes of Guidance books published already. Get these books and read them. We also have a book about Sri Puri Dham parikrama. We are going to go to Puri at the end of June – some devotees from here will be also coming with us, you can get in touch with them.

It is necessary to always keep in touch. How can you keep connection? For example, I have not come here for a long time, so I forgot the road. I had to ask somebody on the way which way to go. Now they have GPS, but it sometimes shows a wrong way (it has a bad brain, so it sometimes creates a problem). If you ask somebody from this area, who know this place, if you should go this way or that way – they know the roads, so they will be able to tell you for sure which way to go. So, if we come to those who genuinely know and understand the Lord, they will show us the straight way how to come to the Lord; they will not take us down the wrong path. So, we must come to such bona fide people, we must associate with them.

Every year during four days we do Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama (once a year). If you get in touch with the devotees, you can join it, too. During these four days, we circumambulate the nine islands of Nabadwip: each of the nine kinds of devotion resides on a corresponding island there.

আদৌশ্রদ্ধা ততঃ সাধুসঙ্গোঽথ ভজনক্রিয়া ।
ততোঽনর্থনিবৃত্তিঃ স্যাৎ ততো নিষ্ঠা রুচিস্ততঃ ॥
অথাসক্তিস্ততো ভাবস্ততঃ প্রেমাভ্যুদঞ্চতি ।
সাধকানাময়ং প্রেম্ণঃ প্রাদুর্ভাবে ভবেৎ ক্রমঃ ॥

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

'First, there is faith; then, saintly association and practising life. After that, unwanted habits gradually go away, spiritual life becomes stable, and spiritual taste comes. Then comes attachment, feeling and finally transcendental love. This is how love for the Lord comes to those who practise Krishna consciousness.'

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, 1.4.15-16)

These are the nine stages of devotion. Apart from that, there are nine kinds of devotion: sravanam (hearing about the Lord), kirtanam (chanting the Lord's Name and glories), smaranam (remembering the Lord), pada-sevanam (serving the Lord's lotus feet), archanam (worshipping the Lord's Deity), vandanam (offering obeisances and prayers to the Lord), dasyam (serving the Lord as a servant), sakhyam (serving the Lord as a friend), atma-nivedanam (submitting yourself to the Lord). Each of these kinds of devotion reside on a corresponding island of Nabadwip. We visit each of the nine islands, speak and listen about their glories. If you have the book Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya, you can read it and see these glories described there. We must do this parikrama.

We also go to Vrindavan every year during the niyom-seva month (the month of Kartik). This parikrama takes about fifteen days. We visit Govardhan and Vrindavan. Many people can actually book a bus tour and say, 'Oh, I have been to Vrindavan.' This is not parikrama. If you say, 'I will go to see Jagannath,' you will not get Lord Jagannath's darshan. If you say, 'I will go to see Krishna,' you will get Lord Krishna's darshan. When you think, 'Lord Jagannath is the object of my service, I am His simple servant,' then Lord Jagannath will give His darshan to you (will allow you to see Him); otherwise, you will go there and see only a doll made of wood, clay or marble. In the same way, if you go to any temple thinking, 'I am going to see the Deities,' you will not see the Deities. If you think, 'I want to go there to serve the Deities, I am Their servant' – if this kind of mood comes to you – then the Deities will let you see Them. Can you hear what I am saying? Can you understand it? If you do not understand something, then ask a question. So, when you go to some place on your own, with your own interest, that is only an eye exercise.

If you think, 'I want to know the guru, I want to understand the guru,' you will not get anything; but if you think, 'I want to serve my guru,' then you will get everything. What do you take initiation for? Because you want to know the guru? No. Initiation is taken to serve the guru. Serving the guru does not mean washing his feet, doing this, that – this is not service; if you follow what your guru says (if you live following your guru's instructions), that is called service.

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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