(6/8) Troubled Souls

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Mejhiari, evening, 20 April 2019, part 6
Translated from Bengali

When we were in our mothers' wombs for ten months and ten days, we suffered there very much living with our heads facing down and our legs facing up, surrounded by filthy liquid and bitten insects. 'Janani-jathare, chhilama yakhana, visama bhandana-pase (জননী-জঠরে ছিলাম যখন, বিষম বন্ধন-পাশে): When I was in my mother's womb, I lived in terrible confinement' (Saranagati). We lived in this terrible confinement and cried to the Lord, 'O Lord! Please let me out!' One day, the Lord appeared before us and said, 'I am giving you eyes to see My Deities. I am giving you ears to listen about Me. I am giving you a mouth to speak about Me. I am giving you legs to circumambulate My land. I am giving you hands so that you can serve Me. Will you do all this?' We promised to the Lord to do all this, but once we were born, we forgot all about it. Falling into the bondage of the illusory world, we forgot everything.

You know, when children are just born, they begin to cry. Do you know why they cry? Because there they see that beautiful form of the Lord, but once they come out, they cannot see it anymore. That is why they begin to cry. Maya, illusory environment, catches them. That is the Maya's job. It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita:

দৈবী হ্যেষা গুণময়ী মম মায়া দুরত্যয়া ।
মামেব যে প্রপদ্যন্তে মায়ামেতাং তরন্তি তে ॥

daivi hy esa gunamayi, mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante, mayam etam taranti te

'My supramundane trimodal illusory potency (alluring those who are averse to Me) is extremely difficult to overcome. However, this insurmountable potency of Mine can be overcome by those who exclusively surrender to Me.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

If you place a piece of iron into fire, it will become red, and if you then touch anything with that iron, the iron will burn everything. Where does iron get such power? From the fire. In the same way, getting her power from the Supreme Lord, Maya turns everyone into her servants and makes them forget the Lord. She is always making you serve her.

You have heard that 'Jivana anitya janaha sara tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara (জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ-ভার). You must know the main truth that this life is not eternal and full of various dangers.' We were also singing just now: 'Maya-jale baddha ha'ye, achha michhe kaja la'ye.'

মায়াজালে বদ্ধ হ’য়ে, আছ মিছে কাজ ল’য়ে ।
জীবন হইল শেষ, না ভজিলে হৃষীকেশ ॥

maya-jale baddha ha’ye, achha michhe kaja la’ye
jivana haila sesa, na bhajile hrsikesa

'Bound in Maya’s net, you waste your time on useless work. Your life has come to an end, but you have not served Lord Hrishikesh.'

Your life will be gone very soon! You were born just recently, but all these years have passed now – how long more do you think you will be here before you have to leave this world? You came to this world making a promise to use your eyes to see the Lord's Deities, to listen about the Lord with your ears, to chant the Lord's Names with your mouth, but what have you been doing in reality?

ভজিব বলিয়া এসে সংসার-ভিতরে ।
ভুলিয়া রহিলে তুমি অবিদ্যার ভরে ॥

bhajiba baliya ese samsara-bhitare
bhuliya rahile tumi avidyara bhare

'Forgetting that you came to this world saying, “I will serve You,” you carried on living in ignorance.'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You came promising to worship the Lord, but falling into material bondage, we forgot everything. But if some fortunate soul comes to surrender at the holy lotus feet of a bona fide guru, that guru can take them back to the Lord – he will guide them to Him.

— : • : —

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Length: 62 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Arise from Oblivion
2) Embrace Conscious Living
3) Our Misery-Fraught Slumber
4) Unhealthy Condition
5) Sincere Worship
6) Troubled Souls
7) Turn Yourself into Servant
8) Whom Will You Tell?