(16/16) My Question to You

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 23 April 2019, noon, part 16
Translated from Bengali

It is time for the bhoga arati now, we have just a few minutes. Does anybody have any questions? You have been listening all this time – did you understand anything? Do you have any doubts or problems? If you want to know anything or have any questions, you can ask now. Do not be shy or afraid. [Everybody is quiet.] So, no questions? Then I will ask you a question. [Addressing one of the devotees.] Prabhu, who are you? Yes, I am asking you. Who are you?

Devotee: I do not know...

Good answer. The actual answer is 'I am a jivatma, a soul. I am a servant of Lord Krishna.'

জীবের 'স্বরূপ' হয়—কৃষ্ণের 'নিত্যদাস' ।
কৃষ্ণের 'তটস্থা-শক্তি', 'ভেদাভেদ-প্রকাশ' ॥

jivera 'svarupa' haya—krsnera 'nitya-dasa'
krsnera 'tatastha-sakti' 'bhedabheda-prakasa'

'By its intrinsic nature, the soul is an eternal servant of Krishna; souls come from the marginal energy of Krishna and are simultaneously one with and different from the Lord.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.20.108)

So, when somebody asks you, you should tell your spiritual name, 'I am such-and-such Das (I am a servant of such-and-such).'

'কৃষ্ণ-নিত্যদাস'—জীব তাহা ভুলি' গেল ।
এই দোষে মায়া তার গলায় বান্ধিল ॥

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

'The jiva soul forgot that it is an eternal servant of Krishna. Because of this mistake, illusion threw its ropes around the soul's neck.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.24)

You may think, 'Oh, my name is such-and-such Jana', 'My name is such-and-such Haldar', 'My name is such-and-such Mondal' – all this is your material identity, the name by which you are known in this world; but this is only an identity of your body, it is not your real identity. Who am I? Who are each of you here? 'By its intrinsic nature, the soul is an eternal servant of Lord Krishna; souls come from the marginal energy of Krishna and are simultaneously one with and different from the Lord.'

The soul is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord. For example, here at your house, you have the electric current, so you are able to connect this microphone to get it working. But if the fuse blows, the microphone will not work anymore because there will be no current coming here from the powerhouse. You installed a lamp and a bulb in the room, and that lamp illuminates the whole room here; that current coming from the powerhouse can reach and illuminate many houses at a time. The Lord can be compared to a 'powerhouse' (He is brihat-chaitanya). There is another example also. The sun is very big and it illuminates the whole world – even if there is a wall, a sun ray can still fall into the room through some tiny gap. So, there is this great sun, and there is also a sun ray. Just like there is a powerhouse and a bulb, or just as there is the sun and the sun ray, the Lord is brihat-chaitanya (great consciousness), and we are anu-chaitanya (small particle of consciousness).

What is our relationship with the Lord? We are His eternal servants.

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)

We are His servants, but we forget it. If you try to explain this to a dog, will it understand anything? For example, somebody can give you a garland, and you will appreciate it; but if you put a garland on a dog or a cow, what will it do? The cow will just eat it. If you tell a dog, 'O dog, chant the Holy Name!' will the dog do it? It will not. It will not understand it. Only human beings can understand these things. At best, if their fortune is good, animals can eat some prasad. For example, at the temple we have many dogs – when devotees throw away the plates, these dogs come and lick them, taking prasad. They are fortunate to be able to take devotees' prasad...

We can remember Kalidas. When there was some festival, he would hide and wait for everybody to finish taking prasad – then, he would come to the place where devotees threw their plates and take their food remnants from those plates. Later, he came to see Mahaprabhu in Puri. In the temple of Lord Jagannath, there is a place where you can wash your feet before entering the temple. One time, Kalidas came there when Mahaprabhu was washing His feet. As a rule, Mahaprabhu did not allow anybody to touch His feet. So, when Kalidas came and touched Mahaprabhu's feet, devotees tried to stop him, 'Do not touch Prabhu's feet! Do not touch!' but Mahaprabhu said, 'Do not stop him.' Everybody wondered, 'Why? You do not allow anyone to touch Your feet, so why is it different for him?' Mahaprabhu said, 'Because he took Vaishnavs' remnants, he has become a "seasoned" Vaishnav (jhanu-vaishnav).' Is there anybody among you who could do that – who could eat food remnants from Vaishnavs' plates? But this is what Kalidas did! He is a great Vaishnav.

তব নিজ-জন প্রসাদ সেবিয়া
উচ্ছিষ্ট রাখিবে যাহা ।
আমার ভোজন পরম-আনন্দে
প্রতিদিন হবে তাহা ॥

taba nija-jana prasada seviya
uchchhistha rakhibe yaha
amara bhojana parama-anande
pratidina habe taha

'Every day I will with great joy have whatever remnants Your devotees leave behind after honouring Your prasad.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We only chant kirtan, but we are not doing what we are singing. When you see prasad, you say, 'Oh, give me more paneer rasa! Give me some more sweets!' So, we say one thing with out mouths but do another thing in our lives. We must not be lip-deep.

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।
গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

'Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.'

লোক দেখান গোরা ভজা তিলক মাত্র ধরি ।
গোপনেতে অত্যাচার গোরা ধরে চুরি ॥

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

'You put on tilaks and show the whole world that you serve Gora, but secretly you do outrageous things. Gora will catch you, thief (hypocrite)!'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6–7)

Gora knows what you are doing. You are saying that you are fasting on ekadasi without eating anything or even drinking any water, but when you go to bath in the pond, you immerse yourself in the water and take a gulp. Nobody can see it, but the Lord can see everything.

[A devotee indicates that they want to ask a question.] What? Now you have a question? But we do not have time. All right, ask it, what is your question?

Devotee: There is one person from another mission who does not like our Math, and one time a whole big story happened at the market—

I offer my obeisance to him. I have no problem. Whatever nasty things he does or says, I am much worse than him. And what does he know about me anyway? Whatever he knows about me, I am much worse than that. I have no problem with such people. [His Divine Grace laughs gently.]

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Harinam-sankirtan ki jay.
Nitai-Gaura premanande Hari bol.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 41 Mb
Length: 85 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Be Resolute
2) Pillars of Service Mood
3) Tongue's Attachment
4) Tread with Caution
5) Search for Reality
6) The Obstacle Is You
7) Bogus Love, Bogus Claims
8) Core of Devotional Life
9) Love Me, Love My Dog
10) Bad Days Turn Into Bad Life
11) Tottering Life
12) Control Your Mind
13) Devotees' Benevolent Kindness
14) Gift of Vision
15) Seal Your Heart from Maya
16) My Question to You