(8/16) Core of Devotional Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 23 April 2019, noon, part 8
Translated from Bengali

Tell me, does anyone have questions? You have heard many things today, and I will speak more after we chant a few kirtans just now. [Nobody asks questions] So, you have lost it then. Now I have set your minds right. I have given you all an injection to stop your minds from wandering off, and I have administed a high dose today...

You can find what I have told you today in my books. There is Guidance 1, 2 and 3. There is also a book explaining Siksastakam, there is Saranagati. We have pocket-size kirtan books. Buy these books and read them. In the kirtan books, you can find all the arati songs that we sing in the morning, at noon and in the evening, during the Tulasi parikrama and all the other kirtans that we sing during programmes. If you can afford it, get the big kirtan books containing all kirtans. Read these books, you will get benefit. Study when you are at home.

Chant the Holy Name and give up bad, unhealthy food. The things we prohibit are actually good even for the general material life or family life. There are four things prohibited. (1) Gambling – playing cards, dice, chess, etc. Suppose your husband earns well but buys lottery tickets every day, will there be any money in the family? He will end up selling everything, including all your beautiful kitchenware and jewellery. You can see many stories like this in newspapers. (2) Intoxicants – alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, tea. Your husband earns well but if he comes home drunk every day and creates a scene, how can you bring up your children well like this? Both your and your children's lives will be destroyed. (3) Illicit sex. Suppose you have a handsome husband, but he has money and he keeps another family. It destroys families, and in the end, people commit suicide or kill each other. (4) Violence towards other souls. Lord Krishna is present within each and every living entity. I have told you earlier that you can plant a mango tree, but you cannot give life to that tree. Does it mean that you will not eat any mangoes now ('I will not eat them, let them all fall and rot!')? No. This would be false renunciation. You must pick the mangos and offer them to Lord Govinda, and after that you give that mango prasad to everybody. In this way, everybody can take mangos and the mango tree gets benefit. This tree stands its entire long life outside tolerating rain and heat. When it is raining, you go inside your house and lock the door, but the tree keeps standing outside in the rain. When it is hot, we swim in a cool river or use fans, but trees have to suffer so much standing in the heat. Palm trees are also like that – they suffer so much in their lives, but they give coconuts, and if we can offer those coconuts to the Lord, then the tree can get benefit. The tree itself cannot serve the Lord, but if it gets some service connection and benefit, it can get a human birth in the future and can chant the Lord's Name.

করিতেছ উপকার, যাতে পর উপকার,
লভে জীব শ্রীকৃষ্ণ-সেবায়

karitechchha upakara, yate para upakara,
labhe jiva sri-krsna-sevaya

'Your benevolent kindness is such that receiving it, souls get the benefit of attaining service to Lord Krishna.'

(Acharya Vandana)

This kind of help helps both people (those who offer tree fruit) and the tree itself. Suppose you feel for some coconut water. You cannot drink it! You must not do it. Offer it to the Lord and take prasad. If you just take a coconut and drink it, do you know what this is? It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita that eating unoffered food is stealing and a sin.

You think that you work, that you run a business, that you go to an office, that you cook at home, but actually who is doing everything and who is being made to do everything? If the Lord wants, you can leave this world tomorrow – you can die in your bed or you can be hospitalised and die there. There is no guarantee that it will not happen.

জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার
তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ-ভার ।
নামাশ্রয় করি' যতনে তুমি
থাকহ আপন কাজে ॥

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

'Know that the main thing is that life is temporary and filled with all sorts of danger. Continue your life trying your best to take shelter of the Name.'

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We do not prohibit you to do your work. I am not saying that you must not work. You can continue living your lives, but your meditation – your mind and heart – must be focused on Govinda. Your thoughts, your full determination and sincerity must be about Govinda. You must always think, 'How can I serve devotees? How can I make the Lord happy?' If you want to make the Lord happy, you must make His devotees happy. The Lord can never be pleased unless His devotees are pleased. Gurudev is an eternal associate of the Lord, so if he is not pleased, the Lord can never be pleased with you. Remember this.

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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