(5/9) Give Your Heart

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Midnapore, 23 April 2019, evening, part 5
Translated from Bengali

Worship must come from the heart. 'I will get something', 'I want to get this' – do not come to worship the Lord with any desire. I have told you before that we must not turn the Lord into our menial servant.

'O Lord, give me this', 'Give me that', 'Give me this', 'Give me that' – instead of serving God, we only think what we want to get and we expect God to do everything for us, to serve us. This is how people turn God into a servant. Think about what you do in your own life. We turn God into a servant and a bribe-taker. For example, to get some government job, you can give a million or two-million bribe to a minister and you will get the job; so, when we come to worship some god, we say, 'Please do this', 'Please help me regain my health', 'Please give me this,' and in lieu of that we give fifty rupees, some fruit and flowers for the Deity – we give a bribe and expect to get some favour from the Deity in return. This is not worship of the Lord.

Similarly, only ringing a bell is not worship. Worship must be done with heart and soul. You must feel with all your heart, 'Dear Lord, I have come to do some service to You. I am worshipping You, and whether You give me anything or not give, I do not want anything. I have not come to ask You for anything – I only want to serve You. This is my only desire.' This should always be our mood. If we forget it, then we will end up in various difficult situations.

You still have time now. Give your heart and soul to the Lord. Practise Krishna consciousness before it is too late. If you can start at a young age, it is even better. Personally, I came to the temple when I was almost thirty, and I feel that if I had come earlier, it would have been much better. Live your life practising Krishna consciousness. If we can serve the Lord and leave this world serving and chanting the Lord's Name, then we will be able to reach the Lord – we can reach His home.

The Lord has sent us to this world because He is searching for you all, 'Where is this soul?', 'Where is that soul?' We come to this world to help you come closer to the Lord, to help you come to the Lord's home, 'Follow this path, it will take you to the Lord's home.' Like a signpost, I come to you on the order of my guru-varga and on the order of the Lord, to show this road. I come to beg you for alms. What are these alms? Neither money, nor your wealth, nor your house, nor your cars – I do not want anything like this from you!

মহান্ত-স্বভাব এই তারিতে পামর ।
নিজ-কার্য্য নাহি তবু যান তার ঘর ॥

mahanta-svabhava ei tarite pamara
nija karya nahi tabu yana tara ghara

'The innate nature of great souls is to deliver vile, fallen souls: great souls never come to their homes for any personal purpose.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.8.39)

What do I come to you for? To tell you, '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!' This is the alms I come to ask you for – come with us and chant Lord Krishna's Name. Please practise Krishna consciousness.

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 39 Mb
Length: 81 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Whose Servant Are You?
2) Preaching Expansion
3) Our Preaching and Life
4) Genuine Worship
5) Give Your Heart
6) Use Your Time Wisely
7) God Exists for Those Who Have Devotion
8) Service Enthusiasm
9) Awkward Excuses