(6/9) Use Your Time Wisely

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Midnapore, 23 April 2019, evening, part 6
Translated from Bengali

Practise Krishna consciousness. Not one day or two days. You do some service one day, and then one month you do not do anything – it does not work like this. It is necessary to have sincerity (if you do something, you must do it every day). You have time, so try to use it to serve the Lord, every day. It is necessary to try and make effort. If you try to serve the Lord, the Lord will be happy and He will take care of you – you will have no problem and nothing to worry about. Those who rely on the Lord know no problems in their lives. Of course, everybody goes through some problems in their lives, but those who rely on the Lord will not think that it is a problem – they will not be suffering.

The only problem is that we forget about all this, and as the result of this forgetfulness we are suffering from the agony of three-fold miseries now. That is why I keep coming here to remind you about it – please do not forget the Lord! Do not forget to chant the Holy Name of the Lord! Whether you are eating, sitting or lying down, always chant the Holy Name. Go to bed early – take the Lord's prasad and go to bed – and wake up early in the morning for the mangal-arati.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

'My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We are so busy with our useless work, but the days are passing! We waste our days on useless work and nights on sleeping...

Many tell me, 'How do you manage to do so much?' How? I always think about the Lord. I go to bed at twelve or one o'clock at night and then again wake up early in the morning. It is necessary to observe the mangala-arati time properly [ninety-six minutes before sunrise]. I also often have to go out in the morning. When it is late evening here, in many countries it is morning (for example, when it is eleven at night here, it is ten in the morning in some other countries), so devotees are calling me. I get phone calls late in the evening, in the afternoon, throughout the whole day. I also come for many programmes. For example, there are programmes scheduled for Saturday – one programme at noon in one place and another one in the evening in another place. I have to go to all these places, I have to give initiations. I have to do this, there is no other way.

I have spent a few days in Tarakeshwar recently, and there were some devotees in South America who wanted to take initiation – when it is morning in their country, it is late evening here, so I had to stay up and give them initiation online. There are also construction works going on in seven or eight places. I have to talk to the workers and see what is required in which place. I have to do everything myself... Early this year I went to Nepal and South India for preaching, and I will go to South India again after Puri. There is also a festival in Nrisingha Palli coming soon, and so on. I actually do not have enough time for everything. There are only twenty-four hours in one day, and I often think that if there were twenty-four hours more in a day, it would be so nice. With twenty-four hours a day, I do not manage to go to all the places. Anyhow, try to use your time wisely.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

'My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

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 are not prohibiting you to work, but you must work for the Lord, for the service to the Lord, not for the pleasure of your own senses. Always remember this, then you will get some benefit.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

Repeat after me:

হরে কৃষ্ণ হরে কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ হরে হরে ।
হরে রাম হরে রাম রাম রাম হরে হরে ॥

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Always, at every moment, chant kirtan. Let us chant some kirtan now. Try to chant together with me – learn to chant kirtan, learn the proper way. It is not necessary to have a good voice – the main thing is to call out to the Lord. First, we must chant guru-vandana, then Pancha-tattva's vandana, Vaishnav's vandana, Nityanand Prabhu's vandana, Mahaprabhu's vandana, and then there is a kirtan for Radha-Vallabhajiu ('Jaya radha-madhava kunja-bihari'), then the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and 'Hari Haraye'. These are the kirtans you should chant. We are going to chant now, so learn from it. All these kirtans are there in the kirtan book; learn and chant them every day. We have small kirtan books, but they have all finished – we went to Uluberia today, and all was sold out. But we have the big kirtan books here, you can get them.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay. [His Divine Grace chants kirtans and then resumes the class.]

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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