(7/9) God Exists for Those Who Have Devotion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Midnapore, 23 April 2019, evening, part 7
Translated from Bengali

You have been chanting kirtans and listening to Hari-katha this evening. The main thing is that you cannot come to the Lord through any knowledge, material activities or mystic powers. It is possible to come to the Lord only through devotion. How can we develop devotion? 'Bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta-sangena parijayate (ভক্তিস্তু ভগবদ্ভক্তসঙ্গেন পরিজায়তে): devotion comes through the association of devotees' (Brihan-naradiya Purana). So, if we keep good association (the association of saints), we must get devotion.

Sadhus' association does not mean sleeping with them in one bed or eating with them from one plate. Sadhus' association means living following what the sadhu says. Always remember this. Sadhus come to tell us how we can embrace and practise the devotional line – we must follow their instructions, their words.

Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj told one very beautiful example. Suppose there is a deaf person who cannot hear anything. There can be much noise, there can be much sound coming from the microphone, but is it of any use to the deaf person? This person cannot hear anything, so for them all this sound has no value. We live in a very beautiful world, there is this beautiful temple and beautiful Deities here, but if somebody's eyes are blind, does all this beauty have any value for them? It does not. So, Param Guru Maharaj said that the world of sound exists for those who have ears; the world of sight exists for those who have eyes; and, similarly, God exists for those who have devotion. If somebody has no devotion, they will never find God – they will never have faith in God. It is necessary for devotion to come first – if you have no devotion, you can never find God or hear about God.

If somebody goes to Puri saying, 'I want to see Lord Jagannath,' they can never seen Lord Jagannath. If somebody comes here, to this temple, saying, 'I want to get the darshan of the Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Vallabha,' they cannot do that. Why? Scriptures explain it. If you come to a Deity thinking you will see God, then you will only see a wooden or stone idol. But if you think, 'The Lord is the object of my service, and I am His servant. Lord Jagannath is the seer, Sri Sri Radha-Vallabha are the seers, and I am only coming to serve Them,' and come to Lord Jagannath or Sri Sri Radha-Vallabha with this mood of service, then Lord Jagannath or Sri Sri Radha-Vallabha will reveal Themselves to you. Otherwise, you will only see idols made of wood, stone, etc., nothing else. In the same way, if you think that you will come to see, know or understand the guru, you cannot do that – it is impossible to see, know or understand the guru without his mercy, just as it is not possible to know or understand the Lord without His mercy.

When Sriman Mahaprabhu came to Sri Puri Dham (when He reached the temple after His danda had been broken), He felt unconscious. Seeing Mahaprabhu's unusual appearance, the temple servitors came to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's house and informed him about the strange man who had come. I will not go into detail now – you can read about this pastime in Sri Puri Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala, it is described there, and we always speak about it when we go to Puri. Anyhow, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya argued, 'I do not think that He is the Lord.' His brother-in-law, Acharya Gopinath replied, 'Of course, how will you think so? You do not have Mahaprabhu's mercy. If you had the Lord's mercy, then you would be able to recognise Him.'

ঈশ্বরের কৃপা-লেশ হয় ত' যাহারে ।
সেই ত' ঈশ্বর-তত্ত্ব জানিবারে পারে ॥

isvarera krpa-lesa haya ta' yahare
sei ta' isvara-tattva janibare pare

'The Lord can be known only by those who have got at least a drop of His mercy.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.6.83)

It is impossible to know, understand, speak about or learn about the Lord without His mercy. 'Mercy' means service. Unless the Lord gives you the right to serve Him, you can never recognise or understand Him. Similarly, until and unless gurudev gives you the right to do service, you cannot understand anything – you will only see the guru as a man of flesh and blood, you will not be able to understand his inner wealth. That is the main thing.

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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