(1/1) Learn to Love God

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Krishna Janmastami, Tarakeswar
23 August 2019, evening
Translated from Bengali

The gopis told Uddhav Maharaj, 'Look up, do you see a drain full of water coming from up there? This is not some ordinary rainwater or bathroom water – the water in this drain is the tears from Mother Yasoda's and Nanda Maharaj's eyes...' Their Gopal is gone to Dvaraka! Srimati Radharani is also sitting, pining for Him. This kind of intense, unbearable hankering for Krishna, for Gopal, hankering to see Him is what is called devotion. Even when you are fasting today, struggling so much the whole day until midnight – you are doing this for Gopal, and this intense, deep desire to serve Him is what is called devotion. This hankering to come to Gopal, this hankering to love and interact lovingly with Gopal is called devotion and real, divine love. 'When will I see Gopal? When will I be able to serve Him?' Those who have fortunate can get such an opportunity to serve Lord Krishna. However, in our case, our service is different. In this Age of Kali, Lord Krishna comes as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, a combined form of Sri Sri Radha Krishna – Kanai comes as Gaura, and Balai comes as Nitai. Kanai and Balai are Krishna and Baladev – They come in this age as Gauranga and Nityananda.

There is also another place in Vrindavan called Kadam Khandi. We always visit it. There is a temple of Asheswar Mahadev (Lord Siva) near it. As you know, Lord Siva has big dreadlocks, a long beard, and he also wears a snake around his shoulders. One time, he came to Mother Yasoda's house and sat there, waiting to see Gopal. When Mother Yasoda saw him, she came out to him and said, 'No, no, I will not bring Gopal out of the room to show Him to you. If He sees you, He will get scared!' Asheswar Mahadev cried when he heard it. 'Asheswar' means he who comes with a hope ('asa'). He came hoping to see Krishna, but he could not, so, crying, he left Nandiswar Parvat and went to Kadam Khandi. Then, Gopal Himself began to cry for His devotee.

This is what is called 'loving search for a lost servant'. We are lost children of the Lord. He is the Lord of all Lords, but He comes to this world to take service from such fallen, lowly souls as ourselves. He comes and waits to get some simple food from us – He comes and begs alms from us. Does He lack anything in the world? The whole universe belongs to Him! When you give five or ten rupees, you feel proud, 'Oh, I have given five rupees for Gopal!' but whose money did you give? It is His money! In the same way, everything in this world belongs to Him – the whole world is run according to His will. By His will, everything happens. By His will, the sun gives heat. Lord Brahma himself says:

ঈশ্বরঃ পরমঃ কৃষ্ণঃ সচ্চিদানন্দবিগ্রহঃ ।
অনাদিরাদির্গোবিন্দঃ সর্ব্বকারণকারণম্ ॥

isvarah paramah krsnah sach-chid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

‘Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes.’

(Sri Brahma-samhita, 5.1)

'He is the cause of all causes.' Nothing can happen without His will. Remember this. Everything happens by His will, so we cannot do anything bypassing Him. The Lord says, 'Of numbers, I am one.' If you put a zero next to one, it will be ten; if you add more zeros, it will be a hundred, a thousand, and so on – but as soon as you erase 'one', then no matter how many zeros you place there, they will have no value. So, whatever you do in this world, if you do it bypassing God (ignoring Him, unconscious of His existence), what will you get? You run behind food, money, houses, relatives, friends, but what will that give you? You must realise the central position of the Lord – you must learn to love and hanker for the Lord. This kind of love must come to us. This is the meaning of this verse:

অয়ি দীনদয়ার্দ্র নাথ হে
মথুরানাথ কদাবলোক্যসে ।
হৃদয়ং ত্বদলোককাতরং
দয়িত ভ্রাম্যতি কিং করোম্যহম্ ॥

ayi dina-dayardra natha he
mathura-natha kadavalokyase
hrdayam tvad-aloka-kataram
dayita bhramyati kim karomy aham

'O gentle-hearted Lord, ever-gracious upon the destitute, O Lord of Mathura! When shall I see You again? In Your absence, my broken heart trembles. Beloved! What shall I do now?'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.4.197)

We must always remember these things. We must love God. We must feel an irresistible pull, attraction towards the Lord. You observe Janmastami today for one day, you fast one day and call God, 'Gopal! Gopal!' for one day – this will not do! You must worship God and chant God's glories eternally, every single day. Your kirtan must be eternal, your love must be eternal. Everything about God is eternal, so you must serve Him eternally. Never forget this. I does not matter where you stay: Ye dina grhe bhajana dekhi grhete goloka bhaya (যে দিন গৃহে ভজন দেখি গৃহেতে গোলোক ভায়). Any day there is devotional service at home, I see Goloka manifest itself in it' (Saranagati).

I pray to you all: please remember why you have come here. You must serve the Lord eternally. You come for one day, do some puja, talk to a guru and take a mantra, but this is not enough. Taking initiation from a guru means serving your guru. Your guru is not to serve you – it is you who are to serve your guru. This is the rule. Only those who serve their guru can become gurus. Nobody can become a guru unless they serve their guru themselves. We must serve. It is necessary to have a service mood.

It is time for the evening arati now. We will do the arati and parikrama now. After that, we will sit and chant some kirtan, speak Hari-katha. We will be here the whole day until midnight today. The bhoga arati will be at twelve o'clock at night today.

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 3 Mb
Length: 6 min
Language: Bengali