Surrendered Soul's Appeal

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
speaking online to devotees in São Paulo, Brazil
22 September 2019, Kolkata, part 3

In one of his books, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur explained this sloka,

কামাদীনাং কতি ন কতিধা পালিতা দুর্নিদেশা,
তেষাং জাতা ময়ি ন করুণা ন ত্রপা নোপশান্তিঃ ।
উৎসৃজ্যৈতানথ যদুপতে ! সাম্প্রতং লব্ধবুদ্ধি-
সত্বামায়াতঃ শরণমভয়ং মাং নিযুঙ্ক্ষ্বাত্মদাস্যে ॥

kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesa,
tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih
utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate! sampratam labdha-buddhis
tvam ayatah saranam-abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye

"O Lord! How many kinds of wicked orders from lust and others I followed! They had no mercy on me, nor were they ever satisfied! O Krishna! Suddenly, I managed to leave their side and got some good intelligence—I have surrendered at Your fearless lotus feet, please engage me now as Your servant."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.16)

A jiva soul is greater than Maya. How is it greater than Maya? Because a jiva soul worships the Lord, but Maya is very powerful as she gets much power from the Lord. So, sometimes a jiva soul that is covered by the illusory environment gets caught in the net of Maya (illusion). Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gave one analogy. Suppose somebody is angling (fishing with a rod). They put some food on the hook as a bait and when some hungry or greedy fish eats the bait, the fisherman catches the fish and the fish dies. In the same way, Maya Devi gives some things and we, the unconscious jiva souls, take it and as a result we go to hell and 'die'.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also says that you will never see your wife, your son, daughter, granddaughter, etc. again in your next life—your life is very important, your life is very valuable and you are wasting this life on them. Suppose you plant a seed of a big palm tree (some palm trees can live up to a hundred years or even a thousand years). When you plant it, you think that you will immediately get the fruit, but the palm tree starts growing and it may keep growing for another hundred years without bearing any fruit. So, you plant a palm tree, but you do not know when you will get the fruit. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur explains that we keep some money for our son, for our grandson, etc., but we do not know what will happen after we die—they can waste or burn all that money. This sloka is very nice,

কামাদীনাং কতি ন কতিধা পালিতা দুর্নিদেশা,
তেষাং জাতা ময়ি ন করুণা ন ত্রপা নোপশান্তিঃ ।
উৎসৃজ্যৈতানথ যদুপতে ! সাম্প্রতং লব্ধবুদ্ধি-
সত্বামায়াতঃ শরণমভয়ং মাং নিযুঙ্ক্ষ্বাত্মদাস্যে ॥

kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesa,
tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih
utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate! sampratam labdha-buddhis
tvam ayatah saranam-abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye

"O Lord! What wicked orders from lust and others I have not followed! They have never had mercy on me, nor have they ever been satisfied! O Krishna! Suddenly, I have somehow managed to leave their side and got some good intelligence—I have now surrendered at Your fearless lotus feet, please engage me now as Your servant."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.16)

"O Lord! I have been always following naughty orders so many enemies—lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, envy—but they have never been happy with me, they never gave me any comfort! O Yadupati! Now I understand. Now I have got a bona fide guru—I have surrendered to him properly—and now I understand that I should not be attached with all those enemies. I surrender to You now, You please appoint me now as Your servant!" This is what this sloka is telling. What this sloka explains is very nice.

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