(3/18) Indispensability of Guru's Mercy

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa-Puja Adhivas, Tarakeswar,
Evening, 28 September 2019, part 3
Translated from Bengali

It is impossible to serve or worship the Lord without the mercy of the holy lotus feet of Sri Guru. Srimad Bhagavatam says:

অথাপি তে দেব পদাম্বুজদ্বয়-
প্রসাদলেশানুগৃহীত এব হি ।
জানাতি তত্ত্বং ভগবন্মহিম্নো
ন চান্য একোঽপি চিরং বিচিন্বন্ ॥

athapi te deva padambuja-dvaya-
prasada-lesanugrhita eva hi
janati tattvam bhagavan-mahimno
na chanya eko 'pi chiram vichinvan

'My Lord, those who are favoured by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.14.29)

This verse does not speak about Brahma or Paramatma – this verse refers to the holy feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The purport of this verse is very beautiful. It addresses the Lord who has two feet: 'O Lord, I am worshipping Your holy lotus feet.' The Lord's feet are two most beautiful lotuses. Generally, feet represent action (karma) and feeling (indriya), but here the Lord's holy feet represent forgiveness (ksama) and mercy (daya). Devotee's exclusive desire is to attain the mercy (prasad) of these two lotus feet of the Lord. The Lord also has lotus eyes, lotus mouth, lotus hands, but it is peculiar to devotees' humility to aspire for the mercy of His lotus feet. In other words, devotees always feel humble and poor, 'I do not have anything... All I pray for to my Sri Guru is his mercy and forgiveness.' The grace, forgiveness and mercy of the holy lotus feet of the Lord assume the holy form of Sri Guru. If you are able to come in contact with a mere trace of Sri Gurudev's mercy, you can get all mercy of the Lord. If you get the slightest favour of your guru, there is nothing else left for you to attain – your life become blessed and successful.

Somebody may think, 'What is the necessity of a guru if we want to know the Lord, the Lord's glories, the Lord's beautiful, qualities and pastimes, if we can have the darshan of the Lord and get service to Him.' Sri Guru is the embodiment of the Lord's mercy (prasad-murti). Only through the guru is it possible to know the Lord's Names, beauty, qualities, pastimes, etc. Those who have got the guru's mercy (prasad) can easily know all this. To get gurudev's prasad does not mean to eat his food remnants; prasad means mercy. If we can get gurudev's mercy, we can get everything.

Service to the Supreme Lord will not give you devotion and divine love. Even if you try to serve the Lord for a whole eternity, for millions of lifetimes, it is impossible to attain divine love for the Lord by your own endeavours. Even if you are a great scholar, even if you have studied and discussed so many scriptures, even if you have been practising Krishna consciousness for many lifetimes, you will not be able to know the glory of the Supreme Lord. Gurudev is a worshippable embodiment of the Lord's mercy. If you can please gurudev, then devotion (bhakti-siddhanta) will dawn in your hearts. Once you get the slightest mercy of gurudev, you can realise and know everything – you can know the Lord's beauty, qualities, expansions, magnanimity, sweetness. You cannot get mercy by memorising all scriptures and their purports, just as you cannot know the Lord even if you have been practising spiritual life for many lifetimes.

'What does He like?' – nobody cares to know it. If you practise independently, on your own, you cannot understand anything like this. The main thing behind all attainments is the mercy of the guru. Only if there is at least the slightest trace of the guru, then you can know everything.

Only those whom the guru favours can know these things. Nothing and nobody can compare to the guru. The mercy of the guru is the foundation of everything. We must always be alert, 'What makes my guru happy? What pleases my guru?' We must never cause any anxiety or trouble to him; rather, we will always strive to make him happy.

— : • : —

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Length: 83 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Disciple's Dependence
2) How Does Devotion Come?
3) Indispensability of Guru's Mercy
4) Stop Threshing the Husk
5) Disciples' Hypocrisy
6) Strong Desires, Wrong Desires
7) Identifying Yourself with Kirtan
8) Patience Is a Virtue
9) Internal Hypocrisy
10) Unhappy Mind
11) Kirtan Is Not a Show
12) Cook to Perfection
13) Install Gurudev in Your Heart
14) Submission without Resistance
15) Service Is Not a Rite
16) Vaishnavs' Ornaments vs Demons' Ornaments
17) Vaikuntha Vani
18) Absolute Self-Submission