(1) Parikrama Is Not a Walk

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Govardhan Parikrama Adhivas
27 October 2019, Govardhan, part 1
Translated from Bengali

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

'The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy and aspiring to serve him; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to all the assembled guru-varga, all my godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, all the sannyasis, brahmacharis and devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this lowly soul.

It is a very beautiful day today. It is Dipavali, the day that celebrates Krishna's victory. And tomorrow is the day of Govardhan Puja. We are very fortunate to be present here today. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, who came to Vrindavan from Adisaptagram, Hooghly district, in his last days and stayed at Radha Kunda, prayed, 'Nija-nikata-nivasam dehi govardhana tvam (নিজনিকট-নিবাসং দেহি গোবর্দ্ধন ত্বম্). O Govardhan, please allow me to live by Your side...'

Srila Gurudev has arranged for us this large place near the Manasa Ganga. He said, 'Giridhari has given us this place, so I am making a temple, but if I do not get a servitor to serve Giriraj here, may be some of the priests from the main Govardhan temple nearby can come and do the worship.' When Srila Gurupadpadma came here for the first time, he stayed in a hotel and began to look for a place where he could make a temple. In the end, he bought this land here. First, he built a guesthouse (the main guesthouse where Bengali devotees usually stay). One time, when I was here with Gurudev, Gurudev told me, 'We have a big plot of land. We should cultivate it.' So, I brought a tractor and started ploughing the land. Suddenly, the tractor struck some very big stone, and it turned out that it was a Giriraj sila. Then, we made a small house at the place where He was found and began the worship. Later, the temple and the nat-mandir were built.

It was also a miracle how our Vrindavan temple in Seva-kunja appeared. We got a place right next to Sri Radha-Damodar temple and Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's samadhi-mandir. At first, our temple was a small house where Sri Sri Radha-Rasa-bihari were served by one–two servitors. Right opposite the temple, on the other side of the street, there is also the place where Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami composed Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. He came to Vrindavan from Jhamatpur Baharan (near Katwa) and stayed there. So, we have got a place next to his bhajan-kutir.

We are very fortunate to have come to Vrindavan, but when people come here, they always like to go here and there to various places. They do not have chastity. It is necessary to have chastity. Chastity means to be one-pointed. Your gurudev is sitting here, but you go to another place, hang out with others, sit and tell each other stories, do this, that, etc. Do you think you can get the darshan of Vrindavan like that? If you want to have the darshan of Vrindavan, you must do it with your heart. You have come to Vrindavan, so do the parikrama in the association of devotees.

গৌর আমার, যে সব স্থানে,
করল ভ্রমণ রঙ্গে ।
সে সব স্থান, হেরিব আমি,
প্রণয়ি-ভকত-সঙ্গে ॥

gaura amara, ye saba sthane,
karala bhramana range
se saba sthana, heribo ami,
pranayi-bhakata-sange

'In the company of loving devotees, I will behold all the places my Gaura roamed during His ecstatic pastimes.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We will walk in all the places where Gaura has been to – we will do this parikrama in devotees' company and do service. It is necessary to have service mood. When you come to a holy abode for the parikrama, it does not mean that you come to only eat, sleep and go for a walk. You think, 'Oh, I have given money, so why must I cut vegetables, cook, distribute prasad or do anything to help?' May such mood never come to us. We want to always do service. 'Chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba (ছাড়িয়া বৈষ্ণব-সেবা নিস্তার পায়েছে কেবা). Without service to Vaishnavs, you cannot get any relief.' If you serve Vaishnavs, the Lord will be pleased with you.

It is not possible to see the guru or Vaishnavs with these eyes. You must see the guru and Vaishnavs with your ears. It means that you must hear what they say. It is not so easy to recognise a guru or a Vaishnav. Moreover, Gurudev also says that you can find many gurus in this world, but there are very few disciples. We can recognise the guru and Vaishnavs only through one thing – service mood. If you have service mood – if you are intent on serving your guru and Vaishnavs – then you can understand everything. I always think how you can go forward in the service to the Lord, how you can come to the Lord, how you can get the Lord's mercy, but you, too, must make an effort. You must come with us, you must also want it. If you make an effort on your part, then I can take you along and engage you in the service to the guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord. Only a guru can give you the right to serve the Lord. Nobody else can do it. Listen carefully to what I am saying and try to follow it.

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Language: Bengali