(3/6) Difficult Does Not Mean Impossible

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Pancha Palli, preaching programme, noon
12 November 2019, part 3
Translated from Bengali

Srila Prabhupad and Gurudev said that it is very difficult to become a sadhu, but it is very easy to dress as one. In this world, one can easily dress as a sadhu, but one does not become a sadhu just by dressing as one. To become a sadhu, it is necessary to have the qualities of a sadhu. What qualities are these? There is a total of sixty-four qualities, or virtues; the main among them are:

তৃণাদপি সুনীচেন তরোরিব সহিষ্ণুনা ।
অমানিনা মানদেন কীর্ত্তনীয়ঃ সদা হরিঃ ॥

trnad api sunichena taror iva sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

'One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.239)

When we chant the Siksastakam kirtans, we sing:

তৃণাধিক হীন দীন অকিঞ্চন ছার ।
আপনে মানবি সদা ছাড়ি অহঙ্কার ॥

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi ahankara

'Give up ego and consider yourself lower than a blade of grass, poor, destitute and vile.'

বৃক্ষসম ক্ষমাগুণ করবি সাধন ।
প্রতিহিংসা ত্যজি অন্যে করবি পালন ॥

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana

'Practise tolerance like that of a tree, stop ill-treating others and nurture everyone.'

জীবন-নির্ব্বাহে আনে উদ্বেগ না দিবে ।
পর-উপকারে নিজ-সুখ পাসরিবে ॥

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

'Live without causing anxiety to others; do good unto others forsaking your own happiness.'

(Gitavali, Sri Siksastakam Giti, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We must throw away our own happiness for the sake of others, to help others.

You have a temple nearby, and you have been doing much good work in the area, but how many people have you been able to help? How many people have come to this line? How many people are practising Krishna consciousness? How many people have become fortunate? The problem is that even if people do come to this line, they all become derailed. What happens when a train derails? It falls over. Our situation is aslo like that. Leaving the path of devotion, we end up pursuing all kinds of other paths.

That said, I have a question to you all.

'Vrddha-kala aola, saba sukha bhagala, pida-vase hainu katara (বৃদ্ধকাল আওল, সব সুখ ভাগল, পীড়াবশে হইনু কাতর). Now old age has come, and all my happiness has vanished. I am suffering bitterly from diseases and pain' (Saranagati). Guru Maharaj said that when you were born as cats, you ate so much raw fish; when you were born as pigs, you ate so much stool and filth; when you were born as tigers, you killed and ate so many deer; when you were born as snakes, you killed and ate so many frogs. Now that you are born as humans, do you think you will fill your stomach with one or two hundred grams of rice and a piece of fish? Will that satisfy you? This is the only reason why you cannot come to this path.

জিহ্বার লালসে যেই ইতি-উতি ধায় ।
শিশ্নোদরপরায়ণ সে কৃষ্ণ নাহি পায় ॥

jihvara lalase yei iti-uti dhaya
sisnodara-parayana se krsna nahi paya

'One who is subservient to the tongue and who thus goes here and there, devoted to the genitals and the belly, cannot attain Krishna.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.227)

The problem is not even on the mental level – the problem is simply greed of your tongues. All our senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, mind, intelligence, ego, and so on), including our minds, live in the external world, but the soul lives on the internal plane. So, when your mind wants something, this desire comes from the external world – your mind wanders in the external world and picks up some desires. Your souls do not want to eat anything. They say, 'Eat whatever your soul pleases!' People teach wrong things. If you eat something without offering it to the Lord, this is stealing.

We are enjoying all the things that belong to the Lord – we enjoy the air, the wind and all the other amenities. For example, if there was no wind, if there was no sun, if there was no rain, if there was no water, how would we live? These are all things created by the Lord and for the Lord, but we enjoy everything considering ourselves masters. The Lord has given us light, wind and everything else – we take everything and forget Him. We live in this world eliminating God from our lives.

কৃষ্ণ ভুলি' সেই জীব অনাদি-বহির্ম্মুখ ।
অতএব মায়া তারে দেয় সংসারাদি-দুঃখ ॥

krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha
ataeva maya tare deya samsaradi-duhkha

'Forgetting Krishna, the soul turned towards the external illusory world in primaeval times. As the result, illusion (Maya) gives such a soul various material miseries.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.20.117)

It is because we have forgotten the Lord that we are now suffering from the agony of threefold miseries. The only way how we can get relief from such suffering is to take shelter at the holy lotus feet of the Lord. We must surrender to Krishna.

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য-দয়া করহ বিচার ।
বিচার করিলে চিত্তে পাবে চমৎকার ॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya-daya karaha vichara
vichara karile chitte pabe chamatkara

'Just consider Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy! If you do, you will feel astonished in your heart.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.15)

Sri Krishna Chaitanya-chandra appeared in this world in Sri Nabadwip Dham, which is very near your town. What did He give to this world when He came? He is the most magnanimous, greatest giver. He gave Krishna-prema to this world!

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Length: 54 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Rare and Rarest
2) Guru-Seva Is Main
3) Difficult Does Not Mean Impossible
4) Wasted Time – Wasted Life
5) Be Conscious, Be Good
6) Truth and Untruth