(2/11) What Is What, Who Is Who

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bhanjipur, preaching programme
12 November 2019, evening, part 2
Translated from Bengali

When you do something, there should be some system, some realisation. People like to perform fire sacrifices and other rituals, but what will the Lord do with all that? You all know where Lord Krishna, or Gopal, stays. He lives in His mother's kitchen, wherever Nityananda Prabhu is dancing, at Srivas Pandit's house, and at Raghav Pandit's house. These are the four places where the Lord stays. He does not live in any grand buildings. 'Bhaktera hrdaye sada govinda-visrama (ভক্তের হৃদয়ে সদা গোবিন্দ-বিশ্রাম). Lord Govinda always rests in the heart of devotees.' Wherever His devotees are speaking about Him, this is where Vrindavan is.

'Yatha Vaishnav, tatha tirtha (যথা বৈষ্ণব, তথা তীর্থ). Wherever there is a Vaishnav, this is where a holy place is.' If there is no Vaishnav at some place, such a place is not a holy place of pilgrimage. There are many places of pilgrimage in this world, but if there is no Vaishnav there or if you do not go there together with a Vaishnav, then you should not go there. A holy place is where there is a Vaishnav. That is why if you are to do a parikrama or visit a holy place, you must do it in the company of your guru and Vaishnavs. Otherwise, what result will you get by going there? Only if you go there with your guru and Vaishnavs will you get some result.

Also, when you visit a holy place, you should not go there just to get some pious credit (punya). You must go there to serve the holy place (dham). You also live in a holy place – there is Tarakeshwar Dham right next to you. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur came to this place, and also the greatest Vaishnav Sri Sivji Maharaj lives here. So, you are fortunate to live at a place of a great Vaishnav.

As you know, Sivji Maharaj even joined the rasa-lila pastimes of Lord Krishna. I always tell about this pastime when we go to Vrindavan, and as it is the Rasa Purnima day today, I will tell you about it now, too.

Sivji Maharaj managed to enter the rasa-lila place in Vrindavan, but Laksmi Devi, who is the spouse of Lord Narayan and the mistress of all possible wealth, who is the potency of Lord Vishnu Himself, could not enter there. The difference between them is that Sivji Maharaj accepted chaste submission to the gopis.

When Sivji Maharaj prepared himself to go to the rasa-lila place, Parvati Devi asked him, 'Have you become a gopi or have you only dressed as one?' Similarly, have we all become sadhus or have we only dressed as sadhus? It is very easy to dress as a sadhu. If somebody gives me a police uniform, I can easily put it on and cheat everybody, 'Oh, I have become a policeman!' It is just as easy to put on a sadhu's clothes, tilaks, etc. and cheat everybody, 'Oh, I have become a sadhu!' But to become a real policement, a real doctor or a real professor, it is necessary to study and struggle a lot. Similarly, if you want to become a sadhu, you must struggle, practise and work hard. Otherwise, it is very easy to dress as a sannyasi or a brahmachari, but it is very difficult to become a real sannyasi or a real brahmachari.

I have told you many times before – do you remember what I said? There is another rasotsav fair arranged in Bardhaman, and when I went there earlier today, I spoke about it there, too. You can find many gurus in this world, but the number of disciples in this world is very small. These are Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's words. To be a disciple means living in strict adherence to the guru and, following the guru's instruction, pleasing the guru's heart. In other words, genuine disciples are those who can please their guru with their service. One does not become a disciple just by taking initiation. One time, somebody asked Srila Prabhupad, 'Are they all your disciples?' Srila Prabhupad replied, 'No, not everybody is called a disciple. If somebody has taken initiation, it does not mean that they can be called a disciple.' A disciple (sisya, শিষ্য) is the person who can digest their guru's chastisement (sasan, শাসন) and continue serving without saying a word, without any backchatting or trying to defend themselves. Do you understand what this all means?

You must understand this yourselves. You spend hundreds of thousands of rupees, install a huge pandal, make a seven-day festival, feed thousands of people kichudi – this is a waste of time! You do not need to spend a coin to hear Hari-katha...

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Spend, Serve and Succeed
2) What Is What, Who Is Who
3) Shameless Servants
4) Material and Spiritual Desires
5) 'Kidnap Me'
6) Distraction Leads to Destruction
7) Lost and Found
8) Spiritual Sepsis
9) Eternal Parikrama Life
10) Settle in Mathura
11) Mahaprabhu's Advent