Now Is the Time

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh (Nama-hatta)
4 January 2020, part 1

First, I am giving my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my beloved Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, as well as to all the assembled devotees, all the sannyasis, all the matri-mandali (mother-like lady-devotees). I am giving my full obeisance to you all.

বৈষ্ণবের গুণ-গান করিলে জীবের ত্রাণ
শুনিয়াছি সাধুগুরুমুখে

vaisnavera guna-gana karile jivera trana
suniyachhi sadhu-guru-mukhe

"Singing the glories of the Vaishnavs rescues and protects the jiva soul. I heard this from the mouth of sadhus and my Guru."

('Jayare jayare jaya paramahamsa mahasaya')

"If we glorify our Gurudev, if we glorify beloved Vaishnavs and all the devotees, they can rescue us and help us overcome all kinds of obstacles in our devotional life."

You are very fortunate to be living in Vijayawada, near Pana-Nrisingha, near Laksmi-Nrisingha. There are so many pastimes of Lord Nrisingha and Prahlad Maharaj, pastimes of Hiranyakasipu performing his meditation in Satya-yuga, etc. You are fortunate to live in this area. You can all read about the pastimes of Nrisinghadev and Prahlad Maharaj and you can see how much devotion Prahlad Maharaj has. Even the Vraja gopis, who are the highest devotees, also say with so much humility, "We do not have anything of the kind of devotion that Prahlad Maharaj has for the Lord."

Millions of millions, crores of crores years are passing, and during all this time we get so many births and deaths, but you should think—how many days have we got this human body for? This life is very short.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.

('Durlabha manava janma labhiya', by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We pass so many days talking, telling so many things, working so hard, doing everything only for our bodies, and it never occurs to us that we can leave our body at any time, at any moment. Therefore, we must think what kind of body will we get after leaving this body? Do not think that you will again get a human body—it is not certain, it is not clear. Do you think that you can chant the Holy Name and serve Deities or the Lord in any birth? This lifetime is a great opportunity, the best opportunity—you have got a human body now, and now is the perfect time to serve devotees and Vaishnavs.

It is first necessary to have faith (sraddha). There are four types of sraddha—kamala sraddha (soft faith), taranga sraddha (fickle faith), drdha sraddha (strong faith), sudrdha sraddha (strongest faith). The devotion that comes depends upon your faith—the more faith you have, the more devotion you get. When we have sraddha (faith), the next step is that we get good association. Through the good association we clean our hearts. How will Krishna reveal Himself in your heart? It is first necessary to clean your heart. Just as when we have many diseases in our body, we cannot get taste from food, in the same way when we suffer from so many material things (when you have so many material things existing in your body—kanak, kamini, pratistha, kama, krodha, lobha, maha, mada, matsarya—desire for money, women, fame, lust, anger, greed, illusion, maddness, envy), we also do not like to chant the Holy Name or serve the Lord.

To cure a material disease you got to a doctor, and Gurudev is the real doctor, the spiritual doctor. If you open your heart to him and tell him what your problem is—not your material problem, but your spiritual problem, why you cannot come to the spiritual line, what obstacles you have in your spiritual life—if you openly discuss it with your guru, the guru will give you a solution for that. Sometimes you may make some kind of mistake, but if you tell your Gurudev, "Gurudev, I have made this mistake," Gurudev will not hate you for that, Gurudev will not reject you. If you openly tell the truth and speak clearly, Gurudev will not chastise you—rather, he will accept you and rectify you, he will purify you.

— : • : —

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