(2/5) The Pride of the Prideless

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
6 January 2020, part 2

When we went to Kurmaksetra, we saw the place of Vasudev Vipra and heard how humble he was. He had leprosy, and when the insects eating his body fell out of the sores on his body, he would pick them up and put them back into the sores. He thought, "This body is useless because I cannot serve the Lord with it, so if some insects feel happy to eat it, I do not mind it." How much tolerance, how much patience he has! We can also see other devotees' examples. Srila Sanatan Goswami's body was covered with blisters, but he did not care. How much he had to tolerate! So many diseases attacked Srila Sanatan Goswami, Vasudev Vipra and other devotees—they suffered so much, but they tolerated everything. Krishna tests us in many ways to see how much patience and tolerance we have, to see with how much love and affection, with how much attachment we can serve the Deities.

It is necessary to have humility. We must pray, "I have no quality or qualification. Please accept what I am offering to You." If you think, "I have become a Vaishnav", "I have become a great devotee," this is ego. Ego always creates problems in everybody's spiritual lives. So many anarthas (bad qualities) attack us, so many problems come to us, but if you think, "Krishna is my protector," then no one can do any harm to you. However, if I think, "I have no protector in this world," many kinds of difficulties will come (Maya will attack us). You can see the example of Prahlad Maharaj also. He was a small boy, a five-year-old baby, but he always thought, "Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Krishna (Hari) will protect me, I have no problems." He felt no fear, he was not disturbed—he only remembered the Lord, and he was sure that no one could do any harm to him.

Krishna cannot glorify Himself, that is why He tells everybody about Himself through His devotees. You must understand this. Sivji Maharaj said: "Aham vetti, Suka vetti, Vyasa vetti na vetti va—I know it, Sukadev Goswami knows it, but Vyasadev may or may not know it." Vyasadev composed Srimad Bhagavatam and gave everything to Sukadev Goswami, but Sivji Maharaj said, "I have read Srimad Bhagavatam, Sukadev knows something about Srimad Bhagavatam, but I do not know if Vyasadev knows it."

Srimad Bhagavatam describes the four ages (Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapar-yuga and Kali-yuga) and the prescribed methods of attaining God in each age. In Satya-yuga, the prescribed practice is meditation (dhyan); in Treta-yuga, it is fire sacrifice (yajna); and in Dvapar-yuga, it is Deity worship (archan, puja). What is the situation in Kali-yuga? The prescribed practice for this age is chanting the Holy Name (Krishna-nam), and it is said in the scriptures that you can get even more benefit through the chanting of the Holy Name than what you could attain in the previous ages. Krishna Himself has made this arrangement. He knows how materialistic the people are in the Age of Kali and how short their lifetime is, that is why He thought, "How can such people be rescued from the illusory environment (Maya)?" In the Age of Kali, Krishna comes in the form of His Holy Name and He also comes as Mahaprabhu to distribute His Holy Name. Despite your short lifetime, by chanting this Holy Name, you can get real benefit and become rescued from this bad situation.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Madhava Tithi
2) The Pride of the Prideless
3) Inconceivable Mercy
4) Learn from Lord's Pastimes
5) Appreciate Service