(3/7) Service Eyes

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Ganga Sagar, anniversary festival, noon class
12 January 2020, part 3

Deities can speak, Deities can give witness, Deities can steal. You have heard about Saksi Gopal and Ksir-chora Gopinath. When we come to Puri, we always come to take darshan of Saksi Gopal. Before also, we would go by bus to have the darshan of Ksir-chora Gopinath, who stole condensed milk (ksir) for Madhavendra Puri. Govardhan-dhari Gopal brought milk for Madhavendra Puri. I have told about all this before, and I do not want to repeat it all again now. I will tell you one thing today, and I am requesting you to remember it.

The Deity is the Lord Himself. If you ask whether the Deity of the Lord is stone, clay or wooden, it means that you have not got the darshan of the Lord. If you come to the Deity, thinking, "I am coming to see the Deity" or, "I will go to see Jagannath," you cannot get the darshan of Lord Jagannath or the darshan of the Deity like this. If you come to see Jagannath, you will see some wooden Deity—you will not see Jagannath, the Lord. Do we have the eyes to see the Lord? We have come to offer our obeisance to the Lord and so that the Lord can see us, even if we cannot understand whether He sees us or not. Do not come to see the Deity. You will not get any result if you think, "I will see the Lord." Remember this. Do not have this kind of mentality. We have no eyes to see the Lord.

Our duty is to serve the Lord, and whether He takes this service or does not take, it is His matter, it is not my business. You have heard the story of Raghunandan, the son of Mukunda Prabhu. Their Deity ate a sweet from the hand of Raghunandan. That Deity is still there in Narahari Pat. When his parents offered bhoga, they could not understand it, but when Raghunandan offered bhog to the Deity, the Deity ate everything.

It is necessary to have faith.

You have heard the story of Arjuna Misra. I have told it many times.

অনন্যাশ্চিন্তয়ন্তো মাং যে জনাঃ পর্য্যুপাসতে ।
তেষাং নিত্যাভিযুক্তানাং যোগক্ষেমং বহাম্যহম্ ॥

ananyas chintayanto mam, ye janah paryupasate
tesam nityabhiyuktanam, yoga-ksemam vahamy aham

"I bear the responsibility of acquiring and protecting the necessities of My fully dependent devotees who are always absorbed in thought of Me, and who worship Me in every way."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.22)

It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, "I personally bring food for those who leave all thoughts and think only about Me." The Lord personally carries food to such devotees' houses, but we think, "I am doing it." Those who do it can do it, but we cannot do it. It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, "I bring food for those who are surrendered to Me."

Therefore, it is always necessary to arrange proper service and worship of the Deities. First of all, it is necessary to have humility. "I do not have any qualification, I do not know any mantras, I do not understand anything"—this is the mantra. "I do not know anything"—this is our mantra. "O Lord, I do not understand anything, I am only trying to serve You." "I am giving this food to You. There may be less salt, but please accept it." Srila Sanatan Goswami fed Madan Gopal with plain burnt rotis without any salt. In Ter-Kadamba, Srimati Radharani personally came to cook sweet rice for Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu, who wanted to offer it to Srila Sanatan Goswami. "Ter" means "the call [of the flute]"—when Krishna plays the flute, all gopis come...

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Increase Glory of Temple
2) Coming to Ganga Sagar
3) Service Eyes
4) Know Your Place
5) Cannot Have Your Feet in Two Boats
6) Our Exclusive Duty
7) Gift of Pilgrimage