(6/7) Our Exclusive Duty

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Ganga Sagar, anniversary festival, noon class
12 January 2020, part 6

[One of the devotees asks whether His Divine Grace will take everyone to the Ganges.] You will be taking me to Ganga Sagar, not me. At heart, I do not wish to go to bathe there. As Mahaprabhu said, "I am a strict sannyasi (virakta sannyasi; lit. 'annoyed at any material connection')". If I can serve Vaishnavs, if I can serve you all, that is sufficient for me. Even when you go to see the ashram of Kapila Muni, there is no current of devotion there—they live for the sake of getting some rice and money. They do not even offer bhoga to the Deities—when you offer no bhoga, it means you have no Deity. People come there and throw some money, but all that money goes for a wrong purpose. I have seen a large crowd of people running behind some guru at the mela. I asked somebody what was happening, and they said they were running to see Mahamandaleshwar! There are many people in this world who will sit and take service and worship from others. Everyone is a mayavadi here. They do not feel scared to take worship from others... Anyway, people can open many temples and do many things, but our duty is to serve devotees dwelling in the holy dham.

You can go to the ocean, take some water on your heads and come back. Gurudev also said that we must offer our obeisance to Ganga Devi and take her water on our heads because such sinful, lowly people as we are cannot wash our feet in her water. Actually, we always feel like swimming in the Ganges when we see it because we are used to swimming in ponds since our childhood... When I first came to Uluberia, people had only tube wells, so I bathed in a pond there. One time, I also went bathing in the Ganges with Gurudev—I remember it was the [Bengali] New Year's day (Pohela Boisakh)...

আর কবে নিতাইচাঁদ করুণা করিবে ।
সংসার-বাসনা মোর কবে তুচ্ছ হ'বে ॥

ara kabe nitaichand karuna karibe
samsara-vasana mora kabe tuchha ha'be

"When will Nitaichand give mercy to me? When will all my material desires become insignificant?"

('Prarthana', Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

"Vaisnava sangete mana anandita anuksana (বৈষ্ণব সঙ্গেতে মন আনন্দিত অনুক্ষণ)—in the association of Vaishnavs, my mind is always joyful" (Srila Narottam Das Thakur). You have come here taking so much trouble, spending money and travelling so far, and it is a source of joy for us to have your association. When we travel together, we can pass severals hours in kirtan and lectures.

Remember that if you think that you have become a Vaishnav, you will not be able to give honour to others. For example, you can see in Mednipore and many other places that people come to ask you for prasad before you even finish taking it. One time, when Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj was forced to eat, he ate all prasad along with the banana leaf plate! That lady invited Babaji Maharaj to take prasad, but when Babaji Maharaj had finished taking it, he did not leave anything on the plate. The lady wanted to get his prasad (that is why she had invited Babaji Maharaj), so she forcefully started feeding him more. Babaji Maharaj ate everything again, and, on top of that, he also ate the leaf plate! This is the kind of Vaishnav he was. Another time, somebody gave him one rupee, but he gave it back, saying, "I cannot chant the Holy Name with this money! I keep thinking what I will do with it, how I will spend it. I cannot tolerate this burden, please take it back! Please do me a favour." We can see how the great Vaishnavs lived. We must think about their example and follow it. We must not think that we have done so much in our lives, that so much has happened in our lives.

তুয়া ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ধর্ম্ম যাতে রয় ।
পরম যতনে তাহা ত্যজিব নিশ্চয় ॥

tuya bhakti-pratikula dharma jate raya
parama yatane taha tyajiba nischaya

I will certainly abandon with great care everything that is unfavourable to devotion to You.

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

"Tuya bhakti-bahirmukha sanga na kariba (তুয়া ভক্তি-বহির্ম্মুখ সঙ্গ না করিব)—I will not associate with those who are unfavourable to devotion and Lord Krishna." Whoever it is—even if it is your wife, son, daughter or any other relative—you must leave their association if they are averse to the Lord. Neither must you be attached to any place if it is not favourable to devotion.

ভক্তি-প্রতিকূ স্থানে না করি বসতি ।
ভক্তির অপ্রিয় কার্য্যে নাহি করি রতি ॥

"I do not live in any place that is unfavourable to devotion, and I never feel attached to doing anything that is not dear (not conducive) to devotion."

"Bhaktira virodhi grantha patha na kariba (ভক্তির বিরোধী গ্রন্থ পাঠ না করিব): I will not read the books that are not favourable to devotion or that are against devotion." Whatever book it can be, no matter how good may be considered, if it does not support devotion, we must not read it.

ভক্তির বাধক জ্ঞান-কর্ম্ম তুচ্ছ জানি ॥
ভক্তির বাধক কালে না করি আদর ।
ভক্তি-বহির্ম্মুখ নিজ জনে জানি পর ॥

bhaktira badhaka jnana-karma tuchchha jani
bhaktira badhaka kale na kari adara
bhakti-bahirmukha nija jane jani para

"I feel any knowledge that obstructs devotion is trifle. I never feel any affection for any time that obstructs devotion. When somebody is averse to devotion, I stop taking them for my near and dear."

If somebody is against Krishna consciousness, you must leave them, even if they are dear and close to you.

ভক্তির বাধিকা স্পৃহা করিব বর্জ্জন ।
অভক্ত-প্রদত্ত অন্ন না করি গ্রহণ ॥

bhaktira badhika sprha kariba varjana
abhakta-pradatta anna na kari grahana [7]

"I will reject all desires that obstruct devotion. I will not accept any food from non-devotees."

Somebody called me once and complained, "Oh, Maharaj, before I go to work, I have to eat what my daughter-in-law cooks..." I told him, "It would be better if you did not eat anything at all than eat what she cooks. If you are to eat, you must take only prasad." If you eat what outside people cook, then whatever bad qualities and faults they have inside them will all come to you.

বিষয়ীর অন্ন খাইলে মলিন হয় মন ।
মলিন মন হৈলে, নহে কৃষ্ণ-নাম গ্রহণ ॥

visayira anna khaile malina haya mana
malina mana haile, nahe krsna-nama grahana

"If you eat the food that comes from materialistic people, your mind becomes contaminated. When your mind is contaminated, you cannot chant the Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.278)

Here too, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, "Abhakta-pradatta anna na kari grahana: I do not accept any food from non-devotees." Non-devotees commit so many sins. Do you understand what I am telling you? You must remember these things! It is necessary to be sincere, and it is necessary to serve eternally, every single day.

— : • : —

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Length: 53 min
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