Are You Drawn to Service?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, evening programme
18 January 2020, part 7
Translated from Bengali

সাধুসঙ্গ, নামকীর্ত্তন, ভাগবতশ্রবণ ।
মথুরাবাস, শ্রীমূর্ত্তির শ্রদ্ধায় সেবন ॥

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.124)

You must not read any imaginary, fabricated 'scriptures'. You think that you get some book and come to read it at the temple during the class, but you cannot do this. Reading scriptures means reading authentic scriptures, such as Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita and Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata; there are also many beautiful books published from our temple, you can read them. You think that you can go to College Street or some book fair, buy books and read them—you cannot do this! You must not read books from the market—you must read and study books that sadhus, gurus, and Vaishnavs give. If you read any other books, it is the same as reading newspapers. Remember this.

Guru Maharaj said also one very important thing. Do you like reading Bhagavatam and chanting kirtans or do you like listening to lila-kirtans [sahajiya, emotional kirtans about the pastimes of Radha-Krishna]? Or do you like listening to Rabindra Sangeet (songs of Rabindranath Tagore)? Or do you like listening to other popular village songs? Ask yourself this and check yourself! Do you feel drawn towards service? Do you feel drawn towards the Lord? Do you feel drawn to Hari-katha? Look within yourself and see how you feel when the service to the Lord is obstructed. Is this kind of love coming to you or not? You must think about all these things.

How does Lalita Devi serve Radharani? How does she dress Her? If she sees even a drop of perspiration on Radharani's body, she runs to wipe it with her clothes! Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu composed this sloka:

রাধামুকুন্দপদসম্ভব-ঘর্ম্মবিন্দু-
নির্ম্মঞ্ছনোপকরণীকৃতদেহলক্ষাং ।
উত্তুঙ্গসৌহৃদবিশেষবশাৎ প্রগল্ভাং,
দেবীং গুণৈঃ সুললিতাং ললিতাং নমামি ॥

radha-mukunda-pada-sambhava-gharma-bindu-
nirmanchanopakarani-krta-deha-laksam
uttunga-sauhrda-visesa-vasat pragalbham
devim gunaih su-lalitam lalitam namami

"When Lalita Devi finds a drop of perspiration at the feet of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda, she furiously engages herself to remove it. 'How has it come there? We are circumambulating Them to see that not the least pain can enter this domain to trouble Them, but how, without our notice, has this perspiration appeared? Perspiration, perspiration!' So she is furiously chastising herself and wants to immediately take birth one lakh (100,000) times—with that force she comes to remove that drop of perspiration from the lotus feet of either of the Divine Couple."

(Sri Lalitastakam, 1, by Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu)

Radharani worries, "When will I come to see Krishna? Will I be able to please Him? Will I be able to serve Him?" She becomes so excited thinking about it that some perspiration comes to her face, and Lalita Devi is there, and she wipes Her perspiration. This is how she serves, and this is how one should serve Sri Guru and Vaishnavs.

You must be firm, "I will not leave Gurudev's line", "I will not listen to what Gurudev does not say." "Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, chittete kariya aikya ara na kariha mane asa (গুরুমুখ-পদ্মবাক্য চিত্তেতে করিয়া ঐক্য আর না করিহ মনে আশা)—make the teachings from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart, and do not desire anything else within your heart." You say that you are making what Gurudev says non-different from your heart, but you do not follow what Gurudev says!

দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ ।
সেইকালে কৃষ্ণ তারে করে আত্মসম ॥

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

"Devotees submit their entire being when they take initiation. At this time, Krishna accepts them as His very own."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.192)

If you behave like this (if you say something but do not follow it), it means that you have not surrendered yourself, it means that you have not submitted yourself to your Guru and the Lord. We say that we take initiation from Gurudev, but we only pretend that we take initiation. We wear tilaks and wear kanthi-mala, but Guru Maharaj always said that demons will come in this Age of Kali wearing tilaks and kanthi-mala. It means that people dress as sadhus, but they have demon mentality—inside, they desire enjoyment, liberation. It is very difficult to recognise them because they wear the same tilaks and kanthi-mala as sadhus. You can see that some people wear tilaks and kanthi-mala, but they drink alcohol on the street and smoke. Have you never seen such people? This is their job—such demons come in disguise of sadhus and take your faith out with the root.

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।

গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

"Just saying, 'I am Gora's! I am Gora's!' will not do. Only when you follow Gora’s practice and Gora’s conception will you get the proper result."

লোক দেখান গোরা ভজা তিলক মাত্র ধরি ।

গোপনেতে অত্যাচার গোরা ধরে চুরি ॥

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

"You put on tilaks and show the whole world that you serve Gora, but secretly you do outrageous things. Gora will catch you!"

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6-7)

We say with our mouths that we are Gora's devotees. If you go to Ekachakra by train, you will see people come begging and singing, "O my Golden Gaura, I will keep You in my heart and never leave You (sonara Gaura chhede deba na, hrta-majhare rakhiba ara chhede deba na)." They sing this and take your money to please their wives and children and let them enjoy! That is why it is said, "You put on tilaks and show the whole world that you serve Gora, but secretly you do outrageous things. Gora will catch you!" You cannot hide anything from Gora—Gora will catch you! Pure Vaishnavs can always see the truth—all the karmis, jnanis and yogis in this world will be caught one day! Everyone will be caught—nobody will be spared! You cannot cheat or hide anything from the Lord. You and I can be cheated, but nobody can cheat the Lord—if anyone tries to do it, their true colours will be exposed sooner or later. How long do you think one can pretend? How many days can you sell fake things at the market? One day, you have to be caught. How many days can you mix diesel with kerosine? One day, some problem must come. How long will you cheat? You cannot do it for long. When time comes, your true colours will come out. Always remember this.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 17.2 Mb
Length: 41 min
Language: Bengali