Can You Not or Will You Not?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Betur, 22 January 2020, part 3
Translated from Bengali

You must chant kirtans every day, and you must always think, "I must do what Gurudev has told me to do."

I know and I can understand everything. Everybody comes and chants kirtans in front of me, but when I am not looking, they do not do kirtans, they do not practise thinking, "Gurudev cannot see, Gurudev does not know." This is martya-buddhi (considering Gurudev a mere mortal), it is an offence against the Holy Name. You can chant the Holy Name millions of times, but if your mentality is like this, there will be no result. Such an attitude is an offence against the Holy Name, you must always leave such mood. Always keep away from any offences of the Holy Name.

You think, "I have come today with Gurudev, everybody sat down, we did kirtans, and when Gurudev is in Nabadwip, Kolkata, Nrisingha Palli, Bankura, or Ekachakra, then Gurudev does not see what I am doing." But Gurudev can understand everything internally. If we do not understand it, then you have a problem. Gurudev can understand everything. When Srila Gurudev was in America and I was here, he called me and said that he knew some job had been done. He understands everything.

We work the whole day from morning till night, but when you close your eyes, everything will be left behind. When a father leaves much wealth to his sons, his children enjoy with it or sell it, spend the money and become beggars. You can see these things happening in the world. You have come to stay here at the temple, but you always wear pants—why cannot you wear a dhoti? Why cannot you listen to what I say? If you listen to what I say, then tomorrow you will wake up and wear a dhoti. This is my word. You cannot wear pants when you stay in the temple.

Devotee: I cannot wear a dhoti [I have some problem wearing it]

You cannot say you cannot wear a dhoti. If you try, you will not say you cannot wear it. "I cannot chant the Holy Name" and "I will not chant the Holy Name" is not the same. Is it "I cannot chant the Holy Name, I do not get time to chant the Holy Name" or "I will not chant the Holy Name"? Which of the two is true? You do not want to chant, then you will not get time. Even if you do not get time to chant during the whole day, you can still chant it when you take rest. Can you not do your japa when you are resting? If you go to the market, if you talk to everybody, spend time gossiping, talking nonsense, etc., then you will not have time. So, the point is that if you say, "I will not do," then leave it. You cannot say, "Oh, I cannot wear clothes." This is not a question! Hindu people cannot wear their clothes (dhoti)—this is unheard of. This is not the culture. You are staying at the temple, so you must wear a dhoti, you must put tilaks, wear kanthi-mala, shave your head. You must shave your head, this is the rule of the temple! When you come to stay at the temple, you must follow these rules.

If I apply for a policeman's job, will anyone say I am a policeman if I do not wear the police uniform? It is the same here. If you go to school and do not wear the school uniform, will anyone let you into the school? Here too, it is also a school or university—if you are to stay here, you must wear devotional uniform. Is what I am saying right or not? You cannot say that you cannot wear it, that it is difficult to wear it—when taking initiation, everyone wears a dhoti. Then, you must learn to wear a dhoti! You must wear a dhoti at the temple. This is the rule.

What for do you stay in the temple? When new people come, what will they learn looking at you? It is not a matter of age also, even small children come to the temple and wear a dhoti. I saw a boy came to Tarakeshwar temple, he is ten years old, and I told him to wear a dhoti. It is necessary to wear a dhoti! You must also apply tilaks; if you do not know how, they will teach you how to apply then and what mantras to recite when applying them. You must chant the Holy Name, you must practise Krishna consciousness if you want to get the Lord, and if you think you do not need all this, then I will not say anything more. If you think you do not need all this, if you do not need the Lord, then well and good—then leave it all.

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