(12/16) Two Keys to Success

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Temple inauguration programme, Hooghly
26 January 2020, noon, part 12
Translated from Bengali

We think somebody is Indian, somebody is English—we always discriminate and think about it. Only taking the mantra from Gurudev will not take you far—taking the mantra does not mean creating a relationship. Whatever the reason may be, if anyone loves Gurudev, it means they have developed a relationship with Gurudev. Somebody can keep Gurudev's photograph and offer worship to it, but if they do not follow Gurudev's words, what is the use? What is actually necessary? One person is giving incense and worships a photograph but does not listen to what Gurudev is saying, and another person follows what Gurudev says. Do you understand who of the two is doing wrong? You can ring the bell, offer flowers, incense and do everything else, but if you do not follow Gurudev's words, all you do will be useless (you will not get any result). You must always remember this.

I offer thousands of obeisances at the feet of those who have come to love Sri Guru Thakur. It can be a very small girl, it can be a very small boy, they can be invalid, they may have no qualities, but if the person loves Guru Thakur, Hari Thakur, I will offer my obeisance to them again and again. They may commit some sins, they may have some bad qualities, but their faults will not be there for long—when the feeling of relationship comes, all faults and bad qualities are washed away by the flood of divine love. If you have a very strong feeling that "Sri Guru Thakur is my very own, I have seated him in my heart," then your acceptance of the guru will be successful. When you realise and feel, "I have seated my Guru and the Lord in my heart," then your acceptance of the guru will be successful.

Cooking for the Deities is part of archan, Deity worship. In Vaikuntha, Laksmi Devi worships the Lord through archan.

One time, I went for collection on Thursday. I went to some place, and they told me, "Oh, today is Thursday, we cannot give any donation." I asked them why, and they replied, "Because it is Laksmi's day." I said, "Laksmi Devi has sent me to you for her Lord's service! Prabhu, Laksmi Devi was going to cook, but she has run out of rice, so she has sent me to you to bring some rice for her service to her husband." [Devotees laugh.] The man became amazed, "What is this man saying?!" [Somebody asks if that man gave rice.] Of course, he gave, he had no other way. Nobody can escape me! [His Divine Grace and devotees laugh.]

If you cook timely and nicely and feed Krishna, He becomes happy. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur sings, "Tripta haye khaya Krsna Yasoda-bhavane—Krishna happily eats at the house of Mother Yasoda." If you cook anyhow just to get free from the chore—some preparation has too much salt, some preparation has too little salt, something got scorched, something has less spices, etc.—the Lord will not be satisfied eating such cooking. When you cook well, then every morsel will be relishable. Cooking service is an extremely important service. We must give importance to cooking. Remember this. It is necessary to arrange the offering plate nicely—it will not do to serve bhog anyhow. It is necessary to clean and keep the kitchen neat, the offering should be arranged nicely. You can make the offering on a golden plate, but the Lord will not even try it—you have put so much salt or you have put no salt (the Lord cannot eat it). However, when you cook nicely, you can offer it even on a leaf, the Lord will take it happily.

Generally, we see that people take the footdust of those who worship the Deities, recite mantras, ring the bell, but those who have spiritual intelligence know that the cooks are greater servitors. Cooking service is much greater than reciting praises. The value of cooking service is much more than the value of the pujari's service. The golden crown of the Lordship glitters in all directions of the temple with its electric light, but nobody pays attention to the daily meals of the Lord. This is not proper service. The Lord's main place is the bhoga-mandir. You must pour out your mind, your soul into cooking bhoga of the Lord—cooking should be done privately, secretly, nobody should see it. It is necessary to immerse yourself into such meditation, into such service. You go to offer something to the Lord, but the Lord knows what you are offering.

In terms of service value, after cooking comes the service of dressing the Deities. When you put a garland on the Deities, people see it and shower you with praise, but nobody sees the cooking service. Those who help the cooks are also benefitted. You can do the shopping and buy good products, but you do not cook the preparations well—everything is then in vain. Therefore, it is necessary to do the cooking service very attentively and timely.

Always remember this.

"asat-sanga-tyaga—ei vaisnava-achara"

"Vaisnavs give up all inauspicious association."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.87)

Those who do not practise Krishna consciousness or serve the Lord are called asat (inauspicious, unholy, non-eternal); but those who serve the Supreme Lord are called sadhu (holy persons). Hearing, chanting, remembering about the Lord, praying to the Lord, worshipping the Lord, etc. are devotion. It is necessary to listen about the Lord, to chant the Lord's glories, worship Deities, pray. This is devotion to the Lord. Those who do not practise even one of the devotional practices (hearing, chanting, remembering, Deity worship), are non-devotees; you should keep away from them. Those who want to practise Krishna consciousness, must give up all such association. In other words, you should keep away from the association of those who do not worship the Lord, do not pray to the Lord, do not chant kirtan, do not practise Krishna consciousness. Do not mix with such people.

Those who are eager to practise Krishna consciousness must always be alert and make sure no obstacles are created as a result of non-devotees' association. Inauspicious are those who steal, engage in debauchery, lie, etc. and have inauspicious character; liars, thieves, foul people are asadhu (unsaintly, unholy). Besides that, those who do not practise Krishna consciousness (who do not serve the Lord) are also 'asat'. If a person does not practise a single devotional activity (hearing, chanting, remembering, Deity worship, etc.), even if he has a good character, never tells a lie, etc., he is also inauspicious. Unless you give up the association of everything inauspicious, it is not possible to get good association of saintly person. If you do not leave all this bad association, you will not get benefit from the association of sadhus.

If some iron has gone rusty and you paint it on top, will that paint stay—the real thing will come to surface. When water falls on that rust, all paint will come off. So, if you have other things inside you (if you think about other things), but outside you put tilaks and wear big kanthi-mala, who are you cheating? Therefore, giving up inauspicious association is part of Vaishnavism.

It is necessary to leave the association of all people who do not practise devotion at all—even if they are close family, a son, or a near and dear one. If you associate with those who have no devotion for the Supreme Lord, your devotion will be obstructed—if you associate with them, you will waste your time, money, and your mind will become disturbed. Therefore, it is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness with heart and soul.

You must listen to these things that I have told you now well, you must practise Krishna consciousness well, then you will get supreme benefit.

— : • : —

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Size: 58 Mb
Length: 120 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Opening Temple—Opening Your Eyes
2) Live As a Member of Krishna's Family
3) Meaning of Surrender (1)
4) Meaning of Surrender (2)
5) How to Pray to Vaishnav Thakur
6) Orphaned and Blind
7) Satisfying Lord and Your Soul
8) Trade Secret of Krishna Consciousness
9) Taste for Hari-Katha
10) Eternal Nourishment
11) Align Your Life
12) Two Keys to Success
13) Ekadasi Vrata (1)
14) Ekadasi Vrata (2)
15) Practise Day and Night
16) If You Want, You Can