(1/6) Search for Reality

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, morning, 28 January 2020, part 1
Translated from Bengali

জলজা নবলক্ষাণি স্থাবরা লক্ষবিংশতি
কৃময়োরুদ্রসঙ্খকাঃ পক্ষিণাং দশলক্ষনম্
ত্রিংশললক্ষাণি পশবঃ চতুরলক্ষাণি মানুষাঃ

jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati
krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksanam
trimsal-laksani pasavah chatur-laksani manusah

"There are 900,000 aquatic species; 2,000,000 nonmoving living entities (trees, plants, etc.); 1,100,000 species of insects and reptiles; 1,000,000 species of birds; 3,000,000 species of beasts; and 400,000 species of humans."

(Padma Purana)

There are many different kinds of fish, dolphins, crocodiles and other species living in water, and we have been born as all those species 900,000 times. We were born 2,000,000 times as various trees and plants. When I was staying at Park Street in Kolkata (I sometimes still go there), I heard that one German man had come to India to look for a tree that he had heard grew in the jungles of India—he was going to collect the 'blood' (sap) of the tree and make cancer medicine from it. When they found the tree, it was still young, so he said that he would wait for it to grow and then extract the sap. We have been born so many times as all kinds of trees and plants. It is said in the scriptures that were born 2,000,000 as nonmoving species. We were born 1,100,000 times as all sorts of insects and bugs. You can see so many birds flying in the sky—we were born even as birds 1,000,000 times. We have been born 3,000,000 times as animals and 400,000 times as humans. This is written in scriptures. We do not say anything that is not found in scriptures—the evidence is there in scriptures. Therefore, it is said that this human birth is very rare.

ভারত-ভূমিতে হৈল মনুষ্য-জন্ম যার ।
জন্ম সার্থক করি' কর পর-উপকার ॥

bharata-bhumite haila manusya janma yara
janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara

"One who has taken birth as a human being in the land of India should take advantage of this birth by bringing benefit to others."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.9.41)

What does benefit to others mean? Does it mean giving others clothes? You can see so many hospitals are opened in every corner of the planet, but does it mean that diseases become finally healed? Do these hospitals actually give health? Do they decrease the number of patients? You can open hospitals and pharmacies on every street corner, but will it decrease the number of patients? Will it save anyone from death? Suppose you distribute one thousand blankets—the news will spread, and you will be distributing another five thousand blankets the next day. Such charitable work does not stop people's desires. Suppose you have no money—you get ten rupees one day, but does it decrease your desire? It does not. Your desire will only increase after that. Is it so or not? You win ten rupees in the lottery, and after that you will go to buy more tickets, hoping that you will again win ten rupees. Your desire will not finish. However, you must attain such a thing by attaining which you will not want anything more. You must look for such a thing that will completely satisfy your desire. This 'thing' is reality. You must search for reality. Search for Sri Krishna, Reality the Beautiful. You must search for the Lord. Reality is beautiful, and you must search out and learn about this reality. This is exactly why we take so much trouble going house to house.

If I came, played the harmonium and sang some lila-kirtans or brought some hired singers, if I arranged for some girls' dancing, you would see that this place would be full of people, but no happiness, no peace can ever come through such entertainment.

We earn so much money, we take so much trouble to build a house, to buy a car, to save money, but when you close your eyes, everything will be gone—once you close your eyes, you will have to leave everything here and go away. Your place will be at the crematorium.

You are attached to your family, but that very family whom you allowed to live in your house will cut your fingers off after your death to take your rings. When the body is left lying for one-two hours, fingers swell, and it becomes impossible to take the rings off, so your so-called family will not hesitate to cut your fingers off to take the rings! They are dacoits disguised as family! I have seen people do this many times. I have seen many dead bodies burnt in my childhood. I saw how men work so hard to feed their family, but later their wives, sons and daughters do not hesitate to cut off their fingers to take the rings! These are not your well-wishers, they are dacoits! They act as your well-wishers, but in fact they only come to rob you. Many say, "Maharaj, when I retire, I will come to the temple." When they turn sixty, they retire, and after that many people die, and their wives get half of their pension. They suck your blood even after your death! They never do anything for the service of the Lord...

Not everyone is like that though. It is said that among millions of karmis there is one wise person, among millions of wise people there is one liberated soul, and among millions of such liberated souls there is only one devotee of Krishna. So, it is extremely rare to find a devotee of Krishna, but just one devotee of Krishna can rescue the entire universe. If you read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, you will find it written there. What I say is all written in scriptures. Listen to what I am saying. Moreover, it is not enough to only hear it. It is not enough to just read a book. It is necessary to hear from a genuine Guru, from sadhus and Vaishnavs, and when you hear something, you must apply it in your life and put it to good use. This is how students study at schools and colleges and excel, becoming school or college masters in the end. It is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness and listen about the Lord from a genuine, bona fide Guru.

Who can give you the solution? When Pariksit Maharaj had a problem, who gave him the solution? Sukadev Goswami. Arjuna also appeared into a great trouble—on the one hand, he did not want to kill his entire family in that great battle; on the other hand, Lord Krishna told him to go ahead and fight. Which was he to choose? In the end, he surrendered to the Lord and could understand everything. It is necessary to surrender, otherwise it is not possible to understand anything. That is why we sing all the time:

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ॥
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥
ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভাব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"(1) Humility, (2) self-submission, (3) accepting the Lord as your maintainer, (4) keeping faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me', (5) engaging only what is favourable to devotion, (6) rejecting what is unfavourable to devotion."

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We must be always alert and attentive to this. Be surrendered. You cannot get any result without surrender. It is necessary to be always properly surrendered.

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Length: 30 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Search for Reality
2) Greatest Conquest
3) Wasted Love
4) Go Beyond Your Mindset
5) Faith Must Come from Heart
6) Bizarre Life