(6/6) Bizarre Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, morning, 28 January 2020, part 6
Translated from Bengali

Many people do kirtan for the pleasure of their own senses and for the pleasure of other people's senses—to please people's eyes, ears, nose, minds and so on. People dance, playing instruments, rolling in the dust...

In my previous ashram, they would sometimes invite kirtan bands to chant kirtan at homes. Sometimes, the kirtan would last several hours, sometimes the whole day and sometimes even longer. My uncle would invite them sometimes. I studied in grade six at that time. What was my duty? I was to go to the place where the band was staying and bring them to our house. One time, when I came, they were dressing up, and I saw them dropping mustard oil and onion juice into their eyes (because they had to cry while singing)! This is what Srila Prabhupad called fake kirtan (chhalana kirtan, ছলনা কীর্ত্তন). Sometimes, there would be competition between two brothers—somebody sang at one brother's house, and the other brother would then hire the same singers, saying, "You must show more emotion at my house!" The singers agreed, "All right, but more emotion means you have to pay more!" Then, to show more emotion, the main singer took more paan with some drug and went to the house. He started playing the harmonium and singing, "Hore Krishno-o-o-o-o"—having sung this one-two times, he fell down! He was so intoxicated that he could not get up. The other singer from the band run up to him and said, "Wake up! Wake up! No need to show emotion now! It is over, wake up!" This is the kind of emotion and the kind of kirtan singers that you get in this world... There are many people like that in Mednipore, Bangladesh, and here in Basirhat too because this area is next to Bangladesh anyway, so people cross the river and the border and bring such 'kirtans' here. If you go to Birbhum (Ekachakra) by train, you will hear them sing, "O my Golden Gora, I will keep You in my heart and never leave You..." One time, I shouted, "Hey, stop this!" Somebody objected, "Why? Let him sing! He is singing so well!" I told that singer, "You come to take money from people. Do you keep Gora in your heart?! Do you serve the Lord keeping Him in your heart?! Do you serve Gora outside, when you leave the train?!"

One time, we were dancing and singing on the street in Nabadwip. When we sang singing, "Sonara parvata yena dhulate lotaya—like a golden mountain, Nityananda rolls in the dust." Somebody started rolling in the dust at this time, and one foreign lady devotee from our group dropped a pot of water on him (to bring him to senses)! They told him, "Get up! Get up!" but the man did not get up. We sang about rolling in the dust, and the man rolled in the dust! He suddenly became 'Nitai' now!

I can tell so many stories like that... It is necessary to think what you are doing.

[His Divine Grace chants kirtan.]

কিসের সংসার এই, ছায়াবাজী প্রায় ।
ইহাতে মমতা করি' বৃথা দিন যায় ॥

kisera samsara ei chhayabaji praya
ihate mamata kari vrtha dina yaya

"What sort of world is this? It is like a trick, a show. While I affectionately take it as my own, days pass by in vain."

এদেহ পতন হ'লে কি রবে আমার ।
কেহ সুখ নাহি দিবে পুত্র পরিবার ॥

e deha patana ha'le ki rabe amara?
keha sukha nahi dibe putra paribara

"When this body drops dead, what will I have left? After my death, neither my sons nor my family will give me any happiness."

গর্দ্দভের মত আমি করি পরিশ্রম ।
কার লাগি' এত করি না ঘুচিল ভ্রম ॥

gardabhera mata ami kari parisrama
kara lagi' eta kari, na ghuchila bhrama

"I have been toiling like an ass—for whom have I been doing all this? Still, my illusion never disappears."

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje, nisa nidra-vase
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe vase

"My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me."

"When this body drops dead, what will I have left? After my death, neither my sons nor my family will give me any happiness." How much peace do your sons and family give you now? It is not like that for everyone, but there are families where the father brings up his son, makes sure he gets education, makes sure he gets a job, gives him everything—in the end, the father cannot do anything, cannot even walk, and his son comes to the temple and says, "Oh, my father has worked so much all his life, is there a place for him here?" When one such father came to the temple, I asked him, "What happiness is there in such a life?" He said, "Maharaj, I stayed at home because of grandchildren, but my daughter-in-law does not even let them come to see me." I told him, "Do you understand it now? What happiness is there in family life?" This is what it means, "Neither sons nor family will give you any happiness..." There is another example also—one man's the son became a school teacher and listening to his wife sent his parents to the old age home. When the father came to old age home, he told his son, "You have arranged for a room for me here, and I will keep a place for you here. Remember my word." The son sent his father to an old age home, but there is no Hari-katha there. If you are at the temple, even if you are sick, you can at least hear some kirtan and Hari-katha in the nat mandir. What do they do at old age homes? Drink tea and gossip. They get some pension and only know to tell each other stories about how much their daughters-in-law made them suffer. Those who come to the temple are fortunate, at least they get some good association, they can hear some kirtan—even if they are sick and cannot come to the nat mandir, they can hear kirtan in their room.

"Neither my sons nor my family will give me any happiness. For whom have I been doing all this? Still, my illusion has not been dispelled." For whom are we doing all this? Once, I went for preaching in Bardhaman. It was about twenty-five years ago. One well-off man told me, "Maharaj, you must stay at my house the whole day!" I told him, "I have come here for three days, we should make programmes three times a day (in the morning, at noon and in the evening) in different houses." He objected, "No, everyone should just come here, I will give prasad to everyone three times a day, you must stay here all three days." I thought, "If I say no, it will be another problem," so anyhow it was arranged that I would stay at another place that day and come to that man's house later. The next morning, we went for kirtan and a parikrama, and that man stopped me on the way and took me into his house, saying, "You must come to my house tomorrow! My father has not given me a single rupee, but I have built such a beautiful house! Can you see? Look at the bathroom, I have put very nice tiles, and I have marbled the ground floor. I have done everything myself—I have worked so hard and done everything alone." I told him, "You are saying you have done everything yourself, but the Lord does everything." The next day, I was supposed to come to that house, but then I heard the news that the man had been taken to hospital! In fact, the man did not even get time to reach hospital, which was only ten-minute drive away. He died on the way. He was young, about thirty-five years old... What did he do? Thinking that sadhus were coming, he went to cut some plant in front of his house in the morning, but there was a snake in the bush. As he was about to cut it, the snake bit him. It turned out venomous. They called the ambulance, but the Lord did not even give him time to get to hospital.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje, nisa nidra-vase
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe vase

"My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me."

I still remember that story from time to time...

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CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

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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