(3/3) Serve with Love

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, evening, 29 January 2020, part 3
Translated from Bengali

The Lord does not always come Himself. Sometimes, He comes personally, but mostly He sends His close associates. Tava nija-jana kona mahajane pathaiya dile tumi: You have sent a great soul, Your associate" (Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur). For example, Krishna did not come Himself to Dhruva Maharaj—He sent Narad Goswami to him, from whom Dhruva Maharaj took initiation. So, Krishna either comes Himself or sends His devotee to rescue sinners such as ourselves. But the burden of ego that we carry will remain on our heads until and unless we bow our heads down at the lotus feet of our Guru and Vaishnavs—only then can this burden be taken off. That is why we sing:

কবে আমি ছাড়িব এ বিষয়াভিমান ।
কবে বিষ্ণুজনে আমি করিব সম্মান ॥

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana

When will I give up this mundane ego? When will I honour the Lord's devotees?

গলবস্ত্র কৃতাঞ্জলি বৈষ্ণব নিকটে ।
দন্তে তৃণ করি দাঁড়াইব নিষ্কপটে ॥

gala-vastra krtanjali vaisnava-nikate
dante trna kari' dandaiba niskapate

"With a cloth around my neck, joined palms, and straw between my teeth, I will sincerely submit myself at the Vaishnav's feet."

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You must come to the Lord with a straw between your teeth and joined palm—without any deceit. At the same time, do we have the eyes to see the Lord?

অন্ধীভূত চক্ষু যার বিষয ধূলিতে ।
কিরূপে সে পরতত্ত্ব পাইবে দেখিতে ॥

andhibhuta chaksu yara visaya dhulite
ki rupe se para-tattva paibe dekhite

"My eyes are blind with the dust of visaya, the material world – how can I see the transcendental world?"

People go to Jagannath Puri, thinking, "I will see Jagannath," but it is not possible—if you think like this, you will not be able to see Jagannath, you will only see a wooden Deity. If somebody comes, thinking, "I am coming to Jagannath to serve Jagannath," then Jagannath will show Himself. You are coming to the Lord, but what are you coming for? What desires do you have inside? Are you coming to pray so that your son gets a job?

কৃষ্ণ যদি ছুটে ভক্তে ভুক্তি মুক্তি দিয়া ।
কভু ভক্তি না দেন রাখেন লুকাইয়া ॥

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If devotees aspire for enjoyment or liberation, Krishna hides the knowledge about pure devotion from them and lets them go, giving them enjoyment or liberation."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.18)

At the same time, there is also another sloka. Krishna says:

কৃষ্ণ কহে,—আমা ভজে, মাগে বিষয়-সুখ ।
অমৃত ছাড়ি’ বিষ মাগে,—এই বড় মূর্খ ॥

krsna kahe,—ama bhaje, mage visaya-sukha
amrta chhadi' visa mage,—ei bada murkha

"Krishna says, 'They worship Me desiring material happiness — leaving aside nectar, they ask for poison. They are big fools.'"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.38)

I told you earlier today also. When your child is small, it can sometimes eat soil—what will you do? You will come and take the soil out of its mouth. The child does not understand anything, so it will cry, "Oh, I was eating, and my mother has taken it out of my mouth! She does not let me eat!" In front of the Lord, we are just like such ignorant children—we want wealth, we want cars, we want houses; but the Lord says, "I am not a fool! I know better. Why will I give them visaya? I will give them instead My lotus feet and make them forget about visaya!" What did Dhruva Maharaj do? He went to meditate in the forest because he wanted to get the throne of his father. Bestowing His mercy on him, the Lord sent Narad to him. After that, the Lord came personally and said, "Here, take your kingdom now! Take it!" Dhruva Maharaj said then, "I do not want any kingdom anymore. Having got You, I do not need anything else!"

If you get the Lord, there will be nothing else to be got. It is necessary to serve this Lord, it is necessary to worship this Lord. Taking shelter at the lotus feet of a genuine guru, it is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness, then we will be able to get real benefit.

What makes Krishna happy? Whenever there is Krishna-katha, Krishna becomes happy. When devotees speak about the Lord, the Lord comes to listen. Krishna Himself says, "I always stay where devotees talk about Me and glorify Me. There is no greater pleasure for Me." You can even make a temple, but the Lord will not be pleased by that. It is necessary to feed the Lord, it is necessary to love the Lord, it is necessary to serve the Lord with faith and affection. Just as I wear a coat or put on a chadar when it is cold, it is necessary to give a chadar to the Lord too; and when it is hot, we turn on the A/C, so it is necessary to use an A/C for the Lord as well. This is how the Lord must be served with love. Serve the Deity with faith (sraddhaya sri-murti sevaya).

So, you have heard something about the Lord today. I do not want to take more of your time today because I need to go to Kolkata—tomorrow I must go to Uluberia (there is a programme in the evening). I pray to you all that you may come to Sri Nabadwip Dham together with devotees to do Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Also, the festival in Sri Ekachakra Dham is coming soon. We have a temple there, and there is place for everyone to say, so please come. The festival starts from ekadasi and will last three days (ekadasi, dvadasi, trayodasi).

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Have Proper Motive
2) Leave World of Stool and Urine
3) Serve with Love