(6/7) Why Have You Come?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening festival class
Sri Nityananda-Trayodasi, 7 February 2020, part 6
Translated from Bengali

You have come to Lord Nityananda Prabhu. I tried to tell you in the microphone yesterday, but I think you did not understand it. I saw people coming to Nityananda Prabhu and throwing money at Him. Is this service, tell me? They come to give one rupee, but they throw it at the Deity—if it hits Nityananda Prabhu in the eye, the eye will become blind! In many places, there are signboards saying, "Do not throw money." When we went for the parikrama today, somebody was throwing money into the air, and one coin fell on my head. This is what people do. Do you understand what a great offence this is? People also throw prasad, and it sometimes falls somebody's leg. People used to often do this before. Do you know why? Because they are afraid to serve—they think, "If I distribute prasad hand to hand, then there will be commotion and problems, but if I throw it, then my problem is over." They do not want to have problems or to struggle. But what do Vraja gopis say? They say, "Give me more struggle! Make me suffer more and more! I want to struggle more and more!" Is it possible to do anything without facing difficulties? Those who do not want difficulties are seekers of liberation (mukti-kami)—they go to Haridwar and sit there silently or to Govinda Kunda and chant, "Pare Pesta, Pare Pesta" instead of "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna."

Devotee: If I worship Radha-Krishna, can I worship other gods and goddesses?

No.

Devotee: When I tried to stop it, they come to beat me.

Take the beating then.

Devotee: They say that worshipping Narayan is the same as worshipping Radha-Krishna because Krishna is worshipped as Narayan (Dvarakeshwar) in Dvaraka.

I know that. But who does the worship there? When you go there, you will only find karma-misra bhakti: they come to Radha-Krishna and keep asking, "Give me this", "Give me that", "Dhanam dehi, vidyam dehi, rupam dehi, bharyam dehi: make me rich, make me clever, make me beautiful, give me a good wife." If you keep coming to the Lord asking Him all the time for something, He will say, "Oh goodness, let Me flee from this one!" Think about it yourself. Suppose you are walking down the street, and somebody stops you and starts nagging, "Give me money! Give me money! Give me money! Give me money!" Next time you see this person, you will turn and walk in another direction! You will run away and never go that way again.

People always want more and more money, but I never ask for money. You can see that thousands of people have taken prasad here. Just one person has given money and done this service. I have not told anyone to give me even ten–twenty rupees for prasad distribution. Just one my person, one girl, has done this service. She said, "Tell me how much is required, I will give it." And she gave it; she gave double the amount actually, and I can buy the land behind the temple with that money after the festival. (I will not tell her name; it is forbidden to tell it.) But here you can see people giving one rupee, but they throw it at Deities, and once it hit me also... People come and show their ego, but those who do service never speak about it.

অন্য অভিলাষ ছাড়ি, জ্ঞান কর্ম্ম পরিহরি,
কায়মনে করিব ভজন ।
সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণসেবা, না পূজিব দেবী-দেবা,
এই ভক্তি পরম কারণ ॥

anya abhilasa chhadi, jnana karma parihari
kaya-mane kariba bhajana
sadhu-sange krsna-seva, na pujiba devi-deva
ei bhakti parama karana

"The topmost process of devotional service is to worship the Lord with body and mind, giving up desires for fruitive activities and mental speculation. One should serve Lord Krsna in the association of devotees without worshipping any demigods."

(Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

"I will serve the Lord in saintly association, and I will not worship any other gods." When we see other gods, we do not sneer at them, we do not disrespect them—we offer our obeisances from far and go away. A few days ago (on Vasanta Panchami, the appearance day of Sri Vishnupriya Devi) was Saraswati Puja. Somebody asked me about it, and I said that there is 'Suddha' Saraswati and 'Vidya' Saraswati, and I explained the difference between para-vidya (pure transcendental knowledge) and apara-vidya (mundane knowledge).

The Deities of Radha-Krishna that you worship is Yugala Murti (Divine Couple). I know that the followers of Sri Rupanuga Sampradaya do not worship such Deities—they have no qualification, or right, to do so. So, do those who worship such Deities think that they have become such great devotees?

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥
মালী হঞা করে সেই বীজ আরোপণ ।
শ্রবণ-কীর্ত্তন-জলে করয়ে সেচন ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
mali hana kare sei bija aropana
sravana-kirtana-jale karaye sechana

"Having travelled throughout the universe, some fortunate souls receive the seed of the devotional creeper by the mercy of Sri Guru, who is non-different from Krishna. Becoming gardeners, they plant that seed and nurture it with the water of hearing and chanting."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.19.151–152)

When you water a plant, it grows, but what happens if you water it too much? The plant will become rotten. So, those who worship Radha-Krishna have poured too much water, and their seed of devotion has become spoilt—they have no devotion.

মাতল হরিজন কীর্ত্তন-রঙ্গে ।
পূজল রাগপথ গৌরব-ভঙ্গে ॥

matala hari-jana kirtana-range
pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

"From afar we shall worship the raga-patha, the path of spontaneous affectionate service, while we ourselves shall live within the Vedic guideline."

(Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad)

Do you see us worshipping Radha-Krishna separately? The worship of the Divine Couple must be in our hearts—we must not show it externally. "Apana bhajana-katha na kahibe yatha tatha (আপন ভজন-কথা, না কহিবে যথা তথা): Do not tell anyone and everyone about your own bhajan, service and practice." We will not tell in front of everyone about our own worship and practice. So, when somebody keeps the Deities of the Divine Couple, do they have the right to worship Them? Do they have the qualification to even see this form? They think, "Radha-Krishna's love is like the love between a husband and a wife in this world." This is not so. The love between a husband and a wife is full of lust (kama), but the love between Radha and Krishna is the genuine love—there is no trace of any lust in it. This is the difference. Outside people say that Krishna showed parakiya (paramour) pastimes, that He did this, He did that, but do they have the capacity to understand all this? Even great scholars and experts in literature can give big lectures, but they cannot understand anything. "Parakiya-bhave jaha brajete prachara: the relationship with Krishna is manifest in Vraja as paramour love. Jaya jaya ujjvala-rasa sarva-rasa sara: all glory, all glory to the paramour pastimes of the Lord, which is the very essence of all possible ecstasy." The rasa-lila of Krishna is the essence of all ecstasy, so who can understand it? If people try to understand it, they will get pregnant! Both men and women will become pregnant.

I know my words are harsh, but whatever.

It reminds me of Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj's words. I was proofreading a book today and saw what kind of language he used! I could not repeat the words he used. One man came to Srila Babaji Maharaj to take initiation, saying, "Babaji Maharaj, please give me initiation." Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj replied, "Rascal! You have come to take initiation?! Have you come to bugger me?!" Such was Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj's language. I was proofreading a book and saw it there. When I saw it, I thought, "My God, how hard he was!" A man comes to take initiation from him, but he says, "You have come to become my disciple means you have come to harm me. You have come to enjoy me! You have come to destroy my spiritual life!" He said in it this way... It is necessary to think about all these things.

— : • : —

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Length: 82 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Sinful Souls' Scrape
2) Two Unexpected Questions
3) Do Not Lose This Pull
4) Great Mercy for Great Hearts
5) Kali-Yuga Servants
6) Why Have You Come?
7) Practise and Pray