Do Not Fear Sacrifice

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class
8 February 2020, part 4

What the guru and Vaishnavs tell, that is service. Sometimes we do something, but it becomes karma. Karma means karma bandhan (bondage), and the result of karma bandhan is going to hell. You become bound by karma. Therefore, you must practise your Krishna consciousness life out of love and affection. You must serve Krishna with love—not only fear, not only in the hope that you will get some benefit, etc. Not like this. Do you understand? You must serve with love.

I heard the other day that the toilets outside the temple are very dirty, and today I heard that some devotees cleaned them. I am very happy with that. I have heard also today that someone took all the thrown away prasadam plates and cleaned that place—they put all the plates in the truck and threw them away. They are cleaning the temple, I am very happy with that. I have seen today some devotees cleaning—they are doing service properly, and I am very happy with that. Cleaning is the most most important service. Mahaprabhu showed it in Puri when He cleaned the Gundicha Temple.

A few days ago I got very angry because when I came from Nabadwip and the collection for Gaura Purnima, I saw that the temple was very dirty. I chastised the devotee who cleans, "You are a cleaning person, but what is happening here? Everything is dirty! The whole temple is dirty!" But when I came back from rice collection a few days later, I saw that the temple was cleaned in a very perfect way.

Life should be for service. You must sacrifice in your life. Those who can make sacrifice in their life, they get the real benefit.

Once, Gurudev told me (I had not taken sannyas at that time, I was a brahmachari), "Vinod, some guest is coming at Gaura Purnima time, but there are no rooms. Where will they stay?" I told Gurudev, "I have my room, they can sleep there, and I will sleep in the corridor. It is not a problem." That year, Risabdev Prabhu came from America. There were no rooms left, there were no rooms in the foreign section—where will he sleep? At that time, Govinda Kunda did not manifest properly, there were no buildings there; some rooms were given to the foreign devotees in the Centenary building, but more devotees came that year and we did not know where to put them. I remembered what Gurudev had told me—he said, "When I went to Risabdev Prabhu's house, he gave his room to me and slept in the corridor." That is why when Gurudev asked me where he would sleep, I said he could sleep in my room, and I would sleep in the corridor.

You must show sacrifice in your life. It is necessary.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

• Download (1.4 Mb)