(3/5) Be on Guard

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme, Vijay Ekadasi
Translated into English from Bengali
19 February 2020, part 3

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

'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.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.19.151)

I told you yesterday that if you take initiation, it does not mean you have got everything. Those who have taken initiation have only been admitted to the primary school. After you get admitted to the primary school, you must study, otherwise if you do not study, you will not pass the exams. After you pass the primary school exams, you must go to high school and study there too. Then, you take your matriculation exams, and the result will show whether you have been studying for ten years or have been wasting time. Many think that when they have taken initiation from a guru, they have got everything. It is not so. Getting initiation can be compared to getting admitted to a school, but does one pass exams just by getting enrolled? It is necessary to study. Therefore, it is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness. There are sixty-four limbs of devotion; it is necessary to know what they are and to practise them. Among them, there are nine main practices: sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam, pada-sevanam (hearing about the Lord, chanting the Lord's Name, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, serving the Lord as a servitor, serving the Lord as a friend, submitting yourself to the Lord and offering obeisances to the Lord).

In the meantime, various desires for enjoyment and liberation will come out like weeds. When you plant a tree, as the tree grows, various branches and weeds grow along with it. For example, those who grow jute know that to make the tree grow higher, you have to trim it. In our life too, desires for enjoyment and liberation stick out in four directions, and we must cut them off one by one because they destroy devotion.

There is one thing you must always remember. As long as you have material attachment, Hari-katha will not enter your ears. Maya is there, and she is always looking for holes, always waiting, 'When will this devotee leave my Prabhu's service?' and as soon as she gets a chance, she pounds at you and grabs you by the neck. Just as ants always look for a hole through which they can enter, Maya Devi also looks for holes, waiting when you become unmindful and forget the Lord's service and kirtan – as soon as you forget the Lord, Maya Devi seizes you, catching you off guard. That is why we must always remember and keep these things in our hearts; otherwise, we will not be able to go forward in our spiritual life.

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Length: 28 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Nature of Niskinchan Vaishnavs
2) Purifying Engagement
3) Be on Guard
4) Serve Attentively
5) Power of Association