(4) Getting Older but None Wiser

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly District
Translated into English from Bengali
21 February 2020, noon, part 4

Living in the material world means janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi (জন্মমৃত্যুজরাব্যাধি): birth, death, old age and disease (Bg, 13:9). 'Jara-vyadhi' (old age and disease) means ailments that make us weak and frail. There are many houses where some members of the family are old and die. Somebody cannot walk, so they stay all day at home or at the gate. What is the solution? We sing in one of the kirtans (from Saranagati), 'Chinta na rahila, chhaudike ananda dekhi—all cares and worries are gone, and I see joy in all four directions.' Do we see joy with our eyes? We see everything, both happiness and distress; we do not see only happiness all around us. Somebody is old and struggling with their health; somebody is suffering in their life; somebody is going through austerities. Somebody is crying because their family member had been taken to hospital and died there; and somebody is born and laughing happily. Our life passes in happiness and unhappiness. Our entire life is filled with all kinds of happiness and distress. But there is a place where there is endless and highest happiness – this place is Goloka Vrindavan, where the Lord resides eternally. This is where we must go. We must go to our highest destination.

Who would have thought that we would get this human birth? We have got it as the result of great fortune, as the result of much sukriti, and we have got an opportunity to hear and speak Hari-katha.

I come to every house to collect potato as alms, but I do not get time to chant kirtan and give a class at every house. But this Hari-katha is so valuable. The Lord Himself says, 'I do not live in Vaikuntha; neither do I live in the hearts of yogis. Where do I live? I live where My devotees chant My glories, where they talk and sing about me.'

নাহং তিষ্ঠামি বৈকুণ্ঠে যোগিনাং হৃদয়ে ন চ ।
মদ্ভক্তাঃ যত্র গায়ন্তি তত্র তিষ্ঠামি নারদ ॥

naham tisthami vaikunthe yoginam hrdayesu va
tatra tisthami narada yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah

'My dear Narada, actually I do not reside in My abode, Vaikuntha, nor do I reside within the hearts of the yogis, but I reside in that place where My pure devotees chant My holy name and discuss My form, pastimes and qualities.'

(Padma Purana)

The Lord says, 'I am an avid listener (priya-srava), and when I hear others talk about Me, I feel very happy. This is where I come and live.'

The difficulty is that many of you have grown old now. When you were young, you ran after so many things, you wanted to achieve so many things. Now you have grown old and cannot do anything. When you were young, you thought, 'I will chant the Holy Name when I get old,' but your old age has come now, and you are full of diseases and misery – you cannot chant the Holy Name anymore. We become afflicted with various diseases and can no longer chant the Holy Name of the Lord! This is how our days are passing. Have you ever thought what is the way out of this situation?

You will have to keep coming to this world again and again. Why have you got this human birth? You cannot understand its meaning.

— : • : —

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Length: 80 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Examine Yourself
2) Be Honest and Sincere
3) Assimilate the Substance
4) Getting Older but None Wiser
5) Senses vs. Soul
6) Desires and Forgetfulness
7) Irresistible Service Drive
8) Devotees Are Devoted
9) Lord Is Always Merciful