(5) Senses vs. Soul

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 5

Our days are going!

If you leave a small child on the street alone, it will eat soil. Is that not so? Why are you smiling? It is true. Then, the mother will come, open the child's mouth and take the soil out of its mouth. The child will start crying, thinking, 'I was eating such a nice thing, but Mother does not allow me to eat it!' But once the mother puts a rasagulla into the child's mouth, the child will understand, 'Oh, Mother is right! She has given me such a nice thing! It is much tastier!' So, we all in this world say, 'I want money', 'I want a car', 'I want a house', 'I want wealth and property!' The more wealth you have, the more headache you will have. The more wealth you have, the more enemies you will have – there will be people who are jealous of you and who will try to take your wealth away or even kill you. The more problems you have, the more headache you will get. Still, this is all we want in this world – material things (house, car, money and so on). Just like small children, want to eat soil. Seeing this, the Lord thinks, 'My sons are like small children! They want this, they want that...' We never think, 'O Lord, I want You! If I have You, I will have everything.'

In this regard, I want to tell you about one pastime that is described in the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Srimad Bhagavatam contains the gist of all scriptures; all highest conceptions are described in Srimad Bhagavatam. So, the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam described the story of Dhruva Maharaj. Something about it is also mentioned in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, but if you read it, you will not understand anything. It is said in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita:

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 dismisses them, giving them enjoyment or liberation."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.18)

I told you about it yesterday also. You must listen carefully and remember these things (keep them in your heart). So, what does it say here? If you ask the Lord for money instead of devotion – if you keep pulling His arm, crying, 'Give me this', 'Give me that', the Lord says, 'All right, if this is what you want to be happy, here, take it and be happy' – the Lord will give you anything you ask for. He can give it, for example, through Lord Siva, Laksmi or Saraswati. But in the meantime, the Lord will take away devotion from you – He will hide devotion from you. You can see millions of people travelling by plane, spending thousands of rupees. One time, some man who lived in Dum Dum Park was caught for tax evasion. Do you know how much he owed to the government? Two billion rupees! They caught him, and the judged ordered to pay off the tax debt. So, there are people who have much money, but when you are rich, you forget the Lord.

So, it says in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita that if you ask the Lord for material things, the Lord will give it to you and hide devotion from you. On the other hand, it is also written there:

কৃষ্ণ কহে,—আমা ভজে, মাগে বিষয়-সুখ ।
অমৃত ছাড়ি’ বিষ মাগে,—এই বড় মূর্খ ॥
আমি-বিজ্ঞ, এই মূর্খে ‘বিষয়’ কেনে দিব ?
স্ব-চরণামৃত দিয়া ‘বিষয়’ ভুলাইব ॥

krsna kahe,—"ama bhaje, mage visaya-sukha
amrta chhadi' visa mage,—ei bada murkha
ami—vijna, ei murkhe 'visaya' kene diba?
sva-charanamrta diya 'visaya' bhulaiba"

"Krishna says, 'They worship Me desiring material happiness — leaving aside nectar, they ask for poison. They are big fools, but I am intelligent: Why will I give these fools material things? Instead, I will give them the nectar of My lotus feet and make them forget the material world.'"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.38-39)

This is just the opposite! The Lord says, 'If somebody wants something material instead of My devotion, I will not give any money, wealth or other material things to them! I am not a fool, I know better. Those who want material things are the fools, not Me. Why will I give them material things? I will give them My lotus feet, then they will forget everything about material things.' So, how can this contradiction be harmonised? I have found the answer in the pastime of Dhruva Maharaj described in Srimad Bhagavatam.

Dhruva Maharaj's father was a king. Desiring to get his father's throne, Dhruva Maharaj went to the forest, where he meditated for five years. Krishna became pleased and sent His associate, Narad, to Dhruva Maharaj (the Lord does not usually come Himself). Dhruva Maharaj took initiation from Narad, and Narad explained to him how he must practise. After taking initiation, Dhruva Maharaj practised and worshipped the Lord properly, following all rules and regulations. Krishna became pleased with his worship and came this time personally. Krishna came to Dhruva Maharaj and said, 'So, Dhruva Maharaj. Here, take your throne! You want it, so take it now!' But Dhruva Maharaj replied, 'My Lord, please do not shame me. When You have personally come in front of me, what is a throne or a kingdom to me? What will I do with it? When You have come to me, I have got everything.' This is the story of Dhruva Maharaj.

So, it is said, 'They worship Me desiring material happiness, but I know better – I will not give material things to these fools. Instead, I will make them forget about material things! They will get everything – all happiness, all pleasure, but they will no longer have any material attachment.' Dhruva Maharaj got everything, his kingdom, wealth and so on, but he no longer had any attachment to it.

Do you understand? We must always remember these things. Never forget this.

— : • : —

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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