(6) Desires and Forgetfulness

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 6

Guru Maharaj (Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) always quoted this verse:

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)

The Lord does not give devotion to Himself so easily, but the problem is that we are deficient. What is our deficiency? We do not have desire; we are not trying. That is why we cannot succeed.

When Mother Yasoda went to bind Krishna, she kept trying, 'He is my son, why will I not bind Him?' When Krishna was born in Mathura, He appeared in His four-armed form and both Devaki and Vasudev worshipped Him – they forgot that Krishna was their son. But when Krishna ate soil, Balaram came and secretly told about it to Mother Yasoda, 'Mother Yasoda, your son is eating soil, He is not listening to anyone.' Mother Yasoda ran to Krishna and scolded Him, 'Hey Gopal! Are You eating soil?!' Krishna lied, 'No, I have not eaten any soil!' Mother Yasoda did not believe Him, 'You have! Balaram would not tell a lie!' Krishna insisted, 'No, no, Mother. I have not eaten soil, please believe Me.' Then, Mother Yasoda put her fingers in Krishna's mouth to check it. When she opened Krishna's mouth, she saw the entire universe within it. But when she saw it, she did not forget that Krishna was her son. Instead, she got worried, 'Gopal, are You all right?! Are You hungry Come, come with me, I will give You some milk and nice food.' Unlike Devaki, Mother Yasoda did not forget that Krishna was her son.

There are many other things described in Srimad Bhagavatam. There is so much love in parental love for the Lord, but the gopis' paramour love is described last in Srimad Bhagavatam...

Srimad Bhagavatam also described the story of Prahlad Maharaj. Even though his father harassed him too much, did Prahlad Maharaj ever say, 'Father, please do not beat me'? Never. Moreover, he never asked the Lord, 'Please do not make me suffer so much.' Prahlad Maharaj never asked for anything. He was harassed so much – he was given poison, he was thrown into the ocean, he was tied to an elephant's leg; but he always relied on the Lord and never asked the Lord for any relief. Ambharish Maharaj was also like that – when Durvasa Muni cursed him, he did not object; he felt, 'All right, as the Lord wishes.' He was not afraid of death.

Do you know how much suffering there is in hell? When you heat oil in a pot to fry eggplant, we will be also thrown like this in boiling oil. Prahlad Maharaj was a small boy of five, but his father, a demon, did so many awful things to him. But Prahlad Maharaj never prayed, 'O Lord, please do not make me suffer so much.' Neither did he ever ask his father to stop. He did not want anything. In the end, the Lord personally appeared one day and saved him. The Lord told Prahlad Maharaj to ask Him for any boon in the world, but Prahlad Maharaj did not want anything. He said, 'I do not want anything. I only want You to be happy,' but the Lord insisted, and then Prahlad Maharaj asked, 'If You must give something to me, then please remove all desires from me; please make so that I may not want to ask You for anything in any life. Please give me this kind of boon.' This is what niskama-bhaktas (selfless devotees) are like.

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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