(9/10) Undiluted Spiritual Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly District, evening
Translated into English from Bengali
21 February 2020, part 9

The more you increase material wealth, the more ego you will have. You keep thinking, 'What must I do?', 'What must I do?' and a lot of problems will come. One time, somebody gave one rupee to Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, seeing him wear some old torn clothes. Srila Babaji Maharaj took that rupee and continued his way to Kalna. Bihari Das, his servitor, was with him. Srila Babaji Maharaj lived for 137 years, and this happened a few years before his disappearance. Suddenly, Srila Babaji Maharaj told Bihari Das, 'Let us go back.' Bihari Das was puzzled, 'Why? What happened?' They came to the house of the man who had given that rupee, and Srila Babaji Maharaj asked Bihari Das to call that man. When the man came, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj asked him, "Please save me! Please take this money back!' The man had thought that Babaji Maharaj had come to ask him for more money, so he was very surprised to hear Babaji Maharaj's request. He said, 'You have taken this money, why are you giving it back now?' Srila Babaji Maharaj explained then, 'Please take this money back. I cannot tolerate the burden of this money. When this money came to me, I started thinking what I can buy with it, what I will do, and I could not chant the Holy Name. Please save me!'

That say, one old lady from a place near Kalna had invited Srila Babaji Maharaj to take prasad. We chant a beautiful kirtan, 'Krpa kara Vaisnava Thakura'. Some people like to come and stretch their hands, saying, 'Gurudev, please give your prasad,' and some gurus give it – they become proud, 'I have become a guru!' (habe abhimana-bhara). That is why we do not give our food remnants to others and we do not allow anyone to touch our feet. It leads to guru-abhiman. So, when Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj was invited to that house and given prasad, he took everything, but the lady thought, 'I have brought Babaji Maharaj, but he has not left his prasad for me!' She started to forcefully feed Babaji Maharaj more and more. Babaji Maharaj became grave, thinking, 'Oh, you think that I will something on the plate and you will take it? All right, I will show you.' Then, he took not only all prasad that was on his plate but also the plate!

This is how we must live – following the proper line.

Everything happens by the wish of the Lord. When Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj lived in Nabadwip, he showed this mood also. Hell or heaven, bad place, jail or good place – devotees never worry about it. Wherever they live, devotees always live in kirtan. They do not care about hell, heaven, jail or freedom. People used to pelt stones at Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, thinking he was mad, but Srila Babaji Maharaj would only say, 'O Gopal! Do not be naughty; otherwise, I will complain to Mother Yasoda.' He saw everything as happening by the wish of the Lord. At some point, he also lived in a public toilet. Why did he do that? He knew why. One time, somebody asked him, 'Babaji Maharaj, you are lying here in the toilet, so you not feel the stench?' Babaji Maharaj replied, 'Yes, I can feel it, but this smell is nothing – the stench of materialists is much worse than this!' Babaji Maharaj's words were very strong. He did not chant on Tulasi beads – instead of beads, he used some cloth he took from one of the dead bodies at the cremation ghat, tied some knots on it, and used that. What did he eat? He would soak some rice and eat it once it got a little soft. His renunciation was such. Seeing his renunciation, one man thought, 'I can do that too!' and started imitating Babaji Maharaj. The man came to the bank of the Ganges, made a small cottage and started staying there. Somebody told Babaji Maharaj, 'Babaji Mahraj, there is another sadhu like you staying nearby.' Babaji Maharaj replied, 'If a pregnant lady gets labour pain, she is taken to hospital and then a child, a boy or a girl, is born. But if you put a pillow on your stomach and cry as that you are in labour pain, will a child come?' Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj always spoke very directly. I like it very much. Even when Srila Prabhupad (Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur) came to him to take initiation, he at first sent him away. This repeated several times, and then only did Babaji Maharaj gave him initiation. He did not give initiation to anyone so easily. At first, he told Prabhupad, 'Your father is a great scholar and a great district magistrate, go to him!' Prabhupad was sad, but Bhaktivinod Thakur told him to go back again. He went back to Babaji Maharaj again and again and finally received initiation.

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 35.7 Mb
Length: 75 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Detach Yourself from Illusion
2) Tenacious Tenants
3) Nurture Natural Devotion
4) Eternal Loving Worship
5) Essential Admonition
6) Where Is Substance?
7) How to Capture the Lord
8) Pillars of Spiritual Life
9) Undiluted Spiritual Life
10) Power of Sambandha-Jnana