Be Studious, Be Serious

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Evening class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
8 March 2020, part 1, translated from Bengali

Today is the adhivas (eve) of Sriman Mahaprabhu's holy appearance day. Tomorrow, the whole world and every Gaudiya Math will be observing Sri Gaura Purnima tithi.

You have completed Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama today in a very beautiful way. Those of you who want to take initiation, I will start tomorrow at 8 a.m. A barber will come tomorrow in the morning, and all male grihasthas who have taken first or second initiation should shave their heads at least on this one day in a year. Those of you who are going to take second initiation must shave heads anyway—it is not obligatory for those who are taking first initiation, but Gurudev said that those who take second initiation must shave their heads nicely at least on this day. At first, it is necessary to follow viddhi-marga in everything. If you do not follow viddhi-marga (rules and regulations of devotional practice), you will be in a difficult situation.

For all these days I have been trying to engage you in listening to Hari-katha about the Lord, I have scolded you a lot also saying that you must listen to Hari-katha properly—this is for your own benefit. Hari-katha always brings spiritual benefit and auspiciousness. You should not listen to gossiping, nonsense talks, etc. It is better to speak less, then you will get energy to chant the Holy Name. Those who know how to speak Hari-katha are habituated to studying. Mind always wants to go another side, to do other things, but you must try to study Krishna consciousness. You must practise chanting kirtans—take karatals with you or just sit and clap your hands, but practise and chant kirtans...

Who can say what happens to one at some point, what position one comes to... Hearing and hearing Hari-katha, one can be totally transformed. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says,

কবে নবদ্বীপে সুরধুণী-তটে
'গৌর-নিত্যানন্দ' বলি' নিষ্কপটে ।
নাচিয়া গাইয়া, বেড়াইব ছুটে,
বাতুলের প্রায় ছাড়িয়া বিচার ॥

kabe navadvipe, suradhuni-tate,
'gaura-nityananda' bali' niskapate
nachiya gaiya, bedaiba chhute,
vatulera praya chhadiya vichara

"When will I wander along the banks of the Ganges in Nabadwip, sincerely calling out, 'Gaura-Nityananda!', while dancing, singing, and running about, without any thinking as though mad?"

"When will I become crazy chanting the Holy Name?" This can happen...

Anyhow, you have been listening to Hari-katha about the Lord all these days, and today is the adhivas-tithi of the holy 535th appearance day of Sriman Mahaprabhu. On this day, you must stay at home (at the temple) and engage in eternal service, eternal practice of Krishna consciousness. The more you go towards Maya, towards material life, the more suffering and misery you will get—Maya will give you misery and suffering. Do not see Gurudev as an object of enjoyment instead of serving him. Do not see the things that are meant for the service to the Lord as objects for your enjoyment. Everything in this world belong to the Lord, but we cannot understand this—out of ego we keep on trying to enjoy everything and use everything for our own purpose, but we do not take anything (do not consider that something is ours) on pretext that it is the Lord's prasad. Try to always serve Guru and Vaishnavs. Do not listen to bad talks, do not criticise or gossip about others. Chant the Holy Name as much as you can. Try to do service.

I always tell you—many think, "Oh, I have brought Gurudev to my house!", "I want to take Gurudev to my house," "I have money, but Gurudev did not come to my house"—this is all not a big deal, actually those who think in this way have a wrong conception. Gurudev is pleased when you follow Gurudev's word. You must understand what is service and what is not service. That is why I always keep warning you to be careful. Get the books I have written, this time I wrote about guru-tattva (Guidance 4). Also, Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala has come out (in Bengali), buy this book. You do archan at home, and we have Archan-kan booklet—buy it and try to read the mantras from there, try to recite and memorise them. There are mantras that are chanted when bathing, cleaning, when waking the Lord up, how to put the Lord to rest,when waking the Lord up at the time of mangal-arati, etc. You should learn these mantras...

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