Questions and Answers (1)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata-Worldwide, 24 May 2020, part 6

Question: Do we come to this line because of our free will or is this something coming from our previous life as a pre-defined fate?

It is your purva-sukriti (your sukriti from previous lives) to some extent because you have got some sukriti as a result of your previous karma, and through that sukriti you have got good association. After that, through that good association, you can practise properly, and this is your free will, it is not pre-defined. Actually, if you take initiation, you are only admitted into a school, but you will never pass the final exams at school without getting education—without studying, without going to college, etc. So, when you take initiation, you must practise properly after that. To practise means:

সাধুসঙ্গ, নামকীর্ত্তন, ভাগবতশ্রবণ ।
মথুরাবাস, শ্রীমূর্ত্তির শ্রদ্ধায় সেবন ॥

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.124)

There are sixty-four types of bhaktyanga (devotional processes), and it is necessary to practise them as much as you can; otherwise, without service you cannot attain your goal, you cannot reach your proper destination.

Speaking of Raya Ramananda and the relationship between Mahaprabhu, Raya Ramananda and Svarup Damodar—in His later pastimes, Mahaprabhu's situation was the same as the situation of Srimati Radharani when Krishna left Vrindavan, at that time only Visakha and Lalita were giving nourishment to Srimati Radharani. Mahaprabhu felt the same kind of separation,

"kahan karon, kahan yana, kahan gele krsna pana,
dunhe more kaha se upaya"

"[To Svarup Damodar and Raya Ramananda:] What shall I do? Where shall I go? Where can I go to get Krishna? Please, both of you, tell Me how I can find Him."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.15.24)

Mahaprabhu would keep saying this. We find it written in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. If you study Gopi Gita in Srimad Bhagavatam also, you can see how much separation from Krishna gopis feel. Here also, Mahaprabhu would break His head against the wall and so much blood would come from His face. He would fall down and keep fainting all the time. He always thought about Krishna. At that time, Mahaprabhu becomes Srimati Radhika, searching for Krishna, and Raya Ramananda and Svarup Damodar would always give nourishment to Him—they would speak some Krishna-katha to Him, they would comfort and give Him some peace; but when Svarup Damodar and Raya Ramananda left Mahaprabhu in the evening, then Mahaprabhu would become very sick during the night (He did not really become sick, but He showed sickness). It was such a big problem... Kavi Karnapura wrote Gaura-gana-desa-dipika, and there he writes that Raya Ramananda is an incarnation of Visakha.

Are there any other questions from anybody?

Question: We already have a land and want to build a temple, but there are some government rules according to which we cannot build a temple in that place because it is a rural farm place. So, I wanted to ask if we should follow the government rules or still build the temple?

No, if you make a temple and the government will later stop it, you will lose your money—you must follow what the government says, you must follow the rules. You can buy a land in another place.

Question: I offer some milk and drink it, but when I am drinking that milk, I am thinking that the cows have to suffer so much to give this milk.

It is not a problem. Offer milk to the Lord and it will be prasadam, then you will not be drinking milk—you will be drinking prasadam. Cows sacrifice their bodies to the Lord. Everything that exists in this world is meant for the Lord's service. What to speak of cows, even mosquitoes also exist for the Lord's purpose. Whatever Krishna gives birth to, there is some idea, some purpose behind its existence. Krishna has so many ideas. We have a puppy brain—how much can we conceive? Krishna is the Absolute, and He has so many ideas, purposes—how can we conceive of it? He has given a coronavirus, He has given a cyclone, it is all His desire. We cannot conceive these things with our puppy brain.

Question: There are many disciples around the world—can anyone use the name Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math?

Why not?

Devotee: Is it necessary to ask you first before using this name?

I have no objection. If they ask me, it is good, and if they do not ask me, I do not mind it. I aways think that devotees always do service under the guidance of the guru, under guidance of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math—then, they can use the name of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. What is the problem? If somebody uses the name Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and does nonsense, then we will not tolerate it, we will give objection. As for the opposition group, actually, we do not think that anyone is our opposition because we ourselves are our enemies, we have so many enemies inside us... Anyway, we think that if somebody uses the name Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and does proper preaching, then they use the name properly—to this I do not have any objection.

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