Permanent Solution

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata-Worldwide, 7 June 2020, part 3

Question: Some devotees are asking if they should do charity, like donate food, clothes, etc. or if they should concentrate all their energy on devotional service? You talked about it in the book Guidance 3, in the chapter "What Is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and Its Distinctions."

That is the main question. We are not Rama Krishna Mission, we are not Bharat Seva Ashram, we are not a mayavasdi ashram. Those who have no proper conception make schools, old age homes, give food to poor people, etc. What they give are all ordinary things, but what our Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math gives is so much more than that, it is thousands times more than that.

At the same time, in this social world, we can take advantage of charity and some government rules to win the favour of the government. For this reason, sometimes we have to distribute some clothes, some food, some prasadam in flooded areas, etc. This is an eye-wash for the government. However, this will not be our focus. For example, we can make a concrete wall around the temple so that devotees could chant peacefully within the temple boundary and no one would distrub, but our focus not will be the boundary wall—our focus will be bhajan, kirtan, etc. This is the main thing.

So, to keep our mission, we may sometimes distribute food, clothes to poor people, we may go to hospitals and help with treatment of some people, devotees do this, but actually what Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math gives is the proper treatment—it gives treatment to the jiva soul. If you give medicine to people, that is only a temporary protection, but what Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math gives, is a permanent solution.

Question: Even if the lockdown finishes, this disease is still out there and can affect devotees, but all these rules about social distancing, assembling, etc. are interefering with our ability to have devotees in our temple and to have devotees come together and have kirtan...

Actually, we will maintain social distance. We will place some sanitiser in the temple—when devotees come, they will wash and sanitise their hands, then sit down, they will wear masks or some cover, and they will bring their own asan to sit on. In this way, we can maintain social distance, and everything will be OK, everyone can practise kirtans or listen to the lecture. They can do this if possible, otherwise there are zoom classes, online classes, etc. what is the problem? If somebody thinks it is not good to come to the temple because there are so many infected people around, then I think that everyone anyway should practise at their homes, so it is not a problem.

Question: But, for instance, when it comes to Gaura Purnima time, we want to have one thousand devotees in the temple, we want to have everyone dancing, we want everyone to join in kirtan...

It will not stay until Gaura Purnima. It will finish before that. Actually, it started here in India after Gaura Purnima finished, so I think it will finish before that—it should finish in July-August.

Question: How will it finish if the disease is still there?

The disease is still there, but some country has already invented some vaccine... Anyhow, in one way or another, Krishna will arrange something. We depend upon Krishna, we depend upon Mahaprabhu, we depend upon Gurudev—they will arrange for some other situation, and we will be happy with that. Whatever situation will come, we must harmonise with it.

Are there any other questions?

Question: Why must a servitor always think of himself as a fallen soul?

Because that is a servitor's quality. A servitor always thinks that he has no quality, he is humble. It is necessary to have humility. Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami also says,

জগাই মাধাই হৈতে মুঞি সে পাপিষ্ঠ ।
পুরীশের কীট হৈতে মুঞি সে লঘিষ্ঠ ॥

jagai madhai haite muni se papistha
purisera kita haite muni se laghistha

"I am more sinful than Jagai and Madhai and lower than the worms in the stool."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 5.205)

Jagai and Madhai are sinners, but I am a worse sinner than them, I am lower than insects in stool.

Question: Why do we need more gurus in the mission if we already have a guru, who is Radharani Herself?

Radharani is our guru, yes, but at the same time Chandravali is also there. Then? What is the problem? Everyone has his own will, his own feeling, his own thinking, so if somebody wants to be a guru, how will you stop them?

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