Loving Care and Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 4 October 2020, part 7

Question: Why is it that only Vaishnavism binds people together with love, and no other religion like Advaitavad, Jainism, etc.?

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that mayavadis are offenders of the Lord because they do not believe that the Lord has any form. Actually, everything comes from the Lord. It is like, I have no money and I come to some man to borrow money from him, and after that I say, "That man has no money!" In the same way, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says—Krishna has given you legs, hands, eyes, etc.; you have got everything from Krishna, but you are saying that Krishna has no form, no eyes, no legs, no hands, no head, etc. Krishna has given everything to you, but you are saying Krishna has nothing! It is a never-ending misconception. It is a wrong conception. This is what mayavadis are like. In this sense, sahajiyas are actually a little better than mayavadis—at least sahajiyas believe that Krishna has a form.

Yet there is love and affection in Vaishnavism. Vaishnavs follow a proper practice through love and affection. This is what Mahaprabhu showed by His own example. Mahaprabhu showed proper Vaishnavism. Not only Mahaprabhu Himself shows it, Krishna shows it too—He Himself shows love and affection to Mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaj, and everybody else. Krishna gave mercy even to those who came to kill Him! He bestowed mercy onto demoness Putana. When Krishna saw her coming dressed as a gopi, He immediately blessed her—He knew she had come to kill Him, but He still gave mercy to her. The Lord is merciful even to those who come to kill Him—this is what true religion is. Even if somebody comes to kill us, we should still treat them with respect—we will not ill-treat anyone (we will not show pratihimsa). This is Mahaprabhu's conception, "Pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana—giving up vengeance, nurture others." This is our main conception.

As for Buddhism, you know their character, I do not want to explain what they do, their yoga, etc. They say, "We will not kill anybody," but at the same time they eat fish, meat, etc. They also smoke, do nonsense, sex. They say, "Buddha says we shall not kill anyone," but then they kill dogs and other animals, and eat them. Mayavadis also propagate, "Jive prema kare yei jana sei jana sevichhe isvara" (জীবে প্রেম করে যেই জন সেই জন সেবিছে ঈশ্বর; "love God by loving others"). They say this with their mouth, but then do the opposite.

You know, one time, in Gurudev's time, when I was leaving Singapore, I saw three Buddhist monks at the airport smoking—as smoking is not allowed at the airport, the police arrested them! I saw that with my own eyes.

That is why, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that Svami Vivekananda was a big gunda (thug) and his guru Rama Krishna Paramahamsa was a murkha-pujari (foolish priest)—and it was even published in a newspaper at that time! After that, they complained, "Oh, these Gaudiya Vaishnavs are swearing us!" But Srila Prabhupad was not afraid of anybody. These two brought so much mayavad conception to India—Sat-sanga and many other missions sprang up from their preaching.

Then, you should understand that Vaishnavism comes from the original source. There are so many misconceptions in this world—they are all wrong conceptions. The real conception is the conception of Mahaprabhu, the conception of Srimad Bhagavatam. People say that Srimad Bhagavatam comes from Buddha, but it is not true. Srimad Bhagavatam appeared many thousands and thousands years ago. Envious people always say that Srimad Bhagavatam is man-made, but it is not correct. People think also that this age starts from the times of Buddha, but is absolutely wrong. Srimad Bhagavatam is the evidence.

OK, are there any more questions?

Question: Is it right for a devotee to develop attachment to a particular service if there are many other services to do?

If you are attached to your service, it is not bad, but if many other services come to you, this is Gurudev's mercy coming to you, so it is not a problem if you do other service. If somebody has more service, it means they are getting more mercy. Gurudev always does all services through someone. We do not differentiate in a temple saying, "Oh, this is your service and this is his service." If somebody is not able to do some service and we can do it, then we should do that service, it will be good for us. Srila Gurudev always says, "The ball always comes to the legs of those who want to play football." So, if somebody wants to serve, then service will always come to him or her. We will not think, "This is my service, and that is his service," or, "He is cooking, I am cutting the vegetables and distributing prasadam—why will I do this other service as well? It is not my service!" This is not service mood. I once heard a story from Sripad Bhakti Kumud Shanta Maharaj, I have told it to you many times—one disciple said, "This is not my leg! This is his leg!" and Gurudev replied, "Oh, so it is not my leg? It is his leg? Then I will break this leg!" Service is not like that. "Oh, I am doing this service, why is he not doing his?" If you can, do as much as you can, it will be good for you.

Jay Srila Gurudev.

My dandavat to all the devotees. I am giving my full obeisance to you all and I would like to tell everybody—please engage yourself in service, it will be good, and please keep yourself in good health. Everybody should take care of themselves because the covid is making problems all over the world now. Always use a mask and sanitise your hands. Try to do it. Try to maintain your health properly. Health is necessary for service because Krishna has given you this body for service and if you do not take care of your health, then you may sometimes get sick and it will be a problem, you will not be able to do your service properly. So, everybody should take care of their health, it will be good for you. I am giving my full obeisance to you all, please forgive my offence.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay

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