Parts of Service Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 11 October 2020, part 3

Question: In the ekadasi calendar, most of the times it says, "Tomorrow is Ekadasi, but no fast because of dasami-viddha at dawn"...

Yes, sometimes it is viddha. Mahaprabhu said, "Aviddha karan (অবিদ্ধা-করণ). Follow pure ekadasi." If it is ekadasi, but the next day touches it in the first one hour thirty-six minutes of the day, the ekadasi day becomes viddha—therefore, it is an ekadasi, but there is no fast on this day. This is Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's conception.

Question: We hear that the only anartha that we cannot dedicate in service is jealousy, that there is no place given for it, but what about Chandavali? I know we are not in her line, but she serves Krishna and she is jealous...

Yes, she is jealous, that is why we do not follow her. One time, Gurudev asked me, "Do you want to stay in Chandravali's house or do you want to stay in Radharani's house?" You can remember also Srila Raghunath Das Goswami who threw away his buttermilk because the bowl had been brought from a place near Chandravali's Kunda. One Vraja-basi would bring some buttermilk for Srila Raghunath Das Goswami in a bowl made of leaves, but when he brought it that day, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami immediately noticed that the leaves that the bowl was made from were not from Radha Kunda—he understood that it had been brought from some other place. So, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami asked the Vraja-basi, "Where did you bring this bowl from?" The Vraja-basi replied, "I brought it from Chandravali's Kunda today." Having heard this, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami threw the bowl with the butter milk away and said, "I will not take any food today!"

Do you understand this? Someone will say that this is too much, but this is what real chastity is. This is what is called chastity. People will say this is being fanatic, but it is not so. Can you call Srila Raghunath Das Goswami fanatic?! Srila Raghunath Das Goswami did not even touch that bowl or buttermilk when he heard where it had come from. Will you say this is being fanatic?

Are there any other questions?

Question: You told us that we have many negative elements in our heart—what are these elements and how can we remove them?

There are many bad elements. Kama, krodha, lobha, maha, mada, matsarya—lust, anger, greed, attachment to material things, madness, jealousy. You have all these things in you, but if you surrender properly, you can transform everything into service.

কৃষ্ণসেবা কামার্পণে, ক্রোধ ভক্ত-দ্বেষিজনে,
লোভ সাধুসঙ্গে হরিকথা ।
মোহ ইষ্টলাভ বিনে, মদ কৃষ্ণ গুণগানে,
নিযুক্ত করিব যথা তথা ॥

krsna-seva kamarpane, krodha bhakta-dvesi-jane
lobha sadhu-sange hari-katha
moha ista-labha bine, mada krsna-guna-gane,
niyukta kariba yatha tatha

"I will engage lust by offering it in Krishna's service. I will engage anger towards those who are envious of the devotees. I will be greedy to hear the topics of Hari in the association of devotees. I will feel illusioned without achieving my worshipable Lord. I will be maddened while singing the glories of Krishna. In this way I will engage these enemies in their proper places."

(Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 22, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

For example, you work in an office or in some other place, but you can transform this work into service to Krishna. You have greed, but this greed should be for Hari-katha and Krishna-prasad, for nothing else. You have an ego, but you must not be proud. I just told you a few minutes ago that even if you leave everything, you can still be proud of yourself—proud that you have left everything. You must think that you are a servant of the Lord, a servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

There is also rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa—enjoyment with beauty, taste, smell, sound, touch. Everything can be good if it is used for the service of the Lord. For example, a girl goes to a beauty parlour to become beautiful to please her husband, but a devotee can go to a beauty parlour and dress well to make Lord Krishna happy. Whatever you do, you must do everything for the pleasure of the Lord, then it will be good.

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