(1/1) 'You Are My Great Friends'

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Divine Appearance Day, Sri Vyasa Puja
Kolkata—Vijayawada, 17 October 2020

...Actually, I was not born in a very big family. I was born in a small and low family, but by the mercy of Gurudev and all the devotees' love and affection, even those who are senior to me, who are my guru-varga, are giving me so much love and respect. This is my real wealth and my great fortune. This is not an ordinary matter for me; it is something great.

I was born in the kind of family where the only birthday celebration tradition is to make a festival six days after a baby is born. That is their birthday festival. After that, there are no more birthday festivals. But I am sixty-two years old, and when now, in my old age, they are celebrating my birthday, I am feeling very shy.

From 1989 until I joined Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Gurudev's godbrothers arranged some festival for Gurudev, but they did not call it Vyasa Puja or Guru Puja maha-mahotsav. They called it 'Acharya abhivandan mahotsav'. I saw the invitation letters that they made, and I was a little surprised because many invitations came from Mayapur inviting our temple to other acharyas' festivals, and I saw that they wrote 'Vyasa Puja (or Guru Puja) maha-mahotsav'. I thought at that time, 'Why are they calling my gurudev's appearance day "Acharya abhivandan mahotsav"? Why will my gurudev's festival not be called "Vyasa Puja maha-mahotsav" or "Guru Puja maha-mahotsav"?' That year (it was, perhaps, 1992), I decided to print invitation letters. When I printed them, I first showed them to Gurudev, and he made some small correction in that letter. I was very happy because he had corrected it very nicely.

It was the first time I took charge of making Gurudev's appearance festival. That year, I arranged a big festival and made much lighting and decoration of the temple. I also invited devotees from all over Bengal and India, and many western people and devotees came, too. Everybody joined the festival very happily. Gurudev had heard that many arrangements had been made, so on evening of the adhivas day, one day before the festival, he went for a walk around the temple (he went to the goshala and other parts of the temple) to see it. He was very happy to see how the lights and everything else had been arranged. I walked with Gurudev and saw that he looked at everything and was very happy. After that, Gurudev went to his room, and I went to join the evening arati. I sang at the arati and then went to Gurudev's room to pay my dandavat to him. When I came, I noticed that Gurudev was not in a good mood. When I was paying my dandavat, he told me, 'Why have you spent so much money on this festival? Why have you painted my room? Why did you not paint my house black?' Later, I found out from Gurudev's servitor that one of Gurudev's godbrothers had come and complained, 'Vinod Prabhu (that is my previous, brahmachari name) is spending so much money! He has repainted your house, why was it necessary to paint it again?' Gurudev was upset and very unhappy to hear this from his godbrother, that is why he chastised me. That godbrother was envious of Gurudev, but when Gurudev chastised me, he understood that Gurudev was supporting me in this indirect way. The man who had complained to Gurudev left Nabadwip after that Vyasa Puja and went to Vrindavan. Actually, I can tell that godbrother's name today. It is Purnananda Brahmachari. I am not afraid to tell his name because he does not stay at our temples anymore, he lives outside. I can tell his name to show to you all what kind of envy one can have towards Gurudev. Actually, Gurudev told also that, on the one hand, Krishna has some connection with every jiva soul, but, on the other hand, sometimes some people can also behave like demons. When somebody behaves like that, it means that there is some demon working through them.

I told everyone last Sunday that they could do guru-puja, I cannot stop their guru-puja, but I asked them not to make festivals. Still, I have seen that devotees made very big festivals at every temple. They also invited many Mayapur devotees to Nrisingha Palli. At first, because of the pandemic situation, I was not actually ready to invite Mayapur devotees, but they all know when my birthday is, so sannyasis from all Mayapur temples told Sripad Niriha Maharaj, 'We want to come on Maharaj's appearance day.' That is why I told Sripad Niriha Maharaj that he could invite them and make a festival in Nrisingha Palli, but I asked him to tell everyone that I could not join the festival because if I did, too many people would gather. He did that, and many sannyasis and brahmacharis came to Nrisingha Palli. I have seen the photographs of the festival. A few hundred people also joined the festivals in Tarakeswar, Midnapore and Uluberia. I have spoken to the devotees from Uluberia just now, and they said that five hundred devotees had come to take prasad. About three hundred people came to Tarakeshwar. There were festivals also in Jharkhand, Bakura, Ganga Sagar, Siliguri. Every temple made a festival all over India and abroad also. You too are making this festival in South India, and I am very happy to see that all devotees have come to hear something from me despite the pandemic situation.

But what more can I say? You are my great friends, my great well-wishers. I always keep you all in my heart, and you are also keeping me in your hearts. That is my great fortune, and that is the most important thing for me...

When the pandemic situation is over, if it finishes by the winter season, we will try to come to South India for preaching again in the winter season. I was very happy when you were feeding me dosa. I cannot forget that. They make dosa in Kolkata and other places here, too, and sometimes when we are going to Nrisingha Palli, we make a stop on the way and have dosa. When I take dosa, I remember South Indian devotees, you all. When we come to you, we take five–six dosas all the time, and if I stay there for seven days, my weight will increase by five kilograms, so I want to come to you in the winter season to increase my weight. I am also thinking of going to Govardhan, but I do not know yet whether I am going there or not. I have some service there. I want to make a small goshala at the land behind the temple, and I also want to build one more floor on top of the western guesthouse. When we do our Kartik tour, it is very difficult to keep foreign devotees in Govardhan, the guesthouse is small and there are not so many rooms. I want to build one more floor on top, the second floor, and make more rooms there. That is why I want to go there, but I do not know if I can go there now because I have a lot of work in Mayapur and Nrisingha Palli – there is a lot of construction going on there, and I have to give much attention to that because I must finish it before Gaura Purnima so that devotees can come and stay there at the Gaura Purnima time.

All right, it is very nice to see you all. I am giving my full obeisance to you all. Please forgive my offence. I am always at your service: if you engage me anywhere, anyhow, I will always be ready for you all.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devoees ki jay
Harinam-sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I still had some big prasadam leaves from South India left, and I sent them to Nrisingha Palli today. They were very happy with such big plates. If you give me more of those plates in December, I will keep them specially for Vaishnavs to always give prasadam to them on those plates. They were very happy with these plates.

[Addressing a devotee] Prabhu, you can come, you can stay with me here, in any place. Come and take charge of any temple. How many years are you going to serve your wife? You are sixty-nine already, how many more years is it necessary to serve your wife? Come. Come and stay stay here. Take charge of one of the temples. You saw that Sripad Niriha Maharaj's father has also joined: he cannot come full-time, but he comes and goes from time to time. You can also come, stay here for three months, and you can go back for three months and come again after that. It is not a problem. I am not going to put you into jail. You are in jail now – in the jail of Maya. You are a pension holder, so when you leave your body, your wife will will be receiving 50% of your pension. That is why it is said that wives always demand and take their husbands' blood, even after their husbands deaths. Is it correct or not, Prabhu? [His Divine Grace laughs] Then why are you waiting? Who are you waiting for? I am calling you, but you must follow that call. Come and join.

Thank you so much, everyone. My dandavat.

— : • : —

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